That's interesting. The italics on the word "everybody" were not in my original post. Somebody (presumably with admin privileges at Techdirt) changed it.
There are more important things at stake than entertainment.
These are our fellow citizens - on both left and right.
We all live in the same country and have to get along together. The alternative is civil war. If this tribalist partisanship keeps on it's present course, that's where we are going to end up.
Civil war wasn't fun in 1861, and it's not fun in Syria in 2017.
I don't want to go there.
So - please. Stop giggling at your opponent's "heads exploding" metaphorically, lest real heads belonging to real mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, boys and girls - start exploding.
Because that will happen if we don't all knock it off.
Re: Guess the highest bidder hasn't stepped forth yet.
As someone very unhappy with much of the Trump agenda, I wish people like you would stop doing this.
There are many, many legitimate complaints that can be made about Trump's administration.
Make those complaints.
Don't make up stupid complaints completely unsupported by evidence. Everybody on the left has been doing this, and they are making themselves look ridiculous.
Worse, by going ballistic over trivial or imaginary things, they are discrediting all opposition to Trump.
More than ever, we need now a cool-headed, rational, reasonable opposition that makes valid points against Trump's follies.
Somebody tell Mr. Trump that encryption backdoors are an open invitation for Chinese government hackers to access American citizen, business, and industrial communications.
That has costs. But it also has benefits, the largest of which is that those who sell contaminated food, water or medications, or who pollute the air, can confidently expect to be sued for it. And to lose big.
It's not a winning business strategy - regulations or no.
There's a difference between having laws limiting how much pollution is allowed (which I support, within reason), and having a whole federal agency like the EPA.
If the EPA disappeared, that would not prevent enforcement of existing laws, or private parties suing polluters in court.
EPA. Department of Health & Human Services. Department of Commerce.
While I'm not in favor of Trump's gag order, I do kind of wonder if I'd even notice if all of those agencies just disappeared from the face of the earth.
Of course, those who work for them, or are persecuted, or subsidized, by them, would notice.
But the rest of us? Maybe at the margin, a little. Mostly I think they just suck up tax money and turn it into hot air. At best.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Everybody is overreacting - I make a prediction
I can't disagree with anything you've said.
But you're too pessimistic about the innovative abilities of new players. The world keeps changing.
Re spectrum, mesh networks (not necessarily WiFi; new schemes will be needed) work really well in high density areas precisely because they re-use the same spectrum over and over.
Re satellite, read up on what SpaceX is doing - it's quite audacious (and low latency).
And, a word to the wise (esp. telecom carriers) - do not get between Elon Musk and something he wants.
Re: Re: Everybody is overreacting - I make a prediction
My optimism remains intact.
Your summary of the past is pretty accurate.
But networks are driven by technology, and there are technologies on the horizon that will change the situation.
Google has given up on GFiber because they see cheaper and better ways to get bandwidth deployed - their own Project Loon, yes, but moreso SpaceX's Seattle-based satellite project. (Google is a big SpaceX investor.)
And there are lots of other technologies, including mesh networks, next-gen WiFi and WiMax, etc.
Where there's a need, people will find ways to profit from filling the need. The telecom cartel is digging its own grave (as do all cartels, eventually). And the Trump administration is going to help dig.
More, even if there is no new infrastructure, what I said about Internet Protocol remains true. Even China's Great Firewall isn't more than a bump in the road - most of its effectiveness comes from the threat of jail time for bypassing it, not from its technical abilities.
Net neutrality is a good thing as long as we have government-protected telcom cartels.
But the Internet, and the Market, are tougher than they get credit for.
Since it seems the Trump administration is going to gut net neutrality, here's my prediction of what will happen:
1 - If telecom carriers don't give customers what they want (open access to data anywhere), that will create a huge business advantage to new carriers that do. Look for more entrants into the market as the traditional cartels limit choice.
2 - Internet Protocol is pretty flexible. If carriers limit choice, look for vastly popular traffic tunneling apps that route forbidden/surcharged traffic disguised as permitted traffic.
That is the proper way to reply - no whining about not being able to afford a lawyer, no rolling over, no backing down.
Firmly rely "You have no case - go jump in the lake".
Politely, of course.
It makes my blood boil to watch cowards back down in the face of toothless threats. If nobody stands up for their rights, soon nobody will have any rights left.
Google didn't start Google Fiber out of pure beneficence.
They did it because Google has a huge interest in seeing the entire world get cheap broadband - the better to consume Google's services with.
That hasn't changed.
If they're dropping it now, it's because they have a better way to get to the same goal.
Possibilities: Mesh networking, Project Loon, SpaceX's 4500 satellite Internet project (Google is an investor in SpaceX), drone-relayed Internet, fixed wireless.
On the post: Who The Hell Is Actually In Charge Of The US Patent And Trademark Office?
Re: Re: Re: Guess the highest bidder hasn't stepped forth yet.
(I don't make those kind of generalizations.)
On the post: Who The Hell Is Actually In Charge Of The US Patent And Trademark Office?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: So...stop doing that
I haven't seen the video. These days I trust nothing in the media unless I see it myself.
This has become an unfriendly place for moderates. That is sad.
...Loons to the left of me, monsters to the right. Stuck in the middle with you...
On the post: Who The Hell Is Actually In Charge Of The US Patent And Trademark Office?
Re: Re: So...stop doing that
I was replying to the other AC who said "it's fantastic non-stop entertainment to watch leftist heads exploding at everything Trump says or does !"
Yes, there is entertainment value in watching people wildly overreact.
I am not, and never have been, a Trump supporter. I voted for somebody else.
On the post: Who The Hell Is Actually In Charge Of The US Patent And Trademark Office?
Re: Re: Re: So...stop doing that
I'm all for fighting Mr. Trump when he proposes or advocate bad policies - as in this case.
But it is the policy that must be fought, not the man.
Not until it's time for another election.
On the post: Who The Hell Is Actually In Charge Of The US Patent And Trademark Office?
Re: So...stop doing that
There are more important things at stake than entertainment.
These are our fellow citizens - on both left and right.
We all live in the same country and have to get along together. The alternative is civil war. If this tribalist partisanship keeps on it's present course, that's where we are going to end up.
Civil war wasn't fun in 1861, and it's not fun in Syria in 2017.
I don't want to go there.
So - please. Stop giggling at your opponent's "heads exploding" metaphorically, lest real heads belonging to real mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, boys and girls - start exploding.
Because that will happen if we don't all knock it off.
On the post: Who The Hell Is Actually In Charge Of The US Patent And Trademark Office?
Re: Guess the highest bidder hasn't stepped forth yet.
As someone very unhappy with much of the Trump agenda, I wish people like you would stop doing this.
There are many, many legitimate complaints that can be made about Trump's administration.
Make those complaints.
Don't make up stupid complaints completely unsupported by evidence. Everybody on the left has been doing this, and they are making themselves look ridiculous.
Worse, by going ballistic over trivial or imaginary things, they are discrediting all opposition to Trump.
More than ever, we need now a cool-headed, rational, reasonable opposition that makes valid points against Trump's follies.
So...stop doing that.
On the post: New Attorney General Loves Him Some Encryption Backdoors, Which Should Pair Up Nicely With FBI Director's Plans For The Future
Re: Re: Re: But the Chinese!
I don't know why - my own inclinations are more or less the opposite.
But let's push Trump's buttons.
On the post: New Attorney General Loves Him Some Encryption Backdoors, Which Should Pair Up Nicely With FBI Director's Plans For The Future
But the Chinese!
Somebody tell Mr. Trump that encryption backdoors are an open invitation for Chinese government hackers to access American citizen, business, and industrial communications.
That should do it.
(And, it happens to be true.)
On the post: Trump Muzzles Federal Employees; Reporters Start Asking For Leaks
Re: Re: Hm
On the post: Trump Muzzles Federal Employees; Reporters Start Asking For Leaks
Re: Re: Hm
That has costs. But it also has benefits, the largest of which is that those who sell contaminated food, water or medications, or who pollute the air, can confidently expect to be sued for it. And to lose big.
It's not a winning business strategy - regulations or no.
On the post: Trump Muzzles Federal Employees; Reporters Start Asking For Leaks
Re: Re: Hm
Most of the rest we'd be better off without (I have a deep familiarity with some of them).
Every cabinet-level department, no matter how worthless or even counterproductive, is so sprawling that it has a few good programs worth keeping.
On the post: Trump Muzzles Federal Employees; Reporters Start Asking For Leaks
Re: Re: Hm
If the EPA disappeared, that would not prevent enforcement of existing laws, or private parties suing polluters in court.
On the post: Trump Muzzles Federal Employees; Reporters Start Asking For Leaks
Hm
While I'm not in favor of Trump's gag order, I do kind of wonder if I'd even notice if all of those agencies just disappeared from the face of the earth.
Of course, those who work for them, or are persecuted, or subsidized, by them, would notice.
But the rest of us? Maybe at the margin, a little. Mostly I think they just suck up tax money and turn it into hot air. At best.
On the post: Why Making A Peace Sign In Public Is Now A Security Risk
Time to stop using fingerprints for authentication, then
If fingerprints can be read at a distance, they're no longer useful for authentication.
So, stop using them. We have plenty of better options anyway.
On the post: Netflix May Not Be Worried About The Looming Death Of Net Neutrality, But Startups Should Be God-Damned Terrified
Re: Re: Re: Re: Everybody is overreacting - I make a prediction
But you're too pessimistic about the innovative abilities of new players. The world keeps changing.
Re spectrum, mesh networks (not necessarily WiFi; new schemes will be needed) work really well in high density areas precisely because they re-use the same spectrum over and over.
Re satellite, read up on what SpaceX is doing - it's quite audacious (and low latency).
And, a word to the wise (esp. telecom carriers) - do not get between Elon Musk and something he wants.
I've made my predictions - wait and see.
On the post: Netflix May Not Be Worried About The Looming Death Of Net Neutrality, But Startups Should Be God-Damned Terrified
Re: Re: Everybody is overreacting - I make a prediction
My optimism remains intact.
Your summary of the past is pretty accurate.
But networks are driven by technology, and there are technologies on the horizon that will change the situation.
Google has given up on GFiber because they see cheaper and better ways to get bandwidth deployed - their own Project Loon, yes, but moreso SpaceX's Seattle-based satellite project. (Google is a big SpaceX investor.)
And there are lots of other technologies, including mesh networks, next-gen WiFi and WiMax, etc.
Where there's a need, people will find ways to profit from filling the need. The telecom cartel is digging its own grave (as do all cartels, eventually). And the Trump administration is going to help dig.
More, even if there is no new infrastructure, what I said about Internet Protocol remains true. Even China's Great Firewall isn't more than a bump in the road - most of its effectiveness comes from the threat of jail time for bypassing it, not from its technical abilities.
On the post: Netflix May Not Be Worried About The Looming Death Of Net Neutrality, But Startups Should Be God-Damned Terrified
Re: Re: Re: Everybody is overreacting - I make a prediction
They have as much or as little morals and ethics as the people who run them do.
On the post: Netflix May Not Be Worried About The Looming Death Of Net Neutrality, But Startups Should Be God-Damned Terrified
Everybody is overreacting - I make a prediction
But the Internet, and the Market, are tougher than they get credit for.
Since it seems the Trump administration is going to gut net neutrality, here's my prediction of what will happen:
1 - If telecom carriers don't give customers what they want (open access to data anywhere), that will create a huge business advantage to new carriers that do. Look for more entrants into the market as the traditional cartels limit choice.
2 - Internet Protocol is pretty flexible. If carriers limit choice, look for vastly popular traffic tunneling apps that route forbidden/surcharged traffic disguised as permitted traffic.
We'll get thru this just fine.
On the post: Getty's French Office Sends Out Letters To US Websites Demanding They Take Down Anything Linking It To 'Legalized Extortion'
*That* is the way to handle it
Kudos to Chan.
That is the proper way to reply - no whining about not being able to afford a lawyer, no rolling over, no backing down.
Firmly rely "You have no case - go jump in the lake".
Politely, of course.
It makes my blood boil to watch cowards back down in the face of toothless threats. If nobody stands up for their rights, soon nobody will have any rights left.
On the post: Google's Larry Page Got Bored Of Disrupting The Telecom Sector With Google Fiber
Google has something better coming
Google didn't start Google Fiber out of pure beneficence.
They did it because Google has a huge interest in seeing the entire world get cheap broadband - the better to consume Google's services with.
That hasn't changed.
If they're dropping it now, it's because they have a better way to get to the same goal.
Possibilities: Mesh networking, Project Loon, SpaceX's 4500 satellite Internet project (Google is an investor in SpaceX), drone-relayed Internet, fixed wireless.
Given SpaceX's recent FCC filing (http://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-internet-satellite-constellation-2016-11), I'll bet on that one.
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