My Prius does not have the "noise maker" but, if in the future, some f*cking idiot law is passed or even if the auto maker decides to incorporate such a "noise" system, I'll cut the wires. If pedestrians or bikers are using only their ears then they are not paying attention. Likewise, however, if the auto drivers are not paying attention to the road then they are dangerous, whether or not their cars make noise. Let's get back to some plain common sense!
Some grubby-ass lawyers wanted to make a ton of bread for no real work where no real violation (as in, no one was really harmed) occurred. I presume that since the case was handled in the wrong jurisdiction, that the lawyer's fee award will also be withdrawn since they had no rights there either and maybe were even violating the law by filing a case that had no merit. Nah! Never gonna happen!
Twain: "Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please". My guess is distortion is easier when the facts are rather light.
Comcast: "90% of all statistics can be made to say anything you want 50% of the time (well, something like that)".
Plus, isn't amazing that the opinions of 1500 individuals are an accurate sampling of 300 million Americans? I've had it explained to me multiple times but I still find it hard to believe.
Ya know, this whole patent thing is getting really depressing. Well, that and the RIAA and the MP-whatever the hell and the warrentless searches and spying on generally law-abiding citizens, and the lawyers, and ...
I have GOT to stop reading the news.
Blessed are the clueless for they shall be truly happy.
F*ckin' Nazis. Next it'll be book burning (watch out Mark Twain), propaganda as a required curriculum, thought police (oopps, sorry, wrong book), etc. We already have a hefty start at censorship. All these publicity seekers can think of is the thought of a quick fix instead of actually doing any work. I know, real work requires, well, work.
I downloaded The Slip to try out the music. Not really sure yet if I really like it but I've only listened to it once. However, had NIN not taken the step of releasing it this way, I, and probably many others, would never have tried the music and NIN certainly would have lost future sales. Also like the fact they released Slip in multiiple formats to meet the needs of the widest range of listeners. Hope they , and other artists, keep experimenting.
There was also an online article last night (might have been Wired; can't find it right now) that stated the test also made it appear that the computers being tracked had acquired a virus. Apparently there were on screen oddities (a "flickering" address window) and excessive waits for content load. The article seemed to state that while people thought they had a virus, no one suspected that their communications were being intercepted or mucked about with. Not really sure if that was Phorm being proud or an implicaton that the operation was appreantly successfully covert.
Right now, Comcast overlays transmitted advertising with its own content; not on superbowl, but on regular broadcast. I routinely see just the first couple of seconds of a Rosetta Stone ad, or similar, just before it's chopped off for an ad for a local auto body shop or health food store. It's part of Comcast's targeted advertising for the SF Bay Area Counties.
Before Myhrvold took his leave from MS to search for dinosaurs in Montana, I attended a conference where he gave one of the keynote speeches. The first half was about how the Diplodocus tail was actually used as a whip. He was animated, arresting, fascinating (actually showed his proficiany with a bull whip). Frankly I don't recall what the technology portion of his talk was except that I found it almost as interesting. But, now it sounds like he's spent too much time in the Bad Lands getting his brains baked. Really a shame
I believe the British term for "being taken roughly from behind" is "to be rogered". Sounds like the Canadians are getting exactly that treatment. At least the company is aptly named as regards truth in advertising.
... how often these searches and seizures occur? I mean, all ya ever hear on the news is the bad stuff. Are we hearing only 2 instances repeated over and over again until it sounds epidemic? I'm not willing to roll over but I do want to know what my realistic risk is. I also want to know what happens if I contest a search or demand that I be present while my machine or phone is being searched.
I enjoy reading these column; oft times they are an interesting insight to workings of someone's or some governments mode of "thought". But, it's getting really depressing. IP right designed to line someone's pockets, patent fights that would embarass most children, censorship and spying in a supposedly free country, making criminals out of people who really aren't, RIAA, etc. working off the assumption of "guilty until proven innocent", and now, if what Stiglitz says is true, organized, wholesale, murder agreed to at the international level. Is there any good news on this planet?
In just a couple of posts we find that there are multiple ways to hide data you don't want seen. Or, we can just put the files on web servers somewhere so they are not even on our laptop drive. That means customs agents will only find the stupid people. Maybe we should consider them as something of a new category in the Darwin Awards.
... deleting files or adding spyware? Do the customs agents have the right to do that as well? They can already confiscate contraband items. Can they delete (confiscate) files they don't like? Since they already have the right to rummage around in our computers can they insert spyware that will track and report certain activities to make their job a little easier when we again cross a boarder?
I'm guessing that when some terrorist person starts making threats, there's gonna be a PANIC button that simply lays everone down. But, what does the flight crew do with the terrorist person now writing on the floor (along with 350 other passengers equally as incapcitated)? Maybe that's how we do early identification of terrorists; they're the ones wearing thick rubber socks. I think it might be easier to just drug all passengers so they are unconscious for the entire flight. It will save on food, you need a smaller flight crew; just enough to handle the injections as you sit in your seat, won't even need functioning toilets on the plane.
... do not deserve an exemption. The laws in the US embody a separation of church and state. The original intent was to prohibit the institution of a state religion. But, the courts have also weighed in to remove religious displays from public property. Giving religious groups execmption from a law places the government in the position of supporting those religious organizations. I know that the religion thing as a platform plank for the political parties but we would all be better served if the politicians would instead try to understand the actual facts and fix the actual problems rather than to apply one more bandage to a dam already bursting at the seams.
But, if the government goes ahead of this I do predict that many new houses of worship will pop up in places like the homes of fans, community houses, etc.
The nit-pickies can be fun sometime, but...
While it may be true in theory that the consumer fares better when there is a competitive market, it seems we are not really that well off now. My cell bill is $80 for a fairly basic package from ATT, when I had a land-line the bill was $100 with a few options. Now, I guess the land-line business really had little competition; ATT and Verizon, but my mobile service has 5 major competitors and it seems that instead of competing on services and price we see more of a price fixing atmosphere.
On the post: Lotus Adds Fake Engine Noise To Make Hybrids Sound Like Cars
Stupid
On the post: Court Unravels Grand Theft Auto Sex Scene Settlement
Surprise
On the post: Do Half Of Americans Really Want The Gov't To Regulate The Internet?
Twain and Comcast
Comcast: "90% of all statistics can be made to say anything you want 50% of the time (well, something like that)".
Plus, isn't amazing that the opinions of 1500 individuals are an accurate sampling of 300 million Americans? I've had it explained to me multiple times but I still find it hard to believe.
On the post: Selling Stuff On The Internet? Why, That Infringes On A Patent!
Wow ..
Ya know, this whole patent thing is getting really depressing. Well, that and the RIAA and the MP-whatever the hell and the warrentless searches and spying on generally law-abiding citizens, and the lawyers, and ...
I have GOT to stop reading the news.
Blessed are the clueless for they shall be truly happy.
On the post: California To Copy NY's Bad Plan Forcing ISPs To Block Sites
FN
On the post: Trent Reznor's Path To Accepting And Embracing New Business Models
Slip
On the post: Phorm Did Track IP Addresses, Replaced Charity Ads With Behavioral Ads
Further Disruptions
On the post: Phorm Did Track IP Addresses, Replaced Charity Ads With Behavioral Ads
Re: How can this be legal?
On the post: Inside Craigslist's Increasingly Complicated Battle Against Spammers
Well
On the post: The Delusions Of Nathan Myhrvold
It's A Shame
On the post: Rogers Deliberately Disables Notifications Of Roaming Charges
The Name Tells You
On the post: EFF Asks Congress To Look Into Border Searches Of Laptops
Anyone Know ...
On the post: Nobel Prize Winning Economist Explains How IP Rights Are Part Of The Globalization Problem
Ya Know
On the post: Russia Wants To Censor The Internet
Well ...
On the post: As Expected, Court Says Customs Can Search Your Laptop
So, the point is ....
On the post: As Expected, Court Says Customs Can Search Your Laptop
What About ...
On the post: Feds Admit They Have No Clue How To Enforce Anti-Online Gambling Legislation
Well ..
"Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself"
On the post: Flying Security: Shackle All Passengers With Tazer-Like Bracelets
Cone on ...
On the post: Congress Wants To Separate Church And NFL From Copyright Laws
Churches ...
But, if the government goes ahead of this I do predict that many new houses of worship will pop up in places like the homes of fans, community houses, etc.
On the post: Bell Telephone Patent Was No Poster Child For The Patent System
Sorry
While it may be true in theory that the consumer fares better when there is a competitive market, it seems we are not really that well off now. My cell bill is $80 for a fairly basic package from ATT, when I had a land-line the bill was $100 with a few options. Now, I guess the land-line business really had little competition; ATT and Verizon, but my mobile service has 5 major competitors and it seems that instead of competing on services and price we see more of a price fixing atmosphere.
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