Tom Betz’s Comments

• Nov 8th, 2016 @ 11:12am

  I wonder what Terry O'Reilly will have to say about this?

  on CBC Threatens Podcast Apps For Letting People Listen To CBC Podcasts
  He loves to talk about this sort of self-pwn on his CBC show/podcast "Under the Influence".
• Apr 14th, 2016 @ 10:07am

  Re: Re: Re: Said to the tune of the world's smallest violin

  on Matthew Keys Gets 2 Years In Jail For 40 Minute Web Defacement He Didn't Even Commit
  Ah, I left out the link: http://pllqt.it/1oxoO2
• Apr 14th, 2016 @ 10:06am

  Re: Re: Said to the tune of the world's smallest violin

  on Matthew Keys Gets 2 Years In Jail For 40 Minute Web Defacement He Didn't Even Commit
  You're better informed by watching and reading nothing than you are watching Fox News.
• Apr 7th, 2015 @ 8:31am

  Turned off the uBlock...

  on Two And A Half Years Later, Verizon Finally Lets People Opt Out Of Its Stealth Zombie Cookie
  ... and the UIDH info displays.
  
  Thanks!
• Apr 6th, 2015 @ 2:09pm

  They changed the Privacy Policy Opt-Out page.

  on Two And A Half Years Later, Verizon Finally Lets People Opt Out Of Its Stealth Zombie Cookie
  There is no longer even a mention of the X-UIDH opt out there. The last time I looked, it listed the toll-free opt-out number (that requires a password to use) and a link to sign up for Verizon Selects (which uses the X-UIDH).
  
  That's it.
• Apr 6th, 2015 @ 2:03pm

  There's a catch to the "opt-out"

  on Two And A Half Years Later, Verizon Finally Lets People Opt Out Of Its Stealth Zombie Cookie
  You can't opt out using the toll-free number if the login to your Verizon Wireless account uses capital letters in the password. When I called 866-211-0874, it demanded my account password.
  
  And, of course, there is no web-based opt-out on the VZW web site.
  
  So for me to pot out, I have to change my password first.
• Mar 2nd, 2015 @ 10:34am

  Re: Anybody know...

  on 'Officer Awareness' Memo: Police Accountability Recording App Could Lead To Dangerous 'Flash Mobs'
  It's still available in the Google Play Store.
  
  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.aclunj.policetape
• Feb 4th, 2015 @ 7:50am

  Rogers is already being sued

  on Keurig Competitor Offers Free Hack Workaround For Keurig's Absurd Java Bean DRM
  The Rogers Family coffee roasters are already being targeted by Keurig's lawyers because they sell their own biodegradable OneCup that works fine in Keurig machines. That's why Rogers developed the Freedom Clip in the first place.
• Jan 30th, 2015 @ 7:37am

  There's been a change of administration in NYC

  on What Billions In Subsidies Bought: The Final Map Of Verizon's FiOS Fiber
  Since Techdirt published this story, there's been a change of administrations in NYC. Has anyone tried to ask the same questions of the same offices there more recently? Seems like De Blasio wouldn't mind recovering some unearned subsidies.
• Nov 25th, 2014 @ 6:49pm

  Re: Re: "these police who did this are part of the 'us'"-- Are you sure?

  on Prosecutor Lays The Blame For The Ferguson Debacle At The Feet Of 'Social Media'
  In fact, yes. Damned straight that the white suburbs were insulated. Where do you think all the National Guard troops were stationed? Not in Ferguson...but in the surrounding white suburbs.
• Nov 25th, 2014 @ 4:48pm

  "these police who did this are part of the 'us'"-- Are you sure?

  on Prosecutor Lays The Blame For The Ferguson Debacle At The Feet Of 'Social Media'
  If Ferguson police are anything like most police departments in the USA, odds are most of them DO NOT LIVE IN FERGUSON.
  
  http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/most-police-dont-live-in-the-cities-they-serve/
  
  Certainly , Darren Wilson doesn't. He lives about a half hour away, in Crestwood, a segregated white suburb of St Louis.
• Oct 20th, 2014 @ 9:48am

  Re: Re: The real problem with chlorinated chicken...

  on DailyDirt: How Clean Are Our Chickens?
  Here's a great Consumer Reports story, citing Bell & Evans as the only source in their survey that produced "clean" chickens.
  
  http://pllqt.it/7xS6tq
• Oct 20th, 2014 @ 9:44am

  Re: Re: The real problem with chlorinated chicken...

  on DailyDirt: How Clean Are Our Chickens?
  When did salmonella learn to jump an air gap?
  
  And I'm talking about air-chilled AMERICAN chicken, Bell & Evans foremost among the brands. Whole Foods sells both Bell & Evans and house-branded air-chilled chicken.
• Oct 18th, 2014 @ 8:33am

  The real problem with chlorinated chicken...

  on DailyDirt: How Clean Are Our Chickens?
  ... is the chilled water bath doing the chlorinating. etc. I don't have a clue how that sentence was truncated.
• Oct 18th, 2014 @ 8:31am

  The real problem with chlorinated chicken...

  on DailyDirt: How Clean Are Our Chickens?
  doing the chlorinating. Chickens end up retaining not-tasty waterwater from the baths, and the chlorine doesn't kill all the salmonella, which means that previously uncontaminated chicken routinely becomes contaminated when it hits the water. That's why I only buy air-chilled chicken. Not only does it taste better because it hasn't been soaked in chlorinated water, studies of supermarket chicken have typically found zero salmonella on air-chilled chicken, while finding universal salmonella contamination to one degree or another on water-chilled chicken.
• Mar 3rd, 2014 @ 10:02am

  Screw all these coffee makers.

  on Keurig Will Use DRM In New Coffee Maker To Lock Out Refill Market
  Here's the best, easiest and cheapest way to make really great coffee: cold brew coffee concentrate made using a nut milk bag.
  
  http://boingboing.net/2013/07/20/cheap-easy-no-mess-cold-brew.html
  
  I like to let mine cold brew 24 hours before pulling the bag.
  
  I've been using Peet's Decaf House Blend lately because it's been on special at supermarkets in my area, but this process even makes very drinkable coffee using cheaper supermarket brands.
  
  Bring a bottle of concentrate to the office and add hot water, one part concentrate to two parts water, and enjoy.
• Oct 8th, 2013 @ 1:22pm

  This is a feature, not a bug

  on NSA's Massive Utah Datacenter Having Serious Electrical Problems: Has Already Had 10 Fiery Explosions
  Anyone who has been paying attention knows that the NSA and all the other three-letter agencies have since the Reagan administration been little more than vacuum hoses designed to siphon money out of taxpayers' pockets into the bank accounts of the connected ultra-wealthy who own the contracting companies. All this money being spent on surveillance isn't about security at all. That's just the lie told to justify it to outsiders. Screwups like this just mean more money for the contractors that fix them, usually the same ones who screwed up in the first place.
• May 24th, 2012 @ 8:25am

  Re: Hmmm....

  on How Copyright Would Make The 'Singularity' Infringement If It Ever Arrived
  Of course, the idea was far from original in 2011.
  
  I was reading stories about this sort of thing in Analog back in the 70's.
• Feb 29th, 2012 @ 8:29am

  This is the same lawsuit.

  on Organic Farmers' Preemptive Lawsuit Against Monsanto Patents Tossed Out For Being A Bit Too Preemptive
  Judge Buchanan made her ruling a month early.
  
  http://bit.ly/xdaqfD
• May 10th, 2011 @ 8:38am

  Has anyone thought about patents?

  on How Many Times Will Skype Be Acquired For Too Much Money By Big Tech Companies With Little Strategic Synergies?
  What patents does Skype own that Microsoft could use to troll all the other VOIP providers into submission, just as Microsoft is now trying to troll Android phone builders into submission?
  
  I suspect that patents are the real reason Microsoft bought Skype.
  
  I see a purchase like this one, I immediately think "Intellectual Ventures".

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