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User: dschnur

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Comments · 38

  1. Re:so tell me again... on Microsoft, Apple and Others Launch Huge Patent Strike at Android · · Score: 1

    How is that much different than this:

    SELECT column_name(s)
    FROM table_name
    WHERE column_name LIKE pattern;

    Not sure how long I've been using LIKE in SQL, but it's been a while. Anyone know when it was introduced?

      -Dan

  2. Most aren't all that hard to repair on Motorola Reinvents the RAZR · · Score: 1

    For the most part, replacing glass, lcd panels or case parts isn't hard in most smart phones. There are many video walk-troughs on Youtube for almost any model. Parts are available on eBay and several web sites for nearly all smart phones and tablets.

    I've fixed *many* broken smart phones for my wife, friends, and "the person at the office next door who heard I can do it."

    If you have steady hands and can follow instructions, basic smart phone repair is pretty simple.

    When iFixit says "might be hard to repair," they probably mean it.

  3. Apple has it's issues too. on Most IPv6-certified Home Network Gear Buggy · · Score: 1

    A few months ago, I ran across a problem with an Airport Extreme (Dual Band) where it will not run IPv6 at all if you have IPv4 running inside via NAT and/or DHCP.

    I posted a detailed question to Apple's airport support forum and got no response.

    I posted a *short* question and got no response.

    In the end, I wound up using an expensive airport as a simple a bridge, and a MikroTik based router to solve the problem.

      _Dan

  4. Same Pie, Smaller Slice on Music Execs Stressed Over Free Streaming · · Score: 1

    In 1999:

      Most people didn't have -- a smartphone with an expensive data plan -- an Internet connection, Cable, DSL, Dial-Up, -- and much to spend on video games

    But did have -- the same (inflation adjusted) amount to spend on entertainment

    All else being equal, has anyone done a study to see how people are spending their entertainment dollar and how it's changed over time?

      -Dan

  5. In AZ they would've given him a medal... on N.C. Official Sics License Police On Computer Scientist For Too Good a Complaint · · Score: 3, Informative

    In fact, a few years ago in Arizona, they had a problem designing the interchange between the US 60 and Loop 101. A Motorola programmer submitted a suggestion to Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) that was brilliant... ADOT gave him a plaque and named him an honorary traffic engineer.... They didn't use his design to plan the new interchange, but used his ideas to base their analysis and design on.

  6. Excellent Marketing! I wish I'd thought of that.. on Want a Body Piercing With That Server? · · Score: 1

    You know, it's about time somebody made that link. Everyone who buys servers has at least one piercing or ten... Don't they? I don't go out much. I'll take the word of my cubicle-mate.

    So on with it. This is the best marketing campaign I've seen since the classic "Buy an AppleII and get a free Yeti," or the most famous ever, "Get a new IBM PC and we will kill Charlie Chaplin's Ghost!"

    Body piercings and servers. Brilliant!

      -Dan

  7. But nothing's more powerfull than: on Ginkgo Doesn't Improve Memory Or Cognitive Skills · · Score: 1

    "Well, I have a friend who heard from a really smart person/person on the Internet(s) that when he took it he was finally able to almost pass his GED."

    Ok, brevity aside, wikipedia "Placebo Effect" and you will see that suggestion can be a cure in it's self.

    Viral marketing gone bad?

  8. How to get more Entertainment Dollars -- Or Not. on ASCAP Says Apple Should Pay For 30-sec. Song Samples · · Score: 1

    Here's a hypothesis, let's see if we can flesh this one out:

    1: The peak of the Music Industry was in 1999, with approximate 16.4 billion dollars in sales of CD's alone.
    2: It's less than half that now.
    3: On-line Music sales have only made up for less than 3 billion dollars of the short fall.
    4: The video Game industry has grown vastly in the last ten years. See below. It might even be /directly/ affecting the amount spent on music.
    5: The Internet also provides competition for people's time and limited money.
    6: Other minor factors in the loss of revenue seem to include unauthorized distribution of music, and the wide availability of "singles" via on-line stores that compete with traditional album sales.

    Other thoughts:

    1: There is a finite amount that people spend on Entertainment.
    2: The Music Industry simply has a slice of the pie. It doesn't have a whole one to it's self.

    Here's what seems to currently be happening to counter this problem:

    1: The Music Industry (RIAA) view it as a problem in /only their/ part of the entertainment industry. They don't seem to be addressing the industry as a whole.
        - In 1995, Guy Kawasaki gave a speech to a graduating class. I'm not going to repeat it, but see the link below. Specifically, see Number 8, about the Ice Cutters. A quick summary for the impatient is: If you don't embrace change, then it will happen without you. If that happens, you may find yourself quite lonely one day.
    2: They think that if they can charge fees for items/services they didn't in the past, then they will make up for some of that lost revenue.
    3: They seem to be distracting themselves by pursuing the symptoms of the illness, not the root cause. (Think: RIAA Lawsuits)
    4: By pursuing the symptoms, they are diminishing the "good faith" value of their part of the industry, thus making their slice even smaller.

    Ok, background's done.

    Here's my thoughts:

      If the Music Industry charges for things they haven't in the past, such as Boy Scout Campfire Songs, iTunes Previews, and Royalties on Fair Use items, they won't increase their share of the pie.

      If they continue to pursue the "Bigger Stick" tactics they are using, they will continue to tarnish their reputation, and devalue their "brand."

    People will probably not spend more money on Music as a whole now that there are different things competing for their dollars.

    Additional cost/charges will make the final product more expensive to customers, therefore reducing both the value to them, and the amount they are able to purchase.

    Your Thoughts?

        - Dan Schnur
          (No, not that one.)

    See:
    http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/08/01/opinion/01blow.ready.html
    http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2008/01/growth-of-gaming-in-2007-far-outpaces-movies-music.ars - Older, but insightful.
    http://stuff.mit.edu/people/amlau/clarity/kawasaki.htm

  9. There are proper places in the US... on Where Computers Go To Die · · Score: 1

    We do a lot of work with an Arizona based company called Gold Circuit. (web site: www.goldcircuit.com). After watching their videos and getting a plant tour, a question comes to mind. Is it really necessary to send old gear to China/Africa anymore? Are there companies like Gold Circuit in other parts of the world? Does anyone have a list of places to recycle old gear? This is not a company that's in business only to be "green." They are profitable and make their money by recycling old equipment without polluting.

  10. Boy am I toast... on Engineers Have More Sons, Nurses More Daughters · · Score: 1

    Me = Engineer

    Children = 2 daughters

    Sanity = Gone in a few years...

  11. A good grinder never hurts either on Secure Hard Drive Deletion Appliance? · · Score: 1

    Watch the videos on http://www.goldcircuit.com/
    It's a really neat place where old computers go to get ground up. Looks like they could handle a few tons of hard drives per hour too...

    If worse comes to worse, makes for some good internet tv watching...

  12. But.... on Walmart Offers Sub-$500 laptop With Linspire · · Score: 1

    It's from Wal-Mart...

    Always...

    Gotta love the cult of Wal-mart...

    Ok, it run's linux, one good quality.

    It's the cheapest new laptop you can buy...

    Probably no quality.

    Better to save and get a good computer that will last and be able to choose your own distro.

    -D

  13. An Employer's Prespective on Internet Job Boards a Bunch of Hype? · · Score: 5, Informative

    In December we posted a sales position to monster.com. It was the first job we ever advertised using them, and from what I heard, it was a good way to generate lots of prospective employees. In it, we listed the responsibilities and minimum experience required for the position. We also said -- clearly -- that we wanted applicants to call us instead of send resumes. (We get lots of resumes, all they do is take up space in the "Keep this or the lawyers will make money" file cabinet.) What we wanted was a sales person to call us and demonstrate their skills on the phone.

    The responses: Zip.

    Oh, there were resumes sent to us. They were sent in exactly the way we told people not to. There were even two phone calls. No body had skills that were even close to what we were looking for. I quickly came to the conclusion that most job seekers on monster are so jaded by looking for work that they don't even bother to read the posting and just click "send" on their resume.

    Score Monster 1 - Us 0

    Monster made their money, we got Zip. I might as well have written the job posting on toilet paper and stocked the bathroom in our building with it... Never mind... That would have gotten a better response..

    In the end, we filled the position the old way. Via the network of customers and vendors we have build over the years, and by asking "Hey, do you know anyone who can do the job..."

    Any other employer have a similar experience?