Aaron Martin-Colby 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Apple's Arbitrary Rejects Hit Nine Inch Nails App

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 04 May, 2009 @ 11:04am

    Bragging Rights

    I think Microsoft should brag about this.

    They've been receiving a lot of crap, especially from Apple-fans. But suddenly, Apple leaves the confines of their design/program/manufacture/control business model and they fall flat on their face.

    Microsoft has been dealing with this stuff for years and the Windows market, say what you will about quality, is LEAGUES more varied and vibrant than the Apple market.

  • On the post: Hybrid Vehicles Are Quiet — Maybe Too Quiet, According To A Couple Of Lawmakers

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 01 May, 2009 @ 10:42am

    Horses

    It's funny, this is the EXACT same criticism levied against electric cars back in the early days of the automobile.

    Only then, people argued that quiet cars could sneak up on, and frighten horses.

    This guy even went so far as to glue a horse head on the front of the car...

    http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9505E1DC133BE633A2575AC0A9649C946296D6CF

  • On the post: You Can't Raise The Price For News If You Don't Actually Add Value

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 30 Apr, 2009 @ 11:16am

    Anecdotal

    I think the Wall Street Journal's acceptance exceeds the bounds of one anecdote.

    I also think that their price is the least of their worries. I suspect that their sales have been doing so well because of the financial crisis bringing out armchair economists.

    But after this whole fustercluck blows over, people might be tired of financial news to the point that their subscription numbers will just collapse. The same criticism goes to The Economist.

  • On the post: Open Secrets Takes Us One Step Closer To Open Government

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 13 Apr, 2009 @ 08:50pm

    Great!

    I love it when sites like these coalesce.

    Combined with things like Wikileaks, it makes me feel that the internet may actually be the gateway to all truth all the time, like so many hoped it would.

  • On the post: German Collections Society Trying To Collect For Performances It Has No Rights Over

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 11 Apr, 2009 @ 09:04am

    Weird Harold

    I've never read anything by this "Weird Harold," before.

    Is everyone sure he's not just some troll?

    But Weird Harold, if you're legit, I think you're missing the point.

    "All I can wonder is how an artist would find all the time to go from site to site, bar to bar, and radio station to radio station to collect their residuals from each one by one."

    This isn't what's being discussed. If an artist is worried about that, they can join GEMA. But these are artists who have not joined GEMA because, in the logic of this discussion anyways, they're NOT interested in residuals.

    This is worthy of righteous indignation because the courts are saying there is an assumption, sans proof of any kind, that GEMA music is being played if there is music being played at all. This means that if you and your friends record lots of your own music, then play it publicly, GEMA can still sue you and force you and your friends to prove you made your own music.

    "You guys aren't thinking real hard - what if Jamendo just randomly claims the artist agreed to their terms? What is the proof? Are they perhaps just trying to avoid paying royalties? Also, if the artist signs with Jamendo, do they in turn lose all other potential royalities [sic] or residuals from any other use of their music?"

    The proof are binding contracts and testimony, just as it is in this country. If you want, we can get really epistemological and say we don't KNOW that anyone has really signed anything unless we have direct testimony from every artist. In this case, it's the artist's job to complain that Jamendo is lying. If there's no complaint, there's no problem.

    And the answer to your second question is no. The artist still maintains control over their music. This applies to the US, I know. And since we're talking about Germany, if you'll look here,

    http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gema.de%2Fuploads%2Ftx_mmsdownloads%2Fgema_jb_06-07_c1_urhg_01.pdf&sl=de&tl=en&history_state0=

    German law seems to specifically state that an author has absolute control over their creation for the duration of copyright. Moreover, I think it's an inaccurate statement to say that an artist "signs" with Jamendo. Jamendo is a service, not a record label.

  • On the post: Looking For The $0.69 Songs On iTunes

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 07 Apr, 2009 @ 02:22pm

    More stuff

    @ Ken: I agree. On my Denon desktop system, I notice a pretty big difference between FLAC and 320kb MP3's.

    I'm also able to notice a difference between FLAC and 96/24, but it's primarily in the high-freq range and very small. And this is on a relatively cheap desktop system, only $700.

    I have some more fun information about this, apparently it took the free market LESS THAN FIVE HOURS to develop a tool to cross shop Amazon and iTunes. See this link:

    http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/07/psa-advantageous-auto-checks-amazon-mp3-pricing-from-itunes/

    So, Dan, I think you're incorrect. If simple tools are made, this could in fact have a serious impact on iTunes' sales.

    I also find this funny since Steve Jobs himself, when supporting this new pricing model in January, said

    "in April, based on what the music labels charge Apple, songs on iTunes will be available at one of three price points-69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29-with many more songs priced at 69 cents than $1.29."

    Oh yeah. That prediction proved accurate.

  • On the post: End Of The Road For SGI

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 02 Apr, 2009 @ 07:26am

    Sad

    Very sad. They could have been so much more if they had just adjusted to the changing graphics market. You'd think that the emergence of consumer-level graphics acceleration like Rendition and 3dFX would have given them a hint of what was to come, but no.

  • On the post: Apparently, You're Only Allowed To Comment On Failed Business Models If You Believe In Them

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 21 Mar, 2009 @ 03:24pm

    Just the facts.

    "Hmmm. While the Post is the oldest newspaper in our nation’s capital and one of the oldest and most prestigious in our country, its daily readership is actually 1.6 million, not 289,300. But why should facts get in the way of opinion?"

    If Siegel is going to make such a snide comment, he should make sure to get his own blasted facts straight.

    According to the Washington Post's AdBook, which can be found here;

    http://www.washingtonpostads.com/adsite/_res/files/managed/TWP%20AdBook2009.pdf

    the Post has a circulation of 666,434 for the Monday-Friday period, and 912,433 for the Sunday. Even an idiot would know that you don't simply add those two numbers together. There's going to be lots of overlap, and it's even feasible that a majority of those Monday-Friday people also are getting Sunday, meaning that the daily readership is well below 1 million.

    I'm all for snide comments, but make sure you're right.

  • On the post: Why Is 'Self-Plagiarism' Even An Issue?

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 16 Mar, 2009 @ 08:27am

    Re: Re: Re: Missing the point (maybe several)

    Agreed on pretty much all counts.

    The distinction of the data being sacrosanct in comparison to other aspects of the articles is well made and one not missed. As such, duplicate data is right out. But I stand by my efficiency argument. Luckily, I see no problem since if duplicate data is used, efficiency in research demands that one cites one's own articles.

    Also, about my final comment, I'm not saying that what these researchers did is ethically correct, but at the very least, and in particular circumstances, understandable.

    While this system defines a researcher's employment in the hierarchy of educational institutions and not necessarily whether he has a job at all, that job could be 300 miles away.

    Uprooting my entire family is a pretty nasty option. And while, yes, in the long term this could do serious damage to my credibility, I might weigh the situation (low-likelihood of getting caught vs. high-likelihood of moving) and choose the less-than-ethical path. The promise of many meals in the future should outweigh the desire for one "right now," but perhaps it doesn't.

  • On the post: Why Is 'Self-Plagiarism' Even An Issue?

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 16 Mar, 2009 @ 07:18am

    Re: Missing the point (maybe several)

    Albert, thanks so much for the response. I was hoping to read a measured explanation of the practice.

    While I think the practice is defensible, I don't think it's entirely necessary.

    For example, let's say I write a good piece of connecting information in a paper I write about, say, fungus. I continue my research into fungus and come up with enough material to write another paper. I'm not "cheating," I actually have enough to write my new paper.

    But let's say I need to use connecting information identical to my previous paper. If I wrote it correctly the first time, not only is it silly to write it again to convey the same information, I consider it inefficient.

    If I wrote the information accurately and succinctly the first time, I should use it again because it was what I considered perfect. The point of writing is not to be unique, but to communicate the data effectively and as efficiently as possible. Being forced to re-write introduces inefficiency into the process.

    That being said, the article talks about works "in which the text was, on average, 86.2% similar to previously-published work." This is pretty obviously simply re-writing an article and re-submitting it. Moreover, they also mention that in a majority of the cases, the plagiarism was the smallest problem, with fudged, or outright faked, data being much more common.

    I also think the self-plagiarists can be understood. The article itself mentions "publish-or-perish." If I was in a researcher's shoes, and my job was on the line, I'd do the same thing. I care about feeding my family more than scientific integrity.

  • On the post: How Nordstrom's And The USPTO Have Destroyed One Small Business

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 11 Feb, 2009 @ 08:39pm

    Bad PR

    Nordstrom isn't exactly doing well, right now. I think they can ill afford the bad PR caused by a case of bullying like this.

    In the hopes that reps from Nordstrom read this, I'd like to make it known that this information will give me pause the next time I think about entering a Nordstrom or visit the website. I don't like to support companies that make mean jack-asses of themselves.

  • On the post: Esquire Hopes To Keep Magazines Alive With Electronic Ink

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 10 Sep, 2008 @ 06:00pm

    Disappointing

    I picked up the issue a few hours ago and was disappointed. I had heard early on that they were hoping to make a full dot-matrix display with a resolution in the neighborhood of 100x50.

    The flexible displays are nice, but the not-very-revolutionary batteries and control board didn't spark my fire.

    I also am sympathetic to the argument that we don't want to be adding to our already large pile of e-waste.

    Still, this seems like a good first step and think it's pretty damned cool.

  • On the post: EFF Worried About Patent Reform Re-Exam Process

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2008 @ 08:53am

    I love patents.

    Coincidentally, there's an article on the patent system on another site I read frequently. I immediately thought of you, Mike, after reading it. Although they use kinder words than you.

    http://www.american.com/archive/2008/january-february-magazine-contents/patents-pending

  • On the post: Which Is More Important For Innovation: A Standard Platform Or Competition?

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 22 Jan, 2008 @ 09:40am

    Competition

    I don't think the argument applies to video game systems. The systems themselves are incredibly complex, ever-evolving objects in their own right. Fiber optic systems and roadways are, fundamentally, much simpler. The inherent limitations of the video game platform also makes it impossible (if the system is not modded) to actually build other businesses off it.

    The system isn't really a platform. It exists in a symbiotic relationship with the accessories and games. It is a product based on the standards of connectivity like digital audio and RCA inputs. Since it's not really a platform, and the limits of the games are based on the system, competition among systems equals competition in games.

  • On the post: If Microsoft's WGA Is So Successful… Why Change It So Completely?

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 04 Dec, 2007 @ 11:22pm

    My own neck

    At the risk of prosecution, I would like the point out that I am currently using, as in using it to type this very post, a pirated copy of Windows XP. The last Windows product I bought was Me, and Microsoft is wondering why I refuse to buy anything?

    I have a legit copy of Vista on a desktop and a laptop. I hate both of them (albeit for different reasons). I think I even have a legit copy of XP lying around. I never use it because the hacked, pirated copy is easier to play with and doesn't scream at me every time I change my video card.

  • On the post: Verizon Wireless Responds To Competitive Pressures By Promising To Open Its Network

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 27 Nov, 2007 @ 10:49pm

    Don't trust 'em.

    I still don't trust them. In much the same vein as their flexible allegiances during the FCC auction debacle, Verizon has an ulterior motive of which we're just not yet aware.

  • On the post: Will There Be A New Bittorrent?

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 17 Nov, 2007 @ 10:58pm

    In with the new.

    I totally expect widespread adoption of a better option than BitTorrent. MP3 became the defacto standard since full exploitation of it requires hardware, hardware that even the most flexible geeks must use.

    BitTorrent has no such requirement. It's a totally software solution. The geeks who man the forefront will happily and easily adopt a newcomer since no hardware requirements prevent them.

  • On the post: Cox Jamming Traffic Just Like Comcast

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 17 Nov, 2007 @ 10:27pm

    I think we already knew.

    I think most BitTorrenters already knew about this. Most people I know that are using Bit Torrent, myself included, use a program that allows encryption. Fixes the problem right quick.

    For more scuttlebutt, Verizon also jams BitTorrent traffic. As far as I know, they were doing it over a year ago. My friend had Verizon DSL, and his downloads would crawl at 2 KB/sec. Replaced the ordinary client with Azureus, and MAGICALLY, he started seeing 50-100 KB/sec.

    I assume their new FiOS is the same.

  • On the post: New Massachusetts Law Would Open New Casinos While Throwing Online Gamblers In Jail

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 13 Nov, 2007 @ 11:13pm

    Ham

    I live in Rhode Island and hate Massachusetts. I think the whole state smells like ham.

  • On the post: Sony CEO Damns Blu-Ray With Faint Praise

    Aaron Martin-Colby ( profile ), 13 Nov, 2007 @ 11:10pm

    Stalemate, indeed.

    I agree with Freedom. I'm not a big fan of Sony. Still, I suspect that the stalemate will translate to a dual-format world. I can't imaging any company backing down.

    I also do not think that Video-On-Demand services will leap-frog the DVD wars into obsolescence. People, myself included, want to have portable media and a 20GB movie file is just not viable. We don't quite have the storage, yet, and we sure as hell don't have the transfer rates.

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