Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:My question about IV... (Score 1) 189

by SwordsmanLuke (#34515356) Attached to: World's Largest Patent Troll Fires First Salvo
I'm not sure. I just read SuperFreakonomics and IV is featured (quite positively, I might add) in the book.

According to the authors, IV exists to provide a mass market for IP by acting as a clearinghouse. They purchase patents (from anyone, but that does include small-time engineers/inventors without the capital to develop their creation) and solicit other companies to license them. They also do a fair bit of inventing themselves (including some awesome environmental engineering devices intended to stop global warming and reduce the effects of hurricanes!) so it's not clear to me that they exist *only* to troll.

That being said, it *is* clear that their primary source of income is the licenses from their patents and it's *not* clear what percentage of their profitable patents are things invented in house or externally.

Comment Re:Or... (Score 1) 431

by SwordsmanLuke (#34432492) Attached to: Foodtubes Proposes Underground, Physical Internet
I used to work for a robotics company. Some of the engineers felt that trains would make an excellent target for automation. Obstacle detection and avoidance is simple (only need to worry about things near the tracks and our only response is to slow down/stop). Smarter trains enable smarter trainyards and thence, more efficient shipping.

Comment Re:Tsunamis (Score 1) 309

by SwordsmanLuke (#34190194) Attached to: Engineers Propose Lily Pad-Like Floating Cities
FTA:

The islands would be located at the equator as it isn’t prone to typhoons and the climate is stable. However, in the event of large waves, strong elastic membranes would be attached to the lagoons around the outer circumference of the cells, with the shallows above the membranes standing 10m (32.8 ft) above sea level. The water pressure difference between the lagoons and the ocean would limit the movement of the membranes and buffer the force of the open sea waves. Additionally, 20-30m (66-98 ft) high seawalls would be constructed to handle a worst-case scenario.

Comment Not Excited by Office Equipment (Score 5, Insightful) 351

by SwordsmanLuke (#34013704) Attached to: Why Mozilla Needs To Pick a New Fight

Imagine if Mozilla decided tomorrow to build an office suite. Imagine all those ideas. Imagine how brilliant that could be. Just imagine. Now imagine Firefox 4. Honestly, which one of those are you most excited by?

Honestly, I'm more excited by FF4. I've been using the beta for some time now and I love it. :) On the other hand, I find OO.o to be more than sufficient for my meager word processing needs. I just don't really *care* if someone reinvents the office suite yet again.

Comment Re:Welcome news (Score 2, Informative) 130

by SwordsmanLuke (#33985148) Attached to: SD Adapter For Dreamcast Released
True, you could do all that... or you could pick up a working used one for like $20 at your local used game store/ebay. :)

Personally, I grabbed 3 partially busted DCs at a local thriftshop for $5 apiece and then combined them into a single working unit. Took about 30 minutes and all I needed was a screwdriver.

Slashdot Top Deals

Math is like love -- a simple idea but it can get complicated. -- R. Drabek

Close