tqk 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Homeland Security Detains Stockton Mayor, Forces Him To Hand Over His Passwords

    tqk ( profile ), 04 Oct, 2015 @ 02:22pm

    Re: Wut?

    I can understand a non-technically oriented mayor not seeing the potential repercussions, so here it is laid out for the non-technical. Given your passwords, chain of evidence disappears. Once in possession of your passwords, anything they say they found there, they found there. Prove them wrong. You can't. They can plant anything they want to be found, and you can't prove it wasn't there when in your possession.

    Once you give it up at all, anyone could do anything. This sounds extraordinarily stupid. Don't do it!

    USSR ca. 1960: "Papers!"
    US Customs and Border Control 2015: "Just let us bone you, fool. Drop your pants already, damnit!"

  • On the post: Predictable: The Fragmented Media Will Give Us All Our Post-Oregon-Shooting Outrage Blankets

    tqk ( profile ), 04 Oct, 2015 @ 12:18pm

    Re: Faming the guilty

    When a terrorist event occurs in Israel they report the details and the next day mortar and cement shows up to replace the rubble.

    I was thinking the same thing about Canada. We even blank out streakers at football games. However, in the USA, it's 24/7 news coverage on all channels with lots of "Take away their guns, damnit! Screw the 2nd amendment."

    What a nutbar country they've turned into. We're going to have to do something about them one day. Or, maybe they'll just implode (we can hope).

  • On the post: Homeland Security Detains Stockton Mayor, Forces Him To Hand Over His Passwords

    tqk ( profile ), 04 Oct, 2015 @ 01:28pm

    Wut?

    But forcing him to turn over the passwords is unusual, ...

    Uh, yeah. "Unusual", you say? I'd say, "Fuck you and please die in a fire. Are you crazy?" My clients would not stand for me doing such things. My passwords? Are you nuts?!? I'd be sued to death if I allowed it, for good reason.

    United Stupids of America.

  • On the post: FAA Blows Past Mandated Deadline For Drone Regulation Rules

    tqk ( profile ), 04 Oct, 2015 @ 01:09pm

    With drones the size of a bumblebee ...

    ... what's FAA got to work with in the way of regulations or oversight? You wouldn't even be able to see the drones that were advertised here yesterday from a hundred feet overhead.

    If I were a wannabe tyrant these days, I'd be worried. Fly a whole swarm into the Whitehouse, or Congress, and they'd just be seen as insects.

    Heh, heh, heh. Morans [sic].

  • On the post: Zee Germans Are Coming: German Copyright Troll Announces Plans For Anti-Piracy Surge In The UK

    tqk ( profile ), 04 Oct, 2015 @ 12:45pm

    Lawyers. :-P

    Framed as one of the largest anti-piracy campaigns in history ...

    Doesn't that sound a lot to you like the Viking invasions? "There's booty to be had! Har harrrr!" Who's the pirates again?

  • On the post: Patent Loving East Texas Judge Clips Wings Of Largest Patent Troll

    tqk ( profile ), 04 Oct, 2015 @ 12:27pm

    I'm impressed! :-)

    ... and then issued a separate order allowing all of the defendants sued by eDekka to jointly file a brief asking for attorneys' fees: ...

    Did I misread the filing? Where was the bit about burning them at the stake?

    Is East Texas starting to become a court of justice or something? That'd be cool.

  • On the post: Predictable: The Fragmented Media Will Give Us All Our Post-Oregon-Shooting Outrage Blankets

    tqk ( profile ), 04 Oct, 2015 @ 12:06pm

    Please, turn off "autocomplete." It's not helping!

    As you know doubt have heard by now ...

    I no, I no, what do I no, right?

  • On the post: David Cameron & The Pig: Revenge Porn & The Right To Be Forgotten

    tqk ( profile ), 04 Oct, 2015 @ 12:00pm

    Zzzz ...

    I'd been wondering what all those "Cameron + pig" stories I've been avoiding were all about. Now that I know, I'm not the least surprised. When the Brits are good, they're great. When they're bad, they're the worst; far, far worse than any others are capable of. The British "upperclass" is even worse than the British "lowerclass" for depths of depravity to which they'll dig. Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack The Ripper?

    Cameron's upholding long standing tradition well, making Popes appear to be saints in comparison.

  • On the post: Cable Company Totally Unsure What Neighborhoods It Serves, Wants $117,000 For Broadband Service

    tqk ( profile ), 04 Oct, 2015 @ 11:27am

    Nuke it from orbit!

    "Once my house was built, I called [Charter] to set up service, and that’s when they told me they made a mistake. I was too far away from their network," ...

    That's when all those taxpayer subsidies they're getting kick in, right? Hello? Hello!?!

  • On the post: Argentina Plans To Increase Copyright In Photos From 20 Years To Life Plus 70 Years, Devastating Wikipedia

    tqk ( profile ), 04 Oct, 2015 @ 11:01am

    Like children around a cookie jar when mom & dad aren't looking.

    I'd like to think a lot more of all my fellow human beings, but this sort of crap isn't encouraging. Unlike cookie theft, these guys aren't even trying to hide it behind their backs when caught. It's more a "Nyaa, nyaa, you can't stop me!" insolence kind of thing. They need to be spanked (but that's abusive nowadays, I suppose).

    Pathetic. They're wandering around tossing economic hand grenades. It's depressing that they'll likely get away with it. Remember that line from the first "Rollerball" movie: "We just lost the 13th Century." QED.

  • On the post: Court Says USTR Can Continue To Keep The Public From Seeing The Trade Agreements They'll Be Subjected To

    tqk ( profile ), 03 Oct, 2015 @ 12:46pm

    Re: Illusory might makes right

    Our society is built on the concept of Might Makes Right ...

    Since when? I thought we were trying to be a nation of laws, not men (or specific individuals' preferences in things that matter).

    If I wanted to compete against lions on the African sveldt, I wouldn't have bothered learning all the !@#$ I know. I thought we'd risen beyond all that "long in tooth and claw" stuff when we gained sentience. Boy, was I fooled.

  • On the post: Court Says USTR Can Continue To Keep The Public From Seeing The Trade Agreements They'll Be Subjected To

    tqk ( profile ), 03 Oct, 2015 @ 11:47am

    Re: Yeah, like that'll happen.

    Taxation without representation, people.

    I guess they've just decided to unilaterally redefine you all as consumers, not citizens or taxpayers, and once that's done they can shit-can all that Constitution and "We the People" garbage.

    Your move, People.

  • On the post: Court Says USTR Can Continue To Keep The Public From Seeing The Trade Agreements They'll Be Subjected To

    tqk ( profile ), 03 Oct, 2015 @ 11:09am

    Re: Re:

    We've got to force these FTAs out into the open if the public interest is to be served ...

    It doesn't appear that anyone related to the opposition (gov't) side has any interest in serving the public interest here.
    Finally, although the Court does not question USTR’s good faith in responding to this FOIA request, Plaintiffs are also correct to point out the troubling nature of USTR’s first round of responsive disclosures here, which apparently withheld 149 pages in full and redacted portions of 413 pages improperly, despite sworn declarations attesting to a line-by-line review of all the documents.

    To me, that just boils down to, "Fuck you. You don't matter, now shut up." "National Security?" Really? This's broken gov't. Your laws no longer protect the public interest. They've been spoken for by other forces outside your control and not even the courts are on your side.

  • On the post: Court Says USTR Can Continue To Keep The Public From Seeing The Trade Agreements They'll Be Subjected To

    tqk ( profile ), 03 Oct, 2015 @ 11:20am

    AdBlock.

    After the recent post about ads and adblock and "turn off ads" switch implementation, I tried it. I even got to see a very cute ad for a tiny drone (I want a hundred! :-).

    Now, I post a reply, click submit, and watch it redraw the page sucking down 70% of both CPU cores threatening to crash my box *after the page has loaded!*

    ABP is turned back on. I wouldn't mind ads if they weren't built stupidly! WTF is wrong with web monkeys these days?!? Don't they see this !@#$ happening? Why?

    My C$0.02.

  • On the post: Another Teen Frightens School Personnel With Technical Stuff; Panic, Stupidity Fail To Ensue

    tqk ( profile ), 26 Sep, 2015 @ 03:40pm

    Re: No, the detention makes it just as bad.

    From what I read, all the kid lost was a bit of time which might even be a pleasant change from monotony. It could'a been fun. There doesn't appear to be any negative involved here.

  • On the post: Turing Pharma Boss Martin Shkreli Defends Massive Price Increase As A Good Thing For Patients

    tqk ( profile ), 26 Sep, 2015 @ 03:11pm

    Re: I'm a sentimentalist, I guess.

    One of my English teachers accused me of being a hopeless romantic. I'm still not really sure what she meant.

    I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; ...

    I've always seen it cynically. "Alright, I just have to be nice to people for this one week, and then I can go back to treating everybody like shit? I can do that." Never had much Xmas spirit in my heart. What's with all the presents one-upmanship? Don't need it. Don't see any point in it. Enjoy it if you like it. I ignore it. :-)

  • On the post: Turing Pharma Boss Martin Shkreli Defends Massive Price Increase As A Good Thing For Patients

    tqk ( profile ), 26 Sep, 2015 @ 11:23am

    Re: "It is charity after all"

    It's okay though, you know? The system is self-correcting. We're mortal and eventually die. Problem solved. :-)

  • On the post: Government Report Declares Broadband An Essential, Uncompetitive Utility, Wistfully Ponders If Perhaps We Should Do Something About It

    tqk ( profile ), 26 Sep, 2015 @ 03:50pm

    Meanwhile, just north of the 49th parallel ...

    This's OpenMedia clamouring for change against "Murrican" ISPs: https://stoptheslowdown.net/

    Enjoy.

  • On the post: Court Order Takes Another Stab At Stripping Away Ripoff Report's Section 230 Protections

    tqk ( profile ), 23 Sep, 2015 @ 02:09pm

    Re: Re: Section 230 cannot be a blanket excuse

    The longer version is that, as of yet, the plaintiffs haven't shown anything that should remove Ripoff Report's Section 230 protections.

    I think the story is suggesting that RR is doing this defence of itself in all the wrong ways possible, suggesting incompetent counsel perhaps, to me. I've no sticks in this fire (never had anything to do with RR). Just sayin'.

  • On the post: Court Order Takes Another Stab At Stripping Away Ripoff Report's Section 230 Protections

    tqk ( profile ), 23 Sep, 2015 @ 12:21pm

    Trolling, trolling, trolling, ...

    ... but actually allows only one kind of speech (*cough* piratey) ...

    Sorry, that's not true. I call for boycotting crap sold by crap producers and copyright maximalists all the time because of all the collateral damage "protecting" imaginary property is causing to society, yet I've never found my suggestions reported.

    I really don't give a rat's ass how many attempts it takes you to post your drivel. It informs no-one of anything, insults and abuses everyone, and is of as much value as flatulence left in an elevator by a previous occupant.

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