Bill M. 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (38) comment rss

  • On the post: Virtual Video Store Clerks Take On The Geeks For Netflix Prize

    Bill M. ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2008 @ 04:25am

    @PaulT

    You missed his point. AC's saying to wire up all those OLPC-using kids to do the crowdsourced ratings/predictions. He's not making a point about solving poverty. It was actually pretty funny.

    And ironically, your post shows why it's so hard to predict what movie someone will like. People like different movies for different reasons, often quirky ones. What makes one bad movie a cult classic and another simply a forgotten throwaway? Some people "get" the point of a flick, and others don't. How about mood and setting? Ever watch a movie one ime and think it was great but the second time you saw it, you couldn't see what was so good about it?

    It's a very challenging problem to solve.

  • On the post: Dumb Sprint 'Security' Questions Make It Easier To Hijack Accounts

    Bill M. ( profile ), 10 Apr, 2008 @ 05:54am

    The whole concept is ridiculous

    I have NEVER seen a "security question" scheme that has ever made any sense, with the possible exception of systems that require you to enter the "last five digits" of a social security number, drivers license, or credit card.

    There are tons of sites that ask you to choose from a list like this that is generated from credit bureau reports. One problem with this is that if you're trying to log in to CORRECT a problem with your report, it may well be those answers are incorrect, and you won't be able to get in. The other problem is of course highlighted by the Consumerist article. If you knwo even a little bit about someone you can answer those questions easily.

    Same thing applies to the security questions you make up yourself or select from a drop-down list. They are typically things like:

    - your mother's maiden name
    - your favorite pet's name
    - the street you grew up on
    - your first car

    Again, all of these are something a family member or friend would know. Certainly something you could find out with some basical sleuthing and social engineering.

    "Oh, you're from Akron? I grew up there, too. I was on Capital street. What about you?"

    These "insecurity" questions are almost never optional. At least when they ask you to write out answers, you can put in a PIN-like number you can remember. But when the answers are multiple-choice and pulled from credit databases, it's worse than not having them at all.

  • On the post: Who's The Evil Empire In The Battle Over Who Owns The Rights To Storm Trooper Costumes?

    Bill M. ( profile ), 08 Apr, 2008 @ 10:27am

    No basis for discussion

    Unfortunately, none of the articles available on this topic cover the most important issue, which is what kind of agreement existed between Lucas and the costume designer.

    Ainsworth's statement, "As far as I am concerned, I am the original maker and I'm using the original moulds," simply isn't enough to assure him legal standing to produce copies.

    Plenty of people who provide original work and content are doing so under the "work for hire" basis. Nevertheless that is an exception to the usual rule that someone who creates a work is the legal author of it. Unless someone can produce a copy of that agreement, we just don't know who is right. Nevertheless, a US court already found in Lucasfilm's favor, so presumably they were able to prove it was in fact their property, regardless of who possesses the molds.

  • On the post: New Study Shows Massive Error Rates In E-Voting Machines

    Bill M. ( profile ), 22 Mar, 2008 @ 02:14am

    Usability

    It's hard to imagine that error rates on one brand of e-voting technology is applicable to ALL e-voting. Surely there could be a user interface that would result in even higher error rates. Ergo, you could design one with lower rates. Similarly the paper receipt could be more usable. One thing that you might do is have to enter a confirmation code from the receipt into the machine to verify that you've reviewed the paper copy. The problem is that we don't rigorously review the technology itself enough.

  • On the post: E-Voting Is Very Different From E-Banking

    Bill M. ( profile ), 18 Mar, 2008 @ 03:42am

    Confounding

    You can have a paper trail and still maintain secrecy.

    Electronic voting machines COULD offer a number of benefits. You can easily set up multi-lingual ballots. You can have large fonts for those with impaired vision, or audio for those who are blind. You can present candidates in random order so none are advantaged by position.

    All that needs to happen is that you confirm your view, receive a human-readable card, and drop that receipt into the ballot box. The e-voting machine will enable fast/instant vote tallies. The ballot boxes contain the paper records needed to validate the electronic tally. (And the paper ballots are the legally binding ones.)

    Why this simple concept seems to generate so much controversy is beyond me. The only thing I've heard which is remotely sensible is that paper and ink handling are mechanical and susceptible to failure. But surely there are ways to make it so robust as to become a non-issue.

  • On the post: WiFi On Airplanes Coming. Does That Mean Airborne Skype?

    Bill M. ( profile ), 09 Dec, 2007 @ 11:59am

    Baffling

    I, too am more concerned about bandwidth than about people talking (cell phone, Skype, or otherwise). I learned a long time ago "the only way to fly" is with one of those in-ear noise isolating headphones and an MP3 player. Between the roar of the engines, passenger interactions with stewardesses, and the always-mentioned crying babies, there is plenty of noise on planes already. Cell phones wouldn't add much to that, and I would much rather Aunt Suzie talk to her sister in Atlanta than tell me all about her trip to DisneyLand. Unless of course she's cute.

    WiFi on airplanes would enable awesome ways to pass the time whether it's catching up on TechDirt, tuning into Orb on my home PC to watch some television, or downloading email from work.

  • On the post: Schools' Shortsighted Give-Em-Laptops Plans Failing

    Bill M. ( profile ), 07 May, 2007 @ 08:37am

    The truth is that yes, if you threw bags of money at students, they would indeed become better managers of money. Not as efficiently as if you had structured home economics classes, but they would learn. If you don't have money, you don't learn how to manage it well.

    As for technology, the only reason we are able to read forums like this are because computers, and the web, are ubiquitous. Nobody makes you take a course to learn how to use one. (Probably why we have spam and viruses.) But because most everyone has one, or access to one, we have amazing capabilites compared to even just 10 years ago.

    On the topic of test scores... this is killing education. Kids are cramming for exams and it's not sticking after they get their scores. Your argument that computers don't improve test scores may be proof they are a good thing.

  • On the post: Schools' Shortsighted Give-Em-Laptops Plans Failing

    Bill M. ( profile ), 07 May, 2007 @ 01:14am

    Not so fast...

    It's true that the effect of giving out laptops would be *better* if they were integrated into the curriculum. However, there are benefits from having every kid *have* a laptop, and I'm not talking about a surge in MySpace registrations. The more people learn about technology earlier, the more comfortable they will be be using it long term. Furthermore, having these tools in people's hands creates moments where somebody says, "Hey, wouldn't it be a good idea if we could..." involving the computers being used to solve a problem. Look at it this way: If we were seeding schools with guns instead of laptops, I don't think anyone would be surprised to see an increase in shootings. Similarly, computers will have their effects whether they are formally integrated into curriculums and processes or not.

  • On the post: Move On, Rumormongers: The iPhone Is Finally Real

    Bill M. ( profile ), 09 Jan, 2007 @ 11:37am

    Runs Mac OS X?

    Does that mean it will run Adobe Creative Suite? Cool, Illustrator on my cell phone!

  • On the post: Diebold Hid Faulty Machines From Elections Board

    Bill M. ( profile ), 26 Oct, 2006 @ 12:41pm

    What is it going to take to fix our voting technology? We can write off habeus corpus in record time, but we can't pass a law for paper-verified ballots?

  • On the post: Why 3G Wireless Isn't A Real Alternative To Wired Broadband

    Bill M. ( profile ), 26 Oct, 2006 @ 04:24am

    I don't think any carrier's telling you to drop your cable modem or DSL service and go totally wireless in your home or office. I certainly haven't seen any marketing materials to this effect, and if you've got some examples please show us them.

    The carriers are simply pointing out what is true: For people on-the-go, you can get speeds approaching broadband (at a premium). The coverage is often better and/or more dependable than WiFi-based access plans (which cost in the same range, anyway).

    As for the referenced link, this is about integrating 3G into laptops the way WiFi is integrated into Intel chips. Ultimately this is trying to start the "virtuous circle" of demand driving investment driving better pricing.

    As it is, Mike's commentary is a little like complaining ten years ago about the "ridiculous" idea that cell phones could replace your home land line. Yes, maybe it was outlandish then, but it's a very feasible and popular option today.

  • On the post: Government Won't Prosecute AOL Execs Over Classic Bubble-Era Scam

    Bill M. ( profile ), 23 Oct, 2006 @ 01:12pm

    Just one of many accounting frauds perpetrated at AOL throughout the 90s. Gee, I wonder if the lack of prosecution has anything to do with Alexander Haig being on the board of directors, and AOL's other deep ties to the neo-con hierarchy?

  • On the post: Mobile Network Dispute Reaches The Nyah-Nyah-Nyah Stage

    Bill M. ( profile ), 11 Sep, 2006 @ 02:25pm

    In the Cingular vs. Sprint debate I come down firmly on the side of Sprint.

    I was an AT&T Wireless customer and experienced the changeover to Cingular. The first thing was that on the web, ATTWS customers were treated as second-class citizens. Our web-panel for managing the account never worked right or had full functionality. Then the signal got dramatically worse over time. An earlier poster said they were shutting down towers; interesting. All I know is that the signal went from full bars in most of the places I traveled down to two. I went into the Cingular store to see what phones they had and inquired about the Sony W800i. The store manager treated me like I was an idiot.

    The final insult came when I received a letter from Cingular forcing me to purchase a new phone AND transition to a new, more expensive plan. Well, since I was being forced to a new phone and plan, I shopped around. Sprint gave me an awesome discount on the smartphone I selected, and even worked with me on my plan until I had exactly the minutes, features, and pricing that I had with the original ATTWS service!

    Sprint's stores and phone-based customer service reps have been excellent, very professional. I also have enjoyed great connections for both voice and data. Their EVDO network usually runs at 600 kbps for me. Works fantastic with Orb and Avvenue, which lets me watch any live TV station and access any file on my PC, respectively. If the cable moden goes down I can even use my phone for broadband access. How sweet is that?

    As a final pleasant surprise, I don't have perfect credit, yet I didn't have to put down a massive deposit with Sprint. Instead, they have a very sensible and consumer-friendly "spending limit" policy which simply limits how much the unpaid charges can be. (I would have to spend more than $125/month before the limit kicked in; my standard bill is less than $50/mo.)

    As for Verizon, the identical plan would cost me more than $85/month.

  • On the post: How Good Is Your Insurance Policy On iTunes Downloads?

    Bill M. ( profile ), 11 Sep, 2006 @ 01:59pm

    CoJeff,

    Yes I had a backup but a little out of date. And what I really mean is not unattended but "self-service" (i.e., I wouldn't have to write in to re-download).

    The point is that you can often re-download your purchased music files.

  • On the post: How Good Is Your Insurance Policy On iTunes Downloads?

    Bill M. ( profile ), 11 Sep, 2006 @ 11:35am

    I had a hard disk problem that caused my iTunes and Windows Media DRM tracks to be corrupted. Customer service at both iTunes and MSN Music allowed me to re-download all my purchased tracks. Although it would be better if this were an automatic -- or I should say unattended -- function it's not as though the companies heartlessly refused to help me re-acquire my content and licenses. I'm not saying I love DRM but the companies do allow the tracks to be re-downloaded when you ask them.

  • On the post: Limited Unlimited Doubletalk: Unlimited Data For Limited Types Of Data

    Bill M. ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2006 @ 10:45pm

    Go with Sprint

    The Consumer Affairs article has an interesting section from the Verizon terms of service:

    "...services cannot be used: (1) for uploading, downloading or streaming of movies, music or games; (2) with server devices or with host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, Voice over IP (VoIP), automated machine-to-machine connections, or peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing."

    I just bought a Palm 700p from Sprint. Sprint also uses an EVDO network. Interesting to note that they (Sprint) have a picture of Fox News channel right on the box and prominently feature streaming television, movies, radio, etc. in the literature/documentation and in the device itself. They also make it easy to upload photos and even videos to their PictureMail service (as well as other users).

    I would urge Verizon customers to "vote with their pocketbook" at their earliest convenience and switch to Sprint. By the way, their customer service has been amazing.

  • On the post: How Your Vonage Service Fees Help Fund Spyware

    Bill M. ( profile ), 18 Jul, 2006 @ 04:34pm

    Re: It's Not Vonage

    It's a difference in delivery since you're talking about physical goods (pills, watches) instead of a service.

    Yes, you eventually reach the Vonage site to sign up for the service. However, Vonage can't immediately tell whether the referral code you're using is coming from your neighbor, a friend, Google Ads, or someone who has used adware/spyware to disseminate the referral code. In fact, I would not be surprised if Vonage disabled a referral code once it learns of any abuse, given their stated "zero tolerance" policy:

    =====
    Zero Tolerance for Spam

    Vonage has zero tolerance for spam. Spam complaints will be dealt with seriously and can result in losing Vonage privileges such as loss of referral credits and even loss of a customer's account. If you receive spam and want to report it to Vonage, please forward the email you've received to spam-police@vonage.com.
    =====

    Basically what I am saying is that the middlemen are responsible in each instance of abuse. The pharma companies clearly make some profit via spam (because someone is resellling their product by illegitimate means). So unless businesses kill the reseller business model, you're gonna have this problem.

  • On the post: How Your Vonage Service Fees Help Fund Spyware

    Bill M. ( profile ), 18 Jul, 2006 @ 09:41am

    It's not Vonage Corp

    Vonage like many other internet services has a healthy referral and affiliate program. The ads you're seeing in "spyware" are definitely not traceable from Vonage itself, but from people trying to make money reselling it. I suppose your next article will be an expose on "Rolex" (I get tons of spam mail for them). And oh yeah, should not the big pharma companies be held responsible for all the Cialis and Viagra spam I get?