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Comment Re:Good. Steam is a CHILDREN FRIENDLY platform. (Score 1) 114

Control of money (credit cards) is one great way to limit that... Steam is probably one of the safer places online. (They at least require payment for full features making alternate accounts harder to gimmick)

Compare that with a web nanny proxy's effectiveness for the internet at large.

Comment Re:Meh? (Score 1) 148

> What's more impressive is with a product that's GIVEN AWAY FREE

When's the last time you paid for Windows? (usually comes free on integrated laptop / desktop, or non-activated free ISO installation)

Comment Re:Congrats to Linux Devs and Distros! (Score 1) 148

> Not everyone is a full geek, and not a lot of people understand what you mean when you tell them to type in a command in the terminal.

Every user should know what a directory tree is and how to save a file someplace "safe to them". Trying to avoid this creates "software insanity".

Not every user needs to know how to use a command line, but most should have a vague idea that "the dark place" exists and other people use it. That said, anyone who installs an operating system from scratch should probably be able to make the leap of "finding the dark place" and typing a few simple commands. Pre-installing an OS so most people don't need to do this, that gets a bit trickier and partly explains why things are wonky even today. Either the hardware integrator or the phone company seem to be the only folks in a position to do this now, and phone companies are especially bad at house keeping afterward. Frankly, UNIX / Linux hasn't had a good track record with pre-installation for some reason. Probably due to the tiny difference between GPL and BSD licenses. Corporate vendors just can't give up the illusion of "licensing power" and it goes strait to their head every time.

Comment Re:Looks like critical mass to me. (Score 1) 148

> ChromeOS and Android are signs of the things to come and Windows isn't even on the radar with those usage patterns.

The future is an OS that can't save files, doesn't know where to put files, and can't even properly send email? An OS crippled to not allow installing software unless it is "blessed" in a store front? An OS where editing text files and documents are difficult after thoughts?

Windows may have a lot of problems, but at least it was originally meant to be a general purpose computing platform. Not some gimmicky appliance for making phone calls (blackberry++).

Comment Re:The problem is as soon as you read the data (Score 1) 70

> Your copying that data digitally any way you cut it.

This, very much this. This is the reason we have the DMCA. VCR and DVD vendors were paranoid they were going to get sued for making "extra copies" inside the machine blitting video to your screen. So they "compromised" by signing the DMCA into law and creating a whole different landscape of rights and criminal prosecution for research.

I expect the other foot to fall soon, especially here in the USA. There will be new legislation and it won't be helpful or rational.

Submission + - Fifteen Years Later, Citizens United Defined the 2024 Election (brennancenter.org)

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: The influence of wealthy donors and dark money was unprecedented. Much of it would have been illegal before the Supreme Court swept away long-established campaign finance rules. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court’s controversial 2010 decision that swept away more than a century’s worth of campaign finance safeguards, turns 15 this month. The late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called it the worst ruling of her time on the Court. Overwhelming majorities of Americans have consistently expressed disapproval of the ruling, with at least 22 states and hundreds of cities voting to support a constitutional amendment to overturn it. Citizens United reshaped political campaigns in profound ways, giving corporations and billionaire-funded super PACs a central role in U.S. elections and making untraceable dark money a major force in politics. And yet it may only be now, in the aftermath of the 2024 election, that we can begin to understand the full impact of the decision.

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