Jim P. 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: State Legislator Says 11-Year-Old Tased By Cop Deserved It And Her Parents Probably Suck

    Jim P. ( profile ), 19 Sep, 2018 @ 11:30am

    Violence

    So, out of curiosity and because since she is a "child" no one shows her picture; Was there any obvious indications he was 11? Was there a large blinking sign over her showing her age or was she wearing a hoodie and hiding her face as she attempted to flee with stuff so that it might just be the tiniest bit difficult to ascertain things like age??

    And also out of mere curiosity, does she have a criminal record already? Just curious as that doesn't affect the specific situation.

    It's easy to deride actions after the fact when you may know things the person on the spot did not know.

    Not enough solid information to justify the instant "Crucify the cop!" reaction or "The she must be guilty, she is black' Idiocy either.

  • On the post: Saudi Government Outlaws Satire; Violators To Face Five-Year Prison Sentences

    Jim P. ( profile ), 07 Sep, 2018 @ 11:12am

    Satire

    Shouldn't be long before Trump hires him as a consultant since despots of any stripe loathe satire and parody into the depths of their non-existent souls.

    Nothing riles a dictator faster than being laughed at and no religion can withstand the bright light of comedy as few religious practices make sense or even look rational when looked at with laughter in mind.

    The whips and executiomner's sword won't be far behind. The world seems willingly headed back into a dark age of hate and fear and "faith" as an equal to facts and "God wills it" as an excuse for any social or government-backed evil.

  • On the post: United Airlines Made Its App Stop Working On My Phone, And What This Says About How Broken The Mobile Tech Space Is

    Jim P. ( profile ), 07 Sep, 2018 @ 11:04am

    Old Versions

    And Windows 95 machines are probably still out there, running just fine too.

    Stuff improves, things change, companies want to do things they can't do if their software must support ageing system software.

    The real problem is phone makers who make the affirmative decision to stop upgrading most phones' software after two years of production. Even if the older phones are still perfectly capable of running updated software.

  • On the post: TSA Admits 'Quiet Skies' Surveillance Program Is Useless, Promises To Continue Engaging In Useless Surveillance

    Jim P. ( profile ), 11 Aug, 2018 @ 01:51pm

    Hysteria

    And if TSA does decide to end this program, there will be hysterical outcries from various media outlets, Congress critters, flight attendants' unions, airline pilots associations, fearful sheeplike people and such as to how we are "weakening security" and allowing terrorists unfettered opportunities to continue their reign of terror in the skies.

    This happens any time TSA even hints it might relax or eliminate or even change some stupid and useless bit of "security", even ones they admit do nothing and produce no results.

    To listen to such, you'd think it was raining aircraft and skyscrapers on a daily basis.

  • On the post: Congress Members Want Answers After Amazon's Facial Recognition Software Says 28 Of Them Are Criminals

    Jim P. ( profile ), 28 Jul, 2018 @ 12:39pm

    False Identification

    Rather than a boon for freedom, this will end with the software being modified so sample pictures can be added and tagged to prevent them from coming up as possible suspects.

    Congress will gleefully carve an exemption for itself, and maybe judges, "senior" government officials and certain other "elite" just as they have done for TSA and other measures by passing a law requiring such processes be built in to any scanning systems.

  • On the post: CBS & Paramount Finally Settle With Fan Film Axanar

    Jim P. ( profile ), 21 Jan, 2017 @ 11:36am

    Fan film?

    Somewhere, there is a line between a fan film and "Hey, let's make a film using someone's characters and situations and decades of goodwill and publicity and maybe make a boatload of money for the people investing in it".

    It's not like there are thousands of good SF books you could license and adapt or, maybe, come up with your own idea.

    Absent it being Star Trek, this company would not be being heard of unless they came up with something really good that people liked all by themselves.

    There is a vast difference between "Hey, Johnny has a barn, let's put on a show based on a famous Broadway musical for people. It'll be fun!" and "Hey, let's raise millions of dollars and make a professional movie based on a famous SF movie and TV franchise. It'll make money!"

    "It directly kills off plans to produce what appeared to be really good content."

    All they had to do was supply an original concept of their own.

    Suppose they wanted to design a really great car but instead of making their own brand, used recognizable design elements of and stuck Ford labels on them and sold them?

    If you don't like the laws and how they work, change them. Don't just ignore them and pretend they don't exist.

  • On the post: Should A Court Allow A Case To Disappear Entirely Because The Person Regrets Filing It?

    Jim P. ( profile ), 09 Jul, 2016 @ 11:23am

    This is bad on so many levels of bad that it needs new bad words to describe it.

    Imagine the next level: Making a convicted person's case vanish. Instant "unperson" in the Orwellian sense.

    "Secrecy begets tyranny" has never been more true.

    If a few cases have been "vanished" how many more are there that simply have left the building?

    To me, this is as appalling as though we became a theocracy overnight or decided the Soviet system was a great idea and adapted it.

    If this is in one place, how many more jurisdictions and at what levels is is occurring?

    This scares me about as much as anything our apparently dying Republic has ever done.

  • On the post: FBI Has Used Drones On Americans To Save A Child… And The Rest Is Secret

    Jim P. ( profile ), 27 Jul, 2013 @ 11:40am

    Droning On

    The claim a drone was used in "support" of a kidnapping rescue is weasel-speak for "We had one, we used one but it didn't add anything significant to the real effort."

    I used to write reports like that when I was int he government.

  • On the post: Fugitive Tweets 'Catch Me If You Can' While On The Run, Is Promptly Caught Due To Tweet

    Jim P. ( profile ), 12 Jul, 2013 @ 02:45pm

    Re: Tax fraud

    Be glad it happens that way. IRS works on a "trust" basis and only checks things after you submit. There are countries in the world where you and all your records, bank statements and checkbook get to trot down to Government Central and spend a lovely day with a tax official doing your taxes. it combines all the joys of visiting any government office with the added thrill of an on the spot audit each and every year. And you will be there as long as it takes to make the official satisfied.

    Not only do major errors like this frequently get caught, the woman will likely face serious criminal prosecution and having all her accounts frozen while that goes on and intense scrutiny of every tax record she has filed since leaving the womb and every return she files well into the foreseeable future.