xmichaelx 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (712)

• On the post: Anonymous Indictment Raises Serious Question: Is It Really A CFAA Violation To DDoS A Website?

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 04 Oct, 2013 @ 10:14am

  Not really a sit-in

  A sit-in requires me to be present -- it's a form of protest because I give up my anonymity and my free time. It's me giving up something in exchange for making a statement.
  
  DDOS, while I think the "damage" claim is ridiculous, causes me to give up nothing. I can DDOS ten thousand websites at a time, given the resources, so any "protest" I may be engaging in is costing me nothing, negating the whole concept of "protest." If you're not an idiot, you'll never be caught, and you're name will never be associated with a statement of any sort.
  
  If it's a form of protest, it's one for lazy cowards.

• On the post: The DOJ's Insane Argument Against Weev: He's A Felon Because He Broke The Rules We Made Up

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 30 Sep, 2013 @ 03:03pm

  Re: Re: Ugh

  "You apparently aren't that technical, but to us programmers this is like charging someone with B&E when all they did was trespassing."
  
  No, to us programmers, it's like charging someone with B&E when all they did was knock on the door, someone answered, and handed them something.
  
  The whole model of URL as physical spaces is ridiculous, though. There is no physical space at a URL. Anything that's available on the internet and not passworded IS BEING BROADCAST ONTO THE INTERNET ON PURPOSE.
  
  The real metaphor is this: Weev changed the channels on his cable box a few times, and came across AT&T broadcasting their customers' private information.

• On the post: Comcast's CEO: As Long As I Keep Saying Aereo Is Illegal, Sooner Or Later Someone Will Believe Me, Right?

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 30 Sep, 2013 @ 02:24pm

  Aereo should sue ...

  These blatantly false statements could possibly be cutting into their bottom line.
  
  I suppose the weaselly "I don't think ..." might get Roberts off, but there's only one way to find out.

• On the post: Police Chief Charged With More Than 130 Violations Has Collected Over $115,000 Without Working A Day This Year

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 30 Sep, 2013 @ 02:20pm

  How 'bout: Pay him nothing, and if he turns out to be innocent of ALL fire-able charges, he can get back pay plus a year.
  
  An innocent man would jump at that deal.

• On the post: Modesto Junior College Fails To Learn Anything From Its Previous Free Speech Failure

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 27 Sep, 2013 @ 08:38pm

  As a conservative, one BIG reason I can't see myself ever voting Republican is that they see no problem with "Free Speech Zones" in the US.
  
  Unacceptable.
  
  I have no problem with making very small areas "non-free speech zones" for security reasons (after all, I can't walk into the Lincoln Bedroom and hand out flyers as I please). But the creation of "Free Speech Zones" means that there's a majority of space that is NOT for free speech.
  
  And that's not okay.

• On the post: The One Telco Exec Who Resisted The NSA Has Been Released From 4+ Years In Jail

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 27 Sep, 2013 @ 08:22pm

  Joe Ski Love was a rapper in the early '80s. I recommend you check out his "PeeWee's Dance" on YouTube.

• On the post: Though Wrong About 'Treason', Yahoo's Marissa Mayer Shows Why It's Hard To 'Just Say No' When The NSA Comes Calling

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 12 Sep, 2013 @ 12:53pm

  We've seen in the past that a plurality of tech companies are happy to work together (on lobbying, for example) if it will make them a buck.
  
  If all tech companies (or at least the Big 4) decided to release all government requests, 100% of the time, there would be no negative consequences. The ridiculousness would be exposed and the law would be changed.
  
  There's no money in protecting the American people from government over-reach, though, so I won't hold my breath for this to happen.

• On the post: The Trustworthy Government Officials Delusion: Eventually Any Program Will Be Abused

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 06 Sep, 2013 @ 02:26pm

  There is only 1 trait necessary to become a politician (or a CEO, or an actor, or just about any other position that's ALL ABOUT YOU): extreme narcissism.
  
  It's not about that evil person who might one day come to power. It's that all people who come to power are totally convinced in their own superiority and greatness.
  
  Every person you name -- President Obama, James Clapper, Keith Alexander, Dianne Feinstein or Mike Rogers -- all have this in common, or they would not hold their current positions.

• On the post: Are Video Game Companies Next In Line For Copyright Termination Battles?

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 06 Sep, 2013 @ 08:26am

  The game is Galaxian, not Glaxiain.

• On the post: CA High School Students Kill A First Amendment-Violating 'Social Media Contract'

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 27 Aug, 2013 @ 05:23pm

  Re:

  "You have to learn how to deal with assholes eventually."
  
  It looks like they just did.

• On the post: US Still Can't Figure Out What Snowden Took; What Happened To Those Perfect 'Audits'?

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 21 Aug, 2013 @ 03:33pm

  They should just hire some low-level computer guys to keep track of this stuff.

• On the post: Supreme Court Justices Can't Figure Out Email, Completely Mystified By Social Media

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 21 Aug, 2013 @ 02:19pm

  25 year old tech

  When I started college in 1990, everyone at the university had an email account, and the upperclassmen already used it regularly.
  
  This is not a "new technology" that has suddenly made communication easier. This is old technology -- used by students at even crappy universities -- for 25+ years, and ingrained into the minds of everyone since Gen X.
  
  There is no excuse for educated people to proudly tout their cultural and technological ignorance, no matter what their jobs are. But for these people -- the youngest of whom is only 12 years older than me -- it's just a disgrace.

• On the post: Keith Alexander's Lobbying Calls To Congress Kicked Off With A Joke About How He Already Had Their Number

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 29 Jul, 2013 @ 04:04pm

  Small government?

  I'm still trying to figure out how Republicans and (especially) Tea Partiers -- who never shut up about how they're for "Small Government" -- are justifying their support of the government secretly spying on EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN.

• On the post: Forbes Publishes Blueprints Of NSA's Massive Datacenter In Utah

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 25 Jul, 2013 @ 09:03am

  "Nice blueprints. Now ask yourselves: why does the public need to know this? What purpose does releasing this serve?"
  
  This is NEVER a question that should be asked. The question should always be, "Why SHOULDN'T this information be public? Who will die as a result of this information?"
  
  And if the answer (as in the case here) is no one, release the information. And if the answer is someone, then MAYBE it shouldn't be released.
  
  This isn't the government's facility, or the NSA'S facility. THIS IS THE U.S. TAXPAYERS' FACILITY.

• On the post: Alyssa Milano Claiming Trademark And Copyright On 'Hacktivist'

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 24 Jul, 2013 @ 04:51pm

  I would argue that it's Masnick who seems to be confused about what a "hacker" is, and seems to subscribe more to the Hollywood model than Milano.
  
  Jack Dorsey is absolutely a hacker, and -- you could argue -- a whitehat hacktivist. Swartz was also a hacker, but also a cracker and hacktivist.
  
  Milano seems to get the difference, but I'm not sure Masnick does.

• On the post: Student's Free Speech Victory Is A Victory For Everyone Even If You Disagree With His Speech

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 24 Jul, 2013 @ 04:33pm

  Confederate Flag?

  I'm struggling to see how the Confederate flag a) has anything at all to do with Catholicism, homosexuality, OR bullying; and b) is really any different than wearing a swastika belt buckle.
  
  He was basically saying, "I support the enslavement of blacks." That doesn't warrant removal from school on policy grounds? How about a shirt that says, "Kill Niggers"?
  
  This, BTW, is why all schools should just have uniforms.

• On the post: Reporter: E-Rated Kids' Game Unsafe For Kids Because The Internet Is Scary

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 09 Jul, 2013 @ 09:39am

  Dumb

  "Speaking as a parent, my kids would probably know better how to get to the parental controls and configure them than me."
  
  This is an attitude I run into all the time: Older people deciding that new technology is too hard for them.
  
  I work at a university, and am amazed at how completely the faculty manage to screw up something as simple as putting a syllabus online, let alone using more complex teaching tools.
  
  Here's the bottom line: A good teacher is not just an expert at their chosen subject; they're an expert as using *teaching tools*.
  
  Similarly, a good parent needs to have skill at using parenting tools. Even really scary ones -- like computers.

• On the post: Jimmy Wales Thinks Snowden Is 'An Innocent Party' And 'A Hero'; Wants To Know If He Ever Edited Wikipedia

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 26 Jun, 2013 @ 04:09pm

  Wales is at it again.

  He already admits that the user IDs Snowden used don't appear in Wikipedia - case closed. Wales is breaking Wikipedia's rules about outing someone, and banning those who criticize him.
  
  Typical.

• On the post: How Three Decades Of Conservative Chief Justices Turned The FISA Court Into A Rubber Stamp

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 26 Jun, 2013 @ 12:49pm

  not conservative

  Conservatism was built on a healthy mistrust of the government -- that's why "small government" has always been a rallying cry of the conservative ideology.
  
  It's a shame that Republicans today pretend to be "conservative" while expanding the size and scope of the federal government at every opportunity. In theory, they should be *preventing* things like secret courts.

• On the post: American Bankers' Association Claims Routing Numbers Are Copyrighted

  

  xmichaelx ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2013 @ 10:20am

  Re: Re:

  "The Dewey Decimal System is copyrighted."
  
  That's a classification system. Routing numbers are not.
  
  Also, the lawsuit you mention was a trademark dispute, not a copyright dispute.

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