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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 134 declined, 77 accepted (211 total, 36.49% accepted)

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Submission + - GM announces first female CEO Mary Barra (businessweek.com)

Submitted by UnknowingFool
UnknowingFool writes: Right after the US Treasury Department sold off its last stake in GM, two surprises followed . First, CEO Dan Akerson announced his retirement, and the board chose long-time employee Mary Barra as his replacement as GM's first female CEO. While there will be comparisons to Carly Fiorina because of gender, there are major differences between the two situations. Barra has been with GM for 33 years and started working as a university co-op student while Fiorina was hired from Lucent. Barra started out as a plant engineer before completing her MBA and rising through the ranks to varied positions like plant manager, head of HR, and senior vice president of global product development while Fiorina was always in management.

Submission + - SCOTUS agrees to hear case to clarify software patents (reuters.com)

Submitted by UnknowingFool
UnknowingFool writes: The Supreme Court agreed today to hear the case of Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International to help establish clearer guidelines on what may be patented in software. The case involves Alice Corporation who holds four patents originating in the 1990s of which was for "a computerized system for creating and exchanging financial instruments such as derivatives." These patents were challenged by CLS Bank International in 2007. The district court ruled summarily for CLS in that none of patents were valid. The Federal Circuit initially reversed the lower court; however, the full panel (en banc) voted (7 out of 10) to affirm the district court but also issued 5 separate concurring and dissenting opinions.

This confusion was noted by the Electronic Frontier Foundation in its amicus brief:

" . . . the Federal Circuit has failed to implement a workable standard—or, frankly, any standard at all—as to what computer- and Internet-implemented inventions are patentable. The resulting legal instability has driven up the already-ballooning costs of patent litigation . . ."

In my opinion, it appears that main patent simply added "on the computer" to an existing process, namely in an business transaction between two parties, there is a third party that ensures that payment is made and is facilitated. The computer made the transaction faster and more automated as noted by Judge Lourie in his opinion.

“simply appending generic computer functionality to lend speed or efficiency to the performance of an otherwise abstract concept does not meaningfully limit claim scope for purposes of patent eligibility.


Submission + - US FDA moves to ban trans fat (nytimes.com)

Submitted by UnknowingFool
UnknowingFool writes: Citing growing health concerns about trans fat, the FDA today proposed measures to eliminate it from the US food supply. While trans fat can still be used, the new measures now place the burden on food processors to justify the inclusion of it in a food product as experts have maintained that there is no safe level of consumption and no health benefits. Since 2006, the amount of trans far eaten by the average American has declined from 4.5g per serving to less than 1g as restaurants and the food industry have reduced their use of it. There will be a 60 day public comment period for the new proposal.

Submission + - Blockbuster to close remaining US locations (bloomberg.com)

Submitted by UnknowingFool
UnknowingFool writes: Blockbuster announced that it will close its remaining 300 US locations by January and discontinue the DVD by mail service. Before being bought out by Dish, the chain was slowly closing locations. From an all time high of 9,000 locations in 2004, the chain has fallen on hard times and had emerged from bankruptcy in 2011.

Submission + - Blackberry ends attempts to sell itself, will replace CEO

Submitted by UnknowingFool
UnknowingFool writes: Blackberry has announced it will no longer sell itself and will attempt to raise $1B from investors and shareholders. Also CEO Thorston Heins will leave in two weeks, replaced by John Chen, former CEO of Sybase. This is the second change in leadership in the last two years as Blackerry's finances have struggled against the rise of Apple and Android smartphones.

Submission + - Windows 8.1 for RT update pulled from Windows store (winbeta.org)

Submitted by UnknowingFool
UnknowingFool writes: After reports of update problems including bricking of some devices, Microsoft has pulled the 8.1 update for RT from their store while they investigate.



"Microsoft is investigating a situation affecting a limited number of users updating their Windows RT devices to Windows RT 8.1. As a result, we have temporarily removed the Windows RT 8.1 update from the Windows Store. We are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible and apologize for any inconvenience. We will provide updates as they become available"

While update problems are not new to software, could this be a consequence of MS not releasing 8.1 RTM to developers? Developers may have experienced problems earlier and alerted MS before it went live.

Submission + - Yale "Freakonomics" professor: Bing is not preferred 2:1 as Microsoft claims (freakonomics.com)

Submitted by UnknowingFool
UnknowingFool writes: In 2009, Microsoft launched a national TV and print advertising campaign for Bing claiming that their study showed that it was preferred 2 to 1 over Google in search results in a head-to-head challenge reminiscent of the Pepsi challenges from the 1980s. MS then invited consumers to take their own test at www.bingiton.com.

Yale law professor Ian Ayres (of Freakonomics fame) and his law students published a paper On their study that found that Google was preferred over Bing 53% to 41% with 6% ties. This was far from the 2:1 ratio MS claimed. Professor Ayres matched the small sample size (1000 people). Although the commercials gives the impression that the results of the MS was a head-to-head street challenge, the results came from a online study MS commissioned through Answer Research.

Noted differences between the two studies was that the Yale study randomly assigned the user one of three different sets of searches: 1) Bing supplied searches, 2) top 25 web searches, or 3) user defined searches. One Bing searches the results were almost the same but users preferred Google in the other two sets. Another main difference is that MS has not published the methodology used or tracked individual user responses.

Legally, one conclusion of the study was that Google might have a deceptive advertising suit against Microsoft.

Submission + - Surface Pro 2 and Surface 2: With new kickstand! (infoworld.com)

Submitted by UnknowingFool
UnknowingFool writes: For consumers who had hoped that Microsoft would greatly upgrade their recent entries into the tablet market, leaks and rumors have said that both machines will receive modest hardware changes. Surface Pro 2 will sport new Haswell processors which will increase battery life to 7 hours. RAM is expected to increase from 4GB to 8GB. Surface (formerly RT) will get Tegra 4 processors. The only other confirmed change will be new kickstands that have 2 positions instead of one.

Submission + - Parallels for iPad: Game Changer for Productivity? (pcmag.com)

Submitted by UnknowingFool
UnknowingFool writes: While the iPad has been a tranformative tool for consumers and businesses, it suffers in productivity due to the focus of the device more on the consumption side than the productivity side. This gap may be bridged with a new app by virtualization software maker Parallels, Inc. called Parallels for iPad. Unlike Parallels for Mac, this program does not simply add hardware virtualization to run other OSs like Windows, Linux, etc. Instead this software installed on a desktop and iPad will act a server/client to an iPad so that the iPad can run "applified" versions of desktop software like Word, Excel, etc.

What this means is that users can now run productivity software from their desktops on their iPads. While the effectiveness using a touch GUI with applications not designed for touch has not been demonstrated, Parallels says that Parallels with translate the touch UI interactions into desktop ones. Some writers say this spells bad news for Microsoft and others. Users will not need to buy mobile app versions of their software. These are downsides to the app. First the $79.99/yr price tag. Second it requires a constant Internet connection so airplane mode is not likely possible.

Submission + - Xbox One launch delayed in 8 countries (xbox.com)

Submitted by UnknowingFool
UnknowingFool writes: At E3, Microsoft announced plans to launch the Xbox One in 21 countries in November. Now MS has announced that launch in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland will be delayed to 2014. Countries that are still scheduled for November release are Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand. MS has not announced a new launch date only that it would be available "as soon as possible". It seems to me that consumers in Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, and Switzerland can just cross the border into a neighboring country and get the Xbox One if they wanted.

Submission + - Microsoft: Xbox One will no longer require Kinect to function (pcmag.com)

Submitted by UnknowingFool
UnknowingFool writes: Microsoft has reversed course on another aspect of the Xbox One. Though the console will come bundled with a Kinect sensor, the console will work without it. Critics were had suggested that an always-on video and audio sensor could be used to spy on users. This is the latest reversal from Microsoft since the E3 unveil.

Submission + - Windows 8.1 To Be Relased Mid-October (digitaltrends.com)

Submitted by UnknowingFool
UnknowingFool writes: According to sources, Microsoft will release 8.1 to the public in mid-October. For those that don't know 8.1 will attempt to correct many of the issues with Windows 8. Some issues like the Start button have not been really addressed in the minds of many here on Slashdot. The release puts Windows 8.1 in time for the holiday season.

Submission + - Latest SCO Claim: Novell decision "has no bearing" on remaining case (groklaw.net)

Submitted by UnknowingFool
UnknowingFool writes: In June 2013, Judge David Nuffer allowed SCO v IBM to continue after a long delay due to SCO's bankruptcy proceedings. He asked that SCO to file a brief on which claims were closed by the Novell judgement where Novell was found to be the owner of UNIX and UNIX copyrights. SCO filed its brief titled: "Proposed Judgment Dismissing SCO's Claims Mooted by the Final Judgment in SCO v. Novell" where they listed three claims where the Novell decision "has no bearing":
  • VI: Unfair Competition where IBM is accused to undermining and destroying UNIX and harming SCO in Project Monterrey by giving to Linux "SCO’s valuable [UNIX] source code"
  • VII: Interference with Contract where IBM supposedly encouraged others to develop Linux by reverse engineering, modifying, and creating derivative works of UNIX
  • IX: Interference with Business Relationships where IBM discouraged others from doing business with SCO. (I believe SCO suing everyone did that).

IBM not only responded that there were no claims left, they objected to the term "mooted" as IBM points out: "The claims are not moot; they are barred under principles of issue preclusion (or collateral estoppel)." From my understanding, "moot" means unsettled but unimportant which IBM points out that the claims were decided and SCO cannot re-litigate them again. IBM also points out in that Project Monterrey in VI was not a "joint venture" as SCO describes it.

Submission + - NVidia CEO: We are working on next generation Surface (cnet.com)

Submitted by UnknowingFool
UnknowingFool writes: CEO Jen-Hsun Huang has told CNET that NVidia is working with Microsoft on the next generation of Surface tablets. While sales of the first generation have been poor, Huang believes the second generation will be more successful with the inclusion of Outlook.

Submission + - Descendants of Henrietta Lacks grants consent to her genomic data (chicagotribune.com)

Submitted by UnknowingFool
UnknowingFool writes: In an agreement with the NIH, the descendants of Henrietta Lacks agreed to allow her genome to be used for research under certain conditions. Use of the data will require approval of a special group which two of her descendants are members.

The story is chronicle in the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: In 1951, Henrietta Lacks, a poor mother of five died of cervical cancer. Tumor cells were harvested before her death without her consent. Later researchers discovered that the cells thrived in the lab, one of the first ones to do so. Also the cells did not die after a few divisions (immortal). These desirable characteristics made them sought after for medical research. Named the HeLa line, it became the basis of an estimated 74,000 studies over the next 62 years including Salk's work on the polio vaccine.

The ethical problem however was that she never consented, and until the 1970s, her family did not know about their use. Also many lucrative medical advances were made that used her cells while she died too poor to afford a headstone. More recently different groups have tried publishing her entire genome to the protest of her family which seemed like another injustice.

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