... no reasonable consumer would buy a TV that could only be used by consenting to onerous and unfairly one-sided terms.
Commercial software users have been doing that for more than a couple decades. "EULA"s are known for being the least read and understood contracts ever devised by man. However, SCOTUS allows it anyway.
Linux users have been complaining about this "Microsoft Tax" for just as long, but can I now get a refund for the pre-installed Windows(TM) software on my new computer which I'll never use? Chyaa, right.
Clearly "capitalism" is not alive and well when the customer is always wrong.
Capitalism is alive and well (but the customer is not always right). It's just not prevalent. Would be tyrants and special interests mooching political favors that our taxes pay for tend to be prevalent these days. "We, the people" are too busy with 21st Century complexity, and our educators are not preparing us very well for dealing with any of it (they never really could). As a mostly self-taught individual, this's no surprise to me. We expected far more from public education than it was ever capable of delivering. It's a glorified baby-sitting service at best, and cradle to grave debt machine.
When I'm elected Dark Overlord, I'll disband public education and plow the money saved into universally accessible libraries free for all to use. I don't know why we didn't do that in the first place. I suppose free baby-sitting was too hard to pass up, given all the other crap people were finding they needed to deal with.
"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." Maybe the horse can smell the well's poisoned.
So true! Even more, we still practice the old Roman Empire tradition of stirring entrails. You go ahead and un-publish what you mistakenly published. We've got our own Wayback Machines containing cached copies of what you no longer want us to see. A few incantations of pdftotext piped through diff, and voila your tap dancing is revealed. Shazam!
There's a lot of eyeballs out here watching, and apparently you forgot. Mike nailed it before he even showed us what was going on.
You might want to put in a bit more effort next time, and know that you underestimate us at your peril. Have a marvy day!
Just like there is nothing wrong with Techdirt deciding that anonymous speech is acceptable.
TD didn't decide that. It was decided long ago by many others, for many well justified and perfectly valid reasons. TD is just staying the course and agreeing with that, to their credit. Eliminating anonymous speech is shallow thinking and dangerous revisionism which ignores that history. When a couple of corps decide anonymity is inconvenient for them, we need to read them the riot act and point out everything is not all about them or their convenience.
Remember what happens when you fail to learn the lessons of history. Do you really want to go there again? I don't. We fought too hard and too many people paid too much to get where we are, and we're still having to fight to stay at least where we are, much less backsliding. We still have a long way to go before we all end up as free as I'd like us all to be. Forgetting basic truths because they're inconvenient to a few corps isn't helping us get to that goal.
Re: Amerik Injustice for Amerik Incarceration - "Amerik Co.Inc." the American Prison Industry
"It’s not standard to conduct investigations beforehand because that delays the apprehension of suspects."
That's just so stupid, it's ridiculous. If you must, sure roll out SWAT, but while they're on their way you can research the situation (contact the building mgr. or bldg. security) then update SWAT with the new information. I'd call that criminal negligence and utter incompetence if they're not doing that.
This's been going on a lot longer than "simpleton bush." The difference is they don't get away with it as easily any more now that everyone's carrying a movie camera connected to the Internet, and everyone carrying them is as powerful as the NY Times.
I assume during the Ferguson standoff that a trigger slip was exactly what the administrators were hoping for, so they could have a justified massacre.
We may still get that out of the Biker-burger-joint-massacre in Waco.
At least in Canada it's still quite different. The one time I came up against SWAT, they were all very carefully aiming their street sweepers (automatic shotguns) at the ground, and these were lowly city cops, not the elite RCMP. Perhaps we could loan you some to re-train yours.
SWAT teams will be directed to empty houses furnished with proximity firebombs.
If SWAT can't be bothered to do any research prior to executing no-knock warrants, this can almost be construed as pre-emptive self defence. They're no better than mad dogs. They're little better than a heavily armed gang roaming the streets breaking down doors and shooting the occupants indiscriminately. We're not supposed to be tolerating that from anyone, much less our police forces.
if you felt the orders you received were not lawful the first step was to ask for them in writing.
That didn't work very well in Vietnam. That's why the grunts invented fragging. There's lots of ways to get inconvenient commanders killed in theatre. All that was needed was to salute them while the enemy looked on.
I do honestly love how the US police have gotten so out of control that even a tech site like this cannot willfully ignore it any more and is reporting on it.
Mike, I'm sure, has his own reasons why TD should exist. For me, though, this's systems analysis. It's not hardware or software or baubles and trinkets, though those do find their way here too. It's more about *how* things work, or don't work, or fail miserably, or even attack their owners or users.
Visio "smart TVs", for instance. Sure, it's sort of amazing what we can do with TVs nowadays, but should we be doing blah with them, and what are the ramifications of doing blah with a TV? Whose TV is it really? Joe Blow who thinks he's buying entertainment, or Visio hoping to sell their customers' data to Madison Ave?
I love that sort of !@#$. :-) With TD, Mike's carrying on the grand tradition of the Risks Digest. That never gets old for me.
But I seriously doubt that's the main problem. The training is one of the symptoms.
I agree. I think the problem is management has chosen the wrong metric to measure performance. They're focusing solely on arrests and convictions, instead of enforcing the law or keeping the peace (whatever those might mean). Defusing confrontations goes against the goal of racking up arrests. Escalation comparatively plumps up the arrest numbers. They've lost sight of the forest with all those trees in the way. They're doin' it wrong.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Willful ignorance is the American Way
Tunnel vision is a common malady which knows no boundaries. All people are capable of practicing it when they allow themselves to ignore elements they can't be bothered to consider significant.
Sweeping generalizations are always wrong. :-) Just because someone is a member of a group who're all doing blah doesn't mean they have to be anything like all the other members of the group doing blah.
You missed step "SOP -1": "Elect stupid law & order, tough on crime politicians who encourage the police to act this way, and pay them all with your taxes."
I'm beginning to think to many Afghanistan and Iraq veterans are drafting policing policies and training officers. Policing at home should not be modeled on what was needed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Or, in other words, "I didn't read the article, but I'm going to mouth off based on my ignorance of what it said."
The story is one where an infantryman veteran who did this stuff in the Iraq war is trash talking the police for their abysmal execution of what he did in the service of his country against foreigners, either peaceful citizens or armed combatants.
If you can't be bothered to read the article, you're exhibiting the same lazy stupidity these lazy cops exhibit. You're wasting everyone's time with your laziness. We all deserve better.
I agree with everything you wrote here. However, that doesn't mean they don't deserve to be condemned for their stupid policy.
I don't want them to get dragged through the courts and forced to change. I do want them to feel the sting of our resentment for their arrogant ignorance of long standing US cultural practice. Anonymity is important from a freedom & liberty point of view. Their unilateral condemnation of it is "un-American", and they should feel shame for spitting on that principle, and encouraging their users to accept this cultural imperialism as the new normal.
Not that I have a problem with greed, it is what makes us work our asses off in pursuit of greater things ...
Uh, speak for yourself? Of course.
I work value for value. I'm not trying to take advantage of clients/employers. I generally under-bill. I enjoy the opportunity to work that employers/clients offer. You got a problem? I love fixing problems! I've done gigs with people who were pulling down three times what I was getting. I thought it a bit odd, but not my business if the employer was resigned to pay it. Meh.
Greed's way overrated. It doesn't encourage callbacks. YMMV.
Then again, fixing problems so they never come back doesn't encourage callbacks either. Damn.
Christians get the benefitts of the first amendment, too.
That would be lovely if true. Sadly, this is Canada we're talking about here. You know, a US Constitution free zone, so to speak.
However, we've got multicult laws galore, so even microscopically small minorities are just as big legally as the most odious tyrants (assuming they're not the parliamentary majority in which case all bets are off).
On the post: Vizio Latest Manufacturer To Offer More Ways For TVs To Watch Purchasers
Re: Class action?
Commercial software users have been doing that for more than a couple decades. "EULA"s are known for being the least read and understood contracts ever devised by man. However, SCOTUS allows it anyway.
Linux users have been complaining about this "Microsoft Tax" for just as long, but can I now get a refund for the pre-installed Windows(TM) software on my new computer which I'll never use? Chyaa, right.
Welcome to the 21st Century.
On the post: Vizio Latest Manufacturer To Offer More Ways For TVs To Watch Purchasers
Re:
Capitalism is alive and well (but the customer is not always right). It's just not prevalent. Would be tyrants and special interests mooching political favors that our taxes pay for tend to be prevalent these days. "We, the people" are too busy with 21st Century complexity, and our educators are not preparing us very well for dealing with any of it (they never really could). As a mostly self-taught individual, this's no surprise to me. We expected far more from public education than it was ever capable of delivering. It's a glorified baby-sitting service at best, and cradle to grave debt machine.
When I'm elected Dark Overlord, I'll disband public education and plow the money saved into universally accessible libraries free for all to use. I don't know why we didn't do that in the first place. I suppose free baby-sitting was too hard to pass up, given all the other crap people were finding they needed to deal with.
"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." Maybe the horse can smell the well's poisoned.
On the post: Washington Post Publishes... And Then Unpublishes... Opinion Piece By Ex-Intelligence Industry Brass, In Favor Of Strong Encryption
Re:
So true! Even more, we still practice the old Roman Empire tradition of stirring entrails. You go ahead and un-publish what you mistakenly published. We've got our own Wayback Machines containing cached copies of what you no longer want us to see. A few incantations of pdftotext piped through diff, and voila your tap dancing is revealed. Shazam!
There's a lot of eyeballs out here watching, and apparently you forgot. Mike nailed it before he even showed us what was going on.
You might want to put in a bit more effort next time, and know that you underestimate us at your peril. Have a marvy day!
On the post: Everyone's A Bad Guy: German Regulator Orders Facebook To Drop Its Stupid 'Real Name' Policy
Re:
TD didn't decide that. It was decided long ago by many others, for many well justified and perfectly valid reasons. TD is just staying the course and agreeing with that, to their credit. Eliminating anonymous speech is shallow thinking and dangerous revisionism which ignores that history. When a couple of corps decide anonymity is inconvenient for them, we need to read them the riot act and point out everything is not all about them or their convenience.
Remember what happens when you fail to learn the lessons of history. Do you really want to go there again? I don't. We fought too hard and too many people paid too much to get where we are, and we're still having to fight to stay at least where we are, much less backsliding. We still have a long way to go before we all end up as free as I'd like us all to be. Forgetting basic truths because they're inconvenient to a few corps isn't helping us get to that goal.
On the post: Cop To Vet On Receiving End Of Bogus Raid: Investigating Things Beforehand Just Slows Us Down
Re: Amerik Injustice for Amerik Incarceration - "Amerik Co.Inc." the American Prison Industry
That's just so stupid, it's ridiculous. If you must, sure roll out SWAT, but while they're on their way you can research the situation (contact the building mgr. or bldg. security) then update SWAT with the new information. I'd call that criminal negligence and utter incompetence if they're not doing that.
He should be fired immediately.
On the post: Cop To Vet On Receiving End Of Bogus Raid: Investigating Things Beforehand Just Slows Us Down
Re: haste makes waste
On the post: Cop To Vet On Receiving End Of Bogus Raid: Investigating Things Beforehand Just Slows Us Down
Re: Pointing guns = "Intimidation"
We may still get that out of the Biker-burger-joint-massacre in Waco.
At least in Canada it's still quite different. The one time I came up against SWAT, they were all very carefully aiming their street sweepers (automatic shotguns) at the ground, and these were lowly city cops, not the elite RCMP. Perhaps we could loan you some to re-train yours.
On the post: Cop To Vet On Receiving End Of Bogus Raid: Investigating Things Beforehand Just Slows Us Down
Re: Eventually...
If SWAT can't be bothered to do any research prior to executing no-knock warrants, this can almost be construed as pre-emptive self defence. They're no better than mad dogs. They're little better than a heavily armed gang roaming the streets breaking down doors and shooting the occupants indiscriminately. We're not supposed to be tolerating that from anyone, much less our police forces.
On the post: Cop To Vet On Receiving End Of Bogus Raid: Investigating Things Beforehand Just Slows Us Down
Re: Unlawful orders
That didn't work very well in Vietnam. That's why the grunts invented fragging. There's lots of ways to get inconvenient commanders killed in theatre. All that was needed was to salute them while the enemy looked on.
On the post: Cop To Vet On Receiving End Of Bogus Raid: Investigating Things Beforehand Just Slows Us Down
Re: Re: Re: I hate to repeat myself
Pretty much half the time, statistics are just bogus made up numbers, and even a broken clock can be correct twice a day.
And sometimes, I really wonder what the heck I'm talking about. Just keep checking those premises and we'll all be okay (I think).
On the post: Cop To Vet On Receiving End Of Bogus Raid: Investigating Things Beforehand Just Slows Us Down
Re:
Mike, I'm sure, has his own reasons why TD should exist. For me, though, this's systems analysis. It's not hardware or software or baubles and trinkets, though those do find their way here too. It's more about *how* things work, or don't work, or fail miserably, or even attack their owners or users.
Visio "smart TVs", for instance. Sure, it's sort of amazing what we can do with TVs nowadays, but should we be doing blah with them, and what are the ramifications of doing blah with a TV? Whose TV is it really? Joe Blow who thinks he's buying entertainment, or Visio hoping to sell their customers' data to Madison Ave?
I love that sort of !@#$. :-) With TD, Mike's carrying on the grand tradition of the Risks Digest. That never gets old for me.
On the post: Cop To Vet On Receiving End Of Bogus Raid: Investigating Things Beforehand Just Slows Us Down
Re: Re: Re: Re:
I agree. I think the problem is management has chosen the wrong metric to measure performance. They're focusing solely on arrests and convictions, instead of enforcing the law or keeping the peace (whatever those might mean). Defusing confrontations goes against the goal of racking up arrests. Escalation comparatively plumps up the arrest numbers. They've lost sight of the forest with all those trees in the way. They're doin' it wrong.
On the post: Cop To Vet On Receiving End Of Bogus Raid: Investigating Things Beforehand Just Slows Us Down
Re: Re: Re: The doofus who called the police...
On the post: Cop To Vet On Receiving End Of Bogus Raid: Investigating Things Beforehand Just Slows Us Down
Re: Re: The doofus who called the police...
We're still trying to educate some who're unaware that it's inappropriate to dial 911 when your pizza's delivered cold.
On the post: Cop To Vet On Receiving End Of Bogus Raid: Investigating Things Beforehand Just Slows Us Down
Re: Re: Re: Re: Willful ignorance is the American Way
Sweeping generalizations are always wrong. :-) Just because someone is a member of a group who're all doing blah doesn't mean they have to be anything like all the other members of the group doing blah.
On the post: Cop To Vet On Receiving End Of Bogus Raid: Investigating Things Beforehand Just Slows Us Down
Re: Re:
On the post: Cop To Vet On Receiving End Of Bogus Raid: Investigating Things Beforehand Just Slows Us Down
Re:
Or, in other words, "I didn't read the article, but I'm going to mouth off based on my ignorance of what it said."
The story is one where an infantryman veteran who did this stuff in the Iraq war is trash talking the police for their abysmal execution of what he did in the service of his country against foreigners, either peaceful citizens or armed combatants.
If you can't be bothered to read the article, you're exhibiting the same lazy stupidity these lazy cops exhibit. You're wasting everyone's time with your laziness. We all deserve better.
On the post: Everyone's A Bad Guy: German Regulator Orders Facebook To Drop Its Stupid 'Real Name' Policy
Re: Re:
I agree with everything you wrote here. However, that doesn't mean they don't deserve to be condemned for their stupid policy.
I don't want them to get dragged through the courts and forced to change. I do want them to feel the sting of our resentment for their arrogant ignorance of long standing US cultural practice. Anonymity is important from a freedom & liberty point of view. Their unilateral condemnation of it is "un-American", and they should feel shame for spitting on that principle, and encouraging their users to accept this cultural imperialism as the new normal.
On the post: Warner Music's Response To Evidence Of Happy Birthday In The Public Domain: Who Really Knows Anything, Really?
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Uh, speak for yourself? Of course.
I work value for value. I'm not trying to take advantage of clients/employers. I generally under-bill. I enjoy the opportunity to work that employers/clients offer. You got a problem? I love fixing problems! I've done gigs with people who were pulling down three times what I was getting. I thought it a bit odd, but not my business if the employer was resigned to pay it. Meh.
Greed's way overrated. It doesn't encourage callbacks. YMMV.
Then again, fixing problems so they never come back doesn't encourage callbacks either. Damn.
On the post: Pride Toronto Seeking To Trademark Names Of 2 LGBT Marches, Claims It's Doing So Defensively
Re:
That would be lovely if true. Sadly, this is Canada we're talking about here. You know, a US Constitution free zone, so to speak.
However, we've got multicult laws galore, so even microscopically small minorities are just as big legally as the most odious tyrants (assuming they're not the parliamentary majority in which case all bets are off).
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