Rich 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (75) comment rss

  • On the post: Misunderstanding Locks Amazon User Out Of ‘Smart’ Home Voice Control For A Week

    Rich ( profile ), 22 Jun, 2023 @ 03:29pm

    Missing the point

    For anyone who doesn't believe that technology has advanved society immeasurably should remember that back in (what i like to call) the day, rotten kids would actually yell racial or homophobic slurs at poeple. Now with the help of modern technology, the malevolently motivated miscreant need only to report "hearing" a slur to cause immeasurable aggravation, and the amount of mayhem per unit of effort has never been higher.

  • On the post: DOJ Asks Judge To Block Backpage From Talking About Legal Ads, First Amendment, Section 230

    Rich ( profile ), 16 Jun, 2023 @ 04:03am

    Or, to simplify

    If I find myself forced into a contrived and unjust situation where my tormentors make the rules, and are in full control of what options I am allowed to use to prove myself worthy of release, then whatever options I "choose" are options that have been forced upon me.

  • On the post: DOJ Asks Judge To Block Backpage From Talking About Legal Ads, First Amendment, Section 230

    Rich ( profile ), 16 Jun, 2023 @ 03:38am

    It's about the scope

    I realize they can't make me take the stand, but if I feel it's the best way to defend my innocence and get out of a situation forced upon me, then taking the stand would be something I would feel forced to do.

  • On the post: DOJ Asks Judge To Block Backpage From Talking About Legal Ads, First Amendment, Section 230

    Rich ( profile ), 16 Jun, 2023 @ 12:20am

    Perhaps, but sometimes choice is forced

    If I find myself dragged into court by the government, anything I might "choose" to do or not do while there is absolutely something the government is forcing me to do.

  • On the post: DOJ Asks Judge To Block Backpage From Talking About Legal Ads, First Amendment, Section 230

    Rich ( profile ), 15 Jun, 2023 @ 06:38pm

    So, the Government can make you swear an oath, then ban you from honouring it?

    Defendant's opening statement: "for reasons no citizen of a free country can comprehend, the government has put here, made me swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and then barred any mention of the subject matter required to provide any truthful answers. In effect, they have made it illegal to honour the oath they made me take." "So...are we done here, or do you want to make it official and march me out the back door and put an end to this trial the old fashioned way?"

  • On the post: Many Of The States Endlessly Freaking Out About TikTok Still Have State Websites That Funnel Sensitive Data To TikTok

    Rich ( profile ), 08 Jun, 2023 @ 07:29am

    host's file

    I use a "hosts" file that provides a zero'd ok for thousands of known tracking host's. Works in Windows and Mac os, also. Google hosts file, you will find everything you need

  • On the post: Many Of The States Endlessly Freaking Out About TikTok Still Have State Websites That Funnel Sensitive Data To TikTok

    Rich ( profile ), 08 Jun, 2023 @ 06:58am

    "Unknowingly"

    I grow weary of the word "unknowingly". One of the linked source articles uses "...and perhaps, unknowingly,..." as if it would somehow explain or mitigate the constant abortion of any potentially beneficial semblance of rational thought which has now become the foundation upon which our government is built. "Unknowingly" should never be used in an effort to seek some sort of understanding of error, or mitigation of accountability within the ranks of government leadership. When you have been entrusted with the authority to govern people who have put their faith in your ability to lead, it is your fucking job to know what the fuck you are doing. If a governing politician has committed a blatant crime against common sense, and if the word "Unknowingly" shows up in any effort to explain, excuse, or minimize such an act, it is incontrovertible proof of utter incompetence. In conclusion: the end.

  • On the post: Meta Warns That It Will Remove News From Facebook & Instagram In California, Rather Than Pay Buffy Wicks’ Bribes

    Rich ( profile ), 02 Jun, 2023 @ 04:01pm

    Um...what?

    News orgs 10 to 15 years ago: "hey, we should move everything to the Web! Register with Search engines, and they will bring traffic to us!" Google/Facebook and the like: "great! We will start sending viewers/users your way!" News orgs now: "thanks for all that free help, now pay us" Facebook: "you want us to provide an endless stream of customers, and pay you for the honour? Hmmm...no." News orgs: "you censoring bastards! How dare you!" I have to admit that part of me admires the ability to ask for help with the heavy lifting, and then demand payment for providing the opportunity.

  • On the post: PSA: If You’re Late To Work, Try Blaming The Pixies

    Rich ( profile ), 05 May, 2023 @ 04:15pm

    Signal Processing 101

    Lesson 1: When analysing an incoming signal, the first step is to filter out anything resembling the outgoing signal. Addendum: Filtering out the ill-begotten remnants of echoes that bounce back from walls and furniture with their phases all banged up is kinda hard.

  • On the post: How Refugee Applications Are Being Lost In (Machine) Translation

    Rich ( profile ), 27 Apr, 2023 @ 04:25pm

    Government

    As the Government leans more and more on AI to do its job for it (Facial Recognition, crime prediction, prison sentencing, bail, parole, etc...), I can only see this sort of thing getting much, much worse. The fewer actual people involved, the more this sort of thing will snowball. AI systems will be autotranslating Government responses to AI translated citizen requests, and unpredictable levels damage will ensue from the epic levels of confusion created by this technologically twisted telephone game. Reminds me of something the Great Ron Bennington once said: "Idiocracy was the funniest movie I couldn't laugh at"

  • On the post: Texas Senate Approves Law Preventing University Instructors From Talking About Things These Senators Don’t Like

    Rich ( profile ), 19 Apr, 2023 @ 03:42am

    What the fuck is compelled belief?

    I have taken courses in many subjects, and I can't think of any instance when I was put in a position where I was compelled to change my personal belief in anything. You can take courses that teach everything you want to know about Islam, they don't make you a Muslim. You can excel in courses about Black studies, they don't make you Black. I have never taken a class that didn't boil down to "here is a bunch of information, learn it, and prove you can apply it in some way." I have never been made to prove that i have accepted the information in my heart as some sort of holy truth that my should no be the basis of who I am. There is no mandate to make your life choices based on course material. If you can't understand that teaching about a belief is different than teaching a belief, you are a small minded oaf, and you have my sympathies.

  • On the post: Senator Warner’s RESTRICT Act Is Designed To Create The Great Firewall Of America

    Rich ( profile ), 30 Mar, 2023 @ 03:39pm

    But they made us do it.

    Again, I am old enough to remember when American public schools would routinely iterate through all of the reasons that the USSR was soooo evil. We were told about the constant surveillance of their own citizens, imprisonment for political reasons without trial, and how people were unable to exercise freedom of speech. These, we were taught, are what makes a country evil. Now, I live in a country where the government constantly and increasingly surveils their population, imprisons people for political reasons without due process, and government censorship is ramping its way up about as fast as it can. Oddly, much like most Russians, nobody who lives here wants to believe their country is evil, either, but it's hard to deny that America ABSOLUTELY meets or exceeds all of the qualifications required to be deemed an evil country. So, now, here we are again. China is evil because x, y, and z... and judging by the American government's actions, I guess they decided "Well, we probably can't beat them, so...."

  • On the post: The US Government Has Not Justified A TikTok Ban

    Rich ( profile ), 24 Mar, 2023 @ 03:50am

    Argh... Hornets.

    First, if an entity owns a device, that entity has every right to enforce whatever policies on use or app installation they see fit. Be it a person, government, or company, if they own the device and provide it for friends, family, or employees, they still own it, and should retain full control over whatever personalizations the temporary users might think they want. I don't know why this is hard for people to grasp. I had a friend who worked for NASA, and at that time, there was a strict policy forbidding any personal use of any agency equipment, including, but not limited to, websites, network resources, data, or telephones. It was grumbled about, but nobody could ever come up with a legitimate argument against it, other than "aw, c'mon, don't be a jerk". Second, if a government agency or company provides internet access to employees as a necessity to facilitate the work requirements that the employees are expected to perform, that agency or company has every right to block whatever sites or services they feel might be inappropriate or pose any sort of risk to the employees, or business thereof. Third, the government generally trying to apply a ban against one app regardless of who's device or who's internet access they are while doing nothing but blessing Facebook, Twitter, or any other apps with actual, proven, and deliberate security violations makes about as much sense as arresting one hornet because, unlike the rest of the nest, its motive to sting people might have something to do with the Chinese government.

  • On the post: Slim Shady Files Shady Trademark Opposition Over Application For ‘Reasonably Shady’ Podcast

    Rich ( profile ), 28 Feb, 2023 @ 06:45am

    Glass houses...

    His entire persona exists at the grace of the Mars corporation, so he should probably keep his candy-coated mouth shut.

  • On the post: Some Guy Thinks A Legal Doc Website’s Failure To Report On His Settlement Is Somehow Defamatory

    Rich ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2023 @ 04:15pm

    Exhibit 1

    Exhibit 1 shows the updated case history as found by the plaintiff.

  • On the post: Now Mesa Public Schools Are Also Declaring That They Have Failed In Educating Their Children By Suing Social Media

    Rich ( profile ), 08 Feb, 2023 @ 03:58am

    The Internet

    I work in the technology department at a school, and I would like to remind these other school systems that they are in complete control over how much internet access they provide to the students, and what websites they can use. Outside of school, it is absolutely none of their fucking business. Giving full, unfettered, and unchecked internet access to children is a dangerous, and idiotic thing to do! It always has been. If I were to drop my kid off in the middle of the city to do homework because museums and libraries are around, I would be arrested for child endangerment, the local PTA would point to me as an example of shit parenting, and child services would never let me near my kid again. I certainly could not start suing local businesses for not doing my parenting for me. The internet is far worse. Throwing lawsuits at every website you think damaged your children while you happily provide access to them is just too stupid for words.

  • On the post: DoNotPay’s CEO Appears To Modify Donation Receipt After Being Called Out On Unfulfilled Promise

    Rich ( profile ), 30 Jan, 2023 @ 05:54pm

    I had my doubts...

    ...but now I am convinced. ChatGPT has my vote in 2024.

  • On the post: Louisiana Sheriff’s Office Illegally Destroyed Misconduct Records For More Than A Decade

    Rich ( profile ), 18 Jan, 2023 @ 08:40am

    Much like religion, the power of law comes from belief.

    "But the JPSO doesn’t appear to believe the law applies to it." When the laws are never enforced, the followers become nonbelievers, the laws fade to antiquity, and the heretics become gods.

  • On the post: Appeals Court Judge Suggests Hate Speech Shouldn’t Be Protected In Decision Against Students Expelled For Bigoted Social Media Posts

    Rich ( profile ), 13 Jan, 2023 @ 03:55pm

    Speech vs. Conduct

    Historically, speech can be restricted if it can be cast as unacceptable conduct (yelling "fire" in a crowded theater). The school where I work has all students sign an agreement that statea they won't engage in such things. Also.... "While the Appeals Court is obviously correct it was foreseeable the posts would cause disruption after their targets viewed them, that’s not the same thing as being a foreseeable outcome when the messages were still contained by the boundaries of the thirteen-member Instagram group...." Once again, since so many of you weren't listening the first 5000 times... Rule 1: Never, EVER, put anything on the Internet that you don't want EVERYONE to see. At no time should you ever be surprised that anything you post becomes public, regardless of how private you think your setting are. There is no unforeseeable aspect to this.

  • On the post: Madison Square Garden’s Facial Recognition Tech Boots Lawyers Litigating Against The Venue

    Rich ( profile ), 26 Dec, 2022 @ 07:06pm

    Oooh! I have an idea...

    Having always been something of a fan of nudging the metaphorical bee hive to see what will happen, all I want to do right now is see if I can track down some co-conspirators to spin up enough subterfuge to cause some sort of billing or service dispute between the facial tech company and the MSG parent company. The problem would then have security escort itself out. Plan B: set up a few bogus social media accounts for people who boast about their work for all of the offending law offices, but use pictures taken from Mr. Dolan's circle of closest business partners. Plan C: What law firm is used by Dolan's businesses? Forward the name of the firm to the Security team with a note demmanding they are added to the "naughty" list.

Next >>