Disqus - Latest Comments for pjdoland

Re: In Defense Of Tracy Morgan - Ta-Nehisi Coates - Entertainment - The Atlantic

PJ Doland — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 15:14:07 -0000

Mickey Rooney is not dead (yet). Can you please change "was" to "is."

Re: Bitcoin: Imagine a net without intermediaries

PJ Doland — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 11:46:00 -0000

As elegant as the implementation might be, is there a single advantage that Bitcoin has over online credit card payments for Joe Consumer, if you assume that Joe Consumer is not either paranoid or engaged in something shady or illegal?

Digital currencies have never really caught on not because they relied on a central authority, but rather because everybody already had credit cards which limited their personal fraud liability to $50.

Re: I’m going to Disney World

PJ Doland — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:40:09 -0000

You'll enjoy it much more if you're fully immersed (and not seeing everything around you as American cultural signifiers).

Re: I’m going to Disney World

PJ Doland — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:55:00 -0000

I really hope you don't "report back here" until you return from your trip.

If you're updating a blog from WDW, then you're doing it wrong. And don't forget to visit the Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor in Tomorrowland and ride Toy Story Midway Mania at Disney Hollywood Studios.

Re: Should We Allow Internet in Cars?

PJ Doland — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:58:09 -0000

In general, I would probably tend to favor restrictions on non-navigational or non-instrumental display devices being within view of the driver.

Re: Robotic Prostitution, Parental Controls, Caprica & Sex in the Uncanny Valley

PJ Doland — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:44:19 -0000

A lot of states already have bans on the sale of sex toys.

Re: Should We Allow Internet in Cars?

PJ Doland — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:44:13 -0000

I, for one, actually love the idea that the guy in the left lane on 66 might be in the middle of conducting a World of Warcraft raid with his guild buddies while he's changing into my lane at 70 MPH.

Isn't technology great?

Re: Thanks, Amazon, for rewarding early adopters with... - Jerry Brito

PJ Doland — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:04:55 -0000

It's entirely possible the first generation hardware just isn't up to the task.

Re: Jerry Brito - This is a complete and utter embarrassment....

PJ Doland — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:15:27 -0000

I actually really like this photo (probably for obvious reasons).

Re: The Ugliness of Privacy Notices

PJ Doland — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:07:00 -0000

We could always treat privacy notices like favicon files or robots.txt files. Have them stay in a standard place, but let the user-agent negotiate their download and use.

Re: Open Source is Not the Enemy

PJ Doland — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:52:50 -0000

We actually develop sites for clients using both open source content management systems and custom proprietary systems.

Systems like Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress are good options when a client needs something that doesn't conflict with the basic assumptions made by the software's development community (who are catering to a general user base). If a client is willing to stay within the lines, then they can usually get 95% of what they want or need for 40% of the comparative cost. This is the preferred way of doing things whenever it will help realize the basic objectives of the project.

Sometimes, however, clients have a very particular way they need things maintained. It could be because of a need to manage a large number of idiosyncratic data-relationships. It could be the result of a very specialized internal workflow. Sometimes it's just bullheadedness on the part of an executive decisionmaker. In these situations, it's often better to go the custom route. Trying to use an open source CMS when it's not appropriate can be not only very messy, but much more expensive to maintain than a well-built custom solution.

To make sure you don't get burned, find a vendor who is both familiar with open source systems and able to identify when they are and are not appropriate. To put it another way: vendors who only work with open source content management systems tend to see every problem as a nail; vendors who never use them tend to see you as an easy mark.

Re: Jerry Brito - What I did today.

PJ Doland — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:26:35 -0000

Good Lord. Microsoft should buy that and run it as an anti-iMac spot during primetime.

Re: Jerry Brito - snyderp: Just noticed that the replacement...

PJ Doland — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:41:30 -0000

You sure that's not supposed to be a "gremlin"?

Re: Jerry Brito - The Connecticut legislature hard at work. (via...

PJ Doland — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:17:44 -0000

What do you expect for $28k a year?

Re: You Must Fear the Cookie Monster!

PJ Doland — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:53:48 -0000

On a sidenote, there are quite a few sketchy things government websites could do quite easily by using cookies and IP address logging, and it's not unreasonable to be concerned about the possibilities.

Just off the top of my head... The IRS could trigger automatic tax audits for taxpayers who may have visited specific pages on an IRS website before filing a return electronically (i.e. anybody who may have reviewed penalties or fines for making fraudulent deductions in advance of filing probably deserves a "closer look").

Re: You Must Fear the Cookie Monster!

PJ Doland — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:46:38 -0000

I'll admit that cookies are a bit of a red herring, as IP logging presents many of the same issues. I'll also concede that this Siciliano character doesn't seem to know what he's talking about.

To be clear, I'm not worried about Google collecting and aggregating user information to enhance their targeted advertising offerings.

But I am terrified that the information Google collects will serve as a one-stop shopping center for our three-letter agencies monitoring private communications at home and abroad. It's just too tempting for the intelligence community when they know how much information Google is already gathering in one place.

Re: You Must Fear the Cookie Monster!

PJ Doland — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:57:49 -0000

Of course the U.S. government and the Obama Administration are in league with Google to gather our private information. Do you really think Google hasn't received National Security Letters forcing them to comply with any and all requests made by the NSA for the integration of surveillance systems?

Re: Copyright Duration and the Mickey Mouse Curve

PJ Doland — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:33:40 -0000

Wouldn't any derivative works necessarily violate Disney's trademark (NOT COPYRIGHT) on the Mickey Mouse character, which they also hold, and have defended appropriately, for the last 81 years?

Re: Copyright Duration and the Mickey Mouse Curve

PJ Doland — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 13:16:21 -0000

What does this really mean, given the fact that Mickey Mouse is also registered as a trademark?

Aren't we really just talking about the copyright status of a few specific animated shorts of limited commercial value ("Mickey Mouse in Plane Crazy," "The Gallopin' Gaucho," and "Steamboat Willie") and not the iconic characters themselves?

Re: Jerry Brito - Great Moments In Marketing: Disney Pulls Movie Trailer Off YouTube For Copyright Claims | Techdirt

PJ Doland — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:22:47 -0000

Call me cynical, but maybe they were counting on the Streisand Effect to drive buzz for the trailer?

Re: Libertarian Ideal Theory as Silent Complicity

PJ Doland — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 12:38:09 -0000

Where, exactly, do you decide when it's OK to compromise the ideal?

It may seem perfectly reasonable to say:

"Well, **IF** we're going to have state-sponsored marriage, we should allow same-sex marriage."

But what about the following

"Well, **IF** we're going to be torturing detainees without a trial, it should JUST be water-boarding."

Or:

"Well, **IF** we're going to be throwing non-violent drug offenders in jail, it should JUST be crack users."

Re: Jerry Brito - I have never been a dog person, but this is the...

PJ Doland — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:39:16 -0000

That dog wouldn't be nearly as cute if he wasn't sitting on a Saarinen Womb chair.

Re: You Do Not Need to be IM Pei to Impress Me

PJ Doland — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:17:35 -0000

Do you have any idea how little an architect makes? Or how boring 99% of what they do actually is?

Re: National Nightmare To Be Delayed

PJ Doland — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:51:16 -0000

If you don't have a digital receiver by now, you probably shouldn't be watching television in the first place.

Re: Jerry Brito - Georgetown A.N.C. won't let Apple build store

PJ Doland — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:03:19 -0000

Wow. That was really stupid of Apple to think they could just buy a storefront in Georgetown and build something there without running into ANC/zoning problems. That should have been pretty damn obvious.