Travis Miller 's BestNetTech Comments

Latest Comments (47)

• On the post: Rick Reilly's Advice To Journalism Students: Please Don't Compete With Me And Undercut My Salary

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 06 May, 2011 @ 04:15pm

  Re: Strippers

  Dang it. Apparently we had the same thought, but it takes me way too long to type on the PS3's on-screen keyboard. (Must pick up batteries for wireless keyboard tonight.)

• On the post: Rick Reilly's Advice To Journalism Students: Please Don't Compete With Me And Undercut My Salary

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 06 May, 2011 @ 03:48pm

  Stripper tips

  At some clubs, the strippers PAY the club for the right to dance. They give customers a "reason to buy" through paying more attention to better tippers and the general understanding that without tips these people won't continue stripping.

• On the post: When Will We Have To Grant Artificial Intelligence Personhood?

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 19 Mar, 2011 @ 01:32am

  so old

  You know how I know I'm old? The appositive explaining what Skynet is seemed totally unnecessary to me ...

• On the post: Walmart Employees Fired For Disarming Gun-Toting Robber

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 18 Feb, 2011 @ 01:34am

  old news

  While I agree it is stupid, hasn't this story been around every year just with different companies?

• On the post: FiveFingers Blocks Right Finger — Just Asking For Middle One

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 02 Feb, 2011 @ 04:20pm

  Re:

  I could right-click by default, thanks to NoScript.

• On the post: DailyDirt: Medical Curiosities

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 31 Dec, 2010 @ 11:10am

  Misleading link title

  The line about "blood type was changed after receiving a bone marrow transplant" is very misleading. It actually makes the article sound stupid, because it is no big deal for this to occur. The big deal is that it happened with a LIVER transplant.

• On the post: US Copyright Czar: Expect More Domain Censorship

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 07 Dec, 2010 @ 02:53am

  Re: Re: Censorship is not copyright, they both start with C but after that they are different

  Mike, it's really semantics, but copyright is kind of a form of censorship (arguably). For the sake of more clearly making your point, I would suggest better adjectives. Instead of labeling this as "blatant" censorship, I would suggest using the words "unreasonable", "unacceptable", "unconstitutional", etc.
  
  Not every time, but just here and there to clarify that some censorship (i.e. restriction) is okay, but this is not. I understand language, and how it is common to use "censorship" to mean specifically the bad kind of restriction, but it isn't universal. Using these other words could drive your point home more effectively.
  
  Personally, however, I find it quite simple to understand the difference between SPECIFIC censorship (which can be constitutional) and the BROAD censorship in question here (which is clearly unconstitutional).

• On the post: US Has Lost All Moral High Ground On Internet Censorship

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 04 Dec, 2010 @ 07:54am

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Censorship + no due process

  Again, the point is that it is censorship either way. What you are arguing is whether or not it is reasonable censorship.

• On the post: US Has Lost All Moral High Ground On Internet Censorship

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 04 Dec, 2010 @ 07:48am

  Re: Re:

  It's not stupid if you understand it. You are censored from freely yelling "FIRE" in the theater if you know there is none. But the censorship is reasonable and legal.

• On the post: US Has Lost All Moral High Ground On Internet Censorship

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 04 Dec, 2010 @ 07:41am

  Re: Re: What words mean

  Again, you are wrong. The government can censor you from falsely yelling "FIRE" in a crowded theater, it can censor you from displaying child porn, it can censor you from distributing copyrighted material, etc.
  
  Freedom of speech and expression goes far here, but it is not - nor should it be - absolute.

• On the post: TSA Told To Tell Children That Groping Them Is A Game… Horrifying Sex Abuse Experts

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 03 Dec, 2010 @ 09:36am

  Re:

  No, railways are next. This past July USA TODAY reported "TSA chief John Pistole to put priority on rail, subways".

• On the post: US Has Lost All Moral High Ground On Internet Censorship

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 03 Dec, 2010 @ 09:13am

  What words mean

  I'm reminded of how someone once flipped out on me when I said they needed to provide a good reason to discriminate against same-sex marriage - he snapped at me for "calling [him] a bigot". I had to point out to him that discrimination is discrimination, but we accept it if there is a good reason for it. You're not a "bigot" for discriminating against children getting married, but it's still discrimination.
  
  Same thing with "censorship" here. As you say, "plain and simple", it is being done. That isn't up for debate. The debate is whether or not it is acceptable.

• On the post: Oddities: Apple Doesn't Use DMCA Safe Harbors In Response To iBird Copyright Lawsuit

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 01 Dec, 2010 @ 01:44am

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  I swear this has come up here before with a different company, doing basic moderation but not losing their safe harbor protection. I can't figure out what to search for to find it, however.

• On the post: Wait, Can Anyone Explain Why Google Should Promote Other Search Engines?

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 01 Dec, 2010 @ 01:31am

  Success vs. monopoly

  This is actually a three stage distinction in my book:
  
  1. Market dominance (e.g. Google)
  
  2. Dominant market CONTROL (e.g. Microsoft)
  
  3. ABUSE of that dominant control (i.e. anti-trust issues)
  
  So, in my opinion, Google is not a monopoly (though any size company can still act anti-competitively in an illegal manner). Microsoft is a monopoly (more or less), but that doesn't matter until they abuse that position.

• On the post: FBI Celebrates That It Prevented FBI's Own Bomb Plot

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 30 Nov, 2010 @ 12:24pm

  funding

  The FBI also refused to let him fly to Alaska for a fishing job a friend had gotten for him, then funneled him money to do this.
  
  They wouldn't let him fish for a living, because they wanted to make him a terrorist. (Not that this excuses his actions at all.)

• On the post: FBI Celebrates That It Prevented FBI's Own Bomb Plot

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 30 Nov, 2010 @ 10:52am

  1993 WTC bombing

  At least they stopped this one. The FBI knowingly allowed the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

• On the post: French Author Plagiarizes Wikipedia; Does That Mean His Entire Book Is Now CC Licensed?

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 29 Nov, 2010 @ 10:44am

  Turnitin

  You know the database at turnitin.com must have all kinds of these unattributed Wikipedia quotes in its papers. Heck, I wonder how often students are accused of plagiarism by them just for quoting the same wiki article as someone else.
  
  Seems to me that they need to open up their database or their business is illegal.
  
  ;)

• On the post: Looking At The Details Of The Released Leaked ACTA Draft

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 18 Jul, 2010 @ 07:08pm

  "lock in"

  I would consider any "lock in" of existing US [case] law as a "change" to the law. It is important to not mice words in issues like this. Call it as it is: it may not change laws, but it CALLS for CHANGES in the law.

• On the post: FCC Ignores Criticism Over Lack Of Transparency; Negotiates Net Neutrality Behind Closed Doors With Industry Execs

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 18 Jul, 2010 @ 07:00pm

  Deep packet inspection

  Privacy law outlawing deep packet inspection. How is everyone NOT a winner in that situation?

• On the post: Newspaper Publishes Totally Made Up List Of 'Disorders' Associated With Text Messaging

  

  Travis Miller ( profile ), 02 Jul, 2010 @ 01:53pm

  Re: textaphrenia

  Please stop. Schizophrenia is NOT dissociative identity disorder. It involves hallucinations and delusions, NOT the switching between two or more self-entities.

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