Andrew 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (48) comment rss

  • On the post: Healthcare Isn't A Free Market, It's A Giant Economic Scam

    Andrew ( profile ), 22 Feb, 2013 @ 12:30pm

    Re:

    But then who would pay for the rich's medical bills?

  • On the post: Healthcare Isn't A Free Market, It's A Giant Economic Scam

    Andrew ( profile ), 22 Feb, 2013 @ 12:29pm

    Re: Re:

    And yet it's still universally acknowledged as being better than the American system, at least for the 99%. They can and should improve their system, but they'd be improving a one that's already superior.

  • On the post: Kiwi Musician Says Public Domain Only Exists So You Can 'Rip Off Dead People's Works'

    Andrew ( profile ), 14 Mar, 2012 @ 08:30am

    The part about the bricklayer is so spot on I'm going to steal it and use it, unlicensed, in my own arguments.

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Creepy Ads From Big Data

    Andrew ( profile ), 02 Mar, 2012 @ 11:34am

    Glad you clarified

    "Target has been highlighted for its uncanny ability to predict when women shoppers are pregnant." Whew, if you hadn't specified 'women shoppers' then I might have thought you were talking about pregnant men! :)

  • On the post: Tobacco Companies Think Their Trademarks Are More Important Than Your Health

    Andrew ( profile ), 01 Dec, 2011 @ 08:24am

    Re:

    I definitely remember seeing warning notices about pregnant women drinking alcohol.

  • On the post: Oh Look, More Cord Cutters: Time Warner Cable Loses 155,000 TV Subscribers

    Andrew ( profile ), 09 Nov, 2010 @ 11:11am

    Re: You Know...

    You must live in a crappy area, I've never seen my cable drop out like that. At least 5 nines reliability. Maybe it's because cable companies have much heavier duty dishes?

    I've been in a room with a satellite TV and a cable TV during a bad thunderstorm, and only one of them had a picture, a perfect picture, whereas the other just had some box about trying to reacquire the satellite signal.

  • On the post: Houston Votes To Turn Off Red Light Cameras; City Officials Trying To Figure Out How To Cancel Contract

    Andrew ( profile ), 09 Nov, 2010 @ 11:06am

    Re:

    Has Houston lowered taxes $44 million dollars since installing the cameras? If not, then your tax argument is right out the window.

  • On the post: Turns Out The Evil Halloween Candy Poisoners Was Just FUD That Got You To Buy Prepackaged Candy

    Andrew ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2010 @ 01:51pm

    Re: It does happen.. rarely though...

    A candy shipment. Poisoning a candy shipment. I don't know, somehow I suspect that if someone had been caught attempting to injure or kill hundreds of people (assuming a "shipment" is more than a sack of wrapped candy) that it might have made wider news than at the police station water fountain. So, was it in the paper, do you know? Where as this?

    Another anecdote without any actual evidence. I don't doubt that you may have been told that, but that is the very definition of anecdotal, like 99.99% of all these stories.

  • On the post: Comic Book 'Pirated' On 4Chan, Author Joins Discussion… Watches Sales Soar

    Andrew ( profile ), 21 Oct, 2010 @ 02:59pm

    Re: Re:

    And FYI, I just realized I left out the scenario where it's pirated, 100x people see it, but 10x people don't buy it. Shit happens, but look at it this way: you likely didn't *lose* sales either. It's likely not that x/2 people bought it instead in this scenario.

    But also, this one is irrelevant to this conversation, which was someone saying, how dare they circumvent his wishes by giving him more money!

  • On the post: Comic Book 'Pirated' On 4Chan, Author Joins Discussion… Watches Sales Soar

    Andrew ( profile ), 21 Oct, 2010 @ 01:50pm

    Re:

    Maybe if they made quality stuff and put in an effort like this guy to connect with fans (and indeed, often pirates ARE fans), they would be getting what they "deserve" and more.

    And no, he didn't get paid from piracy. Piracy helped increase the visibility of his product, which led people to buy it. How is this remotely a bad thing? In other cases, if piracy did not lead people to buy it, that's a shame, but then you're simply left with the status quo. Because piracy exists. Deal with it, jackass.

  • On the post: Comic Book 'Pirated' On 4Chan, Author Joins Discussion… Watches Sales Soar

    Andrew ( profile ), 21 Oct, 2010 @ 01:32pm

    Re:

    Either authors want profit, or they're clinically insane. Let's look at the options here:

    1) It's not pirated. He makes x amount of dollars, because x amount of people bought and read it. He may or may be happy with this. This is the (assumed) situation by many authors.

    2) It's pirated. 100x amount of people are now able to read it for free, but 10x people buy it. He makes much more money.

    2a) If he's sane, he's happy that people love his work enough to share and buy it, and happy because he made much more money than he was otherwise.

    2b) If he's insane, he cares more about the 100x who got to see it for free rather than the 10-fold increase in sales.

    It's as simple as that. Only a fool cares about the metaphysics of it; a normal person realizes that despite so many people seeing it for free, he benefited greatly from the exercise.

    If you think I'm harsh, then.. why would an author care if people saw his work for free, if he was making more money because of it? If that's truly all he cares about - preventing people from seeing his work - then he's insane.

  • On the post: Court Denies Injunction Against EA Over Tim Langdell's 'Edge' Trademark; Slams Langdell

    Andrew ( profile ), 08 Oct, 2010 @ 01:44pm

    Nice

    I rarely do more than skim the court rulings posted here, but this one I managed to read from start to finish. It was a hilarious smackdown of the idiot.

    And guys, do you realize that the review was probably written by someone *mocking* the trademarks, and not the company itself? Especially how it added a (tm) after 'edge' in the middle of a sentence?

  • On the post: More Stories Of People Following GPS Blindly Into Dangerous Situations

    Andrew ( profile ), 08 Oct, 2010 @ 01:12pm

    Google once sent us wandering around rural Iowa; we had asked for an address and it didn't know the number, so it just gave us the street, several disjointed miles away from our actual destination. Since then, I've always actually reviewed Google's paths before just printing out the directions. Anyone using a GPS should do the same. It's the original sanity check.

  • On the post: Guy Finds FBI Tracking Device On Car, Posts Pics Online… FBI Shows Up Demanding It Back

    Andrew ( profile ), 08 Oct, 2010 @ 01:05pm

    Re: The Line Between Rights and Laws Fades....

    Obstruction requires motive. If he didn't know what it was, there is no motive for him tampering with it.

  • On the post: UK Tabloid Pays 'Substantial Sum' To Take2 After Totally Made Up Story About Grand Theft Auto

    Andrew ( profile ), 06 Oct, 2010 @ 11:05am

    Re: @abc gum: Do you fantasize about murdering prostitutes?

    No, but I do fantasize about killing turtles by jumping on them so hard they fly out of their shells, about repeatedly stabbing the cutest little things with smiles on their face, and about consuming enough drugs until I feel strong enough to then consume the demons that haunt and torment me.

    Oh, wait, no, that's Super Mario Bros., Dragon Warrior, and Pac-Man. My mistake. It's just that you seem new to the concept of video games and fiction, that's all.

  • On the post: Starbucks Staffer Claims He Was Fired For Turning Off WiFi To Block Porn Watchers

    Andrew ( profile ), 04 Oct, 2010 @ 09:49am

    Hmph

    I would have fired the passive-aggressive twerp too. Inconvenience paying customers for a handful watching porn? Go up to them and say, "Sir, if you do not stop looking at the jubblies on your laptop, I will have to ask you to leave." You can be quiet about it.

    He shouldn't have called the cops because they were watching porn in public; he should have called the cops because they were no longer welcome in the establishment. This doesn't have to be a "omg they will be branded sex offenders for life!" deal.

  • On the post: Senate Passes Bill To Try To Quiet TV Commercials

    Andrew ( profile ), 04 Oct, 2010 @ 09:16am

    Re: Re:

    What spam? I haven't seen any in my Gmail inbox in years. Perhaps the solution is having a good spam filter (and the awesome herd immunity provided by a provider like Gmail), rather than calling on Congress to do something. If you don't care enough to get a proper spam filter then why do you care enough to complain to Congress?

  • On the post: Senate Passes Bill To Try To Quiet TV Commercials

    Andrew ( profile ), 04 Oct, 2010 @ 09:15am

    Re: Yes, we do freakin' need government in this

    So you mute the TV because the commercials are too loud. Sounds like you've solved your problem; why does Congress need to get involved? To save you the hassle? I'm not sure that was in the Constitution.

  • On the post: Senate Passes Bill To Try To Quiet TV Commercials

    Andrew ( profile ), 04 Oct, 2010 @ 09:13am

    Re:

    "I keep telling her to handle it herself, but I wouldn't mind if the government did it for her". If it's not important enough for her to do it herself, then why call upon Congress to do it? It's apparently a non-issue.

  • On the post: David Letterman And Joaquin Phoenix Discuss Fair Use As Letterman Threatens To Sue

    Andrew ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2010 @ 09:06am

    Re:

    Cheating on your wife with an employee makes someone a "perverted sicko?" What hyperbolic terms do you reserve for people who molest children, then?

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