Roy Wilson 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Tim Berners-Lee Moves Forward With His Big Plan To Fix The Web By Bringing Back Its Original Decentralized Promise

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 06 Oct, 2018 @ 05:51am

    I saw a non-tech article on this a few days ago. I thought they were trying to sell a centralized cloud space for personal data - login name, passwords, etc. It started with the usual "Are you tired of having to remember lots of names and passwords to get to your favorite sites?" and went on from there.

    Shotgun marketing, I suppose.

  • On the post: Israeli Tech Company's Spyware Still Being Used To Target Journalists And Activists

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 05 Oct, 2018 @ 11:15am

    Re: Re: Re: No, it STARTS with:

    Walt? Walt Disney? I thought you were dead....

  • On the post: Confused Swedish Ad Board Says 'Distracted Boyfriend Meme' Is Sexist

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 03 Oct, 2018 @ 08:37am

    Re: Re: Jackass and intercultural differences

    Look up the word "attractive", and "attract" in any dictionary not written by a social justice warrior.

    BTW, I've seen gay women do exactly what that meme portrays as well. I've also seen straight women do the exact same.

    Park your SJW attitude and consider that the bulk of humanity is capable of admiring the landscape without feeling a need to go camping in it.

  • On the post: A Mix Of Good And Bad Ideas In NAFTA Replacement

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 02 Oct, 2018 @ 03:08pm

    Re:

    Same as any contract with a clause later found to be illegal. That clause is no longer enforceable.

  • On the post: A Mix Of Good And Bad Ideas In NAFTA Replacement

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 02 Oct, 2018 @ 12:25pm

    Re:

    Anthem. United States Marine Corps Anthem.

    From the Halls of Montezuma....

  • On the post: A Mix Of Good And Bad Ideas In NAFTA Replacement

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 02 Oct, 2018 @ 11:03am

    It'll change

    NAFTA is *law*, not Treaty. The same for the "new" changed agreement.

    Congress will have to vote it into Law.

    Anyone ever seen them do that without adding six hundred amendments?

    There's some weird other things in the new Agreement as well - like opening up Canada's Dairy production to the US. WHY? Milk is heavily subsidized in the US. The last thing we need is MORE milk coming in. Coals to Newcastle...

  • On the post: Cities, Counties Say FCC 5G Plan A Massive Handout To Wireless Carriers

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 01 Oct, 2018 @ 09:59am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Can someone point me to...

    They claim the reason non-urban areas don't get even half the speed they're paying for is "network congestion".

    At 20Gbps and a million devices per square kilometer, does ANYONE believe they's "solved" not just the current congestion problem, but one at 20x the speed and 100x current standard density?

    That's why I wanted to know if anyone could find the G5 Specification or Standard. IEEE usually handles that type of thing (cost me a hundred bucks years ago for the 9600 Standard), and they have... NOTHING.

    I suspect it's just more of the usual - promise Congress they'll give us telepathy and instant teleportation if they could just see their way to a half billion dollar tax break this year....

  • On the post: Cities, Counties Say FCC 5G Plan A Massive Handout To Wireless Carriers

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 01 Oct, 2018 @ 09:55am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Can someone point me to...

    Apologies - I Googled (to get Mike points :)) "square feet in a square kilometer", and screwed it up all on my own from that point.

    Still, a million devices running 20Gbps download in a square kilometer?

    The best I can get over cable is 400Mbps, and I've never seen that even get close to topping out - even downloading ISO's of linux releases.

  • On the post: Cities, Counties Say FCC 5G Plan A Massive Handout To Wireless Carriers

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 01 Oct, 2018 @ 07:56am

    Re: Re: Can someone point me to...

    Theoretical specs we can't read until it's deployed?

    Shades of obamacare "arguments" there.

    If you can't see the spec, how can you build to it? Who "owns" it - it must be patentable.

    20 Gbps on a million devices in a square kilometer? That sounds like Vaporware, or as DEC used to put it, "RSN" (Real Soon Now!). That's 1.08^7 square feet. Ten devices per square foot. At 20Gbps download?

  • On the post: Cities, Counties Say FCC 5G Plan A Massive Handout To Wireless Carriers

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 01 Oct, 2018 @ 06:43am

    Can someone point me to...

    ...the actual engineering specs for "5G"?

    IEEE doesn't have them. I've been told that the entire "#G rating" is nothing but advertising hype pulled out of a hat by the various cell manufacturers and providers.

    Is there an actual spec? Anyone know where to find such?

  • On the post: Giving Cops The Finger Is Protected Speech, Says Another Federal Court

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 28 Sep, 2018 @ 06:22am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: The bird is the word!

    "The bird" is the first two fingers raised in a Vee, knuckles towards the person being "flipped off".

    "The finger" is simply a raised middle finger.

  • On the post: Giving Cops The Finger Is Protected Speech, Says Another Federal Court

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 28 Sep, 2018 @ 04:50am

    Re: Re: The bird is the word!

    But she didn't flip him the bird, she gave him the finger. They're different "hand signals".

  • On the post: Facebook Tells Cops Its 'Real Name' Policy Applies To Law Enforcement Too

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 27 Sep, 2018 @ 03:04pm

    Re: The trouble is ...

    It's not much different in the US to change your legal name. IIRC, you need to post publicly in a local media (usually the LEGAL NOTICES section of a local paper) for thirty days, then provide that as proof before either a Justice or an Administrative Law Judge (the guys who handle parking tickets), pay the filing fee (under $50), and the Court will issue the paperwork you need to get your Driver's License and such changed.

    If you want your Birth Certificate changed to another name (or any other changes), you need to hire a lawyer to deal with the Social Security Administration, and it may get done before you die of old age.

    I'm in prison country, I see the "I, Tony Gizzidichi, will hereafter be known as Fat Tony" in the local papers frequently.

    I've been tempted to change my name to Innocent Bystander on several occasions. :)

  • On the post: Facebook Tells Cops Its 'Real Name' Policy Applies To Law Enforcement Too

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 27 Sep, 2018 @ 02:32pm

    Re: Does not forbid fake profiles

    Considering how many people use cellphones with the GPS still on to access Facebook, don't be so sure they don't know how much travelling you do...

  • On the post: Study Buried For Four Years Shows Crime Lab DNA Testing Is Severely Flawed

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 27 Sep, 2018 @ 09:25am

    Re: Re: Re:

    Prosecution presents it's case and evidence TO the Defense, including Discovery. THEN they give their "best" deal for a guilty plea.

    DNA testing and retesting is only done if it goes to Trial.

    For those wondering... Get a lawyer to watch ten minutes of any cop or "court" show. They'll spend the whole ten minutes yelling "OBJECTION!". It's ALL BS - NOT how the system actually works.

  • On the post: Study Buried For Four Years Shows Crime Lab DNA Testing Is Severely Flawed

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 27 Sep, 2018 @ 09:22am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    I was pointing out that the Prosecution routinely has DNA samples re-tested before going to trial. So the defense is fighting TWO positives from TWO labs.

    Which is why the Defense often doesn't request a third (or fifth) testing.

    Cost? Last I looked, 8-10 years back, a clean blood sample ran around $3,500 for a matchable stain.

    Frankly, the bulk of cases where DNA retesting is demanded by the Defense are either Public Defender or expensive private attorneys. In those cases, if it's NOT requested, there's usually a reason - if that third test ALSO matches, the Defense is sunk.

  • On the post: Study Buried For Four Years Shows Crime Lab DNA Testing Is Severely Flawed

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 27 Sep, 2018 @ 09:03am

    Re: Re: Re:

    You seem to be missing the point. DNA evidence may ALWAYS be retested at the request of the Defense, at a lab of the Defense's choosing.

    I gave the only exception to that - single sample destroyed by testing.

  • On the post: Study Buried For Four Years Shows Crime Lab DNA Testing Is Severely Flawed

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 27 Sep, 2018 @ 08:05am

    Re: Re: Re:

    Again, Prosecutors routinely have DNA evidence RE-tested before trial.

    Two (or more) positive results may be why the Defense opts not to have a third test done.

    In the rare cases where DNA evidence is challenged, it's often because the sample was so small it was destroyed in the first test. When a Prosecutor is faced with that situation, they make sure the rest of their evidence is as solid as possible.

    There's no massive conspiracy here.

  • On the post: Study Buried For Four Years Shows Crime Lab DNA Testing Is Severely Flawed

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 27 Sep, 2018 @ 07:53am

    Re:

    The TV shows where lab geeks also collect evidence in the field, question suspects, carry guns, make arrests, and have $20,000,000 minimum in lab equipment?

    The show where everyone who has ever worked in a lab or overseen one yells at the TV over bad procedure if they have the ill luck to see a lab scene on TV?

    That CSI?
    :)

  • On the post: Study Buried For Four Years Shows Crime Lab DNA Testing Is Severely Flawed

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 27 Sep, 2018 @ 07:40am

    Re:

    Don't blame the Prosecution. It's the Defense's job to challenge evidence.

    A retest at another lab that returns a different result is something the Prosecution does NOT want to see come up.

    There's a huge difference between enough evidence for an arrest and evidence to be presented at trial.

    DNA testing is still fairly expensive. Prosecutors don't care, it's tax money paying for it. So they'll routinely have DNA evidence retested before trial.

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