scotts13 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (345)

• On the post: Post Merger-Failure, Comcast Still Dedicated To Treating Customers Like Shit

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 18 Jun, 2015 @ 06:35am

  Most likely...

  The company has no procedure for fixing this problem because it's not supposed to happen. AND, their "support" system is so streamlined and efficient (GRIN) that literally no-one has the authority to do something not in the books. So, it gets referred to another department, then another...

• On the post: Cops Raid Marijuana Dispensary In Order To Play Darts, Sample Edibles And Offer To Kick Amputee Owner 'In The Nub'

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 17 Jun, 2015 @ 06:59pm

  What am I missing?

  Aside from the obvious - destroying evidence of their own thuggery - what was the supposed justification for vandalizing the video equipment? I mean, they must have had SOME legal justification ready, just in case.
  
  Absent the POLICE T-shirts, this looks like a film of a home invasion.

• On the post: UK Police Carry Out Facial Scans Of 100,000 People Attending Music Festival

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 16 Jun, 2015 @ 06:00am

  Re: Re:

  "False positives"
  
  There's no such thing as a false positive. It's been widely demonstrated that everyone commits some kind of crime, every day. Once you divorce searching for YOU from a specific crime they're trying to solve, it's one tiny step from just rounding up people at random. And once you're in custody, they have to justify WHY.

• On the post: Court Follows Shutdown Of Jason Leopold's Torture Report FOIA Request By Denying Same To ACLU

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 21 May, 2015 @ 05:51am

  We can only assume the worst

  I mean, if they're working THAT HARD to keep it secret, what horrors must they be concealing? The entire nation will be obsessed with speculation about it! ...until some celebrity breaks up with her boyfriend or something.
  
  Really, stalling as long as possible, until everyone loses interest, will work just fine.

• On the post: DEA Takes $16,000 From Train Passenger Because It Can

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 12 May, 2015 @ 05:54am

  Re: Re:

  "Not enough of us Americans give a shit about the Constitution, none of our politicians or judges give a shit about it, and people here adore our police so much that they smile and thank them as they are being fucked in the ass by them."
  
  It's not that we don't give a shit, and it's not that we adore the police. It's that we are literally powerless before them. The police have guns, the will to use them, and (almost) no repercussions. Resist and you may well die. The courts are no help; they twist and turn the law until whatever they want is legal. The polls? "Lesser of two evils" doesn't work anymore; neither evil is "lesser" enough.
  
  It will reach a point where it boils over, we'll have a new government, and (hopefully) another couple of hundred years of relative freedom until we have to do it again.

• On the post: To The NSA, A Reporter Covering Al Qaeda Looks Identical To An Al Qaeda Member

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 11 May, 2015 @ 10:41am

  Or...

  Perhaps the message is that reporters should be staying away from terrorist organizations. Don't investigate them, don't report on the efforts against them - lest they be caught up in the net.

• On the post: Pentagon Also Looking To Set Up A Branch Office In The Silicon Valley

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 30 Apr, 2015 @ 05:16am

  They'll get plenty of recruits

  All they have to do is buy them. They may not get the very best of the best, but how many people will turn down two or three times the going salary? it's not like the government has limited financial resources. Same for companies - pay them enough, and they're on board. The local office just makes it more tempting. "They're right across the street..."

• On the post: Corporate Sovereignty Trumps National Laws; Here's How The US Thinks It Can Get Around That

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 23 Apr, 2015 @ 06:58am

  What's the problem?

  Just make the treaty non-binding on anyone, and get it over with. Uh... what are we trying to accomplish here? I'm politically naive, so maybe there's some subtlety I'm missing.

• On the post: Corporate Sovereignty Trumps National Laws; Here's How The US Thinks It Can Get Around That

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 23 Apr, 2015 @ 06:56am

  What's the problem?

• On the post: TSA's Investigation Into Groping Agents Ensured They Wouldn't Be Prosecuted

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 16 Apr, 2015 @ 06:42am

  Re: Obstruction

  "Could" and "will" are two different things.

• On the post: One Year Ago, FBI Insisted That 'Terrorist' Guy It Arrested Last Week Was No Threat At All

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 13 Apr, 2015 @ 08:18am

  But afterward...

  Fortunately, after they MADE him a threat they averted it! Thanks be, they saved us all!

• On the post: 'Mob' Detains, Threatens Photographers Because Single Adults Are Probably All Pedophiles

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 01 Apr, 2015 @ 01:31pm

  People need more threats

  Clearly, there aren't enough dangerous things in the world to keep them occupied. Two summers ago, I was walking through a public park on a sunny afternoon. Being a bit of a birdwatcher and former professional photographer, I had a DSLR and a long lens with me.
  
  I was approached by a police officer, who wanted to know what I was doing there. I told him birdwatching and walking. He was kind enough to tell me I'd been "turned in" by the staff at a municipal building, located the other side of the park, across a street, and up a hill.
  
  They were worried I "might photograph" the outside of their building for "terrorist purposes." This critical facility housed three employees and two lawnmowers.

• On the post: Nokia CEO: We Have To Get Rid Of Net Neutrality, Otherwise Self-Driving Cars Will Keep On Crashing Into Each Other

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 03 Mar, 2015 @ 07:52am

  Re: Wait a second

  They're having Samsung use their TV technology in the cars. Commands are sent, unencrypted, to a third-party site to be parsed, then sent back to the car for execution. What could go wrong? Saves several dollars per car, and there's that huge advertising revenue stream:
  
  "Gee, we should stop at Aunt Sally's on the way!" And your screen lights up with a list of stores between here and there that sell gifts Sally would like...

• On the post: Study After Study Shows The DHS Has An Intense Morale Problem That Can Apparently Only Be Solved By Study After Study

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 26 Feb, 2015 @ 06:58am

  Inherent problem

  The most visible manifestations of DHS, like airport "security" guards are almost universally mocked and reviled. Who wants to be part of that? There's a reason the headsman wears a hood.
  
  Sadly, some parts of the vast octopus do useful work, and they get lumped in with the rest of the comic opera.

• On the post: Judge Tosses 16 Kilos Of Meth Because CBP Couldn't Be Bothered To Obtain Consent For Its X-Ray Search

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 19 Feb, 2015 @ 07:03am

  I'd like to see the case proceed

  I assume the evidence collected couldn't be produced, mentioned, or discussed?
  
  "Well, we stopped these guys because they looked suspicious, Then we searched their vehicle and didn't find anything. Then, for 'reasons' we let them sit there a couple of hours, and they got really nervous. Then we took them into custody."
  
  Hilarious.

• On the post: Apple CEO Tim Cook Makes It Clear That He's Not At All Interested In Giving The Government Backdoors To iOS Encryption

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2015 @ 01:04pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re:

  "DHS is actively asking fellow citizens to spy on each other "See something, say something" they even have fucking posters printed for."
  
  I remember growing up in the 50's very well. We were constantly told how horrible life in Soviet Russia was, with the government watching everything you did, and encouraging neighbor to turn in neighbor, and child to turn in parent.
  
  Sound familiar?

• On the post: NVIDIA Calls A Feature A 'Bug,' Strips Away Overclocking Option On Its Mobile Device Cards

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2015 @ 09:08am

  Re:

  Curious if you're from the USA - seriously. You can have a waiver signed in blood, under a full moon, witnessed by the President and the Supreme Court justices, and people can still sue you and win. Ask any skydiving school, ski resort, or (until special laws protected them) light aircraft manufacturer.

• On the post: NVIDIA Calls A Feature A 'Bug,' Strips Away Overclocking Option On Its Mobile Device Cards

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2015 @ 09:05am

  Re:

  I've bought ASUS stuff many times, and currently have a couple of their motherboards and a video card. They ALWAYS provide their own drivers, even if many people use the reference drivers from the chipset manufacturer.
  
  If ASUS markets overclocking capability, then takes it away IN THE DRIVERS THEY SUPPLY, then people can bitch.

• On the post: NVIDIA Calls A Feature A 'Bug,' Strips Away Overclocking Option On Its Mobile Device Cards

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2015 @ 06:25am

  Re: Reasoning

  I may not get the gamer market, but was this "feature" ever advertised BY NVIDIA to end users as a feature? Overclocking, by definition, is operating a device outside its design parameters. If manufacturers using the chipset advertised this misuse as a feature, this is all on them. NVIDIA seems to be doing what's right for their own protection and customer safety.

• On the post: Green Bubbles: How Apple Quietly Gets iPhone Users To Hate Android Users

  

  scotts13 ( profile ), 12 Feb, 2015 @ 06:29am

  Someone's showing bias here...

  And it isn't Apple. "Calm blue" and "Harsh green" - when did those colors develop distinct personalities? For myself, I change the default text highlight on Mac OSX [b]TO[/b] green, because I find it easier on my eyes.

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