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Submission + - Apple: Dumb as a Patent Trolling Fox on iPhone Prior Art? 1

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: GeekWire reports that a Microsoft researcher's 1991 video could torpedo Apple’s key "slide to unlock" patent, one of 5 patents that the iPhone maker cited in its demand for $40 per Samsung phone. Confronted with what appears to be damning video evidence of prior art that pre-dates its "invention" by more than a decade, Apple has reportedly arguied that the sliding on/off switch demoed by Catherine Plaisant is materially different than the slide to unlock switch that its 7 inventors came up with. Apple's patent has already been deemed invalid in Europe because of similar functionality present in the Swedish Neonode N1M.

Submission + - Should Microsoft Give Kids Programmable Versions of Office?

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Over at Microsoft on the Issues, Microsoft continues to lament the computer programming skills gap of American kids, while simultaneously lobbying for more H-1B visas to fill that gap. Saying that states must do more to "help students gain critical 21st century skills," Microsoft credits itself and partner Code.org for getting 30,606,732 students to experience coding through the Hour of Code, claiming that K-12 kids have "written 1,332,784,839 lines of code" (i.e., dragged-and-dropped puzzle pieces), So, if it's concerned about helping students gain programming skills, shouldn't Microsoft be donating fully-functional desktop versions of MS-Office to schools, which would allow kids to use Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)? While Microsoft's pledge to give 12 million copies of its Office software to schools was heralded by the White House and the press, a review of the "fine print" at Microsoft suggests it's actually the online VBA-free version of Office 365 Education that the kids will be getting, unless their schools qualify for the Student Advantage program by purchasing Office for the faculty and staff. Since Microsoft supported President Obama's call for kids to "Don't Just Play on Your Phone, Program It", shouldn't it give kids the chance to program MS-Office, too?

Comment WSJ: Mozilla & Google Negotiating Search Deal (Score 1) 564

by theodp (#46676685) Attached to: Was Eich a Threat To Mozilla's $1B Google "Trust Fund"?

The WSJ reports that neither Mozilla nor Google would address the $1B elephant in the room: "Mozilla is negotiating with Google Inc. to renew a search contract that provides most of its revenue. Google is openly supportive of gay rights, so it may have been difficult to renew such a deal with Mr. Eich at the helm, said a former Mozilla insider. Mozilla and Google declined to comment on the negotiations."

Submission + - Facebook and Google's Race to Zero

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: As Facebook and Google battle to bring the Internet to remote locations, Alicia Levine takes an interesting look at the dual strategy of Zero Rating and Consolidated Use employed by Google's FreeZone and Facebook's 0.facebook.com, websites which offer free access to certain Google and Facebook services via partnerships with mobile operators around the world. By reducing the cost to the user to zero, Levine explains, the tech giants not only get the chance to capture billions of new eyeballs to view ads in emerging markets, they also get the chance to effectively become "The Internet" in those markets. "If I told you that Facebook's strategy was to become the next Prodigy or AOL, you'd take me for crazy," writes Levine. "But, to a certain degree, that's exactly what they're trying to do. In places where zero-rating for Facebook or Google is the key to accessing the Internet, they are the Internet. And people have started to do every normal activity we would do on the Internet through those two portals because it costs them zero. This is consolidated use. If Facebook is my free pass to the Internet, I’m going to try to do every activity possible via Facebook so that it's free." The race to zero presents more than just a business opportunity, adds Levine — it also presents a chance for tech companies to improve lives. And if Google and Facebook fall short on that count, well, at least there's still Wikipedia Zero.

Submission + - Was Eich a Threat to Mozilla's $1B Google "Trust Fund"? 2

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Over the years, Mozilla's reliance on Google has continued to grow. Indeed, in its report on Brendan Eich's promotion to CEO of Mozilla, the WSJ noted that "Google accounted for nearly 90% of Mozilla’s $311 million in revenue." So, with its Sugar Daddy having also gone on record as being virulently opposed to Proposition 8, to think that that Google's support didn't enter into discussions of whether Prop 8 backer Eich should stay or go seems, well, pretty much unthinkable. "It is the chilling and discriminatory effect of the proposition on many of our employees that brings Google to publicly oppose Proposition 8," explained Google co-founder Sergey Brin in 2008. "We should not eliminate anyone's fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality, to marry the person they love." Interestingly, breaking the news of Eich's resignation was journalist Kara Swisher, whose right to marry a top Google exec in 2008 was nearly eliminated by Prop 8. "In an interview this morning," wrote Swisher, "Mozilla Executive Chairwoman Mitchell Baker said that Eich's ability to lead the company that makes the Firefox Web browser had been badly damaged by the continued scrutiny over the hot-button issue, which had actually been known since 2012 inside the Mozilla community." Swisher, whose article was cited by the NY Times in The Campaign Against Mozilla’s Brendan Eich, added that "it was not hard to get the sense that Eich really wanted to stick strongly by his views about gay marriage, which run counter to much of the tech industry and, increasingly, the general population in the U.S. For example, he repeatedly declined to answer when asked if he would donate to a similar initiative today." So, was keeping Eich aboard viewed by Mozilla — perhaps even by Eich himself — as a possible threat to the reported $1 billion minimum revenue guarantee the organization enjoys for delivering search queries for Google?

Submission + - Is a Shirtless Ryan Gosling the Future of CS Education?

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: In a Yale Daily News interview, fashion model/programmer Lyndsey Scott teased a "'Code.org meets ASOS' app that young people could use to help them learn programming by dragging and dropping bits of code to make their way through fantasy scenarios with a parodied Ryan Gosling." Well, Scott's 'Code Made Cool' has since hit the App Store, where BubbaTheMonkey gives it a 5-star review. 'Code Made Cool' uses a Blockly-like interface to present challenges like dragging-and-dropping puzzle pieces to "have Ryan walk you to the top step, then have him give you a kiss" (a 'Repeat' block is used for multiple kisses). Before you dismiss Scott's creation, keep in mind that Code.org points out that "this drag-and-drop app is almost like our Hour of Code tutorial, but you get to program Ryan Gosling!" So, can 'Code Make Cool' expect a shout-out from the President, too?

Submission + - Contractor Charged in 'Microsoft Upskirt View' Project 4

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: GeekWire reports that a Microsoft contractor has been charged with two counts of voyeurism after investigators discovered that he took 'upskirt' videos of 93 victimized women over the course of a year. Court documents show that the Microsoft vendor employee used a Muvi USB video camera to secretly film "female victim's buttocks, groin area or underwear." Investigators met with the contractor on August 15, at which time he admitted to visiting upskirting websites on his assigned Microsoft computer and taking upskirting videos on the Microsoft campus. They later looked through his computer and found 86 videos. (Note to Self: Stop using restroom at work.)

Submission + - FWD.us Wants More H-1B Visas, But 50% Go To Offshore Firms

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: On the day the U.S. began accepting H-1B visa applications for FY2015, Mark Zuckerberg's FWD.us PAC stepped up its lobbying efforts for more tech visas even as ComputerWorld reported that the major share of H-1B visas go to offshore outsourcing firms that use visa holders to displace U.S. workers. "The two largest H-1B users," notes ComputerWorld, "are Indian-based, Infosys, with 6,298 visas, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), with 6,258." ComputerWorld adds that food and agricultural company Cargill is outsourcing IT jobs to TCS, including 300 in Minnesota, the home of Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a friend-of-Zuck and sponsor of the I-Squared Act of 2013, which would allow H-1B visa caps to rise to 300,000 annually.

Submission + - Debugging Death: An Engineer's Eureka Moment With a GM Flaw 1

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Hired by the family of Brooke Melton in their wrongful-death lawsuit against GM, engineer Mark Hood was at a loss to explain why the engine in Melton's 2005 Chevy Cobalt had suddenly shut off, causing her fatal accident in 2010. Hood had photographed, X-rayed and disassembled the two-inch ignition switch, focusing on the tiny plastic and metal switch that controlled the ignition, but it wasn't until he bought a replacement for $30 from a local GM dealership that the mystery quickly unraveled. Eyeing the old and new parts, Hood quickly figured out a problem now linked to 13 deaths that GM had known about for a decade. Even though the new switch had the same identification number — 10392423 — Hood found big differences — a tiny metal plunger in the switch was longer in the replacement part, the switch's spring was more compressed, and most importantly, the force needed to turn the ignition on and off was greater. "It's satisfying to me because I'm working on behalf of the Meltons," Hood said. "It won't bring their daughter back, but if it goes toward a better understanding of the problem, it might save someone else." Next week, GM CEO Mary Barra will testify before Congress about events leading up to the wide-ranging recall of 2.6 million vehicles.

Submission + - Apple, Google Go On Trial for Doing HR Evil on May 27th

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: PandoDaily's Mark Ames reports that U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh has denied the final attempt by Apple, Google, Intel, and Adobe to have the class action lawsuit over hiring collusion practices tossed. The wage fixing trial is slated to begin on May 27. "It's clearly in the defendants' interests to have this case shut down [Pixar, Intuit and LucasFilm have already settled] before more damaging revelations come out," writes Ames. The wage fixing cartel, which allegedly involved dozens of companies and affected one million employees, also reportedly stifled innovation. "One the most interesting misconceptions I've heard about the 'Techtopus' conspiracy," writes Ames of Google's agreement to cancel plans for an engineering center in Paris after Jobs expressed disapproval, "is that, while these secret deals to fix recruiting were bad (and illegal), they were also needed to protect innovation by keeping teams together while avoiding spiraling costs." Ames adds, "In a field as critical and competitive as smartphones, Google's R&D strategy was being dictated, not by the company's board, or by its shareholders, but by a desire not to anger the CEO of a rival company." Jobs, who Ames notes e-mailed only an evil 'smiley' to Apple’s head of HR in response to an e-mail from Google CEO Eric Schmidt informing Jobs that a Google recruiter had been fired to please him, was apparently viewed as one not to be trifled with. Asked by lawyers last year to describe Jobs' view on hiring in Silicon Valley, Google co-founder Sergey Brin responded, "I think Mr. Jobs' view was that people shouldn't piss him off. And I think that things that pissed him off were — would be hiring, you know — whatever."

Submission + - Google Sacrificed Innovation to Avoid Pissing Off Steve Jobs

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: In addition to affecting one million employees, reports PandoDaily's Mark Ames, Apple and Google's wage-fixing cartel also sacrificed innovation so as not to anger Steve Jobs. "One the most interesting misconceptions I've heard about the 'Techtopus' conspiracy," writes Ames, "is that, while these secret deals to fix recruiting were bad (and illegal), they were also needed to protect innovation by keeping teams together while avoiding spiraling costs." Not so, argues Ames, who describes how Google cancelled plans to have former Apple employee Jean-Marie Hullot run a small engineering center in Paris after Jobs expressed his disapproval. A promise from Google Sr. VP of Knowledge Alan Eustace that "Jean-Marie will not be working on anything to do with cell phone handsets" wasn't good enough for Jobs, who told Eustace, "We’d strongly prefer that you not hire these guys [Hullot and his team]." Breaking the news to Hullot, Eustace wrote, "Steve is opposed to Google hiring these engineers. He didn't say why, and I don't think it is appropriate for me to go back for clarification. I can’t risk our relationship with Apple to make this happen over his objections." In a follow-up e-mail to Jobs, Eustace wrote, "Based on your strong preference that we not hire the ex-Apple engineers, Jean-Marie and I decided not to open a Google Paris engineering center. I appreciate your input into this decision, and your continued support of the Google/Apple partnership." Ames notes, "It's worth taking a moment to reflect, again, on what was happening here: in a field as critical and competitive as smartphones, Google's R&D strategy was being dictated, not by the company's board, or by its shareholders, but by a desire not to anger the CEO of a rival company." Jobs, who reportedly took glee in Google's only-too-eager termination of an employee who crossed his path, was apparently viewed as one not to be trifled with. Asked by lawyers last year to describe Steve Jobs' view on hiring in Silicon Valley, Google co-founder Sergey Brin responded, "I think Mr. Jobs' view was that people shouldn't piss him off. And I think that things that pissed him off were — would be hiring, you know — whatever."

Submission + - Why Buy Microsoft Milk When The Google Cow Is Free?

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Touring a high school with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt informed students they're eating Google "dog food" because Microsoft's costs money. "Why would we use Google Docs over like Microsoft Word?" a teacher asked the class. “Because it’s free!" exclaimed a grinning Schmidt. "Schmidt’s comment," writes GeekWire's Blair Hanley Frank, "highlights one of the risks Microsoft faces in the academic world. While Microsoft has started offering schools incentives to use Office 365, including free licenses for their pupils, the company is under greater pressure from its competitors. As more schools like Chicago’s face budget shortfalls, free and discounted products from companies like Google and Apple, especially when attached to financial assistance, start looking better and better." Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis said she’d rather see companies pay more in taxes and fund schools that way, rather than relying on their charity or free software.

Submission + - The Future of the Zero-Marginal-Cost Economy

Submitted by Hugh Pickens DOT Com
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes: Jeremy Rifkin writes in the NYT that the inherent dynamism of competitive markets is bringing down costs so far that many goods and services are becoming nearly free, abundant, and no longer subject to market forces and while economists have always welcomed a reduction in marginal cost, they never anticipated the possibility of a technological revolution that might bring those costs to near zero. The first inkling of this paradox at the heart of capitalism came in 1999 when Napster enabled millions of people to share music without paying the producers and artists, wreaking havoc on the music industry. Similar phenomena went on to severely disrupt the newspaper and book publishing industries. The huge reduction in marginal cost is now beginning to reshape energy, manufacturing and education. "Although the fixed costs of solar and wind technology are somewhat pricey, the cost of capturing each unit of [renewable] energy beyond that is low (PDF)," says Rifkin. As for manufacturing "thousands of hobbyists are already making their own products using 3-D printers, open-source software and recycled plastic as feedstock, at near zero marginal cost" and more than six million students are enrolled in "free massive open online courses, the content of which is distributed at near zero marginal cost."

But nowhere is the zero marginal cost phenomenon having more impact than the labor market, where workerless factories and offices, virtual retailing and automated logistics and transport networks are becoming more prevalent. What this means according to Rifkin is that new employment opportunities will lie in the collaborative commons in fields that tend to be nonprofit and strengthen social infrastructure like health care, aiding the poor, environmental restoration, child care, care for the elderly, and the promotion of the arts and recreation. "As for the capitalist system, it is likely to remain with us far into the future, albeit in a more streamlined role, primarily as an aggregator of network services and solutions, allowing it to thrive as a powerful niche player in the coming era. We are, however, entering a world partly beyond markets, where we are learning how to live together in an increasingly interdependent, collaborative, global commons."

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