Wait -- back up. You know that one of those two things is actually on-the-books against the law and the other is not, right? I hope. Please?

Sounds like you probably aren't from the southern U.S.

Nature is a big fan of brute force solutions to complex equations - it just does shit and reports the result.

Let's stick with the laws I know, which are Illinois - so here is Illinois' mattress law - that's in addition to the regulations that come out of our executive branch: http://www.ilga.gov/legislatio... (but hey, I'm just a lawyer, wtf do I know, right?)

The use cases for google glass (overlaying information ontop of really - i.e. augmented reality) and Oculus Rift (a VR display that supplants and replaces your view with a different view - i.e. virtual reality) are entirely different. That would be like buying a car manufacturer to help catch up with SpaceX in building heavy launch vehicles - yeah, both are things you catch a ride in - but the technology that powers them doesn't cross pollinate.

This is why it is illegal for states to regulate anything originating from outside their borders, like flammable mattresses and poisoned baby food.

Can't tell if serious or successful troll.

Marijuana is still illegal, right? I mean, it's it a conspiracy theory if I can point to the status and rules at issue?

Good News! It's already implemented.

I have a better bright-line rule to suggest: no method patents - ever.

Patents should be restricted to the implementation of physical mechanisms - machines, circuits and widgets. Not pseudo code - like the one you linked. What you linked is an idea - an abstract concept of how to solve a problem. The specific implementation could be subject to copyright protection (for the code) and trademark protection (if the slide style became a hallmark of the product) but a patent? No way.

You're not allowed to patent an obvious advancement.

But patent law is offensively fucked up. Basically, it's a war of money. Both sides line up patent lawyers (one of a very few formally recognized specializations for attorneys in the U.S.) and burn money until someone gives up. This case will almost certainly wind up before the Supreme Court eventually - unless Samsung folds and pays to make apple go away. Fortunately, Samsung is sufficiently profitable that it can saturate the process with more money than required and write it off as a margin cost for continuing to compete in the smartphone market.

Apple's patents are offensively bad. There *is* enough there to require a jury verdict to nullify them rather than a summary ruling by the Court (preferably one where the foreman doesn't lie about having a personal stake in proving that software patents are nearly always valid - like the last trial between these two) but in a sane system of patents there would be no question that "slide to unlock" is a variation of long established design concepts - i.e. a latch.

Fucking insane ideas are also interesting - not good - but certainly interesting. More seriously, when I mod, I tend to up-vote both sides of a conversation as long as the responses are civil and well-thought-out. Interesting is what I usually use for "I don't agree, and don't see anything informative, but you have a valid point of view and are contributing to the conversation" or "that's fucking nuts and the best way to prove it is to raise the profile of this post so people can discuss its implications".

Suggestion from a lawyer: Copy to disk drive. Turn off PC. Remove disk drive and place in safe. (Repeat for what could be petabytes of data).

Alternatively, print to hard copy and prepare for histrionics when Defendants find out there are eight warehouses filled with nothing but stored paper copies.

In those applications where hydraulics / winches and cables work - sure - but what about where they're a poor substitute for something that acts like natural muscle - like say - robotics?

- from TFA.

Notably - the article claims that the reaction is nearly as fast as human muscle - which could be interesting. Also, most of the practical applications listed in the article take advantage of the fact that the fiber responds to heat - which can include ambient temperatures, to automate the opening and closing of vents and other heat control systems without spending energy on control systems or motors.

And ... another fact-free denial. The 2012 election had the HIGHEST percentage turnout since 1968, and by raw voters, the third highest in U.S. history. One source of many you could read: Wikipedia - Voter Turnout in United States Presidential Elections.

America rejected the Republican party - if you cannot accept the numbers then all the analytics in the world are going to be worthless to you.

-GiH