Hah, I came in to these comments specifically to point out both Google's attempt to install fiber into provo (the next city south), and also the Utopia project: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Telecommunication_Open_Infrastructure_Agency).
Unfortunately, the actual city that could make use of fiber connection - Salt Lake - has adamantly refused to opt into either Utopia, nor did it lobby for Google's fiber. And now, with this law, legislators are acting as if fiber optic infrastructure is a disease, trying to quarantine its spread.
I'd say this is a clever ploy by the REAL Starbucks to weaken fair use laws. By taking "parody" use of something to it's very extreme, they will certainly get a court and jury to admit that making fun of a company while using their resources isn't fair use.
And... we will forever be unable to post a picture of a company logo - even under clear fair use - again.
Huh, and I thought we paid for radio with our ears, having to listen to idiotic car salesmen and accident lawyers trying to drum up business. Who knew I was a leech on creativity by making these radio stations pay for the content.
Why, if only we had a similar concept in place online. Why, some kind of "internet radio", in which I could listen to music with the occasional advertisement. Certainly that would be a swell thing.
I'd listen to it on the iPhone knockoff I made for $50 bucks worth of parts and $100 worth of "innovation" crafting an operating system for it.
Honestly, I'm actually kind of fine with it in this case. As MWL-G said, there have already been multiple attacks on foreign and civilian targets - possibly at random - in the area BECAUSE of the Olympics. Once they get underway, there are going to be many factors of 10 more people around, making for better targets.
But, this surveillance MUST be temporary. As soon as the threat is over with, and things return to normal, it should be scaled back.
The difference between this period leading up to / including the Olympics and our own situation is CLEAR and PREVIOUS evidence of a threat. Unlike our own, in which we are told to "trust" in the NSA that they need to stay vigilant despite a large, organized attack not having happened for over a decade (Boston was by two guys who did it without massive support from any group).
So, if the admin responded to a petition with an age of 90 days, and the average are at 298+... Did the administration do this JUST so it could increase the average wait time faster than if it ignored them all?
I got about a third of the way through the article before I threw my hands up, shouted "This MUST be satire!" and scrolled down. Finding there was much much more just amazes me.
There is no way a man can screw so many things up and not be either A. Wrong in the head B. Totally satire
Oh my. Buy DirecTV stock. One of the biggest downsides to the NFL sunday ticket that a TON of people bought every year was that local sports teams were NOT included in the package, with rights to those games (whether they chose to show it or not) was the EXCLUSIVE rights of local broadcasters.
Or maybe not. If this just stops the "blackout the game if we don't sell-out a stadium" rule, then it won't do anything for the local broadcaster "exclusive right to broadcast in local area" rights.
Oh well. One step closer to the people getting what they want, and not what corporations want us to have.
Actually, I'm with OOTB on this one. I know, I know, VERY odd. But, if we don't like this, we need to not support it. If we keep buying digital goods because it's the ONLY choice, we are reinforcing the companys' decisions to screw us over this way.
Until we can get the content that we pay for guaranteed access to forever from the very beginning of a transaction, we shouldn't ask for anything less.
The problem is that OOTB is being rude as always and not being sympathetic to this. The ability for Amazon to revoke licenses IS in the terms, but as always nobody reads them (and they shouldn't HAVE to). But now that we know, everyone should stop buying, and let Amazon and the content publishers watch as their sales in this format drop to nothing.
It worked for iTunes and other music distribution options. When you can buy a song that CAN be downloaded at will and has no DRM, yes it can lead to piracy. But people accepted nothing less and we got DRM-free MP3s. The files could be copied and pirated, but guess what? People still bought them. It wasn't the end of the world.
Heh, when news of this first broke, I spoke with my father who we are planning to make apps together. We'd discussed, at least a year ago, that android should allow people this option. I'd argued at the time it probably won't, since any earlier android os versions would not include this feature. Most android devices never update their core version, and those that do are usually at the will of the device maker to update the version their device runs on (such as phones).
Guess they ended up doing it anyway. I'd love this feature, and am sad to see it go, but I also accept Google's reason and believe that they wanted to make it ready fully before allowing it. My opinion is that they want to make it a part of the APK that your program has to continue working if your app was denied a permission it asked for.
See, right now, your app will crash - hard - if it tried to use a permission that is disabled. So google will reintroduce it only when it becomes a standard for people designing under the new android versions to put in "permission denied" workarounds, even if it's to say "this program cannot and WILL NOT work without XXXXXX permision" and close.
Yeah, that's my opinion too. A single unintentional (and not followed-up-on) search on google will not place you on a terrorism watch list. There are far too many people in this country that are indeed curious about how to make some things that would be considered disrespectable for the NSA to monitor each and every one of them. And then to "blow" the investigation multiple times by making these facts known the day after? Pure coincidence.
Heh, I love how he found it "odd" that his friend's wife liked Harry Potter, a "kid's movie". My parents like the books, and the movies too, so it's not at all odd that an adult would like them. And this man is reading a VERY popular book to his kid the same time the movies are out? WOW! STOP THE PRESSES!
I worked as a phone agent at DirecTV for a while, and I heard from customers all the time as to why they have to pay for packages with all these channels that sucked. The most basic package (that they never advertise) has about 30 channels plus locals for 30 bucks a month. Some people looking to reduce their bills go to it, and complain that NOTHING is available. The next step up? the 70 channel pack for 60-70 bucks. And still very few movie channels.
The REAL meat of TV packages come ala carte already: HBO, Starz, Showtime, Encore, etc. However, those cruise on their success (and have to pay for modern movie rights) and charge about 15/month for their packages each.
I'm in favor of pay-per-channel programming, but once you got it, would you REALLY shell out for the one or two channels that you - while waiting for that movie to start - clicked over for half an hour? I'm talking about Discovery, History, TLC, and other channels like that. They have something neat to watch once in a while, but when you're looking at your bill, it's hard to justify paying for them, even $1/month (which I doubt it will be that low).
Everyone, everywhere, wants to take out the channels they don't watch (GodTV), but somewhere there is someone that doesn't want AMC and watches only GodTV, so they want to strip out AMC. It's a lose-lose situation for programmers, now that I think about it.
Re: So either don't use it or don't complain of corporate control!
Um, you're telling us not to do these articles that inform us of abusive "language filtering" settings. You are trying to claim that if we don't like it, to not support the behavior (by purchasing the product).
These two arguments DO NOT MIX. If sites like this did not report on the issue (as you are so apt to demand), then people would not know about the issue, thus wouldn't be informed enough to avoid it. In this day and age, return policies are slim to nil, and by the time a customer knows about it, it is too late to refund.
So, Blue, you should NOT be arguing against these articles. They aren't the site itself "complaining, yet still supporting" the behavior. If the site didn't "complain" (or what is called REPORTING), then nobody would know.
On the post: Comcast-Backed Lobbyist Insists Seattle Doesn't Want Faster, Cheaper Broadband
Utopia, pffft
Unfortunately, the actual city that could make use of fiber connection - Salt Lake - has adamantly refused to opt into either Utopia, nor did it lobby for Google's fiber. And now, with this law, legislators are acting as if fiber optic infrastructure is a disease, trying to quarantine its spread.
On the post: Whether Dumb Starbucks Is A PR Stunt, A Joke Or Real... Its 'Parody' Claims Are Pretty Questionable
And... we will forever be unable to post a picture of a company logo - even under clear fair use - again.
On the post: Pioneering French Electronic Artist Thinks Creative Industry Should Get '$300-400' Of Each Smartphone Sale
Why, if only we had a similar concept in place online. Why, some kind of "internet radio", in which I could listen to music with the occasional advertisement. Certainly that would be a swell thing.
I'd listen to it on the iPhone knockoff I made for $50 bucks worth of parts and $100 worth of "innovation" crafting an operating system for it.
On the post: Guardian Releases Video From That Time Its Editors Were Forced To Destroy A Laptop That Had Snowden Documents
Unless they basically believe it is possible to flash a BIOS chip with secret data and still have it boot.
On the post: Microsoft And IBM: If Patent Office Can Do A Quick Review Of Our Crappy Patents, You'll All Die In A Car Crash
Huh, well, that explains why Microsoft's Windows platforms always feel like beta tests after release.
On the post: Candy Crush Goes Trademark Legal; Candy Crush Gets Trolled
On the post: Now That The NSA Has Made It The Norm, Total Surveillance During The Sochi Olympic Games Is No Longer Noteworthy
Re: There's a difference
But, this surveillance MUST be temporary. As soon as the threat is over with, and things return to normal, it should be scaled back.
The difference between this period leading up to / including the Olympics and our own situation is CLEAR and PREVIOUS evidence of a threat. Unlike our own, in which we are told to "trust" in the NSA that they need to stay vigilant despite a large, organized attack not having happened for over a decade (Boston was by two guys who did it without massive support from any group).
On the post: South Carolina Senator Aims To Criminalize The Recording Of Criminal Activity
On the post: Administration Finally Responds To A Petition... About Something A Child Said On The Jimmy Kimmel Show
On the post: Now That Alicia Keys Is No Longer Blackberry's 'Creative Director' Can We Stop Using Pop Stars As Fake Creative Directors?
Ugh. Gives a new meaning to the term "grinding" out sequel after sequel.
On the post: ACLU Files A New Lawsuit About The NSA's Biggest Loophole: The Unchecked Power Of Executive Order 12333
On the post: Guy Who Sued Apple For Not Preventing Him From Accessing Porn Now Suing A&E And Obama For Religious Persecution
There is no way a man can screw so many things up and not be either
A. Wrong in the head
B. Totally satire
I am voting for B.
On the post: FCC Finally Starts Process To Dump NFL Blackouts
Or maybe not. If this just stops the "blackout the game if we don't sell-out a stadium" rule, then it won't do anything for the local broadcaster "exclusive right to broadcast in local area" rights.
Oh well. One step closer to the people getting what they want, and not what corporations want us to have.
On the post: You Don't Own What You 'Bought': Disney And Amazon Play The Role Of The Grinch In Taking Back Purchased Film
Re: So don't deal with Amazon. Problem solved.
Until we can get the content that we pay for guaranteed access to forever from the very beginning of a transaction, we shouldn't ask for anything less.
The problem is that OOTB is being rude as always and not being sympathetic to this. The ability for Amazon to revoke licenses IS in the terms, but as always nobody reads them (and they shouldn't HAVE to). But now that we know, everyone should stop buying, and let Amazon and the content publishers watch as their sales in this format drop to nothing.
It worked for iTunes and other music distribution options. When you can buy a song that CAN be downloaded at will and has no DRM, yes it can lead to piracy. But people accepted nothing less and we got DRM-free MP3s. The files could be copied and pirated, but guess what? People still bought them. It wasn't the end of the world.
On the post: Disappointing: Google Releases... Then Removes Great Privacy Feature From Android
Guess they ended up doing it anyway. I'd love this feature, and am sad to see it go, but I also accept Google's reason and believe that they wanted to make it ready fully before allowing it. My opinion is that they want to make it a part of the APK that your program has to continue working if your app was denied a permission it asked for.
See, right now, your app will crash - hard - if it tried to use a permission that is disabled. So google will reintroduce it only when it becomes a standard for people designing under the new android versions to put in "permission denied" workarounds, even if it's to say "this program cannot and WILL NOT work without XXXXXX permision" and close.
On the post: Lawsuit Claims Accidental Google Search Led To Years Of Government Investigation And Harrassment
Re:
Heh, I love how he found it "odd" that his friend's wife liked Harry Potter, a "kid's movie". My parents like the books, and the movies too, so it's not at all odd that an adult would like them. And this man is reading a VERY popular book to his kid the same time the movies are out? WOW! STOP THE PRESSES!
On the post: CEO Of 21st Century Fox Thinks People Aren't Really Asking For A La Carte TV Channels
The REAL meat of TV packages come ala carte already: HBO, Starz, Showtime, Encore, etc. However, those cruise on their success (and have to pay for modern movie rights) and charge about 15/month for their packages each.
I'm in favor of pay-per-channel programming, but once you got it, would you REALLY shell out for the one or two channels that you - while waiting for that movie to start - clicked over for half an hour? I'm talking about Discovery, History, TLC, and other channels like that. They have something neat to watch once in a while, but when you're looking at your bill, it's hard to justify paying for them, even $1/month (which I doubt it will be that low).
Everyone, everywhere, wants to take out the channels they don't watch (GodTV), but somewhere there is someone that doesn't want AMC and watches only GodTV, so they want to strip out AMC. It's a lose-lose situation for programmers, now that I think about it.
On the post: South Korean Spy Agency Allegedly Tried To Influence Presidential Vote - By Posting 1.2 Million Tweets
*Dusts off hands*
On the post: Xbox, PS4 Games Hitting Swearing Gamers With Technical Fouls
Re:
"Just quit paying and playing. You're not going to get mega-corporations to stop at any level of spying or control: they want ALL of you."
But you don't want people to know about this so they can "quit paying"?
On the post: Xbox, PS4 Games Hitting Swearing Gamers With Technical Fouls
Re: So either don't use it or don't complain of corporate control!
These two arguments DO NOT MIX. If sites like this did not report on the issue (as you are so apt to demand), then people would not know about the issue, thus wouldn't be informed enough to avoid it. In this day and age, return policies are slim to nil, and by the time a customer knows about it, it is too late to refund.
So, Blue, you should NOT be arguing against these articles. They aren't the site itself "complaining, yet still supporting" the behavior. If the site didn't "complain" (or what is called REPORTING), then nobody would know.
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