Roy Wilson 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (1093)

• On the post: John Oliver Exposes The Sketchiness Of Political Grandstanding State Attorneys General

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 31 Oct, 2018 @ 10:37am

  I noticed the beginning of the current "in your face" corruption about midway through clinton's first term.
  
  Prior to that, "everyone KNEW", but at least some effort was made to hide what was really going on.
  
  It's just become more and more blatant since that point.
  
  "Yeah, I did it. And I'm the (president/senator/AG/FCC Head/cabinet member), so WTF you gonna do about it?"
  
  And please don't invoke party tribalism - BOTH sides are ridiculously corrupt.

• On the post: Pharrell Is Not At All Happy About Trump Using 'Happy' At His Rally… And He Might Actually Have A Case

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 30 Oct, 2018 @ 01:50pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  If the event wasn't flagged as you say, the most likely place to send such a letter would be the Legal offices of the RNC, not trump.
  
  It's a C&D. Which is basically a warning that you'll be sued if you do it again.
  
  Since it's such an obvious publicity stunt, expect ANYTHING by the performer to be flagged in the Do Not Use column.
  
  I'm kinda wondering if the original performer even holds the copyright - as the article mentioned, it was pulled from ASCAP / BMI and turned over to a "shady" organization.

• On the post: Pharrell Is Not At All Happy About Trump Using 'Happy' At His Rally… And He Might Actually Have A Case

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 30 Oct, 2018 @ 01:43pm

  Re: Re: Re:

  Frankly, it was most likely an oversight. Or do you think Republicans are so organized that they can put on an event in less than eleven hours?
  
  The event was set up weeks ago, and the playlist probably hasn't been gone over since.

• On the post: Pharrell Is Not At All Happy About Trump Using 'Happy' At His Rally… And He Might Actually Have A Case

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 30 Oct, 2018 @ 12:55pm

  Re:

  As I mentioned, it's a publicity stunt.
  
  That said, the ignorance of how the legal system in the US work, from arrests, bail, civil filings, etc. that I see here daily is, to coin a phrase, "deplorable".

• On the post: Pharrell Is Not At All Happy About Trump Using 'Happy' At His Rally… And He Might Actually Have A Case

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 30 Oct, 2018 @ 12:52pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re:

  Oh, PLEASE!
  
  The letter was a publicity stunt. The law firm that sent it has the resources to find out exactly who is liable in a suit over it.
  
  It's also a simple Cease and Desist letter, not a Filing.
  
  So long as no Republican uses any of that guy's songs for public consumption, there will be no law suit.

• On the post: Pharrell Is Not At All Happy About Trump Using 'Happy' At His Rally… And He Might Actually Have A Case

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 30 Oct, 2018 @ 12:00pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re:

  Election campaigns are generally incorporated to prevent just such suits, like any other business.

• On the post: Pharrell Is Not At All Happy About Trump Using 'Happy' At His Rally… And He Might Actually Have A Case

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 30 Oct, 2018 @ 11:27am

  Re: Re:

  It'll go just as far as it would if they'd sent that letter to Mike Masnick or your local school board.
  
  If you want Standing in a case and want to win it, you've gotta file against the correct entities.
  
  This is no different than suing the Bride at a wedding because her wedding planner didn't get permission from the copyright holder to play the particular song used for the first dance.

• On the post: Pharrell Is Not At All Happy About Trump Using 'Happy' At His Rally… And He Might Actually Have A Case

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 30 Oct, 2018 @ 11:01am

  Re: Who puts on the event?

  Agreed. It's not so much firewalling as it is simple logistics. The speaker shows up to speak. Everything else is handled by others.

• On the post: Texas E-Voting Machines Switching Votes For Non-Nefarious But Still Stupid Reasons

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 29 Oct, 2018 @ 02:17pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: It's not all that simple...

  I was referring to the machine used to "count" your paper ballot.
  
  Once the machines get involved, the probability for skullduggery skyrockets.
  
  The 60's era booths, all mechanical, are a lot harder to hack - unless someone swaps the paper ID strips over the levers around.
  
  If you use a machine to print a paper ballot that will be machine read, the simplest way to do so is to barcode the printed slip instead of optically reading either the printed candidate names or the "checkmarks" next to them.
  
  Now you've got to trust that the voting machine printed the correct barcode for your selections, AND that the counting machine is not only reading them correctly, but hasn't been "fixed" to discard or swap selections.
  
  As to shipping the tally boxes offsite for counting, Chicago proved decades ago how easy it is to swap those boxes with others containing the "correct" votes.
  
  There's no simple solution. But any method involving software should be suspect from the get-go.

• On the post: We Brought Our Election Simulation Game To Chicago… And Learned The Chicago Way

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 29 Oct, 2018 @ 02:04pm

  Re: Re: Is anyone really unaware of it?

  It's not all corruption. If you put everything to a public vote, nothing ever gets done - the only people who show up to vote are the naysayers.
  
  We "hire" (elect) people to do a job. Second guessing them should have been done before you voted them in.

• On the post: We Brought Our Election Simulation Game To Chicago… And Learned The Chicago Way

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 29 Oct, 2018 @ 02:01pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re:

  There's a tremendous amount of back room and behind the scenes dealing with Federal and State "funding" to cities.
  
  If NY qualifies for a billion dollar grant to put a hydro dam on the Outtadaway River up in the Adirondacks, you can be sure it'll be siphoned into NYC "projects", leaving nothing to build the dam.

• On the post: We Brought Our Election Simulation Game To Chicago… And Learned The Chicago Way

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 29 Oct, 2018 @ 01:56pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re:

  Pfft. YOU would be screeching about it if those three cities voted Republican instead.
  
  Either way, they make the votes of the rest of the state useless.

• On the post: We Brought Our Election Simulation Game To Chicago… And Learned The Chicago Way

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 29 Oct, 2018 @ 11:14am

  Re: Re:

  Depends on where you live, and which seats you're voting for.
  
  NYC decides all Federal elections for the Democrat, no matter how all the rest of the State votes. Same for LA and Chicago.
  
  At the State and various Local levels, votes in those states may mean something. But at the Federal level, your vote is worthless - those cities will swamp the polls with Democrat votes.

• On the post: Texas E-Voting Machines Switching Votes For Non-Nefarious But Still Stupid Reasons

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 29 Oct, 2018 @ 09:53am

  Re:

  Read the article. They don't.

• On the post: Texas E-Voting Machines Switching Votes For Non-Nefarious But Still Stupid Reasons

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 29 Oct, 2018 @ 09:51am

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  Not a coverup. They just blame YOU for "poor security".
  
  As to the ATM itself, no, you don't see the amounts "changed". It just eats cards, or, my personal favorite, "Your financial institution cannot be reached" on the bank's OWN ATM.
  
  They glitch all the time.

• On the post: Texas E-Voting Machines Switching Votes For Non-Nefarious But Still Stupid Reasons

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 29 Oct, 2018 @ 09:00am

  Re: who cares really

  Log on with Facebook to VOTE!
  
  sigh...

• On the post: Texas E-Voting Machines Switching Votes For Non-Nefarious But Still Stupid Reasons

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 29 Oct, 2018 @ 08:50am

  Re: Re:

  It's so standardized, and has been for decades, it's almost impossible to believe it's accidental.
  
  Before Party Tribalism comments commence, it's reversing ALL straight ticket votes, not just for one party.

• On the post: Texas E-Voting Machines Switching Votes For Non-Nefarious But Still Stupid Reasons

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 29 Oct, 2018 @ 08:48am

  Re: Re: It's not all that simple...

  I'm all for paper ballots, no machines involved.
  
  While your e-vote solution sounds good, there's no way to tell if the machine is actually "counting" what the paper it spit out says it does.
  
  What if the machine is set to "reverse" every prime-numbered (D) vote for Governor, resetting on every X total votes? But shows it on your printout AND on screen as (D), but advances the (R) counter instead?
  
  Keep the machines out of it. Voting is IMPORTANT.
  
  Paper ballots and each site telephones in their final counts, right up the ladder.

• On the post: Texas E-Voting Machines Switching Votes For Non-Nefarious But Still Stupid Reasons

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 29 Oct, 2018 @ 08:42am

  Re: Re: Re:

  Probably not - ATM's get hacked daily. They save the banks so much money that the losses are just absorbed and never mentioned, other than an obscure line item on the quarterly reports to the stockholders.
  
  Ever get "surprised" with a new ATM card in the mail that you didn't ask for? Or if you bank online, a sudden request to change your password?
  
  Those aren't because your card was hacked. It's because the bank was hacked, and lost a ton of user info, including the "security codes" from the back of the cards.

• On the post: Texas E-Voting Machines Switching Votes For Non-Nefarious But Still Stupid Reasons

  

  Roy Wilson ( profile ), 29 Oct, 2018 @ 08:38am

  Re: Is it a bug or a feature?

  Voting machines in most (all?) states are bought by each county. They get a list of "approved" machines to pick from.
  
  Everything from paper ballots with pencils to the latest web-enabled horror touchscreen system.

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