In the vein of "if you build it they will come", having access to reasonably priced broadband can change rural businesses dramatically.
There is a lot of automation available now and coming in the near future for agriculture. Much of it really needs reliable communications.
Most broadband maps focus on where people live, not rural businesses like ag, forestry, mining that cover large empty areas.
And no, you don't need a Dishy McFlatface on every item that needs internet. An outdoor WiFi network could work well with a single uplink.
Since there's an option to let local law enforcement monitor your Ring cameras, the next step could be for them to ask Ring to give them the ability to block motion detection and recording for a region around the house in question.
Then users will will get a 3rd party app that monitors the realtime feed and notify them if it goes dark. Optionally starting up an an alternate camera.
Then law enforcement encourages Ring to disable the 3rd party app access due to "security concerns"
On a related note, a friend had me install a Ring doorbell ( against my better judgement) and when it asked for the address as part of the setup we gave it a non-existant address between two house numbers on the other side the street. No sense making it too easy for a potential hacker to know which house has people coming or going or packages on the porch.
Yep, that's how I found out and signed up. I don't really need it, but I'm ok kicking in $5 a month to keep them going and have options.
It does mean I can now easily view live local news from my phone without screwing around with each TV station's logins and other odd behavior. My phone now could replace the portable TV I used to have when I wanted to catch live news while out and about.
BTW, I live too far away from the big city to get the dozens of channels being broadcast. I"m less than a 1/2 hour away, but the hills make receiving more than a couple of channels impossible.
Since I'm in the geographic area dictated by the broadcast license owners no one would ever be around to offer an OTA service for where I live. I think having exclusive territory based on broadcasting, but then people paying the rebroadcast fee is something they like way too much.
Given the language used in this anonymous comment, I thought I'd be a little redundant and refer to my longer comment below. I read the original article and had the same reaction to the corruption and abuses reported about the USMS. On the other hand, rather than go on a tirade about the messenger, I thought I'd spend a couple of minutes seeing if the above tirade was justified. Based on a whole 10 mins of research, I'm not so sure. See my comment below for details.
Since I didn't see anything in the article posted here that he did nothing until on his way out it seemed like complaining about it either relied on other facts I didn't know or jumping to conclusions. Looks like jumping to conclusions me. I have no idea what a senator on a committee could do to the USMS. I'm sure he can't unilaterally fire someone. But I'm going out on a limb here to suggest that it wasn't that he didn't do anything. Per his Wikipedia entry, he was on the Senate Judiciary Committee from 2015-2019 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Grassley Doing a very quick Google search for "Chuck Grassley USMS" I get several easy to find references that mirror his parting shots while leaving the committee. It doesn't look to me like he waited till he was out to say something. On the contrary, if doing it *again* at this time raises awareness of a topic he's been visiting over and over again it seems like it was a good thing to do.
My first cynical thought about a team going on its own to a streaming service is the current balkanization trend of streaming offerings. If sports teams follow the same model as movie studios and other producers have been doing, a viewer would need to subscribe per-team to watch any particular sport.
I've also used the butt dial description for this incident.
Most articles repeating the story loved to jump on the surveillance bandwagon. What was worse was characterizing the voice recordings going to a "random person" or "a stranger" when it was sent to one of the person's contacts. I guess it sounded like a better story to ignore that it was sent to a person known to the family, and one who's contact info had been uploaded by them when the voice messaging feature was enabled.
My guess is that volume on the offending Echo was turned down and probably the request tone turned off. If Amazon wanted to avoid similar embarrassment in the future they could override the current settings and make sure for voice messaging that the volume is a minimum level and higher than ambient noise, and that request tone is always used.
If retroactive enforcement of laws is in fashion, I'm waiting for the prosecution of the companies who produced the yellow pages for decades which included ads for escort services.
My thought exactly. In addition to being a "open the locked gun safe" app, it becomes a "where's the hidden gun safe" app.
BT devices are by their nature promiscuous to make them easy to use. Putting them on locks and other security devices invites unauthorized access and should be included with only extreme caution. That said, I still think if I had a wireless lock in my house I'd go for a bluetooth one with no cloud component at all rather than have my front door exposed to the world.
I think this is referred to in the original article. Part of the "problem" is less revenue from bounced-check fines. So less people writing bad checks meant less money for the DA. In anything besides a gov't job this would mean less work for the DAs which would reduce their costs. If reduced fines did not mean reduced workload then those check fines were a cash cow and not reasonable fees that represented the work involved. So what happens when your cash cow is killed? You get another one.
It could be really simple, though I don't like the idea of putting more pigs at the trough. If you get a ticket in error, sending in the proof should get you $184, the same "fee" someone without insurance would have paid. But going through the process takes time and knowledge, even though we'd now be talking about a difference of $368 (from minus $184 to plus $184). This then creates an opportunity for a company that only exists to handle these cases for you. If you get the incorrect notice you snap a photo of it and your insurance card and they'll do the process in the naturally over-complicated method the OK DAs require. They get $100 of the mistake fee, you get the rest. If that happened, anyone would be happy to get an improper notice in the mail as it meant "free" money.
There probably is a segment of the population who would not make a link to Gosling's when seeing the name of the beer, but there are those that will.
I do enjoy a Dark & Stormy, and while I've tried it with other rums, it really is best with Gosling's. So it's understandable when I read the article I saw the name of the beer I immediately pictured it as a potentially a beer from Bermuda, where Gosling's is from.
Wouldn't this be exactly why you would object to this kind of similar naming of your trademark? People who have no knowledge of your original product would of course not associate it when seeing the similarly named product.
I can go into a bar and order a "Dark & Stormy" ( when said out loud the differences between &, and, 'n, are lost ) and expect to get a rum and ginger beer cocktail. If I was handed a beer I would be confused and disappointed.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by idearat.
Internet to homes isn't the only thing
In the vein of "if you build it they will come", having access to reasonably priced broadband can change rural businesses dramatically.
There is a lot of automation available now and coming in the near future for agriculture. Much of it really needs reliable communications.
Most broadband maps focus on where people live, not rural businesses like ag, forestry, mining that cover large empty areas.
And no, you don't need a Dishy McFlatface on every item that needs internet. An outdoor WiFi network could work well with a single uplink.
Time for some spy vs spy
Since there's an option to let local law enforcement monitor your Ring cameras, the next step could be for them to ask Ring to give them the ability to block motion detection and recording for a region around the house in question.
Then users will will get a 3rd party app that monitors the realtime feed and notify them if it goes dark. Optionally starting up an an alternate camera.
Then law enforcement encourages Ring to disable the 3rd party app access due to "security concerns"
On a related note, a friend had me install a Ring doorbell ( against my better judgement) and when it asked for the address as part of the setup we gave it a non-existant address between two house numbers on the other side the street. No sense making it too easy for a potential hacker to know which house has people coming or going or packages on the porch.
They can put a man on the moon...
It's just a long-winded version of "They can put a man on the moon, but they can't make a pizza box not stick to the cheese on top"
Re: Streisand effect in action
Yep, that's how I found out and signed up. I don't really need it, but I'm ok kicking in $5 a month to keep them going and have options.
It does mean I can now easily view live local news from my phone without screwing around with each TV station's logins and other odd behavior. My phone now could replace the portable TV I used to have when I wanted to catch live news while out and about.
BTW, I live too far away from the big city to get the dozens of channels being broadcast. I"m less than a 1/2 hour away, but the hills make receiving more than a couple of channels impossible.
Since I'm in the geographic area dictated by the broadcast license owners no one would ever be around to offer an OTA service for where I live. I think having exclusive territory based on broadcasting, but then people paying the rebroadcast fee is something they like way too much.
Didn't wait till now
I read the original article and had the same reaction to the corruption and abuses reported about the USMS. On the other hand, rather than go on a tirade about the messenger, I thought I'd spend a couple of minutes seeing if the above tirade was justified.
Based on a whole 10 mins of research, I'm not so sure. See my comment below for details.
Re: 'Now that it's no longer MY job...'
I have no idea what a senator on a committee could do to the USMS. I'm sure he can't unilaterally fire someone. But I'm going out on a limb here to suggest that it wasn't that he didn't do anything.
Per his Wikipedia entry, he was on the Senate Judiciary Committee from 2015-2019
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Grassley
Doing a very quick Google search for "Chuck Grassley USMS" I get several easy to find references that mirror his parting shots while leaving the committee.
It doesn't look to me like he waited till he was out to say something. On the contrary, if doing it *again* at this time raises awareness of a topic he's been visiting over and over again it seems like it was a good thing to do.
From August 2015: On Whistleblower Retaliation At The Marshals Service
https://www.fedagent.com/featured/16-general-news/1662-marshals-service-whistleblower-investi gation
From April 2016: US Marshals official sidelined amid misconduct probe, alleges 'political influence'
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-marshals-official-sidelined-amid-misconduct-probe-alle ges-political-influence
From July 2017: Grassley: More than 1,400 US Marshals Service employees using expired body armor
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/341029-grassley-more-than-1400-us-marshals-service-empl oyees-using-expired
From Sept 2017: Misleading and Wasteful: The U.S. Marshals Service and the Assets Forfeiture Fund https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/misleading-and-wasteful-us-marshals-service-and-a ssets-forfeiture-fund
From May 2018: Grassley Seeks Answers about Accountability after Marshals Solicited Prostitutes https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-seeks-answers-about-accountability-after -marshals-solicited-prostitutes
One streaming service per team?
If sports teams follow the same model as movie studios and other producers have been doing, a viewer would need to subscribe per-team to watch any particular sport.
Re:
Re: Meh...
Most articles repeating the story loved to jump on the surveillance bandwagon. What was worse was characterizing the voice recordings going to a "random person" or "a stranger" when it was sent to one of the person's contacts. I guess it sounded like a better story to ignore that it was sent to a person known to the family, and one who's contact info had been uploaded by them when the voice messaging feature was enabled.
My guess is that volume on the offending Echo was turned down and probably the request tone turned off. If Amazon wanted to avoid similar embarrassment in the future they could override the current settings and make sure for voice messaging that the volume is a minimum level and higher than ambient noise, and that request tone is always used.
Re: QuitDefendingDeplorables
Re: Wardriving for guns to steal
BT devices are by their nature promiscuous to make them easy to use. Putting them on locks and other security devices invites unauthorized access and should be included with only extreme caution. That said, I still think if I had a wireless lock in my house I'd go for a bluetooth one with no cloud component at all rather than have my front door exposed to the world.
Re: compliance
Re: Incorrect ticket: collect $184
If you already drink Dark & Stormys..
I do enjoy a Dark & Stormy, and while I've tried it with other rums, it really is best with Gosling's. So it's understandable when I read the article I saw the name of the beer I immediately pictured it as a potentially a beer from Bermuda, where Gosling's is from.
Wouldn't this be exactly why you would object to this kind of similar naming of your trademark? People who have no knowledge of your original product would of course not associate it when seeing the similarly named product.
I can go into a bar and order a "Dark & Stormy" ( when said out loud the differences between &, and, 'n, are lost ) and expect to get a rum and ginger beer cocktail. If I was handed a beer I would be confused and disappointed.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by idearat.
Submit a story now.
Tools & Services
TwitterFacebook
RSS
Podcast
Research & Reports
Company
About UsAdvertising Policies
Privacy
Contact
Help & FeedbackMedia Kit
Sponsor/Advertise
Submit a Story
More
Copia InstituteInsider Shop
Support Techdirt