Jim P.’s Techdirt Profile

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  • Feb 28th, 2020 @ 1:35pm

    "Theft"

    As Judge Dredd once said "Everyone is guilty of something. You just have to look hard enough."

    Expect to see some microprint stating "It is unlawful to remove this device from a vehicle under penalty of law." or such.

    Personally, if I found such, I'd not keep it in my house but attach it to a trash truck or taxi or rail car or something. Let them track that.

    Or see how they respond to a large magnetic induction coil that you might use for forging steel.

    Hmm, or sell the car, with dingus attached, for cash out of state over a three day weekend, let them try to prosecute you for that one.

  • Feb 28th, 2020 @ 1:25pm

    Re: Lazy

    People do go on vacation or have to work unexpected ungodly hours these days or otherwise have things come up that prevent them being in two places at the same time.

  • Jul 31st, 2019 @ 11:24am

    Choice Vs. Compulsion

    " Police give these cameras to residents with the understanding (albeit one without the legally-binding language) that they'll hand over footage from these cameras whenever officers ask for it. "

    There is a fine line, easily crossed, between giving the recordings voluntarily and being required to do so. Possibly on a regular basis for "review" and "historical analysis".

  • Nov 21st, 2018 @ 12:22pm

    Stoerm Troopers

    If it picks up dirt with the same accuracy Storm troopers shoot, that floor is going to remain dirty for a very long time.
  • Nov 21st, 2018 @ 12:14pm

    Punishment

    Let's see how it would be handled if a low level employee did something similar and apply the same standard to her Trumpness.

    Clinton would likely have faced jail time if she was just a rank and file person who did what she did which, as a retired government employee, really honks me when I see the high and mighty not held to the same standards.

    The Trumps have zero excuse as has been pointed out since the kerfuflle they made over Clinton could hardly have gone right on by her dainty little head.

    The Trumps as an represent the worst aspects of "me firstism" where the common rules and laws are there for the little people and not for them.

    But what can you expect from a man who says he is too busy to visit the troops but has time for yet another golfing vacation this weekend?

    I'd swear the man said *he* would be too busy being President to golf when he made endless jibes at Obama.
  • Nov 8th, 2018 @ 11:39am

    Rbocalls

    Until people stop falling for scams so transparent a concussed hamster would say "Wait a minute.." scammers will flourish.

    The calls escalate because the calls work. The phone companies have a vested interest in them because they sell equipment and services that facilitate the entire industry.

    They could have built in from the ground up security measures to prevent caller ID spoofing but chose not to.
  • Nov 3rd, 2018 @ 1:08pm

    Encryption

    For prosecutorial purposes, "A=1, B=2" and so on would be labeled as "serious encryption". Pig Latin would be insyant evidence of terror connections.

    Given some creative writing, you could make Braille look sinister in court.

    I'd not be surprised if they tried to pass off Zipped files as an attempt to conceal data too.

    You claim the sun would go out and kittens will burst into flame if person X was not convicted and let the defense try to argue things down to a sane level.
  • Oct 28th, 2018 @ 11:59am

    "Religious Peace"

    "she did not dispute the legitimate purpose of criminal convictions under Article 188 of the Criminal Code, namely to protect religious peace."

    This flat put presumes that some or all religious people may get violent if their little feelings get hurt. Which, for certain fanatical members of a number of major (and minor) religions is the "gospel" truth.

    What I find even odder is that these laws could easily be applied to almost any sermon any where in any religion since almost all claim they alone have the one true god (tm) and all the others are demon-inspired hoaxes.

    Not to mention any atheist that openly says he or she thinks all religions are a load of dingoes' kidneys risks not just death from the assorted followers of the "Religion of Peace" (There are several making this claim, all with millennia long histories of extreme violence to those who deny they are such) but now apparently faces criminal prosecution for upsetting the god botherers.
  • Oct 12th, 2018 @ 11:03am

    Stupid people

    The whole robocall system would fall apart if we simply bred a smarter class of people. These things continue and grow simply because they make money.

    There seems a limitless pool of people who simply have no working brain, no ability to even try to discern if something is legitimate or not so that even the most obvious scams fool people repeatedly.

    And until the person picking up the phone become bright enough to ignore this stuff and the spammers starve from lack of response, nothing will improve much.

    But then, if enough people started showing critical thinking skills, the churches and casinos would go out of business too.
  • Oct 11th, 2018 @ 10:48am

    Contracts

    It is my understanding the fire department in question had what appeared to be a very low end/low capacity contract for cell services that included a "may be throttled after X' limit which they hit.

    Since I should imagine the throttling is automated, I fail to see how Verizon (in this instance) can be faulted since this was what the FD had agreed and paid for.

    There appeared to be a higher tier of service they could have signed up for at any time and any rational person could foresee an emergency department is going to need copious amounts of data in an emergency.

    I also note they had neither backup plan nor a second contract in place with a different carrier. One of the simplest rules of disaster planning is to avoid having a single point of failure that will hamper or cripple your operation.

    I am not a friend of cellular companies (and I have no connection of any sort with Verizon or any carrier of any sort) but it seems to me that if you want more service, you pay for more service from the get go.

    If you think you might need a two ton pickup truck, buy a two ton pickup truck. Don't buy a one ton and then complain that in an emergency it won't haul two tons.

    This could have been completely prevented by proper prior planning.
  • Oct 6th, 2018 @ 10:51am

    Money

    For anyone left on the planet who doesn't think pro sports *and* college sports isn't about money, money and more money this should disabuse them.

    The notion these are "Athletic clubs" has been silly nonsense for years.
  • Oct 5th, 2018 @ 10:57am

    Re: Re:Humor & "god"

    "Sharia does not outlaw having a sense of humor, no matter how much you believe/imply otherwise."

    People who take religious-based law seriously, those who genuinely think some "god" ordained such and so are not noted for their lighthearted whimsical approach to life, the universe and everything.

    If you can laugh and be happy while believing someone should be stoned to death for dressing immodestly or loving the wrong gender of person or no longer buying into your religious fantasies, there is more wrong with you (any you) than can be readily cured.

    Very few Mullahs start off their sermons with a "Joke of the day" before outlining the benefits of (other people, *never* them) blowing themselves up for god.
  • Oct 5th, 2018 @ 10:46am

    God, are you there? Thi is a Summons To Appear

    "insulting God and the Virgin Mary in messages posted on Facebook."

    Unless this alleged "god" and/or woman appear in person to file complaints and provide satisfactory evidence as to their identity, I fail to see how these lawyers have any claim. This is on a par with PETA claiming to represent that monkey in the selfie trials.

    Every time religion "A" claims to be the one true faith, all other religions would now have a legal claim under laws like that. Someone ought to try pursuing that to force this to its logically absurd conclusion.
  • Oct 5th, 2018 @ 10:40am

    Congress

    "Can We Make Congress Less Dumb..."

    No. Not without use of experimental surgery and a massive lightning conductor.
  • Oct 4th, 2018 @ 10:45am

    Corruption

    "That's clearly a very short-sighted move."

    Nope. Most of those bozos know exactly what they are doing. Keeping their people in ignorant servitude is exactly what they want and keeping the masses away from the Internet is high on that agenda since people can all too easily find out that their particular little slice of heaven (according to their masters) isn't all it is claimed to be.

    A corrupt government fears an educated populace and even more a populace that can communicate widely with each other and the outside world.

    And there seem to be few governments more openly corrupt than those to be found in sub-Saharan Africa these days taken as a whole.
    https://www.transparency.org
  • Sep 29th, 2018 @ 11:00am

    Corporate Zombies

    "They're not going to get anything that's going to ruin their day.."
    I see three possibilities:
    1: He was lying from the start but needed to look good in the press.
    2. He is not really in charge and has no idea what is going on and no control over it.
    3. He meant what he said but his attorneys don't give a **** because someone willing ti pay huge licensing fees is considering doing something similar.

    I vote for #2 as it seems to me, more and more, giant corporations do not really have anyone in charge and those who think they are in charge have no means or interest in finding out if their instructions are being carried out and no means to intervene when they are not. Or are simply told by some senior executive flunky that it has been taken care of and their isolation is such they have no means of noting reality.

    Most heads of major corporations/government agencies are so protected by layers of assistants. special assistants and executive assistant to the special assistant that getting through to them is a major (and expensive) effort if you yourself do not operate on those levels.
  • Sep 23rd, 2018 @ 1:12pm

    Drivers

    Or maybe people driving cars should be held to the same moral standards one uses when dealing with firearms since cars kill far more people than guns ever do outside of wars. If you won't follow the laws while using one, maybe you should not be allowed to use one.

    Additional tips: Obey the laws, stop acting like you are the only driver on the road and stop treating other cars and pedestrians as nuisances to your imperial whims and impediments to your inherent right to never have to slow down or stop or signal your intentions.

    Treat "No Parking" signs as though they mean it and don't use bus stops, handicapped parking and strangers' driveways as handy "I'll just be a few minutes and *I* am more important than you anyway" as places reserved for your use as a convenience.
  • Sep 20th, 2018 @ 10:48am

    Orwell

    it's a major part of "double think". The government can point to ever in cre4asing prosperity and no one can safely contradict them.

    This worked for the Soviet Empire for the best part of a century. It eventually falls down of course but those in power cannot think pas their own greed and lust for control.

    When no one has the guts to tell the "Big Man" the real truth, you get bunker scenarios at the end when the Great Leader is moving armies and divisions around on map boards, armies and divisions that no longer exist and ordering air forces into action that have long been shot out of the sky or commanding distributions of food from warehouses long since emptied if they were ever even built.

    North Korea survives on this logic.
  • Sep 19th, 2018 @ 11:30am

    Violence

    So, out of curiosity and because since she is a "child" no one shows her picture; Was there any obvious indications he was 11? Was there a large blinking sign over her showing her age or was she wearing a hoodie and hiding her face as she attempted to flee with stuff so that it might just be the tiniest bit difficult to ascertain things like age??

    And also out of mere curiosity, does she have a criminal record already? Just curious as that doesn't affect the specific situation.

    It's easy to deride actions after the fact when you may know things the person on the spot did not know.

    Not enough solid information to justify the instant "Crucify the cop!" reaction or "The she must be guilty, she is black' Idiocy either.
  • Sep 7th, 2018 @ 11:12am

    Satire

    Shouldn't be long before Trump hires him as a consultant since despots of any stripe loathe satire and parody into the depths of their non-existent souls.

    Nothing riles a dictator faster than being laughed at and no religion can withstand the bright light of comedy as few religious practices make sense or even look rational when looked at with laughter in mind.

    The whips and executiomner's sword won't be far behind. The world seems willingly headed back into a dark age of hate and fear and "faith" as an equal to facts and "God wills it" as an excuse for any social or government-backed evil.

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