xmichaelx 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (712)

• On the post: Lena Dunham Once Again Threatens Lawsuit Over An Interpretation Of Her Book That She Doesn't Like

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 05 Nov, 2014 @ 12:05pm

  Re:

  "She's always come across, to me, as someone who thinks the world owes her a favour."
  
  Agreed. I've only heard her on Stern, and her narcissism is only matched by Mayim Bialik's insane I-must-always-be-the-center-of-my-child's-universe-and-it-must-always-rely-on-me-100% "parenting" techniques.

• On the post: Attention Kim Kardashian: You Can't Sue Another Woman For Having A Big Ass And An Instagram Account

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 04 Nov, 2014 @ 03:10pm

  "Let's pretend for a moment that for-some-reason-a-celebrity Kim Kardashian reads"
  
  You greatly overestimate her.

• On the post: Pianist Dejan Lazic Defends His Takedown Request By Pointing Out That The WaPo Reviewer Is Really Mean

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 04 Nov, 2014 @ 03:07pm

  I'm not familiar with Lazic, but as a student of music history and criticism, the review strikes me as perfectly fair. Lots of younger solo musicians -- particularly pianists, for some reason -- attempt to trade musicianship and sensitivity for showmanship.
  
  When Lazic is 50 and has matured into the music he performs, he'll no doubt see his current windmill-tilting as on par with his childish onstage antics.

• On the post: Cleveland Plain Dealer Owner Demands Takedown Of Unflattering Video Featuring Candidate It Endorsed In Governor's Race

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 30 Oct, 2014 @ 02:19pm

  Saw the video yesterday (when it was EVERYWHERE), and it was as cringeworthy as this article suggests.

• On the post: Marvel Goes DMCA Crazy Over Leaked Avengers 2 Trailer, Then Puts It On Its Own YouTube Page

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 23 Oct, 2014 @ 01:15pm

  Re:

  "This website has a real problem with people having control over their intellectual property, doesn't it?"
  
  You can control your IP without being an imbecile.
  
  To expand: Notice that, despite thousands (tens of thousands?) of DMCA notices being sent out every single day, there's only a single article on TD about it. That's because Marvel did something monumentally idiotic: claimed harm due to the release, and then released the EXACT SAME THING, negating their claim of harm.
  
  So how exactly does Marvel's monopoly control over this trailer -- and their DMCA notice, which they themselves have told us is pointless -- promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts?

• On the post: One Of The NSA's Biggest Critics In The Senate May Lose His Seat

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 23 Oct, 2014 @ 11:37am

  Small government

  Remember when there was a political party in America who wanted smaller government? I don't either, because it's never happened.
  
  Parties want to stay in power, and shrinking the size of government is the antithesis of that. Every administration in my lifetime has grown the Federal government. Republicans have grown it more (Bush 2 & Reagan, particularly), but there's really very little difference.

• On the post: Rep. Mike Rogers Now Claims Ed Snowden Should Be Charged With Murder, Because Someone Might Die

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 22 Oct, 2014 @ 12:07pm

  "Anybody that provides information to the enemy is a traitor, period, pure and simple."
  
  I would point out that, as the single largest producer of data -- including mapping, satellite, and statistical data of all sorts -- this meant the US government is a traitor in the eyes of this Congressman.

• On the post: DailyDirt: Hmm.That's Not Really Chinese

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 05 Sep, 2014 @ 11:48am

  Re: Re:

  "Oh, and speaking of Aladdin, in the Disney version, right at the beginning, at the intro to the first song, they play a similarly-stereotyped "Arabian riff". You know the one. Nine notes on an oboe, going up, then down, stretching out the last note.
  
  Anyone know the origins of that bit?"
  
  Read "Devil in the White City" -- the origin of that melody is recounted there (and is very interesting!)

• On the post: Adam Carolla Settles With Podcasting Patent Troll: Even With A Strong Case And $500k In The Bank, It's Too Expensive To Fight

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 19 Aug, 2014 @ 01:43pm

  disaster ...

  It's amazing watching all the commenters over a Breitbart calling Carolla a hero for giving up.
  
  This is like giving your money to the neighborhood jock to beat up the neighborhood bully, but instead of beating him up, he gives him a BJ and says "thanks for the memories, stud."

• On the post: Bad Idea: California Legislature Passes Bill To Mandate Mobile Phone Kill Switches

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 13 Aug, 2014 @ 12:24pm

  Facts matter

  Like you, I am against this mandate because of the obvious abuses it will bring with it (including the destruction of the secondary market for old phones).
  
  But unlike you, I actually know something about technology. For example, I would never say something this incorrect:
  
  "If individuals want to use a kill switch there are plenty of third party apps they can get to do that themselves."
  
  There is no 3rd party app capable of "killing" a phone. It might wipe it, but it doesn't prevent reinstalling a OS.
  
  If you don't know what a "kill switch" is, why write anything at all?

• On the post: Reclassifying Broadband Under Title II Becoming Politically Feasible

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 31 Jul, 2014 @ 12:12pm

  Re: Re: Re:

  "Sure there is. The ideal solution is no government involvement in the internet. That includes infrastructure and delivery."
  
  You really don't understand how the internet works, do you?
  
  Do you really think that handing a handful of (soon-to-be merged) corporations an absolute monopoly on the control of the internet -- including deciding what sites you can visit, what would appear on those sites, and who can post things -- would be a good thing?
  
  Because that's what you just suggested.
  
  Graduate from high school, learn something about the abuses that a lack of regulation in the 19th century did in nearly every industry in the U.S., and then report back to us. As it is, you are simply part of the problem.

• On the post: DailyDirt: Unicorns, Santa, Comfortable Airline Seating…

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 30 Jul, 2014 @ 11:56am

  Has anyone in the history of commercial aviation actually used their seat as a flotation device?

• On the post: Verizon Gets Snarky, But Basically Admits That It's The One Clogging Its Networks On Purpose

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 23 Jul, 2014 @ 03:29pm

  "The company is deliberately letting its border router clog up because it wants to ring a lot more money out of other companies"
  
  The word is "wring" not "ring."

• On the post: ISPs Reporting That UK's Web Filters Being Activated By Less Than 10% Of New Customers

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 23 Jul, 2014 @ 11:30am

  Those who ignore history ...

  Am I the only one who remembers the V-Chip?

• On the post: US Reporter Ronan Farrow Calls On Internet Companies To Censor Speech Of People He Doesn't Like

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 15 Jul, 2014 @ 02:20pm

  A child of extreme privilege wants to decide what the rest of us plebeians can and can't see on the internet?
  
  Say it ain't so!

• On the post: Aereo: Okay, Fine, If You Say We Look Like A Duck, We'll Quack Like A Duck

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 10 Jul, 2014 @ 02:47pm

  Re:

  "Cable companies must be shaking in their boots at the thought of losing their regional monopolies on TV delivery. If Aereo can be a cable company, then so can any other ISP."
  
  I think this misses the point. You no longer HAVE to be an ISP in order to be a cable company.
  
  THIS is why cable companies should be shaking -- if Aereo pulls this off, ANYONE with sufficient funds can be a cable company, and there will be nothing Comcast, et al., can do about it without being hit with an antitrust suit.
  
  This isn't necessarily a good thing for Aereo, btw. What happens when Google or Netflix decides to go into the cable business? Suddenly, Aereo will be outclasses, because their infrastructure is set up for something else, and they don't have billions just sitting around.
  
  Still, it'll be great for consumers!

• On the post: Study: Half Of All Young People In UK Think Digital Content Should Be Free To Download

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 26 Jun, 2014 @ 11:45am

  It's not free ...

  My internet is $70 per month. Nothing I'm downloading is "free" -- I pay for every byte.

• On the post: USPTO Cancels Trademark Registration For Washington Redskins

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 18 Jun, 2014 @ 02:15pm

  Re:

  Because neither of those names are considered disparaging.
  
  This really isn't that hard to understand is it?

• On the post: The World Has Changed Since The First Snowden Revelation, But It's Only A Small Start

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 05 Jun, 2014 @ 01:44pm

  nothing has changed

  The world hasn't changed at all. All the Snowden releases have done is prove that Americans will happily accept any abuses the government would like to saddle us with, and then ask for more.
  
  We've shown the government that they have nothing to fear from the citizenry, and that there is no need for checks and balances.

• On the post: The Stupidity Of Installing Bloatware That No One Uses… And Everyone Hates

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 24 Apr, 2014 @ 08:59am

  not analogous to PC bloatware

  This is nothing at all like PC bloatware. There are no toolbars (unless you install them) and no apps in your way (unless you launch them).
  
  I have a Galaxy S4. I installed Nova Launcher and never launched any of the default Samsung apps, and didn't even realize until yesterday when this ridiculous story became "news" that those were still on my phone (over a year later).
  
  It's like whining over Chrome including a PDF viewer when I already use Foxit to view PDFs.
  
  And while I rarely agree with users who say, "What is this doing on TechDirt?", I have to ask, "What is this doing on TechDirt?"

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