another mike 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (205) comment rss

  • On the post: Pointless Babble Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

    another mike ( profile ), 19 Aug, 2009 @ 03:18pm

    Re: Re: Re: Felix

    First off let me say Izzy (FTA) isn't my neighbor. But I know how this sort of robbery works.
    I was in my kitchen the other week and looked out the window to see some kid looking in my back yard. Looked like Kilroy with his head and hands up over the back wall. My first thought was, "That's odd." Second thought was, "I'm being cased."
    After he jumped down and got into the passenger side of a pickup, I went out, got the truck's description as it drove away, moved around my patio furniture, and left the porch lights on.
    Cops came by a couple days later investigating a robbery next door. Neighbor's dark and empty house was the one that got knocked off. Gave them Kilroy's description and the truck. Cops closed the case later in the week, catching the high-school-aged pick-up owner and three pals with a couple thousand in stolen electronics.

  • On the post: Just Because Something's New Doesn't Mean It's Not Obvious

    another mike ( profile ), 17 Aug, 2009 @ 05:13pm

    Re: Crowdsourcing +2

    This seems like the best current solution.

    The USPTO puts out something like a Request for Proposal (RFP) for every patent application that comes in. (Yes, this new process will slow things down, but awarding a patent is supposed to be a rare event.) In the RFP, the examiner announces what problem is solved, but not how it is solved. They could do it on a wiki page. Then give interested parties something like 6 months to a year (rare event, remember) to gather up their notes and drop off a tarball in the wiki. Then the examiner goes over what was submitted as alternate solutions, and if anybody (or enough people) solved the problem the same way as the applicant, then it was obvious.
    Oh, and if a design standard is written up, and your patent "covers" it, unless you helped write the standard, it was obvious.

  • On the post: Yes, People Dislike The RIAA Because Of Its Actions, Not Because Everyone Hates Music Business People

    another mike ( profile ), 17 Aug, 2009 @ 04:39pm

    Re:

    Not as hated?!

    Every time I see their name, BSA, I want to google-bomb them. Business Software Alliance, BSA. I want the search index to point to the real BSA. I'll just have to continue the google-bombing until the BSA hits those idiots with a WWF-style trademark lawsuit.

    /be prepared

  • On the post: What's Wrong With Paying Homage To A Literary Classic By Writing A Sequel?

    another mike ( profile ), 17 Aug, 2009 @ 03:46pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: My only issue as a writer

    Most of the authors I've met usually like their fan-fiction. Or maybe I only associate with the authors that support their fans. Anyway, most really do like guest authors, within broad but very strictly adhered to guidelines.
    The original author fleshed out the characters, wove the plotlines, designed the tech or magic that powers their worlds, and set their universe in motion. In other words, fanfic authors are guests in the original author's house.
    Interstitial stories between the author's own work, minor plotlines filled in, even entire worlds dropped in the corner of the universe; but you don't change the major characters or their plots as a guest author.
    If you're a good guest, the worst you'll really face is being ignored. You could even be invited back. If you're a bad guest and start breaking your host's universe, expect to be put down like a rabid dog.

  • On the post: Finnish Courts: Man Who Shared 150 Albums Owes 3,000 Euros

    another mike ( profile ), 17 Aug, 2009 @ 02:48pm

    maths is hard!

    That's a heck of an exchange rate between dollars per song and euros per album. These foreign currency exchange rates are so complicated.

  • On the post: Laptop Magazine Rescinds 'Best Of Show' Award For Zer01

    another mike ( profile ), 11 Aug, 2009 @ 01:40pm

    additional items for sale

    If any of Zer01's investors are interested in additional opportunities, I have a bridge in New York, waterfront properties in Yuma, and the bank information of a Nigerian finance minister available for them.

  • On the post: Correcting A Few 'Facts' From The RIAA… For Which We Feel We Deserve Payment

    another mike ( profile ), 07 Aug, 2009 @ 11:16am

    i deserve to be paid too

    It's called my salary. I deserve to be paid more so I picked up some outside gigs.
    When the thrift shop wanted Ethernet installed, they solicited bids and I put in a proposal. If they agree that I deserve to be paid, they'll hire me and not Dork Squad. When the work is done and the check clears, I'm done getting paid. I won't get paid more for each transaction they run because that's not in the contract.
    And that's a very important point. The contract says how I'll be paid. If I want to be paid differently, I need to sign a different contract.

  • On the post: The 'Creative' Technology Behind The AP's News Registry

    another mike ( profile ), 07 Aug, 2009 @ 10:47am

    i feel sorry for them

    I don't know who it was that first claimed the AP's new tagging was DRM but I think they misunderstood the technology. Heck, it's not even really technology.
    I've seen that diagram and it does make it look like someone at AP is really proud of the new DRM scheme they just bought.
    But hNews isn't DRM; can't even be made to be DRM in that sense. hNews is just added metadata to make the articles machine readable. Just like a META tag on a web page. It makes the page easier to index and share freely.

  • On the post: Are Parents Making Facebook Uncool?

    another mike ( profile ), 07 Aug, 2009 @ 10:24am

    friending your family may cause premature graying

    Facebook would've been a disaster for me growing up. If my parents knew half the shenanigans I got up to, they'd've gone gray a lot sooner.

  • On the post: Murdoch Now Demanding Names Of Kindle Subscribers

    another mike ( profile ), 07 Aug, 2009 @ 10:03am

    Re: Sad...

    Just roll your own. Here's a googling to get you started.
    Also, E-Ink sells their screens as a dev kit. Add battery, radios, and a case mod and you're all set. I went with a steampunk theme on mine.

  • On the post: Is Serendipity Lost Online?

    another mike ( profile ), 05 Aug, 2009 @ 05:05pm

    Re: Reddit has serendipity

    I type random words and phrases into Google and hit the "I'm feeling lucky" button. Always find something interesting.

  • On the post: Copyright Fight Over Famous Wall Street Bull Statue

    another mike ( profile ), 05 Aug, 2009 @ 04:30pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: It's in public view!

    "I wasn't taking a picture of the Space Needle, I was photographing the sky behind it. Your building is just in the way!"

    That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

  • On the post: Can Your Slashdot Comments Get You A Job?

    another mike ( profile ), 05 Aug, 2009 @ 04:24pm

    Re: No way, baby!

    Woof, I mean, This.

  • On the post: And Of Course: Twitter Sued For Patent Infringement In Texas

    another mike ( profile ), 05 Aug, 2009 @ 03:29pm

    wired has this too

    I saw this story on Wired first.

    They have my new favorite quote of all time. From Twitter documents released on TechCrunch, "We will be sued for patent infringement, repeatedly and often."

    That really just says it all doesn't it?

  • On the post: Taser Drops Misguided Lawsuit Against Second Life

    another mike ( profile ), 28 Jul, 2009 @ 12:26pm

    Re:

    +1.

    If you wish to avoid the flying phalluses on your way to pick up yur intarwebs, a tube full of trucks can be delivered directly to your door.

  • On the post: Doctors Concerned About The Patenting Of Basic Science

    another mike ( profile ), 27 Jul, 2009 @ 04:10pm

    Re:

    What about the money? Saying they need to recoup their costs of R&D is like saying the big-box retail outlets need to recoup the cost of installing shelves. That may be true but it has no bearing on how much I'm willing to pay for the widget in the window.

    If it's test kits and imaging machines being talked about, then patent those, and let someone else patent a different sensor that looks for the same thing. That's what patents are for, patenting a better mousetrap. But these guys seem to want to patent "counting metachlorians" and not the test kit that does it. That's the sort of anti-competitive practice that slows down the market and, in this case, may cost people their health.

  • On the post: Permission Culture: Want To Quote A Single Sentence In A Book? Pay Up!

    another mike ( profile ), 27 Jul, 2009 @ 03:57pm

    creep into the...

    That's a very, um, fascinating mental image.

    Yet another story of artists condemning themselves to the dustbin of history, dying a slow, increasingly obscure death. All for refusing to be mentioned without being paid off first.

    Also, I think we just found a new location to relegate copyright maximalists.

  • On the post: The Fact That A Credit Card Is Patented Is A Selling Point?

    another mike ( profile ), 24 Jul, 2009 @ 04:49pm

    Re: Exclusive Priviledges

    Getting bent over the barrel, hog-tying your arms to your ankles, and taking it up the bunghole, is hardly exclusive to Visa.

  • On the post: The Fact That A Credit Card Is Patented Is A Selling Point?

    another mike ( profile ), 24 Jul, 2009 @ 04:43pm

    Re:

    if five dolla make you holla, that would work out to be bi-weekly. No, wait, twice a week.

    Either way it's more than I get now. Where do I sign up?

  • On the post: How Copyright Can Be Viewed As Anti-Property

    another mike ( profile ), 21 Jul, 2009 @ 03:06pm

    so very circular

    We treat intellectual property rights like real property rights because we treat IP like real property.

    I've got songs from the '80s running through my head right now:

    "Round and round. What goes around comes around; don't ask me why."

    "Right round, baby, right round. Like a record, baby, right round, round, round."

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