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User: Ouchie

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Comments · 70

  1. Re:Not just me on Study Finds New Pop Music Does All Sound the Same · · Score: 5, Funny

    The study also found that the author is approximately 60 years older than he was in the 50's.

  2. Re:yes on Political Science Prof Asks: Is Algebra Necessary? · · Score: 1

    "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

    - George Santayana

  3. Re:Damn on Patent Troll Claims Minecraft Infringement · · Score: 5, Funny

    I bought two more copies of Minecraft just to fund their defense.

  4. Re:Not just Minecraft on Patent Troll Claims Minecraft Infringement · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Is it possible to use Class Action for defense?

    It seems that some of their defendants could pound them into powder single handed but some of the smaller ones like Minecraft might benefit by pooling resources.

  5. Re:No justification for the current media pricing? on With Cinavia DRM, Is Blu-ray On a Path To Self-Destruction? · · Score: 5, Informative

    If blu-ray disks were $5 each I would have hundreds of them.

    As it is, I have none.

    I will add the supporting evidence Louis C. K.

    Rather than take a flat rate of $50,000 - $100,000 for his special from the industry where they would price the disks at $10 - $20 he just produced it himself and put it up online with no DRM for $5. By circumventing the major industry players and just doing it himself he has made more than double. He has effectively done what the media industry says is impossible without them suing and forcing people to pay out the nose.

    I have bought several copies for myself and gifts to support the idea of paying what the market really thinks the product is worth rather than forcing a higher market price.

  6. Re:iPad on Meet The Man Who Designed a Tablet Computer 15 Years Before the iPad · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They are suing Samsung because they think or thought they could win. Generally in cases like this the company sues someone they think they can win and then use that case to set a legal precedent. They then take that precedent and threaten other companies with it. It has nothing to do with believing in the next guy and only protecting their patents. Its all about protecting their monopoly and profits.

    I am not certain Apple really thinks that they can win. There is a secondary effect of the law suits and it is tied to Apple's marketing. They sue the competition for copying, even though they know they can't win. They drag the issue out through the Media and pair the media attention to their law suit to advertising of how the iPad is a superior product to the competition. It is a secondary way of drawing attention to the product, and I would say it is working.

    Pair this subliminal marketing with their ability to lock in manufacturing and supply chain to keep costs down and Apple can happily make a 50% profit margin on the iPad. This ties into how Apple markets their other computers, no other computer is an Apple that is why you will gladly pay a 25-40% premium for an Mac. The Mac has been around for over 20 years and has always touted itself as better than a PC. It is harder to do the same thing with a new product and hence the dynamic ways of marketing the iPad's superiority.

  7. Re:I approve on Cell Phone Jamming Devices Enjoy an Increase In Popularity · · Score: 1

    A doctor won't be getting to a vital operation very quickly on a bus. The range on these things is rather short, I had one and it would work at a stoplight but only if the car was in a lane next to me. Then again, maybe that was just mine.

  8. Re:Great on Microsoft Killing Off Zune, Windows Live Brands? · · Score: 2

    You still have the ability to configure the windows install. In Windows 7 it is in the add/remove programs you have a link that says turn windows features on or off. I'm in the middle of something right now and don't want to reboot to 8, otherwise I'd see if they moved it. I would figure that Billy Gates would know this, maybe you could ask Stevie Balmer.

  9. Re:I'm glad I support the Republicans on How the GOP (and the Tea Party) Helped Kill SOPA · · Score: 2

    BOTH parties have their issues, and I do not see the Democrats as being worse than the Republicans by a long shot, especially when it comes to religion (prayer in schools, prayer at government functions, the flagrant display of religious iconography in public buildings, denial of other religions equal access for displays, etc), the right for one to decide how to best manage body medically, and who one is allowed to have sex with, contraception, and who one is allowed to marry. Those issues hit me a lot closer to home than firearms ownership/carry, and how I'm allowed to access content vis-a-vis music and movies on the Internet.

    I agree, I support equal rights. I don't like the term 'gay rights', it isn't like they are asking for anything I don't have. If they want to get married I say fine, you don't want that in your church, Fine. Marriage stopped being a religious act a long time ago. If you want to split hairs, if there wasn't an ordained priest you've got a civil union not a marriage, hence the paperwork for the state.

    I am also a gun owner and a member of the NRA, but I don't support unfettered access. I don't mind the paperwork, I just wonder why I am required to report the sale of my car within 30 days, under penalty of law, but I can sell a gun at a garage sale and no one cares. It is this kind of political blind spots that annoy me. I'm good, I work hard, pay my taxes and yes it annoys me when someone who sits on their ass and get paid $20 million pays lower taxes than me. Don't give me the double taxation crap either, only 3 of the Fortune 500 actually paid any tax in 2010.

    I support equality and opportunity. I support religious freedom but if you are a hospital religious or not you must provide services and benefits in allignment with your employee's faith not your own.

  10. Re:Or your PR dept. (Rovio is lying) on Angry Birds Boss Credits Piracy For Popularity Boost · · Score: 1

    The basic premis is to not treat the user as simply a revenue source to be squeezed. Rather treat them as a fan, one who is willing to pay within their budget for your product. When you try to squeeze more money out of them than they can afford they will look for a way to get your product cheaper through illegal means if necessary. Provide your product cheaply at a price point that is fair to your fan and they will gladly pay it.

    Supporting evidence: Louis CK

  11. Re:In a perfect world... on MPAA-Dodd Investigation Petition Reaches Goal · · Score: 1

    We the People: This is bribery! We demand you investigate yourselves

    Gov'ment: We've investigated ourselves thoroughly, and we're guilty (sad-face)

    They aren't mad at Dodd for saying you should vote the way your paid to vote. They are mad because he said it in public. We all know the votes go where the money is, but to blantantly state that in an election year makes it harder to hide.

  12. Re:HAS TO officially respond? on MPAA-Dodd Investigation Petition Reaches Goal · · Score: 1

    "Politics, Poly meaning more than one, Ticks are blood sucking parasites." - I read it somewhere recently.

  13. Re:Whoa..quantum computer + Cloud! on 'Blind' Quantum Computing Proposed For the Cloud · · Score: 1

    Investment at this point makes sense if you have money to throw away like DARPA. There are few actual functioning quantum computers and most are experimental concept models only. I don't see the applications of quantum computing getting past the education, institution, research and governmental use any time soon. If you were able to get a functional array of quantum computers you would likely not find a shortage of paying customers at this point, and your price point would be considerably higher than your standard crowded cloud market.

    The type of people I see investing at this point are those who are also researchers.

  14. Free Market Failure or Success? on White House Opposes Key SOPA Provisions · · Score: 3, Insightful

    When will the media companies and government realize that the proliferation of piracy is not the internet it is the outrageous prices they try to extract. The fact is that if they didn't keep trying to sell every stinking CD at $17 when we all know most aren't worth $5. Sell the product at what the market wants to pay for it, if you don't then the incentive to steal goes way up.

    There have been several recent examples of artists releasing their work at reasonable prices with no DRM. Rather than being ripped off by the public at large, their fans have put down the money.

    Louis CK has made over $1,000,000 off his most recent video. You can download it without DRM for $5. And yes he is Hilarious.

  15. Re:Bogus premise on The New Transparency of War and Lethality of Hatred · · Score: 2

    No, the problem is our enemies do not fear us. We obsess and worry about whether our enemies like us. We allow our enemies to put propaganda in our legacy media. They don't.

    If they truly feared us they wouldn't do the crap they do. Do ya think they would behead our people, desecrate their corpses, etc. if they feared us? Would they blow up a block of downtown NYC if they feared us? If they really though we would get seriously pissed off and go Add Coulter on their primitive asses and "Bomb their cities, kill their leaders and convert them to christianity." The answer is obvious.

    Jmorris is right to some respect. The problem is that we try to fit WAR into the PC society. Warfare is not politically correct, it is not cute and fuzzy. Gunshot wounds are not licked on by kittens. It is a sad fact that we blame our troops when these things go wrong.

    The fact is they are not wrong. If you look back at the posters for WWI an WWII you will see blatant acts by both sides to make the other out as sub-human not only to their soldiers but also to the general public.

    You take this basic gruesome psychology of warfare and you add to it a society which in all honesty goes much further than urinating on corpses when they desecrate our bodies. I don't see this video as anything other than War, not at it's worst but at it's norm. The thing that bothers me is that it was filmed.

    Our government is trying to win a war without offending anyone. They have it wrong. Win the war, then worry about repairing the relationships and rebuilding the country. It would be much cheaper to build schools if we waited until they stopped blowing them up.

  16. Re:How is this even... on Homeless Student Is Intel Talent Search Semifinalist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Income inequality is just envy. - Mitt Romney

  17. Re:No, he didn't on DNS Provision Pulled From SOPA · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Update

    The background image is now gone.

  18. Re:No, he didn't on DNS Provision Pulled From SOPA · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The research is whether congressional hipocracy is exempt. It appears that under the law the congressman's website would have been permanently shut down for copyright infringment.

    The background image on Chairman Lamar Smith own website was being used without the consent of the photographer.

  19. Re:Whats the big deal? on "Learn To Code, Get a Job" According To CNN · · Score: 1

    I have tried to explain the value of understanding how to code and the software development process even if you are not planing on becomming a software engineer. I liken it to the benefit of anyone going into business having a basic understanding of accounting and the legal process. While it may not be your job to engineer system wide solutions, an understanding of code can make you more efficient at your job.

    My employers have always been amazed how I can obtain levels of productivity above and beyond that of my prececessors. I do most of this by using C#, VB or VBA and an indepth knowledge of Logic. I leverage the common tool most offices have (MS office) to shave time off every function of my day.

    My success comes from the fact that I am a coder, although I don't market myself as one. I grew up in the information age my first computer was the IBM PC (1984). I started coding as a child using basic and quicky moved to Fortran, Cobal and beyond. I view computers as a resource not a tool. A tool has a function, a resource is raw and can be leveraged using tools to perform many functions. I don't see a computer for what it does, I try to ask what can it do?

    Technophobia plagues our society even today, 40 years into the computer age. The thing that shocks me is the number of people who assume that computers are for someone else, the smart and techie. I think this is what this program is trying to teach. Maybe you'll never become a software engineer but you can still learn to code and create value even in a basic office job. A few years down the road from the learning experiance you may find yourself as a software engineer, or maybe just a manager like me.

  20. Re:why is the CD player on the same network? on The Future of Hi-Tech Auto Theft · · Score: 3

    The reason why the Car Stereo is on the same network is because too many people were buying cars with no stereo or the basic stereo then going to after market shops where they could get a much better stereo for the same amount of money. Manufacturers decided that to reduce this they would just make the car stereo a required part for the whole system to work. It gives you a good reason to pay $1200 for the stereo upgrade which we know isn't worth $600.

  21. Re:Lockheed gonna get sued? on Could a Dirty Rag Take Out a $2 Billion Satellite? · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes, the gov't will have to pay for that space-rag now. Lockheed forgot to bill them for it.

    The bill also included the fines levied by the TSA for failing to file an export declariation on the space rag.

  22. Re:Randomization Between Accounts on Ask Slashdot: Changing Passwords For the New Year? · · Score: 1

    Obligatory: xkcd

    I do password auditing for my primary employer and a few small businesses I have contracts with on the side. I would like to add:

    1) Get a password vault, there are several applications for home PC and Smart Phones if you can't remember a lot of passwords.

    2) Don't use the same password everywhere, or at least make sure your password for FaceBook is different from Hotmail.

    3) Use a password generator if you need to have shortpasswords (8 - 10 characters).

    4) Learn from XKCD

  23. Re:now can we push ESPN to become like HBO and not on Verizon Backtracks On $2 Convenience Fee · · Score: 1
    They call it the Sweetener, that is how they get you to pay for the must-carry.

    I for one love my TiVo for that reason, you can manually edit your Cable Lineup. While I can't add channels I don't get, I can tell it that the shopping and other crap channels don't exist.

  24. Re:now can we push ESPN to become like HBO and not on Verizon Backtracks On $2 Convenience Fee · · Score: 1
    I would simply be happy if the cable company would allow me to pick 30 or 40 channels for $20 dollars instead of charging me $45 for 120 channels most of which I don't watch.

    I would gladly pay more per channel if I could just pick them rather than have 90 channels of crap and maybe 30 that I watch. If my area wasn't as hilly I would just get a good antenna.

  25. Re:Standard for electric utilities on Verizon Backtracks On $2 Convenience Fee · · Score: 1

    From The Washington Post:

    Payment processors for power companies usually charge “convenience fees” of up to $5 for every payment made by phone or online, but cellphone companies haven’t taken the step yet. The furor against Verizon hints that they may have to wait further.

    So, for now, you can continue to earn airline miles at Verizon's expense.

    Most utility companies have a low percentage of online payments vs cell phone companies. Also, there are a lot of Public Utilities that for one reason or another have accounting rules that prevent deducting collection fees on non-delinquent accounts. While the surcharge on debit/credit transaction is not typically viewed as a collection charge, it is similar in the fact that you are paying a 3rd party to collect a payment and to account for this charge you would need to write down the original balance on the account in order to make it balance.