Ray Trygstad 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (93) comment rss

  • On the post: NY Times Paywall Plateaus

    Ray Trygstad ( profile ), 20 Jun, 2006 @ 07:29am

    Check Other Newspaper Sites

    The kicker is that some of these columnists are syndicated and their columns can easily be accessed on the sites of other newspapers that carry the syndicated content; even if they are not, many papers will pick up a NY Times column, particularly if it is controversial, and then will also run it on their site. In recent months I have had little or no problem finding NY Times columns in their entirety elsewhere on the Web. Every time I did this represents a lost ad opportunity for the Times.

  • On the post: $100 Laptops To Create Next Generation Of Malware Authors?

    Ray Trygstad ( profile ), 13 Jun, 2006 @ 02:10pm

    Bulgaria

    In the bad old days under Communism, a very high percentage of viruses came out of Bulgaria, which never made much sense as there were probably very, very few PCs in the entire country; I think those concerned with this potential threat are looking back on that. There is also the concern that if economic empowerment does not come about from cheap computing, the frustrated cheap computer owners may turn to revenge.

  • On the post: NYTimes: Haven't Quite Figured Out This Online Conversation Thing

    Ray Trygstad ( profile ), 12 Jun, 2006 @ 08:00am

    Read the NY Times article

    In another exhibition of their lack of understanding of how the Web really works, the Times should not require subscriber-only access to their coumnists who are SYNDICATED! Read the NY Times column under discussion at http://www.insidebayarea.com/opinion/tribune/ci_3891172.

  • On the post: Data Retention Backer Mystified That Anyone Would Oppose Such A Plan

    Ray Trygstad ( profile ), 04 May, 2006 @ 01:41pm

    Offshore Hosting

    Guess it might be time to look at moving my Web hosting offshore; another example of clueless politicians driving American jobs and American money to other countries. I wonder if anyone has explained to them how the Internet really works, and that there is absolutely no bar to anyone moving their Web presence offshore--nah, not worth it; they'll just try to find some way to make THAT illegal too!

  • On the post: Touching Your Earpiece Violates Driving-While-Yakking Law?

    Ray Trygstad ( profile ), 15 Mar, 2006 @ 07:45am

    Re: Legislate My A$$

    Not only that, but at least the damn horse can steer himself, and if you're really drunk, get you home safely on his own--as long as you don't fall out of the saddle. I've yet to see a car that can do that; they just seem to need way too much attention.

  • On the post: Techdirt: Looking A Bit Different

    Ray Trygstad ( profile ), 11 Mar, 2006 @ 07:31pm

    New Site Design

    Bravo!

  • On the post: Publisher To Try Free Ad-Supported Book Online

    Ray Trygstad ( profile ), 15 Feb, 2006 @ 07:39am

    Re: It's been done

    Not only do I read Baen books online, but when I go into a bookstore to buy books, I look for the Baen logos. This free book policy builds tremendous brand loyalty, and I know that the fact that Baen has published it means it's probably a book I'll enjoy reading. It's a method that is making money for Baen, and it really works. And so far, it seems everyone wins--I get free books, and Baen gets my money when I buy books.

  • On the post: Throw Them In Copyright Jail!

    Ray Trygstad ( profile ), 13 Dec, 2005 @ 07:33am

    Don't They Have Lawyers? Are They THAT Stupid?

    I always thought corporations and especially industry associations always have a slew of lawyers on staff both to litigate and to explain legal issues to poor dumb executives. Where are the MPA's lawyers? Have they never explained to their bosses the difference between civil and criminal law? Under what possible statute do the execs think they can send "lyric pirates" to jail? As for my second question in the subject line above, it's really rhetorical, because obviously--they are.

  • On the post: More Musicians Recognizing Copy Protection Is A Bad Thing

    Ray Trygstad ( profile ), 06 Dec, 2005 @ 12:00pm

    Re: No copy protection until we're famous?

    Almost the cost of DVDs? I took my daughter to buy a present for a friend and she wanted to get the sound track to "The Music Man" as it's her friend's favorite musical; at Borders the soundtrack CD cost $2.00 MORE than the DVD of the movie!

  • On the post: Can You Sell Open Source Software As Generic Software?

    Ray Trygstad ( profile ), 19 Nov, 2005 @ 06:43am

    No Subject Given

    The real value to OSS lies in the professionally produced manuals and tutorials; the CompareSoft page says they will "donate any code or documentation we develop for the project" back to the Open Source community. I don't know about you, but a professionally produced manual to the GIMP will be worth a lot to me. Historically some of the best documentation ever produced has been for free (although not necessarily Open Source) software. The old AOLPress Manual (software and manual still available at http://members.aol.com/rjdriver/aolpress.htm) is unquestionably one of the finest software manuals I have ever seen anywhere by anyone, and makes any documentation from Microsoft look like the pure drivel that it actually is.

  • On the post: Fighting Over The Word Easy And The Color Orange

    Ray Trygstad ( profile ), 18 May, 2005 @ 08:16pm

    Fighting Over The Word Easy And The Color Orange

    Back when WordPerfect was actually a company, they spent big buckos going after just about anything ending in "perfect" that could possibly have anything to do with words or computers. And look at King Features Syndicate going after Mandrake Linux about use of the word "Mandrake"--as if anyone could possibly confuse a comic strip magician with an operating system! It's the name of a plant, for gosh sakes. So this is nothing new. Ho-hum: same crap, different day.

  • On the post: Book Publishers Don't Get The Internet Either

    Ray Trygstad ( profile ), 21 Apr, 2005 @ 08:13pm

    Some Publishers Get It....

    Baen Books gets it; they have about 80 books on the Baen Free Library site that you can download--in five different formats--for free. They are convinced that they make MORE money as a result--and so am I. Many of the books there are part of a trilogy or an extended series. So I download and read the first book (or first two or three books) on my Pocket PC and end up buying the rest. Because of this stellar marketing I would guess that 80% of the fiction I have bought over the past two years has been Baen. Baen has a stable pool of authors, and I have started reading books by some of them because I was introduced to their work online at no risk. So really, some publishers get it--even if most don't.

  • On the post: Now That All Your Financial Info Is Available, How About Your Medical Data?

    Ray Trygstad ( profile ), 11 Mar, 2005 @ 10:36pm

    HIPAA Violation?

    If this occurred in the U.S. it is almost certainly a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) which can bring on not only criminal prosecution but some whacking big fines. I would love to see some serious prosecutions for egregious violations of HIPAA, because like any law it will only be meaningful if it has some teeth, and unlike some of our laws I think overall this one is a good one.
    "Any person who knowingly obtains or discloses individually identifiable health information in violation of the Administrative Simplification Regulations faces a fine of up to $50,000, as well as imprisonment up to one year. Offenses committed under false pretenses allow penalties to be increased to a $100,000 fine, and up to five years in prison. Finally, offenses committed with the intent to sell, transfer or use individually identifiable health information for commercial advantage, personal gain or malicious harm permit fines of $250,000, and imprisonment for up to ten years.(emphasis added)" AMA HIPAA Violations and Enforcement.