Posts by Paul Durrant 32 publicly visible posts • joined 25 Sep 2007
If Waterstones really wanted to distinguish their reader and ebook store from the rest they could use their current paper book market share to get publishers to go DRM-free.
"Let us sell your ebooks without any DRM, or we will stop stocking your paper books"
Paper books are still at least 80% of publishers business. Waterstones has about 25% of the UK paper book market, the largest single outlet.
Perhaps they have the clout to pull it off.
I'm astonished that none of the comments so far acknowledge the obvious fact that this new Samsung notebook rips off the Apple MacBook Pro look.
Let's count the ways:
1. All-aluminium enclosure
2. Ports on left hand side
3. Slot load optical drive on right hand side
4. Square black flat keytops set in aluminium
5. Hinge shape and style - long centre bar hinge that drops the lid behind the body of the laptop
6. Large all-in-one trackpad and button.
And for that matter - just look at the thing.
There are innumerable ways to design the look of modern electronics. It's not right to just rip off the design of other manufacturers.
It might be going to miss us on this pass, but it seems it has a greater than 1-in-a-thousand chance of hitting the Earth on 18 June 2049. If it does hit, it'll be with the energy of about 10,000 tons of TNT. That's enough to destroy a city of a few hundred thousand people, if it hits in the city centre.
But we'll have a much more precise probability estimate after it's passed us this time.
How could you do a review of Kitchen DAB radios and miss out the Roberts undercupboard radio?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001HB62V2/
You even reviewed it when it first came out.
http://www.reghardware.com/2008/12/15/revew_radio_dab_roberts_rdk_2/
I've had one for the past couple of years, and it's been great. The only downside is that the controls are sometimes a little less sensitive than I'd like.
I don't think Nick Clegg is "at odds" with his previous position.
He previously said that the Home Secretary had the power to "enact amendments " - i.e. to change the laws.
He's now saying the the Home Secretary doesn't have the power to "reverse and undo certain legal aspects." - i.e. that the Home Secretary can't arbitrarily override Judges' decisions on what the current laws say.
Both are true.
It is almost impossible to pull the MagSafe connector directly away from the computer - the magnet holds it very securely.
But it's not necessary to pull it straight out from the computer like you must with, say, USB connectors. Just push it gently up or down, and it comes away easily, even if you're just eaten fish & chips.
A space shuttle launch costs $450 million*, and puts 24,400 kg** of payload into LEO. A litre of water is 1kg. So taking water up on the space shuttle costs $37,500 per litre.
In comparison, under $20,000 per litre seems a bargain.
*http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/information/shuttle_faq.html#10
**http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/shuttle.htm
Well, apparently, they "will help fight the growing threat of identity theft and fraud, as well as crime, illegal immigration and terrorism."
Let's take them in reverse order:
* Terrorism: Nope. Not even if made compulsory. The July 7th bombers, for example, were all British citizens. The September 11th hijackers were all traveling on valid passports.
* Illegal Immigration: Nope. It will do no more than existing documentation. If illegal immigrants can manage without a NI number, they can managed without an ID card.
* Crime: Nope. I can't even think of a way that an ID card could help tackle crime.
* Fraud: Nope. They're not compulsory, Lack of an ID card will raise no suspicion.
* Identity Theft: Nope. See Fraud. And if someone manages to counterfeit an ID Card they will only help in Identity Theft.
So - the five main reasons for spending all this money are rubbish. Either they're idiots, or they're introducing them for other reasons. Or both, of course!
The only surprise about any copyright backlash is that it's taken so long. Thomas Babington Macaulay predicted such an outcome of excessive copyright back in 1841!
"Remember too that, when once it ceases to be considered as wrong and discreditable to invade literary property, no person can say where the invasion will stop. The public seldom makes nice distinctions. The wholesome copyright which now exists will share in the disgrace and danger of the new copyright which you are about to create. And you will find that, in attempting to impose unreasonable restraints on the reprinting of the works of the dead, you have, to a great extent, annulled those restraints which now prevent men from pillaging and defrauding the living."
http://baens-universe.com/articles/McCauley_copyright
It's quite plain that the Kookaburra tune is used (in part) in the flute accompaniment.
But the damages awarded are insanely high. The infringing use is a very small part of the song, and not part of the song's main melody at all. How it can be just to award 60% of earnings is beyond me. I would hope that they get it reduced on appeal to a tenth of that or less.
The 13" MacBook pro is just much better value. That £100 extra gets you:
* Smaller machine (in every dimension)
* 90g lighter
* Firewire 800 port
* SD Card slot
* backlit keyboard
* 250GB HD vs 160GB HD
* Maximum RAM of 8GB not 4GB
Hopefully the next version will bring back the firewire port /and/ lower the price.
I don't think I've ever seen such unanimity in the comments to a Register story.
Disney FAIL. Luxo, rightly, did nothing about Pixar's (& later Disney's) use of an image of their lamp. But manufacturing an actual imitation lamp called "Luxo, Jr." is a straight-forward violation of Luxo's trademarks.
Disney should settle, quickly and generously. Luxo are entirely in the right on this one.
Pricing eBooks the same as paper books is insane. I won't pay the same for data as I will for atoms. Mainly because I can always sell on a paper book, but I'm sure they won't want me selling on the electronic version.
Oh - and Baen DONT charge $20 for all their books published each month.
They charge $15. Yes, $15 for eBooks versions (with no DRM) of two newly released hardbacks, two newly released paperbacks, and usually a couple from their back catalogue. Total retail price of the paper versions of the books is over $75.
www.webscription.net
Now that's the way to do eBooks.
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