Aitala 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (45)

• On the post: What If Microsoft Had To Approve Every App On Windows?

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 29 Jul, 2009 @ 01:41pm

  I am not sure the analogy here is all that good.
  
  Eric

• On the post: Stephen Fry: Time For Politicians To Represent People's Interest On Copyright, Not Corporations

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 14 Jul, 2009 @ 06:44am

  Re:

  I love QI - just grabbed Series F last night.

• On the post: From Russia, With Stupidity: Band Must Pay Fines To Itself

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 10 Jul, 2009 @ 11:37am

  In Russia, songs license you.
  
  Dr E

• On the post: Universities Struggling To Deal With Law Requiring Them To Fight File Sharing

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2009 @ 11:00am

  Sneakernet

  So what's to prevent a student walking down the hallway with a 1TB external hard drive and letting everyone copy his MP3s?
  
  Dr. E

• On the post: The Coming Disruption In The Textbook Market

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 10 Mar, 2009 @ 01:31pm

  Re:

  Actually areas like Electricity & Magnetism, Classical Physics and Thermodynamics have not changed much for undergraduate physics students. Things move at the fringes but F=ma still works...
  
  Dr E

• On the post: The Coming Disruption In The Textbook Market

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 10 Mar, 2009 @ 11:00am

  Physics textbooks

  Physics textbooks were getting ridiculous - one tactic was to take a standard text which had been around for decades, add a new co-author (usually the original author was deceased) and add a few chapters, examples, etc. There was really no new content, but that made all the old books obsolete, then the prices could be jacked up.
  
  Also adding useless color drawings, photos, or redoing all the examples/homework problems was another tactic.
  
  Dr E.

• On the post: Authors Guild Digs Itself In Deeper Concerning Kindle Text-To-Speech

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 13 Feb, 2009 @ 12:43pm

  What about folks like my girlfriend who need text to speech because of disabilities?
  
  The Author's Guild is out of their minds.
  
  Eric

• On the post: Once Again, Apple's 200 iPhone Patents Don't Stop Others From Claiming Infringement

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 25 Nov, 2008 @ 08:57am

  Note - "The '196 patent claims cover the display of Internet content reformatted from HTML to XML on mobile devices--the industry standard currently displayed by the iPhone,"
  
  The iPhone does not do this, does it? It actually renders the HTML.
  
  Dr E

• On the post: Woman Arrested For Threatening To Hold Broadband Repair Guy Hostage

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 03 Sep, 2008 @ 12:23pm

  Geez

  I wonder what the heck happened to the country that stood up to Germany and the Blitz?
  
  Now it would probably surrender if confronted by an angry dachshund.
  
  Bark !!! Bark!!!
  [White Flag]
  
  Eric

• On the post: Should The Next President Use A Computer?

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 04 Aug, 2008 @ 06:33pm

  Imagine instead...

  that the question is "Should the President know how to drive a car?" After all, he will probably never do so as long as he is President, so what's the big deal?
  
  Now imagine the average American's reaction... considering the price of gasoline, the state of the US road system, and the general "out of touch-ness" such an idea implies.
  
  Eric

• On the post: Don't Read Too Much Into Radiohead's Claim That It Won't Offer Music For Free Again

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 01 May, 2008 @ 06:22am

  This 'quote'

  Note this line 'One of the band's managers suggested it and the group went with it as a publicity stunt -- which worked.'
  
  At no point do I recall Radiohead saying this was a 'publicity stunt'. What I do recall hearing from Yorke's interview with David Byrne is that they tired it because they were out of their previous contract and thought it might be interesting to try.
  
  Mike uses the word 'stunt' five times... now perhaps the publicity did not hurt getting the word out about Radiohead, but I think the use of 'stunt' by Mike shows his bias.
  
  In general, I have few issues with the articles posted here...
  
  Eric

• On the post: Don't Read Too Much Into Radiohead's Claim That It Won't Offer Music For Free Again

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 30 Apr, 2008 @ 10:05pm

  Uh huh

  I wonder if Thom Yorke ran over Mike's puppy or something. You seem to have it in for Radiohead.
  
  Or are you just biased against anyone who does not share your exact views?
  
  You don't even give them credit for trying something different... in terms of the typical music industry approach.
  
  Eric

• On the post: DRM Prevents AppleTV From Working On Some Hardware

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 27 Feb, 2008 @ 07:28pm

  In other news...

  ... my Honda Civic will not run on diesel fuel.
  
  Did anyone not notice the guy in question had a computer monitor hooked up to his AppleTV? And that the tech specs for Apple TV list a requirement for HDMI ??
  
  http://www.apple.com/appletv/specs.html
  
  While one can debate the 'merits' and drawbacks of DRM, this problem is due to not paying attention.... RTFM
  
  Eric

• On the post: Debunk Alternative Medicine Provider; Have Him Get Your Website Taken Offline

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 20 Feb, 2008 @ 12:52pm

  'Bad' ISP

  And not in the way you think...
  
  While the ISP has 'pulled' the site if you go to its homepage - http://www.quackometer.net/ - if you go to the blog page http://www.quackometer.net/blog, you get a directory listing.
  
  Seems not to be the brightest web host around...
  
  Dr.E

• On the post: U2 Manager Says Google And Its Hippie Friends Should Pay The Recording Industry

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 29 Jan, 2008 @ 07:01am

  Struggling?

  How about struggling with reality?
  
  Or struggling with creating a new business model when they can't do math - from the MPAA piracy in higher ed study?
  
  Or struggling to remain relevant with a potential member leaving the RIAA?
  
  Eric

• On the post: U2 Manager Says Google And Its Hippie Friends Should Pay The Recording Industry

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 29 Jan, 2008 @ 06:38am

  Uh, ya

  U2 can bite my shiny metal ass.
  
  Eric

• On the post: Why Is The Hollywood Tail Wagging The Dog Of Academia?

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 28 Jan, 2008 @ 06:31pm

  The simple answer...

  Having worked in the IT departments of two Universities, at very different ends of the academic system, its quite easy to understand why schools block p2p and don't fight the system.
  
  It's just simpler to block the traffic than handle all the complications. Higher ed IT departments are stretched pretty thin and have more pressing issues to deal with. They know that students trade in copyright material and do what they can to limit pirating and follow the law, but unless pressed by the RiAA and MPAA, IT really doesn't care.
  
  Its hard enough keeping everything running...
  
  E

• On the post: Ford Continues To Slap Down Enthusiast Calendars, Saying You Can't Sell Photos Of Your Own Car

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 15 Jan, 2008 @ 05:33am

  Something similar is messy up my hobby, scale model building. Companies are going after aftermarket decal makers who sell decals to accurately represent sponsor decals for race cars. Its virtually impossible to get licensing to produce the decals - either the cost is too high for such a small market or finding who to contact in not possible.
  
  I've suggested that some of the major model builders - one fellow gets about $15k for his finished kits - start contacting the companies to get money from them or leave those sponsor decals off.
  
  Dr. E.

• On the post: Kaspersky Decides Windows Explorer Is A Virus

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 21 Dec, 2007 @ 10:39am

  Well, duh!
  
  EMA

• On the post: NCAA Puts Limits On Live Blogging Sports Events

  

  Aitala ( profile ), 20 Dec, 2007 @ 08:42am

  Is it my imagination or is this country getting dumber by the nanosecond?
  
  EMA

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