Michael Long’s Techdirt Profile
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About Michael Long
Currently I manage the development for ThinkTQ.com, but I also freelance as a consultant for corporations and non-profits specializing in e-commerce, CMS, and scalability/infrastructure.
I'm also a web developer, have been active in applications and systems software development, and have 30 years experience developing for Apple computers (Apple, Lisa, Mac). My long-time familiarity with Apple and their technologies lead me to start iSights.org.
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Re: Re:
Any idiot could do it... or not.
North Korea's embarrassing rocket launch failure sparks multi-nation search for debris
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57413501/north-koreas-embarrassing-rocket-launch-failure -sparks-multi-nation-search-for-debris/
Re: Re: It sound kinda alarming...
There's a truism in Hollywood that you're only as good as your last picture. A couple of flops can kill an actor's career, or a director's, or a writer's, and so on.
Now, keeping the above in mind, YOU have to make a movie. You have two scripts, one quirky and on a screwball theme no one's tried before. The other is a remake of a highly popular '60s TV show.
Remember, your career is on the line. What's your choice? Take a chance or play it safe?
(untitled comment)
The majority would be much better off learning to communicate in English...
"However, there is a language you could master that teaches many of the same lessons, appears far more forgiving in terms of syntax, and has immediate broader appeal. The language you can learn is your own."
If you can't even form a coherent sentence in a proposal, letter, or email, I'm probably not going to give you a chance to prove that you can write a coherent program.
http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2012/05/16/please_learn_to_write.html
Re:
Or this tactic, straight from the Karl Rove playbook, "...combined with a sense of entitlement demonstrated by many artists."
Odd. I remember how in the early days of this debate it was all of the pirates and people who "shared" content who felt they were "entitled" to everyone else's work for free.
Now it appears that the "entitlement" argument has been co-opted by the other side. "Can you imagine? Wanting to get paid for creating something that everyone else wants?"
Re:
You mean like all of the poor impoverished people who claim "information" wants to be free? And who view any attempt to protect or strengthen IP rights as being detrimental to themselves? (grin)
Reminds me of the truism about the young tending to be socialist. They're not the ones paying for it... yet.
(untitled comment)
A couple of things are better...
2) ...and ensure that those who negligently cause injury through the use of cybersecurity systems or the sharing of information are not exempt from potential civil liability.
This helps remove one of the major carrots for companies to voluntarily share data.
4) Would make clear that regulatory information already required to be provided remains FOIAable under current law.
15) Would sunset the provisions of the bill five years after the date of enactment.
Re:
Too much wine with dinner tonight. That's, "Isn't one of the primary sponsors of the bill a Democrat?"
(untitled comment)
Uhhh... isn't one of the primary sponsors of the bill of the bill a Democrat? As in, C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger (D-MD)?
Re:
Yes, the President has threatened to veto CISPA -- in its current form. However, CISPA's primary sponsors still plan on slapping on some patches (excuse me, amendments) and to proceed towards Friday's vote.
Unfortunately, many of those amendments have their own issues. One even offers -- I kid you not -- a promise to "develop" policies and procedures that will protect individual privacy and civil liberties... after the bill is passed.
It's okay. Trust us.
More at http://www.iSights.org/2012/04/president-obama-threatens-to-veto-cispa-authors-brush-off-threat.html
Re: Re:
"...know people who still use the old 'dumb' phones that came out before that..."
You can assume that, but we just passed the 50% mark and it doesn't seem to be slowing down. My girlfriend, for example, has two boys and a family plan, and they're been upgrading to iPhones each time the subsidy kicks in.
Re:
"No, all lobbying is bad. When you donate money to a government official..."
There's a difference between campaign contributions and meeting with someone to explain your viewpoint, or those of the people you're representing.
Heck, there's even a difference between campaign contributions where the expectation is a quid pro quo, and donating to the individual whose policies you believe best represent yours.
Re: Re: Re: Data created = Data shared = Data Used = Data Used for purposes not expected.
CISPA exists to give sharing private information with the government a legal basis, to block disclosure of such under the FOA, and to provide a legal "get out of jail" card to companies that cooperate "voluntarily".
Re: Data created = Data shared = Data Used = Data Used for purposes not expected.
I'd also note that there's nothing preventing private companies from developing and using their own software to monitior networks, and offering to share that information with the government.
All completely legal under CISPA. As long as there's a "cyber sececurity" purpose, of course.
And once such monitoring systems are in place, we're probably just one terrorist attack or major cyber attack away from the government passing an emergency measure requiring companies to hand over their collected data.
More on http://www.iSights.org/2012/04/cispa-could-allow-the-government-to-monitor-private-networks.html
CISPA Is The New SOPA: Help Kill It
Apparently, legislators and lobbyists are appending SOPA legislation to CISPA, a bill that most Americans will assume is about keeping them safe from bad guys.
To quote, "The broad language around what constitutes a cybersecurity threat leaves the door wide open for abuse. For example, the bill defines “cyber threat intelligence” and “cybersecurity purpose” to include “theft or misappropriation of private or government information, intellectual property, or personally identifiable information.”"
Private information and intellectual property.
We need to stop it, and also stop the back door approach to passing legislation...
http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/cispa/
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/03/r ogers-cybersecurity-bill-broad-enough-use-against-wikileaks-and-pirate-bay
Re: Re: Re:
And she gets to be wined and dined and attend conferences where people hang on her every word.
Re: Re: Re: Re: And you only have yourself to blame
So your answers are Kickstarter, Kickstarter, and Kickstarter, in that order? Got it.
First, let's ignore the fact that less than half of Kickstarter's projects are successfully funded. Or that it's not really suitable for major software or motion picture projects.
All you're doing with Kickstarter is helping to fund the initial project and, as such, mitigate risk. And using Kickstarter to fund a project does nothing to solve your original rant...
"And 99.99% [pulled from where, btw?] of the working population of this planet gets paid once for a finite number of hours, not every time someone uses the result of their work."
The vast majority of funded Kickstarter projects are still PAID products, be it a gadget, an app, a book, a video, or a song. The funding group gets theirs, and then it's sold, one at a time, to everyone else.
Yes, you COULD give it away afterwards, but it appears that most don't. It seems most would like the opportunity to do more than just break even on a project.
I mean, when was the last time you turned down a raise?
Re: Re: One in the long, LONG list of reasons I avoid digital distribution as much as possible
"Digital cost me my job of 18 years and between Digital/Internet there are many people like me from Retail who are now losing our homes."
You lost your job because of digital? Sad. but it happens. Tell it to telephone operators and typesetters and buggy whip makers. Things change.
The flip side is that millions upon millions of people now make their living from "digital". Web sites, servers, developers, authors, buyers, sellers; the internet age has spawned a tremendous number of new jobs in new fields.
I can see being bitter, but really, blaming digital? How about blaming yourself? Losing an 18-year job is unfortunate, but you can't tell me the warning signs weren't there years before: declining sales, cutbacks, other stores in the same market laying off people and eventually closing their doors.
You should have read the signs, and figured out a way to transition out of that job years ago.
We live in an age where the head-in-the-sand, pray-it-gets-better approach simply doesn't work.
Re: Re: And you only have yourself to blame
"And 99.99% of the working population of this planet gets paid once for a finite number of hours, not every time someone uses the result of their work."
Okay.... first, there's the minor fact that your team might spend a thousand man hours creating a game or app, leasing a game engine, doing marketing, and all that before it's done, before it's shipped, and before a single dime comes in the door.
What dollars paid hourly wages, when you had no sales and no dollars yet existed? Oh? You invested your own money? Cool.
Which leads us to the whole "risk/reward" thing. You might spend a thousand man hours making a game and sell a hundred copies. You might sell no copies. Or you might sell a million Angry Birds. The majority barely break even.
The potential upside is regarded as compensation for the potential downside, that your thousand hours will never be repaid at all.
Third, if you're the one working for an hourly wage, that was your decision. You're the one that traded the security of a steady paycheck against the possibility of a huge gain. Or a spectacular loss.
If you're on the assembly line at GM and your car does well, you "might" get a bonus. GM gets the profits, because they're the ones who designed it, and because they're the one's who risked the company's money putting the product on the market.
Finally, any profit made after recouping the original costs will probably be rolled back into funding the next game or app, again placing their dollars at risk.
That's the nature of the market, be it making movies, writing books, or writing apps. It's a crap shoot, where everything can be gained, or lost, on a single roll of the dice.
Stick to your day job, "explicit", because it's definitely not a game for cowards.
Re:
"It's sad, but again points out why stronger law enforcement online is needed."
No, it simply points out why Apple needs to modify the App Store to support trial versions and paid updates. I like the idea about not allowing "paid" software to go free, and removing functionality as described should lead to the app being pulled from the store. Adding ads after the fact should also be a no-no.
The flip side is the developer did what he did with the tools available, and we need to keep in mind that the whole mobile App Store concept is a scant 4 years old. As you point out, it's early days yet.
Re: Re:
Because so many of us are sitting around 12 miles offshore waiting to download the latest episode of Thrones. Besides, even if you could provide some sort of proof, the US would just shrug and say it was protecting its national security interests.
Heck, just track the silly things and seize them on the ground.