Well, stuff like Netflix or iTunes might be a good example of successful innovation and monetization of online technologies.

For other stuff, it would be able being able to profit by "building a better mousetrap" without being sued into oblivion by protectionist cartels who want to keep the status quo (or patent trolls).

That's why, when I (soon!) become a genocidal conqueror, I will be asking people for their voting records before I line them up against the wall.

Curses! WTF is this "secret ballot" my advisors are bringing up? *sigh* There goes my invasion plan. (If I can't have the executions, then I don't see why to bother.)

And let's also hope that nobody ever actually commits rape and gets caught and convicted.

Censorship is always a two-edged sword. I have never heard of any form of censorship where you couldn't rightly cite some examples where it's a good idea, but freedom-lovers can play the examples game too.

Loose lips sink ships, but the king is taxing us unfairly. Which side are you on?

I think part of the issue is price-point. In the days before DLC, a lot of games came with later "expansion packs" which were essentially a few new levels and some added weapons/units/etc, but essentially the same core experience. Those generally cost less than the initial game, but were still a decent price and often *very* popular (especially Blizzard games such as Brood Wars, Frozen Throne, etc). They weren't much more than mods, albeit by the original publisher.

There were also the unoffical mods such as the aforementioned Desert Combat which - if they made any money - was by donation.

So where does that leave the 3rd-party paid-mod arena. Well, if it requires the original game, then *smart* publishers would put together the fact that "hey, this popular mod is driving extra sales of our game, great!" Some may be want a cut, which may also be something that needs to be worked out. But so long as the price is reasonable, I don't see any reason why a well-done mod would be less popular than an "expansion pack." I probably wouldn't pay $50 for most mods, but $5-20 is still enough to give some devs enough extra cash to make it worth investing the time into making a really polished mod.

These guys are weaving a judicial tapestry that ensures that even if society as a whole were to move a bit in their direction over time, there will be so much precedent against them that it'll take decades longer to accomplish their goals.

Windows 8 was just fine after adding ClassicShell and forgetting about Metro. Awesome fast boot times compared to Windows 7, and equally stable.

I just finished upgrading one of my macines to Windows 10. Painless, and so far I like what they've done with the place. Time to desktop is slightly slower but still good.

I did go through the advanced setup options and disabled most of the stuff that shares my data, location and wifi credentials (WTF?!) with MS

This remark is particularly funny:

Right. Of those two companies, only one has pretty much built their entire business model around harvesting your data 6 ways from Sunday, and the other one hasn't.

He disagrees with current copyright law and how it's used, but also indicates that copyright is necessary and needs to live harmoniously with copyright. He even indicates that he's good with the monetization of new technologies under copyright. What he seems to have a beef with is how current copyright is used. He doesn't specifically say what's bad, but based on his answer I'd imagine that the resistance of the entrenched hollywood/music industry to new distribution and pay models is probably part of that.
IMHO Copyright would still only be part of the problem though. The current situation with ISPs in the US and throttling traffic is another issue, and the issue between DRM+copyright another (especially when you look at "circumvention for personal use")

No. This is innovation because they are using 3d printing (ohhh!); any problems of a practical or fundamental nature will be fixed at a later date. Maybe.

I wonder: how many different drones for different missions would you really need? And can't they achieve the same by building a tested, stable, flyable drone platform, then adding attachments (3d printed or from stock) according to each mission's needs?

I hope he got off on the right foot as well. Did they give him any?

What they also get is every drunk idiot in the area coming to look and pee at that new magic pee repelling wall. Maybe someone will come up with a fun drinking game for it.

One thing that comes to mind would be back in the old "Battlefield 1942" days, the "Desert Combat" mod was kick-ass, and the devs who made it put in a lot of work to make it happen. Similarly, things like DOTA actually derive from mods to Starcraft/Warcraft etc.

Some of the mods to Doom also replaced almost everything except the engine.

It would be great if such things are free, but allowing professional modders to gain a little coin isn't. One thing that's sad is the lack of mod-support in many popular games (partly because - I believe - the publisher wants to re-use the engine for sequels will little change, and doesn't want competition).

Does flying a drone over someone's property constitute criminal trespass (in Kentucky)?

It's kind of the same reaction that Glass wearers got. People object to being filmed in certain places like bars or beaches. If I went round the beach taking pictures of random people, I would be expecting some strongly worded objections as well. And even if the family was clearly flying the drone for fun, those people would still object to the footage being posted to YouTube as "Our outing at Baker beach".

Personally, I don't want to be filmed either... but I don't think it's necessary to be an a-hole about it.

If the the burglar is in your home already, then it's safe to say that several of those requirements for the Castle Doctrine have been met. Blast away...