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there is still a difference for a product that takes something into the mainstream. just because a product category physically existed is different from when it is widely available and widely used.

3 days ago on Congress asks Google CEO if Glass infringes 'on the privacy of the average American' 1 reply 3 recommends

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I think there is a case for fair use with certain lets play videos. I’ve watched a bunch of them, and my favorites are from people that are good commentators while they are playing, and as such I think there is a strong case for fair use. It is certainly a grey area though, from straight recordings of entire playthroughs, to one’s with lots of commentary and additional content.

Whatever the case with the rights however, I think Nintendo is just making a bad decision of how to enforce their copyright if they have correct claim. Nintendo gets far more value out of the publicity from professional level Let’s Plays and walkthroughs than it would get by taking the monetization from those videos. The people that are making the best of those videos are doing it because they can monazite them. Take that away and they will likely stop making them, and thus Nintendo gets much less continuing publicity.

When I see a game that someone else is playing, I want to play that game for myself!

I totally agree. Just look at Paul’s piece about Starcraft last year. It was watching shoutcasts on Youtube that made him go out and buy the game. I have done the same thing with other video games myself.

4 days ago on Who owns a 'Luigi's Mansion' walkthrough video, the player or Nintendo? 2 recommends

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I think it is much better to just have a user agreement to pay for new seeds every season, than to engineer plants that can’t reproduce.

The fallout of the later seems much less desirable.

7 days ago on Supreme Court rules in favor of Monsanto, says farmer violated seed patents 1 reply

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“Americans should not be subject to fines and criminal liability for merely unlocking devices and media they legally purchased,” said Rep. Lofgren

Americans should not be subject to phones that are locked in the first place. Just make software locking illegal to begin with.

11 days ago on Latest cellphone unlocking bill proposes significant digital copyright reform 1 recommend

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That’s true. I wonder what the percentage of income for guns vs ammo is. I’d assume ammo is pretty low, but don’t know.

11 days ago on Lawmakers rush to ban 3D-printed guns, but enforcement options are murky 1 reply

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Since it is ultimately a physical good, it would be enforceable in the same way that you enforce illegal guns now. When you are caught with a printed gun, there are repercussions. Obviously, this provides very little actual enforcement, since the threat of jail time is hardly deterring people from having or using illegal obtained guns now.

There would also be a bit more that enforcement could do on the distribution side. It could be easy to write a law that totally bans the digital distribution of 3-D gun specs. That would likely be enough to stop legit organizations like this “Defense Distributed” from doing it. But beyond that, it would obviously be super easy for anyone who wanted to find on off-shore server that was distributing the specs.

11 days ago on Lawmakers rush to ban 3D-printed guns, but enforcement options are murky 4 recommends

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Yea, I am sure the NRA would be totally against print your own guns. That just means gun manufacturers aren’t getting any money.

11 days ago on Lawmakers rush to ban 3D-printed guns, but enforcement options are murky 1 reply 2 recommends

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Yea, i wonder what the weight on it is.

11 days ago on New Sony Windows 8 convertible revealed, shows off slim design in leaked video

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I don’t get high end cars at all, but do wonder about the sound/feel of the engine. Obviously there is a large market for people who like loud rough engines in their sports cars, but I wonder if there isn’t simply an untapped market of people that would get into a smooth silent sports car. Since there hasn’t ever been one it’s hard to know, but I would imagine there would be some people into that.

11 days ago on Ferrari Chairman says no to electric cars 1 reply

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You’re free to give all the money you want to the government. Don’t try to make that choice for others.

People aren’t islands. Everything you do affects others. Organized society works by making collective decisions for others, because all our individual decisions are already affecting them. If you want to live in society you have to take government policies you agree with, and those you don’t. You don’t get to choose.

13 days ago on Senate passes nationwide online sales tax bill 1 reply 10 recommends

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So….. you think the government is not ALWAYS a source of fairness, therefore someone else can NEVER think it’s a source of fairness?

13 days ago on Senate passes nationwide online sales tax bill 4 recommends

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I prefer a sales tax to an income tax myself.

13 days ago on Senate passes nationwide online sales tax bill 1 reply

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Seriously with this argument? Because people should pay only the tax they want, to support only the services they want. That will get us far.

13 days ago on Senate passes nationwide online sales tax bill 1 reply 8 recommends

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It’s not more…. it’s just enforcing what was already there.

13 days ago on Senate passes nationwide online sales tax bill 1 reply 6 recommends

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This will cause online retailers to raise prices to make up for the increase

what?

13 days ago on Senate passes nationwide online sales tax bill 1 reply 4 recommends

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Whatever, this still seems like a non-issue. I work in a small business that sends several hundred bills to different clients per month, and even with a ridiculously antiquated system of managing it, it still takes a very small amount of time.

13 days ago on Senate passes nationwide online sales tax bill 2 replies

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Is it? Wouldn’t that be one check per state per year? Also, wouldn’t the software keeping track of your tax collection be pretty easy to print out all the different check and envelopes you need?

14 days ago on Senate passes nationwide online sales tax bill 2 replies 2 recommends

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Its just going to take a while for the market to get their head around what MS is doing.

I think they are on the right track as well, but they need to really keep iterating on the modern UI. It feels to me like there was just an over-aggressive push into touch that made important UI features get left out. Actual windowing, control bars that are visible, better multitasking – Microsoft needs to recognize that there are things a large screen touch UI can learn from the desktop, not just vice-versa. It seems like they are showing they recognize this with the rumored addition of the start button, and 50/50 in Blue, but they really need to keep going with that.

I love the fact that they have the same interface and can run the same apps.

How does that work again? Windows RT apps all run on Windows 8, but developers can make Windows 8 apps in modern UI that does not run on RT?

24 days ago on Six months on, Windows 8 sales are a mystery 4 replies 1 recommend

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Don’t buy on ebay now. It’s $575 unlocked directly from HTC’s website.

28 days ago on Cheapest way to get the HTC One

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haha, that’s not at all how that math works.

28 days ago on Verizon nets 677,000 new wireless subscribers, activates 7.2 million smartphones, 4 million iPhones in Q1 1 reply

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That’s certainly fair. Design is totally opinion. My main point was really just that Sony seems to be the only one trying to do something modern. Most other cameras I see are either the utilitarian box, or retro.

28 days ago on Fujifilm X100S review: Making today’s pictures with yesterday’s design 1 reply

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If you bring your own phone, and want 500MB of data. I was talking about what I assume 95% of people are looking for, which is a new phone and 2GB of data, which is $80/month.

28 days ago on Petition calling for Verizon to drop contracts gains momentum

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This does look like a good RX1 alternative. Although this makes me appreciate the RX1 and NEX lines design a lot more.

It seems like Sony is the only one able to make a camera with beautiful design that is also modern. Every other manufacturer that tries to do good design just makes a retro design. It is possible to make something new.

28 days ago on Fujifilm X100S review: Making today’s pictures with yesterday’s design 2 replies 4 recommends