bdhoro 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Feds Say It Doesn't Matter If No One Reads A Privacy Policy; It Still Means Gov't Can Have Your Info

    bdhoro ( profile ), 09 Apr, 2011 @ 06:29am

    Isn't that opposite to what the law says?

    I thought I learned in a business law class that a contract isn't made unless there is some reasonable transaction that is expected to be understood between the two parties. What I was taught is that this makes hidden statements and phrases using legal jargon that the public wouldn't understand ineffective at becoming binding.

    Examples I remember from class specifically discussed whether a party was likely to read a statement and if that made it binding. I.E. lets say you park your car in a parking garage - the garage owner is normally liable for damages that happen in the garage to your car. Many garages print on the back of their ticket, or somewhere else obscure in their parking lot that "We are not liable for any damages to your vehicle." Even having that statement printed on a receipt DOES NOT MAKE IT BINDING.

    Thats why I believe if someone had a decent lawyer and the desire to go against any of these big companies that expect their hidden statements and privacy policy's, EULA's and the like to be legally binding, they would definitely set a nice precedent for what general consumers are actually getting themselves into (or not).

  • On the post: Gladwell Logic: There Was War Before Nuclear Bombs Existed, Thus Nukes Have No Impact On War

    bdhoro ( profile ), 30 Mar, 2011 @ 02:42pm

    Don't hate on Gladwell

    In this case, Gladwell is guilty of believing his own opinion. As Malcolm tends to do excellent research, I'm sure he's found plenty of evidence to back up his theory and so he believes it with much of his cognitive power.

    Mike, you are quite guilty of the same, and so are most people. I mean, isn't it our nature to believe our own opinions? Even when there's apparent evidence against us.

    Clearly his premise was wrong, as the revolution has been tweeted. But of course we all know if it wasn't twitter it would be something else. Revolutions are social phenomena, any type of social network will have some effect.

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Greener Cars

    bdhoro ( profile ), 19 Mar, 2011 @ 08:18am

    Greener is greater... for the environment

    These companies are classic nerds, they tunnel into the one area they believe will save their business and stop innovating in other areas.

    There's no question creating more efficient transportation is good for the environment but it is rare that this sells cars.

    A car being more efficient doesn't feel very much like a new feature when I get in and test drive. So make my car greener, thats great for the environment, but if you want to increase your business, you need to add features.

    I've been complaining for far too long that my car doesn't have a usable computer in it that can wirelessly sync to my wifi and download music and movies, maps and directions while parked in my driveway. Some new cars are adding mounted ipads in the dash, which is a step in the right direction. I think the best thing for us all would be if Google would partner up with a car company.

  • On the post: Rosetta Stone Says Google Is A 'Gateway For Criminals'; Urges Congress To Make Google Liable For Infringement Via COICA

    bdhoro ( profile ), 01 Mar, 2011 @ 12:11pm

    Not worth the money

    I have pirated copies of the software in every language available, and have used them to learn some languages at a beginner level. It using the software at first seemed amazing, a great tool for learning languages. But then as I began to look into using it for many different languages it became clear to me that they wrote the same exact program for each language, changing very little across languages.

    My point is just that the prices they charge for each language and each level is ridiculous when you consider the amount of work involved and the amount of piracy reflects that and little else.

  • On the post: Sony Continues To Attack PS3 Jailbreakers: Threatens To Cut Them Off From PlayStation Network

    bdhoro ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2011 @ 03:11pm

    Well they got what they wanted (not)

    What they don't want is people playing illegally copied games.

    A jailbroken PS3 used to be able to play legit store-bought games, but this new update removes that feature.

    Now if you jailbreak you PS3 you most definitely will be playing illegal copies only.

    I just noticed the new EUA and just must ask myself for the millionth time, how are those things possibly legally binding? Nobody is expected to actually read them so doesn't that prevent it?

  • On the post: Building An Audience Takes Time, But In The Long Run It Can Provide You More Time To Do What You Love

    bdhoro ( profile ), 05 Feb, 2011 @ 08:50am

    This reminds me...

    The basic idea of this article, to me, is that everybody - but content creators especially - strive to do, well, whatever it is they want to do. What prevents people from doing the things they want to is usually time and money, and often an industry in the way that makes people do what the industry wants.

    This really reminds me of some conversations I've had with people about charity (which is a form of doing what you want, if you want to help people). My argument is that being charitable is unsustainable. We all get a kick out of helping people, but you can only give away so much time and money before you have to go back to work.

    My point is that if you make a business out of doing what you want, weather it be charity, or making the type of art that you want to make regardless of what the industry wants, the best way to sustain that is to figure out how to do it while making a profit. Turn your desires into a business and it is no longer based on how much you can give away, but it can establish a lasting business that can continue carrying out the desires of its creator well after they're gone.

  • On the post: Yellow Pages Companies Team Up To Offer Opt-Out

    bdhoro ( profile ), 03 Feb, 2011 @ 04:34pm

    Its not useless...

    Since I don't get a physical newspaper anymore, when I wanna paint I obviously don't have any newspaper to put down on the table. The yellow pages are nice because all the scrap paper is nicely stored in 1 book instead of saving all the newspapers which always gets ugly and disorganized. The cover works really well as a pallet also.

  • On the post: Homeland Security Domain Seizures Raise More Questions: Is Embedding A Video Criminal Infringement?

    bdhoro ( profile ), 02 Feb, 2011 @ 04:04pm

    Tenchis toolbar

    I wonder if Tenchis Toolbar still works (the only reason not to uninstall internet explorer).

    I know many of its streams came from atdhe but they usually have multiple sources for every station.

    If anyone has been using the sites that have recently been taken down, I would recommend checking it out as your best alternative. You do have to download a toolbar which I always hate doing, but it generally allows you to watch streams of almost every station you could imagine.

  • On the post: The Impact Of Egypt Cutting Itself Off From The Internet

    bdhoro ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2011 @ 09:11pm

    All the eggs...

    It's a nice reminder not to put all your eggs in one basket.

    I realized today that the downfall of cable packages puts individuals in a similar situation. The cable goes out and you realize you have no phones, no internet, and no tv. Luckily my cellphone is from a different company but what if I had Verizon for all 4 means of communication?

  • On the post: Nanny State: More Politicians Against Pedestrians Listening To Headphones Or Texting

    bdhoro ( profile ), 27 Jan, 2011 @ 11:52am

    Before banning head phones...

    Ummm... hearing isn't a prerequisite for being allowed to cross the street.

    Shouldn't we do hearing tests on all pedestrians to make sure they can hear at all if its so important?

    You don't even need to pass a hearing test in order to get a driver's licence.

    And isn't walking around bumping into things and looking silly punishment enough for the text-walkers?

  • On the post: Nanny State: More Politicians Against Pedestrians Listening To Headphones Or Texting

    bdhoro ( profile ), 27 Jan, 2011 @ 11:44am

    Before banning head phones...

  • On the post: Bill Introduced To Require Bogus 'Warnings' On Video Games

    bdhoro ( profile ), 26 Jan, 2011 @ 01:25pm

    Government's Job...

    There's a debate something might be dangerous?
    ...
    Slap a warning label on it
    ...
    We're done here.

  • On the post: Why Would The NFL Force Toyota To Pull An Ad About Protecting Players From Concussions?

    bdhoro ( profile ), 24 Jan, 2011 @ 02:02pm

    Soon the NFL will edit out any tackling when you're watching the game.

    How many fans aren't rooting for their team's d-line to seriously injure the other team's QB? (probably the same number of fans who want to draft the other team's QB)

  • On the post: Taking The Long View: App Developer Happy That Piracy Doubled His Sales

    bdhoro ( profile ), 24 Jan, 2011 @ 01:56pm

    Might I add....

    I can't wait for all this shit to hit the fan in the physical goods market.

    Once 3-d printers are more common and physical goods can be copied by almost anyone on the cheap who's going to still pay money for anything besides food?

  • On the post: Taking The Long View: App Developer Happy That Piracy Doubled His Sales

    bdhoro ( profile ), 24 Jan, 2011 @ 01:51pm

    Not just the future

    Yes, the naysayers are right for once. If you follow this story logically into the future, more people will be downloading pirated versions with only a very small minority of old people who still actually spend their money on something that almost everyone else knows how to copy cheaply on their own. IN THE FUTURE, THIS WON'T WORK.

    As much as I'm all for long term gains over short term gains, and doing business in a way that all effected parties are happy, in the current environment, this is the best way to make money. RIGHT NOW, there are many fools who will still pay for stuff they know most people are getting for free, and taking advantage of their willingness to pay can yield huge profits, especially while also taking advantage of the pirates ability to publicize and distribute the works.

    Both content creators and end-users will have to adapt a sustainable business model in the future, and as the foolish paying customers are converted into intelligent pirates there will be a much bigger push for content creators to figure out how to make money off of a product that is easily copied and distributed for free. BUT RIGHT NOW, THIS MODEL IS CLEARLY WORKING.

  • On the post: How Facebook Used White Space To Crush Myspace

    bdhoro ( profile ), 19 Jan, 2011 @ 03:45pm

    The Black Swan (The book, not the movie)

    I may have commented on the Black Swan concept enough but it pops back up all over the place.

    The relevant point in this post is the idea of experts not being any better than the layman in their profession. The consensus is that the forecasting and prediction industry has no real experts (which is why the book recommends being very weary of economic analysts - but is equally valid for any forecasting).

    Forecasters and analysts, (ie those working at myspace) look at the past to determine the future - a mindless task because in fact the past tells us very very little about the future unless we're analyzing extreme amounts of data, like more than 100 years worth.

    The problem with the "experts" is they look at all the things that they "know" while completely overlooking everything they don't know (usually because they think they know everything - after all, they are the "experts").

  • On the post: The Companies Who Support Censoring The Internet

    bdhoro ( profile ), 19 Jan, 2011 @ 08:19am

    I'm a little lost

    Can someone explain to me what all the big golf companies are doing on there? I'm trying to wrap my head around how they are victims of the internet. I haven't really heard of much counterfeiting of golf clubs or gear so whats the deal?

  • On the post: Techdirt 2010: The Numbers.

    bdhoro ( profile ), 12 Jan, 2011 @ 03:04pm

    LOL

    This post WOULD have a hilarious comment thread like this. Kudos to the Anonymous Coward for making sure this blog doesn't stay too one sided.

  • On the post: Georgia Considering Law To Let Police Monitor Any Medicine You Buy

    bdhoro ( profile ), 11 Jan, 2011 @ 02:00pm

    Illegal Drugs = Big money = Dangerous

    Its a simple formula. The only way to make drugs less dangerous is to make them less illegal.

    Its pure economics. Supply and demand - there's a demand for drugs, when they're legal, there's plenty of supply and the price is low. When they're illegal, they're harder to get and the price is high, making the dealers of illegal drugs rich. Then the rich drug dealer protects their investment with guns and violence.

    Making meth illegal doesn't stop people driving around high on meth. It does however increase gang violence, and the ability of gangs to fund themselves.

    Someone was saying that these laws are well intentioned - who cares? Communists are well intentioned also, but just because something sounds nice doesn't mean it's practical or would work in any way.

  • On the post: Tobacco Companies Using Trademark Claims To Try To Avoid Putting Warning Labels On Cigarrettes & Cigars

    bdhoro ( profile ), 07 Jan, 2011 @ 07:11pm

    Angles

    This being a copyright issue is all about angles.

    It is very easy to be against the tobacco companies, yet there are still a few areas where they can push back and not seem like "bad" companies and actually have the public backing them up.

    They don't care if there's really a claim, as long as a few people will say "hey I think that company is right," they're satisfied.

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