Disqus - Latest Comments for Geoff

Re: Winners Are Grinners! Go Gerro!

Geoff — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:37:13 -0000

Gerro is certainly doing a great job at plugging CT and vice versa. He sent out a link on Facebook last night talking up your "Life Tips" post for him. Did you see it?

Re: Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication

Geoff — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 01:10:02 -0000

hilarious!

Re: Philip Island Grand Prix Helmet Cam

Geoff — Sun, 10 May 2009 20:48:19 -0000

Sweet as boys, I made it on flim. BTW this means I was up the back!

Re: In The Thick Of Things

Geoff — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 19:39:39 -0000

Hmm haven't raced there this season, only be doing Port Melbourne (which is like a CrossCountry course). Great video work.

Re: Google Unifies and Tidies Up Its iPhone Interface

Geoff — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 07:10:00 -0000

I'm in Dubai with my iPhone. Google.com thinks that I really want to be on google.ae/m which my poor iPhone really hates displaying lots of square boxes :-(

Re: Manchester City Misses The Mark in Munich Tribute

Geoff — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 04:57:34 -0000

I'm a United fan, but I've got to disagree vehemently with this. City was phenomenal. The fans, the production, their kit, everything. The whole pregame ceremony was fantastic and the minute's silence brought shivers. United played terribly, but I have to hand City their due, they played a good game and deserved the 3 points. Saying their kit wasn't retro enough, thereby labeling them as disrespectful, is ridiculous.

Re: Premier League’s 39th Step: All Hell About to Break Loose

Geoff — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 05:01:47 -0000

If ESPN takes over Setanta and they change the format, I'll be really, really pissed.

Buy it, put it on cable for less money and keep everything else the same.

Re: ITVN and Setanta: Service Comes to an End

Geoff — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:36:43 -0000

just come to cable already, dammit

Re: A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words, A Song Is Worth A Million.

Geoff — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:34:39 -0000

First of all, I want to thank you for that delicious set of Michael Brager. I can think of a thousand things I want to do with him, none of which include words ;)

But seriously, great song selection and overall cool images. I want to especially thank you for "Welcome To LA" by Weekend Warriors, omg! song of the week!

Re: Review: Kanye West’s Graduation vs 50 Cent’s Curtis

Geoff — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 17:37:07 -0000

Holla @ that Luis! x]

Re: 30 Seconds To Mars Cover Kanye West

Geoff — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 19:22:35 -0000

I agree, totally boring!

Re: OhGizmo! » Archive » Craftsman’s Dual Laser Drill

Geoff — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 13:24:38 -0000

never seen it before. :-)

Re: OhGizmo! » Archive » Neck Noose Sums Up How A Lot Of People Feel About Neck Ties

Geoff — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:06:47 -0000

Nooses should not be joked about at all, at least in the U.S. where we have a grave history of lynching that still effects us today.

Re: How Not to Argue for Software Patents

Geoff — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 04:25:31 -0000

There's as big a flaw in your reasoning that competition is good as there is that software patents stifle competition.

As you point out:
"Competition is cutthroat, and businesses who stop innovating shrivel up and die."

What about a small start-up software company who make their great new piece of software and try to sell it, only to have some big player (Microsoft, say) copy the ideas and then integrate them for free in their existing products? This is great for the consumer (so long as the consumer wants nothing more than cheap products) but the bigger, badder, corporation can quite easily kill the smaller competition. Microsoft have been doing this for years and despite numerous attempts to have them done for anti-competitive behaviour, they've hardly been scratched by the law suits. A completely free-market is never going to be the solution.

In truth, patents ARE anti-competitive. This is widely recognised. Nevertheless, patents have existed in all fields of technology for several centuries and have enabled the ideas people to get a head start in using their ideas before everyone copies them. This is their reward, and I see no reason why such people shouldn't be rewarded. Yet patents can also be damaging, so a balance must always be found between their inherently anti-competitive nature and the reward that is given to the inventor.

Looking at the practice in the US where they have:
1. Piss poor searching for (and application of) prior art;
2. Assumption of validity of a granted patent, combined with virtually useless re-examination system mean that you have to go to court to fight your case, and you're always fighting an uphill battle;
3. Punitive triple damages, making patents a weapon rather than a shield

I think that it is easy to see that the balance is all wrong. Patents, in any field of technology, are too powerful in the US and this is what's damaging, not that software patents exist.

In Europe, things are quite different and while I can't say whether the balance is right, it's certainly better:
1. No assumption of validity of a granted patent.
2. Slightly better searching of the prior art combined with the requirement for a "technical effect" meaning that the Europeans don't even have to try looking for prior art to show that it's obvious to use a computer to remind you when to walk your dog.
3. Opportunities for opposing granted patents at the Patent Office directly. This helps correct for mistakes, which every patent office will make - even the EPO granted a patent based on Amazon's "one-click" application (although not for that particular invention) which is currently under serious opposition from several parties.
4. Non-punitive damages.

Nevertheless, court costs are still high, which protects the big business over the small inventor. Maybe more should be done in Europe and the US to combat this problem.

I would also point out that the software field is a lot different today than it was in the 1970's not just because of software patents, but also because copying software is immeasurably easier. You could argue that software patents are a necessary change to combat the ever-increasing threat of piracy.

What I'm trying to say is that software patents are only evil to the extent that all patents are evil. But their perniciousness lies not in the fact that they exist, but in that the power afforded to patent-wielders is too high.

Re: Never Bring a Knife to a Gunfight

Geoff — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 12:30:32 -0000

These sorts of issues may be data points along the way to collecting evidence that software patents are more costly than beneficial, but the existence of challenges like Apple's hardly leads to your conclusion that software patents are, well, patently ridiculous. The appropriate question is, if these sorts of behavior are costly (and it is not at all clear that they are -- after all, as you note, most often we're in a world of detente. The "cost" then is application, processing, and some deterrence (not zero, of course), but the benefit might be the enabling of substantial innovation and, more importantly, profitable exploitation of innovation) -- anyway, as I was saying, the appropriate question is, if these sorts of behavior are costly, is the cost worth the benefit? Your theory is that "software patents are little more than legal harrassment devices," but where's the evidence for that? Sure, sometimes, ex post, they are used to harrass. But there is also, of course, some evidence that software patents contribute to innovation (although the evidence is weak (on both sides) and more empirics are needed), and these "legal harrassments" are surely sometimes not mere harrassment but actual enforcement of actual, valuable and worthwhile patents. As to the question about why Apple might sit on its IPRs until sued, I'm sure you can imagine that the costs of suit might, in particular cases, outweigh the benefits -- particularly where it is, again as you suggest, perhaps important to establish a reputaiton for patent enforcement following a tit-for-tat strategy (but no more -- no preemptive enforcement). In the end, this is simply woefully insufficient evidence to condemn software patents outright.

Re: NashuaTelegraph.com: Blogs

Geoff — Sat, 31 May 2008 08:48:03 -0000

Haha, good stuff.

Re: Ralph Reed to Jim Wallis: Broad Concerns Are Compatible with a Focused Agenda

Geoff — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 01:20:06 -0000

Actually, in response to Kevin S. and others... Jesus was very clear about the priorities of Christians, and trying to create a nation where the laws revolve around our moral values was not one of them. The example Christ set for us was that of living a grace-filled life, one which works to bring justice and hope to people in the midst of whatever political system we happen to find ourselves.

Grace triumphs over law is not just a spiritual truth, it is a pragmatic one as well. The problem is that often we don't really believe that. Many great Christian writers (Bonhoeffer, Ellul, Yancey, etc) have pointed this out. It is time that more Christians (I'm including myself here) actually took our faith seriously instead of relying on a political system to make Christianity easy for us.

Geoff>

Re: Newcastle 0 - 3 Liverpool

Geoff — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 17:04:15 -0000

as linked above, you blind? http://www.dailymotion.com/thefootie/video/x3kl...

MOTD doesn;t come out until late tonight!

Re: John Mayer Is Really On Something/Feeding The Machine II

Geoff — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 02:02:02 -0000

Haha, John Mayer is a psycho. But great Radiohead picks

Re: Denise Milani In Red Dream : All PS3 Themes

Geoff — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:21:38 -0000

This is by far the best theme ever created. The quality of the photos is astounding you can even make out the subtleties of her lingerie's texture. Amazing.

Re: Who killed Quadrant? and other Conservative Jokes

Geoff — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 00:40:43 -0000

‘Make Education Fair’ lol.

Try asking any academic in the faculty of business what they think the role of unions in the workplace should be.

Re: Who killed Quadrant? and other Conservative Jokes

Geoff — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 00:40:43 -0000

‘Make Education Fair’ lol.

Try asking any academic in the faculty of business what they think the role of unions in the workplace should be.

Re: Cramer learns some lessons

Geoff — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:37:31 -0000

Check out the last five or six postings on the Senator Corder hit job on Idablue's blog to see just how much he hasn't learned- especially the "everyone else's fault" theme that permeates every sentence he writes.

Re: Using services to increase consumption.

Geoff — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:35:00 -0000

It does seem like the killer feature of recommendation services from Last.fm through Netflix is to introduce you to treasures you wouldn't otherwise have found. The idea that location based services can help you chart out a more detailed map of your own local territory is a compelling one.

I'm looking forward to the mashups between attention data aggregators, recommendation engines, and location based services. e.g., I want to be able to rock up in Berlin, and automatically get a Google map with everything from clubs to design shops and everything in between, pre-filtered based on my previously expressed tastes, those of my trusted friends, and a few "hot trends" thrown in for serendipity's sake.

I guess the only downside is for those people that do find that super cool obscure little coffee shop, it may not be obscure for very long...

Re: Kanye West ft. Chris Martin – Homecoming (Music Video)

Geoff — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:09:07 -0000

Great video! I love Chi-Town

Re: DEMO 07 Though Pictures

Geoff — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 19:04:00 -0000

Excellent. I like the idea of photo blogs, and this should be great.

GL

Re: Are You Talking to Me? Taking the BS Out of Business Blogging

Geoff — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 15:27:00 -0000

Great entry. How true. I had a conversation with a client today about the very same thing. Engage, not sell.

GL

Re: DEMO 07 Though Pictures

Geoff — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 19:04:00 -0000

Excellent. I like the idea of photo blogs, and this should be great.

GL

Re: Are You Talking to Me? Taking the BS Out of Business Blogging

Geoff — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 15:27:00 -0000

Great entry. How true. I had a conversation with a client today about the very same thing. Engage, not sell.

GL

Re: Festival Off!

Geoff — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 15:00:27 -0000

Ever since huge parties like Pitchfork and RollingStone have touched those festivals, the true spirit has been dead.

Re: Boudreaux on the business cycle

Geoff — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 05:16:35 -0000

Daniel,

I am interested in hearing more about the "New Keynsian" point of view. Could you enlighten me with the some of the other explanations that you see fit just as well as the Austrian theory of business cycles?

Re: Top 10 Singles in the World, week 41

Geoff — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 00:06:54 -0000

wow so Katy Perry is #1 in the world without the US' help? Kid Rock too? You'd think AMERICAN acts would be bigger in AMERICA

Re: New Common ft. Kanye West – Punch Drunk Love

Geoff — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:46:02 -0000

lol, kanye is soooo shit on this track.

Re: The Thinking Man’s Take On: Year-End Lists

Geoff — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:11:26 -0000

Good list. You shouldn't have numbered it though ;)

Speaking of your HypeM tongue lashing, I think you completely ignored what it's done for remixes, or for your blog in general.

I find it hard to believe that it's killing your music writing, when in reality it's the only reason I found your blog in the first place.

Re: Detroit Auto Show 2009: New 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid Will Get 50 MPG, Optional Solar Roof

Geoff — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:16:43 -0000

Re: "Disc brakes are now used on the 4 wheels, instead of only 2 in the previous generation. ", I have a UK2007 Prius and it has discs all round - which I thought was standard on all current generation Priuses.

Re; Aluminium body panels, the current Prius uses these too, so it would be good if you could update your artucle to say what the change is in this regard.

I have also read a report about the new model having adaptive cruise control. Can you confirm hwther that is right, and whether the driver modes can be used to change its characteristics?

Am looking forward to test driving this new model! Thanks for the early info.

Re: Boo! EPA Approves All But Six Pending Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Permits

Geoff — Mon, 18 May 2009 22:02:49 -0000

Just get over it. Without coal US will be without electricity, so yes coal mining is needed.

Re: Shalom Asshole

Geoff — Thu, 04 Nov 2004 13:59:00 -0000

Oh just die already, please!

Of course, I'm very curious to see who shows up at his fureral, once they decide where it will be held. I'm thinking France is the perfect spot.

Re: Reality check

Geoff — Mon, 29 Nov 2004 17:14:00 -0000

Oh lord, the Soup Dragons. Their song was our senior class song much to my embarrassment.

Re: Tired of Living on Earth? Build Your Own Island!

Geoff — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 01:44:52 -0000

Umm... just to further nitpick... and to reiterate Bartlett... Building more land (which is not feasible on a large scale anyway... at some point you're going to run out of water to build on) CAN'T solve an exponential growth problem. The only way it can be solved is by STOPPING THE GROWTH. :-)

Re: How To Subscribe to TreeHugger

Geoff — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:33:09 -0000

I'd like to add my voice to those requesting category specific feeds. I love the site, but don't have time to read everything. I'd be more likely to subscribe if I could filter my subscription by category. My particular interest is anything related to bicycling, and with a cycling-specific feed, I'd be a more frequent visitor.

Thanks for a fantastic site!

Re: Smart Architect Builds Dumb Building

Geoff — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 17:47:46 -0000

This passive approach is good to see, but before I declare this a sustainable project I need to know more about what was on the site before, how any demolition by-products were recycled, the source of new materials, etc. Lifecycle energy consumption of a commercial buildings is a huge factor but not the only one that needs to be considered. The article is a bit of a puff piece.

Re: WWF: Europe's Dirtiest Power is in Germany

Geoff — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 08:16:41 -0000

everytime somone say - "lets build loads of wind turbines" the locals in the area get on their high horse and protest. We need nuclear, solar, wind, wave, tidal and we need to pump some of that co2 from older plants into massive green houses full of plants. we need to invest big time!

Re: Join the online Zerofootprint Party During Live Earth

Geoff — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 01:01:32 -0000

Cool idea. I just visited this site and pledged. A tone of useful content here.

Re: Shelby SuperCars to Build World's Fastest Electric Car, the Ultimate Aero EV

Geoff — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:25:59 -0000

250 eh? the bucatti veyron has topped to 252 mph so how the hell has this came about it cant be faster than 252mph unless numbers has went backwards now has it?

The veyron's top speed is set at 252MPH. The new Shelby has reports of going upwards of 257MPH, making it the new record holder.

The fact that this is an electric car just adds to the this cars ability to put any car fanatic in awe.

Re: Detroit Auto Show 2009: New 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid Will Get 50 MPG, Optional Solar Roof

Geoff — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:16:43 -0000

Re; Aluminium body panels, the current Prius uses these too, so it would be good if you could update your artucle to say what the change is in this regard.

I have also read a report about the new model having adaptive cruise control. Can you confirm hwther that is right, and whether the driver modes can be used to change its characteristics?

Am looking forward to test driving this new model! Thanks for the early info.

Re: Boo! EPA Approves All But Six Pending Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Permits

Geoff — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:02:49 -0000

Just get over it. Without coal US will be without electricity, so yes coal mining is needed.

Re: What if everyone stopped believing in god? - Letters to the Webmaster

Geoff — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 18:21:00 -0000

Oh webmaster, I want to thank you for touching up my grammar and punctuation...as you may know, its hard to be articulate so late at night ;)

Re: Everybody, calm down

Geoff — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:01:29 -0000

It would seem to make more sense to undo Blago's actions, not the people who worked in his administration. They have already been dealt a tough hand...having the Blago stain on their resumes for the rest of their careers although 99 percent probably never sat in a meeting wtih Rod or had any influence over how he governed.

When he was impeached, there was plenty of outrage and plenty of apparent momentum to undo the tarnised last acts of his governorship. There were bills that were signed as a direct result of the pay to play shenanigans that got him locked up. THere were bills he signed that had to do with matters discussed by his inner circle on federal wiretaps -- the signing of the bill to extend horseracing subsidy (a horrible, horrible policy in the first place) is key among them.

We thought those bills would quickly get undone...but our lawmakers have done very little to give us any assurance that they are going to undo the taint Blago left on our state.

So, our leaders should worry less about the people and do more to roll back Blago's crooked actions..for the benefit of our state and to send the message to we taxpayers that the "new era" is upon us. As time wastes away... so does the outrage and I fear we'll be no better off months from now.

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2008/05/giveaway-saawariya.html

Geoff — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 07:54:00 -0000

I'm a newbie to Bollywood musicals, but I'm quickly becoming a fan of the genre. Thanks for the contest!

gkaufmanss[at]yahoo[dot]com

Re: http://tibetanaltar.blogspot.com/2009/10/from-western-marxism-to-western.html

Geoff — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:45:38 -0000

Anyone who uses "qua" in a sentence can be safely ignored.

Re: http://www.blacknbougie.com/2009/09/three-men-and-bougie-chick-answer-some.html

Geoff — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:39:58 -0000

People started to take these comments real personally. To Raine - "history of creep" is nuff said. Tanya - whether he's gay or not, you are obviously unhappy. Nothing legal keeping you there, get out.

Re: Good News

Geoff — Wed, 17 Mar 2004 11:09:17 -0000

You dork! I just read through some of your posts.... Now listening to: John Branjer, Acacia Fraternity. I lahv it! gosh you rock my world! catch you when you wake up. :-)