Comment Re:No problem. Just find some smart badgers. (Score 1) 418
Get badgers coding on a linux terminal installed on a dead badger.. that would be a neat trick!
Comment OMG (Score 1) 283
Early PONIES!!!
Comment Re:Details on the rules (Score 1) 83
I don't think you meant requests for reexamination, which are generally a Good Thing. A reexamination is a way to try to invalidate an already issued patent. Solid patents can usually withstand a reexamination, while poor ones can be invalidated by a reexam with relatively low costs.
Maybe you meant Requests for Continued Examination (RCE)?
Maybe you meant Requests for Continued Examination (RCE)?
Comment Yes I am! (Score 1) 693
Yes I am a lawyer. The Venn Diagram of techies and lawyers has at least *some* intersection.
Comment Re:Checked Google Trends lately? (Score 1) 785
It was the Woot item that evening.
Comment Re:c'mon ppl,this is really sad,please hold the jo (Score 1) 356
Or a Breen
(should I be ashamed or proud I know that?)
Comment Re:Suffering from NBTS ... Next Big Thing Syndrome (Score 1) 305
Palm had a near success with the Foleo, too. They were oh so close to the success of the eeePC with the Foleo. If you look at the Foleo and the eeePC side by side distinct similarities arise. They were probably born of the same thought process. Palm just missed a couple critical factors. The Foleo was too expensive and didn't have enough storage, but other than that, it's a stones throw away from an eeePC. Oh what a difference a few mere months, a few dollars, and a little design facelift would have made for the Foleo if only Palm had the guts to stick it out and find the right formula.
Google Previews App Engine 167
An anonymous reader writes "Google is giving a handful of web programmers the opportunity to create and run their own Web applications on their servers. Today's launch of a preview release of Google App Engine signals a new era of collaboration with third-party software developers. 'The goal is to make it easy to get started with a new Web app, and then make it easy to scale when that app reaches the point where it's receiving significant traffic and has millions of users," said Google product manager, Paul McDonald in a blog post."
Imperial Storm Troopers Skirmish in Latest IP Battle 261
fm6 writes "According to guardian.co.uk, George Lucas is suing the designer of the Imperial Stormtrooper armor. Andrew Ainsworth took the original molds he used to make the props for the movies, and has been using them to make outfits that sell for up to £1,800 (US$3,600) apiece. Ainsworth has countersued for a share of the $12 billion that Star Wars merchandise has generated since the first movie."
Computer Games Make Players Less Violent 192
Stony Stevenson writes "A new study of computer gamers has found that a session in front of World of Warcraft can make players less stressed and more calm. The study questioned 292 male and female online gamers aged between 12 and 83 about anger and stress. They then played the game for two hours and were retested. "There were actually higher levels of relaxation before and after playing the game as opposed to experiencing anger, but this very much depended on personality type," said team leader Jane Barnett from Middlesex University."
Microsoft Details FOSS Patent Breaches 576
CptRevelation writes "Microsoft has released more detailed information on the patents supposedly in breach by the open-source community. Despite their accusations of infringement, they state they would rather do licensing deals instead of any legal action. 'Open-source programs step on 235 Microsoft patents, the company said. Free Linux software violates 42 patents. Graphical user interfaces, the way menus and windows look on the screen, breach 65. E-mail programs step on 15, and other programs touch 68 other patents, the company said. The patent figures were first reported by Fortune magazine. Microsoft also said Open Office, an open-source program supported in part by Sun Microsystems Inc., infringes on 45 patents. Sun declined to comment on the allegation.'"
Canadians Overpay Millions on Copyright Tax 144
An anonymous reader writes "Michael Geist has up a post on his site about the Copyright Board of Canada's decision last week on the controversial private copying levy, which functions like a tax on blank media. The good news? The Board reduced the levy on certain media such as CD-R Audio, CD-RW Audio, and MiniDiscs. The bad news? The millions of dollars in overpayment from these media will go into the pockets of manufacturers, importers, and retailers, not back to the consumers who paid in the first place. 'In addition to the overpayment issue, the decision contains several interesting revelations ... the decision sheds some light on the CPCC's enforcement program. The collective has aggressively targeted those parties that do not pay the levy, with 21 claims over the past three years. In fact, the enforcement program has been so effective that the Board found that concerns about the emergence of a gray or black market for blank CDs has not materialized.'"
Prof. Johan Pouwelse To Take On RIAA Expert 184
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Marie Lindor has retained an expert witness of her own to fight the RIAA, and to debunk the testimony and reports of the RIAA's 'expert' Dr. Doug Jacobson, whose reliability has been challenged by Ms. Lindor in her Brooklyn federal court case, UMG v. Lindor. Ms. Lindor's expert is none other than Prof. Johan Pouwelse, Chairman of the Parallel and Distributed Systems Group of Delft University of Technology. It was Prof. Pouwelse's scathing analysis of the RIAA's MediaSentry 'investigations' (PDF) in a case in the Netherlands that caused the courts in that country to direct the ISPs there not to turn over their subscribers' information (PDF), thus nipping in the bud the RIAA's intended litigation juggernaut in that country."
USPTO Examiner Rejected 1-Click Claims As "Obvious" 195
theodp writes "Faced with a duly unimpressed USPTO examiner who rejected its new 1-Click patent claims as 'obvious' and 'old and well known,' Amazon has taken the unusual step of requesting an Oral Appeal to plead its case. And in what might be interpreted by some as an old-fashioned stalling tactic, the e-tailer has also canceled and refiled its 1-Click claims in a continuation application. As it touted the novelty of 1-Click to Congress last spring, Amazon kept the examiner's rejection under its hat, insisting that 'still no [1-Click] prior art has surfaced.' The Judiciary Committee hearing this testimony included Rick Boucher (VA) and Howard Berman (CA), both recipients of campaign contributions from a PAC funded by 1-Click inventor Jeff Bezos, other Amazon execs, and their families."
Why Microsoft Won't List Claimed Patent Violations 626
BlueOni0n writes "Earlier today, Microsoft announced it will begin actively seeking reparations for claimed patent infringement by Linux and the open source community in general. One opinion on why Microsoft won't reveal these 235 alleged IP infringements to the public is that they're afraid of having the claims debunked or challenged — so instead they're waiting until the OS community comes to the bargaining table. But a more optimistic thought is that Microsoft may be afraid to list these supposed violations because it knows the patents can be worked around by the open source community, leaving Microsoft high and dry without any leverage at all."
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