Dean Landolt’s BestNetTech Profile

On the post: Will Kids Change Their Names As They Become Adults To Hide From Their Google Permanent Record?

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 18 Aug, 2010 @ 12:32pm

the brilliance of sexting

"While there may be many things that make adults cringe, I would bet a lot more kids understand what they should avoid doing online than adults give them credit for."

My gut reaction was to think of 'sexting' and how embarrassing that could be in time, but then it occurred to me -- perhaps kids already have it figured out: the child porn boogie man makes these images virtually untouchable.

Now that I think about it, perhaps the best way to avoid a permanent google record is for all of your youthful indiscretions to involve nudity.

On the post: Google Tries To Make It Easy For Anyone To Create Android Apps

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 12 Jul, 2010 @ 04:41pm

"Sounds like a formula for false positives. If someone sits down too fast ..."

Obviously you haven't spent much time with the kind of people who would use such an app. Sitting down too fast? They may as well have fallen down. If the first number dialed is innocuous (caregiver of sorts) this is a non-issue. It'd be nice if there were a list of fallback contacts, finally landing on 911 if all else fails.

On the post: Canadian Heritage Minister Denies Calling His Critics On Copyright Bill 'Extreme Radicals'; Video Proves He Said It

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 23 Jun, 2010 @ 07:10pm

OT: I love the new moderation buttons -- if only there were a "funny" lever to pull I'd totally jump on it for the second comment!

On the post: Canadian Industry Minister Admits He Breaks Copyright Law Frequently

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 28 May, 2010 @ 02:56pm

"significantly more favorable to copyright holders than US law"

You should probably reword that -- that's a pretty big assumption (and one I know you'd disagree with).

On the post: Apple: Closed, Proprietary Systems Are Bad (Unless They're Our Own)

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 29 Apr, 2010 @ 06:57pm

well, in one case...

"Jobs makes it clear that he has no interest in developers using any platform apart from the iPhone, and any tool that helps them do so is worthy of his scorn."

Carlo...

In this *particular* case this is far from the truth -- Jobs does nothing but heap praise on the open web. And with the stuff SproutCore's been doing on touch with web apps, for instance (work Apple funds, no less), in this case they *can* puff their chest out a little.

But otherwise, sure, the hypocrisy is ridiculous.

On the post: Does HP Buying Palm Promise To Solve Any Problems?

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 29 Apr, 2010 @ 07:21am

off the mark...

Mike:

You keep talking up some "lack of developers" for WebOS (like they've missed the lock-in boat somehow) but I think you're way off the mark. The beauty of WebOS is that every web developer is a WebOS dev -- it really *is* just html, css and js.

Yes, I think it's a shame it's not on more devices but that's not for lack of developer support -- I can assure you there are a lot of folks in the web dev community thrilled to hear that HP is "doubling down" on it.

Personally, as a developer I could care less about the mobile space but between Apple's ridiculous terms of service and Google's love for all things java it would be a huge mistake for HP to cut bait on WebOS -- it *will* be a successful platform if they put decent hardware underneath it.

On the post: Total Number Of Personal Data Records Leaked Since 2005: At Least 358.4 Million

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 27 Apr, 2010 @ 10:04am

"...since the penalties for the leaks are toothless and are cheaper than any real prevention."

Perhaps you haven't heard of the new Massachusetts law -- it's a lot of things (the word misguided comes to mind) but certainly not toothless!

On the post: The Future Of Content: Protection Is In The Business Model — Not In Technology

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 13 Apr, 2010 @ 12:51pm

Re: You're not quite there

I was just typing this comment practically verbatim. I'm glad I hit refresh before publishing.

Just to add a bit (as has been noted here several times) micro-transactions *won't* work -- the mental transactions costs are simply too high.

On the post: Publisher Warns Fans That Liking A Book Too Much May Be Illegal

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 12 Apr, 2010 @ 03:16pm

it's WHAT law?

"I know there are those who would like to change copyright law to make this illegal, but in what way is it currently illegal under US copyright law to buy legit copies of books from overseas sellers?"

That was my reaction too! I know why DVD regions are "the law" (damn CSS and the DMCA), but last I heard the DMCA doesn't apply to bound works (maybe they could consider plastic wrap to be a copy protection technique)?

Anyone want to shed some light on this?

On the post: BBC Link Policy: We Want To Send A Lot Of Traffic To Other Sites

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 22 Mar, 2010 @ 02:42pm

It never ceases to amaze me how forward-thinking the BBC has been of late -- from a public institution no less. Shame we don't see much of that on this side of the pond...

On the post: Would UK Politicians Support The Digital Economy Bill If It Applied To Offline Activities As Well?

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 19 Mar, 2010 @ 06:19pm

individual liberties: the only scarce good that matters...

As we all know, when you "pirate" a song the original "owner" of that file hasn't actually lost anything. Every time our liberties are systematically whittled away, we all *actually* lose something. That *is* theft.

On the post: Georgia Supreme Court Says It's Okay To Put Non-Sex Offenders On The Registered Sex Offender List

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 18 Mar, 2010 @ 04:45pm

from the adulthood-not-required dept...

"Things such as kids having sex with each other after only one of the two teens has reached the 'legal' limit"

Sadly an arbitrary "legal" age limit isn't always necessary. Two underage kids having sex -- even just foreplay -- can lead to one of them being charged with statutory rape and getting slapped with the sex offender label as a parting gift to along with that long jail sentence. Look up the case of Genarlow Wilson -- it'll make you cringe.

On the post: Screenwriters Claim Sony Copied Their Plot For A Video Game

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 12 Mar, 2010 @ 02:11pm

more popular != better

"It's just that the creator of the less-well-known work is jealous of the success of whoever came up with a better version that got a lot more attention."

One nit with this assertion: more popular != better...just sayin'...

On the post: RIAA Takes The Cake: Equates File Sharing To Children's Fairy Tale

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 08 Mar, 2010 @ 10:41am

Who killed the Recording Industry?

If the RIAA were intellectually honest perhaps they could have used a more apt analogy -- right from their own archives no less -- Dylan's Who Killed Davey Moore [1].

So who _did_ kill the recording industry? Everyone knows but them -- in the end, basic economics.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_Davey_Moore

On the post: Cutting Saturday Mail Delivery? Sure, If It Makes Good Business Sense.

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 04 Mar, 2010 @ 05:52pm

the USPS as a business? not so sure

Easy solution -- don't cut Saturday delivery, just spread deliveries out. Noone needs mail _every_ day anyway -- so maintain the same routes, the same logistics, everything...just deliver once every other day. Monday, Wednesday, Friday for one route, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday for another. Cut your carrier staff in half (and your sorting staff significantly as well). I think we can all wait an extra day for that junk mail -- if it's urgent it wouldn't have been mailed in the first place.

Of course, the USPS can never do this -- because it's NOT a business and cannot _really_ be run like one...

"so these changes just reflect a desire to return to [profitability], which are is good practice for any business, whether they are in the public or the private sector"

I'd have to disagree there (and I bet so would Mike) -- Exhibit A: the USPTO.

"At 44 cents, first class mail is still one of the best deals around"

And how do we know this? Lest we not forget they have a monopoly on mailboxes (and are none-too-shy about enforcing it).

On the post: High Frequency Trading: The Best Of Technological And Financial Innovation… Or The Next Bubble?

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 23 Dec, 2009 @ 12:54pm

hedging vs. speculation

But at some point, they basically flipped from insurance to gambling.

Mike: I'm sure you of all people know there's no fundamental difference between hedging and speculation. At what point could things have flipped?

That said, I like the form/purpose sanity check -- it's simple and broadly applicable.

On the post: Are Kids Not Going Into Computer Science Because Their Parents Want Them To Be Sports Stars?

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 28 Oct, 2009 @ 02:30pm

BASIC? Really?

"I don't think the answer is to tell your little slugger to put down the baseball bat and spend more time learning BASIC."

As an experienced software developer who cut his teeth on BASIC I can say with certainty that this is _terrible_ advice!

But I also shied away from computer science courses and focused academically on business and economics subject matter and frankly, I couldn't be happier about this. There's very little about computer science that's particularly suited to the classroom, and the languages and practices they teach are notoriously outdated. Kids are better off staying away.

On the post: Why Are RIAA Supporters So Scared Of What Actual Musicians Think?

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 10 Aug, 2009 @ 01:10pm

post the ip addresses

Post the IP addresses!

If more folks posted an IP address in lieu of "Anonymous Cowardon" like wikipedia does, there would be some spectacular gold to be data-mined (more helpful would be a simple microformat for making up comments and associated IPs).

On the post: Do Morons In A Hurry Eat Cupcakes?

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2008 @ 07:34am

of morons and trolls...

Two points. First, actually, yes, a moron in a hurry might be confused by the cupcakes. It actually sounds like a consumer confusion (for a change).

Second, reading the comments here has become next to impossible with all the patent trolls and their witty banter circling about. Can you finally take your own advice and implement some form of moderation?

On the post: Overzealous Trademark Holder Tries To Stop Blogger From Using The Phrase 'Branded Community'

Dean Landolt ( profile ), 04 Aug, 2008 @ 12:34pm

streisand

Come on Mike, how could you fall for this... You said it yourself: "the owner of some marketing firm" -- this is a pretty clear streisand ploy in action. One hopes.

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