"Good news everyone! I've invented the Smell-O-Scope! We'll be able to sniff that radiation out!" Prof. Farnworth two minutes before dying of radiation poisoning.

lolz!

Virtual machines anyone? I run applications like VirtualBox and vmplayer all the time.

Right. Arguably, every incoming ip frame is a new machine state, should we then patent the machine every time it processes a new ip frame? Of course not.

Snot my problem, man.

Since the purpose of a computer is to run programs, asking us to accept that a computer is a new computer everytime it runs a new program seems like a bit of a stretch, and leads me to believe that some judges still don't quite get computers.

I don't know about the hormone additives but eating anti-bacterial free meat now will do nothing for you, you might as well eat it if its cheaper than the other stuff. Heeding the lessons of food additives in this generation can only benefit our children's children. Its already too late for us. All you're doing is spending more money for your food, it will be no safer for you.

No it doesn't. Soap just serves to make the surface of your skin slippery enough to shed the little buggars. If we all really felt the need to kill germs sans anti-bacterial chemicals we should be washing with bleach, but since that's not really a good idea for your skin our military-industrial complex came up with "anti-bacterials". By the way- researchers were warning us about the rise of superbugs becuase we started down this stupid path 30 years ago. I guess as usual we all refused to listen. Now we have a huge, hideous, monster of a problem looming. Good job, humanity.

They're only human. You have people yelling at you that you're destroying the planet enough times you tend to get jaded. Also, this is a little like claiming butchers are tired of sharpening their cleavers; if I'm a middle manager that last thing I want to hear from my stable of IT monkeys is "I'm tired of finding ways to cut costs." My response would be to point out where the door is. Last thing I need is a minion refusing to do something as important as cutting costs when possible.

Try being a politician, it seems to have worked for Bloomberg. Funny he didn't offer it as an alternative.

Right. That's why we have warrants. This move to streamline law enforcement into all our lives is the truly scary part.

And Thomas Jefferson continues to spin aces in his grave.

"Mint"

Oh? How so? Enlighten us how everyone's way of life gets completely disrupted without violence?

Patenting ideas is a very bad idea, and to this date that's not allowed. You want to stifle innovation, start patenting ideas. Thankfully, patents still require a working model, or a detailed drawing, or something tangible to show the patent examiners.