radix 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (282)

• On the post: Good Idea: As Video Game Preservation Often Falls To Fan Groups, Release Every Game's Source Code

  

  radix ( profile ), 29 Mar, 2021 @ 09:21pm

  Re:

  Even updating and continuing to monetize older titles is hurt by the lack of preservation options. Famously, Baldur's Gate and a number of related titles in the same engine have been enhanced and revitalized by Beamdog and resold decades after their original release, but no such luck for Icewind Dale II. The source code is gone, and without it, no further updates can be made. Sure, the original binaries still work, but short of a complete rewrite, anything else is off the table.

• On the post: Google Disbands Stadia Game Developers And Signals Potential For More Trouble Ahead

  

  radix ( profile ), 23 Feb, 2021 @ 10:06pm

  Re:

  Boom. https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190612/07282442379/google-stadia-is-about-to-show-everyone-why-broadband-usage-caps-are-bullshit.shtml#c46

• On the post: Random Jackass Attempts To Trademark 'Mayor Of Mar-A-Lago' In The Most Hilarious Way

  

  radix ( profile ), 18 Feb, 2021 @ 07:30am

  Re:

  He's saving that for the franchise, Mayor of Mar a Lago, Alabama.

• On the post: No, Getting Rid Of Anonymity Will Not Fix Social Media; It Will Cause More Problems

  

  radix ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2021 @ 09:54am

  This is like saying a small number of guilty people end up winning at trial, so we need to outlaw lawyers for the good of everybody.

  If you ignore the other side of the equation where most people benefit from a particular law or policy, you end up hurting far more people than are helped.

• On the post: The Wall Street Journal Kisses Big Telecom's Ass In Whiny Screed About 'Big Tech'

  

  radix ( profile ), 28 Jan, 2021 @ 11:24am

  Dog bites man

  Legacy media company that relies on the power of the monologue for its revenue stream is angry at websites and laws that facilitate dialogue. News at 11.

• On the post: 60 Minutes Episode Is Pure Misleading Moral Panic About Section 230; Blames Unrelated Issues On It

  

  radix ( profile ), 04 Jan, 2021 @ 04:00pm

  It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it. - Upton Sinclair

  I've said it a million times. Section 230 is a key piece of democratizing the news, so it's folly to expect any traditional news gatekeeper to present the whole story. If they even do understand it, they have a vested interest in misrepresenting it.

• On the post: Microsoft: Bethesda Games Will Be 'First, Best' On Xbox, PC

  

  radix ( profile ), 20 Nov, 2020 @ 08:20pm

  The deal isn't done yet.

  No doubt they have internal analysis about which monetization methods will lead to the greatest revenue, but sharing that publicly right now could gum up any regulatory investigations that might arise out of such a large acquisition. Getting too public about it, just in case things fall apart, could harm both companies down the road. They have to continue to operate as separate entities for the time being.

• On the post: Auto Industry Pushes Bullshit Claim That 'Right To Repair' Laws Aid Sexual Predators

  

  radix ( profile ), 11 Sep, 2020 @ 07:41am

  It's getting hard to keep track of all this. Section 230 causes sexual predators. Owning what you buy causes sexual predators. It's a hell of a boogyman to push all sorts of agendas.

  Can we get a campaign to promote copyrights of over 10 years causing sexual deviancy? Maybe this super power can be used for good.

• On the post: Scientists Forced To Change Names Of Human Genes Because Of Microsoft's Failure To Patch Excel

  

  radix ( profile ), 11 Aug, 2020 @ 03:24pm

  Re: Format

  Me: spends 8 hours getting everything perfectly formatted Excel: You meant to save this all in a European accounting format, right? Done!

• On the post: Nick Sandmann's Wacky QAnon Supporting Lawyer Threatens Reporters For 'Speculating' On Washington Post's Settlement With Sandmann

  

  radix ( profile ), 28 Jul, 2020 @ 02:41pm

  He already got paid once by CNN for the serious crime of not doing anything wrong. That $1000 at a time isn't going to just roll in by itself, gotta keep those lawsuits coming!

• On the post: Yet Another 'Stranger Things' Copyright Suit Over A String Of Likely Non-Protectable Elements

  

  radix ( profile ), 20 Jul, 2020 @ 07:18pm

  Apparently Totem has been around since roughly 2009, according to the filing.

  Perhaps before filing a lawsuit over a cop being possessed by a demon named Azrael, he should watch the 1998 movie 'Fallen' about a cop being possessed by a demon named Azazel.

• On the post: Harper's Gives Prestigious Platform To Famous Writers So They Can Whine About Being Silenced

  

  radix ( profile ), 08 Jul, 2020 @ 11:00am

  This is just another angle on the same complaint traditional news media has been making against social media and "the internet."

  The Old Guard doesn't really want free speech, they want to remain the gatekeepers of Truth™ like they were a scant 30 years ago, and how dare anybody question that. True freedom of expression has leveled the playing field to the point where they are no longer elevated above us lowly laypeople to the same degree, and losing that power is not comfortable for any institution.

  Technology has enabled news, publishing, and expressive arts in general to be much closer to the meritocracy they have always claimed it to be. They are losing the mindshare because they have not evolved, and now they are lashing out at the tech and culture that has made that possible.

  It's true that a completely level field (to stretch the analogy probably too far) makes hearing people on the other side more difficult than if there were pedestals from which leaders can monologue, and that leads to small bubbles in which people can congregate and amplify one another's bad speech. On balance, though, I'd rather live in a world without preordained speakers and listeners, but in one where everybody is both.

• On the post: As Predicted: Parler Is Banning Users It Doesn't Like

  

  radix ( profile ), 29 Jun, 2020 @ 01:28pm

  "You can’t spam people’s comment sections with unrelated content." Except, you kinda can do that on the "street of New York."

  That street is named Madison Avenue, in fact, and it's not just allowed, it's encouraged.

• On the post: Senator Hawley's Latest Dumb Anti-230 Plan Would Wipe Out The President's Advantage On Facebook

  

  radix ( profile ), 16 Jun, 2020 @ 11:16am

  Yes...but no. As always, politicians will be entirely exempt from the laws written for us plebs.

• On the post: Trump Campaign Is So Pathetic It Claims CNN Poll Is Defamatory; Demands Retraction

  

  radix ( profile ), 12 Jun, 2020 @ 02:29pm

  Re: Re: Re:

  you'd have to be pretty desperate to elect a President who will basically have to immediately turn things over to the VP. His cognitive decline is getting bad.

  I'd rather elect someone whose cognitive decline forces him to abdicate than re-elect someone whose cognitive absence prevents him from doing so.

• On the post: No, Twitter Fact Checking The President Is Not Evidence Of Anti-Conservative Bias

  

  radix ( profile ), 29 May, 2020 @ 03:00pm

  Here's a fun game: Any time somebody claims anti-conservative bias, ask for examples.

  If there are any given, which is rare, it will almost certainly be plainly racist or harassing speech that was "censored." It's almost like the only thing that defines speech as "conservative" is that it's racist or cruel.

• On the post: Senate Talking Points Say Warrantless Collection Of Internet Use Data Keeps Terrorists From Killing Us

  

  radix ( profile ), 26 May, 2020 @ 02:01pm

  Re: Just a reminder:

  I'm no expert, but this gets me every time. "Probable cause" doesn't appear to mean that a search can be performed on the spot, it's a prerequisite to get a warrant, not a replacement for a warrant. Now the law says that probable cause isn't even needed? We've gone from: Have a reason to search -> get a warrant -> search to: Have a reason to search -> search -> if you find something, get a warrant after the fact and perform parallel construction to now: Fuck y'all -> search everything

• On the post: As Congress Looks To Give FBI Broad Powers To Sniff Through Your Browsing History Sans Warrant, Wyden Asks ODNI How Often It's Used

  

  radix ( profile ), 21 May, 2020 @ 11:49am

  Where are they getting this information?

  For all their other faults, Google and Microsoft aren't exactly cozy with the government when they come asking for data, so it's unlikely to be from the search providers themselves. The assumption has to be that it comes from the ISPs, so this makes for a great advertisement for a VPN.

• On the post: US Press Continues To Help Prop Up Bullshit 5G Conspiracy Theories

  

  radix ( profile ), 13 May, 2020 @ 08:22am

  Protesting "harmful" EM waves by standing out in direct sunlight all day.

  Galaxy-brain stuff right there.

• On the post: China Bans 'Plague Inc.' Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

  

  radix ( profile ), 05 Mar, 2020 @ 09:12am

  because Plague Inc. went wild in terms of popularity in China

  It went "viral." It was right there, dude.

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