It's not just a rectangle. It's a rectangle with curved corners. Further, the glass extends end-to-end extending over the bezel and giving it the appearance of a single monolith. From a lateral position, there is a slight curve, rather than sharp corners. There is only a single button placed directly in the center and symmetrically opposing is the camera. All ports are on a single side with the main port centered. These are all distinctive features and calling it a "rectangle" oversimplifies it greatly.

Patent lawyers trying to bust patents from the mid 1990s live on this stuff. Call your local friendly intellectual property law firm and see if you can unload the whole batch. They'd probably pay much more than $1.00/book.

"he pledged $1 million of his own money to fight the troll that went after his company"

One million is a drop in a bucket. A good legal team can burn through that in about three months. It will take a lot more than that to get through the 10,000 or so patents owned by the big trolls like Intellectual Ventures.

Does Wikipedia Make People Smarter? It seems that wikipedia is developing a very clicky culuture; you read the first few sentences of an article before clicking on to the next. It repudiates hard study and concentration in exchange for instant gratification. Is this a good thing? Shouldn't our culture strive to make incredible objects of beauty and knowledge rather than a shallow understanding of everything?

The complaint can be found here:
https://www.docketalarm.com/cases/Florida_Southern_District_Court/0--13-cv-61358/Intellectual_Ventures_I_LLC_et_al_v_Motorola_Mobility_LLC/1/

The court docket is here:
https://www.docketalarm.com/cases/Florida_Southern_District_Court/0--13-cv-61358/Intellectual_Ventures_I_LLC_et_al_v_Motorola_Mobility_LLC/

Disclosure: I run this site.

April 4, 1995... go!

While somewhat creative, I don't think any of your ideas would work:
1. Heightened pleading standards would require about two or three hours of attorney-time per defendant. It could conceivably help, but only marginally. Most plaintiffs would find what they need on the internet.
2. This already is the rule. To sue on a patent, you must own the patent. If you want someone else to sue, you create shell company, assign the patent to the shell company and get them to sue. Your specific suggestion wouldn't change a thing.
3. Looser pays would help fix the troll problem, but it's also a pretty intense fix and could end up hurting lots of IP holders with valid infringement claims.
4. You can already directly appeal most non-final orders. It's called a mandamus and is only allowed in relatively egregious cases. Allowing a mandamus in more routine cases would likely increase the cost of defense, not decrease it.
5. This would have no effect. The complaint must already be verified by an attorney, many complaints are already signed by multiple attorneys, and many of the attorneys are admitted by the USPTO.

This is a huge problem, and I cannot believe counterfeiting was not even mentioned in the ITC report. Fake chips have shown up in military equipment, threatening untold number of lives. Here's a presentation by an Analog Devices rep reporting on the problem (pdf): http://www.armed-services.senate.gov/statemnt/2011/11%20November/Toohey%20Slides%20B%2011-08-11.pdf

Have you ever been on a date with someone who leaves their phone on the table and checks it every 30 seconds? Now imagine being on a date with someone but their phone is implanted over their eye and they do not stop checking it at all. Die Google Glass, Die.

claiming sexism while simultaneously making a homophobic remark... nice.

What do we have to do to stop listening to stories about you? If we paid you a million would you leave the public alone? A billion? Please!

I like watching movies at 5PM. Let darkness reign.

I wish I was mahogany.

I'm a big fan of using Django on top of Google App Engine. You get Google App Engine's awesome infrastructure as well as Django's standard interface and community.

There are a ton of 3D printers on the market right now for less thank $2k, many for less than $1k. They are fully assembled machines too, not just a DIY hobby toys. I don't really understand how this article is news.