VCs have different contractual terms, but in the end they want to see at least a 4 to 1 ROI. As others have said, you need to tell them how it will make them money. Do you expect to have a software company and sell an app? Will you license this tech? If so, who is your target. Does this take time - meaning if Samsung was a licensee would this algorithm work in real time on a phone? Will someone have to transfer video to a PC and then post process? If it is the latter, you really need to talk about who will buy it. Have you done any market research? You have to convince the VCs that this will make them money - so you should have a solid idea of who your customer is, and if it will sell.

"no one calls to say they misplaced their printer icon"; No adobe update notifications, don't need to defrag or update, etc..... Why not? Linux doesn't do away with any of this. Package updates break things on Linux as often as they do on any other platform. Adobe needs updates on Linux too. The difference is that the users are scared to touch anything, so they don't. Instead of users buying software and doing their own work, they hire him to administer free software - I am OK with that, but I hate the myth that Linux "just works". There is a reason, that even with all the free software that exists, the software companies are still in business.

I like the humorous stories, but clicking 3 times to get to them has to go. Kill the ROT13 part..... I guess i need to stay away until tomorrow.

The article tries to make the point that side loading is the cause of piracy. That because anyone can search for a pirated game, find it, and easily install it, that this ability to sideload is what makes Android a poor OS from a security perspective. Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, BeOS, AIX, HP-UX, and others allow installing applications from "unknown sources" and they are not platforms of evil (take your MS shots here). It is silly that Slashdot even promoted this blog post. The author should address how software gets pirated (same way it does elswhere) - through exploits, hacks, cracks etc. Making it easy to install is not what causes piracy. It is a moral decision by the person doing the pirating. One thing that would help stop it: trial versions or timed versions of software. But don't blame sideloading. This is one thing that makes android development and alternate app stores so much easier on Android then other platforms. Of course the other option for any developer - sell your APK directly, and provide your own serial tied to something on the phone. Some companies do this and it can work. But as always, if someone has physical access to a device, then true security is impossible.

I hope the guy gets punished as a traitor. If everyone took his stance that "information should be free" and released what they should be shared, where would be? The next guy may want to level the playing field and share fighter plans, nuke designs, whatever he thinks should be free. No sympathy from me. And Assange is a jerk as well - he thinks he knows best on what to share. - I don't think or govt is perfect by any stretch, but sharing every secret without thought of the consequences is insane. If every Mother-in-Law knew every thought or feeling that another in-law had about her... we would have no one left alive after Thanksgiving dinners. Secrets are made to be secret.

I concur. Article is incorrect and Slashdot just regurgitated it. At least the blog post by the original author is correct. A Windows trojan - nothing else.

In EU they decided years ago to block EMEI numbers on stolen handsets - all the carriers participate and handset theft dropped to manageable levels. In the US, AT&T could do it for the iPhone and other phones but they do not... Why - it is not worth the hassle. They don't want the complaints from potential customers that bought an iPhone on eBay. AT&T would rather have the revenue of the new customer then deal with the complaints that someone bought a stolen phone. Why would Amazon behave any differently? They have the potential to sell hundreds of ebooks to the user of the stolen kindle and sell a new device to the victim that lost the original kindle. Amazon wins on all counts. People need to face facts - no vendor really cares. They will not bite the hand of recurring revenue.