That Anonymous Coward 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (12636)

• On the post: New Report Offers Solutions For Our Never Ending Robocall Hell

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 15 Jun, 2022 @ 10:41pm

  "As a result, 70% of Americans no longer answer the phone if it’s an unrecognized number. We’ve just ceded a major tech platform to scumbags. " Well if those other 30% would stop picking up the god damned phone... There are no penalties. It costs pennies to launch a robocall campagin. The networks get paid, they like money more than anything else. If even a tiny number of people fall for the scam its a success. If they weren't making money, they'd find a new scam. The networks like money & the lack of will means the government won't make their donors face anything that might cost them anything. There isn't a magical tech answer to this, its way simpler. Get Grandma to stop answering unknown calls. Get Grandma to understand that people can/will/do lie on the phone to them. Maybe visit Grandma a bit more so she doesn't feel lonely enough to answer any call she gets just for illusion of human contact. Hey Karl, I have a TAC thought that you can chase better than I. How many robocalls are they getting in Japan? One wonders if a culture that respects older people have fewer older folks answering any call just to get human contact.

• On the post: Indian Government Briefly Pulls New IT Bill, Reissues It With Expanded Gov’t Power Over Content Moderation

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 15 Jun, 2022 @ 10:29pm

  Shittiest timeline EVAH!

• On the post: New York Passes Ridiculous, Likely Unconstitutional, Bill Requiring Websites To Have ‘Hateful Conduct’ Policies

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 15 Jun, 2022 @ 10:28pm

  See both sides can have stupid fucking ideas that they want to make the law of the land. Its almost like they are basically the same, the only difference being the 'explanation' of why what they want isn't as bad as the other sides reason. These are shitty ideas. We have much larger problems, but people have been trained to listen for the dog whistle, hit the button, & get their pellet that reminds them how much better they are than those other guys. We now have GQP clerks refusing to certify elections based on the 'Big Lie' and its other conspiracies that they are just sure, lacking any factual basis, HAVE to be true. But the focus is on passing laws that demand racists be allowed to racist & that racists should not be tolerated... I've been called mean things online, I don't see a point in trying to outlaw people acting like asshats because giving them more attention is their goal. Human nature is so tied up in 'winning' at everything that people are willfully blind to the fact that every 'win' against the other guy actually makes it fucking worse in general. Give people the power to stop the shitty words/people they don't want to see and move on. Trying to pass these laws just riles people up as the other side paints it as an attack on the 'good' people despite the fact most people would find the 'real' target of these laws to be abhorrent. A nation where 1 man can claim an election was rigged, attempt a coup, lose 100's of cases in court for lack of ANY FUCKING EVIDENCE AT ALL, and his supporters are still plotting to overturn the election & execute the traitors... I'mma thinking there are way worse problems we should focus on than if someone online can call me faggot without getting smacked with a ruler.

• On the post: US Judiciary Throws Taxpayers A Bone, Will Offer Free Access To PACER’s Severely Broken Search Function

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 15 Jun, 2022 @ 10:12pm

  Oh look hollow promises that mean as much as that FB like did in curing that child of cancer.

• On the post: California Bakery To Relinquish ‘Mochi Muffin’ Trademark After Public Backlash

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 15 Jun, 2022 @ 02:17am

  approved

  Well that is where the problem is... a bunch of assholes complained to their congress people about it taking far to long to get their applications approved. Rather than hire more people, they changed the rules meaning you can't even google the damn thing to see if its common. Lo and behold it was a brave new world of shit things getting approved, then lawsuits, then media coverage, but IP is so important we can't do anything that might slow it down... like make sure its not just yet another PB&J Patent.

• On the post: California Bakery To Relinquish ‘Mochi Muffin’ Trademark After Public Backlash

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 15 Jun, 2022 @ 02:12am

  No no no they were rectangles with rounded corners for icons on a screen. Actual lawsuit against Apple (iirc). There is a patent on rounded corner rectangles used on displays... what in the holy fuck makes this an innovation worthy of patent protecting for a NPE who makes nothing, does nothing but sue, and extra cash because they got their hands on a shitty worthless patent.

• On the post: Copyright Being Used To Stifle Attempts To Preserve A Dying Language

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 15 Jun, 2022 @ 02:09am

  They applied for grants for LLC & the tribes to pay for collecting the information... Wonder who handed those out?

• On the post: Texas DPS Wants Uvalde Bodycam Footage Buried Because It Might Let School Shooters Know Cops Won’t Stop Them From Killing Children

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 15 Jun, 2022 @ 02:06am

  But then someone would have to take the blame for why mental health was gutted & rarely gets any sort of funding. I mean we have vets in the midst of a crisis being told they can see someone in 3 weeks... the largest fscking budget & they refuse to keep the promises. While doing something about the ease of "kids" getting guns is a nice idea, building support systems that can identify the completely obvious warning signs & do something to assist that person would be better. We also need to call out the bullshit about white people are an endangered species, immigrants are replacing them, the guns are gonna get taken, teh gays are pedos, prayer can fix anything, the GQP care really about your pet issues, that abortion ruined the country, that sex should wait for marriage that can only be between a man and a woman... you know like every fscking plank of the GQP platform. But then those who could try to make these things happen we more focused on complaining about aid to Ukraine, how if we gave them all our tank buster missiles we'd leave ourselves open to attack. Because what North Korea is gonna magically teleport multiple tank columns inside the US? Trudeau is gonna get tired of the noisy neighbor to the south and roll out the armored divisions? We have a study, it shows a common pattern to what makes a mass shooter, how many more events do we need before Congress reads it & puts some effort into breaking that pattern before we need 50 more kid coffins? 1 unwell person threatens to kill a SCOTUS Justice and zomg make the money rain for the heavens to protect them... I guess they care less about born children... But hey the mentally ill broke into Congress once, they can do it again. We should send them thoughts and prayers when it happens again, suggest stronger doors & drills, and nothing else for them. How many times does Congress have to dodge bullets from an AR15 before they decide perhaps it might be a problem? We've got a buncha heavily armed crazies who just need a nudge to think they are saving children from baby eating cabals... they'll throw themselves at it over and over.

• On the post: California Bakery To Relinquish ‘Mochi Muffin’ Trademark After Public Backlash

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2022 @ 09:41pm

  And sadly none of the outrage will carry over to USPTO where it belongs. It never should have been granted in the first place, so how in the actual fuck did people sign off on it? Where is the report on how the hell the system failed & what changes have been made to avoid this happening yet again. IP is supposed to be so important and my FSM they keep fucking it up. Rounded rectangles, ideas with 'on a computer', multiple patents on PB&J, trademarks on crap. Once upon a time the system was to protect novel ideas, now any asshole with some common cultural thing can grab control of the entire market. (You say poké I say stuff in a bowl thats existed for centuries) They system has been weaponized to lock in customers, forcing them to use only approved parts only sold by 1 source for a huge markup because... its not like they can go elsewhere. While that might improve the life of a couple execs, these same execs were threatening to sue people 3d printing parts in the middle of a pandemic that were needed to actually save lives & the companies had no parts to offer. There is an entire ecosystem in East Texas of cockroaches bleeding anyone they can claim, without bursting out laughing, is infringing on a patent for thing that isn't remotely anything like the thing they are suing over and they can still win millions. Some people need insulin to remain alive, yet somehow the price keeps going up in lockstep for the 3 companies producing it... people are dying because something cheap to make has a price set by assholes with IP rights who know those people have 2 options... pay us or die, we don't care if you die so just pay up.

• On the post: Nonprofit Takes Aim At Fox News By Demystifying Ad Exchanges

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2022 @ 08:06pm

  "you have to think the wealthiest country in the history of the planet could do a hell of a better job finding smart, creative ways to clean up blatant propaganda" 1 million dead to covid, still not fully vaxxed. Untold numbers of dead children, best idea... stronger door. Couple hundred in Daley Plaza waiting for JFK to come out of hiding & introduce trumps running mate JFK Jr. Money doesn't make people smart, it makes them want more money & the easiest path to money is selling your schtick to the rubes who will bury you in money to make sure that other guy doesn't win even if it means cutting your own throat.

• On the post: John Oliver’s Big Whiff: Just Because You Agree There’s A Problem, Doesn’t Mean That This Is The Right Solution

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2022 @ 08:01pm

  Sure they can break up big tech, right after they shatter the other monopolies who they keep giving corporate welfare to as they screw customers more & more while offering less & less.

• On the post: Texas DPS Wants Uvalde Bodycam Footage Buried Because It Might Let School Shooters Know Cops Won’t Stop Them From Killing Children

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2022 @ 08:00pm

  "Revealing the marked records would provide criminals with invaluable information concerning Department techniques used to investigate and detect activities of suspected criminal elements" They couldn't detect that he was still murdering children who were crying out & screaming... I think they do not know the meaning of the word.

• On the post: Google AI Fracas Shows How The Modern Ad-Based Press Tends To Devalue The Truth

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2022 @ 07:58pm

  In their defense WaPo has been having an issue with its reporters playing well with each other and learning to just accept sexist jokes...

• On the post: President Biden Signs Executive Order That Will Give Us A Couple Of Years Of Decent Law Enforcement Reforms

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2022 @ 07:55pm

  Its okay everyone, even if they repeat the exact same events that was already found to be a violation of a citizens rights, SCOTUS will be there to pretend there is no way they could have known they were violating someones rights.

• On the post: Supreme Court Makes It All But Impossible To Sue Federal Officers For Rights Violations

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2022 @ 07:53pm

  I represent the Estate of Captain Kangaroo and I must demand you cease and desist from besmirching the name of a beloved child's entertainer.

• On the post: Copyright Being Used To Stifle Attempts To Preserve A Dying Language

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2022 @ 05:47am

  I found the NBC article and what I think is one of the most tone deaf things I've ever read... "A representative for the Lakota Language Consortium said in a statement that the group “has always encouraged teachers to copy and share our Lakota language learning materials with their students. This is clearly different than someone copying the entirety of an author’s work and distributing it as their own.” " Like the books they publish of the stories they got from elders & claim copyright over?

• On the post: Copyright Being Used To Stifle Attempts To Preserve A Dying Language

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2022 @ 05:26am

  Imma thinking you haven't noticed the long history of white folk knowing whats best for Native Americans, taking what they wanted from them because it could make them money, and then only dribble the smallest amounts to them for their troubles. I'm sure there are contracts to make it all "legal", that were never explained to the elderly speakers, they were just told sign this so we can save the language with your help before its gone. Imagine children learning the history of the tribe & their language.

• On the post: Copyright Being Used To Stifle Attempts To Preserve A Dying Language

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 13 Jun, 2022 @ 10:44pm

  Well snatching the children & placing them in residential schools didn't beat the native out of them, so just another white man trying to erase them so he doesn't have to think about what his forefathers did & continue on the idea that white people found this empty land and built a new god fearing nation. I am torn if this white asshole is worse than the helpful white people who built a "town" right on the edge of the res that consists of a liquor store.

• On the post: Having True Fans Can Create A True Business

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 13 Jun, 2022 @ 07:46pm

  I am a realist, no technological advance has ever caught on until someone tied it to sex. Tit have a wider appeal, allegedly, than cocks so I know the target demo.

• On the post: The Evidence Just Doesn’t Support Any Of The Narratives About The Harms Of Social Media

  

  That Anonymous Coward ( profile ), 13 Jun, 2022 @ 06:11pm

  Social Media's only harm to society was to not come back swinging the first time a politician blamed them.

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