Smart companies will especially focus on marketing spend that they can measure closely, to track the return on investment.
If you've got a marketing channel that provably makes you a dollar in profit for every seventy-five cents spent, why would you ever stop putting money into it, as long as you've got the cash to spend?
GPL: "Hi, I just got this binary tarball from you, and I can see in the license file that it's a GPL application. Please send me the source, too."
AGPL: "Hi, I see you're running a website, and I believe that you're running some software that's licensed under the AGPL, and, further, I believe that you're running a slightly modified version of it. Can you document for me that every server in your fleet is, in fact, not running any non-publicly-released versions of this software I believe you're running?"
This is either unenforceable, or it will be an incredible pain in the ass for any public website out there.
I still use MySQL on my server, and I use my code for the actual web application, and this combined essentially forms a derived work of MySQL, and if I were to distribute this application, I would also have to give out the source-code for my web app for free. This makes no sense to me, and I suspect that it's wrong. If the web application connects to the MySQL instance through standard database connectors such as ODBC or JDBC, then there is no way that it is a derived work of MySQL. You could, for example, code the app with a vendor-neutral DB API, and just happen to ship with MySQL for convenience.
In the example you give, the only source code that would have to be released under either the GPL or the AGPL would be the modifications you made to MySQL.
Can I just say, your NWN modules are probably about the best I've ever played, and far more compelling than any of the official content. Playing Demon with a character I'd built up through Dreamcatcher and Shadowlords, and reaching that moment near the end of the game when everything was restored, was a more moving experience than I would ever have expected from a game.
If 44% are gone after 4 years, and 60% after 6 years, then around 50% are still around after 5 years.
Which means that, on a five year timeframe, the numbers I cite have a survival rate that is 5 times the rate you cite. Those numbers are vastly different.
(btw, Phillips and Kirchoff, 1989, Small Business Economics, vol. 1, pp. 65-74 is where my numbers are from. Can you site the "90% death in 5 years" study directly?)
I love playing NWN on linux, too. I'm disappointed that Jade Empire is XBox only.
One of the big perks of NWN is having a whole mess of third-party modules available to play. It gives a lot more choice than the official campaigns. If I want a dark, horror-tinged story, I can get that. Or if I want something funny (Penultima comes to mind), I can have lots of fun with that, too. (I love the DreamCatcher stories, too - I'm still working on Demon.)
If they're only releasing for XBox, I don't expect that authoring tools will be widely available any time soon. Too bad.
I work for a medical publication that is run by 3 people (the exec dir/publisher, copy editor, and me, the editorial assistant). None of us are paid particularly well. However, our publication that gets out to 20,000 people still costs nearly 1/3 of a million dollars a year to publish.
Hmmm... 300,000 divided by 20,000...
So you're saying that if you charged $20 a person a year as a subscription fee, you'd make money? Hell, even somebody on an associate professor's salary can afford that!
If you can reliably provide a good journal at that price, I think you'll be fine.
You can be even more secure. You don't need the network at all. Just a live CD with X, mplayer, and an archive of porn. No network connection required.
An encrypted bootable porn cd might become some porn vendors' preferred way to distribute content - much harder for a casual user to pirate...
If you want to make money off the CD, then start selling the links.
Other potential money avenues:
Offer custom CDs for particular porn sites, where the site owners control the links and distribute the CDs themselves (somebody else in the thread already mentioned this);
Point the CD to your website, which offers on-line bookmark management - and recommendations, and ads...
Subscription anonymizer proxy service?
If there's any way for 'dildonics' to get actual use, this is it - you control the OS and can guarantee driver support, so cross-promote the, um, attachments, and the sites that are, um, attachment-friendly. Sell the devices as an upsell. (This may be getting away from anonymous use, it may be more of a VOIP add-on)...
Sometimes I choose to read the comments for a story, not for insight, not for interesting links, not even for good flame-age, but simply because the story description begs for specific funny comments, and I need to make sure that the funny is there.
Ahhh... Speed Walker... Worst Girlfriend in the World... getting crap because my parents lived in Kent...
I remember a guest appearance he did, after "Science Guy" got successful. He shot a giant rubber band across the stage, showing how you can curve its arc by over-tightening it on one side... good stuff.
Re:One thing the editor left off..
on
Apple Updates iPod
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Notice, though, that you can step up through [almost] the entire line by $50 increases...
...and the line's pricing stops just shy of the Mac Mini's base price, too.
It's getting to the point where, no matter how much money you have, you can buy a complete product from Apple. And the amount of money you have determines which product you buy, too - no pricing collisions, just a steady progression where customers can self-select their position on the Apple pricing ladder...
Except I do a virtual version, running Windows as a guest OS on VMWare. Crank up VMWare, do whatever it is I need to do in Windows, save any crucial info to the host OS, then revert to the original Windows image. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Actually, the best defense is alternative energy. Like Thomas Friedman is saying (google for 'geo-green'), the surest way to get political reform in the Middle East is for oil prices to be under twenty dollars a barrel.
Take away the current regimes' ability to maintain the status quo with oil money, and political reform in the Middle East will come quickly. (In my opinion.)
Slashdot Mirror
Smart companies will especially focus on marketing spend that they can measure closely, to track the return on investment.
If you've got a marketing channel that provably makes you a dollar in profit for every seventy-five cents spent, why would you ever stop putting money into it, as long as you've got the cash to spend?
When having to choose between monsanto and microsoft as the supreme example of an outright criminal corporation it's a tough choice.
Shouldn't DeBeers be in there somewhere?
Okay, that's enough smart-assing for one day.
GPL: "Hi, I just got this binary tarball from you, and I can see in the license file that it's a GPL application. Please send me the source, too."
AGPL: "Hi, I see you're running a website, and I believe that you're running some software that's licensed under the AGPL, and, further, I believe that you're running a slightly modified version of it. Can you document for me that every server in your fleet is, in fact, not running any non-publicly-released versions of this software I believe you're running?"
This is either unenforceable, or it will be an incredible pain in the ass for any public website out there.
In the example you give, the only source code that would have to be released under either the GPL or the AGPL would be the modifications you made to MySQL.
Sure, you like it now... but wait until you're locked up for sneezing.
Can I just say, your NWN modules are probably about the best I've ever played, and far more compelling than any of the official content. Playing Demon with a character I'd built up through Dreamcatcher and Shadowlords, and reaching that moment near the end of the game when everything was restored, was a more moving experience than I would ever have expected from a game.
I'm glad you're making more.
</fanboy>
Hey, your sig is actually on-topic for this post!
If 44% are gone after 4 years, and 60% after 6 years, then around 50% are still around after 5 years.
Which means that, on a five year timeframe, the numbers I cite have a survival rate that is 5 times the rate you cite. Those numbers are vastly different.
(btw, Phillips and Kirchoff, 1989, Small Business Economics, vol. 1, pp. 65-74 is where my numbers are from. Can you site the "90% death in 5 years" study directly?)
According to the US Small Business Administration, 50% of small businesses fail within the first year, and 95% fail within five years.
You state that very confidently. Can you cite the original source for that?
I've heard from reliable sources that those numbers are a myth...
Not after Bruce explains the rules to them, at least...
I love playing NWN on linux, too. I'm disappointed that Jade Empire is XBox only.
One of the big perks of NWN is having a whole mess of third-party modules available to play. It gives a lot more choice than the official campaigns. If I want a dark, horror-tinged story, I can get that. Or if I want something funny (Penultima comes to mind), I can have lots of fun with that, too. (I love the DreamCatcher stories, too - I'm still working on Demon.)
If they're only releasing for XBox, I don't expect that authoring tools will be widely available any time soon. Too bad.
and they want their 'synergy' back.
I work for a medical publication that is run by 3 people (the exec dir/publisher, copy editor, and me, the editorial assistant). None of us are paid particularly well. However, our publication that gets out to 20,000 people still costs nearly 1/3 of a million dollars a year to publish.
Hmmm... 300,000 divided by 20,000...
So you're saying that if you charged $20 a person a year as a subscription fee, you'd make money? Hell, even somebody on an associate professor's salary can afford that!
If you can reliably provide a good journal at that price, I think you'll be fine.
You can be even more secure. You don't need the network at all. Just a live CD with X, mplayer, and an archive of porn. No network connection required.
An encrypted bootable porn cd might become some porn vendors' preferred way to distribute content - much harder for a casual user to pirate...
Other potential money avenues:
Offer custom CDs for particular porn sites, where the site owners control the links and distribute the CDs themselves (somebody else in the thread already mentioned this);
Point the CD to your website, which offers on-line bookmark management - and recommendations, and ads...
Subscription anonymizer proxy service?
If there's any way for 'dildonics' to get actual use, this is it - you control the OS and can guarantee driver support, so cross-promote the, um, attachments, and the sites that are, um, attachment-friendly. Sell the devices as an upsell. (This may be getting away from anonymous use, it may be more of a VOIP add-on)...
I'm sure there are others, too.
Only if DVD-Jon has an MTA-Bob counterpart
What about Charley? I hear he's available...
Sometimes I choose to read the comments for a story, not for insight, not for interesting links, not even for good flame-age, but simply because the story description begs for specific funny comments, and I need to make sure that the funny is there.
Thank you, friend. Totally hot.
If a phisher sends a phony e-mail, it's 'cybercrime', which law enforcement doesn't know what to do with yet.
If somebody sends you a phony CD, it's mail fraud. (Just for starters.)
That's a big difference.
Ahhh... Speed Walker... Worst Girlfriend in the World... getting crap because my parents lived in Kent...
I remember a guest appearance he did, after "Science Guy" got successful. He shot a giant rubber band across the stage, showing how you can curve its arc by over-tightening it on one side... good stuff.
is to work exactly like MS Office.
Which version?
Notice, though, that you can step up through [almost] the entire line by $50 increases...
...and the line's pricing stops just shy of the Mac Mini's base price, too.
It's getting to the point where, no matter how much money you have, you can buy a complete product from Apple. And the amount of money you have determines which product you buy, too - no pricing collisions, just a steady progression where customers can self-select their position on the Apple pricing ladder...
How, exactly, does one oil a market?
No, never mind. I don't want to know.
This is actually pretty close to what I do...
Except I do a virtual version, running Windows as a guest OS on VMWare. Crank up VMWare, do whatever it is I need to do in Windows, save any crucial info to the host OS, then revert to the original Windows image. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Why age a Windows install unnecessarily, right?
Actually, the best defense is alternative energy. Like Thomas Friedman is saying (google for 'geo-green'), the surest way to get political reform in the Middle East is for oil prices to be under twenty dollars a barrel.
Take away the current regimes' ability to maintain the status quo with oil money, and political reform in the Middle East will come quickly. (In my opinion.)