MrHatken - Slashdot User

Comment iChat has AUTO ANSWER! (Score 2, Interesting) 240

by MrHatken on Sunday August 24, 2008 @03:47AM (#24724671) Attached to: A Full-Time 2-Way Video Link To Grandparents?

Just to second the suggestion for iChat and point out that iChat has a (command-line enabled) AUTO ANSWER facility. So when you ring your GrandParents they don't even need to click to answer.

I don't find the iChat "Chat Request" panel to be that intuitive (for GrandParents). It just displays a pane with the request annoucement but no buttons. You need to click on the panel to make it expand to show the accept/reject buttons.

Auto-Answer can also help if GrandParents aren't computer literate or have trouble seeing the small on-screen pointer.

Of course, most people don't like the invasion of privacy that this allows but then if you are thinking of video-chatting 24x7 this should not really be a problem.

Google for how to do it ...

Cheers,
Ashley.

Feed New Scientist: Invention: Hydrofoil wakeboard (pheedo.com)

From feed by nsfeed on Monday September 10, 2007 @09:12AM

This week's patent applications include a wakeboard that keeps your feet dry, ceramic TV screens, and a quick way to measure your metabolic rate

Submission + - Software startup strategy wrt patents?

Submitted by on Monday April 02, 2007 @09:39AM

An anonymous reader writes: Is there a strategy for software startups wanting to make it big with a product in this world of software patents? Particularly, how can a software startup wishing to take its product to the international market hope to compete with the large software companies and their armada of patents? No matter whether or not the startup has an innovative product, a patent or two, a little or a lot of funds, it seems that if the large software companies decide that they wish to crush them with law-suits regarding patent infringement, valid or invalid, they can tie them up long enough in court to drive them out of business (bankruptcy or cause them to lose any market lead they may have had). Can anyone suggest a strategy, or pointers to discussion(s) of a strategy (or strategies), for a new software company to grow (around a product) and itself become one of the large software companies (hopefully not then playing the same game)? Or are those days over — and the current crop of software companies are so well entrenched (thanks to the patent system) that there is no hope for a startup?

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