Mark Gisleson 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Heaven Hill Distillery Knocks On Bob Dylan's Door Over His Heaven's Door Whiskey For Trademark Infringement

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 22 Aug, 2018 @ 10:50am

    Re:

    I have to think you've never actually seen a bottle of Jack Daniels.

  • On the post: If You Value The Reputation Of Your Restaurant, Maybe You Should Stop Serving Cops

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 17 Jul, 2018 @ 04:14pm

    Call for restaurant owners to weigh in

    My experience with restaurants and cops is that cops only eat at restaurants where they feel safe, i.e., can see their food being prepared or know and trust the owner/manager.

    This is not an ill-founded paranoia. An incredibly high percentage of restaurant workers have been in jail/prison. Like prison rape, spitting on customer food is not a made up thing. It happens and it's not something to joke about.

    Every senior cop I did a resume for had stories. It's a reality in their world. Not maybe in smaller towns but in big cities, yes cops do inspect their food when they eat in a new place. And, as most restaurant owners would tell you, uniformed cops either eat at their place frequently or never.

    Would love feedback from others who've seen otherwise because I can only speak about two metro areas and this is a big country.

  • On the post: Internet Wins, And The Need To Appreciate What We've Got Before It's Gone

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 16 Mar, 2018 @ 02:04pm

    Good things from the Internet

    A public radio reporter ran this story on WWII veterans a little while back:

    https://blogs.mprnews.org/newscut/2018/03/as-wwii-memories-fade-a-town-in-the-netherlands-refuses-to-forget/

    He just tweeted this update: "I wrote this story a week ago. It traveled around the Internet. Not only are they down to 45 names, people in the Netherlands who lost track of each other, rediscovered each other. The internet is cool."

  • On the post: Two Years Later, Bell's Brewery Finally Fails To Bully A Tiny Brewery Out Of Its Legitimate Trademark

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2018 @ 11:07am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: An empty penalty is no different than no penalty

    Then maybe try this angle: it's a local business with very ltd regional distribution, well paid workers and an otherwise good reputation.

    I'd like to know more about this legal action because it is totally out of character with the brewery's reputation. Search through their many offerings, past and present. Show me the sexist names, the racist names. (There aren't any.)

    Something doesn't add up here. Before I'd slime a small business, I'd need to know exactly what's going on.

  • On the post: Two Years Later, Bell's Brewery Finally Fails To Bully A Tiny Brewery Out Of Its Legitimate Trademark

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2018 @ 08:09am

    Re: An empty penalty is no different than no penalty

    I have yet to read anything that explains WHY Bell's did this. If I were to guess based on their long history of giving customers what they want (excellent beer), I would have to say that this seems very odd. Almost as if an idiot lawyer talked them into a foolish course of action.

    I'm slow to defend companies, but how often do companies look stupid because they hired an idiot law firm?

    I don't even drink beer anymore (a 22 oz bottle of 11% beer is like drinking a loaf of bread, weightwise), but I am going to need to see a quote from Larry Bell signing off on this idiocy before I condemn Bell's.

  • On the post: Two Years Later, Bell's Brewery Finally Fails To Bully A Tiny Brewery Out Of Its Legitimate Trademark

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 06 Feb, 2018 @ 08:18am

    Re: greed n. excessive desire for getting or having -- Then "buy greedily" suggests that you're an alcoholic.

    Larry Bell is a brilliant brewer. He single-handedly forced the City of Chicago to revise their antiquated beer distribution laws and he makes some truly fine ale.

    Sorry to learn his brewery acted like an asshole, but unless you boycott Miles Davis' music and Woody Allen movies, let us enjoy his beer regardless of where his head is currently located.

  • On the post: Stories Claiming DNC Hack Was 'Inside Job' Rely Heavily On A Stupid Conversion Error No 'Forensic Expert' Would Make

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2017 @ 11:02am

    Can't speak to tech side

    Politically, Clinton's Nixonian DNC was more than willing to fake a false flag attack. They booted the election in unpardonable ways (ask any seasoned liberal activist if Clinton's campaign behaved rationally by ANY normal standards).

    This is their excuse, and for 10 months they've stonewalled any attempt at autopsy in their dead on arrival campaign.

  • On the post: Taking The 'S' Out Of 'TSA:' Minneapolis Screeners Fail To Detect Contraband 94% Of The Time

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 12 Jul, 2017 @ 01:19pm

    TSA hiring

    I was still writing resumes when TSA was started up. Several clients, some working for TSA, insisted the Mpls TSA was run by a religious nut who gave his parishioners first shot at new postings and promotions.

    This sounds like the obvious outcome. Bush-Cheney, among many other horrible things, gutted all objectivity and professionalism from federal hiring. We're all the way back to hiring those who know (or blow) the boss.

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Sugar, Yes, Please…

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 04 Jun, 2016 @ 07:25am

    Artificial sweeteners are bad

    Studies show they create a craving for real sweets. I saw this with an elderly gentleman I knew. He used artificial sweeteners and invariably after using them, he'd go hunting for real sugar. If he skipped the artificial sweeteners, the craving for real sugar just wasn't there.

    I could care less about cancer. There are better reasons not to use fake sugar. Like fake pot, it's not even close to being good for you.

  • On the post: AT&T Falsely Blames The FCC For Company's Failure To Block Annoying Robocalls

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 02 Jun, 2016 @ 08:32am

    ATT provides the phone service

    for a campaign office we just opened in WI. We have not made the number public yet, but each day for weeks now we have gotten 2-3 junk calls a day for ads in junk publications.

    We need a Constitutional right to privacy. No one's land line is safe from these predators, not even when you're running for Congress!

  • On the post: AT&T Makes It Clear: It Bought DirecTV So It Doesn't Have To Upgrade Its Lagging Networks

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 18 Feb, 2016 @ 09:54am

    Wireless broadband

    In case any readers are unclear as to the concept, due to unique geography I get my internet from Verizon wireless. That costs $10/1 GB. Do your own math (hint: it's cheaper to buy DVDs of new movies than to stream them).

  • On the post: Senators Whine About FCC's 25 Mbps Broadband Standard, Insist Nobody Needs That Much Bandwidth

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 25 Jan, 2016 @ 12:17pm

    In rural Wisconsin

    Verizon will gladly sell you access via cell tower. Works really well if you don't mind paying $400-$1000 a month for basic internet!

  • On the post: Secret Service Agents Dug Through Personal Info To Discredit Legislator Investigating Agency Wrongdoing

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 01 Oct, 2015 @ 09:15am

    Exercise caution on this one

    Chaffetz is from Utah and a ridiculously high percentage of SS and FBI agents are Mormons. Something happened ten years ago and I suspect we still don't know what that was about other than it was about a lot more than what we're reading.

    What THIS is about is Chaffetz leaking this story all over the Beltway to bolster his credentials for a leadership role in the new, even more radicalized Republican Congress.

    Chaffetz is playing the media like a violin. Techdirt should cover him very cautiously.

  • On the post: Windows 10 Reserves The Right To Block Pirated Games And 'Unauthorized' Hardware

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 28 Aug, 2015 @ 04:29pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Nothing new

    I BOUGHT A USED CAR, OK?

    Not everyone can afford to order them from the factory with custom options.

  • On the post: Windows 10 Reserves The Right To Block Pirated Games And 'Unauthorized' Hardware

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 28 Aug, 2015 @ 04:27pm

    Re: Re: Nothing new

    Very serious. MS Sync refuses to read the data on any flash drive or iPod I plug into it. They've DRMed my music system, but I can still play whatever I like in CD slot with .mp3s.

    It's a used car, I didn't buy it for the stereo, but I really didn't expect a gatekeeper in my car.

  • On the post: Windows 10 Reserves The Right To Block Pirated Games And 'Unauthorized' Hardware

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 26 Aug, 2015 @ 02:33pm

    Nothing new

    Just bought a car with MS Sync and when I plugged my iPod in, Sync refused to play any of the music, insisting none of it was authorized.

    Worst fucking form capitalism imaginable. Own nothing but pay rent forever.

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Healthier Rice… From Science

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 22 Aug, 2015 @ 09:04am

    Why reduce calories?

    Does the author have any clue why scientists are trying to modify rice? Why the tip on how to reduce the calories in rice? Yes, as a fat American I know that trick, but the scientists are trying to trick MORE calories out of rice, not less.

    What a stunning disconnect to go from feeding people to tips on how to get less food value from your food.

  • On the post: Larry Lessig Goes Even Bigger: May Run For President On The Single Issue Of Money In Politics

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 11 Aug, 2015 @ 09:52am

    Bernie Sanders would fix much of this

    Why now? Lessig seems to be throwing his name out there as a spoiler to drain votes from Sanders.

  • On the post: Boom: House Rejects Fast Track… For Now

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 12 Jun, 2015 @ 01:44pm

    Yes it was confusing

    but in no way was Nancy Pelosi trying to stop fast track. Naked Capitalism has written about this at length. Pelosi pushed so hard for this her own allies in the Democratic Caucus called her out last night.

    Anything you read crediting Pelosi with stopping this is based on her flacks' false account. Pelosi and Obama lost today, and the Democratic party regained a smidgeon of their lost honor.

  • On the post: Sting Operation Shows How Full Of Crap Health Journals Are When It Comes To Dietary Studies

    Mark Gisleson ( profile ), 30 May, 2015 @ 01:05pm

    Careful

    There is a weirdly effective guerrilla marketing scam the right uses. They see where the counterculture is making inroads, note how that information is being distributed, and then they start coming up with "stings" like this one that make you doubt the good information.

    This chocolate study may have been about how easily duped we are, but it's getting wide distribution because it makes people doubt the alternative health information out there. I saw this article in real time and dismissed it because it was so obviously indebted to wishful thinking.

    Voluminous amounts of new information about diet are coming out. Much better documented and not fad dieting oriented. Simply put, we've been propagandized into ruining our diets. Why? Because you can make more money from processed foods. But hey, there was a phony story about chocolate, so you'd be stupid to read any of that stuff, which is why you're going to continue to read about this study for a long, long time.

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