Carlo Longino 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (15) comment rss

  • On the post: Watch Out For People With Laptops Connected By Cable To Your Ferrari

    Carlo Longino ( profile ), 03 May, 2006 @ 02:16pm

    Re: Cabled or Wireless?

    This confusion merely reinforces the contention that this story isn't all it's cracked up to be. The article I linked to talks about doing it wirelessly, but I'm not sure where that came from. The article upon which it appears to based (and which I didn't link to since it's on a registration-based site) talks only about cables:

    "Experts believe the gangs first acquire details on where a car's security data is stored - information that only the manufacturer is supposed to know. They then track a vehicle until they know it will be parked in a secluded area, because they need the time to connect their laptop to the car's computer via cable.

    The gang runs software that interrogates the car's chips and sends them the right data to break the security barrier. "At key steps the car's software can halt progress for up to 20 minutes as part of its in-built protection," said Hart."

  • On the post: Just When You Thought RIM's Patent Problems Were Over

    Carlo Longino ( profile ), 01 May, 2006 @ 10:57am

    thanks

    Thanks once again for your copious insight and for refraining from personal attacks. If the patent office you love so dearly is invalidating these patents, that's a decent enough indication that they shouldn't have been awarded.

  • On the post: Another Way Your Cell Phone Will Kill You

    Carlo Longino ( profile ), 01 Dec, 2005 @ 10:47am

    Re: Uh?

    I guess I didn't lay my skepticism of the claims on thick enough in my post. This is definitely one for the tinfoil beanie file.

  • On the post: That's One Way To Make Money In Music

    Carlo Longino ( profile ), 23 Nov, 2005 @ 06:51am

    Re: Broken link

    Thanks for pointing that out -- it's fixed now.

  • On the post: My Exclusive Is More Exclusive Than Your Exclusive

    Carlo Longino ( profile ), 17 Nov, 2005 @ 01:53pm

    Re: Orange = 3

    Orange and 3 aren't the same company. One of Orange's early owners was Hutchison Whampoa, which owns the "3" operators around the world. Orange is now owned by France Telecom, and Hutchison units license the Orange brand for use in Australia, India and Israel.

  • On the post: Is Open-Source Dogma The Most Important Aspect Of The $100 Laptop?

    Carlo Longino ( profile ), 14 Nov, 2005 @ 09:58am

    Re: walled gardens

    These comments have good insights and I've made an update to the post to reflect them. As I said, there are plenty of solid reasons to use a custom open-source OS; it would be nice if the project's backers would elucidate further on their reasoning.

  • On the post: Jack Thompson Gets Called Out, Now Says He Was Kidding

    Carlo Longino ( profile ), 18 Oct, 2005 @ 07:59am

    Re: A Modest Proposal

    I'm aware of the original work. The point was that just evoking the title in the name of his piece doesn't make it effective satire.

  • On the post: Jack Thompson Gets Called Out, Now Says He Was Kidding

    Carlo Longino ( profile ), 17 Oct, 2005 @ 03:21pm

    Re: not the developers

    Ah, thanks for the clarification.

  • On the post: Football Hooligans Go Nerd

    Carlo Longino ( profile ), 21 Sep, 2005 @ 12:20pm

    Re: Footbal Fan = Hooligan?!?!?

    Hmm. Apparently the "humor" tags here on Techdirt aren't working again.

  • On the post: iPods Threaten Wedding DJs

    Carlo Longino ( profile ), 20 Sep, 2005 @ 07:07pm

    Re: The Truth About Music at Weddings

    Yeah, because clearly what makes a great wedding reception is having somebody "get out on the dance floor and teach a crowd the Hokey Pokey or the Electric Slide".

  • On the post: Putting Music On A Phone Doesn't Make It 50% More Valuable

    Carlo Longino ( profile ), 19 Sep, 2005 @ 02:17pm

    Re: No Subject Given

    Many carriers are looking at these "dual-delivery" systems. One problem is they can come with dual charges, too, where customers pay for the track and also for data traffic. Another issue is that for these types of systems, record labels demand 2 mechanical reproduction royalty payments, since the song is being reproduced twice.

  • On the post: High Gas Prices Drive Online Shopping… Even If In-Store Pickup Is Better

    Carlo Longino ( profile ), 15 Sep, 2005 @ 02:20pm

    Re: Lowering Prices

    What about saving money by buying gas online?

  • On the post: eBags: Where Even The Free Stuff Costs $7

    Carlo Longino ( profile ), 13 Sep, 2005 @ 05:29pm

    Re: Lowering Prices

    While I'm glad to see some backtracking from eBags here, this whole "promotion" is still very odd. Why pay $7 for having accepted a subscription, only if the user cancels it? I guess it's like a rebate -- but it's pretty much the worst rebate mechanism I've ever seen. Never mind the fact they want to share my address and whatever other info with someone without making it clear beforehand they were doing so.

    The process was shady, and judging by the comments here, doesn't look like it's won eBags a lot of fans. Whatever rhetoric they want to wrap it in, saying they'll pay somebody $7 (even if it isn't a "refund") if they cancel creates the perception that they're charging a buyer $7 for something they probably don't want, and at the very least, haven't been informed pre-purchase they're getting.

    It's the same principle as a rebate, I'd imagine, only sort of in reverse -- generate enough referrals (for which presumably they're being paid) to the magazine so that paying the few people that actually jump through the myriad hoops to get their money back still allows for a profit.

  • On the post: eBags: Where Even The Free Stuff Costs $7

    Carlo Longino ( profile ), 13 Sep, 2005 @ 12:27pm

    Re: It's still creepy, but...

    Really? I don't see it. The only things I see to opt out of are on the very last page before you order, for spam from eBags and their "pre-approved" buyers of their mailing list.

  • On the post: Now It's eBay That's Supposedly Ridiculously Overpaying For Skype

    Carlo Longino ( profile ), 09 Sep, 2005 @ 03:57pm

    Re: No Subject Given

    If you're going to ask Mike to be "a bit more circumspect without having insider knowledge of the financials", you should be too, and leave your financial metrics out of the discussion, since Skype has never disclosed its revenues.

    It behooves Skype to keep everybody in the dark regarding things like its real user base (not the pointless number of downloads), the takeup of its paid services, and its revenues. That way, using your "financial metrics" can't enter the equation and it's got to be valued on all its intangibles.