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User: BigRedFed

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  1. Re:Hmmmm... on Google Wants To Administer the First White Spaces · · Score: 0

    Why is government control necessarily "evil"? It's function* is to control social institutions and infrastructure that is otherwise unprofitable to run or should not be run in a for-profit manner.

    Depends on what you mean by government. If you mean a socialist government, then you are correct. If you mean a government of free people who take responsibility for their own lives and interact in a free manner without coercion, then you are incorrect.

  2. Re:Effects on Add-on Development on Firefox 3.6 Locks Out Rogue Add-ons · · Score: 0, Troll

    I disagree with the "proper way." I do not use .NET and have no wish for that to be in a competitor's browser. To me the proper way is for me seek out a download, preferably through an XPI, but definitely not through Windows/Microsoft Update.

    Well then you shouldn't be installing updates from MS that have to do with the .NET framework then should you?

  3. Re:Wow , at 8 cents a page for a PACER document... on FBI Investigates Liberator of Court Records · · Score: 1

    But that begs the question, are these costs codified into law, or are they set by someone and reviewed on an annual basis? Everyone who rails against these costs always says how horrible they are, but never takes into consideration how they are set or how they can affect the process. All they do is whine and complain and find a way to circumvent them, without finding out how they were implemented in the first place and see if there is a way to reduce the costs or have it written into the law that when being scanned digitally they be submitted into a open and freely available database. Citizens are part of the legal system. To sit back and just cry about the unjustness of the way that the system is implemented is to remove yourself from being responsible for the way that they are and continue to be. Whether we actively participate or attempt to sit out of the game, we are part of it.

  4. Re:Wow , at 8 cents a page for a PACER document... on FBI Investigates Liberator of Court Records · · Score: 4, Informative

    When something is in the public domain, you can still charge for reproducing or hosting it. You just can not prevent someone from copying and distributing it in the manner that they want as well. Public domain does not preclude paid access. Also, since people pay money to file court documents, IE filing fees, etc. There are instance where you paid NOTHING for court documents to be produced at all. Courts do not run wholly on tax dollars alone.

  5. Re:For the purpose of restoring vision. on MIT Microchip Could Someday Restore Vision · · Score: 1

    How about invest int a company like ACTC that is about to file for clinical trials with the FDA on using Stem Cells for the same purpose?

  6. Re:Do no evil? on Google Serves a Cease-and-Desist On Android Modder · · Score: 1

    WTF are you talking about? Apple sued the modders for a similar reason. story

  7. Re:Street justice? on Tracking Stolen Gadgets — Manufacturers' New Dilemma · · Score: 1

    Here's a couple of links for everyone:
    Explanation of the EIR for GSM phones:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Equipment_Identity_Register
    Sites in the US to check if a cellphone ESN is marked as lost or stolen:
    http://www.checkmend.com/us/
    A service in the UK that does everything this guy would need:
    http://www.immobilise.com/
    And a service on the web that is attempting to bring it all together but is apparently having some troubles with US telecom industry:
    http://phonehistoryreport.com/about.html
    As I said before, Amazon is full of it and any reason for not following through with the request by the guy in TFA has nothing to do with anything but their bottom line.

  8. Re:It is usually celebrated by... on Russia's New Official Holiday — Programmer's Day · · Score: 1

    Perhaps without tetris everything wouldn't be shaped like a block.

  9. Re:Street justice? on Tracking Stolen Gadgets — Manufacturers' New Dilemma · · Score: 3, Informative

    But as noted in TFA, this poses a problem, as it's too easy for someone to contact them, pretending to be you, and reporting *your* Kindle as stolen...

    This is such bunk... I worked for a couple years in customer service for the cell phone industry. If you call and report your phone lost or stolen, it is automatically added to a black list and can then only be reactivated by you. It can not be activated on another account while it is on the black list and can only be added to the black list if it is part of an active account. The only time you need a police report is if you have the insurance program and you want to get a replacement under the insurance. This requirement is usually waived if it's the first time you have had your cell phone lost/stolen. I think I only took about two or three calls where someone tried to call in and activate a lost/stolen phone. Policy was that the original owner had to call in and report it as found. Plain and simple and logical. Any argument about someone calling in and pretending to be someone else being a problem is an indication of ulterior motives, as the user claims in TFA, or bad security policies to begin with. If it's easy for them to find, they should be asking people to file a police report, then have a couple of reps that work with the police dept to track them down after the police report is filed. Wouldn't cost them much and the rest could be sorted out where it belongs, small claims court.

  10. Re:this patenting thing ... on Facebook Ordered To Turn Over Source Code · · Score: 1
  11. Re:this patenting thing ... on Facebook Ordered To Turn Over Source Code · · Score: 1

    Well, I have the patent on making patents that reference actions taken by people playing characters in motion pictures and live theatrical performances. Also, I have a patent on conversations whose meme/theme is self sustaining and could be carried on infinitely or just to extreme points of absurdity.

  12. Re:It is only DRM+ on DRM Take II — Digital Personal Property · · Score: 1

    In the digital world, if it can be added, it can generally be removed. This may change with the advent of quantum computers, but generally, if you want something digitally watermarked and you want the watermark to remain through all iterations, it needs to be convertible to analog and you have to write a special viewer/player for it.

  13. Re:Yes on The Ethics of Selling GPLed Software For the iPhone · · Score: 1

    That is called the "Java Trap" (it was called that before Java became F/OSS) where the code is free, but the platform is not. However, with Windows I can run whatever code on it.

    That, depends on what you mean by "code" and what you mean by "run".

  14. Re:I was scanned in LAX on Freshman Representative Opposes "TSA Porn" · · Score: 1

    They just follow the rules they're given ...

    Nazi Drone Zombyism at it's best.

  15. Re:Suit violates the Sherman Anti-Trust Act? on Comcast Facing Lawsuit Over Set-Top Box Rentals · · Score: 1

    Since when is it "fair" to hold a gun to someone's head to get them to sell a product to someone else? You sound like the people who whine that they are being discriminated against because they can't find a bar that doesn't have a smoke free environment. Right of association means that not only can you associate with whomever you want but you can also not associate with people that you don't want to. The right of a business owner to refuse service or a job to anyone is a fundamental right protected by the first amendment of the constitution. It stems from a person's ownership of their own mind and body as to all other rights and freedoms. You will never understand or have freedom until you understand and accept this principle.

  16. Re:Why do we need this? on PRO-IP and PIRATE Acts Fused Into New Bill · · Score: 3, Informative

    Ummm... Have you read the civil asset forfeiture law?
    Wikipedia entry
    Title 18, Chapter 46 US Code

  17. Re:Linspire... on Xandros Reportedly Buys Out Linspire · · Score: 1

    And so ridiculously inaccurate it's even more hilarious since it's marked as informative.

  18. Re:Trapster on Nominations Open For "Most Likely to be Shut Down By Government" · · Score: 1

    It requires GPS to work. The government loves GPS enabled devices. What do they care if a few localities miss out on revenue when they can track everyone who uses the site through their GPS enabled phone.

  19. Re:Orion Bankcorp: Crybabies on US Court Orders Company to Use Negative Keywords · · Score: 1

    WTF is Orion?

  20. Re:If that is true on How Water Forms in Interstellar Space at 10K · · Score: 1

    You, ah, DO realize that God told us all of this, far before we could understand it, right? The have his ass come tell us again now that we can understand it. I don't trust you.
  21. Re:It's all fun and games... on Nuclear Scanning Catches a Radioactive Cat On I-5 · · Score: 1

    Sounds more like a slide into paranoia to me ... What do you think a police state is? Paranoia run rampant and codified into law. "It's not paranoia if they REALLY ARE out to get you."
  22. Re:Yawnnn on New Solar Cell Harvests Hydrogen From Water · · Score: 1

    Not sure I like the sound of this. A lot of areas are already having trouble with their water supplies - Spain comes to mind as an example (droughts last year), and there isn't much we can do to improve capacity here in the UK beyond getting better at fixing the leaks. Throw a distributed power generation system that needs to feed off the existing water system, and you've got a problem.
    You do realize that combusting hydrogen releases water? So you put that back into the existing water system and lose very little of the water from the system. If you add recapture into the sewer system and run these solar cells on the recapture after it's been filtered down to brown water, you can probably use this as a filtering cycle as well, increasing the drinkable water supply, thus increasing the efficiency of the whole water system.
  23. Re:Good idea ... on Next Year's Laws, Now Out In Beta! · · Score: 1

    Nowhere in the constitution does it provide a "right" to privacy, but not only was such a right "interpreted" to exist when no such right existed before, it brought with it the "right" to an abortion with strong arguments that this right is absolute (no exceptions).
    No where in the constitution are you PROVIDED any rights. The document lists rights that are to be protected. And since you know you amendments so well, you should also know the 10th amendment which says that the rights listed in the first eight amendments does not mean that you only have those rights listed. The right to privacy is inherent in being a human and and extends from your ownership of your mind, your body and your self as does every other right we hold dear. If you do not understand this, then you will continue to allow the Constitution to be misread and subverted.
  24. Re:Big deal on Has Ron Paul Quit? · · Score: 1

    You RTFA. He is still running.

  25. GM May beat them all on Li-Ion Batteries Hit Final R&D Phase for Plug-in Cars · · Score: 1

    GM is developing the Chevy Volt which is slated for production at the end of 2010 as a 2011 model. GM should have test mules out there later this year. Progress looks good. Car specs are good. More information at http://www.gm-volt.com/