Fitzwilly 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (58) comment rss

  • On the post: CEO Of 21st Century Fox Thinks People Aren't Really Asking For A La Carte TV Channels

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2014 @ 08:11pm

    Re: Re:

    Some of these niche channels could become local digital OTA LPTV (low-power TV) channels like Star Ray TV here in Toronto where I live.

  • On the post: CEO Of 21st Century Fox Thinks People Aren't Really Asking For A La Carte TV Channels

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2014 @ 07:59pm

    Here's a hint as to getting indie movies that aren't on Netflix

    ...it's called renting DVD from a physical bricks & mortar store, many of which (if you look around) still exist in big cities in the USA. Keeping cable TV for channels like The Sundance Channel and IFC so that you can see said indie movies also helps too.

    Amazingly enough. my sister and brother in-law still watch TV and movies on cable, but have given up DVD's completely.

  • On the post: Nielsen Backs Off Reporting Data On Cord Cutters Because The Cable Industry Prefers Fantasyland

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2014 @ 07:50pm

    The U.S. government can do what the Canadian government's proposing...

    -and force cable companies to stop forcing bundling on people, instead letting them do a pick and choose of what channels they want.

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Harnessing Fusion Energy

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2014 @ 07:37pm

    We should be continuing with nukes

    ...but we won't thanks to the silly Luddites that make up the environmental movement and overblown disasters like Fukushima Daiichi that the media love to focus on because 'if it bleeds, it leads'.

    We need to have a complete re-teaching of science in schools in North America and Europe, and we also need to kick out all of the emoprog environmental extremists that have infiltrated high schools and universities.

  • On the post: Sheriff's Deputy Fired For Harassing Journalist Taking Photos Of An Arrest On A Public Street

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 11 Feb, 2014 @ 08:30am

    We need what they've got in Japan as far as training of cops is concerned...

    Education is highly stressed in police recruitment and promotion. Entrance to the force is determined by examinations administered by each prefecture. Examinees are divided into two groups: upper-secondary-school graduates and university graduates. Recruits underwent rigorous training?one year for upper-secondary school graduates and six months for university graduates?at the residential police academy attached to the prefectural headquarters. On completion of basic training, most police officers are assigned to local police boxes called Kobans. Promotion is achieved by examination and requires further course work. In-service training provides mandatory continuing education in more than 100 fields. Police officers with upper-secondary school diplomas are eligible to take the examination for sergeant after three years of on-the-job experience. University graduates can take the examination after only one year. University graduates are also eligible to take the examination for assistant police inspector, police inspector, and superintendent after shorter periods than upper-secondary school graduates. There are usually five to fifteen examinees for each opening.

    About fifteen officers per year pass advanced civil service examinations and are admitted as senior officers. Officers are groomed for administrative positions, and, although some rise through the ranks to become senior administrators, most such positions are held by specially recruited senior executives.

    The police forces are subject to external oversight. Although officials of the National Public Safety Commission generally defer to police decisions and rarely exercise their powers to check police actions or operations, police are liable for civil and criminal prosecution, and the media actively publicizes police misdeeds. The Human Rights Bureau of the Ministry of Justice solicits and investigates complaints against public officials, including police, and prefectural legislatures could summon police chiefs for questioning. Social sanctions and peer pressure also constrain police behavior. As in other occupational groups in Japan, police officers develop an allegiance to their own group and a reluctance to offend its principles.


    Law enforcement in Japan-Conditions of service

  • On the post: Dr. Matthew Rimmer Takes A Closer Look At Fair Use

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 03 Feb, 2014 @ 04:25am

    Re: Re: Re: Re:

    And yet, anime has gone far beyond Disney so much, it's scary.

  • On the post: Canadian Gov't Responds To Spying Revelations By Saying It's All A Lie And Calling Glenn Greenwald A 'Porn Spy'

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 03 Feb, 2014 @ 07:00am

    The REAL truth about Glenn Greenwald...

    -is that he's an opportunistic, glory-seeking racist libertarian phony who believes that he's doing good when in fact he's full of shit;

    A Direct Timeline of Glenn Greenwald, His Front Group and the Fugitive Edward Snowden

    Glenn Greenwald Promotes Racist, Anti-Government Hate Group

    Did the British Have Good Reason to Detain Greenwald's Partner in Crime?

    President Obama Slays Edward Snowden's "Whistleblower" Myth


    Blackmail Backfires: Glenn Greenwald Steps Deeper in His Own Petard

    Glenn Greenwald Accuses Edward Snowden of Treason!

    Greenwald Backtracks: I Did Not Have Working Relations With that Man... (in February Like I Told You I Did)

    Glenn Greenwald Cheerleads for Russian State-controlled Media

    I could go on and on, but you can read the rest of the articles via the links I've provided.

  • On the post: NY Times Argues, Forcefully, That The US Should Offer Snowden Clemency

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 02 Jan, 2014 @ 12:47pm

    Re:

    There's nothing wrong with the NSA; it was doing its job as a spy agency. Snowjob didn't like it, got pissy, and then decided to bail, taking sensitive documents that he was going to use to reveal the NSA's so-called 'crimes' against the American people (why couldn't he do this during the Bush administration? I'm guessing Obama Derangement Syndrome is one of the causes and reasons.)

    Removal from office for politicians for not going on the word of a whiny crybaby's so-called 'revelations?' Good luck with that.

    The emotarian left is barking up the wrong tree on this, and taking good people with them to the gutter.

  • On the post: NY Times Argues, Forcefully, That The US Should Offer Snowden Clemency

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 02 Jan, 2014 @ 12:38pm

    Re: Re:

    Snowjob doesn't deserve anything but a very long jail sentence, for reasons I've already posted (but am willing to post again so that people can get the point):

    President Obama Slays Edward Snowden's "Whistleblower" Myth

    The Plot Thickens on Edward Snowden's Sino-Russian Love Affair

    A few thoughts on Snowden, Greenwald, and the NSA

    In 2009, Ed Snowden said leakers ?should be shot.? Then he became one

  • On the post: Oh Look, Hollywood Had Yet Another Record Year At The Box Office

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 02 Jan, 2014 @ 12:22pm

    Re:

    Why pirate when I can Netflix?


    Why pay for compressed video when you can see a great file that somebody made taken from a HD master that looks and sounds better?

  • On the post: Chicago Sandwich Shop Emails Employees On Dec. 23rd To Say Merry Christmas And You're All Fired

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 25 Dec, 2013 @ 06:40pm

    Re:

    I'll remember, and I won't deal with this place (there's other fish in the sea anyway.)

  • On the post: Four-Star General Screams At Reporter Working On Snowden Documents

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 25 Dec, 2013 @ 03:13pm

    Re:

    Would the fact that the Obama administration's elimination of Osama Bin laden helped matters considerably?

  • On the post: NSA Gave RSA $10 Million To Promote Crypto It Had Purposely Weakened

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 25 Dec, 2013 @ 02:59pm

    Re: Re: I hate to break it to everybody about Snowden, but

    Because he's an opportunistic crybaby with delusions of grandeur who didn't get his diaper changed, I guess.

  • On the post: NSA Gave RSA $10 Million To Promote Crypto It Had Purposely Weakened

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 25 Dec, 2013 @ 02:57pm

    Re: Re: I hate to break it to everybody about Snowden, but

    Hey, I guess being a silly emotarian fool is better than learning the truth. What else is new?

  • On the post: GCHQ, NSA Spied On Known Terrorist Haven… UNICEF

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 21 Dec, 2013 @ 01:08pm

    Pardon me for asking

    ...But what encryption programs are out there that I can use?

  • On the post: UK's New Mandatory Porn Filter Already Defeated By A Single Chrome Extension

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 21 Dec, 2013 @ 12:20pm

    Re:

    'Our censorship is good, China's is bad-end of story.'

  • On the post: The Future Of Music Business Models (And Those Who Are Already There)

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 21 Dec, 2013 @ 03:25pm

    Re:

    Why are things like this? Because people are like this now, and don't give a shit.

    For my part, I buy my CD's and DVD's as much as I can (including purchases from iTunes), but there are sometimes when I can't always buy songs legally, and have to download-I do this by using YouTube to make a copy of the song, then using another program to make an MP3 out of it. I do this because money's tight, and I have to eat.

    The REAL problem I see here is that of radio and how it won't expose any new artists (that aren't pop), and until radio (in North America) is re-regulated back to the degree that it used to be (only one station can be owned by one company in a certain market) and with what used to be the definition of a radio station brought back (live DJs that knew music and played it instead of computers that have music stored on big hard drives), artists that aren't pop tarts like Katy Perry/Justin Bieber/Rhianna/Drake will have to jump through the hoops that you described.

    This was said quite a while ago, and applies now:

    Lest you require any more proof that indie-soft-rock is the new mainstream, this week offers conclusive
    evidence. On Dec. 1, Feist plays a sold-out show at Massey Hall; five days later, her friend Bon Iver
    begins a two-night stand of his own at the historic concert hall on Shuter Street, on the heels of picking
    up four Grammy nominations last Wednesday. On Dec. 8, their equally sophisticated peers in The
    National make the leap to headlining the Air Canada Centre?a venue that recently hosted the likes of
    Kanye, Jay-Z and Prince. Not that anyone should be surprised by these plum bookings: These are artists
    who debut in the Billboard Top 10 and appear on Saturday Night Live and at the Grammys. Their songs
    have been used to sell everything from iPods (Feist) to whiskey (Bon Iver), or to soundtrack crucial
    scenes on Grey?s Anatomy (The National). But despite these artists? successes and accessibility?heck,
    even Barack Obama?s a National fan?you will not hear any of them on mainstream commercial radio in
    Toronto.
    Some might argue that Feist, The National and Bon Iver are already overexposed. While that may be
    true within the hive-mind mentality of internet music discussions (or, in Feist?s case, among CBC Radio 2
    listeners), the fact is, if those artists actually received consistent mainstream-radio airplay, they could
    potentially be headlining stadiums instead of theatres. Even though radio has shed many listeners to
    self-curated iTunes playlists and other digital distractions, it?s still the major determining factor between
    an artist being a household name versus a dorm-room one. As a mate in the music industry recently
    told me, when it comes to breaking a new band, ?Radio has never mattered less?but nothing will ever
    matter as much as radio.?
    Now, I?m not under any illusion that mainstream commercial radio?s goal is to facilitate artists? careers.
    Its function is to get as many people as possible in a specific demographic to listen to the Speedy Glass
    commercials that run between the songs. However, if audience retention and expansion are the
    ultimate end games, shouldn?t our mainstream rock radio stations actually reflect what?s currently
    happening in mainstream rock?
    Alas, Toronto?s commercial rock stations adhere to a rigid demographic science, which dictates that
    playlists are compiled according to eras rather than actual shared musical aesthetics. Classic-rock
    kingpin Q107 refuses to acknowledge that any new bands have emerged since The Black Crowes and
    the Hip; its fellow Corus-owned counterpart 102.1 The Edge pretends music didn?t exist before 1990,
    judging by its post-grunge, alterna-jock-baiting music selection (which one wouldn?t expect to include
    the statelier likes of Bon Iver or The National, yet the station still makes room for UK aesthetes like
    Mumford & Sons and Florence + the Machine). Boom 97.3offers a more accurate reflection of postiTunes
    shuffle-mode listening habits (by recognizing that a Rush fan might also enjoy The Cure and
    Green Day), but its playlists are based on purely nostalgic ?70s, ?80s and ?90s parameters.
    A recent survey of radio listeners revealed that their primary reason for tuning in is not to hear the
    current selection, but rather the anticipation of waiting to hear what?s next. The flipside to this theory is
    that listeners will tune out?a station?s greatest fear?if the next song doesn?t fulfill their expectations.
    However, radio playlists compiled according to era ultimately lead to false and forced associations, and,
    by extension, reactionary turns of the dial. During a recent listen to Boom, I heard Lou Reed followed by
    Gowan?do you know anyone who?d want to hear those artists back to back? Such curious
    combinations highlight the sheer illogicality of Toronto rock-radio playlists: The Sheepdogs and The
    White Stripes (both 102.1 the Edge property) have way more in common with Q107 staples like The
    Rolling Stones, Allman Brothers and Zeppelin than the Edge-rotated Foster the People and Crystal
    Castles, who would be more at home with the ?80s new-wave hits heard on Boom. Ultimately, Toronto?s
    rock radio stations serve to separate music from the audiences who would appreciate it the most.
    Ironically, smaller-market stations outside of the GTA, like Y108 out of Hamilton, or Windsor?s93.9 The
    River, have proven to be far more progressive than their Toronto counterparts when it comes to
    matching classic-rock artists with their contemporary equivalents. (The former boasts a more brawny
    mix of Black Sabbath and The Black Keys, while on the latter you?ll hear Adele and Metric alongside
    Talking Heads and Bowie. Neither station is perfect?Y108 is not immune to Nickelbackitis, and The
    River still dusts off its Jewel albums?but at least they understand that just because I came of age in the
    1980s doesn?t mean I only want to hear music from then.) If a complementary mix of old and new can
    play in these proverbial Peorias, what are our radio stations so afraid of? Radio is, of course, an
    inherently conservative of medium, but in the case of artists like Feist, Bon Iver and The National, the
    market research has already been done, in the form of those prime-time TV appearances, sold-out
    concert-hall tours and high-profile ad placements?what more do they have to do to prove they have
    mass appeal? And why are our commercial rock stations so convinced that their listeners aren?t
    among the thousands of Torontonians going to see them play this week?
    Maybe I?m naive, but I find it hard to believe that a Joni Mitchell or Neil Young fan would immediately
    tune out upon hearing a Feist song on Q107, but will eagerly keep it locked on for another spin of .38
    Special or Styx. Speaking purely from a business standpoint, what?s the bigger risk for a commercial
    radio station: following up a song that a listener loves with a similar-sounding one they don't know, or
    one that they?ve always despised?


    Toronto?s mainstream rock radio should
    be more mainstream

    We need to start making our voices heard to stop this state of affairs, now, and make it clear that the airwaves belong to everybody, not just pop stars 'singing three minute songs about the moon and June' as Marvin Gaye once said when interviewed about why he recorded What's Going On.

  • On the post: The Future Of Music Business Models (And Those Who Are Already There)

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 21 Dec, 2013 @ 01:54pm

    Re: RIAA, FBI, and college- Guilty until Proven Innocent

    Why the frack did you pirate a Taylor Swift song if you hate her music?

    BTW, there's a way to get songs without downloading from P2P/file swap services; download the song off of YouTube, and then convert it to an MP3 (or just download the song as an MP3). There are browsers that will let you do that, like Torch and Opera (Opera has the app for said MP3 YouTube downloads).

  • On the post: UK's New Mandatory Porn Filter Already Defeated By A Single Chrome Extension

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 21 Dec, 2013 @ 12:14am

    Re: Re:

    You could also get the device known as the Telezapper, but I don't know if it even exists anymore.

  • On the post: Next Time Someone Suggests Piracy Will Kill Music, Remind Them That Music Survived The Last Ice Age

    Fitzwilly ( profile ), 21 Dec, 2013 @ 02:08am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    How the frack is Justin Bieber and Co. (the other pop stars) making your life hell? Just don't listen to commercial radio.

Next >>