Spaceman Spiff 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (977)

• On the post: We Have The 'Criminal Charges' Patrick Zarrelli Claims He Filed Against Our Writer, And They're Not What He Thinks

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 14 Nov, 2015 @ 06:52am

  The Internet never forgives, and never forgets!

  Tim, for now and forever more you will be lovingly known as Tim Lush-ing... :-) Enjoy your new moniker!

• On the post: Thou Shall Not Browse: Comcast Refuses Service Call To Chicago Church Out Of Fear

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 14 Nov, 2015 @ 06:45am

  Not that AT&T is any better

  But Comcast is better known as "Comcrap" for a reason! As for AT&T? Well, this month I suffered sticker shock when they doubled the price of my business internet U-verse access, from $80 to $155... I called and threatened to switch to Comcast immediately. Guess what? The rep. immediately rolled me back to $80 / month (25mbps uncapped service), at least for the next year. I guess I'll have to go through this crap again next fall... :-( My neighbors who voted against municipal fiber broadband some years ago (after extensive lobbying by Comcrap and AT&T) all regret their decision now. Duh? I wonder why?

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

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 05 Nov, 2015 @ 06:10pm

  B&E by the police

  Well, if I have to drive my car to Connecticut, then I am going to wire a tear gas grenade so if anyone other than me opens the door, they will get a real snoot full! And I hope it would be a cop! Maybe I just leave some swag visible in the car to temp them!

• On the post: FCC Fines More Companies For Blocking Convention Center WiFi, Says Hilton Obstructed Investigation

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 03 Nov, 2015 @ 07:24pm

  Only $25K?

  Only a $25K fine for Hilton for obstructing a federal investigation? It should have been $2.5M instead! That would have been appropriate, and made Hilton think twice about this shit!

• On the post: Exxon Sues Roxx Vodka Over Xs: Oil And Vodka Are Oh So Similar

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 03 Nov, 2015 @ 07:20pm

  In large quantities?

  Sure. In large quantities, both gas and vodka are bad for you! But you can drink a lot more vodka than gasoline...

• On the post: Democrats Screw Over Larry Lessig To Keep Him Out Of The Debates; Forces Lessig To Drop His Campaign

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 03 Nov, 2015 @ 07:18pm

  Catch-22 anyone?

  First, Wasserman-Schultz has to go. Second, Lessig should be in the debates - he is one of the few truly honest candidates. So, I think that W-S has taken too much of Joseph Heller's book to heart - and all of the bad stuff at that! Lessig must feel a bit like Yossarian and all... :-(

• On the post: Locked Out Of The Sixth Amendment By Proprietary Forensic Software

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 08 Oct, 2015 @ 07:07pm

  Aargh!

  If you cannot have an independent expert examine the tools that have convicted you, then those tools, and their results, should be summarily rejected by the courts! DNA is notoriously difficult to analyze without extensive lab work, even today. That some software tool some years ago could do this accurately with 100% certainty is ludicrous!

• On the post: Appeals Court: No You Can't Copyright Yoga

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 08 Oct, 2015 @ 07:02pm

  Duh?

  Since most of these poses, and transitions between them, have been in use and taught for (quite literally) thousands of years, isn't there also applicable the concept of "prior art"?

• On the post: The Coming Collision Between EU Privacy Regulation And American Free Speech

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 08 Oct, 2015 @ 11:04am

  This is why

  This is why politicians should not be allowed to legislate technology. They are mostly clueless, and the law of unintended consequences are strong here!

• On the post: LMFAO The Beer Survives LMFAO The Band's Lawyers To Keep Its Name

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2015 @ 05:59am

  They drink beer don't they?

  LMFAO The Band - they drink beer, right? Why not LMFAO stout? Or do they only drink lite beer?

• On the post: 14 Mayors Have To Join Forces And Beg Verizon To Upgrade Its DSL Network

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 06 Oct, 2015 @ 04:53pm

  Garf!

  I loved it when Verizon was pushing fiber to the home in the Boston suburb where I lived (Burlington). Better price, included basic cable (along with the SciFy channel), and much better speed. Then they sold the cable part to Comcrap and things started going downhill from there. Verizon? They are a dishonest gang of thieves!

• On the post: Patent Owner Insists 'Integers' Do Not Include The Number One

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 05 Oct, 2015 @ 06:17pm

  So what happens?

  If they can claim rights over the number one, what about prior art, like the song "One is the loneliest number"? What if I write a new song, "Minus 9 is the best number there ever was"? Am I in violation of their rights?

• On the post: After Pulling An All-Nighter, Negotiators Finish TPP; But Don't Expect To See The Text For A While

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 05 Oct, 2015 @ 09:05am

  Spelling?

  I can spell "crimes against humanity". Can Obama?

• On the post: FBI Director Says Agency Will Track Police-Involved Killings Better By Not Changing Any Of Its Current Methods

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 05 Oct, 2015 @ 06:59am

  Meh, doesn't matter!

  Murder of innocent, unarmed "civilians" by police? Meh, it doesn't matter, after all it wasn't "justifiable", hence not collected data...

• On the post: This Week In Techdirt History: September 27th – October 3rd

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 03 Oct, 2015 @ 02:40pm

  Stallman's office

  Stallman still has an office at MIT. I think he is one of their more noted past students... :-)

• On the post: ISP Announces It's Blocking All Facebook And Google Ads Until Companies Pay A Troll Toll

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 01 Oct, 2015 @ 01:40pm

  This will end well - NOT!

  ISP? What ISP? It doesn't exist on Google, so it doesn't exist! Business? What business? I'm just waiting for France to go "dark"...

• On the post: DRM Still Breaking Games Nearly A Decade After Purchase

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2015 @ 07:33am

  Just say no!

  Just say NO to ANY DRM'd application, game, tool, or whatever. It just isn't worth the pain and suffering it causes. There are often as-good-as or better options out there that are DRM-free. FOSS is better, but that is not always possible, especially on proprietary (closed) systems such as Windows and OSX.

• On the post: Colombia Shows How Not To Regulate Drones

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2015 @ 07:28am

  Legistech

  This is why before legislators are allowed to write laws limiting tech they must first pass a course on the tech they are going to pass laws about (that will cost them $5000 minimum and take 6 months), take an exam to be certified, and renew their certification every 6 months (another $2000 cost to them). Then, every law they propose has to be approved by a panel of experts on the tech in question. Oh, and each type of tech requires a separate certification.

• On the post: Gosling's Rum Forgoes Free Promotion Of Famous Cocktail In Favor Of Trademark

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2015 @ 07:22am

  Lawyers!

  This is why we first shoot all the lawyers... :-)

• On the post: Australian Government Warns That Alternative Rock, Teenage Rebellion Could Lead To Radicalization

  

  Spaceman Spiff ( profile ), 28 Sep, 2015 @ 08:05pm

  So, we are not alone.

  It's nice to see that ours isn't the only government in the world that has totally lost its mind and taken an overdose of "Stupid Pills". I need to back to work on my vaccine that will be given to all candidates for government office which will avoid these problems. There is no cure for those already so infected unfortunately.

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