Arthur 's BestNetTech Comments

Latest Comments (94) comment rss

  • On the post: India's Government Looking At Mandating Backdoors In Encryption

    Arthur ( profile ), 21 Sep, 2015 @ 01:23pm

    Wait for it

    Aaaannd...
    India drops off the Internet.

  • On the post: Police Militarization, Citizen Journalism And The Suppression Of Free Speech: The Ferguson Fiasco Highlights Systemic Problem

    Arthur ( profile ), 14 Aug, 2014 @ 11:56am

    Who is the enemy?

    Dear police:
    The United States is "of the people, by the people and for the people". When you make us, the people of this country, your enemy you make yourself, by definition, an enemy of the United States.

    And this is not just true by definition, this is true in fact. You are the enemy of what the United States was and is supposed to still be: The land of the free.

  • On the post: Amtrak Thinks 'Sharing' Your Photo Means Giving Up Any And All Rights In Perpetuity

    Arthur ( profile ), 05 Aug, 2014 @ 09:35am

    Amtrak app

    I was interested in using Amtrak for some travel and thought I'd download their app for schedules, tickets, etc.

    I started to install and read their required access and permissions - and immediately cancelled the download! They wanted permissions for extensive control of my phone - including, get this, permission to send messages to all my contacts in my name without my approval!

  • On the post: Chilling Effects: Climate Change Deniers Have Scientific Paper Disappeared

    Arthur ( profile ), 09 May, 2014 @ 11:53am

    Re: Good Grief!!!

    Actually, the discussion wasn't about science, it was about the evil "deniers" who used "legal threats" to get a "climate change research paper" suppressed.

    Except that there were no legal threats and the paper wasn't about "climate change".

    But, hey, who cares about accuracy?

  • On the post: Chilling Effects: Climate Change Deniers Have Scientific Paper Disappeared

    Arthur ( profile ), 09 May, 2014 @ 11:46am

    Re: Re: "Deniers"?

    "There's a lot of people denying exactly that."

    Really? Who? Name some names.

    Oh, wait, you're just talking about all your "denier" strawmen, not real, people who are actually talking about "climate change". Good one.

  • On the post: The Stupidity Of Installing Bloatware That No One Uses… And Everyone Hates

    Arthur ( profile ), 24 Apr, 2014 @ 08:22am

    Not just Samsung, not just phones

    I'm not sure why you seem to think that only Samsung and only Samsung phones have bloatware. This has been going on since the earliest days of the PC. Bloatware appears on phones, PCs, tablets, you name it.

  • On the post: Chilling Effects: Climate Change Deniers Have Scientific Paper Disappeared

    Arthur ( profile ), 06 Apr, 2014 @ 11:30am

    Statement from Frontiers in Psychology blog

    In part it says:

    Frontiers conducted a careful and objective investigation of these complaints. Frontiers did not ?cave in to threats?; in fact, Frontiers received no threats. The many months between publication and retraction should highlight the thoroughness and seriousness of the entire process.

    As a result of its investigation, which was carried out in respect of academic, ethical and legal factors, Frontiers came to the conclusion that it could not continue to carry the paper, which does not sufficiently protect the rights of the studied subjects.

    Did you note the part where "Frontiers received no threats"?

    I think a bit more investigation was warranted before making such inflammatory accusations. Unfortunately, when something touches the highly volatile subject of "Climate Change", good judgement seems to be lacking in many cases.

  • On the post: Chilling Effects: Climate Change Deniers Have Scientific Paper Disappeared

    Arthur ( profile ), 05 Apr, 2014 @ 10:36am

    "Deniers"?

    I don't understand why you call those who question predictions of global catastrophe "deniers".

    No sensible person on either side "denies" that the world is warmer than it was 20 years ago. No denial there.

    No sensible skeptic denies that the climate is "changing". It always has. No denial there.

    No sensible person denies that there has been no significant warming for the last 15 years. That's just established fact. No denial.

    One can't "deny" future predictions. They haven't happened yet. You can doubt the predictions or believe the predictions but you can't "deny" predictions.

    So what do you think is being denied? I don't see "denial".

  • On the post: Google's Fight Against Distracted Driving Laws Might Not Be A Bad Thing For The Inevitable, Glorious Transhumanist Future

    Arthur ( profile ), 26 Feb, 2014 @ 05:31pm

    Minority Report

    Basically, this is attempting to stop an accident by looking for what could contribute to an accident. People who have not been distracted and have not been driving badly are going to be made "guilty" because someone, somewhere using similar devices has been distracted.

    Good old pre-crime. You haven't done anything to harm anyone but ... you are guilty, here's your ticket.

  • On the post: Reddit Mods Bury Glenn Greenwald's Story On GCHQ/NSA Use Of Internet To 'Destroy Reputations'

    Arthur ( profile ), 26 Feb, 2014 @ 04:10pm

    "Reddit is going to start heading down the path of Digg".

    "Going to start"? Reddit is a long way down that path.

  • On the post: Time To Rethink Democracy In A Digital Age

    Arthur ( profile ), 20 Dec, 2013 @ 08:18am

    On-line voting?

    I'm sorry but, with today's voters being lied to, PR'd, manipulated and most politicians promising one thing and then doing whatever money has dictated they do, I don't think our problems are going to be solved by making voting faster and more prone to manipulation.

    What we really need is better informed voters, and more transparency in government.

    We don't need a mechanism to enable more ignorant people to vote on spur-of-the-moment-I-just-read-about-this-on-the-Internet whims.

  • On the post: Former NSA Boss: Mass Surveillance Is Very Important, But Perhaps NSA Should Stop Lying About It

    Arthur ( profile ), 03 Sep, 2013 @ 06:46am

    Distrusting the government is good!

    This nation was founded on the principle that you cannot trust the government. That's what the Bill of Rights was all about.

    The unending attacks on the Bill of Rights only proves that the Founders knew exactly what they were doing.

  • On the post: UK Home Office Says Miranda's Detention 'Fully Justified,' Attacks Press And Public For Condoning Snowden's Leaks

    Arthur ( profile ), 20 Aug, 2013 @ 12:39pm

    Now we know ...

    If it wasn't clear before, now we know that, in the government's view, they are at war with us. We are the enemy they are fighting.

    Now we know.

  • On the post: British Library Network Blocks 'Hamlet' For 'Violent Content'

    Arthur ( profile ), 12 Aug, 2013 @ 11:50am

    Sad times

    There was a time when libraries were at the forefront in the fight against censorship. Have they given up?

  • On the post: Feds Say It's Classified Info To Say Who We're At War With

    Arthur ( profile ), 29 Jul, 2013 @ 09:49am

    Hang on!

    Isn't Congress the only government entity that is authorized by the Constitution to declare who we are "at war" with?

    Since when can just any governmental department "declare war"?

  • On the post: How Much Does It Cost To Win Election To Congress?

    Arthur ( profile ), 14 Mar, 2013 @ 11:00am

    The word you are looking for is ...

    Venal - Showing or motivated by susceptibility to bribery: "venal politicians".

  • On the post: Do We Really Want EU Bureaucrats Deciding What Google Search Results 'Should' Look Like?

    Arthur ( profile ), 12 Jan, 2013 @ 11:17am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Guilty until competitors are "convinced"

    and why would Google want to keep their search biases secret if they had nothing to hide ?
    Ah! The irony! Posting this ridiculous question ... anonymously!!!

    If you have "nothing to hide", why are you posting anonymously? LOL!

  • On the post: Do We Really Want EU Bureaucrats Deciding What Google Search Results 'Should' Look Like?

    Arthur ( profile ), 11 Jan, 2013 @ 03:33pm

    Guilty until competitors are "convinced"

    A response from the commissioner is understood to be imminent, after Almunia?s office told Google in mid-December that it must convince its rivals that it competes fairly in the web search market or else it could ? within months ? face sanctions for alleged ?abuse of dominance.
    Apparently, Google isn't expected to prove they haven't broken any laws. Apparently the EU demands they "convince its rivals that it competes fairly."

    Google: "Gee Microsoft, what would it take to convince you that we compete fairly?"
    Microsoft: "Die! Google! Die!"
    EU: "You didn't 'play fair' and die, Google, it looks like we'll have to sanction you."

  • On the post: Contractors Lining Up Against Free Speech

    Arthur ( profile ), 10 Jan, 2013 @ 02:50pm

    Re: Re: Happened to me

    Well, it was a bit more complex - with Angie's List being part of the problem. There are some battles that aren't worth it.

  • On the post: Contractors Lining Up Against Free Speech

    Arthur ( profile ), 10 Jan, 2013 @ 01:42pm

    Happened to me

    I had an absolutely horrible experience with a contractor. I wrote up the experience on Angie's List.

    I was hounded and hounded by the contractor who finally took me to small claims court. Warning others via Angie's List is just not worth the harassment. I just told Angie's List to remove my comment and I don't use Angie's List any more.

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