gyffes 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Police Credit Google Street View For Helping Catch Drug Ring

    gyffes ( profile ), 18 Nov, 2010 @ 09:02am

    All this Street View talk

    made me google my own address... and found myself in my driveway doing taichi. My first thought was, "wow, I remember that truck going by..." and then I thought, "hey, my form's not bad."

    I like Street View.

  • On the post: More Evidence Shows That Locking Up University Research With Patents Doesn't Help

    gyffes ( profile ), 03 Sep, 2010 @ 12:42pm

    Hush, guys...

    Darryl has a Tea Party to attend: facts just get in his way.

  • On the post: Microsoft's Patent On Fast Shutdowns Shows Why Windows Is So Slow To Shut Down

    gyffes ( profile ), 03 Sep, 2010 @ 07:25am

    I shouldn't feed the Darryl troll, but...

    a) it's "ideas" not "idea's" (c'mon, my 8-year old knows that);

    b) we have a chart at work of the machines up longest: Macs and linux boxes are atop with months 'tween shutdowns, most winboxes restart daily, at least (especially those whose users insist on using docks); and

    c) the astonishing thing about Windows machines is that they shutdown slowly even when they crash.

    What a doof.

  • On the post: Lawyer Ranking Site Avvo Sued By Another Upset Lawyer

    gyffes ( profile ), 03 Sep, 2010 @ 07:18am

    "That's why you're the judge...

    and I'm the law-talkin' guy!"


    *sigh*

    I really miss Phil Hartman.

  • On the post: Is It Identity Theft Or A Bank Robbery, Part II: Couple Sues Bank Over Money Taken

    gyffes ( profile ), 12 Sep, 2009 @ 09:20pm

    Gold standard? No longer.

    Luci, you're the idiot. Our money hasn't been backed by anything of substance in over 50 years. It's all smoke and mirrors and a gentleman's agreement that the stuff has value. It's what made everyone so spooked when the latest bubble popped: there is no wizard, no spoon and noone's wearing any goddamned pants. There are no assets, we're not rich as Midas and the Dollar isn't worth a Lira.

  • On the post: Newspapers' Plan For Survival: Charge Money, Beat Up On Craigslist And Keep Repeating To Ourselves That We're Needed

    gyffes ( profile ), 09 Jun, 2009 @ 07:21am

    I like this...

    it reminds me of when the TSA handed out badges to their gestapo goons. The quote from a TSA higher-up was, "Now people will have to respect them..." as if that's all it took to garner respect: a badge.

  • On the post: That's One Way To Grab Search Traffic

    gyffes ( profile ), 09 Jun, 2009 @ 07:11am

    And here...

    I was struggling to find a reason to use this stupidly named service...

  • On the post: Supreme Court Justice Scalia Given Lesson In Internet Privacy

    gyffes ( profile ), 05 May, 2009 @ 08:06pm

    Scalia is a hypocrite

    That is well established. He rails -- as the rest of the Right does -- against "activist judges" and then proceeds to be just that.

    First, this is not invasion of privacy: they used available tools to find information out in the wild. Unless they hacked a few systems, there was nothing either illegal nor morally reprehensible about the assignment. Anyone saying otherwise is pushing an agenda of their own.

    Second, this is merely another example of Scalia being hoisted on his own petard. He claims to be a "strict constitutionalist" and yet conveniently ignored the "well-regulated militia" aspect of the 2nd amendment during the recent gun control deliberations.

    I'd be more pleased with the professor's action if I felt Scalia'd actually learn from the experience but everything we've seen from the man, to date, indicates that's a vain hope.

  • On the post: After Being Educated About Negative Effects, Students Stop Using Laptops In Class

    gyffes ( profile ), 19 Mar, 2009 @ 01:57pm

    There is an Art

    to note-taking, as well as a skill.

    While I can type WAY faster than I can write, and my typed notes are WAY more legible, I know that people trained in the Cornell note-taking system (essentially, divide page into 3, write notes in one section, keywords on another, use the 3rd for review ... I think. Lookitup, it's worthwhile.) are way more effective at taking USEFUL notes with far fewer written words.

    I think the problem with typing, even for a fast typist, is that too much brain goes into the typing/transcribing and we're not actually picking up enough of what gets said. And our speed allows us to type more of what gets said instead of focusing on keywords/concepts as a note-taker would. At least, that's my supposition as to the disparity in grades among the 2 groups.

  • On the post: The Vastly Different Approaches Of Google And Yahoo When It Comes To Newspapers

    gyffes ( profile ), 02 Mar, 2009 @ 10:44pm

    Ads?

    There are ads online?

  • On the post: Early Warning Signs: iPhone Apps Might Not Be As Popular As Believed

    gyffes ( profile ), 26 Feb, 2009 @ 04:32pm

    Ron's part-right

    when he asserts that noone goes around saying, "damn, you're wasting all that harddrive space with those 5 different text editors (heck, M$ ships its OS with two!), 4 different image manipulation programs and, what's that, FOUR browsers??" I recently had the good fortune to setup four new macs and did so in part based on my own setup: I was astonished by how many apps I had that I'd once deemed crucial but that I felt could be left out of these new setups..

    As for the apps on my iPT: yeah, there are some I tried and dismissed, there are even a few I paid for that fall into that category. And there are apps I have that fall into disuse -- one doesn't feel like doing tanagrams or playing solitaire ALL the time.

    And there are a few apps I leave on b/c some day Apple will allow an external keyboard to work with my iPT and then I'll have THE KILLER work-device in my pocket.

    'til then, it's insanely useful and, with 32gb of space on it, loaded with apps that I MIGHT use if I felt like it.

  • On the post: Facebook Boots Off Almost 5600 Sex Offenders; Don't You Feel Safer Now?

    gyffes ( profile ), 21 Feb, 2009 @ 03:50am

    Re: Re: Re:

    I'm gonna keep peeing ON your porch..

  • On the post: Effort Underway To Save The Netbook Name

    gyffes ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2009 @ 06:34am

    laptots?

    BLOODY COMMENT SYSTEM STOP SENDING ERE I'M READY!


    great, that'd get Ore Ida's panties in a bunch...

  • On the post: Effort Underway To Save The Netbook Name

    gyffes ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2009 @ 06:32am

    laptots?

  • On the post: Swedish Newspaper Has Tremendous Success 'Beta Testing' Article On The Pirate Bay

    gyffes ( profile ), 16 Feb, 2009 @ 11:31am

    War on ___ was a failure

    It's not a slam on anyone's troops to face the facts:

    We went into Afghanistan (we should've) but we left too early, therefore...

    1) Opium crops hit record highs in subsequent years as a devastated nation sought SOME income;

    We went into Iraq (we shouldn't've) and removed the stable (if insane and evil) government in place, therefore...

    2) Worldwide terrorist activities increased (source: our own state department);

    We spent all our money on these wars and so had to reduce funds to state and local municipalities for vital social services, therefore...

    3) More people dropped below the poverty line, even though the Bush Administration kept dropping the line.

    We are simultaneously losing the Wars on Terror, Drugs and Poverty! It's the Trifecta From Hell!

    Let's start a buncha new Wars we can fail out -- oooh, let's choose something vital to emerging from a depression: filesharing!

    Don't roll your eyes, it might happen, even under a new Administration.

  • On the post: Indie Label That Gets It: Sell Things People Want, Not Just What They Hear

    gyffes ( profile ), 14 Feb, 2009 @ 11:54am

    Radio?

    The fee structure for radio is well-established. I have to listen to commercials, the stations pay the fee for the right to play the music.

    If you're going to complain about something not being in the public domain simply because it wasn't produced long enough ago, you might as well start beefing about the whole intellectual property system. Which may indeed need to be revisited but still doesn't validate your theft.

  • On the post: Indie Label That Gets It: Sell Things People Want, Not Just What They Hear

    gyffes ( profile ), 14 Feb, 2009 @ 07:42am

    Nice, Jason...

    Way to rationalize stealing: "I FEEEEEL the music on a cellular level, in ways ordinary humans couldn't, so naturally it is Just and Right for me to take the music. Heck, I might even rename it to something more accurate and reissue it as my own composition, as music is not property of PEOPLE but of the UNIVERSE..."

    what a crock of shit. You're a thief. Deal with it.

  • On the post: Some Georgetown Profs Want To Ban Laptops In Class

    gyffes ( profile ), 12 Feb, 2009 @ 11:12am

    Re:

    "If your a professor and your really worried about people not paying attention..."


    that's "if you're a professor..."

    Perhaps you should've slept less and paid attention, more?

  • On the post: Why The eBook Industry Needs More Piracy

    gyffes ( profile ), 11 Feb, 2009 @ 01:08pm

    Free eBooks

    I believe the Baen Free Library has been a big success for the publisher in that it's allowed people to 'get into' series they might otherwise shy away from. I know I disdained most Baen books largely b/c the cover art was so cheesy. Once I'd read a few free ones, though, I quickly bought more.

    It helps that Baen's eBook prices aren't as rapacious as some other vendors.

    As to reading on devices -- the upside is I have 200+ books on my iPT and can read in bed w/o disturbing my wife (green on black background ala VT100 terminal, bee-atch!). The biggest downside is I can't hand her the book and say, "oooh, honey, you'll LOVE this..."

    I would wager, however, that the biggest reason for the relative lack of eBook piracy is that those who tend towards eBooks are probably more likely HONEST and/or slightly better off, hence willing to pay the (nominal) cost vs the difficulty of tracking down a means of cracking MobiPocket's irritating DRM.

    Just a guess.

  • On the post: No, In-Flight Internet Is Not A Terrorist Threat

    gyffes ( profile ), 10 Feb, 2009 @ 06:45pm

    Well, as long as we're discussing weaponry...

    A laptop battery in one of those pillowcases? Coke can torn in half (I like the CD idea, hadn't thought of that...)? Actually, the amount of damage to the human body that I could do with a bic pen is fairly astonishing. Next thing y'know, they'll be taking away my MacBook Air 'cause it can cut Cake. Not the dessert item, the band.

    Oh, no, we're arming the terrorists! They're comin' for our IPs, Techdirt -- FIGHT FIGHT WIN!

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