mac insand 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Judge Tells Corrections Officers To ‘Suck It Up’ If They Can’t Handle An Endless Stream Of Executions

    mac insand ( profile ), 10 Apr, 2024 @ 11:55am

    jailbreaks aren't so common now

    I could see the death penalty as being more to consider back when jails were less secure. If someone is really dangerous with a potential for escape, you could make an argument that society depends on ensuring that a truly violent, dangerous person cannot have a chance on getting back out there. Now, though, jails are far more secure. The cost of keeping a person away from society is lower than the cost of appeals, reviews, etc. to put someone to death.

  • On the post: Restricting Flipper Is A Zero Accountability Approach To Security

    mac insand ( profile ), 05 Apr, 2024 @ 01:40pm

    THIS!!! JUST THIS!!! ABSOLUTE TRUTH!

    I have a Flipper Zero, and it has been a very handy tool. It's also motivated me to learn a little bit more about security; if it could crack its way into a car, is mine at risk from another owner? Nope. Some early keyfob cars are susceptible, but current electronic security is impressive (even if the keyfobs are grossly overpriced and take too much pocket space). Good security cards have similar protocols. Basically, if your devices, businesses, or vehicles are vulnerable to the Flipper, then you need to stop purchasing your security devices off of Wish.

  • On the post: Auto, Tech Industries Falsely Claim ‘Right To Repair’ Reforms Are A Threat To National Security

    mac insand ( profile ), 21 Mar, 2024 @ 07:40am

    wish list: a set of specifications for cars similar to those for the AR-15

    Too many use the rifle for evil, but many (most?) enjoy the ability to build and customize. Imagine what would happen if we had a specification that would allow us to get a frame from GM, an engine from Ford, and a transmission from Toyota to have them fit and work together. I don't think I'm the only person that would be in a rush to clear space in the garage and start the process. Furthermore, if such a set of specifications allowed for building without the trash "options", I wouldn't care if the end product actually cost a bit more. I would love to have a car without the center digital console, heated seats, cameras, etc. Regards

  • On the post: Once More With Feeling: Banning TikTok Doesn’t Do Much If We Don’t Regulate Data Brokers And Pass A Privacy Law

    mac insand ( profile ), 11 Mar, 2024 @ 08:29am

    Well color me offended!

    nitwits like Tommy Tuberville
    As someone that's been called a nitwit more than once, I'm disgusted at the insult of suggesting that my brainpower might be at a Tuberville low!

  • On the post: FTC Rightly Warns That Tech Companies Can’t Hide Behind Questionable Claims Of ‘Security’ To Block Interoperability

    mac insand ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2024 @ 05:11am

    Browser-specific sites

    Ten years or so ago, some websites would still only properly render on Windows' Internet Explorer. One executive and I were talking about how their devices would only connect through the internet if running Explorer, and he was very dismissive of customers that wanted other browsers for security reasons.

  • On the post: Well, That’s Everyone: Senator Wyden Letter Confirms The NSA Is Buying US Persons’ Data From Data Brokers

    mac insand ( profile ), 29 Jan, 2024 @ 11:26am

    bots to the rescue?

    Is this an issue that we could tackle with bots to create fake data about nonexistent actions from nonexistent people? Could bots help to restore privacy by diluting real data with noise?

  • On the post: HP CEO Makes Up A Whole Lot Of Bullshit To Defend Crippling Printers That Use Cheaper Ink

    mac insand ( profile ), 29 Jan, 2024 @ 10:30am

    HP's debasement is as extreme as it is sad

    HP used to be a name to respect. In school, I lusted after the HP-41CV calculators that I couldn't afford. They were built like a tank! The gas chromatograph that my school bought in the 1980s is still running. For the past few decades, they've redirected to a focus on consumer-grade crap. The HP-49 that I got in the '90s was an insult to the quality of the decade before, and HP has continued to sink. HP has become this decade's version of Packard Bell. If you're too young to remember the Packard Bell crap PCs, be grateful.

  • On the post: Freshman State Lawmaker Wants To Ban Porn In Oklahoma 

    mac insand ( profile ), 23 Jan, 2024 @ 01:06pm

    So Obscenity has no First Amendment Protection?

    1) Deevers' level of oppression is extremely offensive to me, so can we start abridging his speech? 2) We must not be too serious about stamping out 'offensive' when you can get pineapple on pizza in about any town. (I'M KIDDING!)

  • On the post: Carmakers Push Forward With Plans To Make Basic Features Subscription Services, Despite Widespread Backlash

    mac insand ( profile ), 05 Dec, 2023 @ 09:57am

    Do I understand correctly?

    So, TV prices have gone down as a result of selling our information that they gather (a $400 TV today beats the hell out of a $400 TV from the early '70s). However, auto manufacturers are making money selling our information while also looking for more.

  • On the post: If You Kill Two People In A Car Crash, You Shouldn’t Then Sue Their Relatives For Emailing Your University About What You Did

    mac insand ( profile ), 21 Nov, 2023 @ 05:11am

    Our auto problems start with our 'training'

    A big problem here in the US is that we don't take training as seriously as other countries. We effectively hand out licenses like Halloween candy.

  • On the post: The US Healthcare Scam Illustrated In The Impossibility Of Getting A Bill For Five Stitches

    mac insand ( profile ), 13 Nov, 2023 @ 01:14pm

    Insurance "Savings"

    The insurance gets crazy levels of discounts (95%) from hospitals and then makes it look like they paid the full amount.
    I found this out with respect to glasses. The last couple of times I've bought glasses, the initial price gave me sticker shock, but then the price dropped to merely being mildly obscene. The places told me that it was thanks to "your very good insurance." Yeah, right. The place my company uses is very convenient, but they don't take optical insurance. I needed a new prescription, I was in a bit of a rush, so I scheduled an exam there. It wasn't "free" the way my "insurance" lets me have "free" exams, but not bad. Then, I started looking at the glasses and decided to buy my own pair as well as getting the company-paid safety glasses. Overall, I spent less than half of what I spent at the places that take insurance.

  • On the post: Apples And Oranges: The US Patent And Trademark Office Combined Copyright And Trademark And Nothing Good Will Come Of That

    mac insand ( profile ), 10 Oct, 2023 @ 01:55pm

    Piracy and Economic Benefit

    10-12 years ago, there were regularly articles like this about Microsoft benefiting from piracy: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-apr-09-fi-micropiracy9-story.html#:~:text=Although%20the%20world's%20largest%20software,from%20free%20open%2Dsource%20programs.

  • On the post: Judge Tosses Donald Trump’s Half-Billion-Dollar Bogus ‘Big Lie’ Defamation Lawsuit Against CNN (While Whining About The Media & Internet)

    mac insand ( profile ), 04 Aug, 2023 @ 01:13pm

    So Trump is Upset to Have the Benefit of the Doubt

    Over 60 cases lost for lack of any real evidence, and Trump is upset over being called a liar. Wow! If he had any intelligence at all, he would be relieved that he wasn't rightfully being called the "Stupid Fool," and Trump hates to be reminded how stupid he is.

  • On the post: Judge Tosses Donald Trump’s Half-Billion-Dollar Bogus ‘Big Lie’ Defamation Lawsuit Against CNN (While Whining About The Media & Internet)

    mac insand ( profile ), 04 Aug, 2023 @ 01:11pm

    History versus Present Day

    That’s when he wrote “Mein Kampf”. It was afterwards that his career took off for real.
    What's that perfectly-fitting quote from Trump's ghostwriter? "He can't even read a book, much less write one."
    The saving grace is that Trump is too old to do the complete replay.
    I don't think an added lifetime would enable Trump to gather the discipline to become literate.

  • On the post: Preservation Fail: Hasbro Wants Old ‘Transformers’ Games Re-Released, Except Activision Might Have Lost Them

    mac insand ( profile ), 04 Aug, 2023 @ 08:59am

    What if we hadn't preserved Chess, playing cards, etc.?

    Granted, chessboards, playing cards, dice, etc. are far easier to recreate than a video game, but we would be so much culturally poorer without them. One problem is that the hardware and software that enable the games eventually getting in the way. I love the game Hack and the later games NetHack. However, the game that I used to play on MS-DOS in the late '80s will not play on Windows. The same is true with Dungeon Keeper, which is a great, silly game. Copyright made more sense for books and recordings* than for software, where the advance of technology is far, far faster. By the time interest in a game has faded, hardware and OS have also moved on. Backwards compatibility is no longer a consideration much of the time. We really need to shorten copyright for software and make the code available at the end of copyright to preserve this part of our culture. *Copyright made some amount of sense before Sonny Bono and Disney got involved.

  • On the post: Maryland’s Top Court Calls Bullshit On Ballistic Forensics

    mac insand ( profile ), 21 Jul, 2023 @ 05:06am

    Fingerprint reliability tests?

    Somewhere I read that studies on fingerprint reliability were forbidden, though I can't cite the source, so we can't say whether the article (or my memory) are reliable. HOWEVER, with the 'infallible' ballistics now being fallible, I'm wondering how dependable fingerprint analysis is.

  • On the post: In 303 Creative, By Happily Helping One Bigot, SCOTUS (Perhaps Inadvertently) Helped The Larger Fight Against Bigotry

    mac insand ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2023 @ 01:19pm

    In a perfect world...

    I would like for bigot-driven businesses to be open about it. In a perfect world, they'd be up-front about who they don't want to serve, and then most of us would do business with just about anyone else. I've got a feeling that too many would then go back to being quiet bigots, while too many of the customers would be apathetic.

  • On the post: Governor Newsom Desperately Begs NetChoice To Drop Its Lawsuit Over Unconstitutional AADC Bill

    mac insand ( profile ), 01 Jun, 2023 @ 01:49pm

    a commonsense red flag

    "Rather than join California in protecting our children, your association, which represents major tech companies including Google, Meta, TikTok, and Twitter, chose to sue over this commonsense law. "
    I've realized that "commonsense" is a word people pull out to demean opposing opinions. If you want to make an argument, use facts; don't passive-aggressively dump on anyone that might disagree with you.

  • On the post: Court To Donald Trump: Journalists Encouraging Someone To Break A Confidentiality Agreement Is Protected Speech

    mac insand ( profile ), 19 May, 2023 @ 01:07pm

    NDAs and limitations

    A quick look didn't turn up the NDA, but I would love to see it. Donald Trump has a habit of demanding NDA terms that make them very questionable. I've had to deal with a number of them over my career, in addition to having worked a number of attorneys to craft them. What has been consistent is that the enforceability of an NDA is inversely related to the breadth. A limited, well-defined NDA is not difficult to enforce, while a broad, barely-limited NDA is not enforceable. From what I have seen of the terms that Trump demands, the broad scopes and long time periods would make them a legal joke.

  • On the post: Automakers Are Making Basic Car Functions A Costly Subscription Service… Whether You Like It Or Not

    mac insand ( profile ), 18 May, 2023 @ 07:18am

    Fed Up with Fru-Fru Anyway

    A few years ago, I bought what will either be my last vehicle or my last non-vintage vehicle. All of the added crap is just more stuff to break and more distraction from driving. If I have to get another car, I'll go to one of the consignment shops where car restorers sell to fun their next restoration projects.

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