Jeffrey Nonken 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (1260) comment rss

  • On the post: Japanese Court Misunderstands Autocomplete, Orders Google To Turn It Off To Protect 'Privacy'

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 26 Mar, 2012 @ 04:42pm

    Hmm. I typed in my own name and found something interesting: it didn't autocomplete anything about me being a criminal, a twit, or, well, anything.

    So I clicked Search and found:
    1. My resume page (same one I link to here)
    2. My Linkedin page
    3. My "My Favorite Techdirt Posts of the Week" post
    4. Images (mostly on FB or G+, and mostly other people)
    5. My Techdirt profile (apparently I signed up once using an old nick)
    6. My Techdirt profile (this one) (is there a way to combine them?)
    7. Three people named Jeffrey Nonken at whitepages.com (all are me, at different locations)
    8. One person named Jeffrey Nonken in Pennsylvania at three different locations (including Sacramento, Ca) (still all me)
    9. My TheRegister profile

    ...and so on.

    I don't know what my point is, I'm babbling.

  • On the post: Twilight Studio Issues Another Bogus Takedown, But Is Zazzle Partially To Blame?

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 23 Mar, 2012 @ 10:41am

    Re: Re:

    My cat is smarter than most humans but, alas, is not of legal age in this country.

  • On the post: Another Boost For Generics: Brazilian Judge Annuls Patent On Key AIDS Drug

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 23 Mar, 2012 @ 09:11am

    It's all about killing and impoverishing people in the name of protecting profits.

    When humanity is wiped out by a virulent plague that could have been stopped with a drug that nobody could afford, the pharmaceutical executives will be smugly counting their beans and congratulating themselves.

    Oh sorry, that was melodramatic, wasn't it?

  • On the post: Australian Gov't: Not In The Public Interest For The Public To Be Interested In Secret Anti-Piracy Negotiations

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 22 Mar, 2012 @ 12:36pm

    ...and then they'll say that if the public didn't like the laws the government came up with, they should have said something sooner.

  • On the post: Parent Claims 'Ender's Game' Is Pornographic; Teacher Who Read It To Students Put On Temporary Leave

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 21 Mar, 2012 @ 08:10pm

    Lord, please save me from those who would protect me from myself.

  • On the post: More Comedians Following Louis CK's Path… But They Don't Need To Copy It Exactly

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 21 Mar, 2012 @ 10:21am

    Re:

    Exactly. First, try what worked before to get a baseline. It worked once for this guy; will it work twice? Will it work for me? Keep the variables to a minimum. Once the baseline is established, then you start adding variables.

  • On the post: Just Because Companies Can Design Around Patents Doesn't Mean There's No Impact For Consumers

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 20 Mar, 2012 @ 05:05pm

    I believe the Broken Window Fallacy applies here.

  • On the post: Bad Idea: Internet Service Providers Should Assume Most Digital Locker Content Is 'Illegal'

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 20 Mar, 2012 @ 01:29pm

    I've got a better idea:

    Just assume all content is illegal, and block it.

    End of problem.

  • On the post: Why Do The Labels Continue To Insist That 'Your Money Is No Good Here?'

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 20 Mar, 2012 @ 01:25pm

    I've already gone over my story about what it took to buy a (second) copy of a 20-year-old movie that's only available on VHS or Region 2 DVD. (I also have it on Laserdisc, but my player's broken.)

    I'm still wondering why the **AA think they're likely to make more money by refusing to sell their products to me?

    If their primary goal is to stop so-called piracy, then the answer is simple: don't make anything available. If their primary goal is to maximize profits, then the answer is more complex, but not making products available is the exact opposite of maximizing profits.

    But making things available to some people and not others is the exact opposite of preventing unauthorized copying.

  • On the post: Holocaust History Preserver Shoah Foundation's Patents Being Used To Sue Google, Facebook, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 15 Mar, 2012 @ 11:34am

    I've passed this on to my wife... I probably won't bother saying anything to my mother-in-law, despite her being one of the Survivors on record. I think she's too old and tired to go all activist about this and, frankly, with no insult intended regarding her intelligence, I'm not sure she'd understand it. (Not sure she wouldn't. She's a pretty smart lady.)

    I'll let my wife decide what to say, if anything.

  • On the post: Holocaust History Preserver Shoah Foundation's Patents Being Used To Sue Google, Facebook, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 15 Mar, 2012 @ 11:24am

    Re:

    Actually, depending on how you define Godwin's Law, it was invoked in the article headline. :)

  • On the post: Why Anti-Circumvention Laws Are Evil: Hollywood Gets To Veto DVD Jukebox, Despite Complete Lack Of Infringement

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 15 Mar, 2012 @ 11:04am

    When your only tool is a noose, every problem starts to look like a pirate.

  • On the post: Harper's Publisher Presents The Platonic Ideal Specimen Of The 'I'm An Old Fogey Elitist Anti-Internet Luddite' Columns

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 15 Mar, 2012 @ 11:00am

    Responding to paper advertisements? Really? I can only buy so much life insurance, pizza, car insurance, cable, internet, satellite and get so many credit cards before something has to give. (I guess the credit cards are for paying for the rest, but eventually I'll run out of money paying it back, yes?)

  • On the post: Valve's Comprehensive Strategy Shows How To Go From Fee To Free… And Increase Revenue Twelve-fold

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 13 Mar, 2012 @ 02:40pm

    Re:

    Over-simplified, but largely true.

    HL2 came first. TF2 was a separate purchase later, though you had the option of buying The Orange Box and getting several items at a discount, including HL2. I did that and ended up with an extra copy of HL2 (that I later gifted to my brother-in-law). As for bundling TF2 with something else people wanted to buy, well, I suppose. But there were a lot of TFC players, for example, that were eager to play TF2. You make it sound like they only drummed up interest in TF2 via HL2 sales; that is very much not true. TF2 didn't just spring up out of nowhere. Team Fortress has been around since the Quake days, and people were hoping for a TFC sequel for years before it happened.

    Artificial scarcity: yep. Kind of. But gameplay tends to be like that anyway. In Killing Floor, you earn money by killing zombies, which you can then use to buy more badass weapons as the game progresses. Over many games you level your perks from 0 up to 6, which gives you more power and greater ability. There are other games where you do leveling and accumulating. Well, technically all those items are subject to artificial scarcity. If I had complete control of the server I could give all the players ?1,000,000 and max out their experience points. Put them all into godmode and give them instakills. But that takes away the challenge, doesn't it? What fun is the gameplay if you don't actually earn all that stuff? Still, it's all artificial, isn't it?

    The artificial scarcity you seem so contemptuous of is part of the game, and most people seem to accept that.

    Ever play chess? You're only allowed to move certain pieces certain ways. But if you were allowed unlimited movement, white would capture black's king on the first move; the game would be won on a coin toss. The movement restriction is an artificial scarcity, but having it is what makes the game a challenge.

    The DRM is there, but it's part of the account. That account gives you access to a community, including voice comms and text messenging with your friends; it also saves your game stats and allows you to play any Steam game you own on any computer. All you need to do is log in and, if it's a new installation, do an extra verification and download the game. It's all part of an overall platform; if you focus just on the DRM you're missing all the good stuff.

    Sorry that they're not paying people to play. Enough people are willing to front money for servers that Valve doesn't need to. If servers become too scarce to support the community then they will be easy enough to monetize, won't they? And as long as they're plentiful, it's not a problem. Is Valve riding on the backs of the server operators? I suppose you can make that argument, but then you'll have to explain why they're worse than any other multiplayer game creator? Back to my Killing Floor example: they're making a game and selling it; the greedy bastards are taking advantage by not providing server space for free, right?

    (Actually, they do provide a free service: there's a central server that helps you connect to playing servers. They pay for that and maintain it.)

    Let's be clear about the whole strategy here: they've created something people want enough that they're willing to pay for it, and to run their own servers. Then they found a way to have the game pay even more, whilst giving the game itself away for free.

    You don't have to play, and even if you play, you don't have to pay. Neither does anybody else. But enough like what they see that they're willing to.

  • On the post: Guess What? Copying Still Isn't Stealing

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 13 Mar, 2012 @ 12:55pm

    I know this is the part where all the kids and hipsters start to roll their eyes and say things like, "You just don't get it, grandpa..."

    You just don't get it, Grandpa.

    Oh wait, I'm old enough to be your father.

    You just don't get it, little boy.

  • On the post: QR Codes: Ugly, Overused and Doomed

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 09 Mar, 2012 @ 10:13am

    My company recently moved, and the new business cards have this huge-ass QR code on the back. Right in the middle of the back.

    I take notes on the backs of business cards, but the code takes up half the space (and takes it out of the middle). I think it just gives you our website address. Since the URL is printed on the front of the card, it seems... less than useful.

  • On the post: QR Codes: Ugly, Overused and Doomed

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 09 Mar, 2012 @ 10:09am

    Re: Re: Anybody remember the CueCat?

    P.S. It's in the same box as a PS/2 mouse. Do you think that might be a problem? :)

  • On the post: QR Codes: Ugly, Overused and Doomed

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 09 Mar, 2012 @ 10:08am

    Re: Anybody remember the CueCat?

    Guess so. :)

    I have an original PS/2 CUE:Cat at home, in a box. I even know which box. What I don't know is... what the heck I want to do with it.

    I've seen projects that used them for bar code scanning, such as ISBN. I considered using mine as part of an integrated inventory system for my video tape collection, a project which you may guess got about as far as thinking about it. :)

  • On the post: How The Runaway Success Of A Tiny $25 Computer Could Become A Big Problem For Oppressive Regimes

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 06 Mar, 2012 @ 12:47pm

    Re: Re: Re: I Blame Star Wars

    With sufficient effort and determination, a U.S. public education CAN be overcome.

  • On the post: How The Runaway Success Of A Tiny $25 Computer Could Become A Big Problem For Oppressive Regimes

    Jeffrey Nonken ( profile ), 06 Mar, 2012 @ 12:37pm

    Re: Re: Computer? What computer?

    Sorry about that, Chief!

Next >>