John Snape 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (235)

• On the post: You Can't Compete With Free Meets Its Ultimate Counterexample In The NES Classic

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2018 @ 07:57am

  Re: Re: You can't compete with free...

  Where do you get water for free?
  
  Even the tap water costs us 4 cents per gallon.

• On the post: Trump's Anti-press Rhetoric Is Dangerous, But His Actions Are Worse

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2018 @ 07:53am

  Re: Re: In every story

  I'm not sure who "Agent Orange Der Grabbinfuhrer" is, but I've yet to see a news story codified into policy. Can you tell me which policy comes word-for-word from what you call "the worst yellow journalism?" Be specific.

• On the post: Trump's Anti-press Rhetoric Is Dangerous, But His Actions Are Worse

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2018 @ 07:50am

  Re: This is easy to explain with the right approach

  Trump is a member of the mob. Always has been. When he says that "the press is the enemy of the people" what he really means is "the press is the enemy of the mob" -- and that is dead-on accurate.

  ^^^ This is called projection

• On the post: Trump's Anti-press Rhetoric Is Dangerous, But His Actions Are Worse

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2018 @ 08:28pm

  In every story

  >Trump has called the press "enemy of the American people,"
  
  No, he called the fake news the enemy of the people. Even the link you gave corroborates he said, "fake news is the enemy of the people."
  
  I'm sick of this shoddy, deliberate twisting to fit an agenda.

• On the post: Intelligence Oversight? Dianne Feinstein Employed A Chinese Spy For Several Years

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2018 @ 09:17pm

  Re: Re: So... Diane could be considered a "Chinese pawn"...

  Did a private corporation violate the 1st amendment rights of Alex?

  With huge swaths of the internet being controlled by just a few companies, they have the ability to effectively silence anyone they dislike. Imagine you are told you have the right to travel freely across the United States, but you can't use the freeway, airlines or rails and you can't travel faster than 35 mph. Can you enjoy that right just as everyone else does?

• On the post: Intelligence Oversight? Dianne Feinstein Employed A Chinese Spy For Several Years

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2018 @ 08:35am

  The FBI interviewed the spy and determined he hadn't passed on anything of value.

  Whew! I'm so glad this spy was totally honest and made sure they knew he never, not even once, passed anything of value to the Chinese government! Heck, he didn't even know he was a spy!

• On the post: You Can't Compete With Free Meets Its Ultimate Counterexample In The NES Classic

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 03 Aug, 2018 @ 11:07pm

  You can't compete with free...

  Imagine you lived in a town that had only two restaurants that served the same type and quality of food. At one you paid and the other was completely free, which one do you think would be packed every night, and which would be mostly empty?

• On the post: Monster Energy Opposes Trademark For Liquor Company Logo, But Will Have A Fight On Its Hands

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 02 Aug, 2018 @ 09:13pm

  Monster Cable, Monster Energy Drinks, ...
  
  What is it with companies that have 'monster' in their names?
  
  They don't actually have to embody their name!

• On the post: Universal Right Back At It Issuing A DMCA For A Reporter's Video Of Prince Fans Singing 'Purple Rain'

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 31 Jul, 2018 @ 06:59am

  "Again, this DMCA takedown comes as the ink has barely dried on Universal's dancing baby settlement."
  
  What kind of ink does the court use that takes more than three months to dry?

• On the post: Risky Click: Adding Undercover Cop As Friend Nets Man Conviction For Gun Charges

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 24 Jul, 2018 @ 06:29am

  “One [photo] in particular” “caught [his] interest”: a photo that showed what appeared to be three handguns “sitting on a closed toilet lid in a bathroom.”

  I don't own a handgun so I'm not really up on proper display technique..."

  Maybe he thought after seeing the guns you might be scared shitless?

• On the post: Leaked ICE Manual Shows Gov't Allowing Informants To Engage In Illegal Behavior, Impersonate Lawyers, Journalists, And Doctors

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2018 @ 12:23pm

  "...but this administration has done more than most to take everything that's bad about ICE (which is a lot) and crank it up to 11."
  
  I think you meant "...crank it up to 9/11"

• On the post: Probable Cause Doesn't Excuse Retaliatory Arrest, Supreme Court Rules

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2018 @ 12:20pm

  Now if only we could get the Supreme Court to invalidate the catch-all "contenpt of cop" charge of disturbing the peace.

• On the post: This Week In Techdirt History: June 17th – 23rd

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 23 Jun, 2018 @ 07:35pm

  So if I wrote a story, using my real name, about how I was teaching magic tricks to new students at a school named Dog-Warts hidden away in the hills, I could be sued?
  
  I am a technical trainer, by the way, so it's not totally outside of possibility!

• On the post: Warner Bros. Turns Harry Potter Fan Events Into Events For The Franchise That Must Not Be Named

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 21 Jun, 2018 @ 07:27am

  Lucky, I Guess

  Luckily, Warner Bros hasn't sued me, demanding I change my last name.
  
  Just a matter of time, though...

• On the post: Amazon Alexa Instantaneously Justifies Years Of Surveillance Paranoia

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 27 May, 2018 @ 09:19am

  instantly vs. instantaneously

  Back when grammar seemed to matter, 'instantly' was used when one incident immediately caused another, while 'instantaneously' was used when two unrelated incidents happened at the same time.
  
  A personal pet peeve.

• On the post: CBP Sued For Seizing $41,000 From Airline Passenger, Then Refusing To Give It Back Unless She Promised Not To Sue

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 12 May, 2018 @ 08:32am

  I wonder if she can get a restraining order against the CPB and not have to go through their gauntlet anymore.

• On the post: Louisiana Law Enforcement Has Been Abusing An Unconstitutional Law To Arrest People For Trying To File Complaints

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 07 May, 2018 @ 06:25am

  Liability Insurance

  Surgeons have liability insurance, so if they mess up they can compensate their patients. If they mess up too much, they are no longer surgeons, since their premiums will skyrocket.
  
  It's time for all law enforcement officers to get the same. Instead of government entities paying out settlements, the insurance for the officers will pay out. When their behavior is too egregious, they will no longer be able to afford insurance and they'll no longer be a police officer. And if they're shunted off to a different department a few counties over, their premiums will follow.
  
  Good police officers will keep their low premiums and keep their jobs.

• On the post: Turns Out Lots Of People Want To Play The CIA's Card Game

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 25 Apr, 2018 @ 08:09pm

  I had started putting it together when I saw it on Ars Technica, but now I realize I won't have to.
  
  I have the Hunt for El Chapo game on my computer, maybe I should put that one together?

• On the post: There Is No Going Dark: Another Vendor Selling Tool That Cracks All iPhones

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 16 Apr, 2018 @ 06:38am

  How is this any different?

  How is this any different from a suspect writing in code?
  
  And why should law enforcement get every single piece of evidence they demand? They don't have to solve every single crime; no one should expect them to.

• On the post: Best Buy Bans Huawei Phones Despite Zero Public Evidence Company Spies On Americans

  

  John Snape ( profile ), 23 Mar, 2018 @ 08:06pm

  Not really seeing the issue

  Did Best Buy say Huawei is spying and that's why they are no longer buying from them?
  
  I imagine it could be a bunch of different things, from finding a better price from another company to just wanting to stock a different type of phone. Maybe the CEO of Huawei said something to the CEO of Best Buy and he was insulted. Who knows!
  
  If Best Buy said they'd no longer carry Monster Cables would there be a hand-wringing story from Techdirt about how horrible it is?

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