Gene Cavanaugh’s Comments

• Feb 22nd, 2019 @ 2:03pm

  Google Nest

  on Google Fesses Up To Hidden Microphone In Nest Home Security Platform

  How can anyone argue the microphone was "secret" when Google announced a new use for it? Isn't that an obvious oversight? If it were an intentional act, why would they then tell us it is there?

  I think some people need to put their brains in gear before they engage their mouths.

• Sep 2nd, 2017 @ 9:09am

  Stupid Patent of the Month

  on Stupid Patent Of The Month: JP Morgan Patents Interapp Permissions
  Okay - this sort of thing is why I dropped out of the IP business for 3-4 years. With Michelle Lee, I felt I wanted to come back - don't need the money, which is why I charge so little - but love it, when done right.
  But the outrage is misdirected. These people are the salt of the earth, but REQUIRED BY LAW to follow certain procedures, and the procedures are made by people who haven't a clue, but love the feeling of power it gives them!
  You want common sense? TELL LEGISLATORS to allow people who KNOW what they are doing to make the rules!
• Nov 29th, 2016 @ 8:43am

  Recount

  on Somehow Everyone Comes Out Looking Terrible In The Effort For Election Recounts
  So, two million and growing is irrelevant? How about if 90% of all voters favored Clinton and T-rump lost? Would it still
  be irrelevant?
  
  Maybe T-rump won, but two million and growing definitely justifies a recount!
• Oct 26th, 2016 @ 10:05am

  Copyright Register?

  on Shake Up At The Copyright Office A Possible Preview To Fight Over Copyright Reform
  I think you mean "Registrar".
• Oct 26th, 2016 @ 10:05am

  Copyright Register?

  on Shake Up At The Copyright Office A Possible Preview To Fight Over Copyright Reform
  I think you mean "Registrar".
• Oct 26th, 2016 @ 10:00am

  A little sanity is required here

  on The Clinton Campaign Should Stop Denying That The Wikileaks Emails Are Valid; They Are And They're Real
  I don't particularly like Clinton, and given a viable alternative would not vote for her - but it is getting really irritating how everyone wants to join the lynch party Rupert Murdoch started with his "liberal media".
  
  Clinton knows some people who may be lying or mistaken, and some of them work for her (not OWNED by her, work for her, like Pence saying things that T-rump doesn't like).
  
  But everything they say is "Clinton"? Don't think so.
• Sep 9th, 2016 @ 4:10pm

  I am deeply disappointed in TechDirt

  on Vox: If The Clinton Email Scandal Has Taught Us Nothing Else, It's That Email Should Be Exempt From FOIA Requests
  For some time now, I have held up TechDirt as a model of independent reporting. No more!
  Adding anonymous sources making up numbers (Tea Party numbers?) for the "confidential email" fantasy is VERY disappointing!
  Comey, in a meeting with a Congressional Committee said there were THREE emails with a (C) marking in the body - a mark that Comey incorrectly interpreted as "confidential" (it means "copyright", in case anyone is wondering), and added that there was no "there, there" for a prosecution (and Comey is a long-time dedicated Republican!).
  Building bullshit on top of bullshit is causing a lot of people to switch to Hillary, but for TechDirt to add to the pile is REALLY depressing!
• Jul 6th, 2016 @ 9:23am

  Clinton's email server

  on FBI: Clinton 'Should Have Known' Private Email Server 'No Way To Handle Classified Info', But No Charges Will Be Sought
  Since Comey is a hard-line Republican who would love to hold her feet to the fire, I interpret his comments like this:
  
  1. Clinton was really smart to use her own servers, since otherwise she would have been hamstrung by unending and expensive (to the taxpayers) "investigations" by Congress.
  
  2. All the classified documents found were STATE DEPT. classified, which she controlled, so no crime. If there had been even one SECURITY document in the pile, Comey would be required to (and eager to) prosecute.
  
  3. Clinton evidently handled her emails professionally, no evidence of GOP hackers getting in to steal stuff.
  
  Wow! I am going to vote for her!!!!
• Jun 25th, 2016 @ 9:05am

  Clinton's email server

  on Emails Show Hillary Clinton's Email Server Was A Massive Security Headache, Set Up To Route Around FOIA Requests
  So, for Rice, et al (any Republican, apparently) a personal email server, or an even less secure public email (Cheney) is fine, but for a Democrat, especially Hillary, and more especially to prevent radical "right" extremists from digging through her PERSONAL emails, it is "a crime"?
  As an attorney: stop the nonsense! There was no crime involved, and she was following long established procedure, which with the 25 years of badgering, sounds pretty smart.
• May 3rd, 2016 @ 2:30pm

  Australian Patent Law

  on Australian Gov't Commission Also Wants To Fix Patent Laws Down Under
  As an intellectual property attorney, let me point out that the Supreme Court "Alice" decision arguably does away with both software and business method patents in the US.
  We still have to wait for further clarification, but the odds are that is what will be finally decided.
• Apr 16th, 2016 @ 5:53pm

  (untitled comment)

  on Obama: The Word 'Classified' Means Whatever We Need It To Mean
  Don't see it that way (though I admit, that was my knee-jerk reaction). As explained elsewhere, there is State classification, where classification depends on State relations, and security classification, affecting our safety. Hillary, as Secretary of State, had the authority (as did the President) to classify/declassify State matters as they saw fit.
  Otherwise for security matters. So, Classification means whatever we intend it to mean.
  VERY logical to me.
  
  If you are saying this shows the evil of "W" and Cheney, there you get my complete agreement. Those people ignored what classification meant, and messed with documents that had nothing to do with the State, and involved our safety!
• Apr 14th, 2016 @ 12:22pm

  Drunk RNC Convention

  on DailyDirt: Everyone Has Blindspots
  Might be an improvement. Ko
• Apr 12th, 2016 @ 10:58am

  (untitled comment)

  on Obama: The Word 'Classified' Means Whatever We Need It To Mean
  Count me in! I think Obama has been a great President, except for the fetish he has for "security" and "secrecy" - in those areas he gets a solid "F".
• Apr 12th, 2016 @ 10:28am

  Clinton's emails"

  on Obama: The Word 'Classified' Means Whatever We Need It To Mean
  I am enormously disappointed with Techdirt, who I previously held out as a golden standard in reporting.
  
  Being a lawyer, and a lover of our Constitution, we have only to look at the ex post facto provisions of that Constitution to see that sending and receiving AFTER classified emails is NOT a criminal matter!
  
  I agree about whistleblowers, who are wrongfully pursued by the "wannabe" dictators in the Obama administration, but please - stop quoting Rupert Murdoch in his "hate Hillary" campaign - if Hillary can be shown to have sent/received classified documents AFTER they were classified, we have a whole new discussion (which doesn't exist at this time).
• Apr 5th, 2016 @ 11:02am

  Exercising

  on DailyDirt: You Know The First Guy To Run A Marathon Died Immediately After, Right?
  I find the quality of the exercise is at least as important as the quantity.
  Walking slowly, exercising with very light weights - I don't really see much benefit. Walking faster (like, trying to keep up with my oldest daughter), working out with weights that challenge me a bit, big benefit.
  I can almost make a chart of length of time versus quality of exercise for maximum benefit (at least, for me) and less time but more challenge (to a point) versus a long time but less challenge - same benefit.
  Be interested in seeing a controlled study about that.
• Jan 13th, 2016 @ 7:19pm

  T-Mobile

  on Clarifying The Bullshit From John Legere: What T-Mobile Is Really Doing And Why It Violates Net Neutrality
  At one time, a very user-friendly company. Now, Project FI
  is looking better, for all its faults.
• Oct 3rd, 2015 @ 12:18pm

  Experian breach

  on T-Mobile Customer Data Leaked By Experian... And Faulty Encryption Implementation
  Are you sure the hacker didn't get in through a "security"
  agency back door? That seems likely to me.
• Sep 24th, 2015 @ 8:13am

  Clinton emails

  on Following Congressional Criticism, FBI Leaks Status Update On Recovery Of Clinton Emails To The Press
  I am an independent, and have not decided who, or what party, I will vote for. However, I am an attorney, and love both the Constitution and fair play - in this case, fair play.
  
  Bush/Cheney regularly sent emails they KNEW were classified in private emails. Clinton sent unclassified (though I hear four were LATER classified - to embarrass her? Don't know) emails. No evidence yet she meant harm, or thought she was doing anything wrong - otherwise for Bush/Cheney. So she MAY be "unreliable" - THEY ARE!
  
  So, why is the "liberal" (aka Murdoch) press interested only in Clinton? Shouldn't we be outraged at Bush/Cheney? Also, they didn't tell anyone - it came out later; just as she didn't tell anyone - came out later; but they KNEW they were sending classified material - not yet determined for her.
  
  Is this what you call "fair and balanced?".
• Jun 17th, 2015 @ 1:35pm

  Autonomous vehicles

  on Techdirt Podcast Episode 29: Autonomous Vehicles Will Change Everything
  Let's suppose we find the car in a situation like this: a collision is unavoidable, and if the car swerves to the left, let's say, it will collide with a school bus. Let's say the car computes that several kids will likely be killed. If the car swerves to the right, the passenger will be killed.
  I don't think the manufacturer could decide how to program for that. In the absence of legislation, we would need a switch that let the passenger decide which thing to do.
  That would absolve the manufacturer, but then ....
  Wow!
• Apr 15th, 2015 @ 11:45am

  On peer review

  on DailyDirt: Problems With Peer Reviewed Publications
  You say perhaps AI will make it HARDER to detect shady papers? Why would we use it, then? Don't you mean "easier"?

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