vastrightwing’s Techdirt Profile

On the post: This Makes No Sense: US To Ban Laptops On All Flights From Europe

vastrightwing ( profile ), 12 May, 2017 @ 07:09am

It's just the start

I think airlines are sending a message to the passengers that we must tolerate their tyranny. First it will be laptops, next will be cameras... I mean phones. The last thing airlines want are passengers recording the malfeasance of the airlines.

On the post: Oklahoma Cops Debut Tool That Allows Them To Drain Pre-Paid Cards During Traffic Stops

vastrightwing ( profile ), 09 Jun, 2016 @ 09:54am

how can I try out my new toy?

Sure, these won't be abused. We are LEOs. You can trust us. Except these LEOs have cool new toys and boy do they want to try them out!

I have zero doubt, combining high tech weapons with no accountability and a reason to use them, they will be used as often as possible. I expect one is in use right now while I write this.

In fact, they better scale up seizures before the serfs catch on and the law catches up. But then I'm cynical.

On the post: Israeli Company Claims Its Software Can Look At Your Face And Determine If You're A Terrorist Or Murderer

vastrightwing ( profile ), 01 Jun, 2016 @ 06:25am

Re:

Exactly. Just like all the snake oil salesman. Make the technology sound plausible and when you want to question someone, Poof! Similar to sniffer dogs. Give the dog a reason to respond in a positive way and he will.

On the post: 5G Wireless Hype Overshadows Fact Nobody Actually Knows What 5G Is Yet

vastrightwing ( profile ), 02 Mar, 2016 @ 01:39pm

It's one more than 4g

Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it's faster? Is it any faster?
Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one faster, isn't it? It's not four. You see, most blokes, you know, will be streaming at four. You're on five here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on five on your phone. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marty DiBergi: I don't know.
Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty DiBergi: Put it up to five.
Nigel Tufnel: Five. Exactly. One faster.
Marty DiBergi: Why don't you just make four faster and make four be the top number and make that a little faster?
Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to five.

On the post: Canadian City Wants To Solve Crime Problem By Using Tracking Technology That Doesn't Exist

vastrightwing ( profile ), 01 Mar, 2016 @ 09:50am

the tech is already here

Silly them. Apparently they've never heard of an iPhone. Just give them a free iPhone and it will track them constantly. It's good to about 6 feet accuracy. Best part is they'll do it willingly. As a bonus, you can watch them and listen to them too.

On the post: FCC Takes Aim At The Pathetic Lack Of Cable Set Top Box Competition

vastrightwing ( profile ), 27 Jan, 2016 @ 03:19pm

it's over already

You can assume the FCC gave a heads up to the industry and was told to go ahead since the damage had already been done. Just like closing the barn door after all the animals are gone. This is all theatre with a bad ending.

I have an idea for cable: bundle more, charge more, cram as many commercials as you can. In fact, edit out content, speed it up. You're right, forget cord cutters, they don't matter. Then for good for measure, cap internet bandwidth so we have more choice. Charge extra for busting your caps. Make sure to tell us what a great deal we're getting. Stop competition by bribing... I mean donating to political campaigns. Stop towns without broadband from operating their own, it's bad for consumers with too much competition. Get the FCC to redefine broadband as 700kbps. After all, why would anyone legitimately need more than that?

Feel free to call me, I have many more fantastic ideas!

On the post: Interactive Advertising Bureau Bars Adblock Plus From Conference, When It Should Be Listening To Them

vastrightwing ( profile ), 23 Jan, 2016 @ 03:54am

hosts file

I used to simply turn graphics off to reduce the bloated payload of most websites. Then I noticed how many http requests were generated even without the graphic overhead. There were hundreds of http requests per page! That is a lot of round trips. I happen to have Fiddler running and noticed that even after my page loaded, it was constantly making posts. Several analytical servers were being posted to, ad sites, Facebook and every social media site you can think of.

So I copied every url from my Fiddler session and pasted the URIs into my hosts file with 0.0.0.0 crapy.com and then I noticed my http traffic went way down. Pages loaded very fast. In short, web sites loaded the way they used to: in one to two seconds.

I wouldn't mind ads so much, but after you add up the bloated payload: all the social media feeds, all the round trips going on plus the auto play videos, pop ups, and the poisoned ads, you have to do something.

On the post: US Gov't Agencies Freak Out Over Juniper Backdoor; Perhaps They'll Now Realize Why Backdoors Are A Mistake

vastrightwing ( profile ), 21 Dec, 2015 @ 09:57am

I'm in shock!

Of course it wasn't the U.S. they would never do such a thing. Juniper is wrong to point out the backdoor. Now the terrorists have won. In removing the back door, LEOS will never be able to do their jobs ever again.

It makes me wonder about other firmware now. How many others are there? The NSA should insist on inspecting and fixing back doors other "sophisticated" countries have been able to put in. Of course since this was made public, a more sophisticated back door has since been implemented.

If only there was a way to review code before production.

On the post: Court Says Constitutional Violations By Law Enforcement Are Perfectly Fine As Long As They Happen Quickly

vastrightwing ( profile ), 12 Dec, 2015 @ 01:11pm

Debt riddled government = opportunists

I look at this the same way I do red light cameras, "inspection" stops, texting, seat belt laws, plate readers: data mining for money. Period. Asset forfeiture. Break any law and you must pay us. As states become more debt riddled, the desperation goes up. I expect this behavior to exacerbate until morale improves.

On the post: Toy Maker Vtech Hacked, Revealing Kids' Selfies, Chat Logs, & Even Voice Recordings

vastrightwing ( profile ), 01 Dec, 2015 @ 02:46pm

Buy dumb appliances

I bought a dumb TV recently, but it was hard because the stores don't carry dumb tvs on the floor. They are special items now. The sales guy said the smart tv is so much better than the dumb tv. Sure, better for him and the manufacturer.

Home equipment like lawn gear now has software in it we can't do anything with. Now toys. Of course we can't inspect the software because manufacturers don't want us to know what it is doing. Case in point, VW sure didn't want any one poking around to discover its trade secret. Right!

I see a new market for dumb appliances as they become harder and harder to find.

On the post: Happy New Year From Comcast: Price Hikes And Misleading Fees For Everybody

vastrightwing ( profile ), 24 Nov, 2015 @ 02:51pm

whine, whine.. oh don't forget to pay your bill

Yes, we know you hate us. You berate us. Best of all you pay us. Thank you for business. We look forward to your check next month and every month afterwards. We're listening to you.

On the post: Connecticut Police Announce Plan To Open Unlocked Vehicles And Seize Valuables

vastrightwing ( profile ), 05 Nov, 2015 @ 08:14am

simple idea

Here's an idea: everyone should respect private proper, LEOs included. You don't enter a private vehicle or dwelling without consent.

On the post: No, The FCC Is Not (Intentionally) Trying To Kill Third-Party Wi-Fi Router Firmware

vastrightwing ( profile ), 03 Sep, 2015 @ 02:44pm

FCC is concerned about RF interference?

Really? Since when? They don't seem to be too concerned about Harris building RF gear designed to interfere with public communications! I guess Harris donates money to the right people.

On the post: Big Broadband Begs FCC Not To Expose Their Lies By Defining Broadband Accurately

vastrightwing ( profile ), 10 Sep, 2014 @ 03:36am

it's just a pipe

This whole thing is framed wrong. The Internet is a basic utility (pipe, wire, etc.). It should be treated as basic infrastructure like roads and bridges. AT&T and Verizon should be treated like any infrastructure builder. Let's contract them to build it and maintain it. Nothing more. The idea that I have verizon or comcast is silly. It's a G.D. wire with a switch behind it. Nothing more. Stop the non sense of disallowing municipal broad band. Stop dancing around defining what broad band means. Turn communications companies into contractors. Hear that guys? You're nothing more than wire hangers! Go back to work and STFU!

On the post: Washington Law Enforcement Hides Stingray Purchase And Use From Everyone, But It's OK Because They're Fighting Crime

vastrightwing ( profile ), 28 Aug, 2014 @ 03:14pm

trust?

Law enforcement is not about protecting citizens. Andy Taylor was the last law enforcement officer who did that. Today's law enforcement is all about procuring as much hardware as possible. The agency with the most toys wins. Citizens get in their way and need to be dealt with in a harsh way. We, in essence are the enemy. Consider that enforcement units kill many more citizens than terrorists and natural disasters. It's no accident. We annoy law enforcement with our petty claim to "rights". They often correctly point out to us that we have no rights. They are correct. We keep pretending we do and time and time again, they show us how wrong we are. When will we learn?

On the post: LAPD Officer Says Tragedies Could Be Prevented If Citizens Would Just Shut Up And Do What Cops Tell Them To

vastrightwing ( profile ), 20 Aug, 2014 @ 02:17pm

police are more dangerous than terrorism

Correct. You are much more likely of being hurt or killed by law enforcement than by terrorists. Strange that the people who are supposed to be protecting us are more lethal than the threat on today's narrative. Let's rewind the calendar about 20 years. No homeland security. No TSA. No ICE. No NSA. Heck, let's just rollback all the alphabet agencies.

On the post: Level3 Proves That Verizon Is Absolutely To Blame For Netflix Congestion… Using Verizon's Own Blog Post

vastrightwing ( profile ), 18 Jul, 2014 @ 12:52pm

and there's more

The other reason verizon doesn't want to upgrade the peering points is they can get ignorant consumers to pay more for more useless bandwidth. They tried to play that card with me. This is why I'm with RCN now.

On the post: Saying That You're Not Concerned Because The NSA Isn't Interested In You Is Obnoxious And Dangerous

vastrightwing ( profile ), 17 Jul, 2014 @ 02:44pm

Re:

Like wise, if the police are doing their job, they have no problem being recorded. Only if law enforcement is acting outside their prescribed boundaries do they need to worry.

On the post: Australia's Attorney-General: Data Retention Is 'Very Much The Way In Which Western Nations Are Going'

vastrightwing ( profile ), 17 Jul, 2014 @ 02:48pm

next crime

Removing any covert applications and interfering with the state to collect data in the manner they want, will be a crime. In other words, don't remove or tamper with your computer after we've targeted you. That will be evidence you have done something wrong.

On the post: Canadian 'Digital Privacy' Bill Actually Puts Everyone's Privacy At Risk; Will Be A Boon To Trolls

vastrightwing ( profile ), 17 Apr, 2014 @ 07:28am

A NSA front door

Heck, what we have here is a barn door for the NSA to leave wide open. All they have to do is claim they are researching some nonexistent breech and voila!

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