sceptic’s Comments

• Mar 3rd, 2010 @ 12:14pm

  Parallel computers

  on Larry Ellison: What Am I Missing About Cloud?
  The hype surrounding "the cloud" is pretty transparent to any IT guy worth his salt, but some good could still come out of the idea. I am looking forward to a mainstream OS that can span many dissimilar physical machines and function as a single unit allocating resources as needed to any particular virtual environment. I do not believe that currently the physical redundancy and ease of growth of such a system is affordable for small and mid-size businesses in an on premise solution.
• Jan 19th, 2010 @ 7:54am

  BTW

  on Sometimes Protecting Free Speech Means Protecting Speech You Don't Like
  Mike,
  I did not review all the facts from the other sites but given your description of the events, I rather enjoyed this post. Thanks
• Jan 19th, 2010 @ 7:06am

  Re:

  on Sometimes Protecting Free Speech Means Protecting Speech You Don't Like
  I hate to feed the trolls but...
  
  "If you're an American and a big fan of the H-1B visa, either you are hopelessly ignorant or on the payroll of the cheap labor lobby."
  
  Several of my coworkers are working here legally with an h-1B, yet are paid as much or more than I. What exactly am I ignorant of? They have families in the U.S., spend their money on American products, and are happy to be employed and hoping to stay.
  
  I do not fear my coworker, employee or employer - no matter their nationality, race, or heritage. The biggest impediment to my success is the limit of my own ability. This is the way I want it to stay and without truly free speech -popular, unpopular, right, wrong, insulting, or praising - I don't think my life can continue along that path.
• Nov 23rd, 2009 @ 10:35am

  said it all

  on Dear Rupert: You Don't Succeed By Making Life More Difficult For Users
  The last paragraph says it all:
  

  "If your business is focused on making life more difficult for a competitor, rather than adding more value to users, you're doing the wrong thing."

• Oct 2nd, 2009 @ 12:43pm

  Re: Re: Re: This says it all...

  on BPI Unhappy With Techdirt, Seeks To Correct The Record... But Still Gets It Wrong
  Dark Helmet, your comment is written better than mikes article. While I believe Mike is correct he has taken a low road with the tone of his post. A better response to BPI's emails would be to post the email here and consider the points without an arrogant tone and without calling their claims 'ridiculous' or 'drivel'. (Such as Dark Helmet has done -nice work). To be taken seriously you should not insult your opponent but instead
  
  "It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err"
• Sep 29th, 2009 @ 12:39pm

  (untitled comment)

  on Canadian Copyright Group Sending Huge Bills To Schools For Daring To Teach Kids With Photocopies
  As much as it sucks there is an educational materials market. However, why this sort of tax on a school district would be allowed is beyond me. The article does state however that the fee was changed to lower the per student fee from an original proposed rate of 12$ per student to 4.64$. not the other way around as mike implies int he opening line. Probably the worst part about this is that it will likely give teachers and school districts an incentive to never buy new books. If they are now paying for the right to copy the books, they might as well always copy them and hand them out to students in need, as this will be far cheaper than getting updated texts even when the need is justified.
• Sep 23rd, 2009 @ 10:54am

  Skepticism is my favorite

  on Did Pencils Make Us Dumber?
  "forgive me for being skeptical about each new fear about each new communications technology that comes about"
  
  Never any need to ask forgiveness for skepticism. Where would analytical thinking be with out it?
  
  -and Kevin is right about Plato. His students wrote it down
• Aug 25th, 2009 @ 2:59pm

  (untitled comment)

  on The Myth Behind Craigslist: It's Not Maximizing Revenue Potential
  buckmaster is no doubt,good at what he does
  
  where are the estimates of 100 million a year? thats a lot of houses in San fran (75$) and jobs in six cities ($25)