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palebluedoton Cutting their own throats

The problem for me, is that so long as there is DRM attached, I don't feel like I've purchased something I own. Therefore, that erodes significantly the price I am willing to pay for Kindle ebooks; I enjoy reading on the Kindle more, so I like having the ebook, but I don't want to spend money to be locked-in. My threshold right now for an ebook is at least a 40% discount relative to the price I could purchase the physical book, to offset the DRM risk.

Ideally, what I would like would be to be able to buy a paper book, and get the ebook bundled for $X more (say, $2-$5 more). I would have the satisfaction of a book on the shelf, actually owning the book, and then the convenience of an ebook. I would also be less bothered by the presence of DRM. If I could buy DRM-free ebooks from Amazon, I would be willing to pay closer to price parity of the corresponding paper book.

palebluedoton Amazon Prime’s new killer app: Kindle books by subscription

I don't know for sure about this new prime lending in particular, but if it works the way the public library lending does, then the answer is 'yes'. With ebooks you check out from the library to your kindle, your bookmarks remain if you later check that same book out, or even purchase it.

palebluedoton Surprises from numerical linear algebra (2010)

I highly recommend the MIT 18.06 open course on linear algebra - the lectures are first rate. I've been going through this as a refresher, in prep for the Stanford machine learning class.

Link to the course: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-06-linear-algebra-...

Link to the YouTube videos of the lectures: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK3O402wf1c&feature=resul...

palebluedoton Google closes Android developer complaint forums

Hmm. I am not saying they shouldn't be doing better, with just their 30% cut. I am saying I would be willing to pay an annual fee for better support, and the other developers I know personally would as well.

It is not mutually exclusive position - I am being pragmatic, and if $X/year gave me good support, then sign me up... even if I think they should be doing better with their 30%. I just ultimately want the problem solved; I am definitely willing to pay, because I don't want my revenue stream jeopardized for the lack of market support should a problem arise. But yes, they could be doing better right now.

palebluedoton Google closes Android developer complaint forums

I have published apps, and I would gladly pay an annual fee for increased publisher support.

The developer documents and engineering engagement is already pretty good from an actual app development perspective... but when things with the android market goes sideways, the support and communication is really pretty bad. To make matters worse, it is usually completely out of the app developers control to fix it.

When it was an issue that I knew others were facing, I felt pretty confident that it would eventually be fixed, because enough noise would be made.

I know several Android developers, and they all feel frustrated and befuddled by the lack of developer support - and we are all willing to pay extra for it. This is, with at least what we know now, another step backwards.

palebluedoton Apple Again Cites Inaccurate Evidence in Samsung Patent Case

No, it appears as if it was just altered in the ways that would help their case, in this instance. With the tablet filing, the aspect ratio appears to be altered - and perhaps not coincidentally, altering the aspect ratio in that filing was more beneficial.

The end result appears to be, in both the tablet and phone filings, that the alleged image manipulation produced something that appeared more similar to Apple's products. That the image manipulation is different (aspect ratio adjustment, vs resizing) seems to be more damning than if the same adjustment was made across the board (i.e. it looks less likely to be accidental).

palebluedoton Apple files inaccurate evidence in Samsung Galaxy phone case

Because the article title doesn't make it obvious - this is with regards to the Galaxy S smartphone, not the tablet. And again, it is in the full-color side-by-side photo, just like it was for the tablet:

This time, a picture of a Galaxy S smartphone has been resized to match an iPhone 3G

palebluedoton Balls

The price of $12.5B is prior to discounting the $3B+ in cash the MMI is holding. A lot of emphasis is placed on the '$12.5B' value in this article, without taking into consideration that this is really 25% higher than the effective price of $9.5B, once you back out the cash.

palebluedoton Did Apple tamper with evidence in the German Apple v. Samsung case?

I just scrolled through the document you linked. While there are additional images of the Galaxy in that document, the allegedly altered one is the only one I saw that compared them both powered on, closely side-by-side, and not at an angle.

The other images are much more difficult to compare. If you were to pick one image to alter in that document to 'make your case', they picked the most influential one. It is difficult for me to see that as accidental.

palebluedoton Has Google wasted $12bn on a dud patent poker-chip?

Looking at MMI's balance sheet, they have $3B in cash. So Google is really paying $9.5B. And, IMO, they are getting so much more for that money than they would have received with a pure IP-only play like Nortel.

I suspect Dan is closer to right than wrong - particularly on the FTC angle.

palebluedoton Has Google wasted $12bn on a dud patent poker-chip?

While the register portrays Google's moves as blundering, Dan Lyon's take is the exact opposite. I suspect it may be a while before we know which is true, although I want to lean towards Dan's view:

http://realdanlyons.com/blog/2011/08/15/suck-on-it-applesoft...

palebluedoton What’s the Fastest Web Browser in the “Real World?” Chrome.

It would be interesting to see some additional data - for instance, the load & perceived render times for each browser under different operating systems - how is Safari on OS X vs Safari on Windows? Chrome & Firefox across Linux, Mac, and Windows?

I imagine that Safari is predominantly on OS X, and IE on Windows. Does that affect the load and render times? I guess since the two fastest (Firefox & Chrome) are also on all platforms, and probably more equally distributed, that would suggest that the OS isn't as important - but without more information, that is just a guess.

palebluedoton Google failing to pay Android developers

One thing the article mentions is that there is a semicolon that can be seen, indicating it is a web-based order. That is not the case universally, it seems - my web-based orders do not have a semicolon after the app name on the order summary page.

You can tell, however, that it is a web-based order by the full customer contact info (including real email), as well as the additional developer-specific order number at the bottom of the page, when viewing the order details.

palebluedoton Google failing to pay Android developers

I've been noticing the problem, but as far back as I have noticed it personally thus far is to 7/26... some spot checking from 7/11 shows the web orders going through fine then, at least for me. But from 7/26 to now, my web based orders have been charged, but I have received no payout for them.

I have confidence that it will eventually get sorted out.

When the market breaks (it does so occasionally for developers), I wish there was more immediate feedback available from Google. The forums are a good start, but they tend to get filled quickly with melodrama on any hot issue. But all in all I am happy as an Android developer.

palebluedoton [dead]

Resubmitted, because I double-pasted the URL accidently last time, creating an invalid URL.

palebluedoton Airbnb Nightmare: No End In Sight

It should be noted that when they changed that story title, they were changing it to the actual title of the blog posting. That is pretty standard practice here, to prevent editorializing via the title. Although, I can see how it would come across wrong in this case.

palebluedoton Poll: Android developers, what IDE do you use?

I do all my Android dev in VIM, and I use ant on the command line for building... what do you find horrible about the command line build? I just use 'ant debug' for debug builds, and 'ant release' for release builds - and 'adb install -r' to install the package once it is built. Usually, it ends up being a couple of up arrows, and enter, on the command line to build / deploy.

palebluedoton When Patents Attack

This this particular duplication is (in my opinion) likely because of the title - the one you linked primarily mentions Intellectual Ventures. Personally, I like it best when people use the original title of the page / piece; in this case, "When Patents Attack!".

palebluedoton Revisiting 'Zork': What We Lost in the Transition to Visual Games

I remember as kid, playing the Zork series and exchanging hints with my 4th grade teacher. Great game, and that made it all the more fun.

I think the game that had the biggest impact on me, though, was a game for the Apple ][ called "Odyssey"... I remember many hours lost to that game:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey:_The_Compleat_Apventure

palebluedoton Google Nexus 4G detailed – 720p display, 4G LTE, Android 4.0

With Android, under Settings -> Accessibility, you can select that the power button ends the call. I find this very useful, as it gives me a hardware button to use to end a call.

palebluedoton Why I won't be using Groupon again.. A consumer perspective.

The whole point of a business (especially restaurant) using Groupon is to gain a repeat customer base. To that end, it would make more sense to give better than normal service to the 'cheap' Grouponers.

For a restaurant, what will cause people to come back is quality & service - so if you are outlaying cash (via discounts) to gain customers, you would think you would go out of your way to gain a repeat customer.

Perhaps this is more of an education for the wait staff, and perhaps the restaurant owners should realize the people using a coupon may not tip well, and make up some of the difference for the wait staff - and emphasis the importance of converting them through service & quality to be repeat customers.

Otherwise - why would the owners do the Groupon at all?

palebluedoton Joy of using linux

You are correct in that a database file may contain more rich data that CSV. I think it is open to debate, however, whether a closed format like MDB is easier for the end user, over something open like SQLite.

palebluedoton Lodsys is coming after Android developers now

Some more info here, including the developer name: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/patent_holding_firm_lod...

The developer is "Clapfoot Inc", and the game in question is "Tank Hero".

palebluedoton Lodsys is coming after Android developers now

From the first post in the thread:

"We recently implemented in-app purchases for our Android application and several weeks later we received a letter from Lodsys, claiming that we infringed on their patents."

So, I suppose it is a just a sample of one, at this point - but I think it is enough to show that it is not strictly limited to iOS developers at this point.

This is the first time I've heard of them coming after an Android developer for in-app purchases.

palebluedoton Ask HN: Dropping out of college and moving to SF

But there is a counter-point... being to cautious and patient can be a risk in it's own right. In my own case, I look back and feel that I waited too long to indulge my "wild hair" and move to a place with more opportunity.

I would emphasis this as well - I don't think you will get to your death bed some day, and think - "golly, I sure am glad I didn't take any risks. I sure am glad I never did anything stupid."

Sometimes, the real risk is caving to fear.

Another note - never underestimate the value of persistence, and effort. One of my favorite quotes is from Coolidge:

Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

palebluedoton Difficult is Good

How often is money made with normal people that are difficult to get along with? If it is the same as normal + easygoing (i.e. rarely), then the defining characteristic would seem to be brilliance (according to the referenced quadrant chart).

Perhaps, however, it is more likely that a brilliant entrepreneur is difficult as opposed to easygoing, so the article's point of needing to get along with difficult people makes sense in that aspect. Do VC's & angels in general find that correlation to hold true?