The Super-Early Holiday Gear Sale (Plus Our New Math Is Not A Crime T-Shirt!)

from the last-chance-in-2016 dept

Mon, Sep 12th 2016 12:45pm — Techdirt

Last chance this year to get Nerd Harder, Takedown, and more Techdirt gear! »

Yes, that's right — it's a September holiday sale! We know it takes some time for your orders to arrive from Teespring, so we're leaving a nice big window for those of you who want to gift some Techdirt gear in December. All our past shirts — plus one brand new design — are available from now until October 3rd.

This is the last time we're offering any of this gear in 2016, and we won't be taking reservations once these campaigns close! Most of the shirts will come back eventually, but we can't promise when and it might be a year or more. Also, Nerd Harder is now available on hoodies, mugs and stickers for the first time.

As for the Vote2016() gear, this is your last chance ever! Order it now and you'll get it just in time for election month!

Remember, you've only got three weeks from today to place your orders, and everything will ship with plenty of time for the holidays. As usual, t-shirts are $20, hoodies are $35, mugs are $14 and stickers are only $4 — though not all designs are available on all products! Hurry up and get your gear before it's too late.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: dmca, holiday sale, math is not a crime, nerd harder, t-shirts, techdirt gear

32 Comments

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Roger Strong (profile), 12 Sep 2016 @ 12:58pm

Math Is Not A Crime
....depending on jurisdiction.

Wikipedia: Illegal prime
Wikipedia: Illegal number
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Sep 2016 @ 1:35pm

Question to Techdirt:
Why comments filter (Insightful/Funny) does not work if ajax.googleapis.com script is blocked? Are Techdirts readers being tracked by Google when they load comments? Please answer.
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Granite Patriot, 12 Sep 2016 @ 1:41pm

illegal maths
Isn't congress trying to outlaw maths?
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Leigh Beadon (profile), 12 Sep 2016 @ 1:53pm

Re:
It utilizes JQuery, which it loads via the Google API for speed and so it's always the most up-to-date version. It's not a tracking script.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Sep 2016 @ 2:08pm

What's the meaning of the Math is Not a Crime shirt? I assume it's some anti-IP thing, but not sure. Thanks!
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Leigh Beadon (profile), 12 Sep 2016 @ 2:12pm

Re:
It's predominantly about the current debate around encryption for the public, since encryption is just math - but the government wants to legislate limits and backdoors. Though it has applied to IP situations in the past, when encryption for copy protection has been broken which, thanks to the DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions, has created situations in which a mere number is illegal to publish.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Sep 2016 @ 2:20pm

I would buy the "Nerd Harder" tshirt but I can't stand the font.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Sep 2016 @ 2:52pm

Wherever math is outlawed, only criminals can use computers.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Sep 2016 @ 5:06pm

Re: Re:
I appreciate the explanation. Thanks! That went over my head.

It's curious that you compare an "encryption for copy protection" to a "mere number." If I have your Social Security number (or equivalent, if you're not American), should I be allowed to publish and use that "mere number" however I want? It's just a number, after all. If not, what's the difference?

Thanks again!
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Franklin G Ryzzo (profile), 12 Sep 2016 @ 5:49pm

Re:
Agreed! I was really hoping for a Comic Sans version...

I'll let myself out
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Sep 2016 @ 5:52pm

Re: Re:
>Google API
>not tracking

Choose one.
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This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

Whatever (profile), 12 Sep 2016 @ 7:41pm

For the very last time... until next time.

Artificial scarcity defined.
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Leigh Beadon (profile), 12 Sep 2016 @ 7:58pm

Re:
I think we were pretty clear.

This is the very last time we'll be offering the Vote2016() shirt. And the very last time this year that we'll be offering any of the other shirts.

Shirts, by the way, are not artificially scarce.

[This comment posted for the benefit of anyone else who might not have been clear on our plan for these shirts - not for the jackass who will find something to whine about regardless of any and all factors.]
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Leigh Beadon (profile), 12 Sep 2016 @ 8:04pm

Re: Re: Re:
As I understand it, there is no law against knowing or sharing someone's SSN. Indeed, there shouldn't be any danger inherent in anyone knowing your SSN, since that's a pretty abysmal security system - it's only dangerous because many organizations treat it as a piece of authenticating data, even though they really shouldn't, any more than they should your mother's maiden name.

Now, if you use that social security number to do something like commit fraud, then you have broken the law. But outlawing the number itself is just silly.
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Leigh Beadon (profile), 12 Sep 2016 @ 8:09pm

Re: Re: Re:
(as for comparing the breaking of copy protection to a mere number, that's because in the cases I'm referring to it literally was. AACS encryption was broken and the cryptographic key became public knowledge. It was in hexidecimal: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

For a while, websites that so much as printed that number started receiving cease & desist orders from the MPAA. Digg.com removed a bunch of articles and started banning people who mentioned it in a comment.

A simple number 128-bit number had become illegal.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Sep 2016 @ 8:27pm

What about the VCR is killing the movie industry shirt
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Sep 2016 @ 11:13pm

Re:
So... I take it you're not going to bother making any of your own like you swore to do?
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Whatever (profile), 13 Sep 2016 @ 12:58am

Re: Re:
I have told you before, I just don't have the time. I can get them turned out as cheap as chips, good quality shorts (beefy Ts or Gildans) but it takes time and I don't really have it.

if you want to pre-order a bunch (say like 100 or more) I will gladly process the order. FOB my town, by the way, so prepare to pay shipping and the boat might take a while to get there...
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Sep 2016 @ 4:54am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
As I understand it, there is no law against knowing or sharing someone's SSN.

Of course there are laws against this. Lots of laws. For example, "[A] person shall not . . . Intentionally communicate another individual's social security number to the general public[.]" Va. Code Ann. § 59.1-443.2.

Indeed, there shouldn't be any danger inherent in anyone knowing your SSN, since that's a pretty abysmal security system - it's only dangerous because many organizations treat it as a piece of authenticating data, even though they really shouldn't, any more than they should your mother's maiden name.

Yes, it *is* dangerous, whether you think it should be or not. That's why there are so many laws against it!

Now, if you use that social security number to do something like commit fraud, then you have broken the law. But outlawing the number itself is just silly.

So given the fact that it *is* dangerous, I don't understand why you think it's "silly" to have laws against revealing other people's SSNs. To me, it's "silly" to say it's just a number. It's not. The reason so many lawmakers think SSNs are important to protect is because they are more than just some random number.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Sep 2016 @ 4:58am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Yet, like a social security number, that key was more than just some random number. You seem to think that all numbers should be treated the same. But they're not the same.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Sep 2016 @ 6:20am

Re: Re: Re:
"I have told you before, I just don't have the time. I can get them turned out as cheap as chips, good quality shorts (beefy Ts or Gildans) but it takes time and I don't really have it."

You really are an idiot.

Time = money.

Your argument is like saying I can mow your lawn for free but I don't really have the time. But mowing your lawn is really really cheap, especially if you provide the equipment. But my time ...

Well, duh. You are an idiot, do you know how stupid you sound? Time is part of what is being paid for.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Sep 2016 @ 6:27am

Re: Re: Re:
"if you want to pre-order a bunch (say like 100 or more) I will gladly process the order. FOB my town, by the way, so prepare to pay shipping and the boat might take a while to get there..."

You are finally getting it. Techdirt mass produces them so they can do them for cheaper. They provide their blog for free and they sell a scarce good, the T-Shirt. They mass produce/order the shirt so they can get/make it for cheaper. It's hard for you to compete because almost no one wants to buy the shirt from you so you could only sell small quantities of it. Therefore your costs will be more and Techdirt wins by selling what's scarce and giving away what's free.

Very good!!!
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Leigh Beadon (profile), 13 Sep 2016 @ 6:37am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Of course there are laws against this. Lots of laws. For example, "[A] person shall not . . . Intentionally communicate another individual's social security number to the general public[.]" Va. Code Ann. § 59.1-443.2.

As far as I can tell, less then half of all the states have such a law. And it's a stupid law. Indeed, all the laws regarding SSN use and privacy form nothing more than a sad patchwork attempt to shore up utterly useless security. The idea that your entire identity is guarded solely by a single password which is difficult to change and which you must hand over in plaintext to dozens of different companies and agencies over the course of your life is... idiotic.

Many companies and agencies use your mother's maiden name as a piece of identifying data too - my bank sometimes seems to accept just that & my birthdate as confirmation that they are talking to me. So... should publishing someone's mother's maiden name and birthdate be illegal, too? After all, it can be "dangerous" for that information to be out there...
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Leigh Beadon (profile), 13 Sep 2016 @ 6:45am

Re: Re: Re:
Kinda seems like in that one comment you just admitted every complaint you've ever made about Techdirt is wrong. Thanks!
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Sep 2016 @ 6:59am

Re: Re: Re:
Bob and weave, bob and weave...
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Sep 2016 @ 8:06am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
I think maybe a neuron or two might finally be going off someplace inbetween that hollow head of his ... let's hope this trend continues even more. Maybe one day we might have an intelligent discourse!!! (or is that just wishful thinking?).
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Sep 2016 @ 8:16am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
The Social security system is a joke. It's not very secure at all, perhaps social 'security' is a misnomer.

I think everyone should have a public/private key pair. The only person that knows my private key should be ... me, not even the government should know it.

But anyone can know my public key and I can use my private key to verify my identity.
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Leigh Beadon (profile), 13 Sep 2016 @ 8:39am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
If your security relies on keeping a single number secret, and then that number leaks, expecting the government to step in and clamp down on massive amounts of speech and essentially outlaw the mere knowledge of a few digits is both stupid and unjust.

If my password leaks, I change it unless I'm a moron. If my password leaks after I've already shipped millions of units of something-or-other that is supposed to be perfectly protected by that now-unchangeable password, I was a moron all along.
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Whatever (profile), 13 Sep 2016 @ 1:50pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Leigh, uh, no, sorry.

I have other work in life, I don't have time to knock out t-shirts as a one off. You guys outsourced it to a company that will only do runs if you push enough (hence the repeated begging for buyers, otherwise you won't hit the goal and nobody will get them).

I can produce them locally (it's pretty easy) but slightly time consuming. I don't want to spend the time just to prove you wrong. The t-shirts aren't scarce, the printing on the t-shirts isn't scarce, and they aren't particularly special. Artificial scarcity is created by saying "limited time" or "get them before they are gone" when in fact, they are not scarce at all.

If someone wants to order 100 (mixed sizes) I will gladly process an order for them and run the shirts. It's not a big deal. Given distribution, I could run tens of thousands of them. Doesn't matter. The point is that they are not scarce, except if you try to put artificial limits on them (won't do this again!).

If you want to send me the money, I am sure I can knock you out a special shirt, girls small should fit you nicely.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Sep 2016 @ 6:17pm

Re: Re: Re:
So... after all that huff and puff about being able to wreck Techdirt's business model, it turns out you can't put your money with your mouth is.

For someone who claims to not really have time you sure spend a lot of that time swapping IP addresses just to troll a website...
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Sep 2016 @ 8:21pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Even if you spend the time 'just to prove them wrong' that still doesn't prove them wrong. You haven't proven that

A: It would be profitable to you (considering the cost of your time and not just the raw material cost).

B: It would significantly cut into Techdirt's sales even if it were profitable to you.

If anything your comments have proven just the opposite. But instead of admitting to it you choose to double down on your stupidity.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Sep 2016 @ 8:49pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
It's the Slonecker strategy. Claim to have superior intellect and capability, mock all the plebeians for not seeing this mystical higher plane of understanding, then outright refuse to show your work or explanations and hem and haw instead.
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