tracker1 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (221) comment rss

  • On the post: Charter Communications Refuses To Air Antenna Manufacturer's Ad

    tracker1 ( profile ), 04 Apr, 2013 @ 05:29pm

    Re: Final Proof

    Tell that to the likes of Dasani (Coca Cola), Aquafina (Pepsi), Arrowhead, Fiji Water etc... they bottle water that is as close to free as download bandwidth to people just fine... making lots of money.

  • On the post: No, The Death Of Google Reader Doesn't Mean 'Free' Doesn't Work

    tracker1 ( profile ), 16 Mar, 2013 @ 11:14pm

    Re: Just the opposite...

    Well, I can say that once Reader and iGoogle are gone, I'm far less inclined to use Google for search. I'd be willing to pay a nominal fee to keep them around.. I've already paid for NewsBlur (which is having growing pains in the fallout)... I may find another solution, or set of solutions. That said, the two of them are about 80% of my time online and without them, google looses my eyes (their product).

  • On the post: Unintended Consequences Of Google Reader Shutdown: Losing Key Tool To Get Around Censored Internet In Iran & China

    tracker1 ( profile ), 14 Mar, 2013 @ 02:40pm

    That's awesome

    ... already payed for newsblur, but may check this out just the same.

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Horse, The Other Other Red Meat

    tracker1 ( profile ), 08 Mar, 2013 @ 10:45pm

    Horses are useful

    Depending on the environment, a Horse can be a great alternative to gas powered machinery.. carts, deliveries, etc... I can see them being in wide use in more rural areas very successfully.

    Horses may have more offspring than can be raised, needed or cared for, and older horses aren't as useful... I'm speaking strictly from a practical standpoint, that horses are more useful than cows while they are being raised. Using them as food when they aren't makes sense.

    I don't see what all the fuss is about overall, as I also wouldn't consider eating horse meat any worse than cow, pig, etc... "There's all sorts of tasty critters in the world." In this day and age when there are so many people to feed, and mounting evidence our excess intake of carbohydrates are pretty bad, anything that allows for other, natural food sources is probably an okay idea.

  • On the post: Another Terrible Idea From Russia: Using Whitelists To Control Access To The Internet

    tracker1 ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2013 @ 08:58am

    One out of three ain't bad...

    Yay Vodka!

  • On the post: Truly Stupid Ideas: Adding DRM To HTML5

    tracker1 ( profile ), 30 Jan, 2013 @ 09:00am

    Do it like JS

    If they allow pre-processor plugins on-demand, similar to how JS works via an Native Client (NaCl) system, it could very well be seamless in the next round of modern browsers. (IE11, Chrome 30, etc). As long as it can be done as an inline pre-processor it could integrate seamlessly, be custom to that site and license, and still work towards stopping recording (though a screen capture, and virtual sound card could still do it, but we'll pretend that DRM actually works)... My goal wouldn't be to stop DRM, but to make it so seamless for content streaming, that it doesn't get in your way. Second to that is keeping it in the browser tab/view, and out of your OS level... where it is nicely sandboxed, and reduced as a potential attack vector.

  • On the post: Truly Stupid Ideas: Adding DRM To HTML5

    tracker1 ( profile ), 30 Jan, 2013 @ 08:56am

    My $.02

    It wouldn't bother me too much if said "plugins" were required to be in NaCl (Google's Native Client) architecture, which really limits their ability to only access stuff in a browser (sandboxed). If said "plugins" are installed at the OS level, then this is just wrong. If they allow said decoder to be in an NaCl sandbox, and included like a JavaScript segment, it could be okay in terms of usability, and maintaining a balance with security.

    I do appreciate seeing Netflix in on the discussion, since they are probably the single biggest instance of DRM licensed content. They are kind of stuck in the middle, of wanting to offer content/services to users, and having to appease the content gods requiring DRM schemes. There's enough trouble in even getting content licenses, without DRM would make it far too difficult at this time.

    My biggest concern here is that they avoid the OS level plugin systems of old. I thought that NaCl was a good idea when released, and if integrated seamlessly could be very good... worst you would have to do is "close the tab" to get out of a rogue site... instead of it infecting your system with malware. Further, there has been a lot of effort in terms of improving security with JS integration, and using the same API interfaces for video/audio pre-processing combined with something like NaCl could be good, without the need for full-os level integration.

    I do *not* want to see another Silverlight/Moonlight instance where MS licenses the codecs for non-windows (and mac), but without any DRM, effectively making it useless for people on linux, or generic STBs (set-top-boxes, Raspberry Pi, etc) wanting to access content sites like Netflix.

  • On the post: Spineless Web Host Shutters Site Over Toothless Legal Threat Because Comments Are Too Much Trouble

    tracker1 ( profile ), 24 Oct, 2012 @ 03:21pm

    Re:

    You may want to think about what you just said, and look into what happened with WikiLeaks... You aren't safer on Rackspace's cloud, or Amazon, Azure, Joyent etc...

  • On the post: Yes: Breaking Web Articles Into Multiple Pages Is A Pain

    tracker1 ( profile ), 03 Oct, 2012 @ 01:49am

    Ads can be too intrusive

    The irony, is depending on your site, even having ads on some areas can lose you sales/content. I've been pushing for removing/reducing ads in certain click-through pages, such as on search results, because in the end, my theory is that we'll get more page views on those pages that are more important to the user... the final pages after searching. It's worth noting that this is for a popular classifieds site, and the ads do account for about 1/3 to 1/2 of the revenue most months, so removing them all around isn't an option, but making them less invasive, and better performing is a good idea. In a single-page app/site, we've actually gone to serving/tracking our own ads in terms of a branded experience where ads are paid for by the minute up to 5 min/user... which is working pretty interestingly. There are lots of options beyond being too intrusive with ads and still having them.

  • On the post: If The RIAA Was Innovative: An Alternate Universe Timeline

    tracker1 ( profile ), 18 Sep, 2012 @ 12:54pm

    I remember something like that...

    I remember a couple of services in the late 90's that did custom mix CDs...

  • On the post: If The RIAA Was Innovative: An Alternate Universe Timeline

    tracker1 ( profile ), 18 Sep, 2012 @ 12:52pm

    I know what you mean...

    Honestly, I was purchasing a few CDs a week when the original Napster was popular.. it was a great way to get new music, and sample an album before buying... maybe I was downloading more than I was buying.. now, I just don't do much if any of it.. I'll maybe buy 2CDs a year on average now.

    Same thing with DRM and video games... used to be at least a game a month, now it's been a few years, aside from the humble bundles.

  • On the post: Barnes & Noble Claims That Public User Names Are Private Info; Refuses To Restore Blog With Comments

    tracker1 ( profile ), 12 Sep, 2012 @ 09:15am

    Just transfer the public name & comment only

    They could very easily send the comment-id, parent-comment-id, the public display name... another export with display-name, salt, sha-256(salt+email-address), and the comment text...

    This would allow a user to create a new account on the new site, and could then hash the desired username and email address.. if the name & email (hashed) matches the existing entry, you can attach that user... no privacy lost.

    This would also allow you to preserve the comments, with display name.. and allow users to re-claim their comments/accounts... That's a solution off the top of my head that should be easy enough to implement.

  • On the post: Animation Instructor Fights Unnecessary Textbook Purchases And Gets Fired For His Trouble

    tracker1 ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2012 @ 09:52am

    Re: Nothing new here.

    I had a GF forced to pay that much for a couple books and some specialized software for one of her courses (that would only really be used for that one semester). (That's total for that course's requirements, not each piece, but still).

  • On the post: Tor Listens To Authors And Readers And Ditches DRM

    tracker1 ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2012 @ 11:29am

    Funny...

    I've actually not purchased an e-book reader up to this point mainly because of the DRM.

  • On the post: Appeals Court Doubles Down: Genes Still Patentable

    tracker1 ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2012 @ 11:16am

    This is lunacy...

    An event in nature should not be patentable... A specific method of influencing said events could be. In this instance the gene itself, or it's effects in various states should not be patentable... that is simply observation. A specific, proven technique for changing said gene in a living being should probably be.

  • On the post: If I Were The MPAA… How I Would Deal With My Car Break-In

    tracker1 ( profile ), 13 Aug, 2012 @ 04:20pm

    Re: Well said

    Not really.. it's essentially supporting draconian DRM (as a "change in behavior") to protect IP.

  • On the post: Holy Conflict Of Interest! Tell Congress That The Public Good Is More Important Than Their Chance To Cameo In Batman

    tracker1 ( profile ), 18 Jul, 2012 @ 05:13pm

    I smell a DMCA notice in 3...2...

    Though I do think it's pretty interesting, I expect to see trademark and copyright suits follow pretty quickly... could be interesting to see the Streisand effect in action again though.

  • On the post: California Legalizes Some Texting While Driving, Sort Of

    tracker1 ( profile ), 17 Jul, 2012 @ 01:41pm

    Satellite Navigation is Dangerous

    I've been known to have a map up on my phone and look at that while driving... I've also, in the past, written down/printed similar items. Today's cars have built-in bluetooth, as well as sat-nav. Will they be illegal too soon... I was in my first accident in 17 years last year while I had an incoming call, and looked over to see who it was from... Traffic suddenly stopped in front of me, *wham*

    It happens, it could just as easily have been a kid asking a question in the rear seat, or any number of other distractions. It's a matter of being prudent/responsible while driving, not outlawing anything that might be too much of a distraction...

    Separate compartments for every passenger, people. Then your hands strapped to the steering wheel, with your head in a bit of a vice... only safe way to go.

  • On the post: Google Sued For Patent Infringement For Mobile Chrome

    tracker1 ( profile ), 12 Jul, 2012 @ 09:25am

    Re: East Texas

    I think this trend may go the other way... the judges in East Texas seem to be coming up to speed on technology... I'm surprised there isn't a legal precedent for having the venue changed, when both parties are in a different state than where filed.

  • On the post: Ron And Rand Paul: Net Neutrality And The Public Domain Are Really Evil Collectivist Plots

    tracker1 ( profile ), 05 Jul, 2012 @ 01:56pm

    Minarchism vs Lipertarian...

    The article you refer to yourself sets it up as a subset of libertarian beliefs.

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