Al Bert 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (200)

• On the post: Why Are New Zealand Prosecutors Seeking To Suppress All Images & Video Of Megaupload Raid?

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 07 Aug, 2012 @ 05:42pm

  Re: Re: Even more proof that the raid was unnecessary

  It's nice to make that distinction between terrorists that own rocket launchers and the terrorists that own congress and the DOJ.

• On the post: US Now Supporting Ridiculous Broadcast Treaty; Suggests It Could Cover The Internet Too

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 20 Jul, 2012 @ 06:26pm

  /me strangles the air

  This shit just won't end, will it? How could it stop? Barring an eternally embattled defense against corrupt goliaths of industry and state, that is.

• On the post: Are Books Printed With Disappearing Ink Really The Best Way To Make People Read Them?

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 12 Jul, 2012 @ 11:07am

  Re:

  That's what i was thinking the whole time. Maybe i'm too cynical, but i wouldn't put it past publishers to make 'perishable' books to eliminate used books. On one hand, the reality of the waste would be massive, but most people could duped on the issue if the book were sold as being "recyclable and reusable" and therefore a green alternative to sustained ownership.

• On the post: Multiple Hollywood Studios Making Movies About Julian Assange; How Many Will Pay Him For His Story?

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 11 Jul, 2012 @ 07:53pm

  Re:

  DING!
  A movie made by hollywood about the career of Assange would bear as much resemblance to reality as a bowl of mashed potatoes made about his career.
  In either case, america would eagerly hunger to eat a steaming pile.

• On the post: Kim Dotcom Offers To Come To The US, If DOJ Releases Funds For Legal Defense

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 11 Jul, 2012 @ 12:10pm

  Re: Ballsy move, but he'll lose the home turf advantage...

  Bingo. There's not much point in expecting fair and just dealings with someone who has been trying to reach over every measure put in place to ensure due process.

• On the post: NSA Chief Says NSA Doesn't Need Access To Your Info… As Whistleblowers Say They're Already Getting It

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 11 Jul, 2012 @ 11:41am

  Re:

  Whenever I hear people pushing the "cyber" button, I always like to think they're kids on AOL in 1999. So i guess Alexander likes to audit his nightly masturbatory chat logs.

• On the post: NSA Chief Says NSA Doesn't Need Access To Your Info… As Whistleblowers Say They're Already Getting It

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 11 Jul, 2012 @ 11:36am

  Re:

  I think what he meant to say was "These attacks represent an opportunity to institute the greatest transfer of wealth in history"
  
  ... though maybe wealth only as an intended consequence of power.

• On the post: Hipmunk Raises Money… And Is Immediately Threatened By Patent Troll

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 10 Jul, 2012 @ 12:09pm

  Re: Re:

  I am in favor of this suggestion.

• On the post: Gov't Says They Requested 24,270 Wiretaps In Total; Sprint Alone Says They Received Over 50k Requests

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 10 Jul, 2012 @ 11:41am

  Re: That damned decimal point

  It's the computer's fault! We need new cyberintegrity legislation to regulate all digital representations of data and ideas to ensure their correctness!

• On the post: ACTA's Back: European Commission Trying To Sneak In Worst Parts Using Canada-EU Trade Agreement As A Trojan Horse

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 09 Jul, 2012 @ 12:26pm

  Re:

  Since the 'toxicity' in this case occurs only when non-benefiting parties are aware or when the agreement's core disinformation is exposed in even cursory scrutiny, the obvious first (and current) change would simply be to act in cover of darkness and deny all oversight.

• On the post: Dutch ISP Shows That BitTorrent Traffic Increased After Pirate Bay Ban

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2012 @ 05:14pm

  it's always a win

  The type of people that push for these things aren't the type to recognize or acknowledge that the results aren't what they had expected or claimed.
  
  When I think of these people, I'm reminded of one of my managers from when I worked in manufacturing:
  1: a new circuit board design incorporates temperature-sensitive devices and also large metal objects. In order to get the heavy parts to solder, the oven temperature-time integral needs to be too high and damages the other parts.
  2: manager insists that hand-placing or heat blocks won't work. try running the oven hotter and run another dozen boards.
  3: call manager over and show that he's an idiot. all boards have both damaged and still unsoldered parts.
  4: his response "that's good; perfect. just use that"

• On the post: University Sues Student For Graduating Too Fast

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2012 @ 02:02pm

  there are no limits

  ... and now there are so few notes left that we need to protect record labels so that they can responsibly regulate the future use of this limited resource and guarantee job opportunities for hard-working musicworkers for years to come!

• On the post: University Sues Student For Graduating Too Fast

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2012 @ 01:57pm

  Re:

  No kidding. Even if that publicity netted them a single added undergrad enrollee, they'd have made back whatever loss they'd imagined.

• On the post: FBI Continues To Insist There's No Reason For Kim Dotcom To Be Able To See The Evidence Against Him

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2012 @ 01:47pm

  compelling terms

  "Hmmm... Sure you can have my cupcake -- but only if you trade it for that week-old shit sandwich"

• On the post: Def Leppard Covers Its Own Songs With 'Forgeries' To Fight Back Against Universal Music

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2012 @ 01:12pm

  Re:

  What? Oh man, I got those mixed up. Crap. I should have known something was wrong when I was discovering a wealth of new music that I actually enjoy through independent artists and netlabels! How could I be so blind?

• On the post: Copyright Fight Over Competing Abortion Videos Results In Awkward Fair Use Ruling

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2012 @ 12:52pm

  someone had to do it

  Thank you for the plea for relevant commentary, Mike. I read the headline and reflexively braced for another tangential comment war.

• On the post: WIPO Defied UN Sanctions To Give Computers To Iran… For Its Patent System (Wink, Wink)

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2012 @ 12:49pm

  before and after

  I read the tone of the statements then and now:
  
  Then: "Shit guys, you're gonna get us in trouble!"
  Now: "Nothing to worry about here."

• On the post: Charles Carreon Stops Digging, At Least For The Moment: Dismisses His Lawsuit [Updated]

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 03 Jul, 2012 @ 05:34pm

  Imagine the struggle

  Came to his senses? Maybe.
  Maybe he's just so far gone, he's retaliating even against himself.

• On the post: How Not To Innovate: Trying To Create An Exact Replica Of Another Service

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 03 Jul, 2012 @ 04:33pm

  not quite a joke, but close enough.

  Because civilized people don't talk of such things in public.

• On the post: Dear Judge Koh: Competition Is No Reason To Ban A Phone

  

  Al Bert ( profile ), 03 Jul, 2012 @ 04:08pm

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

  i'm just waiting for the design philosophies behind most cheap home electronics to flow over into the portable electronics world. Then i can have a translucent blue cell phone that's shaped like a smashed eggplant.

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