Dandandin.net

Many developers thinks that a pirated copy of their app means a lost sale.

Actually, it's not like that. People have various reasons for pirating an app, for example trying them just for fun.

In fact, in most cases, a very few people will do a very long search on the net to get a $1 application for free.

In my opinion, if an app has an high piracy/sales ratio, it means that for "honest" customers, the product does not offer the right appeal, and for pirates it's just a trial, that means, they still won't buy your $1 app - it's not a lost sale.

The perfect example it's Walk and Text for Android, an app for texting while walking: it just displays the camera on the screen while walking; nothing exceptional here. To be honest, I won't get such kind of useless app even if it's for free. So, "honest" people won't buy the app because they feel the uselessness; while compulsive pirates will download it just for showing to friends "hey, I can text and walk". If you watch it in another way, the pirate will spread the voice between friends. Every "heavy pirate" that I know, loves to show off the fact their hundreds of useless apps.

This means that, sometimes, piracy sometimes can lead to a sale.

But, if you act recklessly like the developer of Walk and Text for Android, that acts like a virus if cracking it's detected, you generate a lot of bad advertisement: "hey, that app will bill me $$$ if detects a crack, better avoid it like a skunk!

In this case, piracy really means a lost sale.

Especially in offices and large corporations, every day are done thousands of "useless" printouts, as emails, drafts, internal memos, and so on. Documents that are mean to last less than one hour, but that must be printed to enhance productivity. But, using a new Japanese device it's possible to "delete" and "reprint" this papers, without using ink, toners or cartridges!

I am talking about the Sanwa Prepeat printer, it's a little bit pricey, about $6000, but can print on rewritable PET sheets. Sure, sheets are pricey too, $3 and are sold in 1000-sheets boxes, but if you consider that delete and rewrite can be done for free, for large corporations it can be convenient.

Jut take care to write on this expensive media using special felt tip markers and don't fold the sheets  

Here is the presentation video, in Japanese with English subtitles:

Everyone is aware about the damages that the tsunami wave in Japan did recently.

To help the Japanese population, the Italian division of become.com put a link to the Italian Red Cross website.

Guess what? They got a C&D letter for using the Red Cross name without prior consent! 

LOL, people is paying hundreds to have a link on a PR5 page, and they call the lawyers to remove it!

Free advertisement becomes bad publicity

To show how big was the huge tsunami that happened last friday in Japan, the New York Times has published an interactive page with aerial photos, where you can compare what happened after the tsunami in the cities of Ishinomaki, Natori, Sendai, Yuriage, Arahama.

The sight is terrible, and is available here:

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html

Update: There's also a Picasa album with more shots, and a kml file to see the area with Google Earth.