ThaumaTechnician 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (440)

• On the post: Drug Dog Testing Process Eliminates Handler Bias. Unsurprisingly, Cops Don't Like it.

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 30 Nov, 2017 @ 04:55am

  When I read the headline..

  My first thought was "Jeepers, that must be difficult, to get them to pee in a cup."

• On the post: FBI Leaves It To Journalists To Notify US Government Targets Of Russian Hacking

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 27 Nov, 2017 @ 11:50am

  Easy fix:

  Pull some agents away from the Terrorist Factory, get them actually helping society instead of just working on their own career promotion at hapless lost souls' expense.

• On the post: EFF Wins Over Patent Troll Trying To Silence EFF Calling Its Patent Stupid

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 20 Nov, 2017 @ 01:34pm

  "Won over"?

  As in, the EFF convinced GEMSA that the EFF's thinking was correct?

• On the post: Russian Foreign Ministry Accuses America Of Supporting ISIS With Video Game Footage

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 16 Nov, 2017 @ 01:19pm

  You'd think that the IR view of the bullets...

  ..would give it away, but no!
  
  How about the fact that the bullets seemed to be traveling at 10KPH?

• On the post: With The US Out, Canada Gets Copyright Out Of TPP And Moves Closer To Agreement

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 13 Nov, 2017 @ 12:54pm

  Measured optimism from Mr. Geist's per his G&M op-ed.

  "Indeed, despite pressure to cave on key demands from the Japanese and Australian governments, Canada stood its ground and is helping to craft a trade deal that better reflects a balanced approach on challenging policy issues." https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/no-deal-is-better-than-a-bad-deal-why-canada-won-the-tpp-stand-off/article36931537/

  Thank goodness it wasn't the Harperites doing the "negotiating". You can pronounce last word "acquiescing".

• On the post: Algorithmic Videos Are Making YouTube Unsuitable For Young Children, And Google's 'Revenue Architecture' Is To Blame

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 09 Nov, 2017 @ 06:02pm

  Re: Re:

  Not to mention, Mike: and the first video is pushing kids to ask for Kinder Eggs! Aren't those illegal in the 'States?
  
  /More for me!
  //I find the giant Kinder Surprise are often a little disappointing.
  ///You can try to pry my wooden(yes!) Kinder Egg car out of my cold dead hands.

• On the post: Logitech Once Again Shows That In The Modern Era, You Don't Really Own What You Buy

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 09 Nov, 2017 @ 02:50pm

  Re:

  Thanks for the link - I'll be looking into this story. If you're not familiar with this, look into the story of one of my long-time heroes: Stanislav Petrov. People should know his name by heart.

• On the post: DOJ Finally Drops Case Against Protester Who Laughed During Jeff Sessions' Confirmation Hearing

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 08 Nov, 2017 @ 05:52am

  Why wasn't Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) charged..

  ..with “inciting disorderly or disruptive conduct” by his assertion about Sessions?

• On the post: Daily Deal: GlassWire Pro

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 06 Nov, 2017 @ 12:13pm

  Re: bandwidth management / traffic shaping

  In GlassWire, you can block by application only (or block all apps). You can always set firewall rules by adding a rule to the built-in Windows Firewall.
  
  Mind you, you do get alerts for any application the first time that particular version of the app gains access to the network - at which point you can block it in the Firewall.
  
  I've had it running on my computer for more than a year now, AFAICT, it's caused no problems/conflicts whatsoever.

• On the post: Oversight Board Report On DC Police Cameras Contradicts Earlier Report's Claims

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 04 Nov, 2017 @ 12:13pm

  Of course, it makes sense that the...

  Oversight Board Report On DC Police Cameras Contradicts Earlier Report's Claims, because in the vast majority of the case, the Police Cameras Contradicted Earlier Claims by the Officers.

• On the post: Declassified Docs Show NSA Trying To Prosecute A Journalist For His Successful FOIA Requests

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 30 Oct, 2017 @ 10:30am

  What I don't understand is...

  ..why is it that government so eagerly runs roughshod all over the 1st Amendment, and yet treads so gingerly when the 2nd Amendment is even just mentioned?

• On the post: Back Down The Rabbit Hole About Encryption On Smartphones

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 27 Oct, 2017 @ 10:03am

  Thread is Godwinned even before the first comment.

  Great to see a certified Internet celebrity posting here.
  
  From Rosenstein's speech: "On the morning of the attack, one of the terrorists exchanged 109 instant messages with an overseas terrorist." A few words later: "Responsible encryption can involve effective, secure encryption that allows access only with judicial authorization."
  
  Yeah, you wouldn't have had the authorization in time, aside from what if the terrorists used codewords in plaintext communications?
  
  Besides, if the FBI and the CIA spend their time actually investigating, rather than _creating_ terrorists, lying to Congress, etc, etc, and maybe put those to started illegal wars on trial, I'd pay attention.

• On the post: DOJ Subpoenas Twitter About Popehat, Dissent Doe And Others Over A Smiley Emoji Tweet

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 24 Oct, 2017 @ 11:27am

  Re:

  More like "yellow rectangle painted on the asphalt so that they look like speed bumps".

• On the post: Law Prof Argues Cell Location Records Shouldn't Need Warrants Because Cell Phones Have Encryption

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 24 Oct, 2017 @ 02:02pm

  Orin Hatch's brother?

  "George Washington University law prof (and Volokh conspirator) Orin Kerr"

• On the post: Court Tells Sheriff's Dept. Shackling Kids Above The Elbows Is Excessive Force

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 17 Oct, 2017 @ 03:27am

  Re:

  You did read the part where Sumner, the school resource officer, testified in court that “none of what they did was worthy of trying to file a criminal charge”, no?

• On the post: DOJ Staffers: The T-Mobile Sprint Merger Will Reduce Competition And Should Be Blocked

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 13 Oct, 2017 @ 07:06am

  DOJ Staffers? What do they know, eh?

  They've only read all the documents and have studied the antitrust laws for years.
  
  It's not like they've signed the back of the campaign or lobbying donation cheques or anything.
  
  /shining example to the rest of the world, my foot.

• On the post: British News Channel Touts Amazon Bomb Materials Moral Panic That Ends Up Being About Hobbyists And School Labs

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 25 Sep, 2017 @ 10:07am

  Re: Re:

  Funny you should say that:
  I once looked up specs on a right-angle/close quarters drill. I was told that "frequently bought together" were Dewalt drill bits and an Instant Pot.

• On the post: Report Details The NSA's Decade-Long Abuse Of Its Surveillance Powers

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2017 @ 11:32am

  Re:

  There are two meanings to that word, eh.
  
  / It's like most of English words - when the NSA uses them, they use a different, new, bizarre, and completely misleading definition.

• On the post: EU Buried Its Own $400,000 Study Showing Unauthorized Downloads Have Almost No Effect On Sales

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 21 Sep, 2017 @ 07:44am

  Re:

  You did see the part where it said: "An exception is the displacement of recent top films. The results show a displacement rate of 40 per cent which means that for every ten recent top films watched illegally, four fewer films are consumed legally." If wonder whether the MPAA would consider going after the people who craft the give-all-the-plot-surprises-away trailers for recent top films which, in my case at least, are the most effective way to get me to not go see a movie.

• On the post: Massachusetts Court Affirms: People On School Campuses Still Have Fourth Amendment Rights

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 20 Sep, 2017 @ 06:38am

  Re: Re: Re:

  The school official ability/authority to detain someone, or lack thereof, is addressed in the decision.

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