Vidiot 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (907)

• On the post: Have We Considered That Maybe Elon Musk Just Hated Twitter & The People Who Use It All Along?

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 24 Jul, 2023 @ 01:07pm

  X Marks the Spot

  So apropos that down through the ages, the crossed scratch-mark has indicated ignorance and illiteracy. "Last Will & Testament of Wilbur Johnson: His Mark..." and a greasy scrawled "X" to seal the deal. Not worth wondering why a so-called "genius" is obsessed with anonymity, invisibility... and ignorance. Let's just call him "quirky".

• On the post: Flying Dog Brewery Wins Against North Carolina On ‘Vulgar’ Beer Label Art

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 24 May, 2022 @ 06:34am

  "... depicts the use of alcoholic beverages in a scene that is... undignified..." So... that means about 75% of AB InBev's TV advertising can't air in NC. I'm thinking top hats, monocles and morning coats must be required, to help bolster that NC no-shirts-no-shoes image.

• On the post: New York Court Says Denying Access To A Lawyer Somehow Isn’t A Constitutional Violation

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 16 May, 2022 @ 06:44am

  I consider my comment on an article that drops in 2030 to be an investment in the future. Added that date to my calendar!

• On the post: Report: Most Mental Health, Prayer Apps Have Abysmal Security And Privacy Standards

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 09 May, 2022 @ 07:06am

  I do understand the similarities and dangers here, but seeing the phrase "mental health and prayer" in print is creating a cognitive dissonance for me, kind of along the lines of "pickles and ice cream".

• On the post: New York Court Says Denying Access To A Lawyer Somehow Isn’t A Constitutional Violation

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 09 May, 2022 @ 06:59am

  Carve this in stone?

  The scary part here... as is often the case at District and Appellate levels... is the potential for a soft-around-the-edges, one-off kind of case to become enduring case law. Prosecutors generally know that when a detainee equivocates like this -- unequipped to voice a decisive demand for counsel -- that they very well may get slapped down at some later point during trial by a sympathetic judge. And that's how it ought to be -- interpreted on an individual basis, not based on ill-formed precedent.

• On the post: The Josh Hawley Mug: It Makes Him An Asshole, But Shouldn't Make Him A Copyright Infringer

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 18 Feb, 2022 @ 08:55am

  Re:

  How about one of those "invisible" thermal overprints... the arm doesn't hit full "sieg" azimuth until you fill the mug with a hot liquid...

• On the post: Chip Shortage Forces Canon To Issue Workarounds For Its Own Obnoxious DRM

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 12 Jan, 2022 @ 08:35am

  Shout out, of course, to old Mr. Gillette, who used to give away the razors to keep the suckers coming back to buy blades...

  I used to seethe every time my Canon laser printer harassed me about aftermarket/remanufactured toner cartridges... no less annoying than the inkjet thing. And then I realized how crappy the cheap cartridges had been making the print look -- streaky, dirty and all the rest. Not the self-righteous outcome I would have hoped for. Luckily, my move to full-price media coincided with a drastic drop in paper printing, and I'm resigned to buying a new set once a year.

• On the post: Cable TV Cord Cutting Continues To Set Records, Though Streaming TV Is Slowing Down Too

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 10 Jan, 2022 @ 05:17am

  Next wave?

  Can't wait to see the next reportable set of statistics: when streaming platforms' uptake is besieged by programming fragmentation. We've seen it in our household... hooked on a favorite (bingeable) series, only to find that the license is yanked from that service and moved to another. Do we follow? Reject the old one, or keep it? We've probably seen it a half dozen times, and it's not a new phenomenon -- probably over the last three years, but getting way more common. And have I added subscriptions for every new service my favs have migrated to? Of course not... I'd be back in the cable TV "triple play" price range in a heartbeat. And last week, the new Paramount service pulled all extant licenses for any flavor of Star Trek, consolidated now under their premium-priced roof. Will they (and others) see pushback? Will I have to pull out some old standard-def DVD's?

• On the post: Misquoting Einstein Is Fast And Stupid, But Not Accurate

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 30 Sep, 2021 @ 06:49am

  Cite me, please

  "I knew by this point that I wanted to write this down somewhere."

  Knowing, or even suspecting, that a stated fact isn't factual can end in frustration. I've wanted to correct a handful of inaccurate Wikipedia entries, for instance, but doing that would run afoul of the citation requirement... no one ever made an on-the-record recitation of the fact I knew so well, sometimes even firsthand. That might be one of the few practical justifications for maintaining a vanity blog... not because you think anyone, anywhere might read it, but at least you can cite your own words elsewhere.

• On the post: Miami Beach PD Blocks Enforcement Of New Law Miami Beach Cops Abused To Arrest People For Filming Them

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 02 Sep, 2021 @ 02:21pm

  I think "vague laws" deserves its own tab on the Techdirt masthead... would fill up pretty quickly.

• On the post: A Guy Walks Into A Bra

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 02 Sep, 2021 @ 02:10pm

  I need to read things more carefully

  "...In the twenty-odd years since that dinner bra manufacturers did eventually..."

  (Runs to Google to look up "dinner bra"... man, I knew they were specialized, but I can't imagine what you'd do differently...)

• On the post: After Multiple Reports Of DOJ Targeting Journalists' Communications, The DOJ Finally Says It Will Stop Targeting Journalists

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 09 Jun, 2021 @ 10:30am

  Hmmm... while the DOJ is still flush with proclaimed enlightenment and good intentions, can we drop the crusade for embedded backdoors?

• On the post: Content Moderation Case Study: Knitting Community Ravelry Bans All Talk Supporting President Trump (2019)

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 14 May, 2021 @ 02:04pm

  No such content moderation worries for another group of textile-affinity hobbyists: the "Tiny Pricks Project" created a worldwide group of embroiderers who, presumably using tiny pricks, added inane quotes from The Orange One and his henchman to vintage pieces of embroidery they'd found at tag sales and thrift shops. At times, new submissions appeared within the hour of their utterance, mostly on Instagram... crafters working overtime to soothe their collective outrage.

• On the post: Patent Troll Sable Networks Apparently Needs To Learn A Lesson: Cloudflare Wants To Destroy Another Troll

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 26 Apr, 2021 @ 03:55pm

  Re: Missed opportunity?

  Newegg made their money off this the old-fashioned way: I've been a loyal Newegg customer since the day I learned they were fighting the shopping cart patent troll.

• On the post: MyPillow CEO Sues Dominion For Violating His Company's Right To Say The Things About Election Fraud It Definitely Isn't Saying

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 20 Apr, 2021 @ 10:33am

  Re: Who's filing these?

  There was a splashy article yesterday that said that Alan Dershowitz, lawyer-name-for-hire, was "of counsel" on this, and helping them sort out "First Amendment issues". Which fits just fine.

• On the post: Apple Tells Congress That It Will Reallow Parler's App In The App Store, Now That It Has A Moderation Plan In Place

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 20 Apr, 2021 @ 10:46am

  "In the period since Apple removed the Parler app from the App Store, Apple’s App Review Team has engaged in substantial conversations with Parler..."

  ... which probably means no other developer has had a single moment of Apple's time, and apps are backlogged. Nothing like a good Congressional Inquiry to gum up the works.

• On the post: MyPillow CEO Sues Dominion For Violating His Company's Right To Say The Things About Election Fraud It Definitely Isn't Saying

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 20 Apr, 2021 @ 10:40am

  Blame Citizens United

  Corporations are people, too, they say... except for when they're something else; and when a stupid person says bad things that make his corporation look bad, is he doing harm to himself, or to his citizen-corporation, or both? And who has standing to demand recompense... the human offender, or the tarnished citizen-corporation? It's beyond talking out of both sides of your mouth; more like both ends of your alimentary canal...

• On the post: Small Australian Company Cracked The San Bernardino Shooter's IPhone For The FBI

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 15 Apr, 2021 @ 12:44pm

  Attention, L3 Harris customers... buy a new Stingray setup, and get 10 free iPhone cracks! Of course they were bought by Harris; hope Mark Dowd is relaxing every day on Bondi Beach with an oilcan of Foster's.

• On the post: US Press Continues To Pretend The 'Digital Divide' Just Mysteriously Appeared One Day

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 05 Apr, 2021 @ 07:56am

  Re:

  Or, if you're a lobbyist, something went right.

• On the post: Another Report Shows US Consumers Don't Get The Broadband Speeds They Pay For

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 25 Feb, 2021 @ 02:43pm

  And so... how do we all feel about the prospects under Acting Chairwoman Rosenworcel? At least she's not a revolving-door alumna of a telecom giant, like the last slug.

Next >>