aj00200's Techdirt Profile

aj00200

About aj00200

aj00200's Comments comment rss

  • Jul 01, 2011 @ 08:47am

    Re: stupid comment

    Other items are at a reasonable price in other countries. Manufacturers have realized that people in other countries often have lower incomes so they charge less for them.
    This is not the case for DVDs where they would cost $136 if the price is adjusted for income.

    Get it now?

  • May 25, 2011 @ 03:24pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: This has been my argument

    Please see this: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2006956,00.html?xid=rss-topstories

    It is legal to jailbreak/root phones.

  • May 24, 2011 @ 05:27pm

    Re: Re:

    From the way it looks, it could take a bit longer than half a week to find a new bug in the protection. I'm sure one exists and will be found, but they are likely to have been more careful this time after their last failed attempt.

  • May 24, 2011 @ 05:25pm

    Re:

    Actually, I think one of the things you can do with alternate firmware is install a Linux kernel. Linux normally supports Python very well (however, I can't speak for the calculator version of it).

  • May 24, 2011 @ 04:56pm

    Re: Re:

    Actually, games can be installed on the calculators even without alternate firmware. In fact, I have written a game or two my self. I have also written programs for TI calculators which do large portions of geometry and Algebra II automatically. Sadly, most of these were lost when I changed the batteries, but they are still possible.

    There are some great games available for the calculator. More info about programming on the calculators and some of the games for them can be found at http://www.tibasicdev.wikidot.com

  • May 24, 2011 @ 04:41pm

    Re: Re:

    Yes, it is still possible to store formulas, notes. etc on your calculator. You can even store custom programs on the calculator that you download off the Internet. However, what TI is blocking is custom firmware. Writing custom firmware would allow someone to easily add additional functionality to the calculator which is not included by default without writing a slow and clunky TI-BASIC program. In essence, you can add new functionality to a calculator, but it does not add cheating functionality that couldn't be replicated otherwise.

    This custom firmware is not a threat to TI as they still get the same amount of sales. Someone still has to buy the calculator to install other firmware. I as well as many others in the TI homebrew development community are quite confused as to why they don't like custom firmware.

  • Mar 11, 2011 @ 08:22am

    Re: Re: Re: When will people ever learn?

    Actually, in my experience, Content ID has even taken down entire remixes of songs that were changed to the point of being fair-user. Sure, you can specifically modify it to bypass Content ID, but the quality would be really messed up and it wouldn't really be worth watching/listening to.

    And of course, there are always going to be exceptions to that as well.

  • Mar 11, 2011 @ 07:27am

    Google Heatmapping

    It should be noted that Google does employ a heat-mapping system on YouTube which is used to detect copyright infringing audio or video. I am not sure if this is run on Google Video as well, but if your content is really infringed so heavily, you would be stupid not to add your content to this system as it will take down the violations and prevent them from being added to this site.

    Here is a video I watched a long time ago about copyright infringement on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_EamVE1HVE

  • Mar 11, 2011 @ 07:20am

    Re: Re:

    Yes, thats exactly what you must do. The post you replied to is packed with sarcasm, but I guess you missed it.

  • Mar 03, 2011 @ 03:03pm

    Re:

    Although I do not like having my picture taken or a video of me recorded, I accept this in public because it is normally quite easy to identify cameras and look away, but when they use a van to x-ray me and take what is essentially a naked picture of me, that is entirely different. Unless they put a big "THIS VAN X-RAYS YOU AND TAKES A NAKED PICTURE OF YOU AND MAY CAUSE CANCER WITHIN x FEET" warning on the side, they should be illegal wither owned by a private individual who is building their porn collection or by government agents who are building their porn collection.

  • Mar 03, 2011 @ 02:54pm

    Re: the right to privacy

    The reason people have the right to privacy is, in part, to ensure that we could overthrow an over-oppressive government if need should arise. Imagine doing this with your personal FBI agent standing behind you making sure that you bow down to the dictator three times daily.

    There is also a huge potential for abuse by authorities. If they could just walk into our house whenever they want, I'm sure many would abuse it somehow (theft, snooping, and so on).

    If police could search us whenever they wanted, wouldn't criminals just become extremely proficient at hiding stuff while the police are busting down our doors regularly because we look suspicious or have been unfairly profiled?

    Lastly, everyone has things they don't want other people to read. Maybe its a diary of their personal feelings or love letters to their spouse. Would allowing the FBI, DHS, TSA, police, or whatever to read love letters really make us safer.

    The world manages to survive somehow and we still have privacy. Its a win-win situation!

  • Jan 03, 2011 @ 05:28pm

    Re: Re: A couple of points...

    It is hard to say exactly how to do this. The government should give some insight as to what will be hidden. They do not have to give specific details, just a general idea about what they are hiding.

    This is exactly why we need Wikileaks. Wikileaks is showing us exactly what was hidden without our consent.

    The government has no fundamental right to privacy. They are offered privacy by the people in order to protect that which the people deem as important. The government has, instead, been hiding things it wouldn't like its own citizens to know.
    The government is basically trying to tell us what is best for us. It is the people who should decide what is best for ourselves via our vote, but there is practically no government transparency so therefore, we are voting blindly.

  • Jan 03, 2011 @ 05:18pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re

    However, we must consider the reason for which Wikileaks are becoming a minority. Please consider the following:
    * Much of the media has stopped covering the Wikileaks story. There could have been a government order for this set to some media organizations or they could be withdrawing their support in the same way that Amazon, PayPal, and so on have dropped Wikileaks (maybe due to political pressure). If you don't hear about it, it is likely to at least seem to be a minority.
    * The government of Sweden (rumored to be at the direction of the United States) has launched a smear campaign against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. This could very well be political propaganda set forth by Sweden (possibly at the direction of the United States).
    * Other internal United States propaganda includes phrases such as "Wikileaks endangers lives," and "Wikileaks is a threat to national security." It must be pointed out that our nation exists upon the principle of free speech and taking that away would be the biggest threat to national security (but I suppose, as long as your propaganda tricks people into this it is ok).

    So, as you can see, Wikileaks supporters are not becoming a minority, it is just that you are hearing about them less due to lack of media coverage. If you look, the information still exists on the blogs of supporters, in the form of video of the protests, and still the documents live on. In fact, I would venture to say that the more the government attempts to quash Wikileaks, the more people will support it. We as a nation have put up with the government for far to long. It ends now. Adapt or die!

  • Jan 03, 2011 @ 05:07pm

    Re: Effective politics requires pricacy

    That is not at all what Wikileaks is suggesting. They are instead suggesting that the government has too many secrets. Some of these secrets even correspond to the governments knowing violation of laws which were created to protect the citizens.
    The United States is turning into a totalitarian state which is not acceptable. The United States has gone to war against nations purely because they were oppressive (including the Revolutionary War, The Cold War, and so on).
    Lastly, do not forget that we preach free-speech and transparency to the rest of the world, but it all falls apart when we are doing just the opposite; we are our own worst enemy.

  • Dec 28, 2010 @ 09:35am

    Research Shows That

    Research shows that, despite what people might thing, each pirate download of a movie, game, or what have you, does not represent a lost sale. Instead, each 1,000 downloads represents 1 lost sale.
    There are many movies people would love to have, but they just don't have the money to pay for all those movies (and who would considering the massive amount of profit the film industry produces each year?