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User: aaron4801

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Comments · 197

  1. Re:So, in short... on Apple Announces Smartwatch, Bigger iPhones, Mobile Payments · · Score: 1

    30% of smartphone users are picking their jaw up off the floor, having seen the future! 70% are wondering what the big deal is, seeing features they've been using for two years.

  2. Re:Didn't steal anyones data? on Hackers Break Into HealthCare.gov · · Score: 1

    The only way they can definitively state that no data was stolen is if there is better auditing capability at Healthcare.gov than there seems to be at the NSA (who apparently can't audit what was "stolen"). This seems sad to me on SO MANY levels.

  3. Re:The worrisome part on California Passes Law Mandating Smartphone Kill Switch · · Score: 1

    Perhaps he used the wrong terminology, but I think the idea is to set a timer, say 30 minutes. Every time it receives a call, the timer resets. The bomber can make a call at strategic times to prolong the trigger as long as necessary, but as soon as it's cut off of the cell network, it's an irreversible time bomb.

  4. Re:How do deal with copycats? on Is Dong Nguyen Trolling Gamers With "Swing Copters"? · · Score: 1

    "It's not like that phenomenon is unique to the handheld gaming market." It's not like that phenomenon is unique to gaming. Full Stop. Any time there is a successful TV show, it gets copied. Movies? copied. Books? copied. Nor is it unique to cultural works. The shelves of any big-box store are filled with cheap Chinese knockoffs of any physical product you can imagine. Compete on quality, customer service, and fan engagement. Those are much harder to rip off.

  5. Re:$230 on Study: Ad-Free Internet Would Cost Everyone $230-a-Year · · Score: 1

    1) Well I pay twice that already, do I get TWO free internets?! 2) More seriously, paying additional for the privilege of not viewing ads was one of the founding principles behind cable TV. It didn't take long before you were paying extra AND viewing ads.

  6. Re:My 0.02 on Web Trolls Winning As Incivility Increases · · Score: 1

    "[S]ome men aren't looking for anything logical...They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn."

  7. Re:Too late on Senate Bill Would Ban Most Bulk Surveillance · · Score: 1

    The White House supports this version? Then why did they send the goon squad to gut the already weaker House version? https://www.techdirt.com/artic... If this bill makes it to the President in tact, it'll be a miracle.

  8. Too late on Senate Bill Would Ban Most Bulk Surveillance · · Score: 0

    The trust is gone (what little there was to begin with). If there's anything we should have all learned in the past 13 months, it's that any bill claiming to curtail surveillance is sure to be so full of loopholes that it will likely only make the situation worse, as proponents will now have yet another law to say supports their activities. "The Senate bill would end the bulk collection authorized by Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act." Ask anyone who follows this issue closely: 215 is the least of the abuses. There are countless other programs that are used for bulk collections, and by only outlawing this one (still skeptical about even that), the intelligence community will just spin it to say the rest have broad support. The whole system needs to be torn down.

  9. Re:Time will tell on Netflix Reduces Physical-Disc Processing, Keeps Prices the Same · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I see so much bitching over Netflix' lack of selection/declining service/raising prices, that it makes me wonder who is forcing all these people to be a subscriber? Don't like it, don't pay for it. 99% of Netflix' problems are due to the licensing fees by the movie studios. Don't blame the messenger.

  10. Re:Microsoft is wasting people's time on Leaked Build of Windows 9 Shows Start Menu Return · · Score: 1

    Show me a laptop that lets me swap parts every couple years to stay relevant, instead of buying completely new, and I'll buy. Until then, I'm perfectly happy with my desktop with a few new parts, a few from last year, and probably a couple from about 6 years ago.

  11. Re:But terr0rist don't use cell phones! on William Binney: NSA Records and Stores 80% of All US Audio Calls · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Anybody who claims this is all about terrorism is either lying, ignorant, or both. Control = Power, and if you can't take control, you get people to give it to you by scaring them with visions of explosions and death.

  12. Re:Speech to Text on William Binney: NSA Records and Stores 80% of All US Audio Calls · · Score: 1

    If their speech-to-text engine is anywhere as "good" as Google Voice, this is a colossal waste of time and money, civil liberties be damned.

  13. Re:One hundred *billion* dollars? on Radical Dual Tilting Blade Helicopter Design Targets Speeds of Over 270mph · · Score: 2

    Are you sure you read the comment correctly? (Am I?) I believe he was saying that the $100b will buy a tiny fraction of the 5000 helicopters that could be purchased if they spent it on the existing platform, not that the cost will be a tiny fraction of the budget.

  14. Re:Superman logo is a Trademark on DC Entertainment Won't Allow Superman Logo On Murdered Child's Memorial Statue · · Score: 2

    Trademark is a consumer protection law, not a corporate ownership right. Trademarks are protected to prevent consumers from buying things that they believe are produced by a particular company instead of a fraudulently produced knockoff. Since there is no commerce here, there is no chance of consumer confusion.

  15. Amazon's on thin ice here on Amazon Sues After Ex-Worker Takes Google Job · · Score: 1

    Non-compete agreements are on shaky legal ground to begin with. But pile that on top of the silicon valley lawsuits about employee poaching, and how badly that has gone for the companies involved, and you would think that Amazon wouldn't be quite so tone deaf about the issues this brings up. It's illegal to agree not to hire other employees, but if you do, they'll still sue over it? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

  16. MS got it backwards on Windows 9 To Win Over Windows 7 Users, Disables Start Screen For Desktop · · Score: 1

    What we wanted: Device-specific interface, with a shared software architecture for compatibility purposes. What they gave us: Device-specific architecture with a phone's interface. Apple may be able to get away with creating demand for whatever they put out (when you're selling more of a culture than a product, you can do that), but MS isn't there, and never will be.

  17. Re:Hey.... on Plastic Trash Forming Into "Plastiglomerate" Rocks · · Score: 2

    Carbon sequestration!

  18. Re:How, exactly, do we know? on New US Atomic Clock Goes Live · · Score: 2

    And what, exactly, is the point if they have to reset it every year or two anyway due to leap seconds?

  19. Re:Not just Man-made... on Famous Paintings Help Study the Earth's Past Atmosphere · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Paraphrasing the summary: 'Volcanic eruptions make sunsets more red, therefore, redder sunsets in paintings reflect man-made pollution.' WTF?

  20. Re:The Founding Fathers are crying.. on U.S. Court: Chinese Search Engine's Censorship Is 'Free Speech' · · Score: 0

    Freedom means different people/corporations are going to act differently. As long as it's not the government, or other monopoly-holding entity, they are free to do what they wish and the users are free to choose a better alternative. I would think the Founders would find it much more disturbing if this decision had gone the other way, and ruled that the State of NY basically had the final say in what one private entity can tell another private entity, inserting government approval in all communication. This is hardly different than the editorial pages of various media outlets having a particular slant, political or otherwise. Should the government get involved in making sure that no editorial board is stacked with too many supporters of one political party? That's not an America I'd like to see.

  21. Re:Austrailians as stupid as Americans? on Australia Elects Libertarian-Leaning Senator (By Accident) · · Score: 3, Funny

    #Florida

  22. Open-Source Hybrid Datacenter Cloud on Linux Vendors Push For Open-Source In Hybrid Datacenter Clouds · · Score: 2

    That's the most Pointy-Haired Boss phrase EVER.