alanbleiweiss 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (316) comment rss

  • On the post: Reporters Find Exposed Personal Data Via Google, Threatened With CFAA Charges

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 22 May, 2013 @ 01:48pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    uh complicit? explicit? expletive deleted? #FastRantTypingStrikesAgain

  • On the post: Reporters Find Exposed Personal Data Via Google, Threatened With CFAA Charges

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 22 May, 2013 @ 01:46pm

    Re: Re:

    While Google is not ultimately responsible for other the administration of other sites, they have chosen to take a stand against hacked sites and malware ridden sites, going so far as to block them from search results pages.

    Google claims to be on the side of security, yet they ignore the robots.txt file's disallow instructions, and not only that, but publicly display links found on a site where those links were clearly delineated as "disallow" in that file. As such, they are implicit in the breach.

  • On the post: Reporters Find Exposed Personal Data Via Google, Threatened With CFAA Charges

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 22 May, 2013 @ 11:48am

    Re: Don't go out of your way to write a scraper program!

    oh crap there's what appears to be a bomb over there. Fuck I better hide my eyes and not say anything.

    OOTB you are the personification of troll=stupidity

  • On the post: Reporters Find Exposed Personal Data Via Google, Threatened With CFAA Charges

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 22 May, 2013 @ 11:42am

    Companies that have asshats who don't give a crap about security are the norm - its inexcusable. The fact they can even file such a suit, or that the police state can bring charges against people who expose such crap is frightening.

    Just this morning in a cursory review of a prospective audit client's online presence, I did a Google search and discovered over 1,000 PDFs of customer invoices they blocked via robots.txt file but since Google now includes URLs of robots blocked files and slaps a "description not available due to robots instruction" that shit is wide open to anyone on the web, no hacking needed.

    Companies need to be held accountable for their massive security failings and Google needs to be held accountable as well, even though that shit should have been completely blocked and behind a secure firewall.

    The fact that this situation involved a couple reporters gives me little comfort in the notion that asshat companies might eventually be held accountable for causing such massive failings.

    We need a comprehensive overhaul of the system, one NOT determined by congress or lobbyists. One that severely penalizes the asshats that cause the problem and rewards the ones who expose it.

  • On the post: You've Got (No) Mail! Major Law Firm Blocks Employee Email Access

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 19 Apr, 2013 @ 06:35pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Users are idiots

    Exactly! Thanks AC - One of the most important life lessons I needed to grasp was "know when you don't know WTF you're talking about or doing" and "step away from the ____" whatever the ____ is that you are clueless about.

    While I am no better than anyone else, given that I am human, I am more likely to use what we all to quickly label as "common" sense.

    It's called "critical thinking" and most people do NOT use it.

  • On the post: You've Got (No) Mail! Major Law Firm Blocks Employee Email Access

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 19 Apr, 2013 @ 02:46pm

    Users are idiots

    I don't care how far we've come in educating the masses. The masses are still ludite-stupid in overwhelming ways. I've witnessed too many people educated, guided, cajoled, led, informed, encouraged and otherwise shown why they need to stop being stupid with their computer and internet habits.

    And too many of them nod their heads, spit out yes, thank you, what would I do without you and blah blah blah when they're given that assistance.

    Only to fall right back into stupid-land.

    Stupidity can't be extricated from the masses.

    But just for fun - let's take it further - when you're at work as an employee, why should you even be allowed to spend time with personal email? Save it for your break, on your own time, on your own connected device.

  • On the post: CISPA Passes The House, As 288 Representatives Don't Want To Protect Your Privacy

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 18 Apr, 2013 @ 03:45pm

    Senator Feinstein Supports Full Immunity

    Even if the White House threatens veto, it's possible Congress is going to shove this crap down our throats.

    I just got an email from California Senator Diane Feinstein:

    "As Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I will shortly be introducing a bill on information sharing which allows sharing of cyber intrusion data with the government with full immunity. In this way we hope to encourage a major effort between the public and private sector to share data so that cyber intrusion can be prevented."

    (emphasis added by me)

    Holy crap. I swear these wealthy, corporate shill people need to be thrown out on their asses. FULL IMMUNITY.

  • On the post: Thomas Cooley Law School's Reputation Is In The Dumps… So It's Thinking About Changing Its Name

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 12 Apr, 2013 @ 07:17pm

    Re:

    Xe ---- Blackwater --- Academi LLC

    hahaha a rogue mercenary providing hired thug company named "Academi" because it's most likely to be disassociative of their verified and testified and acknowledged criminal activity. (They've paid out almost $50 million in "fines" (read that payoffs to the fed so they could continue operating and continue getting contract work from the fed)...

    :-)

  • On the post: Thomas Cooley Law School's Reputation Is In The Dumps… So It's Thinking About Changing Its Name

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 12 Apr, 2013 @ 07:19pm

    So like wouldn't a "prestegious" university have fiduciary responsibility to perform due diligence when coming to an arrangement like this?

    I mean it doesn't take a rocket scientist (I am pretty sure no rocket scientists sit on the board at WMU but I could be wrong) to do some basic Googling to discover the overwhelming volume of complaints about the hack law school...

    So yeah I am betting on the belief someone got paid off to make this happen.

  • On the post: Copyright Troll Malibu Media Seeking 'Six Strikes' Info From Verizon In Lawsuit

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 03 Apr, 2013 @ 11:37pm

    Thank God

    Thank God. For a quick second, I actually thought "now that Prenda is on its deathbed, we have to pray that either John Steele opens up Salt Marsh LLC, with Alan Money as attorney of record, or we're going to have a whole lot of popcorn end up in the trash given how so little was needed during the "12 minutes".

    Now at least, Malibu Media had the forethought to take advantage of this opportunity and I for one only want to know how fast we can get this over to Judge Wright's court calendar.

  • On the post: ReDigi Loses: You Can't Resell Your MP3s (Unless You Sell Your Whole Hard Drive)

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 01 Apr, 2013 @ 12:21pm

    This is a horrific ruling. I completely detest the notion that you can't resell something you've legally purchased.

  • On the post: 'Internet Lawyer' Charles Carreon Has A New Best Friend And He's An SEO Expert Who Hates Anonymous Critics

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 31 Mar, 2013 @ 11:16pm

    Re: Alan why do you have to ruin a good apology that way?

    Sorry Tom. I just felt it important for me to clarify exactly what it was I was apologizing for because the TechDirt readers are sticklers for details and I respect this community.

    I'm also very glad to say for the record that having an actual dialogue with you via email was quite productive and helped us reach a positive outcome all around, so thank you for that.

  • On the post: 'Internet Lawyer' Charles Carreon Has A New Best Friend And He's An SEO Expert Who Hates Anonymous Critics

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 31 Mar, 2013 @ 10:10pm

    Re: Re: Puffed Up Chests - All the Rage

    Tom,

    I apologize for the derogatory unwarranted attacks I initially posted. They were uncalled for.

    I do not apologize for pointing out valid legitimate truth regarding the information I found on your web site that is extremely outdated.

    I do not apologize for taking pity on you for your belief that the only way to prove yourself is to conduct an SEO contest where you can put your entire team of employees to work on a wild joke of a success chase where I personally am just one single person, and where my time is more valuable than playing stupid "my dick is bigger than your dick" games.

  • On the post: 'Internet Lawyer' Charles Carreon Has A New Best Friend And He's An SEO Expert Who Hates Anonymous Critics

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 31 Mar, 2013 @ 08:37pm

    To Tom: Bullshit conferences

    For the record, those "bullshit conferences" I speak at that you refer to in your attack on my reputation? Rand Fishkin, Jim Boykin and Matt Cutts routinely attend and speak at those same conferences.

    Apparently you find yourself much more of an SEO expert than even those gentlemen as well.

    Just sayin.

  • On the post: 'Internet Lawyer' Charles Carreon Has A New Best Friend And He's An SEO Expert Who Hates Anonymous Critics

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 31 Mar, 2013 @ 08:35pm

    Re: Bullshit conferences

    argggh sorry anon - this six layer deep thread got the better of me. Obviously that last comment was meant for our friend Tom.

  • On the post: 'Internet Lawyer' Charles Carreon Has A New Best Friend And He's An SEO Expert Who Hates Anonymous Critics

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 31 Mar, 2013 @ 08:34pm

    Bullshit conferences

    And for the record, those "bullshit conferences" I speak at that you refer to in your attack on my reputation? Rand Fishkin, Jim Boykin and Matt Cutts routinely attend and speak at those same conferences.

    Apparently you find yourself much more of an SEO expert than even those gentlemen as well.

    Just sayin.

  • On the post: 'Internet Lawyer' Charles Carreon Has A New Best Friend And He's An SEO Expert Who Hates Anonymous Critics

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 31 Mar, 2013 @ 08:28pm

    Puffed Up Chests - All the Rage

    Tom,

    By now you will have possibly actually read the email I sent you a short while ago.

    I don't go around making claims about achievements the way you do, let alone achievements anyone can obviously check for themselves to see you don't have the rankings you claimed.

    Instead, I choose to discuss achievements with prospective clients. In private. Because they're none of your business.

    Unlike you, I don't go around in public proclaiming I'm one of the top four SEO experts in the world. While I definitely come across as an asshat from time to time in my ranting, I learned a long time ago that such arrogance is even more immature and foolish than my ranting about others who act like asshats.

    In fact, personally, many years ago, I routinely went around filled with the type of arrogance you clearly have expressed repeatedly. And I don't know about you, however for me, in those days, it was a result of a severe lack of self esteem.

    Puff up your chest as big as you wish. It's quite entertaining.

  • On the post: 'Internet Lawyer' Charles Carreon Has A New Best Friend And He's An SEO Expert Who Hates Anonymous Critics

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 31 Mar, 2013 @ 07:09pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: More about Reputation Management

    He's pissed I ignored his repeated direct emails demanding I accept his challenge to an SEO duel. And now he has to get double-pissed because he linked to a different person with my name - a guy who lives in Florida (I've never lived in florida) who owns a sign company (I've never owned a sign company) who has a C rating on the BBB.

    It's like maybe Tom got advice from Charles, and now they're trying some sort of reverse Alan Cooper on my identity or something. :-)

  • On the post: 'Internet Lawyer' Charles Carreon Has A New Best Friend And He's An SEO Expert Who Hates Anonymous Critics

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 31 Mar, 2013 @ 06:58pm

    Re: Re: Re: "Internet lawyer"

    Tom,

    You present your company as a professional services provider. Yet you have extremely outdated content on your site. Content that is misleading given that you are no longer ranking for the phrases referenced. Content that is outdated related to techniques and methods that have long since died in the world of SEO.

    If you want to rant at me, and yet you can't even find the content on your own site, perhaps you've been too busy in work and life, and have left the site relegated to someone younger in the field than you. That's possible. Maybe you're too busy doing great work for actual clients to be bothered.

    Whatever the reason, I simply pointed it out and drilled holes in the content your own site claims and puts out to the world.

    I don't need to take your challenge. I have nothing in this to prove. My clients and prospective clients have all the access to all the real world data that shows I know what I'm doing.

    Feel free to continue referring to the conferences I speak at the way you do. That's your right to do if you so choose. No skin off my back.

  • On the post: 'Internet Lawyer' Charles Carreon Has A New Best Friend And He's An SEO Expert Who Hates Anonymous Critics

    alanbleiweiss ( profile ), 31 Mar, 2013 @ 06:50pm

    Yeah You Found The Wrong Guy

    Tom,

    First of all, thank you for including my name in your article. Since you are highly skilled at your work, you did an OUTSTANDING job of linking to a BBB entry for someone else who happens to have the same name as me. I have never owned a sign company, nor have I ever lived in Florida.

    Clearly you have invested many decades of time and effort in your work to have failed to even consider that possibility.

    Maybe you really are that good at SEO. All of the references I made came directly from your site. Your site claimed top rankings organically for a variety of high value internet marketing phrases, not the one you are now waving on high. None of the ones your own site referenced bring your company up anywhere in the first five pages of results.

    That was the basis for my position.

    SO before you blow vomit all over your shoes again please. Consider investing that $100,000 in more education for yourself. Or actual SEO that would help you get those more difficult phrases back that you lost forever ago.

    Just a suggestion. Because I am far from perfect - yet at least I actually did real research on you before I commented here, as opposed to your quick shooting blind rebuttal that had no basis in factual response to mine.

Next >>