barrenwaste 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Will There Be A New Bittorrent?

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 19 Nov, 2007 @ 09:30am

    Re: Re: Bittorrents failings

    You want to stop the notion that it's ok to steal copyrighted software, music, and other intellectual property, Coageartist Coward? Fine, force the industries involved to provide quality product at a resonable price without the threat of imminent lawsuits. Untill that happens the public will happily go on stealing intellectual property.

  • On the post: TSA Inspections Are Still A Farce

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 18 Nov, 2007 @ 05:31pm

    Are you guys serious?

    1) What does a terrorist look like? I know a guy who dresses in camo and combat boots but couldn't make a pipe bomb to save his life and another who walks around in slacks and sweaters and makes napalm for fun. You cannot tell the intentions of a person simply by looking at appearances. The fat businessman with the breathing strips is just as likely to be a terrorist as the stumblebum with greasy hair.

    2) The TSA is to PC? Never give up your rights, because once you do, you have to fight the same battles over and over to get them back. We have the right to privacy, which includes not being strip-searched on the way to Florida. We also have the right to bear arms, or at least we are supposed to. That means that if I wish to carry my pocket knife with me, or even a good pig-sticker, I should be able to. And last, but not least, there is no way that searches should be based on ethnicity or race. Terrorism is not confined to a certain sect of peoples.

    3) And finally, profiling is a joke. Not only is it inaccurate as all hell, but anybody with two brain cells to rub together knows about it and will act accordingly. You can fake your way through any personality test or criteria in existance. There is no way to stop a person from killing another once they have made up thier mind to sacrifice thier life in the doing of it.

    The upshot of all this is that the TSA can look all it wants, and it will find some. Mostly though it will just weed out the stupid and teach the rest how to succesfully attack our citizens. It will not, however, lessen the amount of people willing to do it, nor lessen thier determination. So, people, don't voluntarily give up your rights and freedoms for the illusion of safety. You aren't safe, you never will be. That's the risk you take in living. Deal with it.

  • On the post: Do Parents Really Need An Online Test To Know If Their Kids Are Obese?

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 18 Nov, 2007 @ 04:58pm

    Re: Obesity by vanessa

    I have to disagree on the forced diet. I have been dirt poor, even lived on the streets for a few years, and never failed to get enough healthy food in America. People choose to eat the high caloric foods because they are easier to prepare. You can get healthy foods at large discounts, and even free, if you put some time and effort into it. Then there is the preperation time. A box of mac and cheese with a hotdog for lunch takes only a couple of minutes, where as preparing your lunches with healthy foods means you take part of your leasure time the night before. Also, many people are confused as to what a healthy diet is. Take many vegans for example. A diet excluding meat products is not a healthy one, yet many choose to be vegan because it's "healthier". The problems are many, but the biggest I see are inaccurate standards, uninformed choices, and lack of motivation. Add that up and you get a population of mobile man-fills and ambulatory accordians.

  • On the post: Do Parents Really Need An Online Test To Know If Their Kids Are Obese?

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 17 Nov, 2007 @ 05:53am

    I'm overweight....

    according to those charts, and, when asked, most people say that I look like I weigh much less. I am five foot seven and a half inches tall and weigh in at just under one hundred and eighty pounds. What it doesn't state is that I can pull backflips and roundoffs at the age of thirty, or that I can throw almost twice my bodyweight over my head. Not only is it inaccurate, but it targets "obese" people when our country is also having an equaly large problem with people being underweight. If the government really desires to help it should go back to advocating exercise and outdoor activities. Giving the populace another scale to highlight thier personal flaws isn't really going to help much.

  • On the post: Wireless Piggybacking Is Still Not A Problem

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 15 Nov, 2007 @ 02:50pm

    Piggybacking

    In the area of my business you can't help but piggyback. There are so many unsecured users that's it's almost impossible to be sure who's you are using at any given moment. I log on and half the time it's from the college guys who rent the apartment above my store. How do you regulate in such a situation? I pay for my wireless, they pay for thiers. The buildings to the left and right, behind and across the road are the same. Nothing is lost in these cases, and there is no law that they can break that will reflect on me. In order for authorities to prosecute me there will have to be either illegal content or evidence of such on my computer, regardless of what traffic they monitor.

  • On the post: You Can't Legislate Stupidity Away… But Can You Automate It Away?

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 12 Nov, 2007 @ 12:19pm

    Missing the Point

    It's not a matter of right or wrong. Intelligent people can be wrong, stupid people can be right. It's not a matter of opinions. It's a matter of well reasoned thoughts backed by sound logic, and yes, even intuition. Just because you are wrong sometimes doesn't lower your IQ. However, those who can't talk without cussing every second word, have little or no knowledge of the subject, and blame thier misunderstandings on everyone but themselves are, to be blunt, idiots. A good sight will have clashing opinions and unending verbal battles. A really good sight will have them without the infantismal blatherings that only state the posters opinion of the opositions sexual habits, ancestry, and bank account. An occasional jibe is fine, even confrontations of sarcastic wit. Of course, there does have to be wit involved.

  • On the post: Press, Parents And 'Experts' Blew Online Safety Threat To Children Way Out Of Proportion

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 12 Nov, 2007 @ 07:48am

    Re: How Much Caution is to Much

    You are joking, right? A six year old boy was brought up on sexual misconduct charges cause he kissed a six year old girl at school. It's a good thing that predater was caught. There are groups of people out there pretending to be adolecents with the singular goal of seducing socialy maladjusted adults online and bringing them to "justice". At least 90 percent of these monsters are then let go without charges because it was found that they did nothing wrong and that the person trying to seduce them did all the dirty talking and inuendo. Yup, that's protecting America for you. It's about time a large organiztion stood up and said enough is enough. As it stands it is illegal for a guy to ask a girl out if she says it was offensive or frightning after he asks. Honestly now, think about this. How many guys are just nervouse as hell, hoping not to get stomped on emotionally, and blurt out the wrong thing? Is that something that should be held against you for life? Something to keep you from getting jobs or moving without registering an address?

  • On the post: Would Congress Withhold Financial Aid From Colleges That Don't Offer A Subscription To Napster?

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 12 Nov, 2007 @ 07:30am

    Government Whores

    Just another instance of the government whoring itself out to the gents with the monetary units. Other than a sentence or two in Government classes this subject shouldn't even be brought up by the authority figures. I don't advocate ignoring problems nor turning a blind eye, but the only time this should be brought up is in law classes.

    Now, I'm not stupid enough to believe that things like this haven't been going on for generations, and it has, quite frankly, become a more of our society. If that doesn't scare everybody shitless, then I don't know what will. Put some honest to God, whatever god you worship, thought into this for a moment and I'm sure you'll see why.

  • On the post: You Can't Legislate Stupidity Away… But Can You Automate It Away?

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 11 Nov, 2007 @ 06:55am

    Stupid People

    It's very simple. People can read and comprehend a word so badly mispelled that only the first and last letters are correct. They can read and comprehend sentences where nouns, verbs, and adverbs are all badly or incorectley placed. That being the case, any reader who consistantly fails to comprehend the meaning of a piece of literature as simply worded as most written pieces these days can only be called stupid. If you find that you can't keep up here maybe you should try a simpler site, I hear there is still a reader rabbit site operating online. As for the stupid blocker, why bother? Not only would we lose a good source of entertainment, but the thing would be terminally overloaded and end up using all available resources. Which, of course, would make using the internet the next best thing to impossible.

  • On the post: Using The DMCA And DRM To Prevent Innovation

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 07 Nov, 2007 @ 10:09am

    shooting themselves in the foot

    This is a classic example of why large corporations (or companies) shouldn't be allowed a stable of lawyers. They tie up our courts with lawsuits and litigation that are obviously rediculous and are heard solely on the basis of how much money the corporation is willing to throw at the problem. This one should have been looked over, laughed at, burned, and resulted with the corporation getting hit with a contempt fine. It's clear to me, at least, that these corporate entities hold our judicial system in contempt and I have lost all respect I may have had for them.

  • On the post: Whole Foods Board Decides Common Sense Ain't Common Enough: Bans Execs From Web Postings

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 07 Nov, 2007 @ 09:54am

    Huh

    I'm afraid I don't understand this. If it wasn't illegal where is the problem? After reading the story and considering his actions, I fail to see how it was ethically questionable. When you break it down, he was merely advertising for his company and his "barbed" remarks weren't that barbed. So he leaked information to the public via the internet and a pseudonym. Big deal, none of the information he leaked was sensitive or damaging to the company. Whole Foods should be shaking his hand and slapping his back. Has our paranoia reached such heights that merely speaking about what we do at work is ethically wrong?

  • On the post: Do Grade Changing Hackers Deserve 20 Years In Jail?

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 05 Nov, 2007 @ 02:04pm

    Re: Crazy Sentencing Laws.

    You don't need a college education to get a job that will support you and your family. It won't be a great job, probably around 25 to 30 thou a year, but that is sufficient if you manage your resources correctly. And if your significant other has to take a job as well, what is wrong with that? No, expelling them won't hurt the taxpayers at all.

  • On the post: Do Grade Changing Hackers Deserve 20 Years In Jail?

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 05 Nov, 2007 @ 01:03pm

    1. It is not 20% percent of the people commiting 80% of the crimes. I garauntee that every person above the age of 18 has committed a crime whether they know it or not. Most crimes simply go unnoticed by anyone.

    2. If at any time the number of criminals rises above that of law abiders then there is something wrong with the laws, not the people.

    3. When judging the penalties of a crime, one cannot look at what could have happened, only at what did happen. You cannot, in good moral conscience, sentence one person harder than another because thier crime could have lead to a greater disaster.

    4. These guys did break a law, that is a fact. However, the proposed punishment does not in any way fit the crime. Want to truely punish them? Flunk them and then expell them. Maybe tack on some comunity service. We are not talking about terrorists here.

    Just the fact that they could recieve such harsh sentences should raise the red flags in every americans head. Look around you people. Three strikes laws, life sentences for internet piracy, now 20 years and 1/4 mill for grade changes? This isn't rediculous, this is abuse of power by people riding the crest of a massive witch hunt, and I have news for you all, we are the witches.

  • On the post: FCC Releases Its Bogus Broadband Data Once Again

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 03 Nov, 2007 @ 07:45am

    What do you expect....

    ....from an organisation that believes it has the right to dictate what we can and cannot hear and see? Frankly, the fact that the FCC even exists in America is apalling. No agency should have the right to censor american speech, as stated by the constitution, especially one that does not espouse the mores of the society it censors. Then, I guess censors never really follow the mores of the day or they wouldn't be censors.

  • On the post: Stop Hating Foreigners, Start Hating AJAX

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 31 Oct, 2007 @ 11:37am

    RE: The Dock22

    "Yes. In order to make it in the business you sometimes need to take a job just to prove you have the experience, working for a business."

    Ninety-nine percent of college grads have worked for a business, that isn't the issue. Whether you worked the family business or worked for McDonalds, most every graduate has held a job. The people who set the requirements and do the hiring know this. Prove they are responsible and reliable? I'm pretty sure that four plus years of studying proves that.

    "You can learn something valuable at any job you take. They might not learn anything new about CS or IT, but they will learn how a business hierarchy runs and about software they might not have learned while in school. To not take a job because "you have already had that training" is not a good reason to complain there are no jobs."

    True, you can learn something valuable at any job. Why should they have to be underpaid while they recieve this final bit of education? They worked hard to get thier degrees, to prove thier knowledge and ability. I thought that was what we prided ourselves on. Hiring and firing based on knowledge and ability over nepotisim. Youth and lack of time in company is not a good reason to underpay a person.

  • On the post: Stop Hating Foreigners, Start Hating AJAX

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 31 Oct, 2007 @ 11:11am

    RE: TheDock22

    I agree, some kids coming out of college balk at entry level pay, but then, after four or more years of schooling they generally ARE overtrained for the only job's they qualify for. Most entry level jobs are basic training positions. Do you blame them for balking when they have already had the training?

    The entry level position is great for a person with no formal higher education but who has proven a valuable and intelligent resource for the company. They need the training and conditioning the position offers. College graduates, for the most part, do not. To force them into these positions regardless of thier foresight, dedication, and proven training is not only insulting, but unfair. And before people start saying, "Just what I expect from a young college grad.", I have to state that I am a middle aged business man who only had two semesters in college and those not in business.

    I also agree about internships. They are a valuable resource that is often overlooked by college students. It's a shame, but it happens. Then again, internships often don't pay squat and those same students have to support themselves with other full time jobs.

  • On the post: Stop Hating Foreigners, Start Hating AJAX

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 31 Oct, 2007 @ 09:06am

    logic

    A few years ago I had a great job. I didn't make a bundle, but I made enough and loved the job and people. Then the company outsourced. It took me over a year to find a new job that payed enough to make the bills. Eighty three people lost jobs because of that and not one of them were hired into a related feild.

    Now, I'm not racist, I don't care a bit what color you are, but I can recognize what my eyes see. They see jobs leaving, decent jobs, with little or no return benefit for Americans. Automated factories need techs, engineers, mechanics, you name it. But with the computer companies outsourcing there is no such reciprocol employment. The same is true with most other outsourcing.

    As for the "crop picking" comments, I'm fairly sure they originate in large cities, because anybody who has grown up in the country has spent thier time picking rocks and produce. Most of us did it as kids for pocket change and progressed to full pay during the final years of school. I have no problem with people from out country coming in and working those same jobs when we have outgrown them, but to dismiss the claims that jobs are being taken simply because YOU dismiss the job is pure folly. For instance, my brother is a janitor. He is well contented with a job that others would dismiss as menial and underpayed. He is not mexican or indian. He is your typical W.A.S.P. and that job is putting him through college. Will he stay with the job? No, but that only opens it up for the next generation.

  • On the post: GPS Tracking: Drivers' New Best Friend?

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 27 Oct, 2007 @ 11:58pm

    Re: Max Powers

    Not every new tech breakthrough worries me, Max. Just the ones that are blatant violations of what few rights we have left. Make a better vehicle, I'll sing your praises. Design a reuseable thruster for space flight and I'll nominate you for a Nobel. Design another system to track and monitor American citizens and I'll wonder about your sanity.

    As to the kid thing, well, I missed the sarcasm there. It happens. Still, even with parents trying to bring thier children up right, without checks and balances on the child's behavior, they will fail. The government has removed all but the least effective of those checks and balances and now wonders why nobody minds breaking any law that prevents them from getting what they want. Even the most law abiding person breaks at least one law a week. And when the vast majority of a population are law breakers, then there is something wrong with the laws, not the people. Go to a law library, marvel at the massive amount of books needed to contain our laws. Start reading, and by the end of the day I garauntee two things. One, you will discover you have broken at least one law you didn't know existed. And two, you will discover that it will take most of a season to simply read and comprehend (as opposed to memorizing and learning) our laws.

    Finally, the "protecting itself from idiot truckdrivers" arguement is pretty thin. Yes, there are some drivers who shouldn't have been issued a license...but that is true in any profession. No, those devices are Cover Your A$$ mentality at it's best. A company should back it's employess rather than set them up as the scapegoat. Couch it in whatever terms you like, but the proof is in how they use the device.

  • On the post: GPS Tracking: Drivers' New Best Friend?

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 27 Oct, 2007 @ 04:05pm

    Propaganda, and from what I am seeing, most people will lap it up. Trust me folks, you do NOT want another telltale device stuck in your car. Make it like insurance? Insurance was voluntary, now it's mandatory. That's the way GPS speed tracking will go as well. Just another way to moniter, punish, and extort. How many times have you gotten a vehicle of equal or greater value than what you had due to an insurance pay off? It happens, yes, but not often enough to warrant the expense of the insurance. Rat on your kids? Go ahead alienate them more, give them more reason to resent you. Now that's it's illegal to punish them in anyway other than a tongue lashing and grounding (the tongue lashing being debatable as verbal abuse) they'll be even more uncontrollable than ever. I see lots of people extohling the virtues of the idea, but stop and think a minute. Does the government really need another way to sieze power over our lives? Well, so much for the land of the free...Heil Gov'nor!

  • On the post: No, The Blockbuster Movie Isn't Dead

    barrenwaste ( profile ), 26 Oct, 2007 @ 08:01am

    Greed. Plain and simple, greed. Libraries have not hurt the authors whose books they carry, I can't see some downloads hurting the movie industry. The prices paid to make a movie are already far beyond reason. How can you justify paying an actor that much for two hours of entertainment while paying our soldiers so little to risk thier lives protecting you? Or our firefighters, most of whom are volunteer in my neck of the woods. It's insanity. Entertainment is important, bored societies quickly become violent societies, but it's not that important.

    I'd love to see some incentives at the theater. That said, I rarely make it to the theater. It costs to much. Between the fuel to get there, the refreshments, and the price of admission you end up spending 15 to 20 dollars to go alone. Double that if I'm paying for a date to come as well. Doesn't sound like much, but when taken in perspective, it is only two hours of entertainment, it's outrageous. That's half what I spend for gas, smokes, and pop over an entire week. I'd rather spend a couple bucks at the rental place and watch it on my perfectly adequate home theater. Especially since it isn't considered bad manners to do a bit of necking with a lovely lady at home.

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