freak 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Microsoft's $844 Million Software Giveaway To Nonprofits: Pure Charity Or Cheap Marketing?

    freak ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2011 @ 11:40am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: @Anonymous Coward: "Microsoft isn't alone in doing this sort of thing."

    "End effect is that the organizations which received this 'charity' are just as well off as they would be if Microsoft hadn't stepped in."

    That's inaccurate. Let me fix this:

    End effect is that the organizations which received this 'charity' could potentially have been as well off as they would be if Microsoft hadn't stepped in. They may also have still bought microsoft products. (I don't think using MS products is a wise choice either way, but some people, like Blaktron here, disagree.)

  • On the post: Microsoft's $844 Million Software Giveaway To Nonprofits: Pure Charity Or Cheap Marketing?

    freak ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2011 @ 11:34am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Duh

    Generally, with the open source community, I get an unlimited amount of help with my OS troubles, and even with a lot of stuff that isn't due to my OS. A lot of times, they've taken the time to write up nice tutorials to tell me what's what and show me around, and are still willing to help me, (for free, I'll remind you) if I can't RTFM or if my problem slips through the cracks.


    Of course, I've also never needed to ask for support, because of the extensive documentation which often already does address my exact problem down to model #'s.



    My point is, in general, (there are exceptions), Linux distros aren't made or run by commercial entities and they still outperform MS.

  • On the post: Microsoft's $844 Million Software Giveaway To Nonprofits: Pure Charity Or Cheap Marketing?

    freak ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2011 @ 11:28am

    Re: Re: Re: @Anonymous Coward: "Microsoft isn't alone in doing this sort of thing."

    *sigh*

    The reason we don't like it, likely including Glyn but he might not share my particular opinion, is because that $1 billion doesn't mean what they make it seem like it means.

    Of that $1 billion, almost none of it comes out of their pockets. They could have installed all free OS's and software instead . . . or, they could have downloaded pirated versions instead.

    End effect is that the organizations which received this 'charity' are just as well off as they would be if Microsoft hadn't stepped in.

    It didn't cost them $844 million to gain that $844 million worth of tax refund, that's more where we're pissed off.

  • On the post: New Record Label Will Give Out All Its Music For Free; Wants Fans To Subscribe To The Label

    freak ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2011 @ 09:13am

    Re: Makes me sad

    It might go the other way.

    I considered this briefly for a second, but if artists want to make the most money, they'll probably want to make albums all the same, and use the extra attention from DigSin to sell the albums.

  • On the post: New Record Label Will Give Out All Its Music For Free; Wants Fans To Subscribe To The Label

    freak ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2011 @ 08:54am

    Re: lol

    Techdirts archives are up.

    Go for it.

    Find a company that techdirt endorsed a year or so ago that failed. Heck, find all the ones that TD endorsed last year that have since failed.

    No, go on, please.

  • On the post: New Record Label Will Give Out All Its Music For Free; Wants Fans To Subscribe To The Label

    freak ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2011 @ 08:38am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    I love when they bring in the physical world to diss our ideas of the virtual world, and get the physical world horribly wrong to begin with.

  • On the post: New Record Label Will Give Out All Its Music For Free; Wants Fans To Subscribe To The Label

    freak ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2011 @ 08:35am

    Re: Re: Re: Re:

    And by 'sell', I mean 'give away for free'.


    I might also note that as a university student, the crackers were one thing that attracted me to that grocery store, and this IS a university town, so they're probably capitalizing on it in many different ways.

  • On the post: New Record Label Will Give Out All Its Music For Free; Wants Fans To Subscribe To The Label

    freak ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2011 @ 08:34am

    Re: Re: Re:

    "Marcus, it is on par with a grocery store giving away crackers and hoping like hell someone buys overpriced caviar to put on them."

    You say this, but I don't think you realize my grocery store does this. Except not with caviar; the brand of crackers that they sell (2 packs/cust/visit) are in the middle of an aisle filled with jams, and peanut butters, and cheeses and soups, and mixes like brushetta mix, and that aisle is also right beside the produce section, with all those fresh veggies and fruits.

    Just an interesting note, it's really quite irrelevant.

  • On the post: New Record Label Will Give Out All Its Music For Free; Wants Fans To Subscribe To The Label

    freak ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2011 @ 07:55am

    Re:

    Somehow, I don't think that's a terribly accurate comparison.

    I mean, a top 40 is a collection of 'the most popular'. A label releasing singles . . . well, a label can, and will, whether it likes it or not, release more popular and less popular songs.

    Similarly, while the top 40 will never veer too far from the familiar, a label must constantly veer from the familiar in order to continue being relevant and profitable.

    And digsin is just a label focused around singles . . .
    And in that they aren't keeping the artists, or the copyrights on the songs, it seems to me to be very far from a top 40, and will have to be constantly focusing on new stuff.


    And hey, it's free, what am I going to lose if I don't like the service?

  • On the post: New Record Label Will Give Out All Its Music For Free; Wants Fans To Subscribe To The Label

    freak ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2011 @ 06:47am

    Thanks, Mike!

    I'mma sign up, this sounds like a great idea!


    Actually, I'mma admit, I'm spending more on music than I was before I started reading techdirt, and a lot of it is due to techdirt. Artists you've highlighted, (Color Theory in particular. Currently, he's selling all his music, ever, recently remastered and put on a USB key in lossless formats. He's currently surveying his fans to figure out a price point, and I'm figuring it's worth about $100 to me), sites you've pointed out, and other little things that pop up in the comments, (Talco comes to mind; I hadn't heard of them before someone mentioned them in the comments. And fortunately, their music is available on jamendo for me to check out).

  • On the post: A Time To Reflect On Innovation

    freak ( profile ), 06 Oct, 2011 @ 03:28am

    Re: Re: Re: Re:

    Here's to that.

  • On the post: A Time To Reflect On Innovation

    freak ( profile ), 06 Oct, 2011 @ 03:27am

    Re: Jobs hideous influence on user interfaces:

    Hmmm . . . I can see the argument that Steve Jobs did not follow what we now know in hindsight to be a more optimal path, but can you argue that his path wasn't positive?

  • On the post: Monster Cable Claims EBay, Craigslist, Costco & Sears Are 'Rogue Sites'

    freak ( profile ), 05 Oct, 2011 @ 04:48pm

    Who wants to bet that Techdirt is now, or soon, going to be on monster's blacklist?

  • On the post: Movie Producers Ask Chinese Video Game Pirates If They Can Make An Official Version Of The Game

    freak ( profile ), 04 Oct, 2011 @ 07:01pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: @ "HothMonster": please quit spamming the page with gibberish.

    You COULD always ignore me. The potential is there.

    You won't.

  • On the post: Movie Producers Ask Chinese Video Game Pirates If They Can Make An Official Version Of The Game

    freak ( profile ), 04 Oct, 2011 @ 11:17am

    Re: Re: Re: @ "HothMonster": please quit spamming the page with gibberish.

    You know, I'm really tempted to make a separate account for counter-trolling you.

    The lulz would be epic, if time-consuming.

  • On the post: ITV 'Investigative Reporters' Confuse Video Game With Terrorist Video

    freak ( profile ), 30 Sep, 2011 @ 01:14pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Psh

    I don't feel any animosity at all, Marcus. Nor do I intend any :)

    Also, for merely having megaliths, you'd be wrong. To make a lot of them, yeah, you'd want technology, but, for example, the rock formations made by the Inuit, the inuksuks, were made only by hand.

    Inunnguaq's, at least the larger ones, were often made using tools to help the stones stand upright until the head stone was put in place, but some of the largest Inuksuks were made entirely by hand.

    Of course, on the time scale, red ochre still beats them hands down. And if we're talking about communication, I can't prove any inuksuk was ever used for that purpose, even if it's entirely possible.

  • On the post: ITV 'Investigative Reporters' Confuse Video Game With Terrorist Video

    freak ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2011 @ 12:10pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Psh

    I'm was thinking in technological steps, not chronological ones, but fair enough :)

  • On the post: ITV 'Investigative Reporters' Confuse Video Game With Terrorist Video

    freak ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2011 @ 10:08am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Psh

    Red ochre?! You and your new technologies!

    REAL men place giant boulders in giant fields to spell out their thoughts, because biggest rock is best rock!

  • On the post: Canadian Copyright Reform Authors Know The Law Outlaws Circumvention Even If No Infringement… But Don't Seem To Care

    freak ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2011 @ 10:04am

    Re: Re: Re: Legislative Capture

    That might be too pessimistic.

    The NDP never received that many funds, and currently has a grossly disproportionate % of voters compared to the money it spent.

    . . we'll have to see.

  • On the post: ITV 'Investigative Reporters' Confuse Video Game With Terrorist Video

    freak ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2011 @ 05:09am

    Re: Re: Re: Psh

    Pah! My Quill & Papyrus spits on your numby-wimby pansy-wansy pen & paper!

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