Actually, I think people believe that "advocates who understand the laws" are an unnecessary product of a flawed, excessively complex system that makes it very, very difficult for the common person to understand. The very fact that you can be sued under a law that you do not understand and would need an advocate with a decade of schooling to explain to you is a fundamental problem.

Once upon a time, laws were written in broad terms that could be understood by the average citizen. While this left things open to interpretation, that was part of the point. Laws need to have flexibility when they are applied, precisely because all cases and scenarios they will cover cannot be envisioned when they are written. The Judicial branch of government exists not just ask a check against unconstitutional laws, but as a check against unjust laws. Just because something is illegal doesn't necessarily mean it is wrong.

The qualification here is having a bit of common sense. The system is broken. Let's not dilute that reality by keeping our thinking so inside the box that we can't see the fundamental failure of the patent system to promote innovation in the modern era.

Why was this modded funny? It's exactly what they actually will do. We can keep dumping money on larger conventional munitions while Iran spends a fraction of it just adding more concrete. Or, we can cancel these pointless programs and re-start development on the RNEP (Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator) at far less cost. Just send Iran a friendly reminder that no matter how much they reinforce their underground bunkers, we're capable of blasting them to smithereens.

Given that it's a fairly decent article about a somewhat (or very, for large companies) significant bug in a widely-used database, I think it still qualifies as "News for Nerds", doesn't it?

Empty gesture? No, it would have been saying "I do not give a fuck about stupid politics, and would prefer to stick to my guns about something that really matters for a change."

When you act out of concern for your re-election rather than what is best for the nation, you are acting as a traitor to your country.

You mean like how modern tablets like the iPad aren't allowed to look like the tablets used in Star Trek?

Oh, wait...

I don't know, I'd bet Google would be willing to give Apple a run for their money on the Kodak patents, given the patent acquisition spree they've been on recently.

Which is irrelevant as I understand it, because you can't copyright a database (at least in the US).

I couldn't agree more. In fact, I think it's extremely selfish and stupid that people aren't willing to give up the rights that the founders of this country fought and died to give us. It's extremely shortsighted for people to think their freedom is more important than the almighty, benevolent, caring, giving corporation. How dare they! Long live the corporation!

Sigh...

This is definitely true, so the "inconvenience factor" that most people will tolerate is a bit higher. Personally, I would want to be able to pull up the books on my PC as well as tablet/eReader, depending on what book it is (eg. technical manual vs. fiction).