HiggsLight 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (15) comment rss

  • On the post: The War On Journalists: DOJ Claimed Fox News Reporter Was An 'Aider, Abettor, Co-Conspirator' With Leaker

    HiggsLight ( profile ), 20 May, 2013 @ 01:45pm

    Re: So, anyone who still believes that "1984" is fiction?

    Sorry Blue - If you think that Google helps the DOJ or anyone in tracking/spying on people you have a child-like understanding of the internet - not that that wasn't obvious already. (This is also an ironic statement because children understand the internet far better than you.)

    Governments have their own technology (scrapers, indexers, keyword processers, etc) for monitoring the internet unrelated to how you experience it through "The Google." I know this for a fact and you boy do you look stupid for making such a ridiculous statement.

    You're like someone who thinks reading People every day makes them an expert is sociology.

  • On the post: Experts Scratching Their Heads At House Judiciary's Awful CFAA Reform Proposal

    HiggsLight ( profile ), 27 Mar, 2013 @ 10:23am

    I'm so impressed

    Mike's ability to really fire up the trolls is so amazing.

    The more I see them around the more I know TechDirt must really be a thorn in the side of legacy crybabies and non-thinking conformists everywhere.

    I think I may buy some TD merch in appreciation.

  • On the post: One Year Later, SOPA/PIPA Supporters Still Completely Ignore The Public

    HiggsLight ( profile ), 18 Jan, 2013 @ 12:17pm

    As A Google Lobbyist...

    As a Google lobbyist (as in a user of Google products and a tech person who understands how search algorithms work) I cherish those that recognize my work in helping to defeat SOPA.

  • On the post: Anyone Who Says Copyright Cannot Be Used For Censorship Has No Credibility

    HiggsLight ( profile ), 19 Sep, 2012 @ 06:55pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    Hey AJ,

    This is off-topic I know (sorry everyone) but I don't think you're a troll. I think people misinterpret your comments because you're not having the same conversation as everyone else. There are also a lot of actual trolls here too so people are a bit quick with the accusation.

    The majority of participants here frame their comments as subjects of (or empathetic towards) unjust laws. You, a vocal minority, frame your comments from the perspective of a lawyer working within the law.

    Surely you can see how in such a situation a lawyer-type would be the definition of a troll entirely by default.

  • On the post: Patton Oswalt Explains That There Are No More Gatekeepers In Entertainment

    HiggsLight ( profile ), 31 Jul, 2012 @ 10:17am

    WTF - An Excellent Callout

    I think comedians and musicians have yet to figure out what natural allies they make in the fight against big content's megalomania.

    Their interests are largely aligned and they're fighting differing aspects of the conflict in a largely parallel but separate way. If they were to join forces - like Bandcamp partnering with Louis's tour venue network - they could start smashing some of the bigger complicated gates together in a coordinated, revenue-driven fashion.

    I'm wondering who's going to put Clear Channel on notice. To my knowledge they have yet to have the disruption turrets pointed their way.

  • On the post: Legacy Artists Sign Letter Demanding ISPs & Search Engines Pitch In To Return Them To Their Former Glory

    HiggsLight ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2012 @ 02:49pm

    I'd boycott the signatories if I didn't already ignore their stupid crappy music/tv shows anyway. I love that there's both a Lord and a Knight (Sir) on the list.

    Also, how many of those geriatric musicians even know how to turn on a computer without help? Less than half I bet.

    Boo-fucking-hoo-for-you. They're almost as bad as whiney rich bankers who write laughable opeds about how people are so "mean" to them.

  • On the post: Disappointing: Craigslist Sues Padmapper For Making Craigslist More Useful & Valuable

    HiggsLight ( profile ), 25 Jul, 2012 @ 09:05am

    Re:

    Aggregating is not copying. It's a form of automated linking and it's done with all kinds of content everywhere. There are even aggregator aggregators now - like Kayak.com. Craigslist is odd because it's seemingly designed to invite aggregation (all queries can be made into RSS) but doesn't seem to like it when someone does it well.

    I'm not sure what the difference would be between a service like Padmapper and a geo-smart RSS reader that could parse locations in the ads and include a map view.

  • On the post: Dropped By Dish, AMC Pulls An Anti-Viacom: Offers Breaking Bad Premiere Free To Dish Subscribers

    HiggsLight ( profile ), 13 Jul, 2012 @ 05:15pm

    We Are So Winning

    The more LoweryTroll shows up the more confident I get that the tide is turning in the battle for sensible thoughts about "owning" ideas.

    LoweryTroll's comment about the sock puppets was just priceless.

    You are just the cutest little troll ever.

  • On the post: ACTA Failure Inspires The Most Clueless Column Ever

    HiggsLight ( profile ), 11 Jul, 2012 @ 07:49am

    Ewan Morrison's MO

    I took a look at Ewan's article history at The Guardian and stumbled on this quote from another piece that sums up his MO nicely.

    From the first line:

    The internet is full of ironies. I, for one, could never have guessed that writing about the end of books would generate more income for me than actually publishing the damn things.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jan/30/self-e-publishing-bubble-ewan-morrison

    So there you go. Failed author is fail.

  • On the post: Ron And Rand Paul: Net Neutrality And The Public Domain Are Really Evil Collectivist Plots

    HiggsLight ( profile ), 05 Jul, 2012 @ 11:45am

    Hit the nail on the head.

    As such, I've always been intrigued by Ron Paul's libertarian stance against big government and excessive regulation...However, I'm perplexed by the new "internet freedom" manifesto from Ron Paul and Rand Paul, which seems like a hodgepodge of poorly thought out concepts -- some of which make sense, and some of which do not.


    That line sums up how I've viewed the whole of the "Pauls" platform for as long as I've been familiar with it. It's half sensible and half totally nuts. Just like Randian thinking in general.

  • On the post: Some Facts & Insights Into The Whole Discussion Of 'Ethics' And Music Business Models

    HiggsLight ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2012 @ 04:48pm

    A Case Study In New Business Models

    I've been a regular reader and lover of Techdirt for about 3 years. I've never bought their merch, clicked an ad, donated, or even added that much to the conversation.

    Until today!

    The onslaught of "The AC Now Known As LoweryTroll" finally motivated me to clean up my Paypal account so that I could properly pay for my TechDirt consumption. They didn't make me pay, I found my reason to buy. And this isn't the last time I'll be buying here.

    If LoweryTroll's obtuse and poorly drafted inanity pisses you off, makes you laugh, or both, make it your reason to buy - not your reason to take the troll bait.

    I'll just leave this here: http://www.techdirt.com/rtb.php

  • On the post: Charles Carreon Keeps Digging: Promises To Subpoena Twitter & Ars Technica To Track Down Parody Account

    HiggsLight ( profile ), 21 Jun, 2012 @ 01:27pm

    If I was under internet "attack" the LAST thing I would want is my wife getting involved in any way.

    I have an advantage that Carreon does not though as I understand how the internet works.

    In the words of another internet illiterate, "So much for the Streisand Effect!"

    LOL

  • On the post: Apple Does Not Have More Cash Than The US Gov't; Stop Saying That It Does

    HiggsLight ( profile ), 01 Aug, 2011 @ 12:15pm

    Oh thank goodness

    I had multiple family members exclaiming this to me over the weekend which produced big hard eye-rolls from me each time.

    The government budget is not like business or family budgets. It just doesn't work like that. The fundamentals of finance and civics will pretty much spell that out.

    Unfortunately those subjects aren't covered in normal US public school curricula.

  • On the post: Arresting People Associated With Anonymous Unlikely To Have The Impact The Feds Expect

    HiggsLight ( profile ), 20 Jul, 2011 @ 07:57am

    Trying something new...

    I agree that Anon's DDoS strategy is immature and likely to backfire. The flip-side is that Anon has shown a surprising ability to recreate itself, cells, ops, or whatever organizing principal a group may use to better fit their purposes. They've changed and adjusted their strategies during each progressive op cycle and I think they're starting to figure out what works and what doesn't.

    Anonymous, like Wikileaks, represent new ideas/movements that haven't figured out how to best fit themselves into the world. Julian Assange had originally planned on wikileaks being a massive crowd-sourced investigative outfit but that strategy failed. Instead of pursuing a losing strategy they changed course and instead focused on working with media partners. This has proven to be much more effective strategy.

    Making mistakes and utilizing misguided strategies is part-in-parcel with trying something new. There's no previous data to fall back on for guidance...so the dartboard strategy will continue until more metrics on success are produced.

    The one area that the authorities are going to struggle with for the foreseeable future is that by definition Anons don't know who other Anons are and therefore can't easily "flip" on higher-ups and/or co-conspirators. The cops are going to find that it's much more expensive to investigate Anons as you have to essentially get each one individually and not as a group like they do with the mafia or gangs.

  • On the post: After Watching This Video, Can Anyone Say That Remix Isn't An Act Of A Musician?

    HiggsLight ( profile ), 19 Jul, 2011 @ 01:12pm

    Get on the Madeon Train!

    Jesus. Everyone and their mother is posting this Madeon video...I mean, it's awesome...but it's everywhere.

    As someone who's spent a good deal of time over the past 10+ years musiking in front of a computer I can tell you unequivocally that Madeon's mashup not only took a ton of time to make, but that it was a lot less fun to make then what "real musicians" do. It's hours and hours of tedious prep work before one can even begin the "fun" parts.

    I can't imagine how many hours of cutting, pitching, and combining samples he had to go through before he was even able to make 15 secs that sounded good. Those first 15 secs are always the hardest but I still feel for the guy who has the discipline to stare at waveforms like that and not go insane. Imagine having to build a guitar every time you wanted to jam. It's like that.

    Anyone who thinks work like this isn't done by a musician may be right but for the wrong reasons. This kind of work is both advanced audio engineering and musicianship plus style and taste. Few people have even two of those things even if they have the gear...and that's why Madeon's so fly.

    He's got it all.