Oddly enough, My wife, daughter, and I have flown twice in the past couple of months (4 boardings; no, we're not heavy travelers), and yet my wife was pulled once for pat down and once for a palm swab. I was randomly pulled for the palm swab just before boarding on one leg.
On one flight, my wife saw a woman get through TSA with an expired drivers license and a marriage certificate, and NO other ID. When she got to security she said nothing, and her husband did all the talking. WTF? A real head shaking moment.
That was exactly my though. If he and his friends are geniuses, and can wipe the floor with these fresh outs, then do it. If you ahve a good idea, barriers to entry are pretty small relative to traditional manufacturing.
BTW - I'm a mid-40s engineer, and I started my own consulting firm almost a decade ago. I have hired fresh-outs, and almost-out interns and I will tell you they are about as useful as tits on a boar hog unless you have a shitload of menial, busy-work tasks to do.
It's the kind of thing that makes you want to work with a group like this, just because it's so freaking cool. I can't imagine the amount of time spent to get these things to this level of organization, even for this short video.
In mechanical licensing - which is the fee due to the composer and lyricist, a "Permanent Digital Download" is treated nearly identically to a track on a CD or a song recorded to a record or tape. The fee is set by statute (http://www.copyright.gov/carp/m200a.pdf), though if you are going to produce a lot of copies, you can negotiate directly with the owners or through HFA (Harry Fox Agency) for those it represents.
This strikes directly to the heart of the matter: if the copyright holders are getting paid the same amount for a CD as an MP3, then the rights of the end user should be the same. When it is a "permanent" digital download, it's a manifestation which you own forever and should be transferable.
This actually matters to me quite a bit, as I am involved in the distribution of very low quantity recordings (~120 copies at a time) on CD. I'd like to switch over to digital, as it would reduce my costs and the time spent burning discs. I only use these on rare occasions, so it would be nice to "collect" the MP3s and put them back in the library for later use/redistribution. I'll be interested to see what comes out of this.
1. Did you spend hundreds of millions developing this single drug, with all of the research resulting in absolute dead ends, and no information or trials which may lead to similar treatments for this or other ailments.
2. Why would you give the drug away for free? That would appear to concentrate a large burden of the cost on a diminishingly small patient base. Why not charge $200-500/month for the treatment for nearly everyone, and offer the drug though community clinics for those with no other resources?
I realize that it makes it easier to justify a $300,000/yr cost by claiming that you need to recover every dollar of research money on the entire class of drugs, but it's a bit ingenuous. Also, by sticking those with insurance with a $300,000/yr bill, you are effectively guaranteeing that anyone with individual health insurance will be dropped from coverage at their first renewal after starting the drug. If a Republican administration wins the white house next fall, it will make sure that the requirements that insurance companies not drop "costly" clients is wiped from the books and there will be no safety net (unless they make enough money to pay out of pocket, which is rare for a $300,000/yr medication).
It is a fuzzy line, but the ruling could just as easily swing the other way. Why? The use is not tranformative, it is for political gain, not "educational purposes", The clip itself is likely the meat of the story (otherwise it would not be useful), and it is used as the entire ad, not just a short clip within the ad. IMHO, it is clearly a copyright violation, and not fair use.
They sell you to advertisers and game companies. It's big business - just as Google how well your habits and interests can generate advertising revenue.
Luckily, only floating ice melts when it gets warmer. Ice on land will stay frozen until well above 15C. I know this is the case because we had snow a few days ago, and today it was almost 17C and there is still snow on the ground. QED.
It's a great value for the segment who is either using 200-300GB of data in a typical month, or someone using 2-5GB of data in a month. Metering really should be more fine-grained, though, as having to buy your data in monthly chunks which expire on a specific day of the month are a real pain in the ass for consumers and generates ill-will.
Unlimited died years ago on AT&T for new contracts, and was only for iPhones and feature phones that couldn't stream anything (I had a medianet plan and got it applied to my winmo phone, but it wasn't technically "allowed"). $25/2GB has been the standard for many months now. They're probably looking at usage patterns and trying to keep people from yelling at overages - since they make you buy a full month's worth of data at a time - while not cannibalizing their current income stream.
I would prefer a simpler plan that matches their apparent "costs" but is more friendly to overages. Say $10 for the first 100MB and $1/150MB thereafter. that way they get the fixed monthly income for provisioning and a (roughly) $10/GB rate they seem to feel is appropriate at higher tiers, and you never get a "you used 3.1GB as of day 30 of the month, that's an extra $30" that really pisses people off.
My wife probably does check FB every 5 minutes, and she still manages to stay under 100MB/mo. I'm paying $100 for two phones, (no text, 450min shared with rollover - about 3000 min banked! - and 200MB for each phone) so not too much more than you. I'd be happy with a $10/100 MB plan or $5/50MB, as it would save me a few bucks, but $15 is (was) the lowest tier for AT&T.
You are right about the pages - I'm likely to hit a couple hundred pages a month. I'll admit I don't stream media, but I do a lot of stuff on it for both work and personal reasons and I usually come in at 60MB/mo.
15EUR is nuts, though. I think I've got about the cheapest service around, and I pay $100US for two smartphones. That's a no-texting, 200MB data per phone, and 450 shared minutes between the (two) phones plan on AT&T. It works for me, but it's a heck of a lot more than what you pay. (lucky you!)
It's not clear, either in TFA or on the AT&T site that you get to keep your old plan. One of the reasons for staying with AT&T (for me) is that they have the cheapest data plan at $15. If there were a $10/100MB plan, I'd probably get that as I average about 50-60MB per month. I rarely - if ever - stream media, and use my plan for looking up data and getting email/text/google voice when I'm out. I'll be pissed, and looking at switching both my phones to Verizon, if they force me into a higher cost plan.
Man, I wish I had mod points. An option to require an agree button to purchase more data would be ideal. I went over my limit once on my iPad, and got a notification that I was reaching my limit - 10 hours after I'd gone over it. It's not the end of the world, and $15 isn't going to kill me, but it would have been nice to have to manually authorize the overage.
Terms of 7/14/20/28 years may still be appropriate, as the rise of technology has made duplication of intellectual works easier to copy and disseminate. Those who create content are no longer concerned about a dozen possible sources of competition in duplication, but tens of millions. The ease of publishing and typical shelf life should, actually, serve to reduce - not extend - copyright and patent terms, as the ability to bring a product to mass market is on a significantly shorter timescale than 200 years ago.
Interestingly, there are methods in place which provide for (almost) easy compliance with copyright laws. but they apply to only the narrowest slice of content. I'm talking about mechanical licensing fees - 10c per physically recorded track or permanent digital download. Problem is, it only applies to the composer of music, and only to mechanical rights. Not to arrangement. Not to synchronization (video). Not to masters (people performing the work). Not to written or spoken work. Not to images. Not to video clips. Not to patents.
The biggest problem is not the existence of patents and copyright, but the byzantine implementation and licensing, and the one-sided legislation which is being written to perpetuate these institutions.
IP laws are a good thing; the way they are implemented is flawed.
Well, that's kind of the case, and kind of not. Re-booking just gets you a second chance. If whatever set of the alarms the first time sets them of again, you're still out of luck. In this case, whatever set it off didn't do so the second time, no doubt at a cost of $100-200 (or more) for Paul to change his flight. Now, for a congressman who likes to rail against the government, that's really, really cheap publicity. For me, $200 and a flight change would be a real pain in the ass.
Um, he was was escorted out according to the fine article, and has already re-booked a flight, gone through security (clean scan this time), and is on his way to DC.
I just RTFA, as I should have on such a sensationalist headline. Of course he wasn't really detained, except to tell him about the pat down, have him refuse, and have him escorted out of the area. He's already re-booked a flight and is on his way to Washington. Not really a story.
Why would he be detained? Why not just told that he may not fly and turned away? That's the purpose, right - to keep dangerous items, like shampoo in quantities of greatrer than 3 oz, and "tampered" shoes, off of airplanes.
If he didn't pose an immanent threat, he should have simply not been allowed to enter, and his checked luggage returned to him at the counter.
I think both Rand and his father are nut jobs. No, let me rephrase that - I think they have a very simplistic, but consistent, core values from which they derive a series of logical positions which vary from downright practical to socially unworkable. It's that latter part that makes them nutty. I like their logical approach; I am disappointed in their finesse and (in)ability to understand practical application of social policy.
Still, this is how things get changed, and if anyone is going to give the middle finger to our new establishment - and get away with it - it's likely to be someone like the Pauls. I'm surprised he was even required to go through the screening process; I was under the impression that members of congress - those that don't skip it entirely by flying private - would essentially be waved through or would have been provided an alternate entry point.
I presume he was flying business or first class, and was not subjected to the long queue.
No, no - you're confused. You think that the technical meaning should be the ones the marketers use. This service is 4G just like your home bandwidth is unlimited, or your 22/4 "boost" cable modem service can actually provide 22Mbps service on an ongoing basis. If you don't let them lie, they'll have nothing to talk about.;-)
But they get first crack at eyeballs - you see their ads before you ever click through. That's part of the value of their site - you search, and your product gets top billing, for a fee. Once you've clicked through, you've already decided to skip the marketing on Google's site, and they've made their impression money.
If you're not buying, you presumably are going after information. Google always wants you to return to search with them first, so that if you ARE buying, you'll hit their links. The better the search results, the more likely you are to use them. Better may have a different meaning than some people expect, because better - to Google - is whatever makes you more likely to use Google in the future. Usually that's accurate information, but a positive user experience is also good.
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Oddly enough, My wife, daughter, and I have flown twice in the past couple of months (4 boardings; no, we're not heavy travelers), and yet my wife was pulled once for pat down and once for a palm swab. I was randomly pulled for the palm swab just before boarding on one leg.
On one flight, my wife saw a woman get through TSA with an expired drivers license and a marriage certificate, and NO other ID. When she got to security she said nothing, and her husband did all the talking. WTF? A real head shaking moment.
That was exactly my though. If he and his friends are geniuses, and can wipe the floor with these fresh outs, then do it. If you ahve a good idea, barriers to entry are pretty small relative to traditional manufacturing.
BTW - I'm a mid-40s engineer, and I started my own consulting firm almost a decade ago. I have hired fresh-outs, and almost-out interns and I will tell you they are about as useful as tits on a boar hog unless you have a shitload of menial, busy-work tasks to do.
It's the kind of thing that makes you want to work with a group like this, just because it's so freaking cool. I can't imagine the amount of time spent to get these things to this level of organization, even for this short video.
In mechanical licensing - which is the fee due to the composer and lyricist, a "Permanent Digital Download" is treated nearly identically to a track on a CD or a song recorded to a record or tape. The fee is set by statute (http://www.copyright.gov/carp/m200a.pdf), though if you are going to produce a lot of copies, you can negotiate directly with the owners or through HFA (Harry Fox Agency) for those it represents.
This strikes directly to the heart of the matter: if the copyright holders are getting paid the same amount for a CD as an MP3, then the rights of the end user should be the same. When it is a "permanent" digital download, it's a manifestation which you own forever and should be transferable.
This actually matters to me quite a bit, as I am involved in the distribution of very low quantity recordings (~120 copies at a time) on CD. I'd like to switch over to digital, as it would reduce my costs and the time spent burning discs. I only use these on rare occasions, so it would be nice to "collect" the MP3s and put them back in the library for later use/redistribution. I'll be interested to see what comes out of this.
Two questions:
1. Did you spend hundreds of millions developing this single drug, with all of the research resulting in absolute dead ends, and no information or trials which may lead to similar treatments for this or other ailments.
2. Why would you give the drug away for free? That would appear to concentrate a large burden of the cost on a diminishingly small patient base. Why not charge $200-500/month for the treatment for nearly everyone, and offer the drug though community clinics for those with no other resources?
I realize that it makes it easier to justify a $300,000/yr cost by claiming that you need to recover every dollar of research money on the entire class of drugs, but it's a bit ingenuous. Also, by sticking those with insurance with a $300,000/yr bill, you are effectively guaranteeing that anyone with individual health insurance will be dropped from coverage at their first renewal after starting the drug. If a Republican administration wins the white house next fall, it will make sure that the requirements that insurance companies not drop "costly" clients is wiped from the books and there will be no safety net (unless they make enough money to pay out of pocket, which is rare for a $300,000/yr medication).
It is a fuzzy line, but the ruling could just as easily swing the other way. Why? The use is not tranformative, it is for political gain, not "educational purposes", The clip itself is likely the meat of the story (otherwise it would not be useful), and it is used as the entire ad, not just a short clip within the ad. IMHO, it is clearly a copyright violation, and not fair use.
They sell you to advertisers and game companies. It's big business - just as Google how well your habits and interests can generate advertising revenue.
Luckily, only floating ice melts when it gets warmer. Ice on land will stay frozen until well above 15C. I know this is the case because we had snow a few days ago, and today it was almost 17C and there is still snow on the ground. QED.
I would think requiring that they use their real name would add a level of restraint.
Sorry, couldn't help myself - I'm joking, of course. Nothing will lead to any sort of level of restraint in the 13-17yo crowd. :-)
So, if you are concerned about the teenage drama, why do you associate with them? It's not like you're forced to add teens to your circle.
It's a great value for the segment who is either using 200-300GB of data in a typical month, or someone using 2-5GB of data in a month. Metering really should be more fine-grained, though, as having to buy your data in monthly chunks which expire on a specific day of the month are a real pain in the ass for consumers and generates ill-will.
Unlimited died years ago on AT&T for new contracts, and was only for iPhones and feature phones that couldn't stream anything (I had a medianet plan and got it applied to my winmo phone, but it wasn't technically "allowed"). $25/2GB has been the standard for many months now. They're probably looking at usage patterns and trying to keep people from yelling at overages - since they make you buy a full month's worth of data at a time - while not cannibalizing their current income stream.
I would prefer a simpler plan that matches their apparent "costs" but is more friendly to overages. Say $10 for the first 100MB and $1/150MB thereafter. that way they get the fixed monthly income for provisioning and a (roughly) $10/GB rate they seem to feel is appropriate at higher tiers, and you never get a "you used 3.1GB as of day 30 of the month, that's an extra $30" that really pisses people off.
My wife probably does check FB every 5 minutes, and she still manages to stay under 100MB/mo. I'm paying $100 for two phones, (no text, 450min shared with rollover - about 3000 min banked! - and 200MB for each phone) so not too much more than you. I'd be happy with a $10/100 MB plan or $5/50MB, as it would save me a few bucks, but $15 is (was) the lowest tier for AT&T.
You are right about the pages - I'm likely to hit a couple hundred pages a month. I'll admit I don't stream media, but I do a lot of stuff on it for both work and personal reasons and I usually come in at 60MB/mo.
15EUR is nuts, though. I think I've got about the cheapest service around, and I pay $100US for two smartphones. That's a no-texting, 200MB data per phone, and 450 shared minutes between the (two) phones plan on AT&T. It works for me, but it's a heck of a lot more than what you pay. (lucky you!)
It's not clear, either in TFA or on the AT&T site that you get to keep your old plan. One of the reasons for staying with AT&T (for me) is that they have the cheapest data plan at $15. If there were a $10/100MB plan, I'd probably get that as I average about 50-60MB per month. I rarely - if ever - stream media, and use my plan for looking up data and getting email/text/google voice when I'm out. I'll be pissed, and looking at switching both my phones to Verizon, if they force me into a higher cost plan.
Man, I wish I had mod points. An option to require an agree button to purchase more data would be ideal. I went over my limit once on my iPad, and got a notification that I was reaching my limit - 10 hours after I'd gone over it. It's not the end of the world, and $15 isn't going to kill me, but it would have been nice to have to manually authorize the overage.
...just not as it is currently implemented.
Terms of 7/14/20/28 years may still be appropriate, as the rise of technology has made duplication of intellectual works easier to copy and disseminate. Those who create content are no longer concerned about a dozen possible sources of competition in duplication, but tens of millions. The ease of publishing and typical shelf life should, actually, serve to reduce - not extend - copyright and patent terms, as the ability to bring a product to mass market is on a significantly shorter timescale than 200 years ago.
Interestingly, there are methods in place which provide for (almost) easy compliance with copyright laws. but they apply to only the narrowest slice of content. I'm talking about mechanical licensing fees - 10c per physically recorded track or permanent digital download. Problem is, it only applies to the composer of music, and only to mechanical rights. Not to arrangement. Not to synchronization (video). Not to masters (people performing the work). Not to written or spoken work. Not to images. Not to video clips. Not to patents.
The biggest problem is not the existence of patents and copyright, but the byzantine implementation and licensing, and the one-sided legislation which is being written to perpetuate these institutions.
IP laws are a good thing; the way they are implemented is flawed.
Well, that's kind of the case, and kind of not. Re-booking just gets you a second chance. If whatever set of the alarms the first time sets them of again, you're still out of luck. In this case, whatever set it off didn't do so the second time, no doubt at a cost of $100-200 (or more) for Paul to change his flight. Now, for a congressman who likes to rail against the government, that's really, really cheap publicity. For me, $200 and a flight change would be a real pain in the ass.
Um, he was was escorted out according to the fine article, and has already re-booked a flight, gone through security (clean scan this time), and is on his way to DC.
I just RTFA, as I should have on such a sensationalist headline. Of course he wasn't really detained, except to tell him about the pat down, have him refuse, and have him escorted out of the area. He's already re-booked a flight and is on his way to Washington. Not really a story.
But they're not...oh, I see what you did there.
Why would he be detained? Why not just told that he may not fly and turned away? That's the purpose, right - to keep dangerous items, like shampoo in quantities of greatrer than 3 oz, and "tampered" shoes, off of airplanes.
If he didn't pose an immanent threat, he should have simply not been allowed to enter, and his checked luggage returned to him at the counter.
I think both Rand and his father are nut jobs. No, let me rephrase that - I think they have a very simplistic, but consistent, core values from which they derive a series of logical positions which vary from downright practical to socially unworkable. It's that latter part that makes them nutty. I like their logical approach; I am disappointed in their finesse and (in)ability to understand practical application of social policy.
Still, this is how things get changed, and if anyone is going to give the middle finger to our new establishment - and get away with it - it's likely to be someone like the Pauls. I'm surprised he was even required to go through the screening process; I was under the impression that members of congress - those that don't skip it entirely by flying private - would essentially be waved through or would have been provided an alternate entry point.
I presume he was flying business or first class, and was not subjected to the long queue.
No, no - you're confused. You think that the technical meaning should be the ones the marketers use. This service is 4G just like your home bandwidth is unlimited, or your 22/4 "boost" cable modem service can actually provide 22Mbps service on an ongoing basis. If you don't let them lie, they'll have nothing to talk about. ;-)
But they get first crack at eyeballs - you see their ads before you ever click through. That's part of the value of their site - you search, and your product gets top billing, for a fee. Once you've clicked through, you've already decided to skip the marketing on Google's site, and they've made their impression money.
If you're not buying, you presumably are going after information. Google always wants you to return to search with them first, so that if you ARE buying, you'll hit their links. The better the search results, the more likely you are to use them. Better may have a different meaning than some people expect, because better - to Google - is whatever makes you more likely to use Google in the future. Usually that's accurate information, but a positive user experience is also good.