discussitlive 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Texas School Violates Texas Law By Refusing To Display ‘In God We Trust’ Poster Written In Arabic

    discussitlive ( profile ), 02 Sep, 2022 @ 08:53am

    strike through

    By using < del > to start, then < /del > to end without spaces. < s > works too I think.

  • On the post: Texas School Violates Texas Law By Refusing To Display ‘In God We Trust’ Poster Written In Arabic

    discussitlive ( profile ), 01 Sep, 2022 @ 07:47pm

    "Troll creates poster that does not say “In God We Trust,” It does say that. "but rather other words in a different language that mean the same thing when translated." Perhaps it has escaped your notice; The United States does not have a legally required language. "Given their willingness to blatantly violate the law" The thinly veiled christian faction? I agree. It's a blatant violation of law to promote a religion on the tax payer's property, eg: tax funded public schools. "Media falls for troll’s transparent publicity stunt," Which stunt? The one to allow posting religious iconography, or the one pointing out the hypocrisy? "end up looking ridiculous" Accurately reporting events is not ridiculous. "when anyone with half a brain can grasp what actually happened." Yes, the question is which half of the brain is involved; The one where fools and idiots were shown to be fools and idiots, or the one that hates being pointed out as being fools and idiots?

  • On the post: Elon Musk Tries, Tries Again To Come Up With A Better Excuse To Get Out Of Buying Twitter

    discussitlive ( profile ), 01 Sep, 2022 @ 03:47pm

    Who is still confused about Musk?

    Before this point, no one should have been confused about what dealing with Mr. Musk entails. I can only imagine that folks that don't immediately say "Oh, get along wid ye!" to any offers from him sees potential profit in not completing a transaction on the terms ostensibly offered. That, or they are smoking what he's smoking.

  • On the post: Spending Too Long Pooping At School? There’s A (Government) App For That

    discussitlive ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2022 @ 12:55pm

    The Karen Gene

    It must be a gene that induces uncontrollable Karenesque urges in law makers. I don't have any friends in K-12 anymore; the last one just quit to move out of the USA for a job (not teaching kids). On another note, I was in the grocery store Sunday and waiting for my neighbor to finish their shopping. I noticed that a lot of women were buying their groceries with a debit/credit card, except for the feminine supplies, which they paid cash for, separately in another transaction. Neighbor (who keeps up with those sorts of things) says that child bearing age women are concerned that their supply purchases will somehow be monitored if they use PII to purchase (It's a Red State that has draconian abortion laws). I don't think that is happening but it's telling that people are worried that it could happen. SMFH.

  • On the post: ‘Free Speech Absolutist’ Elon Musk Pens Column For Chinese Censorship Agency

    discussitlive ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2022 @ 08:34pm

    Trump is Deranged Syndrome

    TDS syndrome is the shorthand tag for "I like trump, everyone that does not bow down to the Ghawd Trump is a poopy head!" I have very clear, articulatable reasons I do not support DJT. Many do, ranging from his habitual misogyny to his utter disregard for others, to his inability to preform the most basic business functions to his failure to grasp physics, technology, law or a scintilla of compassion for others. For those that support him, the kindest words I have for their expressed reasons for doing so are "mistaken" and "untrue". As far as Musk goes, I dislike his stances on political subjects as unsupportable over the long term and on speech in particular. I also dislike his practice of using subscriptions for devices I've paid for; in short the same reason I dislike so many current OEMs. On that, I simply do not do business with them, and where appropriate, find alternatives for my employers. The fact I can show a lower TCO for avoiding that pitfall is simply part of my job.

  • On the post: Rampant Data Broker Sale Of Pregnancy Data Gets Fresh Scrutiny Post Roe

    discussitlive ( profile ), 15 Aug, 2022 @ 06:59am

    Remember Project HoneyPot?

    If you remember part of the unsolicited, bulk email fight, you might have come across "Project Honeypot", wherein billions of email addresses were created to poison the most agregious spammer's lists with spam trap addresses that got their servers instantly listed as spam sources. I have to wonder if that stratigy could be adapted to the privacy fight, given it seems fairly easy to create crawlers to trigger the sort of search queries data brokers would be interested in. Poison their wells to the point it's worse than useless.

  • On the post: WhatsApp Again Affirms It Will Not Break Encryption To Appease Government Entities

    discussitlive ( profile ), 11 Aug, 2022 @ 03:17pm

    They'd lose it if someone ever showed them that their "encrypted" radio traffic was a simple [tech details self censored]. In the US, the feds and really large cities are about the only ones with effective encryption on their radio traffic last I checked. It has been a while though.

  • On the post: WhatsApp Again Affirms It Will Not Break Encryption To Appease Government Entities

    discussitlive ( profile ), 11 Aug, 2022 @ 12:59pm

    Banks, government websites and stores aren’t even remotely the same as communication platforms.
    Every time, every last time, without any exception, any time a government has been able to abuse an investigation tool, it has been abused. Every time, every single last time "We will only use it for X, HONEST!" it never was. CSAM is the excuse. Successful prosecution and convictions were obtained long before digital encryption. All breaking encryption does is to save thought and shoe leather. I have been one of those people charged with finding people doing things they shouldn't be. Their weak point is never technology, it's stupidity. Can't encrypt stupid. Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.

  • On the post: The ‘Institute For Free Speech’ Seems Confused About Free Speech Online

    discussitlive ( profile ), 10 Aug, 2022 @ 06:11pm

    Without responsibility, the powerful would not need legal departments.
    I had not noted any particularly obvious signs that those with power are acting responsibly in quite a few decades. Having a legal department, in my corporate experience, is a team to tell you how to do whatever it is you want to do with as little responsibility as can be arranged, either by statue or public relations (another team), or funding political campaigns (yet another team).

  • On the post: The ‘Institute For Free Speech’ Seems Confused About Free Speech Online

    discussitlive ( profile ), 10 Aug, 2022 @ 03:28pm

    With actual power comes actual responsibility.
    I had not noted any particularly obvious signs that those with power are acting responsibly in quite a few decades.

  • On the post: Nick Sandmann, Who We Were Told Would Be Rich Beyond Belief From All The Media Companies He Sued, Loses Basically All Of His Cases

    discussitlive ( profile ), 04 Aug, 2022 @ 12:02pm

    I've wondered about these settlements

    Due to the ballyhoo'ing on the part of Sandmann's sycophants, I got curious and did what I always do before a major (over 6 figure) purchase and pulled the SEC 10-Q's. Sure, settlements are frequently confidential. Settlements on the magnitude Sandmann was seeking would result in a change in ownership of one degree or another, therefore would be a required disclosure. No such disclosures were made. I looked into Sandmann's life style, what there was of it. No big changes there either. What kid getting millions and millions of dollars could resist doing at least a little splurge on new (and expensive) toys? None I know of. No new toys reported or observed. I therefore concluded that no significant settlements occured. Sandmann got told to "Go pound sand" was my ultimate take away from that.

  • On the post: Why The GOP Wants To Break Your Spam Filter: GOP Candidate Tricked Gullible Voters Into Funding Him With Misleading Spam Emails

    discussitlive ( profile ), 16 Jul, 2022 @ 07:09am

    Spam, spam, SPAM

    Spam or spam is "bulk, unsolicited ". SPAM is a trade mark of Hormel, which politely requests that folks don't use SPAM to describe spam or Spam. Seriously, their C&D letters are polite, like Jack Daniel's C&D letters. I figure if they can manage to be polite about it, that should be rewarded.

  • On the post: Vallejo PD Takes So Long To Investigate Officers, They Often Kill Again Before Their First Investigations Are Closed

    discussitlive ( profile ), 13 Jul, 2022 @ 08:48pm

    Foxes, Henhouses, and guard schedules

    Police investigating their own is like (insert common story here). We got that. Now what are we going to do about it? Maybe a state force tasked with nothing other than investigating other police? quis custodes ipsos custodes? Until we stop falling for the Svengali meme that gets trotted out every time of "Civilians don't understand the difficulty of police work!", I don't expect any improvement. Most of us don't understand the complexities of building a house, but houses still get built the way we want them - mostly. One clue might be a particular segment of politicians hate unions, until it comes to police unions.

  • On the post: BMW’s Push To Make Heated Seats A $18 Per Month Subscription Portends A Dumb And Costly Future

    discussitlive ( profile ), 13 Jul, 2022 @ 10:00am

    I might mention the radio but that's not what you mean. However, I did check out a new car lately and the backup video turned to ads under the condition: in park, reverse, stop, put in drive, ad plays. Misremember what it was other than "not riding with X again." (The friend that "owns" it.)

  • On the post: Google Gives In To Republican Political Spammers: Launching Pilot Program To Whitelist Them Out Of Spam

    discussitlive ( profile ), 30 Jun, 2022 @ 05:04pm

    I run my own email server for my friends and family. I've had to institute spam filters because some were hit with Republican spam runs. No one I associate with is Republican/Trumpist/Reich Whinge. It is one thing to block unsolicited bulk email. It's another to force others to allow you to use my property and cause me additional costs so you can force your unsolicited opinion on people that never asked for it. And here we thought Republicans were so against communism. They keep telling us that. What's that word I want for when someone says one thing, but does another? Closed loop, unique token, confirmed opt-in. Not one email sent without someone specifically and provably requesting it for ANY bulk mail list. I don't really care what it is.

  • On the post: Google Gives In To Republican Political Spammers: Launching Pilot Program To Whitelist Them Out Of Spam

    discussitlive ( profile ), 30 Jun, 2022 @ 04:53pm

    The AlRal treatment

    I'd say it's time to give politicians the AlRal treatment. Sign them up for every mailing, circular and "concerned citizen" USPS list we can find as was done with Alan Ralsky. He was getting two mail bags per day at his home. Um, guys? I never asked for your twaddle shite; why on earth should I have to ask to stop getting it?

  • On the post: Facebook Bans People For Simply Saying Abortion Pills Exist

    discussitlive ( profile ), 29 Jun, 2022 @ 08:15am

    If this goes on

    "It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so." Robert A. Heinlein - Revolt in 2100 "All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth." Friedrich Nietzsche And today started out to be such a nice day...

  • On the post: California Right To Repair Bill Gets Scuttled By Lobbyists

    discussitlive ( profile ), 04 Jun, 2022 @ 09:45am

    complex electronics lifespan

    I recall from 40 years ago that "slow blow" fuses that didn't look like a fuse were a thing. A "slow blow" is usually filled with sand to dissipate some heat for a limited time, thus slowing when the fuse would melt and open the circuit. Someone figured out that if a mild granular acid was mixed with the sand, the percentage used was a fairly consistent failure rate over time. Once techs caught on to that, OEMs switched to designing the failure mode to ensure that the device was destroyed when the fuse blew. So we started replacing the fuse right before warranty expired. Then they .... and around and around it went, until copyright.

  • On the post: Survey Shows Majority Of GOP Voters Support Restoring Net Neutrality

    discussitlive ( profile ), 31 May, 2022 @ 02:26pm

    I’d say we’re more of a plutocratic oligarchy. Kleptocratic, surely.

  • On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

    discussitlive ( profile ), 29 May, 2022 @ 07:09pm

    I don't think Conservatives were ever socialists. As so how I fix things, I used to tell folks, but my boss said telling the CEO to "Stop being f-ing stupid!" was a career inhibiting advice, and perhaps a more socialized approach would be conducive to continued employment. I said "F that s--t." I've since learned that discretion is indeed the better part of valor and to control, if not my temper, at least the expression of it. Mostly.

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