opit 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (31) comment rss

  • On the post: British Cops Try To Force CCTV On Pub Owner

    opit ( profile ), 23 Feb, 2009 @ 11:57am

    GWOT

    I always thought the 'perps' of 9/11 were identified with indecent haste : considering no forensic examination of the crash site was announced.
    My first reaction is that the same thing is always going to occur : public demand for answers will prompt 'answers'...just don't insist on accuracy.
    So today we know that the 9/11 investigation was bullshit and that spying on Americans has been intrusive for years. What is still not realized that that was just a matter of degree, not of kind.
    The cameras ? Who has time to analyze all that content ? This will put 'crime fighting' back, not ahead, because too many false leads will be generated. But if you want to 'get' somebody, the state won't be able to keep its seive of a security network from spilling out all kinds of personal secrets.
    That should be handy for organized blackmail.

  • On the post: Associated Press Considers Locking Up Its Online Content

    opit ( profile ), 23 Feb, 2009 @ 11:43am

    AP charges

    This is a recurring meme : which goes to show stupidity really is immortal.

  • On the post: NY Times Turning News Into A Platform

    opit ( profile ), 05 Feb, 2009 @ 09:51pm

    Locked content

    I run a link recommendation site : sort of a catchall of my picks of interest. NYT lost coverage like mad when it tried to tie up content. They didn't quit because the tactic was a winner.
    Likewise AP has the bright idea they can charge for articles. Someone hasn't realized my free advertising is not their revenue stream.I don't list article one from their sources : and doubt I'm alone.
    The long tail isn't monetized by me. Like most, the operation is a money losing hobby.

  • On the post: Fox Demands Site Give Up Fair Use Rights, Run Special Fox Ads, To Do Any Commentary

    opit ( profile ), 03 Feb, 2009 @ 07:30pm

    'Fox'

    Robert Murdoch's media manipulations have won his whole network special recognition. I kid you not. Any perceptive viewer will appreciate that when somebody says it should be 'Faux', they are substituting a sounds-the-same French word meaning 'false'.
    The original blog is gone: Welcome to Pottersville ( written by Jurrasic Pork!) is now replaced by Welcome Back to Pottersville. Anyway, Larry Johnson at No Quarter ( ex-CIA field super ) really gave a rousing applause article for what likely fell afoul of copyright law : JP ran a long set of screenshots of Fox News stories showing how absolute and utter B.S. ruled their headings.
    News ? Pathetic and deceitful, yes. News coverage ? Not even good satire.

  • On the post: Free Is Not Socialism

    opit ( profile ), 28 Nov, 2008 @ 07:03pm

    Political theory

    Rather than telling tech guys their argument is specious, I give you the following to consider : a look at the arc of political systems with definitions. Otherwise you're trying to write code without knowing any.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_forms_of_government

  • On the post: Does The Internet Generation Make For Bad Jurors?

    opit ( profile ), 09 Nov, 2008 @ 07:27pm

    Juror quality

    There are going to be many 'problems' with younger jurors besides them being more easily bored out of their gourd by bullshit : can you honestly credit Fox viewers with that problem ?
    I'll go with the idea that learning focus and ability has changed : that conversational skillsets are comparatively underdeveloped.
    Then too...are the jurors ignorant of the facts of the case and/or of the state's agenda ?
    Any media hog is going to miss his 'fix' too.

  • On the post: Using Google Suggest To See If A Company Is A Scam

    opit ( profile ), 02 Oct, 2008 @ 08:46pm

    Safety reading

    I have Web of Trust loaded in Firefox. If I do a search to figure out what a given URL represents, I also get a reliability reading without any added typing. You can select alternate search engines and are still set up.

  • On the post: Why Did The US Gov't Take Down A British Travel Agent's Websites?

    opit ( profile ), 05 Mar, 2008 @ 08:38pm

    US

    The US seems to be carrying out a campaign of harassing people worldwide on any pretext or none at all.
    The requirement that all passengers on European planes divulge personal information down to the blood type of their maiden aunt would be a case in point. It's the old "One - Two" : dominance and making it as intrusive as possible.
    I don't see any difference between this internet registration b.s., illegal spying and government hacking : it's part of a pattern of overbearing effrontery.
    It's not a case of the particulars of the law so much as the particulars of the cover story.

  • On the post: DHS Official: 'Real ID Has A Bad Bumper Sticker Reputation'

    opit ( profile ), 05 Mar, 2008 @ 08:17pm

    Real ID

    People don't seem to appreciate the real advantages to Real ID. The poor, not being able to afford it, won't be able to prove themselves American citizens : no voting, no welfare, no representation.

  • On the post: DHS Official: 'Real ID Has A Bad Bumper Sticker Reputation'

    opit ( profile ), 05 Mar, 2008 @ 08:15pm

    Real ID

  • On the post: Colorado The Latest To Ditch E-Voting Machines

    opit ( profile ), 19 Dec, 2007 @ 12:32am

    Voting irregularities

    http://www.bradblog.com/
    Here's obsessive reporting on the topic.