Guess who sponsored the please consider breaking up Google request that the European parliament voted on. A Spanish and a German MEP. The german one has a conflict of interest by working for the law firm that wrote the German Google Tax law.
What is worse is the cluelessness of the MEPs when it comes to search engines. For example demanding unbiased search results. Uh I want the results biased so that I don't have to go through all the pages to be sure that I find what are the most relevant results.
That said I'm waiting for the usual suspects to use this move by Google to cast it in a bad light with regard to the anti-trust probe that has been going on for the last few years (and to which it was found guilty). One of the complainers that got the probe started just happens to be the cartel of German publishers that got that Google Tax going in Germany.
The problem being that aggregators that could take the place of Google are either shutting down as well or looking at ways to move out of Spain while still providing their services. About the only aggregator that might be safe is Twitter because you can barely cram a headline and a link in a tweet. And that is not even a guarantee with how the new law can be read
Actually you can require Google to pay for linking to your site. That is what this new law does. To which Google reacted by pulling Google News for Spain.
No he contacted Comcast. He was telling them he was considering to complain about how they are screwing up their accounting to the regulatory body overseeing that. And that is something Comcast can't have with the proposed merger on the horizon.
Much easier to stop and search a train. They don't even have to force it to stop seeing that there is no direct connection. You need to do a stop in either Austria or Poland and get on another train.
Didn't know DeGucht classified the comments as an attack. It is however something that is not unexpected. Democracy in the EU is all good and well as long as the proles vote/react as the top layers of the EU want. The moment that we uppity peasants decide to think for ourselves and vote/react against what they want the worst that happens is a delay to let people forget what they voted/reacted against and then get the wanted result in a way that doesn't involve the masses. You don't even want to imagine the pressure brought to bear in the event that a government actually sides with their population instead of helping out the EU bureaucracy getting what it wants.
Ah yes the anecdote as evidence fallacy. Was the intersection considered dangerous before the cameras were installed (another of the points I raised)? Or was it put up as a revenue generator? How long was the original yellow light period, was it short already? Are the cameras clearly announced to drivers?
So yes you reacted as a bull to a red rag on the fact that I defended the placement of the cameras in some situations and didn't bother to read what I wrote. Might want to follow the studies in the factsheet link I posted to another comment.
I don't miss the facts. I got hammered by a guy who didn't bother to read what I wrote. TruthHurts dismissed my claim (and tossed in an ad hominem to boot, cool aid drinker -> no need to actually read what is written) by making a counter argument I specifically went on to exclude in my original post.
Actually you are the one doing the cool aid by reflexively dismissing what I wrote by without bothering what I'd wrote. I specifically stated that this was excluding [too] short yellow periods, which is what you attacked me on.
So next time actually bother to read before putting up post reflexively dismissing anything that doesn't fit your blinders up view of the world.
It will never be implemented since it would remove the 'for profit'-part from the equation. The annoying thing is that it has been shown that red light cameras on dangerous intersection makes those safer (not taking into account external factors such as yellow light periods that are [too] short).
Well until they figure out how to get barrels & chambers that don't have the defects the current layer deposition techniques generate printed guns are a bigger threat to the user then the target.
That said if you are talking about home made stuff I could probably make a decent grenade with stuff I can buy in the local DYI stores and supermarkets. Or I could get a (cross)bow.
I could probably fill in page after page of this but I think the point is fairly clear. Once you get into self made/improvised or unconventional weaponry the biggest limitations are imagination and how much danger you want to put yourself in.
As an European I want to point out that the situation in Europe and the US are quite different. In Europe ghetto criminals can't just walk into a shop and get a handgun, let alone bigger weapons, nor can they get a friend to do it for them. They can still get firearms but it isn't that easy whereas in the US you can get a gun by walking into that store, firearms show and a dozen other places.
Then there is the fact that the British have special weapon units around to deal with the criminals they expect to have weapons. They send those and not Bobbies when they have to arrest them.
The police in the Netherlands is NOT part of the military. However there is the Marechaussee which the Dutch version of the MP which has some civil tasks as well.
Unless you have visited some of the islands in the Caribbean where they are specifically ordered to work with the police their cooperation is invite only. Another role you might have seen them in (seeing you traveled) is Border Patrol. And in exceptional cases you might run into their version, the bijstandseenheid, of the mobiele eenheid (riot/crowd control trained police) but that generally means there is either house to house fighting needed to gain control of the situation or that the rioters have advanced from improvised projectiles to firearms (remember the Netherlands does not have a 2nd amendment and strict controls on who can use/own firearms). Even so the main difference is the training, seeing that the basic equipment is the same for both the bijstandseenheid and the mobiele eenheid with the bijstandsheenheid having access to military equipment (APCs, SMGs, etc) if the situation warrants it.
Project Sunblock on it's own isn't a bad idea. The problem comes from turning the idea of not serving ads on certain sites to the notion that all those sites are illegal and because of that we, that is that snooty set of coppers in the London Mile, are free to hijack what ad would be placed on there instead of the ad that would be served by an organization using the info from Project Sunblock to not have their ad displayed there.
Then they won't be able to play Madden 20XX or FIFA 20XX or {insert sport here}{insert year of reskinning here}.
And that is also a problem so to say. I can ignore a game like Sim City (or ) since there are alternatives but those sport games, due to licensing, do not have alternatives. And those are the major income source for EA. Any studio/brand under the EA umbrella that doesn't have that kind of exclusivity is under constant reorganization and/or demands to essentially turn out a sequel every year.
The best thing Google could have done would have been sending the first batch, that is all forty thousand plus requests, to the appropriate court. Why? There are no guidelines yet on what falls under that 'right to be forgotten'-ruling. And it is not the responsibility of Google but the court(s) to setup those.
What they did now, randomly removing links to big newspaper stories/link pages, did get publicity but does nothing to pressure the correct target into altering their stance.
Guess it is due to the amount of scrutiny anything that is directed against Snowden would receive. And then suddenly illegally spying on an USA citizen is a hindrance instead of standard operating procedure.
On the post: Surprise: Spanish Newspapers Beg Government And EU To Stop Google News Shutting Down
Re:
A Spanish and a German MEP.
The german one has a conflict of interest by working for the law firm that wrote the German Google Tax law.
What is worse is the cluelessness of the MEPs when it comes to search engines. For example demanding unbiased search results. Uh I want the results biased so that I don't have to go through all the pages to be sure that I find what are the most relevant results.
That said I'm waiting for the usual suspects to use this move by Google to cast it in a bad light with regard to the anti-trust probe that has been going on for the last few years (and to which it was found guilty). One of the complainers that got the probe started just happens to be the cartel of German publishers that got that Google Tax going in Germany.
On the post: Surprise: Spanish Newspapers Beg Government And EU To Stop Google News Shutting Down
Re: It doesn't just gut the new law...
On the post: Surprise: Spanish Newspapers Beg Government And EU To Stop Google News Shutting Down
Re: Alert the competition authorities!
About the only aggregator that might be safe is Twitter because you can barely cram a headline and a link in a tweet. And that is not even a guarantee with how the new law can be read
On the post: Surprise: Spanish Newspapers Beg Government And EU To Stop Google News Shutting Down
Re: Re:
To which Google reacted by pulling Google News for Spain.
On the post: Behind the Veil Part 6: Comcast Informs Employer Of Complaining Customer
Re: Re: However ...
And that is something Comcast can't have with the proposed merger on the horizon.
On the post: Switzerland Could Offer Snowden Safe Conduct To Testify About Surveillance, But Accepting Seems Risky
Re: Re: Intercepted in flight
On the post: Corporate Sovereignty Debate Heats Up In Australia
Hadn't seen that.
It is however something that is not unexpected.
Democracy in the EU is all good and well as long as the proles vote/react as the top layers of the EU want.
The moment that we uppity peasants decide to think for ourselves and vote/react against what they want the worst that happens is a delay to let people forget what they voted/reacted against and then get the wanted result in a way that doesn't involve the masses.
You don't even want to imagine the pressure brought to bear in the event that a government actually sides with their population instead of helping out the EU bureaucracy getting what it wants.
On the post: 'Revenue Generating' Traffic Cameras Forcing Governments To Refund Millions Of Dollars
Re: Re: Re: Re: The solution is obvious
Was the intersection considered dangerous before the cameras were installed (another of the points I raised)? Or was it put up as a revenue generator? How long was the original yellow light period, was it short already? Are the cameras clearly announced to drivers?
So yes you reacted as a bull to a red rag on the fact that I defended the placement of the cameras in some situations and didn't bother to read what I wrote. Might want to follow the studies in the factsheet link I posted to another comment.
On the post: 'Revenue Generating' Traffic Cameras Forcing Governments To Refund Millions Of Dollars
Re: Re: The solution is obvious
Here is a summary (in Dutch I'm afraid):factsheet, page 5 & 6.
On the post: 'Revenue Generating' Traffic Cameras Forcing Governments To Refund Millions Of Dollars
Re: Re: Re: The solution is obvious
On the post: 'Revenue Generating' Traffic Cameras Forcing Governments To Refund Millions Of Dollars
Re: Re: The solution is obvious
So next time actually bother to read before putting up post reflexively dismissing anything that doesn't fit your blinders up view of the world.
On the post: 'Revenue Generating' Traffic Cameras Forcing Governments To Refund Millions Of Dollars
The solution is obvious
The annoying thing is that it has been shown that red light cameras on dangerous intersection makes those safer (not taking into account external factors such as yellow light periods that are [too] short).
On the post: Why Do Police In Suburban St. Louis Have More Powerful Weapons Than Marines In Afghanistan?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Would you let them?
That said if you are talking about home made stuff I could probably make a decent grenade with stuff I can buy in the local DYI stores and supermarkets.
Or I could get a (cross)bow.
I could probably fill in page after page of this but I think the point is fairly clear. Once you get into self made/improvised or unconventional weaponry the biggest limitations are imagination and how much danger you want to put yourself in.
On the post: Why Do Police In Suburban St. Louis Have More Powerful Weapons Than Marines In Afghanistan?
Re: Re: Would you let them?
Then there is the fact that the British have special weapon units around to deal with the criminals they expect to have weapons. They send those and not Bobbies when they have to arrest them.
On the post: Why Do Police In Suburban St. Louis Have More Powerful Weapons Than Marines In Afghanistan?
Re: Re: A good reason not to visit the USA
However there is the Marechaussee which the Dutch version of the MP which has some civil tasks as well.
Unless you have visited some of the islands in the Caribbean where they are specifically ordered to work with the police their cooperation is invite only.
Another role you might have seen them in (seeing you traveled) is Border Patrol.
And in exceptional cases you might run into their version, the bijstandseenheid, of the mobiele eenheid (riot/crowd control trained police) but that generally means there is either house to house fighting needed to gain control of the situation or that the rioters have advanced from improvised projectiles to firearms (remember the Netherlands does not have a 2nd amendment and strict controls on who can use/own firearms). Even so the main difference is the training, seeing that the basic equipment is the same for both the bijstandseenheid and the mobiele eenheid with the bijstandsheenheid having access to military equipment (APCs, SMGs, etc) if the situation warrants it.
On the post: Organization Helping Police Inject Ads On 'Pirate' Sites 'Pirates' BBC Article About The Program
Well
The problem comes from turning the idea of not serving ads on certain sites to the notion that all those sites are illegal and because of that we, that is that snooty set of coppers in the London Mile, are free to hijack what ad would be placed on there instead of the ad that would be served by an organization using the info from Project Sunblock to not have their ad displayed there.
On the post: UK Advertising Regulator Nixes EA's Dungeon Keeper Advertisement Due To Microtransactions
But, but, but
And that is also a problem so to say. I can ignore a game like Sim City (or ) since there are alternatives but those sport games, due to licensing, do not have alternatives. And those are the major income source for EA. Any studio/brand under the EA umbrella that doesn't have that kind of exclusivity is under constant reorganization and/or demands to essentially turn out a sequel every year.
On the post: Google Restores Some Links To Articles Removed In 'Right To Be Forgotten' Mess
Why? There are no guidelines yet on what falls under that 'right to be forgotten'-ruling. And it is not the responsibility of Google but the court(s) to setup those.
What they did now, randomly removing links to big newspaper stories/link pages, did get publicity but does nothing to pressure the correct target into altering their stance.
On the post: PhRMA Wants US To Use TAFTA/TTIP To Stop EU Releasing Basic Drug Safety Information
uh
On the post: More Details Emerge Showing The US Government Has No Idea How To Solve A Problem Like Snowden
Re: Wait.. what???
And then suddenly illegally spying on an USA citizen is a hindrance instead of standard operating procedure.
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