mudlock 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (141)

• On the post: House Republicans: Copyright Law Destroys Markets; It's Time For Real Reform

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 16 Nov, 2012 @ 09:41pm

  I've voted straight Democrat in the last 4 elections ('06, '08, '10, and '12) and the last Republican I voted for was Arlen Specter... who changed parties to the Democrats.
  
  But I'd consider voting for a Republican again if this became part of the platform. (And if they shift way left on abortion, gay rights, immigration, unions, budgets... heck, this and 3 out of 5 of those.)
  
  One problem: The 12 year term length, while I love it, is currently constrained by the Berne Convention, which requires "life + 50". But we could absolutely drop down to that from our current "life + 70". (And I'm fuzzy on the details, but I think we could drop works-for-hire down to a flat 50?)

• On the post: DailyDirt: Bad Science Is Coming to Get Us

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 07 Nov, 2012 @ 05:25pm

  "but at least statistics can be used to ferret out the lies."
  
  It's like rock-paper-scissors!
  
  Lies are flashier than statistics,
  
  Damn lies are more impressive than lies,
  
  Statistics reveal damn lies!

• On the post: Why Do Both Major Parties Suck So Badly On Civil Liberties?

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 05 Nov, 2012 @ 02:23pm

  1852

  Sometimes, knowing history will help you to repeat it.
  
  In 1852, both parties sucked badly on the #1 civil liberties issue of the day, slavery. The difference then, was it was the #1 issue, period, of the day. Factions in both parties, the Whigs and the Democrats, had strong, vocal supporters, and both parties had bitter internal arguments on the issue. That year, the Whigs cracked and began to disband. By 1856, a new party, founded on this one issue, had risen; the Republicans.
  
  Anti-slavery Democrats fled their party to join the Republicans; pro-slavery former-Whigs muddle about but eventually ended up as Democrats (because it's a two party system, so what else can you do?)

• On the post: Reddit, Trolling, Doxxing, Free Speech & Anonymity: Whoo Boy, Is This Stuff Complicated

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 15 Oct, 2012 @ 03:41pm

  Re: NOT gonna be PC...

  Oh good lord, someone's gone and put on their "poor put-upon target of misandry" sympathy-hat, and worse, the Techdirt community has labeled it insightful. Until now, I had thought better of it.

• On the post: Reddit, Trolling, Doxxing, Free Speech & Anonymity: Whoo Boy, Is This Stuff Complicated

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 15 Oct, 2012 @ 12:51pm

  Journalism is for the powerless

  The honorably goal of journalism is to protect the powerless; to, as they say, "speak truth to power".
  
  That's the big difference between, say, outing anonymous political dissidents living under an oppressive regime, and, for example, outing a teacher who takes sexually suggestive pictures of his students. The difference is who has the power.

• On the post: DailyDirt: Love Will Find A Way…

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 02 Oct, 2012 @ 05:27pm

  Re: so do plants living in pure oxygen still breed?

  One, it's the low oxygen level in certain interior parts of the plant that triggers the change, not the level of oxygen in the air.
  
  Two, this talks exclusively about pollen. The plant will still reproduce if other plants pollinate it, it just won't be pollinating any other plants.
  
  (Fun fact: each kernel of corn has its own thread of silk, which caught one grain of pollen and carried its genetic material down into the kernel.)

• On the post: DailyDirt: Detecting Signs Of Life

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 06 Sep, 2012 @ 06:25pm

  MARSbles

  Those marble thingies wouldn't happen to look anything like this:
  
  http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2012/09061416-mystery-photo-spherules.html
  
  Would they?

• On the post: Hackers Get Personal Info On 12-Million Apple Users… From An FBI Laptop

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 04 Sep, 2012 @ 12:20pm

  Re: Cyber-insecurity

  "Of course, the smart ones of those use burn phones purchased without a plan and loaded with prepaid minutes"
  
  Burner phones are passe. Now, there's an app for that.
  
  http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/08/burner-wants-to-help-you-temporarily-obfuscate-your-phone-number/

• On the post: Want To Know How Weak The GOP's Internet Freedom Platform Is? The MPAA Loves It

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 30 Aug, 2012 @ 12:47pm

  Re: Re: Re:

  Yup. Time for a better voting structure.
  
  http://www.electology.org/approval-voting

• On the post: Want To Know How Weak The GOP's Internet Freedom Platform Is? The MPAA Loves It

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 30 Aug, 2012 @ 12:46pm

  Re: Re: Re:

  Yup. Time for a better voting structure.
  
  http://www.electology.org/approval-voting

• On the post: DailyDirt: One Small Step For A Man…

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 28 Aug, 2012 @ 05:18pm

  Re: Re: One Small Step For Man Makes No Sense

  Are you implying that nonsense may sound more epic?
  
  Because no. (Unless you're Lewis Carrol.)

• On the post: Boston Shuts Down Uber Because Massachusetts Doesn't Approve Of The GPS

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 15 Aug, 2012 @ 04:54pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Hold on a sec, this is rational

  But it is a case of that. The devices being used to measure distances (consumer-grade cellphones) are not certified for accuracy. If you want to argue that cabs shouldn't have to have certified measurement tools for distance (as long as they make you aware of that fact) that's one thing, but the current law in MA is that they do need to use certified devices.

• On the post: Boston Shuts Down Uber Because Massachusetts Doesn't Approve Of The GPS

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 14 Aug, 2012 @ 03:36pm

  Good for the Goose

  But it's okay if Massachusetts wants to replace the gas tax with GPS-determined distances or stop the police from trying to (illegally) use GPS to track you?

• On the post: DailyDirt: Olympic Trivia

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 01 Aug, 2012 @ 05:11pm

  Sinister Shuttlecocks

  I'd imagine that you'd only want the feathers from one side so that they all curve the same way, making the shuttlecock spin smoothly.
  
  Left is probably just a convention, like which side of the road to drive on.

• On the post: Biggest Critic Of NBC's Awful Olympic Coverage Has Twitter Account Suspended For Tweeting NBC Exec's Email

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 30 Jul, 2012 @ 03:00pm

  Re: Re: Well, no one's perfect

  Al Gore is leading Google now?!

• On the post: Dear Permission Culture: This Is Why No One Wants To Ask For Your OK

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 30 Jul, 2012 @ 02:55pm

  Re: Re: Re:

  Wasn't this puzzle in Monkey Island 5: Copyright-infringer LeChuck?

• On the post: Biggest Critic Of NBC's Awful Olympic Coverage Has Twitter Account Suspended For Tweeting NBC Exec's Email

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 30 Jul, 2012 @ 02:30pm

  Well, no one's perfect

  Article ends with "Tim Berners-Lee, the Briton who created the internet."
  
  Berners-Lee, of course, invented the web; an important piece of, but not the, internet.

• On the post: DailyDirt: Stupiditry, Yah

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2012 @ 05:52pm

  Re: Re: Re: Stubbs story is a hoax

  Thanks! And don't beat yourself up. I mean, it's a hella-cute story, and even CNN carried it; they're never wrong! ;)

• On the post: DailyDirt: Stupiditry, Yah

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2012 @ 05:31pm

  Re: Stubbs story is a hoax

  ...I don't suppose you'd make a correction?

• On the post: DailyDirt: Stupiditry, Yah

  

  mudlock ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2012 @ 05:24pm

  Stubbs story is a hoax

  Shame on you, TechDirt for perpetuating it!
  
  http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/alaska-towns-feline-mayor-myth-busting-another-internet-hoax

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