Internet Zen Master (profile), 21 Apr 2014 @ 1:12pm
Clapper you moron
If you're trying to discredit Snowden, just stop. People don't believe you, and every time you talk about Snowden makes people side with him more, even after the whole 'getting Putin on record about Russian surveillance' incident from last week.
Hell, given Snowden's strong idealism, he's more likely to discredit himself by accident than if the NSA's former boss goes around telling millennials to stop treating him like a hero and try to turn public opinion against the whistleblower.
Internet Zen Master (profile), 17 Apr 2014 @ 2:02pm
Re:
At least the PATRIOT Act had actual, verifiable statistics. Sure, they were emotionally loaded as hell and based on a tragic event fresh in the public conscience, but they still had something concrete and provable data to justify their 'doing something', unlike the imbeciles in CT's legislative branch.
Internet Zen Master (profile), 14 Apr 2014 @ 11:53am
Isn't Offense supposed to be the CIA's job?
I mean, the NSA's self-declared mission is to monitor data in order to stop potential terrorist threats (more or less). That's a defensive role.
The CIA is... well, the CIA. That whole "carrying out/overseeing covert ops" part of their job description kinda makes them seem the default offensive role [but only in international matters of course], which means Cyber Command should be part of the CIA instead.
Although the thought of having the CIA control Cyber Command instead of the NSA is not very comforting...
Internet Zen Master (profile), 14 Apr 2014 @ 11:35am
Don't worry, the NSA will reveal flaws to others in the future
They'll just tell people 50 years after they find them, or however long classified material is supposed to stay classified before getting released to the public.
In other words, it's the unwritten "everyone important that was involved in this is dead now so who cares if the public finds out" rule.
Internet Zen Master (profile), 14 Apr 2014 @ 11:09am
Re: 50 bucks an episode?!
Speaking of anime, has anyone else here noticed the rather unsettling trend of anime series only getting 1 season of 12-13 episodes these days, which means the ones based on manga tend to get completely warped beyond all recognition plot-wise halfway through the season?
I noticed this 'shows only getting 13 episodes per season' trend in some of the live-action TV shows here in the US. Case in point, FOX's Almost Human only had 13 episodes for its (hopefully first) season, when it clearly needed 26 to fill in some of the gaping plotholes.
Seriously, why the general shift from 24-26 down to 12-13 episodes per season?
Internet Zen Master (profile), 10 Apr 2014 @ 5:26pm
Re: Re: Re:
Since when the hell did people need to get creative about slipping stuff by those morons? Besides the FISA Court, it seems like the biggest rubber stamp in the US gov is the USPTO.
Internet Zen Master (profile), 4 Apr 2014 @ 9:17am
Re: declassification of torture report.
Considering the government effectively lets the NSA do the same damn thing when it comes to oversight in general, it's not that surprising (unfortunately).
Internet Zen Master (profile), 4 Apr 2014 @ 9:15am
Re: Money Saving Opportunity Here
Beat me to it.
Obviously the CIA doesn't want any of this to see the light of day, so I doubt we'll even get the official title of the actual report.
Or someone in the CIA will just open MS Paint, doodle a hand flipping off the viewer, paste that doodle in MS word and stretch it out until it fills the whole page. Then they'll black that out copy it 6,300 times.
Internet Zen Master (profile), 2 Apr 2014 @ 1:59pm
Re:
It's not just pirates anymore. Unless you're an internet troglodyte/been living under a rock for the past couple years, the vast majority of netizens should have adblock installed on all of the browsers they use at this point.
Internet Zen Master (profile), 1 Apr 2014 @ 4:40pm
Exhibit A
Recently Ars has been closely following the outcry of some tech community over the fact that Mozilla's new CEO, Brendan Eich [who describes himself as not especially religious], made ONE donation of $1,000 to that mess known as Prop 8 back in '08. Not actively involved mind you, just one simple donation of funds. Since he's been appointed CEO there have been people publicly pressuring him, from outside and inside the company, to step down from that role because of that contribution.
The comment sections of those articles have been the most vitriolic sections I've ever seen on Ars. The majority of the comments immediately condemn Eich as a hateful anti-gay bigot and/or Mozilla as hypocritical for appointing him CEO.
Now every time I see a new article about the subject, my mind goes 'oh great, how is Ars going to vilify Mozilla's new CEO this time?' even though the site's just reporting the mess and not actually publicly shaming Eich for his views.
So yeah, this research seems right on the money, at least as far as this topic goes.
Internet Zen Master (profile), 31 Mar 2014 @ 10:24am
Simpler solution
While it's certainly possible that Putin and his cohorts could use copyright in order to silence any opposition, I propose a much more simple explanation for their decision to double down on useless anti-piracy laws.
Money.
I mean, the copyright maximalists must have bribe-er, I mean, "lobbied" something fierce to get the Russian government to actually give a shit about all the infringing content on Russian sites like VK in the first place, right? Whose to say this isn't just empty lipservice to pacify the constantly whining copyright crowd while Russian officials just sit back and count their money?
Internet Zen Master (profile), 23 Mar 2014 @ 12:48pm
Re: Re: Its only bad...
Considering Feinstein is a senator, and her 'district' is the entire state of California, I'd say the odds of the alternatives being worse than her are about 50-50, regardless of political affiliation.
Depressingly, the last time Feinstein was re-elected was in 2012. Not only did she win her re-election in a landslide, she BROKE the all-time record for the most votes cast for one candidate in one state in one election. 7.75 million Californians voted for her in an election where voter turnout for the state reached 55.2%.
Although to be fair, I don't think anyone realized how much of a yes-woman she was for the NSA back then...
Internet Zen Master (profile), 21 Mar 2014 @ 10:13am
You know
They should start requiring law students to take courses specifically dedicated to important things like safe harbor protections and fair use. That way, when those law students eventually become lawyers and judges, we don't have morons who understand the tech world about as much as the late Ted Stevens presiding over important Internet-related cases.
Internet Zen Master (profile), 6 Mar 2014 @ 10:40am
Despite how the older generation seems to treat the Internet these days, the web not a passing fad or children's toy. Like it or not, It's a ubiquitous, almost critical part of society in the 21st century. People need to get up to date with the world, or at least understand how Wikipedia works. If parts of an article have reputable sources, they'll keep popping back up on Wikipedia no matter how many times you edit it.
More importantly, has our Streisandee's Wikipedia page been locked yet so no one else can try and remove the unflattering statements about him?
On the post: James Clapper Giving Speeches To Students, Begging Them To Stop Thinking Of Ed Snowden As A Hero
Clapper you moron
Hell, given Snowden's strong idealism, he's more likely to discredit himself by accident than if the NSA's former boss goes around telling millennials to stop treating him like a hero and try to turn public opinion against the whistleblower.
On the post: TAFTA/TTIP: What Are The Benefits? What Are The Costs?
Re: Costs/Benefits
On the post: Textile Company Drags A Bunch Of Clothing Companies To Court Over Copyrighted Stripe Pattern
Re: Rainbow
On the post: Court Rightly Finds That GoDaddy Isn't Liable For Revenge Porn Site
Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Connecticut Lawmakers Push 'Knockout Game' Bill, Citing Various 'Feelings' As Evidence Something Must Be Done
Re:
On the post: Heartbleed Suspicion And NSA Denial Show Why NSA's Dual Offense/Defensive Role Must End
Isn't Offense supposed to be the CIA's job?
The CIA is... well, the CIA. That whole "carrying out/overseeing covert ops" part of their job description kinda makes them seem the default offensive role [but only in international matters of course], which means Cyber Command should be part of the CIA instead.
Although the thought of having the CIA control Cyber Command instead of the NSA is not very comforting...
On the post: Obama Tells NSA To Reveal, Not Exploit, Flaws... Except All The Times It Wants To Do The Opposite
Don't worry, the NSA will reveal flaws to others in the future
In other words, it's the unwritten "everyone important that was involved in this is dead now so who cares if the public finds out" rule.
On the post: Would You Pay $50 Per Episode To See Game Of Thrones?
Re: 50 bucks an episode?!
I noticed this 'shows only getting 13 episodes per season' trend in some of the live-action TV shows here in the US. Case in point, FOX's Almost Human only had 13 episodes for its (hopefully first) season, when it clearly needed 26 to fill in some of the gaping plotholes.
Seriously, why the general shift from 24-26 down to 12-13 episodes per season?
On the post: Comcast Ignores 'World's Worst Company' Award, Misleads About Bogus 'World's Most Admired Company' Award
Re: Re: Re:
On the post: CIA Put In Charge Of Declassifying Senate's Report That Condemns The CIA's Torture Program
Re: declassification of torture report.
On the post: CIA Put In Charge Of Declassifying Senate's Report That Condemns The CIA's Torture Program
Re: Money Saving Opportunity Here
Obviously the CIA doesn't want any of this to see the light of day, so I doubt we'll even get the official title of the actual report.
Or someone in the CIA will just open MS Paint, doodle a hand flipping off the viewer, paste that doodle in MS word and stretch it out until it fills the whole page. Then they'll black that out copy it 6,300 times.
On the post: Japanese Anime And Manga Fans Worried About How TPP Will Kill Important Fan Fiction
Re:
If that happened, the dA crowd would lose its collective mind in a 'WTF is this bullshit'-type rage.
On the post: ICE Rejects My Request To Waive FOIA Fees 'Because .' Yes, 'Because .'
Re:
Just saying "because ." is incredibly condescending, even for a government agency like ICE. Or incompetent, depending on who you ask.
On the post: City Of London Police Create Secret 'Pirate Site Blacklist' For Advertisers, With No Transparency
Re:
On the post: Tone Of Comments Affects Perception Of Online Article's Content
Exhibit A
The comment sections of those articles have been the most vitriolic sections I've ever seen on Ars. The majority of the comments immediately condemn Eich as a hateful anti-gay bigot and/or Mozilla as hypocritical for appointing him CEO.
Now every time I see a new article about the subject, my mind goes 'oh great, how is Ars going to vilify Mozilla's new CEO this time?' even though the site's just reporting the mess and not actually publicly shaming Eich for his views.
So yeah, this research seems right on the money, at least as far as this topic goes.
On the post: Russia Admits Its Strict Anti-Piracy Laws Aren't Working... So They'll Just Try Some More
Simpler solution
Money.
I mean, the copyright maximalists must have bribe-er, I mean, "lobbied" something fierce to get the Russian government to actually give a shit about all the infringing content on Russian sites like VK in the first place, right? Whose to say this isn't just empty lipservice to pacify the constantly whining copyright crowd while Russian officials just sit back and count their money?
On the post: Dianne Feinstein Still A Believer In Collecting All Phone Records; Pretends That Such Collection Has Stopped Terrorists
Re: Re: Its only bad...
Depressingly, the last time Feinstein was re-elected was in 2012. Not only did she win her re-election in a landslide, she BROKE the all-time record for the most votes cast for one candidate in one state in one election. 7.75 million Californians voted for her in an election where voter turnout for the state reached 55.2%.
Although to be fair, I don't think anyone realized how much of a yes-woman she was for the NSA back then...
On the post: Bad Ruling Says CafePress May Not Qualify For DMCA Safe Harbors
You know
On the post: Homeland Security Detained US Citizen Inside The US, Used Intercepted Emails To Quiz Her About Her Sex Life
Re: New Rule!
Not recommended when watching Senate hearings involving FBI/CIA/NSA.
On the post: Greek Politician Tries To Use Defamation Lawsuit To Gag Wikipedia, Is Rewarded With Streisand Effect
More importantly, has our Streisandee's Wikipedia page been locked yet so no one else can try and remove the unflattering statements about him?
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