Ben 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (442)

• On the post: Elon Musk’s Starlink Still Can’t Seem To Answer Basic Customer Support Emails

  

  Ben ( profile ), 04 May, 2022 @ 04:59am

  I think we're probably in the 'no shit, sherlock' phase of Musk's product development cycle.

• On the post: Researchers Again Show How Major VPNs Quietly Undermine User Security

  

  Ben ( profile ), 22 Apr, 2022 @ 08:18am

  deadbolt don't

  A deadbolt actually improves the security of the house. It doesn't undermine it, and no article is saying it does. The article is saying a lot of VPNs leave a housekey under a rock near your house guarded by the VPN's private key - and if the private key leaks ... you're buggered.

• On the post: Former Reddit CEO: Content Moderation Teams Don’t Care About Your Politics, They Just Want You To Stop Being A Jerk

  

  Ben ( profile ), 19 Apr, 2022 @ 04:58am

  assumptions?

  I was not making an assumption that critics of Trump supporters are necessarily Biden supporters. I was merely pointing out that there are jerks in both of those camps. (there are probably fine people on both sides too /s) Lumping people together like this is not helping move any of the debates forward as it leads all too easily to ad hominem attacks.

• On the post: Former Reddit CEO: Content Moderation Teams Don’t Care About Your Politics, They Just Want You To Stop Being A Jerk

  

  Ben ( profile ), 18 Apr, 2022 @ 01:09pm

  You're not helping

  Assumping all Trump supporters are jerks is a core element to the problem. Assuming all Biden supporters are angels doesn't help either, if you happen to sit on that side of things. We need to address the issue being debated, not target some titled or percieved aspect of those we claim to be arguing against.

• On the post: National Archive Wants To Know Why CBP Is Using Messaging Services That Auto-Delete Messages

  

  Ben ( profile ), 14 Apr, 2022 @ 08:40am

  "The government exists to serve the public, not the other way around." ... would come as a surprise to most of those in governments around the world!

• On the post: UK Politician Who Had Shows On Russian TV Channel Threatens To Sue Twitter For Noting His Connections To Russian Media

  

  Ben ( profile ), 11 Apr, 2022 @ 02:09pm

  long time idiot

  George has misjudged his associations since the first Iraq war.

• On the post: Wisconsin Supreme Court Sees Nothing Wrong With Cops Acquiring Evidence A Court Had Already Suppressed

  

  Ben ( profile ), 30 Mar, 2022 @ 05:11am

  Man objects to DUI charge after driving under the influence.. court finds him DUI... news at 11

  I have no sympathy for Van Linn. Perhaps he shouldn't be driving his truck when intoxicated. Ever. That the police had to ask the medical folks for a little help when they screwed up is just sensible cooperation. DUI is contemptible. Repeated DUI needs real consequences.

• On the post: Ukraine Government Confirms It Is Using Clearview AI To Identify… Dead Russian Soldiers?

  

  Ben ( profile ), 29 Mar, 2022 @ 08:26am

  Dog tags and name tags?

  I think it's highly unlikely that Russian conscripted infantry would have dog tags - that's a very US thing not common to all armed forces by any means. And going to the expense and complexity (!) of customising the cheapest infantry fatigues you can imagine does not seem a very Russian mega-army kind of thing to waste money on.

• On the post: White House Urges Companies To Protect Data From Russian Hacks With Encryption; While Congress Looks To Effectively Outlaw Encryption

  

  Ben ( profile ), 24 Mar, 2022 @ 02:31am

  Doesn't your President have the power to veto batshit crazy bills coming out of Congress?

• On the post: Sinclair Seattle Reporter Makes Proud Boys Gathering Sound Like Cub Scouts

  

  Ben ( profile ), 24 Mar, 2022 @ 02:23am

  "it oughta be outlawed"? on what grounds, given your own Constitution? Whazzat? There's a downside to the 1st Ammendment? Who'da thunk it.

• On the post: Apple Cripples Its Own Streaming App In Stand Off With Google

  

  Ben ( profile ), 23 Mar, 2022 @ 09:21am

  Bandcamp?

  So maybe that's why Epic bought Bandcamp? ... to ensure they had something Google might want. Sometime? Maybe? Perhaps? Oh forget it. Epic has nothing.

• On the post: Another Step Towards The Russian Splinternet

  

  Ben ( profile ), 08 Mar, 2022 @ 01:10am

  How has fracking or LNG exports or typewriters got anything to do with the war in Ukraine?

• On the post: Some Known Issues With The New Techdirt

  

  Ben ( profile ), 07 Mar, 2022 @ 02:08am

  disaster?

  This migration has been about as far from a disaster as I can imagine. The vast bulk of the site is still here, readable and functioning. In fact, I'd give it a 95% success score. I've seen far, far worse!

• On the post: Ukraine Calls For Video Game Blockade Against Russia To Motivate Its Citizenry

  

  Ben ( profile ), 05 Mar, 2022 @ 05:48am

  Irrelevant

  What has Polish superiority got to do with anything?

• On the post: More Video Game Footage Substituting For War Footage As Russia Invades Ukraine

  

  Ben ( profile ), 02 Mar, 2022 @ 05:14am

  staged and fake footage

  Staged and faked footage are just two sides of the same coin. The famous image of the raising of the US flag at Iwo Jima (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_the_Flag_on_Iwo_Jima#/media/File:Raising_the_Flag_on_Iwo_Jima,_larger_-_edit1.jpg) is a well known example. Something somewhat like that did take place, but the actual photo was staged long after the event was supposed to have taken place. Where does one draw the line between 'staged in order to illustrate an event', and 'faked in order to mislead'?

• On the post: Turns Out It Was Actually The Missouri Governor's Office Who Was Responsible For The Security Vulnerability Exposing Teacher Data

  

  Ben ( profile ), 28 Feb, 2022 @ 06:16am

  Typo

  Fixed the typo in your comment for you: TWlrZSBQYXJzb24gaXMgYSB2ZXJ5IGJhZCBnb3Zlcm5vciB3aG8gYmVsaWV2ZXMgdGhhdCBoaXMgb3duIElUIHRlYW0ncyB2ZXJ5IGJhZCBjb2RpbmcgcHJhY3RpY2VzIHNob3VsZCBub3QgYmUgYmxhbWVkLCBhbmQgaW5zdGVhZCB0aGF0IGhlIGNhbiBhdHRhY2sgam91cm5hbGlzdHMgd2hvIGV0aGljYWxseSBkaXNjbG9zZWQgdGhlIHZ1bG5lcmFiaWxpdHkgYXMgImhhY2tlcnMiIHJhdGhlciB0aGFuIHRha2UgZXZlbiB0aGUgc2xpZ2h0ZXN0IGJpdCBvZiByZXNwb25zaWJpbGl0eS4=

• On the post: No, Creating An NFT Of The Video Of A Horrific Shooting Will Not Get It Removed From The Internet

  

  Ben ( profile ), 25 Feb, 2022 @ 04:37am

  Effects?

  Isn't there a name for this kind of thing?
  Something coined somewhere on the internet?
  Was it the Schrodinger Effect?
  No?
  The Schertzinger Effect?
  No?
  Oh I remember now... the Streisand Effect!

• On the post: As Expected, Trump's Social Network Is Rapidly Banning Users It Doesn't Like, Without Telling Them Why

  

  Ben ( profile ), 24 Feb, 2022 @ 12:00pm

  Re: Re:

  Nobody has said they're not allowed to do this.
  It's in no way just a technicality.
  People are just pointing out that TS is climbing the moderation learning curve pretty quickly.

• On the post: Trump's Truth Social Bakes Section 230 Directly Into Its Terms, So Apparently Trump Now Likes Section 230

  

  Ben ( profile ), 23 Feb, 2022 @ 05:47am

  Re: 'I don't know how but you violated more rules than we have.'

  Well, that just leaves it up to the heroic libs to register for accounts, and monitor Trump's spewings for TOS violations and broadcast them as widely as possible. (which, of course, may not be very widely as they'll no doubt violate the TOS of any more sane social media site, but we'll have to burn that bridge once we reach it)

• On the post: Yes, It Really Was Nintendo That Slammed GilvaSunner YouTube Channel With Copyright Strikes

  

  Ben ( profile ), 11 Feb, 2022 @ 02:10am

  horses & zebras

  Of course, if one is on the African savannah, assuming that hoof beats presage the presence of a horse would be somewhat odd, as zebras are significantly more common than horses.

  But in the US or Japan, yes, I suppose if you hear the sound of hooves, assume it's a horse and not a zebra.

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