william 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Google Works Out Deal Concerning 'Jew' Suggestions In France

    william ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2012 @ 09:46am

    Re: Re: I don't get it.

    wouldn't that make them anti-semitic? after all, they are trying to turn a perfectly normal word into something that has negative meaning??

  • On the post: Google Works Out Deal Concerning 'Jew' Suggestions In France

    william ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2012 @ 09:45am

    Re: Re: Re:

    Hmm... I see.

    thanks for the clarification. :D

  • On the post: FBI Continues To Insist There's No Reason For Kim Dotcom To Be Able To See The Evidence Against Him

    william ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2012 @ 09:43am

    Re: Re:

    That we are just playing all of the work like chumps? or the fact that we really tried to hold all that snickering every time we talk to you straight faces about "evidences" and "cause"?

  • On the post: Google Works Out Deal Concerning 'Jew' Suggestions In France

    william ( profile ), 05 Jul, 2012 @ 01:54pm

    I apologize if this offends people, but I always feel that some Jewish people are really... overly sensitive about anti-semitism. It's kind of like how black people are over sensitive on prosecution, or how different ethic people are overly sensitive about discrimination, or how feminists thinks every other male is a chauvinist pig.

    Hmm... actually, now that I went through that sentence, it's not so uncommon after all.

    I still think it's bit, laughable. Not that I disagree with how tragic historical event is, but, aren't there other people who went through tragic events of equal or greater proportion? And I think the reason those are often less known and cared about is because those groups are not as powerful, rich, or brings it up every other occasion. To be honest, I feel that since Jewish people went through such a tragic event, they should have more sympathy for those of similar fate but does not have the means to make it well known or do something about it, and to help them. But I don't ever recall hear the Jewish community did anything for other people, except being very vocal on the occasional anti-semitic events.

    BTW, I always wonder where that word semitic comes from and Wikipedia says it covers "Akkadian, Aramaic, Hebrew, Arabic, Ge'ez, Maltese, Canaanite/Phoenician, Amorite, Eblaite, Ugaritic, Sutean, Moabite, Edomite, Ammonite, Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Chaldean, Mandaic, Ahlamu and Syriac among others, and those that were spread to the Horn of Africa from the Near East such as Amharic, Tigre and Tigrinya."

    So, wouldn't the current discrimination/profiling of middle east and arabic people, technically, Antisemitism?

    :D

  • On the post: Minneapolis Police Filming Their Own Work To Show Critics

    william ( profile ), 18 Jun, 2012 @ 03:03pm

    "the officer's word doesn't mean as much as it used to"

    Well, duh? Police used to be have better names for themselves and have more respect from the general public.

    And who's the one ruining the good name of polices? According to the police, it's those darn layperson equipped with smart phones and the digital cameras that's recklessly endangering life of police officers and interfere with their jobs on public property by exposing their incompetence.

  • On the post: MPAA Ok With Allowing Users To Get Back Their Megaupload Files If 0% Infringement Can Be Guaranteed

    william ( profile ), 07 Jun, 2012 @ 10:36am

    Since MPAA claims to be the expert, if not the only authority, in what's copyrighted and what's not, AND that they requested this process to be put in.

    They should pay for it.

    It's only fair.

  • On the post: EU Parliament Wants China To Join ACTA, Even As It May Reject It?

    william ( profile ), 28 May, 2012 @ 12:48pm

    Re:

    Yeah, China wants to implement harsher IP laws. You didn't get that part wrong, but what everyone ignored is that it might not be the result you were thinking.

    Company A suing Company B on IP in China.

    Judge: So company A, you claim that company B violated your IP?
    Company A: your honor, yes.

    Judge flips through documents, found out company A is foreign company operating in China and company B is Chinese owned/State owned.

    Judge: Company A has no ground in this case, summarily dismissed.
    Company A: but! but!
    Judge: DIMISSED.

  • On the post: Google Lifts The Veil On Copyright Takedowns: Reveals Detailed Data On Who Requests Link Removals

    william ( profile ), 24 May, 2012 @ 01:40pm

    Re: Re: My disgust with MS grows almost daily

    I like how you pitch the alternatives without pointing out how they are no better than MS in crackdowns, and most of time much worse.

    If the alternatives seems have their own enforcement force that is nicknamed gestapo, able to sue many websites to take down stuff they don't like, and has connections with local police force who helped their gestapo enter and search people's house without warrant for "lost property". Really, are they any better to switch to if your reason to switch is based on company ethics?

    Reality check of the day: pretty much all multinational big corps are evil so you really have no way out. If you *religiously* believe one company is ethically better than others, time to reevaluate your moral compass.

  • On the post: Harry Potter And The Missing Middlemen: Where The Pottermore Store Goes Wrong

    william ( profile ), 28 Mar, 2012 @ 10:20am

    My apologies Ms. Rowling, I seem to have found faster, easier, free version of Harry Potter books all around the Internet outside of this... Pottermore.

  • On the post: Canadian Real Estate Agents: Without Us, Poor Homeowners Would Be Getting Attacked And Killed

    william ( profile ), 22 Mar, 2012 @ 04:11pm

    Re: Re:

    Right, and getting a high-performing realtor is part of your skill/luck.

    There are 10 sales person in your local Best Buy and they all sell TVs. According to standard bell curve, only 15% of them actually are knowledgeable about TVs and not actively scamming you. Part of your skill/luck is to pick that top 15%. If you didn't pick the right one, is it BestBuy's fault, sales person's fault, society's fault, or is it just your problem?

    If you get scammed, you only have yourself to blame (usually) and people are usually not that sympathetic.

    ================
    Anyways, if you didn't get the main point of my opinion. It is that free flow of the property market information does not hinder a realtors' business. It actually enhance it because it's DIFFERENT TYPE OF PRODUCT.

    Reading stock market price and market information on newspaper is a different product than going to your financial adviser to ask for advise on investment.

  • On the post: Canadian Real Estate Agents: Without Us, Poor Homeowners Would Be Getting Attacked And Killed

    william ( profile ), 22 Mar, 2012 @ 04:04pm

    Re: Re:

    Honestly, I don't know how you got screwed over. I can only talk from my experience that my realtor did a pretty good job.

    Like the above AC said, my premise is to get a good realtor.

    I said earlier, realtor is like a tool. If you can't get a good tool or that your tool is not performing up to the standard doesn't make it's existence illogical/unnecessary/scam. It just means that you are not very good at picking your tools or you have bad luck and picked the lemon.

    MPAA/RIAA's lawyer pisses me off greatly and they scam people. That doesn't mean all lawyers are con-artists or unnecessary or bad people.

  • On the post: Canadian Real Estate Agents: Without Us, Poor Homeowners Would Be Getting Attacked And Killed

    william ( profile ), 22 Mar, 2012 @ 11:25am

    Re: Real Estate RIPE for disruption

    If that's the kind of realtors you got. You really need to research first on looking for a good realtor. Maybe you have friends who has successfully dealt with realtors and are happy to recommend someone?

    It seems like your 'tool' is not performing well. In that case, you need to choose better tool, not complaining the existence of the tool makes no sense.

    In my area they housing market is trending a slow decline, but my realtor still manages to pull on average 1 to 2 sets of people to look at my unit every week, over the winter, when people don't traditionally buy/sell homes. Not only that, I managed to sell my property higher than similar properties in the area.

    Yes, you can save the commission on the sale by doing it yourself. But you'll have to deal with advertising, negotiation, government regulation, contract law...etc all by yourself. I for one is not willing to spend too much time dealing with those. I still have to work everyday to make a living first.

  • On the post: Canadian Real Estate Agents: Without Us, Poor Homeowners Would Be Getting Attacked And Killed

    william ( profile ), 22 Mar, 2012 @ 11:15am

    If you really want to find out who's selling their house, all you have to do is visit and realtor and say that you want to buy a house. Not only you can get to know if it's empty or not, you can also get a tour of the house to research on security alarms and floor plan.

    I have recently just sold my place with help from a Canadian realtor and the primarily reason I believe in using a realtor is... SERVICE!

    - I can continue to work and live my day to day life while they work on selling the house
    - Experienced realtor already have a network of contractors, inspectors lawyers/notary to perform various function related to the sale of property. Not only that, because it's long term relationship, you don't have to worry contractors scamming you
    - Experienced realtors are good SALES PERSON. Selling is a skill you learn, practice and master. Not every home owner is a good enough sales person to sale their own place for a good reasonable price.
    - Realtors have their own social network that can bring people in even when times are tough. When you are buying electronics, the first thing you check is not craigslist where you can save some money buying from others directly. A lot of people would go to Best Buy or Futureshop to check it out first (and potentially buying it there). Same thing with buying a house, you would check with a realtor first.
    - realtor are knowledgeable about property buying and selling. That's their profession. Buying/selling property is not like you walk into an Apple Store and pick up a MacBook. It involves land claims, estimates, taxes, mortgages, property laws...etc. You can't just wake up one morning and decides now you are an expert in properties buying/selling and start selling your house. And why waste your time learning all that tidbits which a normal person will probably use two or three times in their life time?
    - good realtors also knowledgeable about locations and market trends etc which you can't just find buy reading a bunch of listings

    Real estate agents provides important services, not information. Their move trying to limit the information flow of property sale is strategically idiotic. Property information is not the "choke point" of control they think it is. Increase in information flow will only drive more people to use realtors. It's like free advertising! Even if consumers received knowledge about properties, most of them can't complete the rest of the step in buying/selling anyways.

    Putting listings online will not only reduce the step 1, interest buyer to a property, for realtors, they will also drive more people to come to a realtor for step 2, step 3...etc.

  • On the post: QR Codes: Ugly, Overused and Doomed

    william ( profile ), 09 Mar, 2012 @ 06:12pm

    Re: Re:

    I apologize if I have misquoted or misunderstand the concept.

    However, I stand by my assertion that

    1. They are not ugly. Things that people are not used to are usually assumed "ugly". ie. Asians used to refer to Caucasians as "ugly" because of different hair color, body shape and face and body features. On this point we can only agree to disagree because that's pure opinion. In addition I do agree with AC that perhaps it's poorly used in NA situations which might make them obtrusive and ugly. However, that's not a QRCode issue but rather a commercial ad design issue. A proposed "image recognition" tech that's in the works could also be ruined if I used a bunch of mismatching colors/shape and then slap it willy-nilly everywhere.

    2. The over usage again brings up the fact that people in NA are not using it smartly. And this could also be factored in as people view it as ugly thus feel they are over used. Remember QRCode is not part of standard toolset people use here. You do have to go out of your way to get a read, which makes it inconvenient and obtrusive and feel like it's being "overused and useless" piece of technology

    3. They may be doomed in American, but not else where, at least not yet or until the next better technology comes along. The fact of the matter is, they work now and they work great (in Asian area). The technology you proposed to replace it is still imperfect or in lab. You have to use what's working now.

    If you do want to see how QRCode is used, I would check Japan. After all, they ARE the one who came up with it and has been using it for many many years before the public here even remotely aware this exists.

  • On the post: QR Codes: Ugly, Overused and Doomed

    william ( profile ), 09 Mar, 2012 @ 11:58am

    Dear Leigh,

    When you start complaining about something, you really shouldn't start with "I have never understand..." If you wish to criticize the subject at hand, at least pay the respect to understand it first. A simple act of showing your understanding (or pretend to show understanding) of a subject makes your points much more valid. Just reading an article from the net doesn't make you expert enough to make valid arguments. At best it shows you are showing your "valued opinion" that most people on the Internet has already learned to ignore, at worst it shows you are just rehashing what you read.

    Now I get that over with... It seems a lot of people over here in North America doesn't recognize or understand QRCode. This code was first developed in Japan in the 90's (don't remember what exact time). At first it was used as a way to pact a lot of information for car manufactures to track components. I am not sure what happened after that, but in Japan they started to use this for non-manufacturing purpose. While the rest of the world is still using a cell phone that can only call, QRCode was already a standard feature in Japanese feature phones.

    While the rest of the world is still struggling to input info into their phone using the damn number pad, Japanese people are trading contact information, getting product discount and info, visiting websites, getting through Japan Customs and Immigrations, reading bus schedules, getting produce details (producing date, location, grade)...etc, all by just a simple scan on the code. You read some magazine articles/ads and if you want additional information, well, there's the QRCode to scan.

    That sounded all really abstract so let me get you an example. My friend recently visited Hong Kong and came back with a book roughly translated as "100 useful free Android apps" with each app devoted one page on what it does. Guess what? On each of the page is a QRCode. If he wishes to download this app, he just scans it. Doesn't have to access android market and do a search and match the app name etc.

    Let's summarize, QRCode is widely used in Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong and slowly spreading to China and North America. You and some of the commentators above viewed it as an outdated technology. However, it's a proven and useful technology in Asian countries. Please get your head out of "North America is the center of the technology world and if it doesn't work here then it's a poor technology" mentality. You know what, the fact that QRCode is used successfully in other countries but not in NA just shows how some people are stupid enough to ruin a good technology.

    Now let's get to this "Imagine recognition is the future and QRCode is a transitional technology".

    First of all, every technology is a transitional technology. 8-tracke tape was a transitional technology to cassette tape. Cassette tape was transitional technology to Digital Audio Tape (it died) and Compact Disk. Compact Disc was transitional technology to MP3. MP3 is transitional technology to ... You get my drift. Yourself even mentioned that "the tech isn't perfect yet" and that it only "capable of recognizing ads based on color, configuration and other indicators". Hold on, how come that some like some kind of "code" to scan? Hmmmm?

    Secondly, it's nice for people to dream about future technology, but in reality, you can't use a "tech" that isn't close to perfect yet. So you are suggesting we use this "isn't perfect yet" imagine recognition technology and dump a working QRCode technology. That's like saying, "Hey one day we will make a jetliner that's perfect, although the current plane can only fly 10KM because it isn't 'perfect' yet. But we should totally dump these working propeller planes because they are old 'transitional' technology. Let's all just jump on the jetliner now." That doesn't sound too smart isn't it?

    Anyways, I've already said too much. Please do consider to investigate an issue before posting an article on Techdirt so you don't harm the reputation of this blog. Something you and other don't understand or don't use doesn't make it "Ugly, Overused and Doomed". Thanks for again reminding everyone else in the world how the American though process works, "If it's not useful for us, it's not useful for the rest of the world."

    Sincerely,

    A Guy from Asia

  • On the post: EFF Argues That Automated Bogus DMCA Takedowns Violate The Law And Are Subject To Sanctions

    william ( profile ), 08 Mar, 2012 @ 03:01pm

    Re: Freaking Finally!

    That's right EFF!

    Show those morons some EFF'ing sanity and EFF'ing better laws.

    :)

  • On the post: Canadian Universities Agree To Ridiculous Copyright Agreement That Says Emailing Hyperlinks Is Equal To Photocopying

    william ( profile ), 21 Feb, 2012 @ 10:57am

    Re: What if?

    Oh Noes!

    I have one of those sticker with my university name and the website address on it!

    Am I going to be dinged for $27.50?

  • On the post: Send A Sympathy Card Over The Death Of The Internet To Your Senator

    william ( profile ), 16 Jan, 2012 @ 03:51pm

    No body says it's going to kill the Internet. The Internet will still be around.

    Just as the communists didn't kill China. China is still around and is called People's *Republic* of China

  • On the post: TSA Continues To Embarass The Elderly With Unnecessarily Degrading Search Procedures

    william ( profile ), 12 Dec, 2011 @ 03:51pm

    That's right TSA.

    It's not because that your agents are incompetent, misfit high school drop outs that you found on the street randomly who doesn't receive proper training.

    It's the people being push overs and bend over whenever the agents tells us to. I mean, it's totally our fault that we are such sissies and our rights are being violated by people who get paid by tax money.

    I apologize for being spineless.

  • On the post: Breaking News: Feds Falsely Censor Popular Blog For Over A Year, Deny All Due Process, Hide All Details…

    william ( profile ), 08 Dec, 2011 @ 02:00pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    you know what guys, despite all the demonstrable prior art...

    I am still going to patent it! Mwahahahaha~ and the USPO will probably give it to me anyways!

    Here I come SMBC-Comics and Dilbert! *evil grin*

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