brandonmenc's comments

On: California moves to exempt Linux from its age-verification law after backlash

[brandonmenc]

This level of filtering is so granular and bespoke that I'm not surprised no one offers it.

On: The Moth Story Map

[brandonmenc]

Have an upvote, you old chunk of coal!

On: Canvas online again as ShinyHunters threatens to leak schools’ data

[brandonmenc]

Maybe schools should be self-hosting something like Sakai instead.

On: America's Expanding Domestic Surveillance

[brandonmenc]

Then we need to make it work their time by bringing back broken windows policing.

[2ndorderthought → brandonmenc]

Or solve the problem by addressing the root causes of crime like other societies do. The American prison industrial complex is not a cure for a sick society. It's a profitable black hole that encourages recidivism at the expense of tax payers.

[brandonmenc → 2ndorderthought]

There is a reasonable middle ground between tossing everyone in the hole and letting petty crime run rampant.

[2ndorderthought → brandonmenc]

Yes and we are way too far over the line for tossing people into the hole currently.

On: Online age verification is the hill to die on

[brandonmenc]

After reading these comments, I don't want to hear any of you suggest that kids shouldn't be allowed to have unrestricted access to smartphones or social media ever again.

How did you think this was going to be enforced?

[sillyfluke → brandonmenc]

I don't understand. I would assume most people don't think small kids should smoke crack. That doesn't mean that they are automatically in favor of creating a 24/7 survelliance state just to prevent that from happening.

On: Men who stare at walls

[brandonmenc]

Blanking out is afaik the exact opposite of "mindfulness".

This is almost exactly like Transcendental Meditation, even down the to the length of time of ~20 minutes.

On: Notepad++ for Mac – Independent community port

[brandonmenc]

Why do anything?

On: US special forces soldier arrested after allegedly winning $400k on Maduro raid

[brandonmenc]

Yes, the military have fewer rights than civilians. That's a feature.

On: Brussels launched an age checking app. Hackers took 2 minutes to break it

[brandonmenc]

They scan my ID when I buy wine at the grocery store so, who knows?

On: Michigan 'digital age' bills pulled after privacy concerns raised

[brandonmenc]

Thank you for saying this. I've been similarly baffled.

The call to ban children from social media seemed like it was coming loudest from tech people - like HN users.

How did they think this was going to work?

[tstrimple → brandonmenc]

There is no shortage of reactionary "tech people". They likely didn't think a bit about how this would work. Just ban kids from social media to protect the kids! And then their line of thought stops there. At the same time you've got people on HN asking for better parental controls. And when state governments push for exactly that, parental controls that still preserve individual privacy, everyone loses their fucking minds. Your operating system reporting an age range that you define so apps and websites can filter content appropriately is not a privacy violation. It's literally what people have been asking for. But this community wants to protect children from the internet and "dangers of social media" and also refuses to build any mechanism that distinguishes children from adults that don't violate privacy.