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Government

Submission + - Flu Pandemic may lead to websites being blocked (reuters.com)

Submitted by mikael
mikael writes: While corporations and businesses have been advised on how to allow employees to work remotely from home, there is still some uncertainty on how ISP's would be able to handle the extra flow of traffic. The Department of Homeland Security is suggesting that ISP's be prepared to block popular websites in order to prioritize bandwidth for commercial use.
Microsoft

Submission + - A Tale of Two Windows 7's

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: It was the best of operating systems, it was the blah of operating systems. When it comes to the merits of Windows 7, it looks like Slate's Farhad Manjoo and PC Magazine's John Dvorak are going to have to agree to disagree. Manjoo gives Windows 7 a big thumbs-up (a sincere one, unlike Linus!), calling it a 'crowning achievement,' while Dvorak is less than impressed: 'Win 7 is really just a Vista martini. The operating system may have two olives instead of one this time out, but it's still made with the same cheap Microsoft vodka.' So for those of you who've had a chance to check things out, are things really different this time?

Submission + - Music Rights Holders Sue Youtube Again (newteevee.com)

Submitted by bennyboy64
bennyboy64 writes: NewTeeVee reports on a criminal investigation that has been launched against senior executives of YouTube and parent company Google in Hamburg, Germany, over allegations of copyright infringement. The case started after a complaint by German music rights holders. Hamburg's prosecutor has formally requested assistance from U.S. colleagues to compel YouTube to produce log files identifying who uploaded as well as who viewed 500 specific videos.

Submission + - Universal phone charger approved (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by andylim
andylim writes: According to the BBC a new mobile phone charger that will work with any handset has been approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations body. The charger has a micro-USB port at the connecting end, using similar technology to digital cameras. It is not compulsory for manufacturers to adopt the new chargers but the ITU says that some have already signed up to it. "We are planning to launch the universal charger internationally during the first half of 2010," Aldo Liguori, spokesperson for Sony Ericsson told the BBC.
Government

Submission + - Open Source Voting Software Concept Released (wired.com)

Submitted by filesiteguy
filesiteguy writes: Wired.com (http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/10/open-source) is reporting that the Open Source Digital Voting Foundation (http://osdv.org/about) has announced the first release of Linux and Ruby based elections management software. This software should compete in the same realm as Election Systems & Software as well as Diebold/Premire for use by County registrars. Mitch Kapor — founder of Lotus 1-2-3 — as well as Dean Logan, Registrar for Los Angeles County and Debra Bowen, California Secretary of State all took place in a formal announcement ceremony.

The OSDVF (they couldn't find a better acronym?) is working with mulitple jurisdictions, activists, developers and other organizations to bring "together the best and brightest in technology and policy into a synergistic, meritocratic community focused on designing and developing guidelines and specifications for high assurance digital voting services." The announcement was made as part of the OSDVF Trust the Vote (http://www.trustthevote.org/) project where open source tools are to be used to create a certifiable and sustainable open source voting system.
Patents

Submission + - Apple seeks patent on operating system advertising (ipwatchdog.com)

Submitted by patentpundit
patentpundit writes: On April 18, 2008, Apple Computer applied for a patent relating to an "invention" that allows for the showing of advertisements within an operating system. The first named inventor on the patent application is none other than Steve Jobs, the CEO and co-founder. The patent application published and became available for public inspection on October 22, 2009. If implemented the invention would make it possible for advertisements to be displayed on a variety of devices, including a desktop computer, cell phones, PDAs and more. In one alarming aspect, the device could be disabled during the running of advertisements, thereby forcing users to not be able to use the device and be forced to let the advertisement run its course before the system would unlock and allow further use. In an even more invasive version explained in the patent application the user could be required to do something, such as click to continue, in order to verify that they are actively watching the advertisement and haven't simply walked away to let the ad run its course. Whether Apple would implement such an invention is unknown, but it is possible that they think there are others out there who might want to implement such invasive advertising. It is possible Apple wanted to get ahead of the curve and file this patent so that if an company is silly enough to engage in Big Brother advertising they will have to be paid a royalty. I sure hope this is not the future of advertising.

Comment Re:Just what we need (Score 1) 1100

by patentpundit (#29216577) Attached to: Global Warming To Be Put On Trial?
That should be an easy one. The real scientists will win in the end, and those fake scientists with a green agenda will fail. The science and raw data is overwhelmingly clearly and objectively shows that Global Warming is a complete myth. Man is not causing the earth to get warmer. It has done that in cycle after cycle for hundreds of thousands of years, and all but certainly even longer, and man has not been around for most of that time. You simply cannot look at the ice core data and the historical temperature charts and come to any other conclusion.
Software

Submission + - Federal Court Grants Microsoft Expedited Appeal (ipwatchdog.com)

Submitted by patentpundit
patentpundit writes: On Friday, August 21, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted Microsoft an expedited appeal of its patent infringement loss to i4i Limited Partnership. On August 11, 2009, Microsoft lost a $300 million judgment for infringing the XML patents of i4i by selling Word. Microsoft was given 60 days to stop selling Word, or implement work arounds that did not utilize the infringed technology. Microsoft filed an emergency appeal with the Federal Circuit, and requested a stay of the permanent injunction that will force them to stop selling work 60 days from August 11, 2009. The Federal Circuit granted an expedited oral argument, which will take place on September 23, 2009. Microsoft requested an administrative stay of the permanent injunction, which was denied, and then filed a petition to stay the injunction pending appeal. i4i has until August 25, 2009, to respond to Microsoft's request to stay the injunction pending appeal. For more see http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2009/08/21/cafc-grants-microsoft-expedited-patent-appeal-in-word-case/id=5135/

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