Éibhear 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (44)

• On the post: This Week In Techdirt History: August 19th – 25th

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 27 Aug, 2018 @ 04:08am

  Groklaw

  Also, Groklaw shut down five years ago: http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20130818120421175, https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130820/02152224249/more-nsa-spying-fallout-groklaw-shutting-down.shtml

• On the post: Techdirt Podcast Episode 168: Rob Reid's Mind-Bending Podcast

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 31 May, 2018 @ 12:14am

  Podcast feedback

  Hi,
  
  See https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180528/21433139932/eu-parliaments-own-website-violates-gdpr.shtml#c532 for a suggestion: on the podcast, you could discuss the GDPR with an EU-based data protection expert. I make some suggestions as to who in my comment.
  
  I catch your podcast every week, and enjoy it immensely.
  
  Éibhear

• On the post: EU Parliament's Own Website Violates The GDPR

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 30 May, 2018 @ 04:17am

  Podcast suggestion

  Hi,
  
  Living in Europe, and having a serious amount of skepticism regarding the motives of the EU Commission and the EU Council, I'm still more of a fan of the GDPR than not.
  
  However, I don't know everything, and I work only tangentially with matters relating to data protection.
  
  I would love to hear a discussion or debate on the Techdirt podcast, say, regarding the GDPR between Mike or Cathy and someone from the east of the Atlantic. My personal recommendations would be someone like Simon McGarr (@tupp_ed on Twitter) or T.J. McIntyre of Digital Rights Ireland (@tjmcintyre), both of whom were involved in the Schrems case that took down Safe Harbour.
  
  Other people I would trust to give an informed, EU-based, perspective on GDPR would be Rowenna Fielding (@MissIG_Geek), Sarah Clarke (@trialbytruth), Pat Walshe (@PrivacyMatters) or Daragh O Brien (@CBridge_Chief).
  
  I would expect all of these to have considered analyses on the concerns that Mike and others have with GDPR (I don't like the RTBF portion of it, either!), and would give alternative perspectives. It would be excellent to hear it covered in one of the podcasts.
  
  Éibhear

• On the post: FBI Says Device Encryption Is 'Evil' And A Threat To Public Safety

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 12 Jan, 2018 @ 07:09am

  Geniuses

  FBI seems to struggle with all types of geniuses. Evil, stable, etc.

• On the post: A Great Use For Artificial Intelligence: Scamming Scammers By Wasting Their Time

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 15 Nov, 2017 @ 05:38am

  Abuse

  I *would* be concerned about abuse: legitimate e-mails being forwarded to Re:Scam as a sort of malicious denial-of-service attack on otherwise innocent people.

• On the post: Daily Deal: The Complete Ethereum Blockchain Mastery Bundle

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 18 Oct, 2017 @ 12:39am

  Access

  Hi,
  
  This reads like a great deal. I'm interested in going for it, but will have to take the courses in my own time.
  
  "Lifetime" access suggests that won't be a problem.
  
  Does anyone know if there are system requirements that I need to be aware of (I don't/won't have access to a MS Windows computer: I'll be taking the course using a Debian system running KDE).
  
  Thanks,
  
  Éibhear

• On the post: Techdirt Turns Twenty!

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2017 @ 02:57pm

  First time: debating with Glyn Moody about Kutiman

  My first real encounter with Techdirt was after a 'discussion' with Glyn Moody (probably on G+) on whether Kutiman got express permission for each of the YouTube pieces he used in ThruYou. Glyn said that Mike said he didn't, and if anyone knows, it's Mike.
  
  I'm still not convinced, but I still love (and support) Techdirt.
  
  I probably had heard of Techdirt during the Groklaw days, sorely missed, but that was a lot of reading on its own!

• On the post: Microsoft Is PISSED OFF At The NSA Over WannaCry Attack

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 16 May, 2017 @ 04:18am

  "Government", perhaps, rather than "Intelligence Community"

  "Intelligence Community" is the popular term that covers all the organisations like the NSA, CIA, FBI, MI5, MI6, FSB, etc.
  
  This kinda lets governments off the hook: we can refer to the Intelligence Community as distinct from government departments, or Congress, or Parliament, but all these organisations are *part* of their respective governments, and are (at least) supposed to be overseen by them.
  
  They work on behalf of those governments. Because they act in secret, with operational details shared only with specific government officers, it's not really correct to say that they work on behalf of the people: that's the job of the government itself.
  
  So, why should we say "Intelligence Community", when we really mean government?
  
  "The government hoards exploits"
  
  "The government should have brought these vulnerabilities to the attention of the vendors"
  
  "The government failed to protect people's computers by keeping these flaws to itself."
  
  Apologists for deeper and deeper intrusion into the lives of innocent people may find it harder to deflect criticism of these failures if they are correctly called out as government failures, rather than intelligence community failures.

• On the post: Appeals Court To Cops: If You 'Don't Have Time' For 'Constitutional Bullshit,' You Don't Get Immunity

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 16 Nov, 2016 @ 04:36pm

  Back to school for them boys!

  'because “[s]tandard protocol” assumes “if there’s one [person inside] there’s two, if there’s two there’s three, if there’s three there’s four, and exponentially on up,”'
  
  Those guys need to go back to school. That a geometric progression, not exponential.
  
  The constitution is *waaaaaaaaay* to hard for them.

• On the post: Scientists Realizing That EU Ruling On Copyright & Links Just Made Science Much More Difficult

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 15 Sep, 2016 @ 01:50am

  Sharing of scientific data

  From Tim Berners-Lee's summary on the alt.hypertext news group in August 1991 (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/alt.hypertext/eCTkkOoWTAY/bJGhZyooXzkJ):
  
  "The project started with the philosophy that much academic information should
  be freely available to anyone. It aims to allow information sharing within
  internationally dispersed teams, and the dissemination of information by
  support groups."
  
  The CJEU has outlawed the founding philosophy of the Web.

• On the post: NSA Surveillance Compliance Reports Show Typos, Lack Of Communication Resulting In Erroneous Targeting And Collection

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 29 Jul, 2016 @ 03:47am

  Poetic...

  ODNI published transparency reports on a site called "icontherecord" as if we thought it would seek to do anything else to the record.

• On the post: Just As We Warned: A Chinese Tech Giant Goes On The Patent Attack — In East Texas

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 21 Jul, 2016 @ 05:28am

  Huawei will honour Mike

  On the wall in the Huawei HQ, in the corridor leading to the main board-room, there hangs a 12' picture of Mike, honouring him as the inspiration for the bold and soon-to-be lucrative move.
  
  "...that's because of Mike's ability to spot trends well ahead of others (no, he didn't tell me to write that...)"
  
  Next to Mike's portrait is a clear space with a small note reading: "Reserved for Glyn's portrait, to be commissioned when his potential is realised."

• On the post: The Campaign To Dox Twitter Users In Islamic Countries For 'Blasphemy' And Supporting LGBT Rights

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 24 Jun, 2016 @ 02:22am

  Account suspended

  Not that it will have a great effect, that account, @old_gaes, is suspended (checked 2016-06-24, 10:20 BST)

• On the post: UC Davis 'Apologizes' For The Reputation Management Industry's Hyperbole And Your Misunderstanding

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 22 Apr, 2016 @ 01:45am

  Organic Fuel

  https://xkcd.com/282/
  (There /is/ a connection)

• On the post: Public Domain Citation Book, Baby Blue, Renamed To Indigo Book, Following Harvard Law Review Threats

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 21 Apr, 2016 @ 01:29am

  Putting an end to it

  "... but one hopes that the folks at the HLRA have at least started to realize how ridiculous they look in all of this."
  
  It would seem that if they haven't, it won't put an end to this.

• On the post: Brussels Terrorist Laptop Included Details Of Planned Attack In Unencrypted Folder Titled 'Target'

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 14 Apr, 2016 @ 09:17am

  Banning folders

  > I'm wondering if Rep. Adam Schiff will now talk about the need to ban "folders" in operating systems?
  
  At least there continue to be directories.

• On the post: Nothing To Hide (And Nowhere To Hide It) But Everything To Fear: The Police Vs. The Unarmed And Naked

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 05 Apr, 2016 @ 04:04am

  Training

  Such a pity that it's so hard to train people in how to de-escalate.

• On the post: Apple Tells Court That The DOJ Is Lying About It Advertising The Fact That Encryption Keeps Out Law Enforcement

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 16 Mar, 2016 @ 08:42am

  1984

  I don't know. That ad from 1984 seemed quite anti-establishment...

• On the post: How The UK's Counter-Terrorism And Security Act Has Made Law Enforcement Into The Literal Grammar Police

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 22 Jan, 2016 @ 06:50am

  He lives in a safe house, though?

  As I have said elsewhere...
  
  "I wonder what would have happened if, describing his loving family, he said he lived in a 'safe-house'"
  
  BTW: as the teacher was obeying the law, he/she is totally absolved of all legal responsibility. However, should the parents of all the other kids in that trust the teacher any more?

• On the post: Judge Doesn't Buy CBP's Argument That Dog Can 'Smell' The Difference Between Concealed And Unconcealed Humans

  

  Éibhear ( profile ), 07 Jan, 2016 @ 03:31am

  Training

  '... Boeli comes across an odor that he is trained to find "he changes posture, his demeanor. His breathing changes. He tenses up, starts breathing out his nose, closes his mouth. His whole body changes up."'
  
  So the dog is trained to identify many specific odours, but *not* trained to react in a specific way to a particular smell? How is that?
  
  - Officer Miranda, what odours are Boeli trained to identify?
  
  - Humans, concealed and not, pot, heroin, amphetamine, and so on.
  
  - Not Cologne?
  
  - Yes Cologne, but he's trained not to alert when he smells it, as it's not a crime to wear Cologne [at least, most Colognes].
  
  - Your honour?
  
  - The witness will stick to answering the questions.
  
  - Yes, your honour.
  
  - Officer, how would Boeli alert to marijuana?
  
  - He would sit still, look straight at the area where the odour's coming from and whine twice.
  
  - And amphetamines?
  
  - He would do the same, except instead of whining, he would lift and drop his left-front paw twice.
  
  - OK. And a concealed human?
  
  - Boeli is trained to bark twice and then sit still and look straight at where the odour's coming from.
  
  - Officer Miranda, is this how Boeli alerted you to the fact that the defendant was in the vehicle?
  
  - No. On that occasion, Boeli changed his posture, his demeanor. His breathing changed. He tensed up, started breathing out his nose, closed his mouth. His whole body changed up.
  
  - Is that what Boeli is trained to do when he identifies a "concealed human"?
  
  - No.
  
  - Then, how did you know that he was alerting you to something?
  
  - Ehhm....
  
  - He didn't give you an alert, did he?
  
  - Ehhmmm....

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