Dennis S. 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (38)

• On the post: Mojang's Trademark Application Rejected: Too Many 'Scrolls' For The USPTO

  

  Dennis S. ( profile ), 14 Oct, 2011 @ 05:03pm

  Bethesda doesn't want them to use the word "Scrolls" at all, TM or No TM.

  Markus "Notch" Persson has Tweeted (http://twitter.com/#!/notch) and posted in his blog (http://notch.tumblr.com/post/10990169550/a-short-response) that Bethesda doesn't want them to use the word "Scrolls" at all.
  
  They've offered to give up the trademark request and even change the name to "Scrolls: " but Bethesday/Zenimax has refused to give up the suit.

• On the post: Writer Explains How Copyright Has Prevented Her From Ever Seeing TV Shows She Wrote

  

  Dennis S. ( profile ), 27 Jul, 2011 @ 01:31pm

  Re: Re: Re: This story bubbles over with BS

  Are you honestly saying an appropriate response to this is that she should travel to the US just to watch this episode?!?

• On the post: Guy Kicked Off Comcast For Using Too Many Cloud Services

  

  Dennis S. ( profile ), 14 Jul, 2011 @ 04:35pm

  Re: Re: Re: Can't agree on this one

  But he still didn't know exactly why he was going over the limit after the first time; didn't know uploads counted.

• On the post: Guy Kicked Off Comcast For Using Too Many Cloud Services

  

  Dennis S. ( profile ), 14 Jul, 2011 @ 04:09pm

  Re: Can't agree on this one

  There are two issues here that he mentions in his full blog posts.
  
  1) Comcast did NOT make it very clear that the limit includes uploads as well as downloads.
  
  2) Comcast did not answer his question about what his bandwidth was being used on when he asked after the first time it happened. They didn't even tell him it includes uploads and downloads.
  
  It wasn't until after the second time it happened and he SPECIFICALLY ASKED if it included uploads that they told him it did. He later tried to find the information about the data caps and had a very difficult time doing so.

• On the post: Guy Kicked Off Comcast For Using Too Many Cloud Services

  

  Dennis S. ( profile ), 14 Jul, 2011 @ 03:48pm

  Here is His Original Blog Article from Monday and Followup from Yesterday

  -- Ozymandias.com - Monday, July 11, 2011 - The Day Comcast?s Data Cap Policy Killed my Internet for 1 Year
  (http://www.ozymandias.com/the-day-comcast%E2%80%99s-data-cap-policy-killed-my-internet-for-1-year)
  -- Ozymandias.com - Wednesday, July 13, 2011 - Follow up: The Day After Comcast?s Data Cap Policy Killed my Internet
  (http://www.ozymandias.com/follow-up-the-day-after-comcast%E2%80%99s-data-cap-policy-killed-my-internet)

• On the post: Video Gamers Realizing Streaming Criminalization Bill Might Make A Lot Of Them Into Criminals

  

  Dennis S. ( profile ), 05 Jul, 2011 @ 06:05pm

  Re: Better Video, and the First One I Submitted

  Sorry for that short post, here's a bit more explanation.
  
  The video, YouTube - davidr64yt - Bill S.978: The End of Let's Plays and Gaming Streams?, was the one I was hoping would make it into the article.
  
  It is a little shorter than the one currently in the article, explains the situation much better, doesn't get as much not quite straight, and doesn't use any profanity.
  
  I hope Mike can update the article to include a link to this video.
  
  Thanks
  
  Dennis S.

• On the post: Video Gamers Realizing Streaming Criminalization Bill Might Make A Lot Of Them Into Criminals

  

  Dennis S. ( profile ), 05 Jul, 2011 @ 05:53pm

  Better Video, and the First One I Submitted

  YouTube - davidr64yt - Bill S.978: The End of Let's Plays and Gaming Streams?

• On the post: Will Amazon Cave In And Get Licenses For Its Streaming Player?

  

  Dennis S. ( profile ), 04 Apr, 2011 @ 05:19pm

  They want us to pay multiple times again, or perhaps still.

  So basically it is a file storage service for music you have already purchased for your own enjoyment that allows you to access said music anywhere for your own enjoyment (yes, it's possible some files some people upload could be pirated).
  
  The music industry wants us, or perhaps Amazon, to pay for it again if you use this service.
  
  It's the same old argument that they lost before about ripping music to MP3 players.
  
  What if I set up my own streaming server at home that did the same thing (just for me and I wouldn't give the password out)?
  By their logic I should pay for the music again.
  
  Goodness these people are morons.

• On the post: Restaurant Refuses To Serve TSA Agents

  

  Dennis S. ( profile ), 25 Feb, 2011 @ 04:04pm

  This may actually be a hoax but it still hasn't been confirmed one way or another.

  Getting back at TSA
  http://www.saysuncle.com/2011/02/23/getting-back-at-tsa/
  
  Where?s the cafe that refuses to serve the TSA?
  http://www.elliott.org/blog/wheres-the-cafe-that-refuses-to-serve-the-tsa/

• On the post: Record Labels Planning Yet Another Way To Try To Get You To Rebuy Music You Already 'Bought'

  

  Dennis S. ( profile ), 23 Feb, 2011 @ 02:58pm

  Ars Technica had a good analysis of why this doesn't make sense yesterday.

  iTunes may upgrade to 24-bit files, but why bother?
  http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/02/itunes-may-upgrade-to-24-bit-files-but-why-bother.ars
  Quote: "Some music producers and artists want to sell higher-quality, 24-bit audio files via iTunes and other download sources. But would consumers actually get any real benefit? We think not."

• On the post: While BBC Wants To Kill Off A Bunch Of Websites, Geeks Quickly Archive Them

  

  Dennis S. ( profile ), 11 Feb, 2011 @ 04:05pm

  Re: BBC Kill Off

  That's one of the sillier things about this. There are no domains to renew. These sites are subdirectories or subdomains under the BBC's main domain.

• On the post: Once Again, If You Don't Offer Authorized Versions Of Released Content, Don't Be Surprised If People Get Unauthorized Copies

  

  Dennis S. ( profile ), 10 Feb, 2011 @ 03:54pm

  One More Thing (Re: From the Original Article (I wish Techdirt had included this as well).)

  I am not advocating piracy or giving away everything for free. DRM or No DRM, localization or no localization, there will still be jerks who refuse to pay for things and pirate, but by selling things at a reasonable price in a reasonable time frame in a convenient manner things will be better in the long run for everyone involved and you will decrease the amount of piracy.

• On the post: Once Again, If You Don't Offer Authorized Versions Of Released Content, Don't Be Surprised If People Get Unauthorized Copies

  

  Dennis S. ( profile ), 10 Feb, 2011 @ 03:34pm

  From the Original Article (I wish Techdirt had included this as well).

  The last paragraph: "When The Streets and their record label choose to make the Computer and Blues mp3s available for purchase in the US, I will go buy the record legally. Until then, I'm a pirate."
  
  To all saying he should have just bought the CD. I'm sorry but that is not what people want these days, any more than people want horse drawn buggies to get around. Many reasons have already been given for why CDs are not preferred by many, environment, shipping, time, space, etc. Things change and the industry is not adapting.
  
  Also if he had bought the CD, ripped it, then given it away or resold it, it would be worse than what he did now. The only time you can give away or resell a CD is if you are not still keeping a copy of the music for yourself.

• On the post: When Consumers Innovate To Solve Their Own Needs, Do Patents Just Get In The Way?

  

  Dennis S. ( profile ), 10 Feb, 2011 @ 02:24pm

  And then there's questions of accessibility (both in terms of cost and otherwise)

  I just saw this post about someone creating something to help someone else with a disability and it reminded me of this article.
  
  Hack a Day - Talking joystick mouse
  http://hackaday.com/2011/02/10/talking-joystick-mouse/
  
  Instructables - Talking Joystick Mouse
  http://www.instructables.com/id/Talking-Joystick-Mouse/
  
  There are a lot of comments about the cost of the commercial version, and after reading the full story on Instructables the cynic in me wondered how long until the creator of this improved product is sued by the creator of the original commercial one because of a patent.

• On the post: DailyDirt: How Long Can Food Last?

  

  Dennis S. ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2011 @ 05:17pm

  Actually the non-rotting hamburger stories have been debunked.

  Gizmodo - The Truth Behind the Everlasting Happy Meal: Burgers That Size Don't Rot
  http://gizmodo.com/#!5682815/the-truth-behind-the-everlasting-happy-meal-no-burgers-that-size-rot
  
  Serious Eats - A Hamburger Today - The Burger Lab: Revisiting the Myth of The 12-Year Old McDonald's Burger That Just Won't Rot (Testing Results!)
  http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/11/the-burger-lab-revisiting-the-myth-of-the-12-year-old-burger-testing-results.html?ref=carousel
  
  It seems ANY burger that size left exposed to open air will not rot. Only thicker burgers with more moisture allow for mold or bacterial growth when left exposed to open air. And conversely even McDonald's Happy Meal burgers will rot if placed in a container where the moisture is trapped. Presumably this also applies to humid environments in general and to other similarly sized burgers.
  
  In other words, as stated in the Gizmodo article, "The scientific method! It's a beautiful thing."
  
  PS. I am in no way endorsing McDonald's food as good/healthy food. I do however endorse the scientific method with controls and the whole bit.

• On the post: FiveFingers Blocks Right Finger — Just Asking For Middle One

  

  Dennis S. ( profile ), 02 Feb, 2011 @ 04:54pm

  Re: Command-click on the Mac

  Control-click on the PC does the same thing.

• On the post: FiveFingers Blocks Right Finger — Just Asking For Middle One

  

  Dennis S. ( profile ), 02 Feb, 2011 @ 04:24pm

  Seems to not affect their .com site though.

  http://www.vibramfivefingers.com has no such restriction, laughable as it is.

• On the post: How Facebook Dealt With The Tunisian Government Trying To Steal Every User's Passwords

  

  Dennis S. ( profile ), 26 Jan, 2011 @ 04:08pm

  Face will soon have the option to always use HTTPS

  The Facebook Blog - A Continued Commitment to Security
  http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=486790652130
  
  I can't turn it on yet for my account though.
  
  I wish all sites would use HTTPS at least for logins no matter how innocuous the site but I know that may not be feasible.