Panoramix - Slashdot User

Borat used for Patent prior art-> 0

Submitted by Kurofuneparry on Thursday March 29, @07:00PM

Kurofuneparry writes ""Rarely does patent law meet pop culture so hilariously. But it gets to a more important point: An invention cannot be patented if there has been a public disclosure of said invention prior to the date of filing." Not exactly a tech patent, but it does comically display the kind of prior art searches that are often being done so poorly in the tech industry by the over-burdened patent office. After talking about how a "scrotal support garment" patent is invalidated by the Borat movie, the article also mentions a case involving Apple last year as well as a case in which the Bible was used for prior art."
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Scientists get plastic from trees->

Submitted by

amigoro

on Thursday June 14 2007, @09:05PM

amigoro writes "Scientists have found a method to replace crude oil as the root source for plastic, fuels and scores of other industrial and household chemicals with inexpensive, nonpolluting renewable plant matter. They directly converted sugars ubiquitous in nature to an alternative source for those products that make oil so valuable, with very little of the residual impurities that have made the quest so daunting."
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IBM loses tapes with former employees' data->

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 14 2007, @08:46PM

An anonymous reader writes "I was an intern with IBM ten years ago and just today received a letter informing me that tapes containing my and other former employees' data (including social security numbers) were lost on February 23, 2007 while being transported by a vendor. IBM is offering free membership with the ID TheftSmart Enhanced Identity Theft Restoration and Continuous Credit Monitoring program from Kroll Inc for one year for everyone affected. It just goes to show that no matter how long it's been, your personal information in someone else's hands is never safe.

The full text of the letter can be found here."
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Perfect silicon sphere to redefine the kilogram ->

Submitted by MrCreosote on Thursday June 14 2007, @07:50PM

MrCreosote writes "The Age reports optical specialists at CSIRO are helping create a new standard for the kilogram, based on a precise number of atoms in a perfect sphere of silicon. This will replace the International Prototype, a lump of metal alloy in a vault in Paris."
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Kodak unveils brighter CMOS color filters->

Submitted by brownsteve on Thursday June 14 2007, @07:36PM

brownsteve writes "Eastman Kodak Co. unveiled what it says are "next-generation color filter patterns" designed to more than double the light sensitivity of CMOS or CCD image sensors used in camera phones or digital still cameras. The new color filter system is a departure from the widely used standard Bayer pattern — an arrangement of red, green and blue pixels — also created by Kodak. While building on the Bayer pattern, the new technology adds a "fourth pixel, which has no pigment on top," said Michael DeLuca, market segment manager responsible for image sensor solutions at Eastman Kodak. Such "transparent" pixels — sensitive to all visible wavelengths — are designed to absorb light. DeLuca claimed the invention is "the next milestone" in digital photography, likening its significance to ISO 400 color film introduced in the mid-1980's."
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Baby monitor picks up NASA's live shuttle video

Submitted by Digitus1337 on Thursday June 14 2007, @07:19PM

Digitus1337 writes "FTA: "Since Sunday, one of the two channels on Natalie Meilinger's baby monitor has been picking up black-and-white video from inside the space shuttle Atlantis. The other still lets her keep an eye on her baby. Live video of the mission is available on NASA's Web site, so it's possible the monitor is picking up a signal from somewhere. "It's not coming straight from the shuttle," NASA spokeswoman Brandi Dean said. "People here think this is very interesting and you don't hear of it often — if at all." Meilinger silenced disbelieving co-workers by bringing in a video of the monitor to show her class on Tuesday, her students' last day of school. At home, 3-month-old Jack and 2-year-old Rachel don't quite understand what their parents are watching." Full story available here."

AT&T Announces Alliances with MPAA and RIAA

Submitted by i)ave on Thursday June 14 2007, @07:13PM

i)ave writes " More documents in the AT&T/NSA warrantless wiretapping campaign were unsealed today. Meanwhile, AT&T announced a new policy to spy on customers for signs of copyright violations. They credited their new television service as moving them into the same camp as the RIAA and MPAA. How long before they change names from AT&T to 00&7?"

Fun With Redistricting!->

Submitted by

CrabbMan

on Thursday June 14 2007, @06:59PM

CrabbMan writes ""The Redistricting Game" was developed at the University of Southern California to help teach voters that "mapmakers" can have more control over an election outcome than candidates or issues. Politically engineered redistricting, which can protect incumbents and party dominance even if voters are inclined differently, was most recently a hot topic in a Supreme Court decision last year and in the political fall of former GOP top dog Tom DeLay. Lawmakers concerned "the system is out of whack" invited the game's developers to the Hill yesterday."
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Pidgin 2.0 Released

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 04 2007, @05:53AM

An anonymous reader writes "After nearly two years of development, Pidgin 2.0 has finally been released! Originally called Gaim, Pidgin is a powerful and robust open source instant messaging client that supports many protocols. Pidgin 2.0 features a completely redesigned interface with attractive new icons and and a new status management system that was designed for optimal usability. Pidgin 2.0 also adds support for universal buddy icon management and smooth-scroll functionality for conversation windows. A comprehensive review at Ars Technica explores the new features in Pidgin 2.0 and demonstrates how to use the new D-Bus bindings with Python to make Pidgin's status system send updates to Twitter."

Virtual rape is traumatic but is it a crime ?

Submitted by cyberianpan on Friday May 04 2007, @05:26AM

cyberianpan writes "Wired is carrying commentary on the story that Brussels police have begun an investigation into a citizen's allegations of rape — in Second Life. For reasons of civil liberty & clarity we'd like to confine criminal law to physical offences rather than thought crimes but already threats , menace & conspiracy count as crimes. Could we see a situation where our laws extend ? What if people started signing contracts that made Second Life criminal law "real" ?"