Internet Zen Master (profile), 26 Feb 2014 @ 10:24am
Re:
Apparently the Seattle area is an alternate dimension, since we have five, yes FIVE(!), ISPs competing for customers here: Comcast, Centurylink, Clear Wireless, Wave Broadband, and [*laugh*]Sprint PCS.
That might explain why I've never experienced shitty service from the monopolist-wannabes at Comcast that I always hear about in other parts of the country. They actually have to compete for customers here in Seattle, even though the other four don't wield as much influence on a national level.
Internet Zen Master (profile), 24 Feb 2014 @ 11:03am
Re: Re: Destruction
Agreed. Give 'em an inch they'll take a mile and all that shtick.
Seriously though, that it's public knowledge that Netflix is willing to pay off/bribe/pay a toll in order to keep their customer base satisfied, it won't be long [I'd say a month or so] before all ISPs big and small are lining up to get their pound of flesh from the company's net income.
And it's not just the US ISPs we have to worry about. I can see a future worldwide ISP dogpile on Netflix thanks to this announcement.
Internet Zen Master (profile), 23 Feb 2014 @ 5:42pm
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Please tax me
And vulgar, militant atheist scumbags like yourself should be dragged out behind the shed and bludgeoned to death with a three foot long hot pink dildo.
Internet Zen Master (profile), 13 Feb 2014 @ 11:24am
Petition to resurrect Teddy Roosevelt
Seriously, can we just resurrect the mighty trust-busting President and put him in charge of the FCC? Or Hell, let's just sack Obama and replace him with Roosevelt.
If anyone was good at keeping the bloated corporations in line, T.R. was the guy.
Internet Zen Master (profile), 13 Feb 2014 @ 11:09am
As much as I loathe EA
Other scummy marketing tactics aside, at least their microtransactions (usually) aren't too outrageous compared to a few other companies I know.
Compare that with the current management social forum site/avatar dress-up site Gaia Online, which ever since the new CEO & COO came in last year, have pretty much been out EA-ing EA in terms of treating their customers like human wallets [granted, they were brought in to generate a profit after the last CEO shit the bed, but their marketing strategy is so short-sighted it's not even funny].
EA charging $5-$70 bucks for microtransactions in actual games? Gaia Online has charged $1000 for rare collectible avatar items (which were never supposed to be re-released in the first place) several times since last July (depressingly, some idiots actually buy them). Gaia Online isn't even a MMORPG and yet it's charging prices for non-animated pixels and making EA look like a fucking saint in comparison.
When you're outdoing EA and Zynga in less than 12 months in terms of treating your consumers like shit, that's Golden Poo quality material right there.
My ranting aside, unless Comcast pulls a bunch of really dickish moves in the next couple weeks (other than trying to merge itself with Time Warner), EA's pretty much got that "Worst Company in America" Award locked up. Again.
Internet Zen Master (profile), 6 Feb 2014 @ 10:23am
face, meet palm
And this is one of the (many) reasons why Olympic Committee is a goddamn joke. [Also, possibly more corrupt than your average Russian politician].
So what are they supposed to do if one of the athletes is an Apple die-hard zealot who has the Apple logo tattooed somewhere on his body that can't be easily covered up?
Internet Zen Master (profile), 6 Feb 2014 @ 10:13am
Re:
The second I heard a different language being sung for that sng I thought: 'Cue racist twitter explosion over Coke commercial in 3, 2, 1...'
Honestly though, the ads during SB48 were rather... meh this year. I'm not saying that because I wanted to get back to the game and watch my Seahawks continue pounding the Broncos into glue, I'm saying that because most of them were, well, boring.
Internet Zen Master (profile), 6 Feb 2014 @ 9:41am
"incontestable status"
Apparently Texas A&M has, thanks to the 'wisdom' of the USPTO, trademarks with 'incontestable status' over the phrases '12th Man' and 'Home of the 12th Man'.
As far as general IP law goes I've got a better understanding of copyrights/patents than I do when it comes to the little details around trademark cases, so could someone explain to me how the hell someone could get an 'incontestable status' over the trademark in the first place?
As for how they're competing in commerce, I assume it's because Texas A&M has it's own college football team, and doesn't want to get their fans confused with... Seattle's 12th Man? Yeah, that's the only logical explanation I can come up with.
Of course, that also assumes IP law usually follows logic/common sense...
Internet Zen Master (profile), 4 Feb 2014 @ 2:02pm
Re: Re: Re:
Honestly, I adapted to Windows 8's start screen pretty quickly. Don't really mind that they got rid of the start button either [kinda annoyed they decided to bring it back in 8.1, to be honest].
That being said, it's obvious if you're like me and have a regular laptop that most of Windows 8's UI was designed with the Surface in mind [or a device with touch screen capability anyway].
Internet Zen Master (profile), 4 Feb 2014 @ 12:53pm
The US and NZ should just drop the case against Dotcom
It's pretty clear at this point that they were either willing or ignorant dupes of the MPAA/Hollywood when they decided to go after Megaupload and Kim Dotcom, what, 2 years ago?
And what do they have to show for it? More and more egg on their face. Seriously, the ratio of headlines where Kim Dotcom makes the US/NZ look like mindless thugs of the MPAA (or at the very least total buffoons) compared to the number of articles that paint Dotcom as an 'evil copyright infringer/counterfeiter/money-launder/whatever they're accusing him of being this week' is so lopsided in Dotcom's favor that it's not even funny.
Internet Zen Master (profile), 4 Feb 2014 @ 11:38am
Adobe is scum. In other news, water is wet.
This the same company that keeps releasing Adobe Flash Player and has refused to even publicly address, let alone admit, the fact that Flash player is the Mother of All Resource Hogs and a major cause of overheating laptops among all brands for at least SEVEN YEARS, and apparently have no plans to reduce its shitiness in future releases, and is forcing the latest Photoshop on people as a "monthly subscription" type-deal.
A new DRM for ebooks which screws everyone over in the process sounds right in their wheelhouse.
...makes this author wonder what the hell anyone at Adobe is thinking.
Tim, you clearly have more faith in Adobe than I do.
Internet Zen Master (profile), 4 Feb 2014 @ 10:54am
Re:
*uses Windows 8* Oh go suck an egg Ninja. It's not so much Windows 8 as everyone still hates Microsoft for Vista (which I used on my previous laptop, and it worked just fine).
That said, no way in hell am I updating to 8.1 at this point. Not until they make it compatible with Zune software anyway.
Internet Zen Master (profile), 31 Jan 2014 @ 11:29am
Re:
To be fair, isn't the whole covertly spying on citizens because "we're the good guys" the whole point of S.H.I.E.L.D. to begin with? They are a supersecret spy agency after all.
That and the whole 'we've got experience with alien tech, everyone else doesn't and we don't want them accidentally blowing up the planet' thing...
Internet Zen Master (profile), 31 Jan 2014 @ 10:07am
French spying on it's own people? You don't say!
Figured it was only a matter of time before it came out that the French intelligence community was spying on its own people. I mean, industrial espionage has been practically part of France's foreign policy in everything but name for decades now, particularly against the US aerospace industry (see Boeing).
The fact they're spying on their own citizens isn't too surprising, but the fact that the surveillance is codified into law is incredibly disturbing nonetheless.
On the post: NBC Crows About Thwarting 45,000 'Illegal' Olympic Videos, Ignores The Fact That It Drove Users To Them
Oddly enough
One of the benefits of living in Washington State I suppose.
On the post: Horrific Appeals Court Ruling Says Actress Has Copyright Interest In 'Innocence Of Muslims,' Orders YouTube To Delete Every Copy
This ruling is so just out of the blue and downright bizarre it sounds like it came out of a bad movie!
On the post: CCI Claims Six Strikes Working Great To Thwart Piracy, Offers Absolutely No Evidence To Support That Claim
Re:
That might explain why I've never experienced shitty service from the monopolist-wannabes at Comcast that I always hear about in other parts of the country. They actually have to compete for customers here in Seattle, even though the other four don't wield as much influence on a national level.
On the post: No, Netflix's New Deal With Comcast Probably Won't Destroy The Internet. Yet.
Re: Re: Destruction
Seriously though, that it's public knowledge that Netflix is willing to pay off/bribe/pay a toll in order to keep their customer base satisfied, it won't be long [I'd say a month or so] before all ISPs big and small are lining up to get their pound of flesh from the company's net income.
And it's not just the US ISPs we have to worry about. I can see a future worldwide ISP dogpile on Netflix thanks to this announcement.
On the post: HuffPo Columnist: I Infringe, So All Broadband Users Must Pay A New Piracy Tax
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Please tax me
Aren't hasty generalizations fun?
On the post: NYPD Foils FOIL Request For NYPD FOIL Handbook
Can someone tell the NYPD
On the post: GAO Finds Handling Of Intelligence Contractors Just As Screwed Up As Everything Else It's Investigated
Majority of US Gov. is Corrupt and/or Incompetent
On the post: Comcast: Allowing Us To Get Immensely, Inconceivably, Ridiculously Massive Is 'Pro Consumer'
Re:
[/half-expecting a certain anti-Google troll to pop up, hoping he doesn't though]
On the post: Comcast: Allowing Us To Get Immensely, Inconceivably, Ridiculously Massive Is 'Pro Consumer'
Petition to resurrect Teddy Roosevelt
If anyone was good at keeping the bloated corporations in line, T.R. was the guy.
On the post: EA: You Can Only Rate Our Dungeon Keeper App If you Give It A Perfect Rating
As much as I loathe EA
Compare that with the current management social forum site/avatar dress-up site Gaia Online, which ever since the new CEO & COO came in last year, have pretty much been out EA-ing EA in terms of treating their customers like human wallets [granted, they were brought in to generate a profit after the last CEO shit the bed, but their marketing strategy is so short-sighted it's not even funny].
EA charging $5-$70 bucks for microtransactions in actual games? Gaia Online has charged $1000 for rare collectible avatar items (which were never supposed to be re-released in the first place) several times since last July (depressingly, some idiots actually buy them). Gaia Online isn't even a MMORPG and yet it's charging prices for non-animated pixels and making EA look like a fucking saint in comparison.
When you're outdoing EA and Zynga in less than 12 months in terms of treating your consumers like shit, that's Golden Poo quality material right there.
My ranting aside, unless Comcast pulls a bunch of really dickish moves in the next couple weeks (other than trying to merge itself with Time Warner), EA's pretty much got that "Worst Company in America" Award locked up. Again.
On the post: Olympic Athletes Told To Cover Apple Logos On Devices So Apple Doesn't Get Any Free Promotion
face, meet palm
So what are they supposed to do if one of the athletes is an Apple die-hard zealot who has the Apple logo tattooed somewhere on his body that can't be easily covered up?
On the post: DailyDirt: Better Call Saul...
Re:
Honestly though, the ads during SB48 were rather... meh this year. I'm not saying that because I wanted to get back to the game and watch my Seahawks continue pounding the Broncos into glue, I'm saying that because most of them were, well, boring.
On the post: Texas A&M Goes After Washington Brewery Over 12th Man Trademark
"incontestable status"
As far as general IP law goes I've got a better understanding of copyrights/patents than I do when it comes to the little details around trademark cases, so could someone explain to me how the hell someone could get an 'incontestable status' over the trademark in the first place?
As for how they're competing in commerce, I assume it's because Texas A&M has it's own college football team, and doesn't want to get their fans confused with... Seattle's 12th Man? Yeah, that's the only logical explanation I can come up with.
Of course, that also assumes IP law usually follows logic/common sense...
On the post: Adobe Releases New DRM For eBooks, Plans To Screw Over Anyone Using Old DRM
Re: Re: Re:
That being said, it's obvious if you're like me and have a regular laptop that most of Windows 8's UI was designed with the Surface in mind [or a device with touch screen capability anyway].
Windows 8= As far as OSes go, pretty good.
Win 8.1 = BEGONE SATAN!
On the post: New Zealand Spy Agency Deleted Evidence About Its Illegal Spying On Kim Dotcom
The US and NZ should just drop the case against Dotcom
And what do they have to show for it? More and more egg on their face. Seriously, the ratio of headlines where Kim Dotcom makes the US/NZ look like mindless thugs of the MPAA (or at the very least total buffoons) compared to the number of articles that paint Dotcom as an 'evil copyright infringer/counterfeiter/money-launder/whatever they're accusing him of being this week' is so lopsided in Dotcom's favor that it's not even funny.
On the post: Adobe Releases New DRM For eBooks, Plans To Screw Over Anyone Using Old DRM
Adobe is scum. In other news, water is wet.
A new DRM for ebooks which screws everyone over in the process sounds right in their wheelhouse.
Tim, you clearly have more faith in Adobe than I do.
On the post: Adobe Releases New DRM For eBooks, Plans To Screw Over Anyone Using Old DRM
Re:
That said, no way in hell am I updating to 8.1 at this point. Not until they make it compatible with Zune software anyway.
On the post: UK Politicians Think They Can Write Google's Search Algorithm Better Than Google
Re:
On the post: David Cameron Says Snooper's Charter Is Necessary Because Fictional Crime Dramas He Watches Prove It
Re:
That and the whole 'we've got experience with alien tech, everyone else doesn't and we don't want them accidentally blowing up the planet' thing...
On the post: French Surveillance Programs Eerily Echo The NSA's, Right Down To Codifying Unconstitutional Collections
French spying on it's own people? You don't say!
The fact they're spying on their own citizens isn't too surprising, but the fact that the surveillance is codified into law is incredibly disturbing nonetheless.
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