Oliver Wendell Jones’s Techdirt Profile

On the post: Entertainment Industry Supporters Have Their Say In Grokster Case

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 25 Jan, 2005 @ 07:06am

Re: It it is banned, blame yourselves

A vast majority of drivers commit some driving-related crime, whether it be speeding, unsafe lane-changes, not-quite-a-complete-stop at the stop sign, etc.

Thus, since almost all users of cars use them illegally, we should ban cars!

Think of the children!

On the post: eBay Scams So Easy A Child Could Do It

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 24 Jan, 2005 @ 10:17am

Re: Ebay Scams... go figure

Too many letters in your post to state what can be stated in three letters... FUD.

Ebay has an amazing track record of being a safe place to buy and sell. I have sold numerous items and have purchased well over 100 items from ebay and have yet to be ripped off (knock on wood).

I had one non-paying bidder and I re-auctioned the item and sold it one week later. I purchased a digital camcorder that ended up not working - returned it to the seller for a replacement - it cost me $7 in S&H to send it back and I had to wait 3 days for the replacement. I tried to purchase some breast-enlargement pills for my (now) ex-girlfriend and they never showed up - I got my money cheerfully refunded. That's the worst of my ebay experiences.

Are there people who abuse ebay and treat it as their opportunity to scam? Sure.

Can you avoid them? You betcha.

Ebay tracks all the feedback that is left for a vendor. If the vendor has no feedback, or excessive negative feedback and the deal seems too good to be true - DON'T BUY FROM THEM!

If the auction itself seems too good to be true, re-read the entire auction and make sure you didn't miss some fine print somewhere.

I regularly buy from a vendor called BuyEssex and they have a huge number of negative feedback - 7,917 in the past 12 months - and they have had 5835 negative feedbacks - But... they've received over 305,000 postive feedbacks. Do a little checking and you'll see that in almost every instance the buyer bought a product that was clearly described as non-working and then leaves negative feedback claiming "it didn't work" - well, duh!

I personally don't know a single person who has had any ebay experiences worse than the three I describe above. I've seen lots of people on the 'net claiming they've been ripped off, but then I see lots of people claiming they were abducted by aliens and are now carrying Elvis's baby, too.

On the post: Music Download Stores Risk Backlash From Enslaved Users

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 20 Jan, 2005 @ 01:33pm

Am I missing something?

What I don't understand is why people don't simply burn every 10-12 tracks to an audio CD and then, if necessary, re-rip it to whatever non-DRM format you want?

If you're such an audiophile that you can't stand the thought of transcoding your audio files one time, maybe you should be out buying the Super-Audio CD or whatever the latest DRM-happy audiophile media du-jour is...

On the post: The Return Of The Network PC?

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 19 Jan, 2005 @ 11:37am

I hate this concept

Where I work, we have Windows XP set up on our PCs, but all of our "local settings" are stored on a Microsoft Active Directory server somewhere else.

Every once in a while, we'll have a minor network outage or server glitch and suddenly my desktop clears itself (because all of my desktop shortcuts are not actually on my machine), My Documents stops being available (which usually means whatever document I'm working on is lost or damaged) and I'm completely unable to do any work until they fix it. And it's not just me, it's everyone who relies on that same network segment or AD server.

Often times it's only a temporary glitch and it comes back within a few minutes, but other times it will wipe us out for hours at a time.

I hate this and have gone so far as to create a My Real Documents directory on my local HD and I now save all my documents there instead. They don't get backed up nightly like they would on the server, but I'm willing to live with that.

On the post: Satellites Coming Back For Another Shot At Internet Access?

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 06 Jan, 2005 @ 07:21am

T-shirt?

I saw a great t-shirt on a tech-support workers site somewhere that said something to the effect of "You thought an additional 246,000 miles between you and the internet would actually speed up your connection?", in reference to the satellites in geo-stationary orbit 123,000 miles up...

I had satellite internet (uni-directional, had to use a phone for the uplink side) for a while because there was no other alternative in my area at the time. It seemed fast at the time, but then so did my 56K modem when I upgraded from 33.6...

On the post: Don't Try Driving On The Ohio Turnpike In A Stolen Car

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 06 Jan, 2005 @ 07:16am

Re: Changing Plates

I once asked a cop friend why they don't just put jumbo-sized bar codes on the platest and laser scanners on the fronts of police cars so they can scan every car in front of them.

His reply was that to do so would be a violation of your 4th ammendment right to improper searches. He said it's the same reason they can't sit in their cars with their radar guns on 24/7, they have to believe you are speeding before they can clock you.

Once you let the government start a system like this, how long until it does hook into the DMV database? How long until it stores all the information in a database so they can track where everyone was at?

I'm not the tinfoil-hat type, but this sort of thing is a slippery slope that it's best we stay away from.

On the post: Criminal Investigations Into BearingPoint's Useless Half-Billion Computer System

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 22 Dec, 2004 @ 01:25pm

Half?

I could create a totally ineffective, non-functional system for 44% of the cost... and it would play Minesweeper and Solitaire!

On the post: Virgin Mobile Decides 10 Is Too Young For A Mobile Phone

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 09 Dec, 2004 @ 11:38am

Dang...

And I had my heart set on a Scooby Doo themed cell phone...

On the post: Overpaying For The Fun Of It Is No Longer Cool

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 07 Dec, 2004 @ 10:41am

Re: agree

You obviously never bothered to read the helpful help information on the ebay site.

You can place one single bid for the maximum amount you are willing to pay. ebay's proxy bidding system will keep bidding for you up to your maximum amount. You never need to check back until the auction is over.

This system is in place to keep you from overspending by getting caught up in a last minute bidding war. If an item is worth $10 to you and no more, than bid $10 and walk away. If you get upset because you lose it at $10.50 and think "Heck, I'd have gone $11 or $12" then you should have bid that amount in the first place.

Also, the shipping price should be clearly displayed in auction and if not, then it's really your fault for not asking the seller before you bid.*

*On that note, I agree with you that way too many sellers are screwing us all with excessive S&H charges and it has honestly impacted my ebay purchase habits.

If the seller offers a fixed S&H price, it should be included as part of the original bid amount (which is how I run my auctions) and should never exceed the final sale price of any item by a factor of greater than 5x (i.e., you shouldn't be able to sell an item for $1.00 and then charge $7.99 S&H). Numerous times I've bought small, light weight items for low prices and then paid $7 or $8 for S&H only to have it shipped in a USPO Priority Mail envelope with $3 postage on it.

What's worse are the people who list one S&H price in their auction description and then list a different S&H price in the Shipping information section. When all is said and done, I'm not sure which value is legally valid, but PayPal will invoice you for the amount listed in the Shipping information section, so be careful and double-check!

On the post: Shocker: 72 Hour Degrees Online Are A Scam

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 07 Dec, 2004 @ 06:38am

Why fraud?

Unless their advertising literature specifically stated that these degrees were from a truly accredited school (and not a fake accreditation service like many of them use), then it's not really fraud.

If I offer to sell you a piece of clothing worn by Jesus complete with certificate of authenticity, but I don't specify that it was really Jesus Gonzales, a hispanic guy from down the street, is it fraud? How about if I claim it has significant religious history (it's his lucky undershirt he wore every time to church)?

As long as they aren't making intentionally false claims that can't be disproven, then they didn't commit fraud.

On the post: The Patent System Fights Back: Just Wants More Cash

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 01 Dec, 2004 @ 10:31am

I've said it before...

They need to revamp the system so that once the patent examiner has completed their work, the patent goes into a protected 'patent pending' status and is displayed on the web for everyone with internet access to review and to provide prior art to try and stop it before it goes to 'patent approved' status.

The cost to a company for each patent filed should be increased for every invalid patent that is rejected. If you file only good, valid patents, then your cost never goes up. When you file a bunch of crappy patents that can be easily disputed (and perhaps the faster it's disputed the more the next patent should cost) then your price starts going up.

The USPTO could do like the old patent bounty site used to do and pay out monetary rewards to the first person/people submitting prior art to invalidate a patent.

This has a couple of distinct advantages, 1) the USPTO doesn't have to hire a bunch of new patent examiners - the entire US becomes the new patent examiners and 2) When a stupid, blatantly obvious patent gets approved, we have noone to blame but ourselves.

On the post: eBay As Popularity Meter

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 01 Dec, 2004 @ 10:21am

What's really amazing

What's really amazing is that so much of what sells on ebay goes for over the retail price - especially once you figure in the absurd S&H charges that most sellers tack on*.

Ebay has become a one-stop shopping site for a lot of people who don't even bother to check other sites or stores before entering a bid, not even knowing they could have saved themselves money.

*I am personally fed up with people selling stuff on ebay at absurdly low prices and then charging absurdly high S&H prices. I feel that ebay needs to add the fixed S&H price into the initial bid so you can't sell a 60" HDTV starting at $0.99 and then charge $5999 shipping and handling.

On the post: Can You Trademark The Price Of Something?

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 30 Nov, 2004 @ 07:28am

Shop there a lot

I have a HalfPrice Books within a mile of my home and I shop there frequently - and based on the number of people in the store, a lot of other people do, too.

They offer free coffee (unlike the local Borders and Barnes and Nobles stores that sell $4 cups of coffee) and have a huge selection of new and used books, magazines, software, music and movies all priced at half of suggested retail - or less.

When I need a book, the first place I look is HPB before I begin shopping online, not only will I get it immediately, but I'll get it cheaper and not pay for shipping.

They even sell "books by the yard", so if you want to look like a well educated lawyer/doctor/etc., you can purchase yards of similarly sized books to fill up bookcases.

While I don't agree that "Half Price Books" is really a good trademark, the company itself is definately not something that should be cast aside or ignored.

On the post: New Loophole In Do Not Call For Recorded Telemarketing Efforts?

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 30 Nov, 2004 @ 06:52am

Re: What is the definition?

Have you ever seen those cardboard boxes by a cash register where you can sign up for a free month at a local gym?

Ever walked through a mall/store and been asked to sign up to win free windows/doors/siding for your house?

All those contest slips that get filled out are invitations for companies to call and harass you. What's scary is that you might expect a call from a gym, but you won't expect a call from all their "business and strategic aligned partners" with whom they share their list.

I started getting calls on a new, unlisted number and asked how they got my name/number. They told me that I had registered to win a free car and the fine print gave them permission to call as well as sell my name/number.

I called my mother and found out that as a courtesy, she made it a point to sign up all of her kids every time she was asked to enter a drawing - gee, thanks, Mom!

On the post: Anonymous Mobile Bullying Helpline — Or New Bullying Tool

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 23 Nov, 2004 @ 08:37am

Thanks for the evidence?

If someone sends you bullying IM, doesn't it include your name or phone number in the From: section?

Couldn't you just go to a teacher/principal and show them the message and the header information?

On the post: Do Computers Harm School Performance?

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 22 Nov, 2004 @ 12:01pm

3 Kinds of Untruth, Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics

"They say 3% of the people use 5-6% of their brain.
97% use just 3% and the rest goes down the drain.
I'll never know which one I am, but I'll bet you my last dime.
99% think with 3%, 100% of the time.

65% of all statistics are made up right there on the spot.
84.4% of people believe them whether they are accurate statistics or not.
I'll never know what you believe, but I do know there's no doubt
I need another double shot of something 90 proof, I've got too much to think about."

from Todd Snider's Statistician's Blues

On the post: WTO Says US Violates Trade Laws Over Online Gambling… Again

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 11 Nov, 2004 @ 09:55am

Our government is pro free market....

... but only as long as it works in our favor...

On the post: More Electronic Voting Screwups

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 10 Nov, 2004 @ 06:33am

Re: A semantic suggestion.

no, because then the manufacturers would state their program includes an electronic audit trail, but we can't see it for "security reasons". There is also no guarantee that a non-paper audit-trail would be any safer than the vote storage system itself.

It could theoretically scratch the votes into stone tablets or engrave it on to metal plates instead of printing it on paper, but paper is reliable, cheap and we have plenty of experience transferring ink to paper electronically.

On the post: The Premium Content That Isn't Content

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 08 Nov, 2004 @ 11:26am

Re: No Subject Given

What about Techdirt? Service or Content?

Essentially, the "content" on TechDirt can be found for free just by searching all the news sites yourself. Mike's comments are useful and interesting, but that's not why people visit (sorry, Mike).

Techdirt is a service because they do the searching for you and provide you with content and commentary.

There is a long history of companies selling content, that's nothing new, but what Mike keeps pointing out is that people need to quit selling a service and claiming they've found a new way to make money off of *content* when it's really a service.

I worked on a project a few years back and we developed a service that could be sold, but we couldn't get marketing to accept that it was a new 'product' and they kept seeing it as something we could/would give away if the customer bought enough of our regular product. We eventually had to trash the entire project because we just couldn't get marketing to accept that it's a service, damn it, a subscription-based, revenue generating *SERVICE*, not a premium give-away like a free carwash when you fill up your gas tank...

Thanks, I feel better now...

On the post: Australian Nigerian Scammer Sent To Jail

Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 08 Nov, 2004 @ 11:15am

A new kind of click-through license agreement

On all computers sold, there should be a startup screen that includes.

Hello, and welcome to the internet. There are no cheap legal pharmaceuticals available online. The enlargement pills don't work. There are no cheap Rolex watches. There aren't tons of single people anxious to have sex with you in your area. Anyone asking you for money is a scam, please report them to the police.

Maybe it should display every time they boot up, anyone smart enough to disable the screen is assumed smart enough to vist the 'net.

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