jezsik’s Techdirt Profile

On the post: DailyDirt: To Infinity Mars And Beyond!

jezsik ( profile ), 06 Oct, 2014 @ 07:05am

Re: Robots

Imagine the return on investment for robotic space exploration! With concerted effort, we can start a fourth industrial revolution. Robots can take over the most mundane of human jobs enabling us to do what we do best. Unfortunately, we're really good at killing each other.

On the post: Awesome Stuff: Not Quite A Smart Watch

jezsik ( profile ), 16 Jun, 2014 @ 09:11am

Can someone explain why I might want an NFC watch?

I really don't get it. The best I can figure is that you can use your watch to send a signal to your phone, but I can't figure out why you'd want to do that. I mean, what's the advantage over using just your phone?

I know far too many people who've given up their watches because their phones do a better job with time.

On the post: DailyDirt: Uses For Wine (Besides Drinking It)

jezsik ( profile ), 21 Sep, 2012 @ 06:44pm

My personal wine discovery

I don't care much for wine, but since I acquired a slow cooker, I've found a reason to have Bordeaux:

Fry up some bacon then cubes of beef. Put 'em in the crock pot. Add a good bit of wine, some mustard, pepper, garlic cloves (more is better) and lots of fresh mushrooms. Some carrot and tiny onions would be good, too. Cook it all for eight hours on low heat. Indescribably delicious.

On the post: DailyDirt: Exploring Mars

jezsik ( profile ), 12 Sep, 2012 @ 04:24pm

Sending people to Mars is such a bad idea

As a longtime fan of science fiction, I really want a colony on Mars (or anywhere in space). However, the cost and technological requirements of getting someone to Mars and back is mind bogglingly big. I would much prefer to see that money invested in robotics. Look at the technology benefits we derived from the cold war. Imagine the spinoffs from robotic missions! We could make machines that are mostly self sufficient and capable of carrying out multiple tasks unsupervised. Look at the current domestic robotic situation; we have an anemic vacuum cleaner that rarely cleans a floor. Is that the best we can do? So many mundane jobs could be carried out by robots if we had the technology to make it happen. Investing in robotic exploration will reap great rewards.

On the post: EA: Withholding The Next Great Videogame Franchise For The Next Console Is Good Business

jezsik ( profile ), 07 Sep, 2012 @ 03:11pm

I don't get it

A new game platform will always have less customers than the older game platforms. Why release to a new market that is considerably smaller than the old market?

On the post: Japan Criminalizes Unauthorized Downloads, Making DVD Backups — And Maybe Watching YouTube

jezsik ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2012 @ 07:19pm

Can we turn the tables?

Given that media industries are able to make exagerated claims without proof, can we not turn the tables on them? Why not come up with real (or even bogus) stats showing that piracy has lead to more profits for media producers and demand that copyright be reduced or eliminated. Get a grass roots movement going, get some momentum and take it to congress. Demand more piracy to encourage creativity and increase sales and profits. "What do we need? Piracy! When do we need it? Real soon!"

On the post: DailyDirt: Leggo My Logo…

jezsik ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2011 @ 06:41am

Logos

I opened the link to the logos but did not look at them for several minutes as I was distracted by something else. When I accessed the page, I didn't really pay much attention as to what I was seeing, just a bunch of logos. I noticed that the logos were different, but did not recognize, at first, that they were merged with competitors. What does this tell us about the power of a logo?

On the post: Capcom's Resident Evil DRM Is Evil: You Get To Play The Game Once And That's It

jezsik ( profile ), 28 Jun, 2011 @ 11:32am

Nigh invulnerable?

"Spoooooon!"

On the post: Filmmaker Insists That Only People Whose Livelihood Depends On Copyright Really Understand It

jezsik ( profile ), 16 Sep, 2010 @ 11:41am

Best repost EVER

How easy--and entertaining--it is to flip an argument like that on its head. Well done!

On the post: Can Science Fiction Predict The Future Of Journalism?

jezsik ( profile ), 18 Aug, 2010 @ 07:00am

Sci-Fi is a terrible predictor

I used to have a voracious appetite for science fiction and read countless books on the near and distant future. The one thing I can say about them is that they do a lousy job at predicting the future.

One case in point is the internet. There is not a single story I can remember that predicted this, arguably the most important media advance since movable type. There were plenty of stories about gigantic databases that required special skills to pull information, plenty more stories with artificial intelligences of varying ability and lots of high-tech communication tools, but nothing that came close to the internet and what it accomplished.

As another poster pointed out, the hard science fiction writers do a good job of describing future technology (e.g., Clarke's space elevator), but as far as predicting how those technologies affect our society? Not so much.

On the post: Australian Politician Claims Video Gamers Are A Bigger Risk To His Family Than Angry Biker Gangs

jezsik ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2010 @ 10:05am

Let me get this straight, Mr. Attorney General. You're saying that constituents are more concerned with real-life issues than with home entertainment imaginary worlds, right? So, uh, why are you spending so much energy controlling access to these imaginary worlds?

On the post: Imprisoned Terrorist, Carlos The Jackal, Claims Intellectual Property Over Documentary About His Life

jezsik ( profile ), 29 Jan, 2010 @ 04:30pm

So? Let them have it and see what happens.

She wants the master copy? Fine. In a digital world, there are no "master" copies. They want to review the content and demand changes. Sure, but those demands must be recorded to video. Of course the producers don't HAVE to make the changes, right? The clips (or even transcripts) of their demands will certainly make things interesting (and possible drive up sales).

On the post: As EMI Cites Harvey Danger Lipdub As Inducing Infringement, Harvey Danger Singer Says Lipdub Makes Him Incredibly Happy

jezsik ( profile ), 29 Jan, 2010 @ 06:04am

They STILL don't get it

I'd never heard of Harvey Danger before seeing this video. I'd never heard the song, either. Thanks to this viral advertisement, they just made a sale. Tell me again, EMI, how this is a bad thing.

On the post: $500 YouTube Video Gets Director $30 Million To Play With From Hollywood

jezsik ( profile ), 21 Dec, 2009 @ 12:16pm

A more interesting question ...

So, that's what a hobbyist can do for pocket change, eh? What can he do with a few million? Well, a much more interesting question would be "How much would it cost Hollywood to produce that clip?" I think the biggest problem facing traditional filmmakers is a perception that you have to throw money around like a chimp flinging feces if you want to get anything done.

On the post: Let Them Sing… About Copyright?

jezsik ( profile ), 05 Dec, 2009 @ 09:56am

Am I so in the minority? That was really, really awful! How about an auto-tuned text-to-speech application instead?

On the post: Irony: U2's 'Free' Concert At The Berlin Wall, Blocked By A Big Wall

jezsik ( profile ), 09 Nov, 2009 @ 06:33am

Most ironic moment of 2009?

Surely a contender.

But why a WALL? There must be other forms of crowd control barriers that can keep people from rushing a stage fer Pete's sake!

On the post: EU Officials Push Back Against Hollywood… Sorta; Note That Internet Access Should Be A Right… Sorta

jezsik ( profile ), 06 Nov, 2009 @ 06:24am

The other side of the coin?

Has anyone looked into the fact that this is a double-edged sword (if I may mix my metaphors). If all it takes is three accusations to be kicked off line, who is allowed to do the accusing? What if ANYone's accusations are acceptable? What if a corporation is accused? How would the RIAA feel if it lost its internet connection for infringing on the copyright of an artist. I suspect they'd be singing a very different song, so to speak.

On the post: Why Do Canada And Europe Copyright Money?

jezsik ( profile ), 05 Nov, 2009 @ 08:06am

Probably nothing to do with the whole bill

I'm betting the copyright is there to prevent someone from using a portion of an image of the bill for advertising or something similar. For that matter, it could be to prevent someone from using an image that is clearly not counterfeiting, but still infringing: say, a billboard of a bill with advertising text across it.

On the post: SitePoint: Rather Than Freaking Out Over Piracy, We Decided To Adapt

jezsik ( profile ), 17 Aug, 2009 @ 10:47am

A good start

Now why even bother with PDF files when HTML is far more versatile(notwithstanding any images they may use). As I move further and further from paper, I want a format that works on any size screen.

On the post: Can You Copyright Algorithmic Output?

jezsik ( profile ), 31 Jul, 2009 @ 09:19am

If output, why not input?

If they can copyright the output of the algorithm, it's only fair that we copyright the input. Let's see how useful the service is after a few weeks of THAT.

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