Ajax4Hire 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Word Of Mouth Marketing Isn't Effective If Your Product Sucks

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 03 Jun, 2008 @ 10:05am

    Ferengi Rule of Acquisition

    Ferengi Rule of Acquisition
    #44 Never confuse wisdom with luck.
    #57 Good customers are as rare as latinum; Treasure them.
    #69 Ferengi are not responsible for the stupidity of other races.
    #82 The flimsier the product, the higher the price.

    All are applicable in this instance.

  • On the post: Entire Minnesota Town Removed From Google Street View

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 02 Jun, 2008 @ 07:10am

    Yes, the point is privacy...

    If you do not guard and protect your privacy then you give up your right and freedom to privacy.

    If privacy were not an issue, then there would be no "Anonymous Coward".
    This is not a "Streisand" point. She complained about someone taking pictures from a public place. These are pictures taken on private property, the pictures prove trespassing. Defend your freedoms or loose your freedom.

    What I do or don't do on my property is not your business.
    You do NOT have the freedom to invade my body, my home, my property or my country.

    These protections are freedom.
    Google was right in taking the pictures down.
    The town was right in requesting the take-down.
    I would do the same.

  • On the post: Stephen Colbert Takes On MLB's Attempt To Bully Little Leaguers With Trademarks

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 30 May, 2008 @ 09:58am

    So sad how far baseball has fallen...

    My only son knows little of baseball, I know so much.

    MLB (can I write MLB without infringement?) continues to sue anyone who is interested in "The Game". There is a similar court case about Fantasy Baseball web sites.

    It is as if MLB is only worried about people who are truly interested in Baseball.
    If MLB continues they may get "Metallica-ed" (see previous Techdirt article).

    so sad.

  • On the post: EU Officials Way Too Worried About Social Networks

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 29 May, 2008 @ 07:59am

    What about Google

    GoogleEarth, MSNEarth and every other satellite photo service.
    Do they need to run around getting waivers from every person on the planet?

    No.

    The US and EU are setting up laws that will make hosting web sites in free countries a major business.

    That is where Wikileaks is hosted, a free country.

    So your "Old Europe Privacy" will make you slaves.

    And by that I mean that the US and EU are NOT free countries any more.

    Security is a body glove that slowly chokes the life out of you.
    Freedom is the two edge sword that cuts both ways.
    Give me the freedom to make mistakes any day.

  • On the post: EU Officials Way Too Worried About Social Networks

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 29 May, 2008 @ 07:43am

    Mamma says...

    don't talk to strangers!

    These are laws for children not adults.
    The EU is treating all citizens as if they were too stupid to recognize and discriminate real life.

    We eventually all grow up and realize that
    a Stranger is just a friend that you have not met yet.

    Yes, I know there are all sorts of predators, spammers, advertisers and phish out on the internet. Your job is to teach your children that these things exist and to beware, be aware but not to be a hermit.

    Just as in real life, you start off in a nursery, protected and supported. Eventually you leave the protection of the nursery with more knowledge, understanding and the ability to discriminate good from bad. As you get older your ability to discriminate gets better until you leave the nest.

    That is why you shelter children in the beginning.
    Parents are made for children.
    Laws are made for Adults.

    We have to be free to make our own mistakes.
    Failure is our best teacher.

    We are always more interested in the failures;
    just look at the news, full of failure stories;
    it is what we want to know.

  • On the post: Is It Fraud If You Collect One Penny Legally Over And Over Again?

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 28 May, 2008 @ 01:59pm

    It is fraud...read the base article...

    Michael Largent allegedly used fake names, addresses and Social Security numbers to setup brokerage accounts at ETrade and Schwab.

    That is fraud.
    Using misleading on wrong information to obtain services and goods, duh!

    Suppling fake name, fake addresses, fake Social Security Numbers; fake means fraud.

  • On the post: Singapore Firm Claims Patent On Hyperlinked Images

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 28 May, 2008 @ 09:30am

    I read about this yesterday

    on SlashDot.com

    There was some confusion as to whether the patent is simply embedding a hyperlink to an image

    or the more advanced topic of scanning images for content and linking to that content. Picture of McD arches links to McD site.

    Prior art covers the 1st.
    I have been linking images to sites for 13 years.
    Definitely covers the patent filing date.

  • On the post: GTA IV Actor Complains About His Salary After Game's Success; So Why Did He Take The Job?

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 22 May, 2008 @ 09:31am

    Yes, and engineers should get a cut

    of every iPod that is sold;
    of every laptop, TV, cablebox, Blackbery, Razr etc.
    The engineers who did the design would should get a cut of every electronic device every produced.

    While we are at it, for any bridge, road, building we should be paying a regular stipend to all the construction workers, architects, Civil Engineers for their creativity.

    Doctors should receive a regular income from you personally for keeping you healthy.

    Teachers and College Professors should get a portion of every student's income.

    yes, makes sense.
    An actor should get a portion of every dollar for every time some of the content they contributed to.

    oooo, ended sentence with preposition, I need to go pay my 8th grade teacher.

  • On the post: The Big Company Doesn't Always Win

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 19 May, 2008 @ 02:37pm

    An example from history...

    The smaller more nimble English war ships beat the much larger more established Spanish Armada ships in the The Battle of Gravelines.

    It is an excellent example of how large, sturdy, well established, heavily armored ship or company can be brought down/overcome by smaller, nimble ships or companies with less resources but more will and innovation.

  • On the post: Shockingly, Businesses Who Set Up Shop In Second Life Because It's 'Cool' Don't Fare So Well

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 19 May, 2008 @ 06:49am

    History is littered with

    early adoptors and 1st line offense.
    People hoping to cash in on the next big thing by being 1st.

    The problem in being first is that you must build entire infrastructure to support your new idea. For Example:
    Google would not have been successful if they had to create the internet;
    Micrsoft would not have been successful if there were no Personal Computers;
    Ford would have not been successful if there was no big Steel industry;

    Second Life has started to create a Virtual World suitable for business but it is in the infant stage. But in a few years (say 5 years), Second Life or some other Virtualized Interactive environment will be littered with very successful businesses.

    Google was unknown 10 years ago
    10 years from now the largest business will be in eWorld.

    1st, I said it first.

  • On the post: Ideas Are Easy… Execution Is Difficult

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 15 May, 2008 @ 11:12am

    Ideas are like ears...

    everyone has a couple of them.

    It takes the hands to make something worthwhile.
    Talk and Ideas never feed the hungry, clothed and housed the poor.

    The greatest people in history are the ones who did something with their ideas; built something with their hands .
    The idea of heart surgery is nice but it is the heart surgeon who saves your life.
    The idea of clean water is nice but it is the act of pasteurization that saves your life.

    Ideas will start the process but without action behind the idea,
    it is just talk in the wind.

  • On the post: Australian Court Says Creating Your Own TV Program Listing Is Copyright Infringement

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 14 May, 2008 @ 01:52pm

    We are doomed.

    Doomed I say. Doomed.

  • On the post: Can A Print Magazine Compete With Internet By Being Slower… But More Analytical?

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 14 May, 2008 @ 06:52am

    uhh, hello, wake up, the point is...

    the content not the delivery method.

    The Delivery method is evolving to a faster and cheaper means. It is the cheaper delivery that marks the downfall of printed material. Paper media (newspaper, magazine, post/snail mail) cannot compete in cost with internet delivery.

    There is still room for newspapers, magazines, books but the masses will eventually move to the most efficient least expensive method of content distribution. You cannot stop it.

    Just as cave drawings replaced hand-waving;
    Just as written scroll replaced oral history;
    Just as printing presses obsoleted the transcribing monk.

    Forcing people to use inferior distribution methods will only backfire, just look at the RIAA/MPAA/DRM.
    Pissing people off is never a good long term business model.

    People still talk with their hands, draw on walls, tell stories, write on scrolls and use a printing press as a form of recreation, as a hobby.

    "The avalanche has already started, it is too late for the pebbles to vote."; Kosh, Ambassador to Babylon5.

  • On the post: Can A Print Magazine Compete With Internet By Being Slower… But More Analytical?

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 14 May, 2008 @ 04:57am

    no, just because it is printed on paper

    dragged across the country and put into your mailbox does not make the analysis more useful.

    Internet sites already do this, they supply more and better? analysis on subjects for a price, it is called a subscription model.

    Subscription Model:
    comes from when Internet content was written down on paper (subscribed) and physically delivered on a regular schedule (daily, weekly, etc.)

  • On the post: Driving Distractions Are, Indeed, Distracting

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 12 May, 2008 @ 01:18pm

    Billboards are distracting but

    I don't see legislation pending to outlaw Billboards.

    As pointed out in the article, distractions are always there.

    Maybe this is a Darwin thing: multi-taskers that can handle the onslaught of distractions and still survive and thrive will live to rule the world.

    I especially like the point about the artificially low speed limits can cause be even more distracting.
    So true, allows the billboard longer time to linger on the mind. I know the amount of brain horse-power needed to drive 55mph on the interstate is mind-numbingly small. Longer time on the road more opportunity to get hit, more likely to succumb to sleep, day dream, lost in thought accident.

  • On the post: How Do You Legislate Fewer Attacks On Homeland Security's Network?

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 09 May, 2008 @ 05:52pm

    Read the article more carefully...

    True, the only hammer a politician has is legislation
    but the legislation is to

    decrease the number of _SUCCESSFUL_ attacks.

    Always a goal, The politicians are simply reminding DHS of this fact.

  • On the post: Congress Follows States' Lead In Trying To Ban Stores From Selling Violent Video Games To Kids

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 09 May, 2008 @ 11:51am

    If Politicians really believed Violent Games

    caused violence then playing non-violent Games should make you non-violent.

    Politicians should pass laws mandating that all children are required to play a minimum amount of non-violent games...
    oh wait that is called school recess, never mind.

  • On the post: Video Games Don't Hurt Movie Sales If You Make Good Movies

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 06 May, 2008 @ 08:14am

    Saw Ironman, it is good

    There has been a dearth of good movies since Dec-2007.
    I knew Ironman would be stellar at the box-office simply because of pent-up demand. The fact that it is good only added to its outstanding $100M 1st weekend.

    If Ironman had emerged in a more crowded market of good movies then it would have not done so $100M spectacular.

    It is good, go see it.

  • On the post: Take Two Sues Chicago Transit For Taking Down Grand Theft Auto IV Ads

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 06 May, 2008 @ 06:29am

    If they really though this was the problem

    If they really though this was the problem then placing bilboards of "Peace, Love, Happiness and Harmony" thru-out troubled areas should be the solution.

    GTA-IV billboards cause crime wave;
    Bilboards of kittens, puppies and happy children should counter-act; makes sense if you believe the crime wave cause.

  • On the post: Take Two Sues Chicago Transit For Taking Down Grand Theft Auto IV Ads

    Ajax4Hire ( profile ), 06 May, 2008 @ 06:26am

    Easy Target and contract law...

    Sounds like the CTA violated contract law by unilaterally changing the terms of the agreement; the GTA-IV advertisement is for a specific time period. CTA removed before time is up.

    And Yes, even if the CTA is struggling for money, and what Transit Authority run by government bureacuracy is not, it still a government bureaucracy. Elected and government appointed officials never think in terms of business, they think in terms of job security. I hate to use the word pander but that is exactly what CTA officials are doing, pandering to newscast pressure (not public pressure).

    Finally Take-Two is an easy target.
    It is easier for CTA officials and Chicago City Government to blame a few billboards of GTA-IV for the violence as opposed to the real culprit. Whatever it is it is _NOT_ GTA advertisements.

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