Oliver Wendell Jones 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Ten Inventions That May Change Your World

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2003 @ 02:22pm

    I'm not fat!

    I was genetically engineered this way!

    Reminds me of an old sci-fi story I read some place about a scientest who devoted his life to curing cancer so people can still enjoy smoking, etc.

    After many years of zero success, he goes nuts and instead invents a laboratory mouse that is totally immune to cancer and unveils it to a room full of tobacco company managers, DDT manufacturers, etc.

    After a few minutes of them all going "huh?", one of them finally makes the connection and stands up and shouts "Hey, tobacco does NOT cause cancer in laboratory animals!" and then the DDT people say "Yeah, DDT does NOT cause cancer in laboratory animals!" and the world goes back to using all the carcinogenic products that had been done away with... but everybody still died of cancer.

  • On the post: Cajun King Of Spam Stirs Pot Of Controversy

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2003 @ 10:36am

    Re: Spammers-Be-Gone

    The interesting thing about spam is that it always includes a trail back to the guilty parties; or else there is no benefit to the spammer or the merchant who uses him

    I would hesitate to say always - at least 10% of the SPAM I receive has no links, no e-mail address (other than the forged one in the header) and no phone number. Often times there is no clue as to what the product or offering really is. Those are the ones that I really scratch my head over.

  • On the post: Hatch Bill Calls For Tougher Spam Penalties

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2003 @ 10:32am

    Re: No Subject Given

    There is a great Tom Clancy novel where a foreign pilot flies a fully fueled (but empty) passenger jet into the capitol building while Jack Ryan is being sworn in as V.P. The explosion and fire kill the president and most of the elected representatives in Washington D.C. and they have to replace a huge portion of the Senate and the House. Jack Ryan goes on the air and asks that the states send non-politician people to do the jobs.

    Not that I would ever condone such an act, but that may be the only way we're ever going to see a total revamping of the government.

    Now - if someone can come up with a method that doesn't involve the slaughter of thousands of people, let's talk...

  • On the post: Photo Of Streisand Home Becomes An Internet Hit

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 24 Jun, 2003 @ 12:47pm

    Two questions

    From the countersuit article:

    The lawsuit asks the defendants to stop disseminating the photographs, saying they use "enhanced technology" and deprive the 61-year-old Adelman of the economic value of the use of the images of her property and residence."

    1) Did they use his name by mistake? Should it say '61-year-old Streisand' instead?

    2) What "enhanced technology" are they using? Since when did digital cameras become "enhanced technology"?

  • On the post: Netflix Granted Patent On DVD Rental Service

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 24 Jun, 2003 @ 10:34am

    IANAL, but...

    My IP Law knowledge is pretty limited, but if you reveal your IP before you file the patent, doesn't that seriously weaken your claim to the patent?

    Does anyone know when the patent was filed in relation to when they actually started advertising their service?

  • On the post: Behind Harry Potter Delivery, Months Of Plotting

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 24 Jun, 2003 @ 07:47am

    Is it just me?

    Am I the only person in the entire world who looks at this and says "It's just a f***ing book, people!"?

    I hope that Scholastic, Amazon and everybody else who's gone nuts trying to push this crap as being the greatest thing since sliced bread, lose a ton of money in the process.

    The book was available for download to anyone with internet access *weeks* ago.

  • On the post: Another Microsofty Accused Of Stealing Millions In Software

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 24 Jun, 2003 @ 07:42am

    In reference to...

    by F. Berfle

    Each of these products leaves the Microsoft warehouses with a BIG sticker saying "Not For Resale - Promotional Use Only".

    Perhaps F. Berfle isn't familiar with a little thing called 'Goo Gone' that removes stickers like that in a few seconds. Most such products are no different inside the shrink wrap than those without the stickers. Just ask any college student who's taken advantage of the 'student use only' software at the campus bookstore.

    by CHIA GARCIA

    The first guy was found pumped full of anti freeze.

    Had he been found 'pumped full' of antifreeze as you claim, I'm sure someone would have noticed. Did you even read the original article?

  • On the post: Violent Games, Local Tastes

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 24 Jun, 2003 @ 07:36am

    It's more than language

    Localization involves a lot more than translations into various languages.

    You have to understand the various cultures where the product will be used and pay attention to things like color as well.

    In some countries, the use of colors like yellow and brown are frowned upon because these colors represent 'foul' substances such as urine and feces.

    In the U.S., it's common to use green to indicate good or go and red as bad or stop. These colors take on different meanings in other countries and cultures.

    The company that I work for has developed a massive internal-use-only guide for product localization. Some of the items listed make you stop and say "Huh, why is that a problem?", but it's important to the customer, and we do try to be customer oriented...

  • On the post: The IT Costs Of Spam

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 23 Jun, 2003 @ 07:47am

    SPAM must die!

    I have a series of filters set up in my Outlook inbox that looks for all the commom SPAM terms and throws those messages into a folder called "Probable Junk Mail".

    Every Friday night when I'm getting ready to shut down my PC for the weekend I clear out that folder and get it ready to start a new week fresh.

    Since approx. 5:15pm last Friday, my inbox here at work has received 101 SPAM messages, of which at least 30% are obscene enough that I could be fired if I was to surf to one of those sites.

    Starting last week, I began un-subscribing from legitimate e-mail newsletters that I had subscribed to. Friday morning I received a notice from Macromedia that time was running out and I should buy their latest package offering *now*. I selected un-subscribe at the bottom of the message, visited their website and clicked 'un-subscribe from all mailings' checkbox and then clicked the 'un-subscribe' button. A couple hours later I got another copy of the exact same e-mail from Macromedia. Once again I went through the routine and un-subscribed. I received 2 more copies of the -mail that day for a total of 4 copies of the exact same e-mail even after I had already unsubscribed 3 times.

    SPAM is bad enough, but receiving the same message over and over from a company is just as bad, if not worse. At least most of the SPAM I get is a single message, not the same thing repeated over and over again.

  • On the post: DVD Rentals Top Videocassettes For First Time

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 20 Jun, 2003 @ 07:37am

    Re: Worse than video because...

    Wow! Blue-wavelength DVDs will be out soon which will add exactly what to the entertainment experience?

    As it is now, most DVDs you buy or rent contain a full length movie, sometimes in both 4:3 and 16:9 format, full 5.1 audio with multiple optional audio tracks, subtitles in multiples languages, cut scenese, behind the scenes and more.

    Some DVDs, like the LOTR sets, contain as much as 8 or more hours of video.

    The movies on DVDs are already at the maximum resolution that existing TVs can show and still have room for all these extras, so why do we possibly need higher capacity discs?

    I see blue-laser DVD having limited uses, either as archival storage for computers - similar to a DVD-RAM drive, or for HDTV DVD-type movies, but since the cost for blue-laser media will be prohibitively expensive until it becomes popular, and since the only thing you would really be able to use it for is archiving (won't play in your CD player, won't play in your DVD player, won't read in your buddy's DVD-ROM drive, etc) I don't think it will become popular enough that the price will ever become tolerable. Plus, HDTV adoption is so slow with all the different formats and the fact that they still haven't decided on copy-protection, I don't see that happening any time soon.

    I was at Radio Shack last night to pick up an obscure battery for a camera and noticed that they had a tiny (small laptop PC sized) DVD player for $48 after mail-in rebate ($10 rebate, IIRC). It not only plays DVD movies, but MP3 files and JPG files off of CD-R as well. At that price, there is no reason why anyone can't afford DVD instead of VCR.

    People who keep saying "yeah, but X-technology (in this case blue-laser DVD) is just around the corner and it's going to be a zillion times better, so I'll wait for that" are just doing themselves a disservice. Some things like mini-disc and DAT audio tape looked good at first but never took off for one reason or another. DVD Video is not one of those things - it's here, it's still growing, and it's going to be around until something significantly better becomes available.

  • On the post: TiVo's Cable Wrestling Experience

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2003 @ 12:27pm

    Make the effort (or make it worth the effort).

    Sure it would be nice if everything you bought came out of the box, plugged into an AC outlet and just *worked* without any other connections, without reading any instructions and without requiring any of your time. And while we're wishing, I want a pony...

    My satellite receiver has a phone jack on the back that is needed for purchasing Pay-Per-View events. I have never in all my years as a satellite subscriber (5+ years) ever purchased a PPV event and probably never will. However, Dish Network recently pushed down a new feature via a firmware update - on screen caller ID. I immediately made the effort to connect a phone cord to all four of my satellite receivers - took all of about 5 minutes each.

    I made the effort - because it suddenly became worth the effort.

  • On the post: Voice Mail Spam

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2003 @ 12:16pm

    Hacking Laws?

    I would think that intentionally using a back door into a system for reasons other than what the system is intended could be construed as 'hacking' and the people responsible could in turn be branded as 'terrorists' and possibly face life in prison.

  • On the post: Consumer Group Unveils Legislation Against RFID Chips

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2003 @ 08:58am

    Lost Remote?

    It would be sweet if I could press a conveniently located button and have a computerized voice tell me that the RFID tag associated with my TV remote control can be located between the 2nd and 3rd sofa cushions... along with $1.43 in loose change, a comb, etc.

  • On the post: Delta Air Plans RFID Bag-Tag Test

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2003 @ 07:49am

    Raise your hand...

    Raise your hand if you have a suitcase at home that still has a paper tag attached to the handle with some obscure 3 letter destination code that you haven't got around to removing yet.

    Leave you hand up if you've shown up at the airport with one of those tags still attached to your luggage.

    Keep your hand up if you've ever ripped the old tag off at the last second and stuffed it down inside the outside pocket of a suitbag or some other piece of luggage because there wasn't a trashcan nearby.

    Now imagine what would happen if those tags were RFID-enabled and when someone tried to take a cart full out to the plane an alarm sounded because there was an RFID tag for the wrong destination somewhere in the pile.

    Now imagine that you're trying to leave Dallas, TX in the middle of August sitting next to a 450 pound sweaty man and you're stuck on the runway for 45 minutes while the baggage handlers dig through a cart full of luggage trying to find the bag that's setting off the alarm.

    If they can find some way to put an expiration date in the tag so that after X number of hours it is no longer valid then it might be possible, but if they don't... :-(

  • On the post: Will iTunes Kill Music?

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 18 Jun, 2003 @ 08:05am

    I forgot to add...

    Ever been to the music store to pick up an album that has that "one song you want" only to see a sticker on the shrink wrap proclaiming:

    "Contains the hits 'Song you never heard of' and 'Some other song you never heard of'"

    Or am I the only one?

  • On the post: Will iTunes Kill Music?

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 18 Jun, 2003 @ 08:03am

    Hip Hop

    My girlfriend's son is big into "West Coast Gangsta'" style hip-hop 'music'.

    I have routinely downloaded entire albums of this kind of 'music' for him and it amazes me when you look at the track listings and see:

    Track 1 - Intro - 0:27
    Track 2 - Song 1 - 4:00
    Track 3 - Song 2 - 4:00
    Track 4 - Skit - 0:33
    Track 5 - Song 1 Remix - 4:33
    Track 6 - Skit 2 - 0:54
    Track 7 - Song 4 Redubbed Mix
    Track 8 - Song 3 - 3:35
    Track 9 - Outro

    There are usually no more than 5 songs out of 10-11 tracks that are actual original songs (not including the fact that many are just overdubbed remixes of someone else's song). You drag all the tracks to an 80 min CD-R and see that there is still 40-50 minutes of usable space on the disc.

    Someone is supposed to pay $16 - $20 for that? I don't think so.

  • On the post: British Pub Toilet Rape Filmed On Mobile Phones

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 18 Jun, 2003 @ 07:54am

    Re: Just like Britian

    AC,

    To quote from the actual Constitution, "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

    It doesn't say "the right of the militia", it says "the right of the people".

    Notice that this is from the 2nd Ammendment, not the 8th, 9th or 10th. That means that when our founding fathers sat down and started spelling out all the basic things that they felt were necessary rights that this was 2nd only to the right to speak freely and came before the right to not have to keep soldiers in your home (3rd), the right to privacy in your own home(4th), the right to not have to speak against yourself or to be held in double jeapordy (5th), the right to a speedy trial (6th), the right to a jury trial (7th), cruel and unusual punishment (8th), etc.

  • On the post: Yankee Analyst Sees SCO Code – Notes Similarities

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2003 @ 12:21pm

    In my perusal of the Linux code

    I found the following code snippets:

    "Dim X As Int"

    and

    "X = 10"

    Amazingly enough, I have a program that I wrote years ago that features code strangely familiar to that, so I believe that SCO or IBM might be infringing on my copyrights...

  • On the post: Anatomy Of A Penis Pill Swindle

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2003 @ 07:44am

    Yeah, yeah

    Yeah, yeah, that's all well and good... where do I sign up to get my refund?

  • On the post: Speeding Up The Internet

    Oliver Wendell Jones ( profile ), 04 Jun, 2003 @ 01:11pm

    And if you belive that...

    The only part missing from this story is the mention of their new corporate headquarters built on some beautiful ocean front property in Kansas. It's a mostly undeveloped area and there are still plenty of good lots available. Let us know if you're interested, we accept Florida swamp land in trade...

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