JTO 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (30) comment rss

  • On the post: You Can't Sue Google If You Get Hit By A Car While Following Google Walking Directions

    JTO ( profile ), 17 Jun, 2011 @ 11:34am

    Re: Again

    The court never stated that Ms. Rosenberg was not allowed to walk along the street. However, it did state that pedestrians, while traveling on a roadway, must yield to automobile traffic.

    Even better, even the litigator's photographs show, very slightly, the SIDEWALK just to left of the trees.

  • On the post: Google Found Guilty Of Copyright Infringement In France For Not Magically Blocking Infringing Movie

    JTO ( profile ), 11 Mar, 2011 @ 07:56am

    Re: Re: Re: Re:

    Pattern recognition is a great idea! Why don't you give Google a few hundred million dollars for the supercomputers needed to process that much data in a reasonable amount of time?

    Even if one company has the knowledge and resources to do it, safe harbor laws are there because the vast majority simply can't do it. However, this ruling states that, even though there are laws specifically protecting the third party, those laws don't matter if the offending material keeps on showing up.

  • On the post: Apple Tries To Convince Trademark Board That App Store Really Means Apple Store

    JTO ( profile ), 10 Mar, 2011 @ 10:17am

    Fine. "App Store" refers to "Apple Store". Then "app store" refers to "application store".

    So I'd like 5 bushels of Rock Gold and a couple bushels of assorted bittersweets, please. Oh, you don't *actually* sell apples at the Apple Store? That's kind of misleading, isn't it?

  • On the post: GAO Suggests It's Time To Ditch Dollar Bills For Coins

    JTO ( profile ), 08 Mar, 2011 @ 09:24am

    Re: Vending machines love coins

    A Coke from most vending machines is already $1.25. Sorry, no more nickel Cokes. :)

  • On the post: More Authors Realizing They Can Make A Damn Good Living Self-Releasing Super Cheap eBooks

    JTO ( profile ), 02 Mar, 2011 @ 02:52pm

    Re: Amanda Hockling

    I fail to see your point. Is it that money from teens is less valuable than money from retirees? Does, somehow, reading an eBook on an iPhone or Android phone suddenly make the book worthless? The whole music industry was built on the concept that teens would spend their allowances on records instead of comics and candy. Teens are the reason why action movies are released in the summer. The majority of soft drinks, clothes, cigarettes, alcohol, and even books, are marketed toward teens. Nobody wants to sell stuff to old farts like us. We think before we buy. Your argument only points out that Amanda Hockling is brilliant. She may not be the best writer, but she markets her books to an immature market at a very affordable price. She's building a legion of readers that may follow her as her writing skill improves and matures. On top of that, it sounds like she's living her dream and making good money at it. I can't think of anything better.

  • On the post: Appropriation Artist Jeff Koons Threatens Company & Retailers For Selling Classic Balloon Dog Bookends

    JTO ( profile ), 06 Jan, 2011 @ 01:54pm

    The thing is, even if the company blatantly ripped-off his statue and sold it as a bookend, they would *still* be protected. A bookend is not a piece of art.

    By the way, all of you now owe me money because I'm going to go ahead and say that the use of a period (.) to mock someone else is my copyright. I'll need your IP, home, and work addresses. Thanks!

  • On the post: Judge Blocks Gov't From Upgrading Email System To Microsoft In Google Lawsuit

    JTO ( profile ), 06 Jan, 2011 @ 07:55am

    How is moving to Exchange considered an upgrade? I managed an Exchange server for years with no real issues. Yes, Exchange does everything, but it doesn't do any of them well.

    One of the happiest days of my IT life was when we moved to a standards-based open-source mail server. The system is more secure, reliable, and manageable, while only requiring 5% of the hardware required by Microsoft.

  • On the post: Company That Makes Wristbands With Holograms Forced To Admit That Their Scientific Claims Are Bunk

    JTO ( profile ), 05 Jan, 2011 @ 08:37am

    Re: Re: Snake Oil

    Likewise:
    To be "gyped" (gypsies)
    To "welsh" on a bet (the Welsh)
    The "heebie-jeebies" (I mean, aren't Jews just the most scary thing you can think of?)
    "Cop" (police officers couldn't afford brass buttons, so they used copper ones instead)
    "Yankee" (yes, just like it sounds)

  • On the post: GEMA Music Collection Society No Longer Will Let Kindergartens Get Away With Teaching Music For Free

    JTO ( profile ), 30 Dec, 2010 @ 11:31am

    Re:

    Actually, it's more akin to eating your leg because you skipped lunch. The music industry is still profitable. They just aren't seeing the double-digit years they saw when CDs were the norm. Instead of finding better ways of attracting customers to music, they start poaching their nurseries.

  • On the post: 'Spinning' Trademarked; Gyms Being Threatened For Holding Spinning Classes Sans License

    JTO ( profile ), 29 Dec, 2010 @ 08:58am

    Spinning IS a generic term

    What BS. As a competitive cyclist in the 80s and 90s, everyone on the team would groan when we saw "SPINNING" or "SPIN" on the training schedule. That would mean 2 straight hours of hammering away on stationary bikes, trainers, or rollers. We were actually judged on distance, but heart-rate monitors were a fortune at the time. While they're at it, why don't they trademark "dual-suspension", "cruiser bike", and "asshat"?

  • On the post: Oh Look, Police Can Investigate A Satirical Online Comment About Mythical Violence And Not Overreact

    JTO ( profile ), 28 Dec, 2010 @ 06:13am

    Hey, it's still not illegal to be a total douche.

  • On the post: US Is Apparently Torturing Bradley Manning, Despite No Trial And No Conviction

    JTO ( profile ), 15 Dec, 2010 @ 01:15pm

    If the US is holding him because he is an undeclared espionage agent, which I'm guessing they are doing, he's screwed. He has no rights or protections. Many of our laws and the Geneva Convention pointedly exclude spies.

    His case for being a whistleblower falls apart when Assange and Co. say that they were given, and refused to publish, battle plans, critically sensitive documents, etc. that had nothing to do with the illegal capture and interrogation of dissidents.

    While Manning's conditions seem a little harsh, I would really hesitate to call it torture. He's obviously on suicide watch and kept isolated from other inmates. So what? He's not being water-boarded, beat, frozen, or sleep-deprived. When I'm kept in solitude without a pillow or sheets, I usually call that backpacking, but that's just me.

  • On the post: Virginia High School Says Barring Students From Doing Outside Research Helps Them 'Think For Themselves'

    JTO ( profile ), 02 Nov, 2010 @ 10:16am

    "Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it" has thus been circumvented. Now kids don't even learn about it. How can they repeat it, since it never really happened.

    This isn't really as much an effort to reduce plagiarism as it's laziness on the part of the instructor. If I really do my homework and cite a dozen or so sources, he would be required to check all those sources before stating that my conclusions are wrong.

    I think it would be a much more interesting challenge to offer extra credit that find inaccuracies in the text....

  • On the post: Visiting Australia? Make Sure You Tell The Customs Officials About The Porn On Your Hard Drive

    JTO ( profile ), 21 Oct, 2010 @ 11:11am

    Re: Standard Mike avoidance, hiding behind "some people'.. typical...

    Oh poor Darryl. You really need to get out more. Your robot girlfriend, while not illegal in Australia, is no substitute for the real thing.

    I may not agree with Mike on everything, but he hasn't been known, in my experience, to lie or mislead his readers.

    If you keep this up, we'll have to change your published name to Comic Book Guy...

  • On the post: IBM Patents Dividing The Number 60 By Your Car's Speed

    JTO ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2010 @ 01:28pm

    Re: Re: Ridiculous

    That's funny, because The Constitution protects the rights of individuals, not corporate entities...

  • On the post: IBM Patents Dividing The Number 60 By Your Car's Speed

    JTO ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2010 @ 01:26pm

    Re: Ah yes...

    If it takes you 5 minutes to code this, you don't even get to be a competent code monkey... :)

  • On the post: Woman Trademarks Her Name, Says No One Can Use It Without Her Permission

    JTO ( profile ), 16 Sep, 2010 @ 01:38pm

    Re:

    I'm naming my next kid, Dr Ann De Wees Allen. That name's gonna be HUGE!

  • On the post: How The Patent Office Outsourced Its Job To Non-Expert Jurors

    JTO ( profile ), 01 Sep, 2010 @ 02:14pm

    Re: "Just created" ?

    You're funny. When I say, "you're funny," I mean your argument completely side-steps the point of the article and takes much of the content out-of-context. Also, your spelling makes me giggle. When I say, "giggle," I mean that it's laughable. Really. Get a dictionary or at least use the spell-check.

  • On the post: A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose… Until Police See It On CCTV, Say It's A Knife & Throw You In Jail For 3 Months

    JTO ( profile ), 31 Aug, 2010 @ 11:26am

    Okay, let's say it WAS a knife. How is that illegal? When I was a chef, I had a large assortment of scary-looking knives with me whenever I took the train or bus to/from work.

    And really, when is the last time you went for a long romantic walk with your girlfriend while carrying a giant knife?

  • On the post: ACLU Allowed Into Lawsuit Over North Carolina's Demands To Hand Over Amazon Purchase History

    JTO ( profile ), 17 Aug, 2010 @ 07:35am

    Re: Nothing new for NC

    Creative of NC, but certainly not legal. There is a mountain of case law that protects this exact sort of transaction as interstate commerce. Unfortunately for NC, there is no penalty for a VA resident to simply refuse to pay. They don't want it to go to court, so they won't even file a claim.

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