techdescartes 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: The Snopes Fight Is Even Way More Complicated Than We Originally Explained

    techdescartes ( profile ), 15 Aug, 2017 @ 03:11pm

    Automatic Red Flag

    It's just a number, but when someone offers you a 6.66% share in a company, it's time to get a second opinion.

  • On the post: Defending Hateful Speech Is Unpleasant But Essential, Even When Violence Is The End Result

    techdescartes ( profile ), 15 Aug, 2017 @ 07:53am

    Charlotte?

    But every time something like what happened in Charlotte happens, the point needs to be driven home again.

    Charlotte...sville.

  • On the post: Elsevier Continues To Build Its Monopoly Solution For All Aspects Of Scholarly Communication

    techdescartes ( profile ), 10 Aug, 2017 @ 06:14pm

    Anagramography

    1. Elsevier
    2. Live Seer
    3. E-reviles
    4. Evil Seer
    5. Relieves

  • On the post: Disney Pulls Content From Netflix As Users Face An Annoying, Confusing Rise In Streaming Exclusivity Silos

    techdescartes ( profile ), 09 Aug, 2017 @ 12:19pm

    Many of us will just ...

    ... let it go.

  • On the post: AT&T Lies Again, Insists Net Neutrality Rules Will Hurt First Responders

    techdescartes ( profile ), 09 Aug, 2017 @ 09:15am

    Just the Fax, Ma'am

    What we’ll have by the end of the year is what we call ‘relentless pre-emption,’ such that if there’s capacity for 10 calls and 10 calls are being used, and a firefighter gets on, one of the 10 people gets booted off and the firefighter gets in,” he said. “Quite frankly, I don’t think they thought about it [when crafting net neutrality guidelines].

    This is completely true. And completely misleading.

    According to FirstNet.gov, if FirstNet isn't being used to capacity, the contract with the government permits AT&T to route traffic over FirstNet spectrum, subject to prioritizing first-responder traffic:

    AT&T can use FirstNet’s spectrum when it is not being used by public safety for other, commercial purposes. The company will prioritize first responders over any other commercial users on the Network.

    But FirstNet doesn't run over the internet at all, so net neutrality rules are irrelevant. It is a completely separate broadband network.

    So while Stephens is completely correct when he says "I don't think they thought about it," this is the equivalent of saying that the DOT didn't think about air traffic when they approved carpool lanes on the interstate. The two have nothing to do with each other.

    The irony is that companies like T-Mobile that bought billions in spectrum from the FCC paid for the network, as FCC spectrum auctions were used to pay AT&T the $6.5B to build FirstNet. Maybe this will cause John Legere to switch sides on net neutrality.

  • On the post: Months Later, VP Mike Pence Ready To Turn Over Private Emails, Explain What An AOL Account Is

    techdescartes ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2017 @ 01:06pm

    Re: Not quite...

    The issue with Hillary's email server was that it contained classified information. Even PolitiFact knows that:

    The results of an FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state shredded Clinton’s most oft-recited defense — that she never sent or received information marked classified.
    Last I checked, U.S. classified information isn't being handled by the State of Indiana. So is Pence a problem? Yes, but a different problem than Hillary. As everyone knows, classified information is only supposed to be stored on classified systems. Such as Twitter.

  • On the post: Months Later, VP Mike Pence Ready To Turn Over Private Emails, Explain What An AOL Account Is

    techdescartes ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2017 @ 12:33pm

    You've Got Mail...Months Later

    It took that long for his dial-up modem to connect...

  • On the post: Monkey Selfie Case May Settle: PETA Knows It'll Lose, And The Photographer Is Broke

    techdescartes ( profile ), 07 Aug, 2017 @ 10:22pm

    Re: Re: Re: I guess it's too late now...

    There is one more happenstance that should be pointed out: the rise of the word "selfie." It was the OED's word of the year in 2013:

    Today Oxford Dictionaries announces selfie as their international Word of the Year 2013. The Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year is a word or expression that has attracted a great deal of interest during the year to date. Language research conducted by Oxford Dictionaries editors reveals that the frequency of the word selfie in the English language has increased by 17,000% since this time last year...
    One has to wonder whether the interest in this photo even would be the same if it hit the Internet today:
    A monkey selfie? You mean, like, just a selfie? Was it snowboarding off the roof of a house? No? Meh.
    This photo rode the "selfie" wave. That wave has passed.

  • On the post: Monkey Selfie Case May Settle: PETA Knows It'll Lose, And The Photographer Is Broke

    techdescartes ( profile ), 07 Aug, 2017 @ 12:50pm

    Re: Re: Re: Moving On

    He donated to the monkeys off sales of his work.
    Actually, no. According to his website, that's new as of last month:
    NEW! As of July 2017, I will be donating 10% of your purchase towards a monkey conservation project in Sulawesi.
    Or am I not supposed to believe his website, either?

  • On the post: Monkey Selfie Case May Settle: PETA Knows It'll Lose, And The Photographer Is Broke

    techdescartes ( profile ), 07 Aug, 2017 @ 10:35am

    Re: Re: Re: Daily Mail

    No, John. Slater didn't "set up the shoot, dial[] in the settings, let the monkey press the button." I quoted the original Daily Mail story above. I'll quote it again:

    He must have taken hundreds of pictures by the time I got my camera back, but not very many were in focus. He obviously hadn't worked that out yet. 'I wish I could have stayed longer as he probably would have taken a full family album.'
    Are you saying that the Daily Mail misquoted Slater? Or that Slater was lying when he said that? It seems that the only one who has a problem with the original Daily Mail story is you.

  • On the post: Monkey Selfie Case May Settle: PETA Knows It'll Lose, And The Photographer Is Broke

    techdescartes ( profile ), 07 Aug, 2017 @ 10:16am

    Re: Daily Mail

    Did you ever read the story in The Guardian or on Slater's website itself, from which it is clear the monkey only pressed the button hwereas Slater set up the camera?
    Nice try. In that very first Daily Mail story, Slater admitted that the macaque knocked over the camera and then proceeded to take "hundreds" of photos:
    'One of them must have accidentally knocked the camera and set it off because the sound caused a bit of a frenzy, said Slater, 46. 'At first there was a lot of grimacing with their teeth showing because it was probably the first time they had ever seen a reflection. 'They were quite mischievous jumping all over my equipment, and it looked like they were already posing for the camera when one hit the button. 'The sound got his attention and he kept pressing it 'At first it scared the rest of them away but they soon came back - it was amazing to watch. 'He must have taken hundreds of pictures by the time I got my camera back, but not very many were in focus. He obviously hadn't worked that out yet. 'I wish I could have stayed longer as he probably would have taken a full family album.'
    Only after the copyright issue came to light did Slater first claim that he was the creative force behind the photographs:
    So it is that for the past six years he has been embroiled in what must be one of the most pointless, idiotic, money-wasting andaggressive legal battles of all time. So, who owns the copyright? Dave or the monkey? Dave has never been in any doubt. 'Of course it was my copyright!' he says. 'I set the background. I decided where the sun was going to hit the monkey. 'I selected the lens and I processed the images. The creativity was all mine, and it required a lot of perseverance, sweat and anguish.'
    Only after meeting with a lawyer did he change his tune from hope-the-monkey-takes-a-family-album to it-was-all-me-I-promise-and-I'm-sweaty-and-anguished.

  • On the post: Monkey Selfie Case May Settle: PETA Knows It'll Lose, And The Photographer Is Broke

    techdescartes ( profile ), 07 Aug, 2017 @ 09:21am

    Moving On

    'My daughter tells everyone her daddy took the monkey selfie, but I've got nothing to give her from it.

    'I can't send her to the school we want, or even think about paying her university fees when the time comes. And all could have been sorted out with one photograph.'

    Most hurtfully, he's stopped taking pictures. 'The magic's gone. I get my camera out every now and again to try to recapture the joy, but I don't seem able to. This was my livelihood.

    'I didn't want to make lots of money — I just wanted a fair wage for my work, something to pass on to our daughter.'

    The crazy popularity of one photograph is worth very little. Slater obviously thought that he'd won the lottery. TechDirt pointed out that the numbers on his ticket didn't match the numbers in the drawing. Therefore, in his mind, it is TechDirt's fault that he didn't win the lottery.

    What he doesn't seem to grasp is that this was a fifteen-minutes-of-fame photograph. Everyone has moved on, except Slater and PETA. And now PETA is moving on because an adverse decision may cost them fees to Slater and, more importantly, simply doesn't draw attention like it did a few years ago. No news is bad news for PETA.

    P.S. Maybe you could sue the Daily Mail for defamation under the lax British laws to provide for your own defense. And these guys.

  • On the post: UK Home Secretary Doesn't Want Backdoors; She Just Wants Companies To Stop Offering Encryption Because No One Wants It

    techdescartes ( profile ), 02 Aug, 2017 @ 09:11am

    Re: Re:

    Actually, no, it's because they are using end-to-end encryption, so you can't see them.

  • On the post: Former DOJ Prosecutor Steps Up To Defend DOJ's New Asset Forfeiture Rules

    techdescartes ( profile ), 02 Aug, 2017 @ 12:54pm

    Choice of Words

    Smart law-enforcement leaders also know that if the practice is abused and innocent people are hurt, they could lose access to this valuable tool.

    Terwilliger does not call it an "effective tool." He calls it a "valuable tool." It would be "effective" if it actually helped us "win" the "war". Instead, he calls it "valuable" because police departments want the money.

    It seems that they don't mind that we are "0-1 in national drug wars" because they don't want to "win" the "war". According to Vox, John Ehrlichman, Nixon's chief domestic policy advisor, allegedly said:

    The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.

    Who knows whether anyone has that awful motive today, but stealing just to fund the department still is stealing. As Upton Sinclair said, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it." Eliminating civil-asset forfeiture will be a tough row to hoe.

  • On the post: Asset Forfeiture: Killing Criminal Organizations With $16 Seizures

    techdescartes ( profile ), 31 Jul, 2017 @ 03:37pm

    Re: sad

    Hey, lot's of folks need a "second stream of income" to make ends meet. You should admire their work ethic.

    Though, if their day job is upholding the law, that means their second job is something other than upholding the law.

  • On the post: New York City Council Passes Bill Making NYPD's Forfeiture Process More Transparent

    techdescartes ( profile ), 28 Jul, 2017 @ 07:09pm

    There Was an Easier Way

    The legislation will help ensure that the civil forfeiture process is used legitimately.

    Why not pass legislation to ensure the protection of New Yorkers' rights by requiring a criminal conviction before civil asset forfeiture can be pursued in the first place?

    I bet the governor of Connecticut might even let you copy for free the bill he signed earlier this month, though Arizona's April version may be better. Or, change a few words on Lady Liberty's base: "Give me your cash, your car..."

  • On the post: Court Strips Immunity From Sheriff's Office That Raided Hobby Gardener's Home Over Tea Leaves

    techdescartes ( profile ), 28 Jul, 2017 @ 01:03pm

    I guess he forgot he had a crime lab...

    [Sheriff Frank Denning] cites the building of the county’s state-of-the-art criminalistics lab as a high point in his tenure. “It’s our flagship,” he said. The lab has been nationally and internationally recognized and its services are sought by many other agencies, Denning said. “That is one of my prouder moments,” he said.

    On his retirement:

    “There’s a lot to be said about getting a new set of eyes, a different approach or a different philosophy,” he said.

    Kansas City Star (Jan. 5, 2016). Yes, yes there is.

  • On the post: First Playpen FBI Spyware Warrant Hits The Appeals Court Level; Is Upheld On 'Good Faith'

    techdescartes ( profile ), 28 Jul, 2017 @ 12:28pm

    What Did They Know and When Did They Know It?

    This presumption is bolstered by what the executing agents would have known:

    1. The software was installed in a government server located in the Eastern District of Virginia.
    2. The magistrate judge, who issued the warrant, was in the Eastern District of Virginia.
    3. All of the information yielded from the search would be retrieved in the Eastern District of Virginia.

    Apparently they did not also know that the "internet" extends beyond the Eastern District of Virginia, as shown by this recently uncovered transcript:

    "Hey, boss. We got some data from outside the Eastern District of Virginia."

    "How's that even possible?"

    "I don't know. It seems this Internet-thingy extends outside the district."

    "Really? How far?"

    "At least to Colorado."

    "No way! Who knew the tubes went that far?"

    "Tubes? It's a bridge, man. We upgraded years ago."

  • On the post: TSA To Require Separate Scanning Of Electronics 'Bigger Than Cellphone'

    techdescartes ( profile ), 28 Jul, 2017 @ 08:13am

    Just a Thought

    Because that's exactly the sort of thing we don't need: more TSA personnel/policies stating that bigger is more dangerous.

    Just like with 3 ounces of liquids, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt that someone has figured out a way to hide explosives or a weapon (maybe a knife blade?) where the battery pack normally would be. If so, then yes, bigger is more dangerous.

    Before the commentariat attacks with "there's no proof of that or the TSA wouldn't catch them anyway", let me suggest that there need to be three categories of TSA/CBP issues:

    1. policies related to people and their bodies;
    2. policies related to inspecting the contents of electronic devices (and journals, books, etc.); and,
    3. policies related to things.

    Would it be nice not to have to pull out tablets, cellphones, etc. and have them x-rayed separately? Sure. But save your outrage for the more important issues. The public has a limited attention span.

  • On the post: Exaggerated Claims And Out Of Context Tweets Used By Political Hopeful To Slap Restraining Order On Critic

    techdescartes ( profile ), 27 Jul, 2017 @ 01:15pm

    Re: Re: Re: ha ha haaa...

    Stephen, never take an AC's comment seriously when they appear to be trolling. If you try to provide a thoughtful response, they attempt to think in return. That's a bad place to be.

    No, it's not hypocritical of TD to allow the community to block what is perceived as garbage. No, this is not "mob justice." But, no the AC will never understand.

    Which is why I am writing to you. And ignoring them.

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