Kim Dotcom does kinda remind me of Freddy Quimby from The Simpsons episode "The Boy Who Knew Too Much". He comes across to me as spoiled, kinda horrible overall, and not someone I'd like to have buddying up to me at all, so I empathize with your distaste of him.
I also find him ultimately innocent though, and it's very telling how law enforcement has taken what should have been an easy target like him and elevated him into folk hero status instead. You also abandoned any pretense of wanting a thoughtful conversation when you accused Mike of simply regurgitating Dotcom's arguments, so I'm afraid you're getting reported. Again.
I loved how the Animaniacs prepared for Y2K. The Warner Bros. fixed their network's computers themselves, ensuring that you could continue to watch them every Mondak, Tuesdak, Wednesdak, Thursdak, and Fridak.
I recommend keeping a few chickens around your property if you are able to. They're kinda like little feathery pigs; they eat all the food you don't want and recycle it into eggs, and they're even happy to eat snakes, spiders, mice, and other pests they can fit down their throats. The eggs they produce will often be healthier than any you can get in the store too; a bright orange yolk indicates a high nutrient content.
Don't try keeping ducks though as they're a bit harder to take care of. Ducks are like chickens without the survival instinct. Chickens are fully aware of how delicious they are and are always keeping an eye out for predators while ducks think they're on vacation all the time. Trying to keep them out of danger can be like herding cats, plus there's the different environment they need as water fowl, so if you attempt to keep some, be prepared to do a lot of work for the little idiots.
As for turkeys... they deserve to be shot and eaten. They always have it coming.
It's pretty telling that of all the dissenters in this chunks of comments, you're the only one worth responding to.
For better or for worse, I think any attitude problems are a side effect of the admin refusing to ban anyone. That means when trolls appear and prove irritating to deal with, that irritation eventually and inevitably starts leaking into the staffers' posts in various ways, diluting their quality. I've noticed that going on off and on for some time. I do appreciate the idealism behind never banning or censoring commentators, but after a certain point it becomes naive and you wonder why the blog's owners don't exercise their right to clean house by just giving people the boot.
You're basically asking to be spoonfed information that you should be able to scrounge up yourself like an adult. You aren't even actively engaging in discussion; you're basically just claiming that you are right until someone else proves otherwise. If you were really interested in conversation, you'd try to engage the other party by, say, politely asking for clarifications, like where in the document you can find what you missed before. Why should anyone bother talking with you when it's clear you're more interested in feeling superior than discussing topics?
Sheesh, you always do this and you're the one who always ends up looking disingenuous for it. Don't make wild accusations if you aren't prepared to do the work to back them up. You better get to writing a point-by-point analysis of that link's contents if you want anyone to take your seriously.
What bothers me about this is that this sounds similar to criticism of NASA and space exploration. What good has it done us? Why are we even bothering? People like Neil overlook the practical benefits those programs have brought us because they don't mesh with their fantasy about how the future should be.
What kind of scientist doesn't realize that tinkering is what science is all about, anyway? Even the most seemingly insignificant factors need to be poked and prodded until we've learned everything about how they factor into the work, because until we do that, we have no way of knowing whether they really are insignificant.
Holy cow, we really are moving towards a future like that in Mega Man Battle Network. Every device and appliance online even when it makes no sense for them to be, a shady Undernet, the works.
The name "Techdirt" implies that the stories you'll find here may veer toward being about the dirty ways technology like guns, tasers, and spike strips can be abused.
Politics could indeed use less of it nowadays, though... everyone has an overly simplistic view of the world that acts as their religion for all intents and purposes, regardless of whether God is involved or not. This includes you when you say faith is for religions and me when I disagree with you.
Furthermore, faith is very important for certain aspects of daily life, like the value of money or the performance of the stock market. There's also various oddities like the placebo effect, where simply having enough faith that a drug will help you can cause it to do so even if it's not a drug at all, and the Centipede's Dilemma where if you do more than just believe when performing a task, you're liable to overthink and start goofing up.
I suppose so... which does even less to help his case.
If I really had to boil it down though, I guess I'd say the main reason he's not welcome around here is because he's unwilling to learn. He's not only just flat out wrong with his responses most of the time, but unapologetically wrong to boot, and that's where the cardinal sins take place. You never stop learning throughout life, which is why there's nothing worse than a poor student.
Most of the time though, I've seen him seemingly not reading the articles or straight up using fallacious logic. I kinda doubt it's worth defending him just because he might be right once a month or so. There are other commenters that can do what he does better.
I understand how you feel, but it's hard to sympathize since you do bring all of this out on yourself.
Yeah, there are some uncouth people here, but there are also some highly intelligent ones. Remember what I told you before about how if someone insults you, you shouldn't abdicate the moral high ground by responding in kind? You've willfully leapt down into the dredges and you've spent so long there that you can no longer see the people up above who are still willing to throw you a rope and help you out of the pit you're in.
The thing is, freedom of speech goes both ways. It doesn't mean that you can say whatever you like and no one else has the right to say whatever they like in return. You need to take responsibility for your actions.
Also, you don't seem to understand that no censorship is actually taking place when your comments are flagged. Based on what I've seen so far, they probably should be anyway since you frequently and willfully operate with an information deficit. A person like that does get rather exasperating to deal with after a while.
I don't think it's anything like using a bellows on a campfire, actually. That sounds like some gross oversimplification on your part.
I do admire the idealism of going to Mars and cannot fault anyone for pushing the boundaries of what humanity can accomplish, but realistically speaking, we're probably going to get destroyed in the chaos of global climate change before we manage to settle on another planet. And I may continue saying that just so modern scientists can use gloating over me as motivation to accomplish the impossible like they've done many times in the past.
On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
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I also find him ultimately innocent though, and it's very telling how law enforcement has taken what should have been an easy target like him and elevated him into folk hero status instead. You also abandoned any pretense of wanting a thoughtful conversation when you accused Mike of simply regurgitating Dotcom's arguments, so I'm afraid you're getting reported. Again.
On the post: This Week In Techdirt History: October 12 - 18th
Re: Re: Y2K
On the post: DailyDirt: How Clean Are Our Chickens?
Don't try keeping ducks though as they're a bit harder to take care of. Ducks are like chickens without the survival instinct. Chickens are fully aware of how delicious they are and are always keeping an eye out for predators while ducks think they're on vacation all the time. Trying to keep them out of danger can be like herding cats, plus there's the different environment they need as water fowl, so if you attempt to keep some, be prepared to do a lot of work for the little idiots.
As for turkeys... they deserve to be shot and eaten. They always have it coming.
On the post: Neil deGrasse Tyson Attacks 'Startup Culture,' Demonstrates Lack Of Understanding About Innovation
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On the post: Judge To Aereo: Hey, Didn't The Supreme Court Make It Clear That You Guys Are Dead?
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On the post: Neil deGrasse Tyson Attacks 'Startup Culture,' Demonstrates Lack Of Understanding About Innovation
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For better or for worse, I think any attitude problems are a side effect of the admin refusing to ban anyone. That means when trolls appear and prove irritating to deal with, that irritation eventually and inevitably starts leaking into the staffers' posts in various ways, diluting their quality. I've noticed that going on off and on for some time. I do appreciate the idealism behind never banning or censoring commentators, but after a certain point it becomes naive and you wonder why the blog's owners don't exercise their right to clean house by just giving people the boot.
On the post: Judge To Aereo: Hey, Didn't The Supreme Court Make It Clear That You Guys Are Dead?
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On the post: Judge To Aereo: Hey, Didn't The Supreme Court Make It Clear That You Guys Are Dead?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Neil deGrasse Tyson Attacks 'Startup Culture,' Demonstrates Lack Of Understanding About Innovation
What kind of scientist doesn't realize that tinkering is what science is all about, anyway? Even the most seemingly insignificant factors need to be poked and prodded until we've learned everything about how they factor into the work, because until we do that, we have no way of knowing whether they really are insignificant.
On the post: Leaked TPP IP Chapter Would Lead To Much Greater Online Surveillance... Because Hollywood Still Hates The Internet
Re: Re: Re: Baffling
On the post: City Of London Police Drove 200 Miles To Arrest And Jail 'Industrial' Level Pirate... Only To Have Case Fall Apart And All Charges Dropped
On the post: Seat Belt Violation Greeted With Spike Strip, Smashed Window And Tasering
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On the post: Tech Execs Express Extreme Concern That NSA Surveillance Could Lead To 'Breaking' The Internet
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Furthermore, faith is very important for certain aspects of daily life, like the value of money or the performance of the stock market. There's also various oddities like the placebo effect, where simply having enough faith that a drug will help you can cause it to do so even if it's not a drug at all, and the Centipede's Dilemma where if you do more than just believe when performing a task, you're liable to overthink and start goofing up.
On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
If I really had to boil it down though, I guess I'd say the main reason he's not welcome around here is because he's unwilling to learn. He's not only just flat out wrong with his responses most of the time, but unapologetically wrong to boot, and that's where the cardinal sins take place. You never stop learning throughout life, which is why there's nothing worse than a poor student.
On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
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Most of the time though, I've seen him seemingly not reading the articles or straight up using fallacious logic. I kinda doubt it's worth defending him just because he might be right once a month or so. There are other commenters that can do what he does better.
On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
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Yeah, there are some uncouth people here, but there are also some highly intelligent ones. Remember what I told you before about how if someone insults you, you shouldn't abdicate the moral high ground by responding in kind? You've willfully leapt down into the dredges and you've spent so long there that you can no longer see the people up above who are still willing to throw you a rope and help you out of the pit you're in.
You did this to yourself.
On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
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On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
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Also, you don't seem to understand that no censorship is actually taking place when your comments are flagged. Based on what I've seen so far, they probably should be anyway since you frequently and willfully operate with an information deficit. A person like that does get rather exasperating to deal with after a while.
On the post: DailyDirt: To
InfinityMars And Beyond!Re: Re: Re: One-way suicide mission....
And I will admit, at the very least, that going to Mars is probably a less suicidal mission than all the wars we've been having recently.
On the post: DailyDirt: To
InfinityMars And Beyond!Re: Re: Re: One-way suicide mission....
I do admire the idealism of going to Mars and cannot fault anyone for pushing the boundaries of what humanity can accomplish, but realistically speaking, we're probably going to get destroyed in the chaos of global climate change before we manage to settle on another planet. And I may continue saying that just so modern scientists can use gloating over me as motivation to accomplish the impossible like they've done many times in the past.
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