z! 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (145)

• On the post: Prosecutors Say Cops Don't Need Warrants For Stingrays Because 'Everyone Knows' Cell Phones Generate Location Data

  

  z! ( profile ), 25 Jan, 2016 @ 04:39pm

  It should be pretty simple- if law enforcement wants to use the "pen register" order, they should only be allowed to use what a real pen register would produce: the number dialed. Nothing else.

• On the post: Ding-Dong — Your Easily Hacked 'Smart' Doorbell Just Gave Up Your WiFi Credentials

  

  z! ( profile ), 21 Jan, 2016 @ 04:25pm

  Y'know, I already have a device that lets me see who's at the door. It's called a "window", and in over 50 years it hasn't needed batteries or an upgrade.

• On the post: Clinging To Relevance, Yahoo Prevents Ad Block Users From Checking Yahoo Mail

  

  z! ( profile ), 23 Nov, 2015 @ 04:04pm

  Strangely enough, I never see ad's when reading yahoo mail, but I use an IMAP client, not their lousy web interface.

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

  

  z! ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2015 @ 08:57am

  Wait, what do you mean "Dark 'n Stormy" isn't a household name? It is in most houses I know, and would be with any competent bartender.
  
  Anyway, mixing ginger beer with anything but a very dark rum might make something drinkable, but it won't be a Dark 'n Stormy, just as a Martini has only gin and vermouth.

• On the post: Workplace Commission In Australia: Unfriending A Co-Worker Is A Factor In Bullying Case

  

  z! ( profile ), 25 Sep, 2015 @ 03:30pm

  The first mistake was friend-ing a coworker.

• On the post: Yes, The Appeals Court Got Basically Everything Wrong In Deciding API's Are Covered By Copyright

  

  z! ( profile ), 18 Aug, 2015 @ 04:59pm

  Re: Re: YOU "non-programmer" don't grasp what an API is! It's INTRINSIC AND INSEPARABLE FROM OTHER CODE.

  Or from me, I wrote my first real program (not "hello world") in 1975.
  
  What people -now- call an API has been called different things through the ages ("interface", "system subroutine library", "library function", "supervisor call", etc) and has always been the recipe, not the cake. That's why you can take, say, FORTRAN code from one system, compile it on another, and it'll generally do what you expect.

• On the post: Cops Caught Misbehaving During Pot Dispensary Raid Sue Police Dept. To Prevent Recording From Being Used Against Them

  

  z! ( profile ), 06 Aug, 2015 @ 07:30pm

  Re: Re: Re: Obstruction of Justice

  "That phrase brings up a very specific period in history when one hears it"
  
  and comes very close to, but does not activate, Godwin's Law.

• On the post: NYC Mayor Picks Fight With Uber That He Cannot Win

  

  z! ( profile ), 20 Jul, 2015 @ 01:06pm

  Re: Do you not get it?

  I don't think this is the original reason; back in the 1930's the concern was about car maintenance and drivers, not congestion downtown.

• On the post: Chris Christie: Rand Paul Should Answer To Congress For All Future Terror Attacks

  

  z! ( profile ), 08 Jul, 2015 @ 05:06pm

  Terror(ist)?

  I really wish people, and especially journalists, would not conflate terror and terrorist. They do not mean the same thing.
  
  Terror (n)
  1- intense, sharp, overmastering fear
  2- an instance or cause of intense fear or anxiety; quality of causing terror
  
  Terrorist (n)
  1- a person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorism.
  2- a person who terrorizes or frightens others.
  
  
  Someone might have a terror attack because of a terrorist's bomb, but the terrorist placed the bomb, not the terror. Unless Christie is suggesting that Paul address Congress about psychiatric bills for the sufferers, the headline is probably wrong.

• On the post: Reporter Who Wrote Sunday Times 'Snowden' Propaganda Admits That He's Just Writing What UK Gov't Told Him

  

  z! ( profile ), 15 Jun, 2015 @ 01:01pm

  Re: Slippery Slope

  Well, in the US it would be National Enquirer or Weekly World News.

• On the post: FTC Smacks Down Michigan For Trying To Ban Tesla Sales: Didn't We Already Warn You About This?

  

  z! ( profile ), 16 May, 2015 @ 12:02pm

  Re: direct alcohol sales

  They'll have a harder time of that because the 21st Amendment's section 2 and related case law basically gives states complete control over alcohol sales and distribution (but not of production- excise taxes, pure food laws, and all that).

• On the post: Spouting Cliches In A Crowded Theater: Steve Wynn's Lawyer Argues For The Dismantling Of Nevada's Anti-SLAPP Law

  

  z! ( profile ), 14 May, 2015 @ 12:59pm

  Ref. the First Rule of Holes....
  
  He lost the argument early on:
  

  I'm also a strong supporter of people's rights to protect their reputation, which is also a First Amendment right

  
  
  Just like the lack of right not to be offended, AFAICT there is no Constitutional right to one's reputation in any form.

• On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

  

  z! ( profile ), 10 May, 2015 @ 06:09pm

  Cameras didn't exist when the US Constitution was written, thus with an Originalist view, they don't exist and won't be protected.

• On the post: Verizon Picks The Worst Possible Person To Try To Bullshit Into Unnecessary Upgrade

  

  z! ( profile ), 08 May, 2015 @ 11:47am

  The word missing in the discussion here is jitter. If you need 3mbps to deliver SD video (which is horribly compressed at that rate), that's all you need provided the packets always arrive before they're needed. With a faster line rate, the system can burst a series of packets and then go idle (so the client buffers a bunch of data), but that only helps for the size of the client buffer. Increasing the buffer only makes the system less sensitive to delivery jitter.

• On the post: Under Armour Files Trademark Suit Against Ass Armor

  

  z! ( profile ), 28 Feb, 2015 @ 05:46pm

  Thinking back to Jordache Enterprises, Inc. v. Hogg Wyld, Ltd., 828 F.2d 1482 (10th Cir. 1987):
  
  http://blog.legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/legal-research/headnote-of-the-day/hnod_11-11-13/
  

  “Jordache” trademark for blue jeans was not infringed by manufacturer that identified its blue jeans for larger women with smiling pig and word “Lardashe” on seat of pants; striking dissimilarities in designs used in marks greatly outweighed any similarities, manufacturer intended to parody but that intent was not to confuse the public, and survey given by trademark owner did not demonstrate actual confusion.

• On the post: Portland (The City) And Pabst (The…Beer?) Cease Battling Over Unnecessary Trademark Dispute

  

  z! ( profile ), 12 Jan, 2015 @ 04:50pm

  I'd like to see the "Moron in a hurry" defense used in more summary judgement motions. Heck, should be used in more "You're kidding, right?" letters to clue-impaired complaints.

• On the post: Appeals Court Orders Government To Return Non-Child Porn Files To Convicted Man

  

  z! ( profile ), 07 Jan, 2015 @ 02:57pm

  Re: complete BS

  Exactly, It's pretty simple- if the government can find the porn, they also know what isn't porn (1 not equal 0). By that, it's a trivial problem to copy off the non-porn and set that back.
  
  OTOH if they don't know what's the porn, then we have a prosecution problem.

• On the post: Google, Microsoft, Wireless Carriers Form Rare Alliance To Battle Marriott's Dumb Wi-Fi 'Jamming'

  

  z! ( profile ), 23 Dec, 2014 @ 12:17pm

  I suppose Marriott would probably complain loudly if someone else set up a 'deauth' box in their facility.

• On the post: NYPD Baffled By Tech Advances Like Laptops And WiFi

  

  z! ( profile ), 04 Dec, 2014 @ 11:20am

  Re: Riot Gear

  The original "Riot Act" dates from 1715 (George I), and was read during/at the St. George's Fields Massacre (1768), the Gordon Riots (1780), and Peterloo Massacre (1819). Completely repealed IIRC in 1973.

• On the post: Payment Wars: How Merchants And Carriers Are Trying To Block Payment Systems They Can't Track

  

  z! ( profile ), 27 Oct, 2014 @ 01:07pm

  About using cash- it's legal tender for -debts-, but you only own money to the store if they've already given you the merchandise. No merch. changes hands, no debt exists. (If the restaurant lets you eat before paying, there's a debt; if they want payment up front, there isn't.)
  
  BTW, long time back, I'd give the RadioShack clerks the address "1600 South Beach St, Fort Worth, TX", which was Tandy's corporate headquarters. Only 1 in 10 clerks recognized it, an they just chuckled.

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