ThaumaTechnician’s Comments

• Feb 5th, 2018 @ 12:49pm

  Re: Re: It's not even an "update", it's a re-hash, using extreme "statistics".

  on Study Suggests Shutting Down Filesharing Sites Would Hurt Music Industry, New Artists
  Rather than arguing with an AC about the study's methods, read it yourself:
  
  http://qed.econ.queensu.ca/working_papers/papers/qed_wp_1354.pdf
  
  I've just finished reading the Conclusion, it doesn't make bold/outlandish claims AFAICT, just moderate(d) ones. Now to plow through the paper to see when the Conclusions are justified.
• Jan 31st, 2018 @ 11:06am

  Maybe the FCC means 'Analysis'

  on The Same FCC That Ignored Science To Kill Net Neutrality Has Created An 'Office Of Economics & Analysis'
  ..in the same sense that porn does.
• Jan 30th, 2018 @ 4:27am

  I hope they'll make a hard copy of the roll call.

  on First Amendment Lawsuit Results In Louisiana Police Department Training Officers To Respect Citizens With Cameras
  So the cops can't claim that they didn't know, nobody told them, and anyway, it wasn't them.
• Jan 26th, 2018 @ 1:22pm

  Re: Re: I can't quite get my head around how this is legal.

  on Harris Stingray Nondisclosure Agreement Forbids Cops From Telling Legislators About Surveillance Tech
  Individuals can do anything unless there's a law that specifically forbids something/that thing.
  
  Governments, on the other hand, can do nothing unless there's a law that specifically authorizes a particular action.
  
  The police shouldn't be allowed to sign contracts (especially with NDAs) unless there's a law that specifically allows it. Elected officials should be allowed to revoke signing authority that's been given.
• Jan 26th, 2018 @ 4:49am

  Re: Re: I can't quite get my head around how this is legal.

  on Harris Stingray Nondisclosure Agreement Forbids Cops From Telling Legislators About Surveillance Tech
  Couldn't a case be made that the police officials aren't permitted to sign contracts that locks out elected officials?
• Jan 26th, 2018 @ 4:47am

  Up next...

  on Sarajevo's City Government Says No One Can Use The Name 'Sarajevo' Without Its Permission
  A law about the pronunciation of "chowdah".
• Jan 11th, 2018 @ 2:04pm

  Re: Re: How does this guy get compensated?

  on Why Are The People Who Whined About Wheeler's Net Neutrality Rules Being '400 Pages' Silent About Pai's Being '539 Pages'
  "They are probably *ock holders."
  
  There, fixed it for you.
• Jan 10th, 2018 @ 5:18am

  Now that the jury has decided that the cops were incompetent

  on Jury Awards Couple No Damages For Bungled Marijuana Raid Predicated On Wet Tea Leaves
  Can we expect that they'll all get a cut in pay?
• Jan 9th, 2018 @ 5:24am

  Well, given how the NSA mangles language...

  on NSA Denies Prior Knowledge Of Meltdown, Spectre Exploits; Claims It Would 'Never' Harm Companies By Withholding Vulns
  It could be a perfectly true statement.
  
  Except for the parts where every word in their statement means something completely different from what the rest of the world thinks it does.
• Jan 5th, 2018 @ 5:09am

  Re:

  on Indiana Legislator Wants To Force NFL Team To Hand Out Refunds To Fans 'Offended' By Kneeling Players
  Actually, I came to say:
  So, when a church doesn't pay taxes, it means everyone else has to pay more taxes, so how about charging taxes back to a church when it says something that offends someone?
• Dec 28th, 2017 @ 6:29am

  Re: Re: it gets worse

  on DHS's New Airport Face-Scanning Program Is Expensive, Flawed, And Illegal

  Uh, aren't those exceptions called "Amendments"?

  That and: for the government, isn't it the case that the government is allowed to do do nothing, unless there's a law specifically authorizing it to do something?

  Y'know, the reverse of the case for people.

• Dec 21st, 2017 @ 6:30pm

  More Europeans have read/studied Sartre.

  on Top EU Court Says Uber Is A Transport Service That Can Be Regulated Like Traditional Taxis
  You are what you do, not what you say you do.
• Dec 19th, 2017 @ 9:11am

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  on FCC Boss Claims Net Neutrality Supporters Were Clearly Wrong Because Twitter Still Works The Day After Repeal
  At the start of the November 8th edition of Intercepted, the Podcast, Jeremy Cahill has an editorial comment about 'whataboutism'.
  
  https://theintercept.com/2017/11/08/intercepted-podcast-say-hello-to-my-little-hands/
  
  The whole episode is worth listening.
• Dec 19th, 2017 @ 4:49am

  Re: Look Out Below

  on Five Below, Trendy Retailer, Sues 10 Below, Ice Cream Seller, For Trademark Infringement
  You forgot tupelo{w} honey.
• Dec 16th, 2017 @ 1:48pm

  Re: I remember this story.

  on New Documents And Testimony Shows Officers Lied About Their Role In An Arrested Teen's Death
  Shouldn't the people who failed their duty so as to run the clock out on the statute of limitations be charged with obstruction of justice?
• Dec 14th, 2017 @ 12:59pm

  Re:

  on Two Separate Studies Show That The Vast Majority Of People Who Said They Support Ajit Pai's Plan... Were Fake
  No, it's not the FCC that lies. It's the FCC's current administration. Important distinction.
• Dec 12th, 2017 @ 1:51pm

  Re: Globe & Mail's clickable words policy

  on Canadian Supreme Court Says Privacy Protections Apply To Sent Text Messages Obtained From The Recipient
  D'oh... That sentence - Ff the Globe's article on this story, where the sentence- with the type should have read:
  
  Suppose that in the Globe's article, the sentence "In a potentially..." that the word "ruling" as a clickable link, it would be linked to a search page...
  
  Too early in the morning, apparently.
• Dec 12th, 2017 @ 11:58am

  Globe & Mail's clickable words policy

  on Canadian Supreme Court Says Privacy Protections Apply To Sent Text Messages Obtained From The Recipient
  FTA: *[Note: Ruling not provided by the Globe and Mail for whatever reason. -1 to G&M's JOURNALISM skill.]
  
  Ff the Globe's article on this story, where the sentence "In a potentially significant 5-2 ruling" had the word "ruling" as a clickable link, it would be to a search page for the word "ruling" in all G&M articles (usually from ten years ago to fifteen ago, plus yesterday), not to the actual ruling itself as anyone familiar with the Web would expect.
  
  It's one of the main reasons I don't go to MSM news sites for information. It friggin' drives me bonkers.
• Dec 7th, 2017 @ 11:23am

  Re:

  on Why I Changed My Mind On Net Neutrality
  Why not both?
• Dec 1st, 2017 @ 10:54am

  The son was displaying the indicia of terrorists.

  on Navy Officer Working For The NSA Caught Trying To Search Her Boyfriend's Son's Phone
  Y'know the one: breathing in and out. So she had to investigate.

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