mermaldad’s Techdirt Profile

On the post: More Myth Debunking: File Sharing Is A Gateway Crime

mermaldad ( profile ), 15 Mar, 2010 @ 05:48am

Correlation

""You can't correlate the drop in crime to internet file sharing "

"I think you got that backwards"

There's no backwards in correlation. Correlation just means that A and B follow each other, i.e. when A increases, so does B and when A decreases so does B. Correlation does not imply causation, i.e. whether A causes B or B causes A or both are caused by C or they're not linked by cause. However, if there's no correlation, there's no causation, so establishing correlation is a necessary first step to establish causation.

I agree that the "drop in crime" argument is pretty weak. The "gateway crime" is even weaker.

On the post: Is The Commerce Department Really Ready To Regulate The Internet?

mermaldad ( profile ), 04 Mar, 2010 @ 07:33am

minor correction

Paragraph four, Strickling's name is misspelled as "Strickland".

On the post: School District Says It Only Turned Spy Cameras On 42 Times; FBI Now Investigating

mermaldad ( profile ), 22 Feb, 2010 @ 05:23am

Re:

I'm not sure the tracking system is exactly the same. GPS generally doesn't work indoors; it requires line of sight to find the satellites.

On the post: Australian Court Says Men At Work's 'Down Under' Infringes On Folk Song; Only Took Decades To Notice

mermaldad ( profile ), 05 Feb, 2010 @ 06:01am

In Defense of the Plaintiffs

While I think it's unfortunate that Larrikin Music chose to sue over this, I can see why the court ruled as they did. Kookaburra is such a short song. I count 37 notes. It's so short that identifying the song by name is probably infringement. (Note to LM: That was sarcasm; please don't sue me.) The part that Men At Work used is actually two pieces, each 11 notes long. So that's 59% of the tune quoted, multiple times, in Land Down Under.

While it's true the notes aren't part of the versus or chorus, they are the melody line for an instrumental interlude between verses and therefore feature prominently in the song. While not solely responsible for the success of Land Down Under, they do help to give it that Australian flavor.

I agree that the current copyright laws are overboard, but for now they are the law.

On the post: French Court Forcing Google To Remove Word 'Scam' From Google Suggest

mermaldad ( profile ), 15 Jan, 2010 @ 05:10pm

French Words

Here are some useful French words:

scam - arnaquer, escroquerie (f., colloquial)
offensive - offensif
corrupt - corrompué
ridiculous - ridicule
litigious - litigieux

Excuse me, I need to go do some searches...

On the post: Buggy Whips Not The Perfect Analogy Of Businesses Disrupted By Innovation?

mermaldad ( profile ), 11 Jan, 2010 @ 06:22am

There's some good in the article

I think that the subject article makes some good points (although it maybe overstates its case a little). The point they are trying to make is that adapting was harder for buggy whip makers because the skill set they possessed ("braiding fiber around a hard core") didn't have an application in the automobile business. The carriage makers were closer, with mostly woodworking skills, while the carriage part makers were the closest, since many of them already had metalworking skills.

This isn't to say that a particular industry can't adapt. I take issue with the article's final statement: "But the buggy whip makers never had a fighting chance." In fact the article contradicts itself, as it mentions that a few whip makers survived by focusing on the equestrian market (polo, horse racing, etc.)

There's a saying "to a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail." Humans have a tendency to try to solve problems with the skills and tools they already have rather than learning new ones. It takes an exceptional person to 1) recognize that their skills and tools are losing relevance, and 2) acquire new skills and tools to make a successful transition.

This is just my interpretation, but I think the point of the article is not that buggy whip makers aren't a good example of businesses disrupted by innovation. The point is rather that for most businesses, the carriage makers and carriage part makers are more apt analogies. Most modern businesses facing disruption have some (but not all) of the skills they will need for the future.

I think Mike was just too full of rage when he read the article. ;-)

On the post: Creativity, Innovation And Happiness

mermaldad ( profile ), 04 Jan, 2010 @ 08:27am

Happiness and Rage

Happy New Year to Techdirt and all its readers!

I still think that deep down, Mike harbors a cauldron of rage, a ticking time bomb waiting to go off... :-)

On the post: Do Robots Need A Section 230-Style Safe Harbor?

mermaldad ( profile ), 22 Dec, 2009 @ 06:34am

The term robot is so broad, that it encompasses a multitude of devices, from the "simple" robotic arms that do factory work, to the self-aware android of science fiction.

senshikaze suggests that the Asmovian laws are all that are needed, but when my robotic lawn mower loses its bearings and mows down his prize-winning bonsai garden (without ever violating an Asmovian law), he might reconsider.

I can guarantee there will be moral panics where people will demand laws against "robostalking", "robobullying", etc., when in fact these are just stalking and bullying with the robot as a tool. And people will undoubtedly sue robot manufacturers when robots do what their owners told them to do. So I'm sure that some sort of safe harbor will be needed to protect manufacturers from the actions of users.

On the post: A Song For Lily Allen… And A Little Conversation

mermaldad ( profile ), 28 Sep, 2009 @ 04:19pm

Wow.

I'm generally not a fan of the rap style, but the way Dan Bull threw so many relevant points into this piece really works.

On the post: My Debate With The NY Times' David Carr Over Journalism Business Models

mermaldad ( profile ), 19 Sep, 2009 @ 11:30am

Examples, please

Mike and David came to an agreement that a "tiers" model would work for online media, but I was disappointed that no one gave any concrete examples of the scarcities that might be sold in such a tiered offering. I'm sure a company would have to try myriad offerings to find the ones that work, but can someone offer up some examples?

On the post: Court Dismisses Case Against Yahoo From Woman Upset How She Appeared In Results

mermaldad ( profile ), 03 Sep, 2009 @ 02:31pm

Oh those nutty lawyers

I certainly hope that my comment on the original post was one of the ones that Bev Stayart's lawyer (who also does not want Beverly Stayart's name associated with porn) wanted removed. I would consider it a badge of honor.

On the post: Forget Snow Days, Kids Get Two Days Of No Classes Due to A Computer Glitch

mermaldad ( profile ), 26 Aug, 2009 @ 05:19pm

Parallel processing

Set up tables for all the teachers in the gym (or whatever large room is handy). Each teacher has a sheet of paper for each class period they teach. Send in the seniors! Well, a portion of the senior class. They go to the teachers for each of the classes they need and sign up. Then the juniors and so on. At the end of the day, the freshmen get terrible schedules, but that's what happens inside the computer anyway. Then each of the teachers makes two copies of their class rosters: one for the administration, and one to send to SchoolMax to be entered into the database AT THEIR EXPENSE.

On the post: IBM's Where-in-HQ-is-Samuel-J-Palmisano? Patent

mermaldad ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2009 @ 04:15am

Wow

Wow, it took two of IBM's PhDs to come up with that?

On the post: Yet Another E-Voting Glitch; This One Adds 5,000 Phantom Votes

mermaldad ( profile ), 10 Jun, 2009 @ 08:05am

Re: WTF...

> How do you fuck this up:

> Button Candidate1() Click
> intCandidate1Votes = intCandidateVotes + 1
> End

You just did. Your second line should be:
intCandidate1Votes = intCandidate1Votes + 1
i.e. you missed the "1" in your variable name.

All voting software should be open source so we can catch errors like that.

On the post: WSJ To Try Micropayments: What A Bad Idea

mermaldad ( profile ), 11 May, 2009 @ 06:11pm

Years ago I read an article which described an experiment in computer modeling of evolutionary systems. In the experiment, a simulated organism with a very small genetic advantage was found to inexorably outcompete other organisms. It didn't matter that the advantage was tiny. The net effect over numerous competitions was to favor the fitter organism.

Of course, real world companies are much more complex than such a computer simulation, but I suspect the same principles apply. The WSJ may find a niche market of folks who will glady micropay for "high quality" news, but in the broader mass market, I suspect they will get creamed.

On the post: Woman Sues Yahoo Because Search On Her Name Links To Porn And Malware

mermaldad ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2009 @ 10:45am

Go figure...

She's a legal assistant and CFO of a law firm. My guess is that she's been in the legal environment long enough that the thought of suing when someone displeases you just comes naturally. Yet another example of the Streisand Effect.

Important announcement for all people (and search engines) out there: Beverly Stayart does not want her name associated with Porn. Bev Stayart != Porn. When you think of Beverly Stayart, do not think of porn. Glad I could be of service.

On the post: No, In-Flight Internet Is Not A Terrorist Threat

mermaldad ( profile ), 11 Feb, 2009 @ 05:45am

Re: No. 13

I think the commenter in #13 is stretching credulity by suggesting that he might get a sudden urge to visit www.al-hacklelobah.com, but here's a little more believable scenario (tongue in cheek, of course):

Then I am merrily flying along when I get the sudden urge to visit techdirt.com, where I am exposed to all manner of radical ideas. I get so worked up I decide to take down the plane. I learn on the *same website* that I can make weapons out of a CD and a Coke can. Suddenly, I'm in command of the plane, flying into a building.

On the post: Yet Another High School Newspaper Goes Online To Avoid District Censorship

mermaldad ( profile ), 16 Jan, 2009 @ 05:22am

Appropriate

Note that courts have ruled in the past that for a student newspaper, the school is the "owner" of the paper and its administration has editorial control. So the superintendent has every right to demand to see the contents of any article before it is published.

So it sounds like everyone acted within their rights here. I too am impressed by the superintendent's appropriate response, as so many others would be demanding that the website be taken offline.

On the post: Is It Illegal To Announce A Patent On Something After That Patent Has Expired?

mermaldad ( profile ), 06 May, 2008 @ 03:58am

Re: Should people show old patent numbers on items?

Bragging rights are fine, but if you're showing an expired patent number, it should be clearly marked as expired. Sure it's easy to look up a patent number and see that its expired, but most people won't. I could argue that it's okay to show patents that aren't yours or don't apply to the product because it's easy to look them up and figure out that they're bogus, but nearly everyone agrees that this is an unacceptable practice. Listing expired patents as if they were still active is only slightly less shady.

On the post: Recipes: Shared And Improved On For Years… Now Targeted By Copyright Cops?

mermaldad ( profile ), 20 Oct, 2007 @ 07:37am

Isn't recipe copyright already covered?

If a copyrighted recipe whose "substantial literary expression" is put onto a website (such as someone copying a recipe from a book and posting it), isn't the remedy already pretty clear? The copyright holder sends a DMCA takedown notice and then, if necessary, lawyers sort things out.

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