sehlat 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (722)

• On the post: Law Students Line Up Behind 'Baby Blue' — Will Harvard Law Review Sue?

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 11 Feb, 2016 @ 04:11pm

  Don’t call it “A Uniform System of Citation”

  You would think lawyers for a law review would at least check the law before sending anything out.
  
  Somewhere the Irony Fairy is laughing her head off.

• On the post: If You Use An Adblocker You Hate Free Speech, Says Internet Ads Guy

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 26 Jan, 2016 @ 12:17pm

  FREE speech?

  You've got to be kidding. Considering the bandwidth usage advertisements add to web pages and in an era of artifical caps to moneti$e the users, advertising can be very expens$ive $peech indeed.
  
  The cost to the user of malware can be astronomical.

• On the post: Senators Whine About FCC's 25 Mbps Broadband Standard, Insist Nobody Needs That Much Bandwidth

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 25 Jan, 2016 @ 12:35pm

  Now THAT's something nice to know.

  My real name is "Nobody."

• On the post: Broadcaster, Cable Bickering Leads To Record Number of TV Content Blackouts

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 22 Jan, 2016 @ 01:17pm

  Consumers have an easy option to avoid this mess.

  It's called "cord-cutting" last time I looked.

• On the post: NBC Exec: Netflix Poses No Threat To Us, God Wants You To Watch Expensive, Legacy TV

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 21 Jan, 2016 @ 01:08pm

  Re: Re: How long does it take for a legacy industry to get the word?

  I've seen what cable calls "subtitles", AKA closed-captions. I earthlight as a proofreader, and if I left text that lousy in a book, I wouldn't even be allowed near an assignment. And VOD only exists for as much space as your expensively-provided box allows, as long as you don't try to skip the commercials.
  
  Meh.

• On the post: ISIS Now Has Its Own Encrypted Messaging App; Doubt They'll Abide By Politicians' Demands For Backdoors

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 21 Jan, 2016 @ 11:27am

  Re: See what happens when politicians

  I'm sure they thought of it before brain-dead politicans and others started whining about backdoors.
  
  After all, drones looking for you, and a willingness to kill everybody in your vicinity as long as they get you is a powerful incentive for secure communications and their continuous improvement.

• On the post: Netflix Mocks NBC's Obsession With TV Ratings Systems Built For A Bygone Era

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 21 Jan, 2016 @ 02:26pm

  What matters to whom matters.

  Companies listen to whoever is paying them for their products and services.
  
  Advertising-supported entertainment companies listen to the advertisers and the people who actually watch (or put up with) the shows don't matter.
  
  Customer-supported companies, on the other hand, listen to their customers and don't give a hang about intrusive outsiders like advertisers.
  
  One benefit of the new arrangement is an hour-long show can BE an hour-long show. In the 1960s, an Outer Limits episode was 50 minutes long. (Guess where the other 10 minutes went.) Buffy episodes (1997-2003), OTOH, were 40 minutes long. (Same guess.)
  
  People will pay gladly NOT to have one-third of an hour of their time being a dead waste.
  
  The enormous benefits to the viewers are quite apparent to both Netflix and the viewers. Netflix KNOWS that shows are being watched and that "ratings" per se don't mean a damn thing. So good shows have much better odds of surviving. And they're always available on demand for whenever the viewer wants to watch them. I call that a very good deal.

• On the post: ISIS Now Has Its Own Encrypted Messaging App; Doubt They'll Abide By Politicians' Demands For Backdoors

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 21 Jan, 2016 @ 11:12am

  When encryption is outlawed, only outlaws will have encryption.

  I wonder why nobody ever thought of that.

• On the post: NBC Exec: Netflix Poses No Threat To Us, God Wants You To Watch Expensive, Legacy TV

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 15 Jan, 2016 @ 12:27pm

  How long does it take for a legacy industry to get the word?

  I haven't had cable since 1992, and have never been tempted back. What DOESN'T cable have that I need?
  
  1. VOD
  
  2. Subtitles
  
  3. A price that's not going to leave my wallet asking "Hey! Where did everybody go?"
  
  What does Netflix have, even without streaming?
  
  1. VOD
  
  2. Subtitles when the title has them available (which is most of them these days.)
  
  3. A price that has my wallet saying "Go ahead and eat hot food and sleep indoors. You're covered."
  
  'nuff said.

• On the post: Netflix CEO 'Loves' Netflix Password Sharing

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 14 Jan, 2016 @ 11:11am

  Netflix, at least, is trying to pay attention to what the customers want, not what the stockholders want.

  Netflix could have my trade (and probably a LOT more trade from people my age) in about the time it takes to sign up if they'd announce the availability of subtitles in streams.
  
  I've pretty much quit going to theaters because the subtitling systems in use force your eyes to focus either on the screen or the subtitles but not both at the same time.

• On the post: Former UK Bureaucrat Whines About People Happily Looking At Mobile Phones Rather Than Fearfully Spying On Everyone Else

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 05 Jan, 2016 @ 01:12pm

  I feel sorry for her.

  She'll be so busy looking around for terrorists that she won't notice the edge of the platform before falling in front of the train.

• On the post: HIV Dating App Company Threatens Press With HIV Infection For Reporting On Personal Info Leak

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 16 Dec, 2015 @ 01:19pm

  Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

  "No, we didn't notify them. If you will not publish them out, nobody else would do that, right? And I believe you will not publish them out, right?"

  That sounds a lot like the advocates of encryption backdoors who claim only the good guys will use them?

• On the post: New Mexico Legislators Sue City For Refusing To Follow New Asset Forfeiture Law

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 08 Dec, 2015 @ 04:34pm

  There's a simple resolution available to the state.

  Attach a rider to the law that city government assets can be seized by the state government for failure to obey the law, no conviction required. The city's own arguments can then work against them, since making the citizens safe from the city can justify the seizure, just like drunk driving.

• On the post: ESPN Ignored Cord Cutting Threat, Paid For It With Huge Viewership Losses

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 01 Dec, 2015 @ 12:32pm

  You MUST buy this is a great way to generate cord-cutting.

  Back in 1992, I got a really neat offer from Comcast. I could get a five-channel package that included the then-new Sci Fi Channel. Problem was, that channel was the ONLY one that appealed to me. I forget what the other must-take-this channels were, but they didn't even make the needle on my interest-o-meter wiggle. And $30/month just to watch ONE channel?
  
  I asked about getting just the one channel. I was told it was five channels or nothing. So I chose nothing, canceled my account, and let the cable rot. I told my wife, to hell with them. A few years ago, my wife invited Comcast to perdition for crappy programming and crappier internet.
  
  Haven't gone back, even though I regularly get treeware spam in my mailbox. Fortunately, I have a capacious blue bin to see such trash safely off to recycling.
  
  After 23 years, it's good to see others realizing that they don't need greedy bastards telling them what they can and can't watch.

• On the post: Our Response To The Latest Ridiculous Legal Threat Against Us: Milorad Trkulja Can Go Pound Sand

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 01 Dec, 2015 @ 12:13pm

  I hope the Goddess Streisand is pleased.

  For once more Her Effect has awakened.

• On the post: Montana Newspaper Announces Plans To Reveal The Names Of All Previous Commenters, Despite Promises To Keep Them Secret

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 25 Nov, 2015 @ 01:44pm

  Re: Identity Crisis

  The big problem I would have with real name sites (if I used them) would be remembering who I was last time I was there.

  That's what password managers are FOR!

• On the post: Montana Newspaper Announces Plans To Reveal The Names Of All Previous Commenters, Despite Promises To Keep Them Secret

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 25 Nov, 2015 @ 01:26pm

  Maxim 16

  Your name is in the mouth of others: be sure it has teeth.
  
  The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries

• On the post: The Cable Industry Thinks Cord Cutting's A Fad That Will End Once Millennials Procreate

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 19 Oct, 2015 @ 09:24am

  The question Big Cable is really asking.

  "What iceberg?"

• On the post: Wired Releases A Story Early To Apple News Users; Wired Readers Not Happy

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2015 @ 10:01am

  Re: Re: Re: Early for those who pay? It's an outrage! -- Sez the guy who let paying "Insiders" read and comment on THIS item first!

  You do know about commitment, do you not? Think bacon and eggs. The hen is involved. The pig is committed.

• On the post: Wired Releases A Story Early To Apple News Users; Wired Readers Not Happy

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 21 Sep, 2015 @ 01:26pm

  Informal definition of "wired"

  under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

  
  I think that may cover this case.

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