Internet Zen Master 's BestNetTech Comments

Latest Comments (461) comment rss

  • On the post: Creepypasta Feels Compelled To State That Its Stories Are Fiction & It's Not A Satanic Cult; Thanks Everyone…

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 04 Jun, 2014 @ 04:43pm

    Speaking as a Writer/Artist in the Creepypasta community

    We've been a little on edge the last few days because of this whole shitstorm. A huge chunk of the community is worried we'll all get demonized as satanic cultists or crazed, child-manipulating psychopaths by the media because of this. Personally I'm more worried about the younger writers getting their budding talent squashed by ignorant parents seeing them posting stories to creepypasta websites and going into moral panic made

    There's currently a collaborative fundraiser in the works by several of the more active members of the community to help pay for the victim's medical bills (how they plan to get the money to the victim's family, I don't know, especially given how unorganized this community is).

  • On the post: Everyone Go Crazy: Prepare To Blame The Internet For Murder-Inducing Ghost Stories

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 03 Jun, 2014 @ 02:49pm

    Re: Re: Maybe...

    They actually made a 'sequel' to that game called Slender: The Arrival [sequel in quotes because The Eight Pages is pretty much the layout for one of the levels in the game].

    There's a few other Slenderman based games floating around out there on the web, but 'Eight Pages' and 'The Arrival' are the two big ones as far as I know.

    As for what happens when you collect all 8 pages, well, I won't spoil it for everyone. You'll just have to play the game yourselves...

  • On the post: Everyone Go Crazy: Prepare To Blame The Internet For Murder-Inducing Ghost Stories

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 03 Jun, 2014 @ 02:37pm

    It's not just Slenderman they're attacking

    The Fox News article that's generated the most buzz also targeted the whole Creepypasta phenomenon in general, specifically calling out creepypasta.com [where the ringleader of this insanity allegedly read the pasta's about Slenderman]. The site (and the Creepypasta wiki) are almost ready to collapse under the massive surge of traffic directed at the site.

    Speaking as an active writer/artist of the Creepypasta community (least on dA), the general reaction to this incident has been a mixture of "OH COME ON! YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!", "We need to try and deflect the negative press asap, or else we'll all end up demonized as evil child-manipulating cultists by the media", and "We need to make a collective gesture of goodwill to the girl who was stabbed."

    *sigh*

    This is why we can't have nice things.

  • On the post: NBC Confirms That Snowden Did Try To Raise Concerns Internally Before Going To Journalists

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 29 May, 2014 @ 10:58am

    Re: Re: Re:

    The beautiful thing about it is, regardless of whether or not Snowden's a spy (he's not as far as I'm concerned), the USGov can't come out and say he's lying because they lost all credibility after maintaining 'the NSA does not spy on Americans. Everything we're doing is constitutional' mantra despite the fact that they've been exposed as bold-faced, lying sacks of shit for almost a year now.

    Plus confirming he is a spy of that caliber would just draw more attention to the NSA/CIA's operations/recruitment/training methods, which is the last thing the CIA wants to happen (they're probably one of the more competent/effective 3-letter agencies in the US government).

  • On the post: NBC Confirms That Snowden Did Try To Raise Concerns Internally Before Going To Journalists

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 29 May, 2014 @ 10:37am

    Re: Re: Re:

    ...checks to make sure Huh, it is part of CBS. I guess 3-letter networks just started blurring together after awhile for me.

    Still, it doesn't take away from the fact that both networks pretty much took everything their subjects (Snowden for NBC, the NSA for CBS) said as gospel truth and regurgitated it back to the public, and didn't call them out on the absolute propaganda (the entire 60 Min. episode) or a few seemingly bs statements (Snowden's "I'm a spy!" line).

  • On the post: NBC Confirms That Snowden Did Try To Raise Concerns Internally Before Going To Journalists

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 29 May, 2014 @ 10:14am

    Re:

    I'd say the opposite, considering NBC didn't call Snowden on his 'I'm not just a hacker, I'm a spy' line of bs, and took him at his word on it.

    First rule of spy club: DON'T TALK ABOUT SPY CLUB!

    Hacker, leaker, whistleblower, idealistic patriot? Yes. But super-spy, Snowden is not.

    Of course, this is the same network which gobbled up all bs statements from the NSA in that 60 Minutes 'special' a few months back and only gave softball questions in response. They did the same thing for Snowden, so if anything NBC seems equally gullible for all its interview subjects.

    That being said, kudos to Brian Williams and his staff for actually going the distance in order to get that face-to-face interview with Snowden.

    Still, whatever happened to interviews with hard-hitting questions and journalists determined to get the truth out of their subjects? Did that method of journalism die out when I wasn't paying attention?

  • On the post: City Of London Police Keep Shutting Down Websites With No Court Order

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 27 May, 2014 @ 02:16pm

    Spread the word

    Someone needs to spread the word to other registrars that unless the police have a court order, they shouldn't shut down the sites because it goes against ICANN policies, regardless of how official the law enforcement looks.

    Bending to the whims of a pack of technological dinosaurs who despise the technology [the Internet] your very business model relies on is bad for business in the long run.

  • On the post: Georgia To Protect Execution Pharmacists From Transparency So They Can Execute Disabled Man

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 21 May, 2014 @ 01:49pm

    Re: Re:

    Because apparently a bullet to the back of the head qualifies as cruel and unusual. That and there's this idea that we shouldn't put the executioner through such a traumatic experience of executing someone up close and personal via bullet to the skull.

    Although execution via bullet would be a hell of a lot cheaper than lethal injection (it's not like America's short on ammunition, after all). Plus there'd be no hassle trying to acquire the right drugs to make the 'most humane' killer cocktail either.

  • On the post: Pedophile, Embarrassed Politician And Disliked Doctor Kick Off Attempts To Delete Their Histories From Google

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 16 May, 2014 @ 10:53am

    Well that didn't take long

    It hasn't even been a week since the ruling.

    Ex-politician wanting links to articles about his activities in office removed? Screw you buddy, you're a public figure, you don't get that luxury.

    Man convicted of having child porn wants links about his conviction taken down? You're a sex offender dirtbag, you lost any "right-to-be-forgotten" a long time ago.

    As for the doctor? No. Just... no.

  • On the post: New Hampshire Man With 'COPSLIE' License Plate Wins Free Speech Battle, Lifetime Of Police Harassment

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 15 May, 2014 @ 04:41pm

    Re:

    Pretty sure the second option would definitely get you pulled over a lot...

    Of course, this assumes most cops know what the phrase 'loli' means to a huge chunk of the net...

  • On the post: Lobbyists (And, Oh Yes, Everyone Else), Start Your Engines: FCC Opens The Floor For Comments On Net Neutrality

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 15 May, 2014 @ 02:57pm

    Re: Re: Nationalize the Last Mile

    Better yet, make sure the revenue generated is used to actually maintain/update the infrastructure. And by maintain/update I mean regularly scheduled maintenance, not this 'procrastinate about fixing the problem until the shit hits the fan' mentality some ISPs seem to have.

    Most major ISPs need to quit focusing on quarterly profits and figuring out new ways to screw over their customers(Comcast) and actually do their jobs properly.

  • On the post: Goldieblox Agreed To Pay Charity $1 Million For Using Beastie Boys' Girls

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 12 May, 2014 @ 10:16am

    Re: Re: Fair Use Consideration

    Thing is, suing first instead of trying to work things out without dragging the courts into this was, well, a dick move by GoldieBlox, regardless of the song's fair use status.

  • On the post: Government Presents Its Arguments For Warrantless Cellphone Searches, Thinks Officer Discretion Will Prevent Abuse

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 30 Apr, 2014 @ 11:53am

    Re: Re: Re: Re:

    Anything beyond the phone being on, screen being on, and incriminating evidence actually being displayed on it without the officer touching it seems like a situation needing a warrant to me.

    Honestly, I came to that conclusion myself. I mean, it falls under the basic "nothing criminal in plain view=no probable cause=warrant required" logic cops are supposed to adhere to.

    The problem is it's hard to enforce rules like that for phones as opposed to say, houses or filing cabinets (the other go-to for physical comparisons with smartphone data).

  • On the post: FCC's Wheeler Says That If These Lame Net Neutrality Rules Don't Work, He'll Implement The Real Rules Next Time

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 30 Apr, 2014 @ 11:38am

    Re: Re:

    Where is that sad but true button when you need it?

    Seriously, the USA's greatest regulator in history, Theodore Roosevelt, would be outraged if he saw what was going on with the cable industry today.

    Pity there aren't many politicians/officials like him these days.

  • On the post: Government Presents Its Arguments For Warrantless Cellphone Searches, Thinks Officer Discretion Will Prevent Abuse

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 30 Apr, 2014 @ 10:46am

    Re: Re:

    Theoretically speaking, the requirement to swipe would be the digital equivalent to having your front door closed when the cops show up. If there's nothing incriminating in plain sight, cops have no probable cause for a warrantless search, so they need to get a warrant for searching the phone.

    Unlocked phones are a bit trickier. That said, I'd be surprised if you could find someone with a smartphone that didn't have at least a slide lock, since started showing up all the way back to 2009-2010.

  • On the post: Government Presents Its Arguments For Warrantless Cellphone Searches, Thinks Officer Discretion Will Prevent Abuse

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 30 Apr, 2014 @ 09:46am

    Was reading over at Ars that apparently Chief Justice Roberts was hoping to find some sort of "middle-ground" between 'get a warrant' and 'don't need one'.

    Problem with that logic is: there is no middle ground on this. If a cop arrests you and your cellphone's locked, then they need to get a warrant, period, full stop, end of story.

    So the good news that I'm seeing is at least 3 of the Supremes are skeptical of the government's argument/in the 'get a warrant' camp. The bad news is you have indecisive justices like Roberts trying to go both ways. And given how the USSC's been ruling lately, I'm not exactly feeling optimistic right now.

  • On the post: DOJ Is Still Investigating Wikileaks

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 30 Apr, 2014 @ 09:34am

    Not too surprising

    Considering the DOJ is headed by Eric Holder, one of the most incompetent, corrupt US attorney generals in recent history. For example:
    -Didn't go after the banks
    -Still hasn't gone after Clapper for lying to Congress
    -Didn't do much of anything about Fast & Furious
    -Having the DOJ represent the government on the side of the broadcasting companies in the Aereo case currently in front of the Supreme court (seriously, wtf is the government doing involved in a battle between corporations?)
    -Eagerly went after Megaupload at Hollywood's request, which blew up in their face in amazing fashion. On top of that, Holder's DOJ has been trying to prevent Dotcom's legal team from seeing the evidence against their client/access to MU's servers, and wants to let Carpathia erase the data now that the DOJ doesn't need it (tampering with evidence).

    And that's just off the top of my head. The fact that the DOJ's still investigating Wikileaks despite already admitting they have no case doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

  • On the post: Brazil Passed On Boeing For $4.5 Billion Fighter Jet Deal Because Of Concerns Over NSA Surveillance

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 29 Apr, 2014 @ 04:31pm

    Re: Re: Only the Senators from Washington State will care

    Boeing is headquartered in Chicago now and Boeing is doing everything it can to move it's dependency out of Washington state to non-union locations.


    I believe the corporate-speak you're looking for is "diversifying one's assets".

    Yeah, speaking as someone from Washington state and living in an area where a lot a people work at Boeing (pretty much the western half of the state), the whole relocation to Chicago headquarters was rather... irritating. I mean, you move out of your figurative ancestral homeland to Corruption Capital, USA? What the hell were they thinking?!

    But yes, the Senators from all the states Boeing operates in (Washington, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, California, Alabama, South Carolina, D.C., Florida... and that's off the top of my head. Probably a few more somewhere) will probably care (or at least pay lipservice) to what just happened.

    Just another thing to put the NSA's feet to the flame over I suppose.

  • On the post: Russia Orders Bloggers To 'Register'; Outlaws Anonymous Blogging, Continues Clampdown On Social Media

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 24 Apr, 2014 @ 10:34am

    Re: Re: The "west" can still criticize

    "Mr. President, we must not allow a censorship gap!"

  • On the post: James Clapper Giving Speeches To Students, Begging Them To Stop Thinking Of Ed Snowden As A Hero

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 21 Apr, 2014 @ 01:12pm

    Clapper you moron

    If you're trying to discredit Snowden, just stop. People don't believe you, and every time you talk about Snowden makes people side with him more, even after the whole 'getting Putin on record about Russian surveillance' incident from last week.

    Hell, given Snowden's strong idealism, he's more likely to discredit himself by accident than if the NSA's former boss goes around telling millennials to stop treating him like a hero and try to turn public opinion against the whistleblower.

Next >>