My hypothesis on the Microsoft automobile analogies is now proven, as MS is now actually involved in building cars. Who-da thunk it? Of course, it had to be Ford they are partnering with - that's the real secret behind the Explorer 7.0 release. After struggling for years to make a crash-proof browser, they decided to Focus on

So, a friend of mine and I recently sat down for several hours, cumulative, of high-level design to address a significant technology problem. We both had our own personal view, and we had a common goal. After the initial design conversations were done, we had what amounts to a pretty good idea. The problem is, once we hit research mode, I dug up a recent (last 2 years) patent application which addresses, say, a good 80 percent of our idea.

This post will undoubtedly be the start of many posts; I expect that as I codify these thoughts I'm having that they will develop further. You have been warned.

For years, /. has failed to implement a very important feature; namely, spell checking for posts. It wouldn't be too hard to grab somebody else's GPL code and drop it in to slashcode, I'm thinking... Horde's webmail and sqwebmail both have spell checking built in, both using I believe ispell.

Then again, posts with major and multiple spelling errors are an easy method of weeding out the crackpots and idiots - maybe spell checking isn't needed, after all.

Here's one of my biggest pet peeves... Telcos (RBOCs and CLECs alike) and other utilities, when they quote you an install date, they can never be more specific than "between 8am and 5pm." What a load of crap.

With due respect to Neal Stephenson, I present the Law of Microsoft vs. Automobiles:

In any conversation concerning Microsoft, the probability of comparison between software and automobiles approaches one with the progression of time.

see the following examples: