Drew 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (21) comment rss

  • On the post: A Joke Tweet Leads To 'Child Trafficking' Investigation, Providing More Evidence Of Why SESTA Would Be Abused

    Drew ( profile ), 22 Oct, 2017 @ 04:30pm

    It's already this bad.

    While this law would expand their attention to it, it would not introduce any danger that isn't already there.
    A few years ago, my wife said "I'm so tired of people telling me my daughter is small." on facebook. A week later, our 9-month-old daughter was put into state custody, under allegations we were starving her. It took us 9 months of legal battle is prove we were innocent, and were actually good parents of a healthy daughter. According to our lawyer, that's standard procedure (at least, in this state); in fact, he said he was surprised we regained custody as quickly as we did. And just so it's clear: The judge dismissed the charges and sealed the record. We were completely cleared. In spite of that, we were put through the torture of losing our 9-month-old baby, and receiving a toddler 9 months later. We missed her first steps. We missed her first sentence. We were completely innocent. And yet, we're one of those statistics they cite on the billboards that say "1 in 5 kids struggles with hunger."
    The family law enforcement offices in this country are completely out of control. I don't honestly think new laws could make it any worse.

  • On the post: Billionaire Backer Of Palantir & Facebook Insists He's Bankrupting Journalists To Protect Your Privacy

    Drew ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2016 @ 10:32am

    Strange approach

    I find it odd that he spends millions to sue them out of existence. Of course, we could be talking about wildly different numbers, but couldn't he have simply purchased Gawker himself to begin with? It would've been an investment, rather than the huge money sink of paying a team of lawyers to throw everything against the wall to see what sticks. I know he's got money to burn, but it just seems like an odd way to do it; it's like he's intentionally choosing to burn the money in such a way as to guarantee that he gets nothing out of it.

  • On the post: Study Says Police Body Cameras Have Contributed To Increased Uses Of Deadly Force

    Drew ( profile ), 15 Aug, 2016 @ 09:59pm

    Or they're getting caught more

    Another possibility is that they're simply getting caught more. It could be that 4% of the shootings on file would have simply been unreported were it not for the camera. As other commenters have already said, correlation =/= causation.

  • On the post: Wall Street Journal Reporter Hassled At LA Airport; Successfully Prevents DHS From Searching Her Phones

    Drew ( profile ), 22 Jul, 2016 @ 11:42am

    Re:

    I have learned this first hand. It's a long story, but my situation had nothing to do with the border, and yet our 'right' to free practice of religion was completely ignored on several counts (even to the point of being told where we're allowed to take our daughter to church, and being forbidden from observing holidays with her.) Rights only pertain to civil disputes. If any government agency is involved, the very concept becomes moot.

  • On the post: Guidelines On Who Might Be Suspicious: Too Nervous? Too Calm? Blending In? Standing Out? It's All Suspicious

    Drew ( profile ), 27 Oct, 2014 @ 08:28am

    Re: Re: Anonymous US Travel

    Actually, that's an excellent point; you can travel all over the US undetected, as long as you want to go downriver. Nobody looks twice at someone canoeing. I've gone canoeing in the rivers around my state many times, and usually you feel like you're in the wilderness the whole time, even when you're passing through a city.
    It's easy to carry luggage in a canoe without drawing attention (especially if you carry it in a cooler so it's waterproof & floats), and you won't need to stop for fuel anywhere.

  • On the post: Ohio Zombie-Man Confirmed Dead By The Court He Personally Attended

    Drew ( profile ), 09 Oct, 2013 @ 09:25pm

    Knight Rider

    So if some crime fighting organization is looking for a hero to drive around in a hot car and hit on the ladies, it sounds like an ideal candidate has been born!

    A shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man -- who does not exist.

  • On the post: International Crisis: North Korea Is Getting Even Worse At Photoshop

    Drew ( profile ), 08 Oct, 2013 @ 08:58pm

    Supreme Leader's pants

    This is probably just me, but if I were the Supreme Leader of a country, I'd get pants that fit me. Or I'd at least get them hemmed.

  • On the post: Gym Thinks New Member Isn't A Real Person; Drains Nearly $1,000 From Her Checking Account To 'Verify'

    Drew ( profile ), 03 Oct, 2013 @ 10:00pm

    What about me?

    If you really have to use a bogus name for some reason... use one that absolutely could not be a real name. A GUID or random string of digits, for example.

    Due to my maternity ward nurse accidentally filling out my birth certificate on a laptop with numlock turned on, my name is W5335a0 J6hns6n, you insensitive clod!

  • On the post: What I Learned About My Own Daily Life From The Latest North Korean Propaganda Video

    Drew ( profile ), 29 Mar, 2013 @ 10:06pm

    This is a hoax. It was a parody made by Alun Hill. The video is from DPRK, but the voiceover is purely comedy. See this snopes article: http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/northkorea.asp
    And as someone who is learning Korean, I can tell you that the few words I caught definitely had nothing to do with what he was 'translating'.

  • On the post: French National Library Privatizes Public Domain Materials

    Drew ( profile ), 31 Jan, 2013 @ 01:19pm

    Isn't it already commonplace?

    I live in Wyoming (a backwoods place by most standards), yet even here that's the norm. I publish an annual calendar filled with historical photos from our area (it's a freebie I give to our customers), but in order to acquire the photos, I have to sign a contract with the Wyoming State Archives in Cheyenne, where they license my use of the pictures. The pictures are always from 1940 or earlier, but as soon as they get a hold of them, they bury them under a contract. If you don't sign the contract, you can't use the pictures. The contract states that you can only use the pictures once, and you have to get your use approved by them before they will allow it. They also charge $8 per use per picture. It sucks, but it's just how it is, and I don't think it's news; they've been doing this for years.
    Furthermore, if you want a copy of our state laws, or even our city laws, you have to purchase a copy from the 1 approved publisher. You can find most of them online, but several laws are redacted (even in our city of 8,000 people), so that you have to buy the book to find out what they are. It's wrong, but it's how they do it. Isn't it how all the government entities do it?

  • On the post: Switzerland Questions Crazy Hollywood Claims About File Sharing… Ends Up On Congressional Watchlist

    Drew ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2012 @ 08:47am

    America's Opinion

    I just don't understand how America's opinion has that much sway. Who cares what we think? The USA gives money to a lot of countries, sure, but (as seen in the countries always at Israel's throat) we continue giving money, even if they're attacking our allies. I really doubt being on a piracy watchlist could threaten the gravy train. And aside from free money, I can't see any other reason they might worry -- it's not like we're going to go to war over it.

  • On the post: Fark's Drew Curtis Explains How To Beat A Patent Troll (And Live To Tell The Tale)

    Drew ( profile ), 19 Apr, 2012 @ 08:17am

    Off-topic...

    Okay, I know this is off-topic, but I totally did a double-take when I read this headline. My name is Drew Farkas.

  • On the post: ICE Propaganda Film Pats Itself On The Back For Censoring The Web; Promises Much More To Come

    Drew ( profile ), 10 Jan, 2012 @ 09:41am

    The thing I thought was the funniest is that it said "American Innovation is lost", and showed an Incandescent light bulb going out. Smugglers & counterfeiters didn't do that, nor did patent infringers. The US Congress did that.
    Oh, and now that they've closed down every single US-based incandescent light bulb factory, now they've changed their minds and made them legal again.
    Sorry, off-topic, I know, but it still bugged me =-P

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Impractically-Powered Planes

    Drew ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2011 @ 10:44pm

    Solar Airship/plane hybrid

    This post reminded of something I saw recently that intrigued me. Plus it's in the final stages of development.
    http://green.autoblog.com/2011/10/22/solar-ship-sails-the-skies-schlepps-supplies/

  • On the post: TV Companies Plan To Make Hulu Suck Even More Making It More Difficult To Sell Hulu

    Drew ( profile ), 03 Oct, 2011 @ 07:13am

    The part that really suprised me...

    The thing I don't get is that Two Billion isn't enough. It's a company that employs 300 people. It's not Wal-Mart. It can't possibly have very much 'inventory overhead'. How can it *possibly* be worth $2,000,000,000.00 without any contracts going forward?

  • On the post: Court Dumps Order To ISP To Identify Anonymous Wikipedia Critic

    Drew ( profile ), 04 Aug, 2011 @ 09:21pm

    Small world...

    I used to be a Skybeam customer, when I lived in Cheyenne, WY. Great company to deal with, and it's good to see they stand up for their customers. I just wish they offered service where I live now!

  • On the post: Facebook Bans User's Ad Campaigns For Displaying Google+ Ad

    Drew ( profile ), 18 Jul, 2011 @ 10:01pm

    Re: Facebook to be come the game platform...for now

    hmm you're forgetting the 4th group... the ones waiting for an open platform for social networking that isn't vendor-specific (think IRC). I don't use any social networks, and won't until that time comes.

  • On the post: How Low Has MySpace Sunk? It's About To Be Sold For Less Than $30 Million

    Drew ( profile ), 28 Jun, 2011 @ 09:25pm

    what killed My__

    Myspace was a great idea. However, like so many things, the media decided it would make great fodder for a sensationalized scare-campaign (think swine flu, bird flu, West Nile Virus, teen killed because she 'met a guy from the internet', etc). Every time something bad happened and could be linked back to My__, the news ran with it. Before too long, schools were recommending strongly that parents keep their kids off of it, and some even expelled kids who held My__ accounts. The website didn't have long left after that. Facebook was the same thing (except with less customizability, and way more creepy-stalker-features, and it simply rose up to fill the gap as the 'safe alternative', since it didn't facilitate meeting people you don't already know in real life.
    Personally I hate Faceblah with a passion, but it has become the de facto social networking interface. My wish is that some day social networking would be done across a platform that any company could tap into -- My__ profiles could 'friend' Facebook profiles, which could share pictures with people on Friendster, etc. Kinda like IRC. Then this whole issue would go away. If you wanted to draw people to your service, you'd have to offer better service, and if your friends wanted something lamer, that's fine, you could still use the service of your choice.
    But I digress.

  • On the post: Independent Review Finds ICANN Screwed Up In Approving… Then Rejecting .xxx

    Drew ( profile ), 22 Feb, 2010 @ 05:37pm

    Comment #30...

    I know I'm just adding to the noise at this point, but my humble opinion (as a fundamentalist Christian who hates Internet whitelists), is that if there were a .kids TLD, it would be about 5% beneficial (as in, I seriously do not see much benefit at all, as censoring is always errant and flawed, and restricting a child's use to only .kids sites would be too restrictive to be worthwhile), but I find .xxx to be a terrific idea. Of course it wouldn't be practical to claim that all the porn in the world is locked behind that TLD -- but if just 5% was, you could quickly and easily block a computer from that 5% without any risk of loosing anything that's actually worth keeping. And without a single whitelist.
    ~just my $.02

  • On the post: Doctor Who Uploaded Rorschach Images Now Being Investigated

    Drew ( profile ), 25 Aug, 2009 @ 03:13pm

    Dr. Who?

    And here I was expecting to see an article about the BBC chasing after fans of Doctor Who...

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