Cody Jackson 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: TSA Insists That It Doesn't Pick Hot Women Out For Extra Scrutiny

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 16 Feb, 2012 @ 05:23pm

    Re:

    "A majority of TSA screeners are Veterans and have college degrees or are working on college degrees..."

    Proof? Just because you say it doesn't make it true, unless there is evidence to back it up.

    "...TSA uses the latest technology to adapt and keep up with the threat."

    Yet, they are always looking at the last "threat", not being proactive and using the advice of non-government security experts to anticipate future threats.

    "You can complain all you want but there hasn't been another 9/11 since TSA has taken over security at the airports."

    Yes, but correlation does not mean causation. Just because the TSA is in charge of security doesn't mean it is solely responsible for preventing another 9/11. If you consider the shoe bomber and others, airport security didn't stop them from getting on the plane. It was the passengers that prevented them from doing any damage. Personally, I think the reason another 9/11 hasn't happened is because passengers are more inclined to deal with threats themselves nowadays, not increased airport security.

    Finally, if a terrorist really wanted to make a statement, he would be better off targetting the security chokepoints rather than the airplane itself. That would shutdown the entire airport, and possibly surrounding area, rather than taking out a single plane. And it would show that the security theater from the government is ineffective at protecting people.

  • On the post: Why Johnny Can't Read Any New Public Domain Books In The US: Because Nothing New Entered The Public Domain

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 03 Jan, 2012 @ 02:31pm

    Re: And this is why...

    +1. Regardless of what copyright maximalists, lawyers, and legislators want to believe, the reality is that all of these works are either now, or soon will be, available to the public on the Internet.

    However, as I understand it, no one can _make use_ of these items in a commercial, and often non-commercial, way. So while the public may be able to read/watch/listen to these works, they can't use them to make new works.

    But my question is, if other countries have allowed them to become public domain, they can make new works from them, right?

    Ah, that is why the US is trying to get every other country to have the same copyright extensions the US has. It's also why, whenever one country extends its copyright, others are brought along so everyone "plays fair".

    Got it!

  • On the post: Hint: If You Commit A Crime, Do Not Google Every Aspect Of It Afterwards

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 20 Oct, 2011 @ 04:36pm

    LiveCDs

    For the truly paranoid (or just serious privacy-minded), simply use a LiveCD version of an OS and boot from that. Everything is kept in RAM so once you exit the computer, nothing is left behind. As long as you aren't logging into search engines, you are just another person on the 'net. If you really want to be safe, use TOR and encryption during your surfing.

    I remember reading a book in the Shadowrun RPG that was a neat suggestion, for rich people. Have your computer memory (RAM, ROM, etc.) put on EPROM chips and do your work in a dark room. Replace the lights with UV lights. When someone busts down your door and turns on the lights, the UV rays automatically erase the chips and there goes any evidence of wrong-doing. :) (Impractical, but an interesting thought.)

  • On the post: US Postal Service Sends Postage Due Bill To Guy Who Put Block Party Invites Into Neighbors' Mailboxes

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 16 Oct, 2011 @ 10:31pm

    Re: Re: FPO/APO

    Okay, but as you said, not every company has to follow the customs process. So either the Post Office can make the rules Amazon follows apply to everyone else or at least streamline the customs process so companies won't be reluctant to send overseas.

  • On the post: US Postal Service Sends Postage Due Bill To Guy Who Put Block Party Invites Into Neighbors' Mailboxes

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 16 Oct, 2011 @ 04:12pm

    FPO/APO

    If the USPS wants to make money, and maintain relevance, make it easier for companies to send packages to military overseas.

    I can't tell you the number of times I have tried to order something online and receive a response that, because my address is FPO (Navy overseas), I am unable to receive the package via the Postal Service. I can spend the extra money for UPS or FedEx, if that option is available.

    I don't know how the FPO/APO rules are set up, but apparently they must be strict (and stupid) because it is no different sending mail to military overseas than sending it to someone in the States, yet a lot of companies refuse to use it.

  • On the post: Does Google Have What It Takes To Be A Platform, Rather Than A Product, Company?

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 13 Oct, 2011 @ 04:30pm

    Fail

    I noticed this a while back, when I wanted to incorporate the "Send to" feature of Google Reader with Google+. In the settings, there are many different social media sites available, except Google+. Sure, you can attempt to configure it manually, but it's a Google product. I shouldn't have to.

    If Google can't even get it's own products communicating with each other, its relevance in the world will decline. Sure, Gmail is awesome and I use Google Reader every day, but other companies will pass them by.

    Google can make great products, but the company seems to forget that we live in an interconnected age now. Like Sun used to advertise, "The network is the computer." If Google's products can't communicate with each other, and they don't provide the tools for others to do the work for them, then Google fails. Now is the time to start looking for the next Google.

  • On the post: Pretty Much Everything Related To You And Facebook Is Recorded In Your Facebook Permanent Record

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2011 @ 04:55pm

    Minimal FB user

    I have an FB account but I rarely use it. I mostly have it just to find old high school friends and for networking purposes. Of course, with LinkedIn, Google+, et al., there is little need to have an FB account for networking.

    I guess the big question is: what is FB doing with all this data? Selling it, using it for data mining, improving the user experience? I can't help but think that there is a sinister, ulterior motive for keeping deleted items.

    Best practice is to simply anticipate that FB and other sites are a "permanent record", except that most of the information is what you provide. Thus, think twice about what you post and question if there's a possibility for it to come back and haunt you.

  • On the post: Dutch Journalist In Legal Trouble For Showing How New Transit Card Is Easy To Defraud

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 02 Aug, 2011 @ 08:38pm

    Wikileaks FTW!

    It's this type of censoring that Wikileaks et al. are highly prized. If someone can't report the truth, or material that others are scared about, then at least post it anonymously.

    On a related note, if someone is scared about repurcussions and writes a book under a psuedonym, can that person be charged? Is an anonymous book considered plausible deniability?

  • On the post: The Ridiculous Demands The Record Labels Want For Music Lockers

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 01 May, 2011 @ 04:19pm

    Re:

    With the number of available streaming software tools available, there is very little need to use a music locker, especially one you have to pay for.

    Heck, even the Opera web browser has built-in streaming capabilities. And I believe there are even iPod-radios on the market that allow streaming.

  • On the post: Lawyers For Guantanamo Detainees Not Allowed To Look At Important Leaked Evidence

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 27 Apr, 2011 @ 05:17pm

    Re: Even corporations get this

    Unfortunately, the government has created a buearacracy (sp?) out of classified material. There are whole organizations whose sole purpose is to create classification policies.

    When they have that much invested, people are not willing to face reality. Obviously, if the information is leaked elsewhere, there is no justification for it to remain classified. But the paperwork required to get a security clearance for the government explicitly states that any classified information the individual has access to remains classified until official declassified.

    A Navy message was sent out telling everyone that we could not access Wikileaks using government computers on the unclassified network because it would be considered a "spill" (unauthorized release of classified material). Everyone laughed, but it isn't worth losing your security clearance and facing prosecution to violate a government NDA.

  • On the post: TSA Gropes 6-Year Old Girl: Says It's Okay Since It Followed Standard Operating Procedure

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 17 Apr, 2011 @ 04:18pm

    It could have been worse

    Honestly, I didn't see anything wrong with the pat-down, per se. It looked like a standard pat-down that is done all the time on adults.

    My only complaint is that, based on the pat-down procedures I learned as part of private investigation training, the back of the hand should be used. This is to prevent accusations of inappropriate contact and to protect the inspector's hands in case something dangerous, e.g. fishhooks in a seam, are found.

    That all being said, I do think it is inappropriate to pat-down children. Well, I think the pat-downs are stupid period but doing it to children could conceivably be traumatizing, especially if they equate it to being under arrest or some similar situation.

    Although, it does give children a good argument when "playing doctor": I was only giving a pat-down, Mom, honest! (Do kids play doctor anymore?)

  • On the post: Digitizing Your Own Books Becoming Popular In Japan

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 25 Aug, 2010 @ 04:49pm

    Why I want a Kindle

    This is the exact reason why I want a Kindle. I have many books that my wife has been telling me to go through every time we move. I have tossed many books that I would have liked to keep but simply couldn't justify keeping. (I'm in the military so we move often).

    Now that Kindle prices have dropped to under $200, I plan on buying one and scanning the books I currently own but don't want the physical book to carry around.

    There are some books that simply work better in the dead-tree format but other books would work just as well in electronic form.

    That way, I can have all my books but only move the ones I want to.

  • On the post: Do People Really Think Best Buy's Retread Of CinemaNow Will Eat Into Netflix And Blockbuster?

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 22 May, 2010 @ 07:55am

    Sounds like Apple TV

    Apple is doing the exact same thing through the Apple TV, except they can actually make money from the hardware. BB is only relying on the software, which just isn't going to happen.

    I have an Apple TV but I only use it for renting movies and watching some of my ripped movies. I won't buy anything because of the DRM Apple puts on videos.

  • On the post: Disney Lawyers Chose Not To Sue You For Posting Your Disney World Vacation Videos… But They Could!

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 02 Apr, 2010 @ 01:50am

    So where's the copy?

    Copyright is supposed to be about the holder's right to produce and distribute copies, right? So how is taking pictures or movies while on vacation making copies of Disney IP?

    No one is going to "bootleg" your videos and consider them authentic Disney movies. Disney is losing no money by having these in public. AAMOF, they are getting a lot of free advertising from people showing the fun they are having.

    If Disney truly has the ability to file lawsuits upholding copyright, that should be the last straw proving that copyright laws need to be fixed.

  • On the post: Truncated RSS Is A Bad Business Decision

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 14 Mar, 2010 @ 05:53pm

    Re:

    This is exactly what I do. Techdirt is a prime example. Because I can read the whole article in RSS (via Google Reader), I am more likely to click the "Like" button, share it with others, or star it for later reference. I'm also more likely to read more articles via the RSS. When I find one I'm interested in, I often click through to read the comments and comment on it myself.

    Sites like Geek.com, with truncated feeds, don't get nearly as much of my time. If the teaser isn't interesting enough, I'm not going to bother clicking through to the actual web site.

    Simply put, sites that don't offer full RSS text get less of my traffic. Sites that do offer full text will get more of my time on the actual site, and I am more likely to like and share an article with others.

  • On the post: A Real Copyright Problem In The UK: The Difficulty Of Archiving Important Websites

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 08 Mar, 2010 @ 08:31pm

    IP laws should be changed to "opt-in"

    Prior to the revised copyright law in the 1970s, copyright was an opt-in option for creators. They could decide whether to take the time to copyright their works or simply release them as-is.

    Personally, I think copyright, and possibly other IP laws, should be changed back to that format. Fair use would be the intended, default action; only by spending the time and money to get the legal protection would someone be able "deny" fair-use.

  • On the post: Disney's Takedown Of Roger Ebert's Tribute To Gene Siskel

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 21 Feb, 2010 @ 05:10pm

    Re: Re: Piracy vs Copyright law

    "Ebert is a dirty smelly raporist pirate"

    That's why Disney secretly salted his coffee with radioactive material that caused his thyroid cancer. They are able to have the last laugh because he can't talk anymore.

  • On the post: Disney's Takedown Of Roger Ebert's Tribute To Gene Siskel

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 21 Feb, 2010 @ 04:59pm

    Re: Sigh...

    Disney probably feels that they own the copyright and Ebert used it without their permission, even though the average person would feel he doesn't have to. At a minimum, I would think fair use is totally appropriate in this case, seeing as how Ebert was the one who helped make the show popular.

  • On the post: Disney's Takedown Of Roger Ebert's Tribute To Gene Siskel

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 21 Feb, 2010 @ 04:54pm

    Re:

    Same here. I've been boycotting Disney and others for quite some time. Not that it makes a difference to them, but it's the little things that make me feel better.

  • On the post: Study Shows Counterfeit Buyers Frequently Buy Real Products Later

    Cody Jackson ( profile ), 08 Dec, 2009 @ 05:52am

    Why are the originals so expensive?

    I'm still trying to figure this one out. I have asked many women why purses and handbags are so expensive for the name-brands, like D&B or Coach. They can't really give me a good answer, other than "it's the quality." Umm, it's a bag? Sure, the quality of a counterfeit Coach bag may not be very good, but there are plenty of other, legitimate brands on the market that have the same amount of quality as Coach for much, much less.

    I will concede that other name brand items are worth the price, e.g. shoes. An expensive pair of shoes should last you many years. And you can often get them repaired rather than buying new ones all the time.

    But counterfeit brands are essentially free advertising for companies. Even if they don't have the same quality, people only see the name.

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