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Google Pledges Not To Sue Any Open Source Projects Using Their Patents 153

Posted by Unknown Lamer from the now-and-forever dept.
sfcrazy writes "Google has announced the Open Patent Non-Assertion (OPN) Pledge. In the pledge Google says that they will not sue any user, distributor, or developer of Open Source software on specified patents, unless first attacked. Under this pledge, Google is starting off with 10 patents relating to MapReduce, a computing model for processing large data sets first developed at Google. Google says that over time they intend to expand the set of Google's patents covered by the pledge to other technologies." This is in addition to the Open Invention Network, and their general work toward reforming the patent system. The patents covered in the OPN will be free to use in Free/Open Source software for the life of the patent, even if Google should transfer ownership to another party. Read the text of the pledge. It appears that interaction with non-copyleft licenses (MIT/BSD/Apache) is a bit weird: if you create a non-free fork it appears you are no longer covered under the pledge.

Comment Source of cheap/free computers (Score 5, Informative) 172

by jalovick (#43270891) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Setting Up a Computer Lab In a Developing Country

There is an organisation in Australia called Computer Bank that has been collecting and re-purposing computers for years. There are a number of international organisations that do similar things, some are listed here - http://www.computerbank.org.au/links.

You could also seek sponsorship from a hardware vendor such as Dell - http://www.dell.com/Learn/us/en/aucorp1/corp-comm/corporate-sponsorships, or even Google.

Since it needs to be shipped there, perhaps approach transport companies. Also, some technology recycling companies will supply equipment cheaply or free for the right cause.

Some organisations require that a not-for-profit organisation be established before funds are allocated. You'll have to check your local laws.
Australia

Australia Gets Its First Female Prime Minister 419

Posted by samzenpus from the sheila-in-chief dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Julia Gillard has been elected unopposed to the Labor leadership, seizing power in a bloodless Parliament House coup after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd decided not to contest this morning's leadership ballot. Ms. Gillard will now be sworn in as Australia's first female prime minister. Emerging from this morning's meeting, she said she felt 'very honored' and said she would be making a statement shortly. Treasurer Wayne Swan now steps up as deputy prime minister. He was also elected unopposed."
Idle

Submission + - Kogan protects Australians with it's "PORTECTOR" (kogan.com.au)

Submitted by jalovick
jalovick writes: With all the talk of Internet filtering in Australia and the high cost to implement the filter, an Australian technology distributor has come up with a cheaper solution to the governments Internet filter. The Kogan "PORTECTOR" — Spams & Scams Internet Portal Filter — http://www.kogan.com.au/shop/portector-spams-scams-internet-portal-filter/ (Warning: Product does not really exist)
User Journal

Journal Journal: I'm a man 15

Journal by $$$$$exyGal

It's time to tell the truth. I am a 55 year-old man. My name is Andy Kaufman, and I live in New York City.

I am sincerely sorry to everyone for all my lies.

--Andy
User Journal

Journal Journal: Merry Christmas -- $$$$$exyGal

Journal by $$$$$exyGal
It's not the new year yet, but it seems like a good time to give thanks.

Long story short, I've had a good year. Great job, short commute, and dating again. I've become focused, but with great flexibility. I'm not sweating the big stuff, or the small stuff. The good stuff is in the middle.

May your holidays be commercial-free,
$$$$$exyGal

============
User Journal

Journal Journal: Teach me economics: Why are tech jobs going to India? 19

Journal by $$$$$exyGal
American companies are moving tech jobs overseas to India [more info]. Why? Simple, it's all about money. But how is that so? The article says that Indian programmers make 1/10th that of American programmers. Why do they make so much less?

I'm not an economist, but here's a some possible reasons:
User Journal

Journal Journal: Can the blind see? 30

Journal by $$$$$exyGal
Xerithane left me a very interesting comment a few weeks ago. Here's a blurb:

For instance, I suffer from a moderately rare eye condition. I will go blind for 3+ hours if I'm exposed to bright light for more than a few minutes. It's like a goths wet dream. When it first happened I was probably 12 or so, and the whole time I sepnt trying to think what blind people saw suddenly made sense.

User Journal

Journal Journal: Slashdot Oldtimers? Are there more archives? 21

Journal by $$$$$exyGal
Just for fun, I decided to peruse the really really old Slashdot stuff to see how everything started. Maybe I'd find quiet thoughtful debate about the HTML CENTER tag (1995?) ? Or maybe some lively debate regarding the plot of "Good Will Hunting (1997)" ?

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