A Video Ad, In a Paper Magazine

fun hacking? Er..no. Imagine the annoyance... by Em+Emalb · 2009-08-20 08:11 · Score: 5, Insightful

How long will it be before someone turns the page in the news paper and Jimbo from Jimbo's Used Cars and Ammo starts screaming about his amazing auto deals (free ammo with every car!) in a VERY LOUD OBNOXIOUS TONE?

Not long, that's my guess.

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Sent from your iPad.

Soon... Internet connection by nomorecwrd · 2009-08-20 08:12 · Score: 4, Funny

Congratulations!! you are the 1.000.000 reader... push here to collect

Rechargeable batteries? by bytethese · 2009-08-20 08:13 · Score: 2, Interesting

Wait, so they expect user to recharge the screen so that they can watch ads? Doesn't seem too effective and easy to pass over...

So this by BigJClark · 2009-08-20 08:16 · Score: 5, Insightful

So this is the best usage for this technology they can find? How about changing 300lb university textbooks into paper thin alternatives? Updating libraries to use this new technology, increasing the life of the books... etc etc

Ad's? How.... capitilist..

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Hi, I Boris. Hear fix bear, yes?

Re:So this by squoke · 2009-08-20 08:21 · Score: 5, Insightful

Let the advertisers foot the bill for the technology. Eventually it will become cheaper and more efficient due to their use. Then academia can reap the rewards.
Re:So this by BigJClark · 2009-08-20 08:29 · Score: 3, Insightful

Whens the last time you can think advertisters have footed the bill? Has the cost of your movie tickets dropped since they've introduced a half-hour of commericals into the movie theaters? Has the cost of your video games dropped since the inception of inline video game ad's?

Hardly. Relying on advertisers to lower the cost of new technology so that academia can reap its benefits is knowledge probably gained from an academic institute that is relying on advertisers to lower the cost of new technology.

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Hi, I Boris. Hear fix bear, yes?
Re:So this by east+coast · 2009-08-20 08:44 · Score: 4, Insightful

So this is the best usage for this technology they can find?

They're the ones paying the bills. I know, how capitalistic of me. But that's the system in play.

How about changing 300lb university textbooks into paper thin alternatives? Updating libraries to use this new technology, increasing the life of the books... etc etc

Fantastic ideas. How soon can we expect for you to get the betas out? The great thing about capitalism is that if think this is a good idea for the technology you can make a play at being one of the first ones to market with the product. Why are you waiting for someone else to take up the cause? If you're waiting for the government to take the lead, which I'm guessing you are by slighting capitalism, you are going to have a long wait.

Capitalism has a really cruddy underside because someone has to lose for someone else to win but it's also this same reason that people step up to challenges such as this. Having an incentive to produce has worked out pretty well. You can still champion the idea if you want to do it for "ethical" reasons and give your profits away. No one is stopping you.

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Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
Re:So this by squoke · 2009-08-20 09:01 · Score: 2, Informative

Or........ we could look at the fact that the lion's share of the cost of a technology is wrapped into the conceptualization and production of the first unit brought to market. Then we could look at the fact that the cost of technology decreases as the "new hotness" factor wears off. Do you see where this is going?
Re:So this by Dalzhim · 2009-08-20 09:10 · Score: 2, Informative

Advertisers don't pay the bill for you. In fact, you are paying indirectly for the ads by using your wallet. Whenever you buy a coke or a pepsi, a fraction of the price you paid ends up being invested in a publicity somewhere.
Re:So this by tlhIngan · 2009-08-20 09:17 · Score: 3, Insightful

Whens the last time you can think advertisters have footed the bill? Has the cost of your movie tickets dropped since they've introduced a half-hour of commericals into the movie theaters? Has the cost of your video games dropped since the inception of inline video game ad's?
Hardly. Relying on advertisers to lower the cost of new technology so that academia can reap its benefits is knowledge probably gained from an academic institute that is relying on advertisers to lower the cost of new technology.
Except print media relies on ads to pay the bills, The cost you pay tends to pay a very tiny portion of the actual cost production - most of that cost is distribution (printing, shipping to distributors, distributor markup, shipping to retailers, retailer markup, etc), which is how they can easily make subscriptions 50+% off the cover price.
In this case, the ads pay for the technology behind this. If it's successful, more advertisers would want it in more magazines, which implies that developments would make the technology cheaper. And when the technology gets cheap enough, it'll be everywhere.
Advertisers are paying for this, plus the normal ad fees. If it succeeds, it forms a demand for this technology, making it cheaper so everyone else can add video to their pages for little extra cost.
Re:So this by FrankSchwab · 2009-08-20 10:32 · Score: 5, Funny

pioneered steaming video formats
Best typo ever.

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And the worms ate into his brain.
Re:So this by CecilPL · 2009-08-20 10:43 · Score: 4, Insightful

Yup. 5 years ago, movie tickets used to cost $14 at my local theatre. Now they cost $10.99 - a 30% drop after accounting for inflation.

Most new video games cost $59.99 - the same as new SNES games cost in 1994. That's another 30% drop after accounting for inflation, not to mention the hugely increased costs of development since then.

It stands to reason that if content producers can recoup some of their costs via alternative revenue models, competition will force the prices down.
Re:So this by DragonWriter · 2009-08-20 11:28 · Score: 2, Insightful

Whens the last time you can think advertisters have footed the bill?
Free-as-in-beer broadcast TV? Much of the free-as-in-beer content on the internet? A number of free-as-in-beer local newsweeklies? The vast majority of the cost of not-free print daily newspapers?
Re:So this by mdwh2 · 2009-08-20 12:25 · Score: 2

Well done for completely missing his point.
He's not saying a company reduces its own prices if they advertise - that's a straw man argument you're making.
What he said was, new technology requires early adopters to help pay for it, and then that helps drive down the price. You need examples for "Whens the last time" - you seriously doubt that prices of new initially expensive technology proucts have fallen?

Let me know... by squoke · 2009-08-20 08:17 · Score: 5, Funny

when Playboy starts using them.

Re:Let me know... by Goaway · 2009-08-20 08:29 · Score: 4, Funny

What's a Playboy? Is that like a Playstation?
Re:Let me know... by Anonymous Coward · 2009-08-20 08:43 · Score: 5, Funny

Sort of. The games are typically only one player though. And once you start playing, the game is over in a few minutes.
Re:Let me know... by networkBoy · 2009-08-20 08:59 · Score: 4, Funny

yes, but for boys too young for the playstation. It's controller is much simpler, just a joystick.

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Re:Let me know... by Rude+Turnip · 2009-08-20 09:13 · Score: 4, Funny

You'd have to be pretty experienced to last that long!

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Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
Re:Let me know... by SmlFreshwaterBuffalo · 2009-08-20 11:29 · Score: 4, Funny

Actually it's more like playing with your Wii.

Re:fun hacking? Er..no. Imagine the annoyance... by qortra · 2009-08-20 08:21 · Score: 4, Informative

I searched in vain for anything in the article that says something about sound. Even if the ad will have audio, I don't think it will last long in that form. From what I understand, the technology to put relatively cheap audio ads in print periodicals has been around for sometime - nobody uses them for a reason. It would make the periodical a menace for any environment where quiet is valued (e.g. doctor's office or library). Pure video, on the other hand, does not suffer from this problem.

Moreover, I'm sure that if they can make a small flexible screen, then can probably also make a small "unmute" button that allows the user to choose to listen to the ad.

Cost? by El_Muerte_TDS · 2009-08-20 08:21 · Score: 3, Interesting

Isn't this insanely expensive? I thought the return on ads was already very low. How is this going to be any better.

Re:Cost? by east+coast · 2009-08-20 08:29 · Score: 4, Insightful

You kidding? People are going to buy this nonsense rag just for the novelty alone. They'll make a killing on sales and be able to charge more for other ads at the same time.

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Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
Re:Cost? by qortra · 2009-08-20 08:38 · Score: 4, Insightful

Exactly! I was going to say this if nobody else did.

I bet this is going to be a collectors item. Everybody in LA and New York will have to buy one. So, not only will EW get a huge sales boost, but there will be millions of people who are pushing, clawing, and begging just to watch the ads for their novelty. How many other ways can you get people to seek out your advertisement rather than have it forced upon them? I bet USA and Pepsi are paying through the nose for this.

Of course, the novelty aspect only works once. My guess is that we won't see this regularly until the technology becomes significantly cheaper (if even then).
Re:Cost? by zerosomething · 2009-08-20 08:49 · Score: 3, Funny

yea and i'll take 50 so I can get the screens and batteries to make my next Burning Man costume. Adds? I'll never see em I'll use the Mags to fuel my woodgas generator to recharge the batteries.

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It all starts at 0
Re:Cost? by supernova_hq · 2009-08-20 09:22 · Score: 4, Funny

Good lord, the thought of literally buying used advertisements on ebay is kind of mind-blowing...
Re:Cost? by suomynonAyletamitlU · 2009-08-20 09:31 · Score: 2, Interesting

Oh America, how I love thee, let me count the ways.
You produce thousands or millions of throwaway video displays, speakers, and batteries for no other purpose but so that a percentage of people who come across them will buy some unrelated product;
Food is plentiful enough that most need not worry, and many have grown fat and complacent;
And somehow you can't take that money, that labor, and that food and give it to people who need it the world over.
Re:Cost? by david+duncan+scott · 2009-08-20 14:55 · Score: 2

It's not precisely unprecedented. Toulouse-Lautrec's posters outgrew eBay some time ago.

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This next song is very sad. Please clap along. -- Robin Zander
Re:Cost? by WNight · 2009-08-20 20:15 · Score: 2, Interesting

I'm waiting for the lawsuits against people who resell these, hack them, etc.
When one of these ends up on a lamp-post in Brooklyn with a timer on it who will the department of homeland security waterboard? Putting electronics in the hands of terrorists is a serious charge.
Totally baseless of course because bombs don't need fancy timers and a cheap ipod device, like many manufacturers make for almost nothing, could do the same if you wanted a timer, but hey, when has law been about reason?
I've got popcorn.

Re:fun hacking? Er..no. Imagine the annoyance... by Again · 2009-08-20 08:22 · Score: 3, Insightful

How long will it be before someone turns the page in the news paper and Jimbo from Jimbo's Used Cars and Ammo starts screaming about his amazing auto deals (free ammo with every car!) in a VERY LOUD OBNOXIOUS TONE?

No need for Flashblock, just read with a hammer next to you.

So what toxic materials are in it by rminsk · 2009-08-20 08:23 · Score: 5, Interesting

What toxic materials are in this screen? Most of the magazines will end up in a landfill instead of being recycled by a proper electronics recycler.

Re:So what toxic materials are in it by non0score · 2009-08-20 09:24 · Score: 4, Insightful

You're totally right. I just hope every one of those "panels" gets slapped with a $30+ garbage tax. I'd rather see this kind of "land-fill material (literally) that lasts no more than one week off the shelf" not take off at all.

And let's face it, the vast majority of the readership aren't geeks, so they won't be hacking these things.

And to hell with my karma. It's for garbage like these that I can afford to burn it.
Re:So what toxic materials are in it by taucross · 2009-08-20 11:27 · Score: 4, Insightful

Collectors item ultimately means landfills. It just takes longer to get there.

--
"In the absence of the ability to establish the attribute of truth they tried to establish the noble attributes."

Article Light on Details by Silentknyght · 2009-08-20 08:23 · Score: 5, Interesting

Seems great, but TFA seems light on details that would seem to come to most peoples' minds:

Is it actually an insert into the magazine, or is it part of a page, itself?
How durable is it? And its corollary:
How flexible is it?
Is it always on, or can you turn it off?
Wait, the battery is rechargeable? If this is an ADVERTISEMENT in a paper magazine, why would you want to recharge it beyond the novelty? What good is this, and with a battery of 70min, wouldn't they ALL have no power by the time you get it off the shelf?
Can I rip it out of the magazine and keep the screen/device and repurpose them for something actually useful?

FYI, here's what it does list:

Screen uses liquid crystal display (LCD) technology
Each is 2.7mm thick with 320x240 resolution Can store 40mins of video
Battery can be recharged via mini-USB
Rechargeable battery lasts up to 70 mins
Developed by LA-firm Americhip

Hi, this is... by ilkensai · 2009-08-20 08:25 · Score: 4, Funny

Hi, this is Vince with Slap Chop... watch this, you're gonna love my nuts...

Re:Hi, this is... by chord.wav · 2009-08-20 08:55 · Score: 4, Funny

Don't miss the Rap Chop

It is believed that... by jonnythan · 2009-08-20 08:28 · Score: 5, Insightful

Best line I've read all day.

"It's believed the new technology will cost much more than normal print ads."

That's the kind of biting, insightful comment I love from big media.

The key question by Zhe+Mappel · 2009-08-20 08:28 · Score: 4, Funny

How long before I can play Doom on my copy of Entertainment Weekly?

Very effective in at least one area by lumenistan · 2009-08-20 08:31 · Score: 4, Funny

The fools at the Academy for the Slightly Evil laughed at me when I introduced my doctoral dissertation proposal last month, but now look, the winds are shifting in my favor! This is going to go far to aid my goal of getting as many batteries as possible into the landfills that service Los Angeles and New York.

1. Average Joe gets/reads/disposes of newspaper
2. Batteries get dumped along with newspaper
3. ???
4. Profit!

Looks like I WILL get my D.Ev after all!

I don't know if this is the product but... by east+coast · 2009-08-20 08:34 · Score: 2, Informative

For your intellectual edification:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7GErbdNRrE

--
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.

and they wonder why... by Tim4444 · 2009-08-20 08:36 · Score: 4, Insightful

If newspapers devoted this much energy to the actual content and quality of journalism, maybe they wouldn't be hurting so much for revenue.

Rip to DivX? by Cryogenic+Specter · 2009-08-20 08:36 · Score: 2, Funny

Now we just need a way to rip the video to DivX and put it in a torrent on The Pirate Bay!

Re:fun hacking? Er..no. Imagine the annoyance... by R2.0 · 2009-08-20 08:39 · Score: 2, Funny

"Jimbo from Jimbo's Used Cars and Ammo starts screaming about his amazing auto deals (free ammo with every car!) "

Really? How many rounds? And what caliber? And will they take my Prius in trade?

--
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson

Re:fun hacking? Er..no. Imagine the annoyance... by gnick · 2009-08-20 08:39 · Score: 5, Funny

The only problem is that, at least in my experience, when I'm sitting down reading and spontaneously start pounding my lap with a hammer everyone looks at me like I've lost my mind. Anyone else have this problem?

--
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.

Youtube video of the product... by f8l_0e · 2009-08-20 08:41 · Score: 4, Informative

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7GErbdNRrE

Re:Youtube video of the product... by EkriirkE · 2009-08-20 09:12 · Score: 2, Insightful

This is just a mock up, the video you see is edited in. As they pan/zoom around the video disconnects from the window.

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from 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 to 45 2F 6E 40 3C DF 10 71 4E 41 DF AA 25 7D 31 3F
Re:Youtube video of the product... by Archangel+Michael · 2009-08-20 10:30 · Score: 2, Interesting

Okay, the Geek in me wants to take the YouTube Video of this thing, and put it ON this thing, make a video Youtube of the new video on the thing, and then video that and put it on it and then get a video of that, and put it on it ....

--
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.

Yeah. by Black+Parrot · 2009-08-20 08:41 · Score: 2

...and will have rechargeable batteries.

In case you want to watch the commercials over and over again.

--
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade

Re:fun hacking? Er..no. Imagine the annoyance... by Em+Emalb · 2009-08-20 08:41 · Score: 2, Funny

Yes, really. a box, of 50, 9mm, and hell no, they won't take your Commie-Liberal Hippy wagon. Are you nuts?

--
Sent from your iPad.

Re:fun hacking? Er..no. Imagine the annoyance... by Hurricane78 · 2009-08-20 08:47 · Score: 2, Interesting

Wait for Goatse to appear on those ads!

I'm stunned it didn't already happened on one of those screens at Times Square in New York. But I'll get right to it. Just a sec... ;)

--
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.

Any interesting Esquire e-ink hacks by EsJay · 2009-08-20 08:50 · Score: 4, Interesting

Esquire had an E-ink cover last year. Was there any interesting re-purposing?

Google tells me it was possible but I didn't find any interesting projects.

Re:Any interesting Esquire e-ink hacks by Yvan256 · 2009-08-20 09:06 · Score: 2, Informative

AFAIK that cover was fixed areas, kinda like those old LCD games, or a 7-segment display, etc. You can only turn areas on and off, it wasn't a pixel-based display.
Re:Any interesting Esquire e-ink hacks by hippo_of_knowledge · 2009-08-20 09:08 · Score: 2, Informative

I didn't bother to do anything with the issue that I bought, but I did notice that the thing kept going far longer than I expected it to. I think I bought the thing in September of last year and it was still going up until last week before giving up the ghost.
Re:Any interesting Esquire e-ink hacks by Anonymous Coward · 2009-08-20 09:20 · Score: 4, Informative

It couldn't be repurposed. It was a fixed layout Eink design. Nothing more than an overglorified LCD style animation, similar to those in the Tiger Electronics and Game & Watch systems. Portions became dark, those portions became light. The screen itself couldn't have been salvaged for anything because while it was Eink, it wasn't the kind of Eink that many people hoped it would be (individual granules acting as pixels.)

Meh... by argosian · 2009-08-20 08:56 · Score: 2

Let me know when full-motion color video comes to thin, flexible displays. eInk/ePaper isn't there yet and this doesn't even look like it's an advance in that direction, but rather off-the-shelf, conventional rigid LCD repackaged with a small battery and storage as a gimmick. Hardly more innovative than singing birthday cards.

Yes. With Sound. by SeaFox · 2009-08-20 08:58 · Score: 4, Informative

Yes, there will be sound, no you can't set the volume, yes it plays with sound when you first open it, this is an advertisement after all -- they want you to attract the attention of those around you.

You should check out the Wired article. It has a YouTube clip.

Re:Yes. With Sound. by Anonymous Coward · 2009-08-20 09:17 · Score: 5, Funny

My hammer and I disagree, we can, indeed, set the volume (or at least mute it).
Re:Yes. With Sound. by easyTree · 2009-08-20 10:54 · Score: 3, Insightful

This is such a great idea - far better than, I don't know, moving the whole newspaper online or onto an ebook reader.
Oh wait, the opposite of that.

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Requiem for the American Dream

Hi, I'm Darth Harrington by CMBJ · 2009-08-20 09:00 · Score: 4, Funny

INTERGALACTIC PROTON POWERED ELECTRICAL TENTACLED ADVERTISING DROIDS
INTERGALACTIC PROTON POWERED ELECTRICAL TENTACLED ADVERTISING DROIDS
INTERGALACTIC PROTON POWERED ELECTRICAL TENTACLED ADVERTISING DROIDS

Hi, I'm Darth Harrington of Darth Harrington's Intergalactic Proton Powered Electrical Tentacled Advertising Droids Emporium and Moon Base. Due to a garbled subspace transmission, I am currently overstocked on all Intergalactic Proton Powered Electrical Tentacled Advertising Droids, and I am passing the savings onto youuuuuuu!

Re:Hi, I'm Darth Harrington by Ceseuron · 2009-08-20 11:40 · Score: 2, Informative

Pretty sure that's Family Guy: Blue Harvest spoof on Star Wars that the whole "INTERGALACTIC PROTON POWERED ELECTRICAL TENTACLED ADVERTISING DROIDS" thing comes from...

Waste of resources by mmustapic · 2009-08-20 09:16 · Score: 4, Insightful

Yes, the device is supposedly rechargeable and new content can be uploaded, but why would you make the effort to upload ads? How is this better than reading the same info on the internet, on a bigger screen and better interactivity? Whit will surely end in a landfill. How fucking wasteful.

Re:fun hacking? Er..no. Imagine the annoyance... by dotancohen · 2009-08-20 09:17 · Score: 3, Informative

I searched in vain for anything in the article that says something about sound.

It does have sound. It this video posted by another commenter below, you can see the speaker at the 1:02 minute mark:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7GErbdNRrE

--
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.

Re:fun hacking? Er..no. Imagine the annoyance... by suomynonAyletamitlU · 2009-08-20 09:22 · Score: 2, Funny

That depends. Which kind of hammer?

Re:fun hacking? Er..no. Imagine the annoyance... by Chyeld · 2009-08-20 09:26 · Score: 2, Informative

You make it a joke but...

How long until ... by Jumperalex · 2009-08-20 09:29 · Score: 2, Interesting

[queue article about malware distributing video magazine ad in 3...2...1...]

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If you can't be good, be good at it!

Or maybe they would... by PylonHead · 2009-08-20 09:33 · Score: 5, Insightful

The crisis in the newspaper industry:

a) They're all giving away their content for free on the internet, print subscriptions are falling through the floor.

b) No single paper can charge internet subscriptions, because people will just turn to other papers.

c) Web ad revenue brings in less money than print ad revenue used to.

d) Craig's List has completely destroyed the lucrative classified ads revenue source.

So basically, they haven't found a way to make enough money to do the journalism that we expect from them. The whole industry is sinking, from the best of them to the worst.

--
# (/.);;
- : float -> float -> float =

Entertainment Weekly by Sloppy · 2009-08-20 10:26 · Score: 2, Interesting

I hate these asshole spammers. I started getting their crap about a year ago. Every damn week, one of these things. I rent a mailbox and only check it about once a month. Now it physically fills up with their unsolicited junk mail. Fuck you, Entertainment Weekly.

I tracked down how it happened. Turns out Ticketmaster sold me out -- they're who Entertainment Weekly got my snailmail address from (and email address, that's how I caught 'em -- Entertainment Weekly sent spam to tm@example.com). So: fuck you too, Ticketmaster. You'll never hear from me again.

--
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.

Oh good - sound in a novelty item... by musefrog · 2009-08-20 10:32 · Score: 3, Interesting

I sense that, if this catches on, you'll get a similar problem to cards and other novelty items which make sounds - malfunctions which cause them to NEVER - SHUT - UP! I had this very experience at a birthday party I was at recently. The novelty candle thingie was cool at first, but no-one could get it to stop playing its cheesy tinny music. It got shut in another room, but we could still hear it... not sure what terrible fate finally silenced it...

Save the trees and ink... by cfa22 · 2009-08-20 10:33 · Score: 2, Insightful

Why not upload page images to it and just sell the screen without the paper?

Don't like it but want the magazine? Easily done! by kheldan · 2009-08-20 10:40 · Score: 2, Insightful

Just fold the magazine sharply and firmly in half. No more annoying ad!
Seriously though, if it's possible to erase the ad content and use the mini-player for other video, I think I (and at least half of /.) would buy the mag just to dink around with the player.

--
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!

I can see it now... annoying, loud, obnoxious. by Doug52392 · 2009-08-20 10:44 · Score: 2, Insightful

Imagine this: A person is quietly reading a magazine in a quiet and peaceful room. Suddenly, as he flips the page, a video advertisement is played, displaying the Pepsi logo, filling the room with a low-quality, low-bitrate sound of the Pepsi jingle so loud everyone in the room turns and looks at him. And, guess what? NO WAY TO STOP THE DAMN AD!

Come September, this will be a reality.

First TV ads got louder and louder and annoyed the shit out of me to the point where I can't even watch TV anymore. Then Internet ads did the same. Now fucking paper ads will annoy me.

I, for one, will not purchase a product whose developers chose to advertise in this manner, nor will I purchase magazines that have these ads. Fuck you, spammers!

The great thing about this.. by SlashDev · 2009-08-20 10:44 · Score: 3, Interesting

.. is that I can turn the page. Can't do that with video ads on 'live' TV.

--

TOP DSLR Cameras Reviews of the top DSLRs

Re:fun hacking? Er..no. Imagine the annoyance... by chucklebutte · 2009-08-20 10:48 · Score: 4, Funny

Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man! Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man! Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man! Hi I'm Al Harrington, president and CEO of Al Harrington's Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man Emporium and Warehouse! Thanks to a shipping error, I am now currently over-stocked on Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Men, and I am passing the savings on to yoooooooouuuu! Attract customers to your business! Make a splash at your next presentation! Keep Grandma company! Protect your crops! Confuse your neighbors! African American? Hail a cab! Testify in church! Or just raise the roof! Whatever your Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man needs are! So come on down to Al Harrington's Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man Emporium and Warehouse! Route 2 in Weekapaugh!!! lol like this ad every time you turn your page!

--
Visit my Forums?

kids, bah by zogger · 2009-08-20 12:34 · Score: 2, Insightful

...and I remember indoor movie tickets costing *35 cents* and there were two movies, plus cartoons, plus a newsreel. And it was about the only place that had air conditioning. [lawn,off, and etc]. And cokes were a nickle and calls from a payphone were a nickle. No shyte.

But it's better now even if you only get one movie and it costs ten bucks. (mostly because you really don't have to go there and you can get the movie for less than ten bucks and watch it at home)

I wouldn't swap the internet and electronic miniaturization and so on for all that old tech. It was good enough, but it's better now in a lot of ways. Now I like older cars and trucks because they had some personality to them, but that tech is better now too. More complicated, but better.

*Some* old tech is still good and useful, but progress is progress. The tech then in the 35 cent movie days was a lot better than the 1800s. Stuff gets better because people want it better and we have a ton more smart guys working on stuff now. I have no flying car or hawt babe amazon warrior robot army...but all in all it's a lot better now. My major beef is a lot of stuff is really unfixable for most practical definitions of fixable. It works or chunk it, that part I don't like and I still hang onto way too much broken stuff now from inertia, because everything used to be somewhat fixable by joe average with a box of tools, or there was some dude on the corner with a shop and he could do it, cheap. That's pretty much gone now.

Re:kids, bah by Teancum · 2009-08-20 15:55 · Score: 2, Insightful

I know this is going waaay off topic, but I beg to differ that modern consumer equipment must be unrepairable.
Oh, I grant you that it is, and that is also something frustrating to me to no end. I'm just suggesting that this is by design, and that some company... if they really want to assert that they are green and not just give lip service... could design equipment to be repaired by an ordinary technician trained at a 2-year community college. Unfortunately that might take more than a simple start-up to get it to work out, and would take a radical change in current manufacturing processes to make it happen.
I worked for a manufacturing company that mostly did business to business products, where the products simply had to be repairable in order to meet the customer's needs. Computer equipment that was over 20 years old continued to live on (running on MS-DOS, interestingly enough... and some early CP/M variant for some of the equipment) and even serviced. The largest problem was simply trying to find chip manufacturers who were even willing to supply parts for stuff that old if it broke. Electronics produced in the 1990's is actually harder to find parts for than stuff made in the 1980's, as it turns out.
The local second hand stores (aka Salvation Army, Goodwill, etc.) stopped any kind of repair program about 20 years ago and have all but stopped even accepting electronics, unless you can turn them on and prove they still work. There are some specialized electronics recyclers, but that is an exception rather than a rule for these stores. This includes more mundane consumer appliances like toasters, televisions, and waffle irons that are even hard to repair any more, but used to be routinely repaired in earlier decades.

Sell content as? You mean re-license Reuters? by Ilgaz · 2009-08-20 14:28 · Score: 2, Interesting

Man I am sure a Perl or even more advanced Haskell etc. genious can code today's mainstream newspaper generator easily. Just add couple of leftist/rightist/shadowy columnists who writes no better than your IRC bot, all you need is a A3 printer to go.

I really think it should be done, just to show how worthless they have become internationally, yes, ALL newspapers except always lower selling intellectual types can be generated dynamically. You can even add some sort of "evil layout AI" to promote/demote stories based on your agenda. All you need is to show it to a boss like Murdoch. "Here Mr. Murdoch, my little program can do what 10000 people you employ does."

All they do is copy/paste Reuters etc. stories, add a bit of own insert/edit and post it to Indesign or Quark. Nothing else. Look to NY Times archives of 1950s, 1960s... They sent real people to go after real stories and investigate ground breaking stories just by telephone and knowing the right people.

IT media is going in same direction too... You can easily predict which stories with what kind of taste would appear on IT media. In 5 years they will start whining too.

Re:You know, by CAIMLAS · 2009-08-20 15:20 · Score: 2, Insightful

You're kidding, right?

The answer is: no, not to any appreciable degree.

You do know what happens to all those 9V, AA, and AAA batteries you see in grocery stores after people use them up, right? How about the batteries in laptops? Yeah, that's right: the average person throws them away. As in, in the landfill.

If they don't throw them away when they die, they throw them in the trash when they're doing some housecleaning or getting ready to move. Even in the locations where recycling batteries is possible and suggested, batteries are accepted at the dump/landfill. Especially for something like a car battery: people will throw that sucker away if they can (and can't get it exchanged for a discount on the new one).

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~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers

Re:fun hacking? Er..no. Imagine the annoyance... by rockNme2349 · 2009-08-20 16:38 · Score: 3, Funny

* Flips open magazine *

Hello, you have been selected to win a free ipod!

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Sewage Treatment Facilities - "Our duty is clear."

novel idea by Tom · 2009-08-20 18:07 · Score: 3, Insightful

The more ads I see, the more I get pissed at advertisement in general.

I have a truly novel idea. Maybe I should patent it. How about we charge for the actual content, save a lot of money on all the staff and equipment that doesn't have to negotiate, draft, implement, print, etc. all the advertisement anymore, and end up with a smaller, more content-dense product? I'll call it "business purpose re-engineering".

You see, when your business has slowly eroded from informing your customers to selling your customers, and your customers have started to notice and are leaving you in droves, it might be time to change back, instead of speeding up.

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Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org

Re:novel idea by Tom · 2009-08-22 23:00 · Score: 2, Insightful

Are you ready to pay $15-$20 (or more) for an issue that used to cost you $6, purely for the privilege of not having ads?
Yes

Do you think >90% of consumers are?
No.
But if you want my money, you play by my rules. That other 90% market is pretty much saturated anyways. So why not get a large share of the 10% market, instead of a tiny share of the 90% market? Your overal market share may end up to be higher.
But, of course, in this time of hyper-capitalism, nobody is happy with owning a factory or a shop or selling to a specific audience anymore. It's got to be international corporations, franchises and chains and when it comes to market, the key word is "dominating", not "pleasing".

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Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org

I'm not worried... by costinel · 2009-08-20 18:08 · Score: 2, Informative

I'm sure one of the next versions of Flashblock, NoScript or Adblock Plus will take care of this.

Slashdot Mirror

A Video Ad, In a Paper Magazine

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