Ron 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: 'Urban Homesteading' Trademarked, Lots Of Urban Homesteaders Told To Cease Using The Common Term

    Ron ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2011 @ 03:52pm

    Funny

    Do you guys have any control over the ads served up by Google on your postings? I mean, it's kinda funny that on a page taling about trademark abuse, etc. you see the following ads:

    Free Cease & Desist Form The Easiest Way to Make Cease & Desist Letters Online. Free to Try! RocketLawyer.com

    Fast Trademark Filings Register Your Trademark in Minutes. Featured by Entrepreneur and CNN. LegalZoom.com

    Trademark Registrations High Quality Service-Efficient Work Product-Low rates www.klonglaw.com

  • On the post: FCC Planning To Crack Down On Cellular & GPS Jamming Devices

    Ron ( profile ), 10 Feb, 2011 @ 08:40am

    Yes, Jammer Can ...

    ... hinder emergency responders. A while ago I was in a theater where a guy collapsed from a heart attack. Several people ran out to find the theater management. About a dozen more (yes, overkill, but, there was a guy dying in the aisle) called 911. The paramedics showed up within 3 minutes. The theater manager came in AFTER the paramedics to find out what was going on. Yes, we got emergency help before there were cell phones, but many venues like this are now run by quite a reduced staff so that it's more difficult to find help. The cell phone, and 911, removes at least one impediment.

  • On the post: Unexpected New Years SMS From Mobile Operator May Have Killed Would Be Suicide Bomber

    Ron ( profile ), 28 Jan, 2011 @ 09:37am

    Darwin

    Serves the f*cker right!

    We should expect to see this guy near the top of the 2011 Darwin Awards

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

    Ron ( profile ), 06 Jan, 2011 @ 01:42pm

    Makes Sense

    Appropriation: a deliberate act of acquisition of something, often without the permission of the owner; "the necessary funds were obtained by the government's appropriation of the company's operating unit"; "a person's appropriation of property belonging to another is dishonest"

    So, by one definition, Koons is a thief seeking to increase the value of his theft.

  • On the post: Ubisoft's New DRM: Vuvuzelas

    Ron ( profile ), 08 Dec, 2010 @ 02:04pm

    Improvement

    A vuvuzela could only improve the Michael Jackson experience on any platform. Kudos to Ubisoft for being the first.

  • On the post: 81% Of Americans Support Naked Airport Scans… If You Leave Out The Naked Part In Asking The Question

    Ron ( profile ), 17 Nov, 2010 @ 10:12am

    Choices

    We have the choice to fly or don't. Sometimes flying is the only realistic alternative.
    But, once you make the decision to fly, your choices are reduced to which personal assault you will opt for.
    Would I prefer to have the scan or be groped? I'll take the scan. I'm more comfortabe with a light X-ray than some TSA perv feeling me up.
    Would I want my daughter or girlfriend to be scanned? If the choice I have is to ask her to do the X-ray than being felt up by some TSA perv, I'll ask her to do the X-ray. My blood would boil at watching either be groped by some TSA perv.
    Oh, and the idea of going as the true Scotsman, fabulous! Hmmm, I wonder if the TSA pervs wear gloves, and if they change them before each grope.

  • On the post: Transportation Secretary Wants To Ban All Driver Talking (Except To Other Passengers)

    Ron ( profile ), 12 Oct, 2010 @ 11:58am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Still holds:

    My original statement was: "If you need to do something that distracts you from paying attention to the road, traffic, etc. then find a safe place to pull off and do what needs to be done". I said nothing about "talking on the phone distacting all drivers equally". That was not even implied. People need to realize that the phone, textig, the radio, conversation with passengers, etc. is ALWAYS secondary to driving the vehicle. So, instead of additional laws, let's get people into the mindset that when operating a vehicle, safely driving the vehicle is THE only important thing; everything else is secondary.

  • On the post: Transportation Secretary Wants To Ban All Driver Talking (Except To Other Passengers)

    Ron ( profile ), 12 Oct, 2010 @ 10:19am

    Re: Re: Re: Still holds:

    I would love to see billboards banned. And, if not all then at least the ones that have mothion etc. Those are highly distracting. And, they are generally fairly ugly as well.

  • On the post: Transportation Secretary Wants To Ban All Driver Talking (Except To Other Passengers)

    Ron ( profile ), 12 Oct, 2010 @ 10:14am

    Re: Re: Still holds:

    I stand by my original statement: If what you're going to do distracts you from the primary task of driving the vehicle then don't do it. If changing the volume of the radio cannot be done safely, then don't. If pulling down your visor interferes with safe driving then don't (although, one might consider that if a person cannot safely do that task then maybe that person should not be driving at all). Your primary goal is to safely drive the vehicle, not to engage in phone conversations, texting, searching for a radio station, etc. And, I said nothing about new laws. This is something for which PEOPLE have to take responsibility. Laws will not necessarily make for safer drivers. And, certainly banning little bits piece by piece will do nothing of real value.

  • On the post: Transportation Secretary Wants To Ban All Driver Talking (Except To Other Passengers)

    Ron ( profile ), 12 Oct, 2010 @ 08:32am

    Still holds:

    ... If you're driving then your attention should be on driving, not on the other stuff going on inside the car or talking on the phone, etc. If you need to do something that distracts you from paying attention to the road, traffic, etc. then find a safe place to pull off and do what needs to be done. There's nothing so important that it's worth risking your life or the lives of those around you.

  • On the post: When Suing A Website For Libel, It Helps To Actually Sue The Right One

    Ron ( profile ), 01 Sep, 2010 @ 11:22am

    Why

    ... didn't the sued company just send in a note to the court saying they were the wrong group? I mean, the sued company actually got served, didn't it? Would have solved everything early on.

  • On the post: Stevie Nicks Claims The Internet Destroyed Rock; Seems To Think You Need A Record Label

    Ron ( profile ), 25 Aug, 2010 @ 10:08am

    For What She's Worth

    Stevie Nicks: digitally re-mummbled.

  • On the post: Comcast: We Sped Up Your Internet… Oh, No, Actually, We Didn't

    Ron ( profile ), 20 Aug, 2010 @ 03:13pm

    Please CHeck

    The E-mail was erroneously sent to a bunch of users, including me. However, it states that it refers to customers that have Ecconomy service. Unfortunately, they sent it more than just users at that level. It was an obvious error; all you had to do was read the message to see that it did not apply to you. So, what they are guilty of here is not doing a good job of filtering their address list.

  • On the post: Comcast Cares: Pay Us The $0.00 You Owe, Or We Cut You Off

    Ron ( profile ), 29 Jul, 2010 @ 01:35pm

    Re: Explanation

    It's true that there are the sub-cent issues but, generally speaking, the definition of a data element meant to contain dollars will have 2 decimal places. So, even if the result of a computation results is a value of less than .01, the field containing the value in the data base will truncate any digits to the right of the penny position. Sounds more like they've got a converted credit card system.

  • On the post: Comcast Cares: Pay Us The $0.00 You Owe, Or We Cut You Off

    Ron ( profile ), 29 Jul, 2010 @ 01:29pm

    Re: Re: Who builds ...

    Nope, not a programmer. I am one and would not have done anything so basically stupid as that; even when I was a wee programmer 35 years ago.

  • On the post: Comcast Cares: Pay Us The $0.00 You Owe, Or We Cut You Off

    Ron ( profile ), 29 Jul, 2010 @ 11:52am

    Who builds ...

    ... an accounting applicaiton that does not look at amount owed (not, "was payment received") to determine if a bill is considered due ot overdue? Well, I know that Cingular did, but it's still a crappily built application that does not have those simple checks.

  • On the post: How To Get People To Watch TV Ads: Don't Stop The Program While You Show Them

    Ron ( profile ), 21 Apr, 2010 @ 04:11pm

    Or ...

    ... viewers could continue to watch the little box and still ignore the ads the way most of us do now. The ones that will watch the ads are the ones who currently do that so there will be little gain in viewership.

  • On the post: Newspapers' Revenue Plan: If Lots Of People Used To Give Us A Little, We'll Now Get A Few People To Give Us A Lot!

    Ron ( profile ), 20 Apr, 2010 @ 02:49pm

    Death Notices

    While it may be true that newspaper death notices could be replaced by social networking sites (hopefully not "Oh, here's a tweet while my child is drowning in the pool"), my genealogy work would suffer greatly if I had to search a bunch of social sites to locate a death notice. Maybe some enterprising person will build a site that would allow anyone to post a death notice for some reasonable price like maybe $100 and keep that notice searchable for a long time (hmmm, maybe I should patent that idea).
    And, the guy who paid $450 for a death notice; what's he bitchin's about? The price for those has been over the top for decades. SF Chronicle charged me almost $400 (about a buck a word) for my dad's death notice in 1981.

  • On the post: If You Only Share A Tiny Bit Of A File Via BitTorrent, Is It Still Copyright Infringement?

    Ron ( profile ), 20 Nov, 2009 @ 02:20pm

    Irrelevant

    The argument about whether or not a BitTorrent piece is copyright infringement is immaterial. The ISP's original stand was that if the rights holder believes there has been a law broken then the police should deal with it should be the only argument. Unless the ISP has been deputized and can be the legal representative of the LAW, then there is no issue. By passing the complaint on to the police the ISP has fulfilled its legal responsibility of notifying the proper authorities that a crime may have been committed. The authorities can then take the appropriate steps to address the alleged crime.

  • On the post: New Law Could Hold Service Providers Liable For Investor Misrepresentations

    Ron ( profile ), 30 Oct, 2009 @ 01:55pm

    Agree

    I agree with the wording presented. The concept has nothing to do with safe horbors but instead is knowingly aiding in a crime. e.g.: If you convinced a person on the street to buy something from someone else, knowing that the thing was faulty, and some injury resulted from that thing, then you would be partly responsible for the injury arising from that faulty thing. The same would be true of a service provider. Knowingly aiding in the commission of a crime still results in partial responsibility for that crime. The wording does not require policing but does specifically state that there is responsibility when one takes no action while aware that there is a misrespresentation. I think proof of knowledge will be difficult. And, how does one become aware of a misrepresentation? Hmmm, 3 strikes anyone?

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