Slashdot Mirror

Most of the litigators I know that're good in this space happen to bill at $350/hr. The only bunch I know of that charge $500/hr are people from places like Cravath.

... that you know a couple of 5th year associates from Cravath may not be relevant. The partners are probably around $800/hr.

In this case, though, there's a dead-on, you lose piece of prior art involved- Apple patented the base concept in 1992. This isn't some almost item. It's the same concept/implementation- all that's differing is the verbiage in the patent copy for what they're doing and why. I'd put up a fight and counter-sue for damages due to this BS for bringing a frivolous lawsuit (Because it is...).

Apple patenting the "base concept" is also irrelevant. The wheel is a "base concept" for a Tesla Roadster. That doesn't mean that Neanderthal Ug, Genius Inventor, anticipated electric cars.

And...we won't get into the fact that Apple patented the base concept in 1992

Doesn't matter... If I get a base patent on a seating device with at least three legs (a stool), you can still get a patent on a seating device with at least three legs and an upright back connected to the base (a chair). My patent may block you from implementing yours, but the fact that I invented a stool doesn't give me ownership over any possible future improvement.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/03/32gb-microsd-card/

weight of a micro sd card :~ .5 grams

capacity of a micro sd card:~ 64 gb
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Mobile-MicroSDXC-Memory-Adapter/dp/B005V7WIA2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332714352&sr=8-1

MATH:~ 1000/64 = 15.6 or 16 cards
https://www.google.com/search?q=1000%2F64&btnG=Search

16 cards weighs 8 grams grams

Capacity of a pigeon:~ 38 grams
http://interbug.com/pigeon/technology/homing_pigeon_with_gps.pdf
"Thirty-eight grams total is still a lot for a pigeon to carry, representing about ten percent of its body weight."

Ah, but not full, dead-on prior art. Apple patented the base concept in 1992.

Now you're doing lawyer work (researching prior art)... I think the patent office has been intentionally feeding the lawyers since the early 1990s.

Most of the litigators I know that're good in this space happen to bill at $350/hr. The only bunch I know of that charge $500/hr are people from places like Cravath. Most of the companies that hire those sorts of lawyers don't bother with idiot lawsuits like this one.

As for months of a legal battle, it depends on the "big company" as to whether or not they're willing to piss $100k-1mil on the floor and lose the patent that they spent some $20-50k on getting, along with possibly losing a countersuit if one's filed.

In this case, though, there's a dead-on, you lose piece of prior art involved- Apple patented the base concept in 1992. This isn't some almost item. It's the same concept/implementation- all that's differing is the verbiage in the patent copy for what they're doing and why. I'd put up a fight and counter-sue for damages due to this BS for bringing a frivolous lawsuit (Because it is...).

And...we won't get into the fact that Apple patented the base concept in 1992

Actually, patent infringement applies to someone selling or distributing the protected work. If you implement it yourself, there's no infringement whatsoever.

Not overly helpful. But...there's a vicious piece of prior art that very probably invalidates their claims and makes it safe for anyone because it's outside the limits for patents: Apple patented the base concept in 1992

Already done, really. Several FOSS projects exist for iOS, Android, or Java right now that're in progress or bankrolled by Nations that wouldn't give a shit about their patents (which have prior art: Apple patented the base concept in 1992).

Ah, but not full, dead-on prior art. Apple patented the base concept in 1992.

They're not claiming a patent for that- they're claiming a patent for a dynamic changing keyboard, for which Apple patented the base concept in 1992

Actually...it'd be more than PR they'd save. Apple patented the base concept in 1992

Already started. Doesn't need patents to invalidate. All you need is public knowledge of something roughly analogous that anticipates it to invalidate.

AssistiveWare's KeyStrokes was first published and sold to the world in 1996.

But...heh... Here's a patent (and an owner) that would be "entertaining" for this bunch: Apple patented the base concept in 1992.

I agree, this seems to be an obvious solutions to a simple problem.

There is something about the mix of legalese and techobabble in the patent applications, that renders the most trivial thing
an air of importance.

I once worked for a company, where we discovered that we couldn't let a system redirect an incoming call to another system,
if the customer wan't in the first systems database, since that violated a patent. The digital equivalence of looking in the next
drawer when you are looking for a matching sock. Pretty far from http://www.google.com/patents?vid=1781541

If patent applications were required to include a car-analogy in the summary, the patent system would less annoying.

Not sure how this got modded up to 5. Cannabis dumbs you down to the point that you can hardly concentrate and LSD use ends up causing psychosis. Hardly anything useful.

I'm glad they found a good use for wine. Never understood why anyone would drink something that tastes like shit.

--
Marcan, asshole and proud.

http://blogs.esa.int/andre-kuipers/2012/03/24/evacueren-naar-mijn-sojoez-vanwege-ruimtepuin/?lang=nl

Translated by Google: http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=nl&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=nl&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.esa.int%2Fandre-kuipers%2F2012%2F03%2F24%2Fevacueren-naar-mijn-sojoez-vanwege-ruimtepuin%2F%3Flang%3Dnl&act=url

This immediately reminded me of a paper I came across some years ago reporting measurement of the magnetic susceptibility of cigarette ash from different brands of cigarettes:

Magentism of Cigarette Ashes (pdf)

From the experimental section:

We have studied ashes (whole products residue)
from smoked by different smokers cigarettes from
three different commercially available on the
market brands, labeled as follows: Camel
(CM)—three varieties: Camel filter normal (CM),
Camel Light (CML) and Camel 100s (CM100);
Marlboro (MR) and the Bulgarian brand
Shipka (SH). Ashes were collected in glass pots
and used for magnetic measurements without
further treatment.

Glass pots. You mean, ashtrays?

(by the way, I have had that same sig for many years, but it perhaps has never been so appropriate...)

Does this mean that I have to go update all my webpages that proudly declare:

BEST VIEWED AT 640 X 480 ??

I don't know why my W510 has this resolution. My old DELL Latitude D810 with WUXGA display has 1920x1200 resolution, but that laptop is now impossible to use, it's so old and underpowered and it overheats immediately and responsiveness is near 0. But I want that screen on my new laptop, WTF is wrong with this picture that since 2005 the screen resolutions have gone down as opposed to going up?

These: http://www.whitewings.com/ are great and Fry's used to sell them, but only get the ones that have balsa inserts (if they still make them). The all paper ones require too much glue and cutting. And for an honest paper folded airplane, this one is a great flyer: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CDwQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zurqui.com%2Fcrinfocus%2Fpaper%2Fairplane.html&ei=1f9tT_S2Hoz9sQKAxd2IBg&usg=AFQjCNEXIh1I2FmOnAXuQ_BMi0cVs_38fA&sig2=YdoQQKnsdLwtZ23Z5-iAFA

can't spell "bill".

Who are you referring to?

The word bill was only used twice in this sub-thread, and it was spelled correctly both times...

Since I just woke up, I even double checked.

Particles are trapped in the magnetosphere, although "trapped" doesn't mean they have to stay there forever. If you want to know how particles bounce off of a field gradient, look up how a magnetic mirror works as a result of conservation of magnetic moment which applies if the magnetic field isn't changing too fast. A single particle could be trapped for a very long time, until it has lost its kinetic energy to radiation. Groups of particles trapped by a magnetic mirror will result in them leaving quicker, as each collision between particles has a chance of knocking one in a direction close enough to parallel to the magnetic field, in which case it won't bounce off the mirror field. It is as much a perpetual motion machine as planetary orbits, where two bodies could orbit for a very long time until gravity waves radiate energy out of the system, or multiple body systems can eject a planet much quicker, but otherwise "trap" orbiting bodies on relevant time scales.

And there are emissions observed from Earth's and other magnetospheres, including maser like activity. There are entire books written on the topic at this point.

There is so much written on these topics, it is hard to link to anything in particular. Especially since it is such a big research area, searches return mostly narrow, esoteric papers and discussions of various minute details. An article here at least doesn't require math, and Wikipedia has an article on particle motion in a magnetosphere, although it isn't that great but at least links to other related topics.

Hi Steve!!!! Could you do the monkey dance for us while you're here?

How about a Sony Bravia for $18 on e-bay?

Crap, wrong link: http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=the+shire&daddr=mordor&hl=en&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=56.768363,129.462891&geocode=FX4LyAId956r-CFRahjeZovxbimXsyoA1OGTVDEwoC673r5F7Q%3BFcN03wIdQoC4-CH8a--mEVbGqimzjaBzg0-FVDESy8qgwx97Ww&mra=ls&t=m&z=9

One does not simply walk into Mordor...

Fun EasterEgg:
http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=the+shire&daddr=mordor&hl=en&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=56.768363,129.462891&geocode=FX4LyAId956r-CFRahjeZovxbimXsyoA1OGTVDEwoC673r5F7Q%3BFcN03wIdQoC4-CH8a--mEVbGqimzjaBzg0-FVDESy8qgwx97Ww&mra=ls&t=m&z=9
It turns out that Mordor is in Arlington, WA

Minnesota Public Radio pulls some choice quotes ...

Submitter here, my mistake on that above source. When I read this in my news feed yesterday, I didn't see the AP markings all around this story. All of it appears to be completely and solely Associated Press sourced. I apologize if that confused anyone.

Noticed that when I was looking to see if anyone had come up with a sufficient rebuttal to this empirical link but aside from a few insane pundits, I didn't find much. The remaining arguments for "drill here, drill now" probably rests on "job creation" (waiting on that fact check) and, according to Thomas McClanahan from the Kansas City Star, it "means fewer dollars going to nasty, unstable regimes and more revenue for the Treasury, especially if the drilling is on public lands." He might be right about lowering the trade deficit but I think there are other things we could stop doing to prevent unstable regimes.

The rules of academic publishing are that you have to cite relevant related work. This includes both fresh results and old classics. Where possible, we tried to cite the most recent studies. Some studies that are appear dated indicate a research opportunity to update the corresponding area. Also, it would be wrong to dismiss a paper because of its age. Some of the older studies we cite present theoretical frameworks of enduring value and importance, demonstrated by the thousands of citations they have received over the years. For instance, the 2003 study by Venkatesh and his colleagues on the user acceptance of information technology, which we cite, has received almost five thousand citations. It would be wrong to ignore it, just because of its age.

Google Groups losing information--

Click on the link in the original summary to see the announcement from 1987:
    http://groups.google.com/group/mod.compilers/msg/1b3f30d88eab88f8?pli=1

Then click on the link at the top from Google:
    The old Google Groups will be going away soon. Switch to the new Google Groups.

When I switch, the poster's handle "johnl" is removed in the "new" version and is replaced with (unknown)

Hey Googlers, remember, "Don't be evil!"

"Cajun Hell described the world as it is currently functioning today,"

Only some parts of it. Are most parents paid? How much of our economy is based on volunteerism of some sort? What about slashdot itself -- do people have to be paid to write all this great content? Were you paid to write your post? Do you ever cook your own meals without being paid? Do you and friends ever talk together or contribute to some potluck party without billing each other? Alternatives are possible; see for example this book:
"The dictionary of alternatives: utopianism and organization"
http://books.google.com/books?id=IKZVKMPEQCEC

Maybe we can't yet torrent uranium (interesting metaphorical idea) outside of Minecraft worlds, but we can share ideas about how to create alternative energy, which might be even better:
"On the Hunt For The Catalyst: Open Catalyst Crowd Project Forms to Advance Cold Fusion"
http://www.e-catworld.com/2011/12/on-the-hunt-for-the-catalyst-open-catalyst-crowd-project-forms-to-advance-cold-fusion/

On that general issue, see also an essay I sent Andrea Rossi (supposed inventor of a LENR device):
http://peswiki.com/index.php/OS:Economic_Transformation
"The key point here is that breakthrough clean energy technologies will change the very nature of our economic system. They will shift the balance between four different interwoven economies we have always had (subsistence, gift, planned, and exchange). Inventors who have struggled so hard in a system currently dominated by exchange may have to think about the socioecenomic implications of their invention in causing a permanent economic phase change. A clean energy breakthrough will probably create a different balance of those four economies like toward greater local subsistence and more gift giving (as James P. Hogan talks about in Voyage From Yesteryear). So, to focus on making money in the old socioeconomic paradigm (like by focusing on restrictive patents) may be very ironic, compared to freely sharing a great gift with the world that may change the overall dynamics of our economy to the point where money does not matter very much anymore."

In any case, by decades of dedicated work (most not well paid), we will soon have fairly cheap solar panels:
http://cleantechnica.com/2011/05/29/ge-solar-power-cheaper-than-fossil-fuels-in-5-years/

What might we get soon with "Wikispeed" ideas applied to alternative energy?
http://www.wikispeed.com/the-process
"Team WIKISPEED uses methods developed by the fastest-moving software companies. In fact, in many ways we have more in common with Google or Twitter than with GM or Toyota. Manufacturing and old-thought software teams gather requirements, design the solution, build the solution, test the solution, then deliver the solution. In existing automotive companies, the design portion of that process alone takes three to twelve years, and then the vehicle design is built for five to fourteen years. This means it is possible to buy a brand new car from a dealer and that car represents the engineering team's understanding of what the customer might have wanted twenty-four years ago! Team WIKISPEED follows the model of Agile software teams, compressing the entire development cycle into one-week "sprints." We iterate the entire car every seven days, meaning that every seven days we reevaluate each part of the car and reinvent the highest-priority aspects, instead of waiting ten to twenty-four years to upgrade. This process enables a completely different pace of development."

"All require raw materials, none of which are "inherently fun" to obtain, especially not when it comes to obtaining useful quantities."

Check out Theodore Sturgeon's "The Skills of Xanadu" for a sci-fi exploration of the idea of making the gathering of materials "fun":
http://books.google.com/books?id=wpuJQrxHZXAC&pg=PA51#v=onepage&q&f=false

Also, how much "labor" does a tree do to grow? It is possible then in theory to use just water, CO2, and a little bit of soil to make amazing things that are mostly carbon.

In general, one could make the same argument about software or content. People are never going to spend lots of time making free software or content to give away, and yet they do through GNU/Linux and Wikipedia.

"Money is used in exchange for labor. Labor takes up a person's time. A person's time is finite. One has only to look through the local obituary to realize that the scarcity is quite genuine."

When robotics are really cheap, what is the difference between writing free software to run material gathering robots and gathering materials for "free"?

"The 21st-century computer you composed this on is only possible because of people supplying raw materials and manufacturing in 19th-century conditions."

I might have agreed if you had not used the word "only". :-) How far we have fallen in our aspirations:
http://www.fact-index.com/n/ne/next.html
"By 1987 NeXT finished construction of a completely automated factory for their first product, the NeXTcube."

It's true that essentially slave human labor is still cheaper than robots in some applications (though fewer and fewer applications as even essentially dirt-cheap slaves kept in dormitories can't keep up with the quality robots can produce and they also take more management.)

But in any case, things are changing:
"Foxconn to rely more on robots; could use 1 million in 3 years"
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/01/us-foxconn-robots-idUSTRE77016B20110801

Someone made a pretty funny spoof site (half decent google translation). The translation will give you the gist of it if you can't read Norwegian. I especially like "Login as Kenneth (does not require password)". They missed the chance to misspell Buypass (an authentication service) as Bypass, though :)

Agreed.

One of the best/funniest for "The floppy disk anthem" would have to be Beagle Bro's "Silicon City" two-liner

RUN TL:CHUGGACHUGGA

Two floppy drives.
One steam-engine starting up =)

i.e.

1 HOME:POKE 50,223:FOR X=150 TO 255:SPEED=X:PRINT PEEK(49385) + PEEK( 49386);:PRINT "CHUGGA";:PRINT PEEK( 49387);:NEXT:END

It would alternate turning on/off the floppy drive motors of the 2 floppy drives. =)

http://beagle.applearchives.com/the_software/vintage_beagle_bros_softwar/silicon_salad.html
https://www.google.com/search?q=beaglo+bros+chuggachugga

Yeah, moron regulation. When will people learn?

learn

There are doctors that are going as far as to state that most ailments (heart disease, cancer, arthritis, etc) are cause to some degree by chronic inflammation:
GIFY
https://encrypted.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=inflammation+and+disease&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Aspirin reduces inflammation and so helps in all things inflammation related.

You should check out diet related inflammation as some (if not most) of us have poor dietary habits OR eat to much.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflammation

Yeah, I recall the original IBM PC/AT's keyboard had a nice feel, too. The one I'm thinking of wasn't that,m though - they had a bunch pf PF keys, and a whole bunch of cryptically-labeled function keys all over the place. Or so says my distant memories - I only used the thing for a 1-semester highschool class, in 1982.

This might be what I'm remembering...

Yes they do

I wonder if anyone has ever checked the level of radon gas in these caves?

Yes.

It's wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff. I'd much rather have that than any of RTD's resolutions. Moffat may in fact be a time traveler himself, though. That, or he has seriously been thinking about this show his entire life. In the mid-90s, he was posting messages on Usenet about plot points he'd later actually bring to the show.

Wow, what's with the anti-evolution trolls?

I don't have any mod points to mod you troll, so I'll try to explain what the theory of evolution actually says instead. The point is best made by a passage in Orson Scott Card's novel Xenocide (via Google Books):

"... Remember the classic Daisyworld thought experiment?"

"But that experiment had only a single species over the whole face of the planet," said Wang-mu. "When the sun grew too hot, then the white daisies grew to reflect the light back into space, and when the sun grew too cool, dark daisies grew to absorb the light and hold it as heat." Wang-mu was proud that she could remember Daisyworld so clearly.

"No no no," said Qing-jao. "You have missed the point, of course. The point is that there must already have been dark daisies, even when the light daisies were dominant, and light daisies when the world was covered with darkness. Evolution can't produce new species on demand. It is creating new species constantly, as genes drift and are spliced and broken by radiation and passed between species by viruses. Thus no species ever 'breeds true.'"

In summary, your experiment is flawed because you only have one species and haven't allowed for the massive length of time it takes a population of a single species to spontaneously generate the specific beneficial mutation you are looking for. To make a computer analogy, it's like complaining that gamma rays don't really mess up computers because the proof that P!=NP hasn't accidentally appeared on your laptop yet.

Google image search: "global warming cartoon"
1
2
3
4
5

Google image search: "global warming cartoon"
1
2
3
4
5

Google image search: "global warming cartoon"
1
2
3
4
5

Google image search: "global warming cartoon"
1
2
3
4
5

Google image search: "global warming cartoon"
1
2
3
4
5

"The main thing is the solutions are there, the problem can be solved."

Yes, that is my key point. Solutions exist even if we may choose collectively not to pursue them. Thanks for the summary and insights into issues of power. A related item:
"The Mythology of Wealth"
http://www.conceptualguerilla.com/?q=node/402

Whether we decide to solve these problem is getting to be more a social issue than a technological one. A related essay I wrote:
http://groups.google.com/group/openmanufacturing/msg/a7abadb8867dae79?hl=en
"One can think of it this simplified way. Imagine abundance for all takes a society earning 100 "social-technical" points. :-) These points come from the multiplication of the "social" points times the "technical" points.
So, 50 * 2 = 100.
Or, 2 * 50 = 100.
or, 10 * 10 = 100."

One big problem is that every day it gets easier and easier for fewer and fewer people to wipe out all of humanity. For example, the genetic code was like a lock that prevented designer plagues (or attempts at them). Now that that code has been "broken", we are all at extreme risk of plagues created for whatever reasons. And it is not as easy to change your DNA as it is to change your ssh key.

As Bucky Fuller said decades ago, whether it will be Utopia or Oblivion will be a touch-and-go relay race to the very end...

I find this 1950s story called "The Skills of Xanadu" inspirational about the possible power of the internet for social change, but even then, the internet could be used for a crackdown too:
http://books.google.com/books?id=wpuJQrxHZXAC&pg=PA51#v=onepage&q&f=false

So, I don't know what will happen. I only can see from everything I've read on slashdot and elsewhere what could possibly happen in terms of solutions.

Likely we may get a range of outcomes in different places. India actually seems to me a place that may get it together best -- a culture of villages, a culture of sharing, a common knowledge of English, a youthful population, and so on...
http://p2pfoundation.net/Creative_Commons_-_Critiques#The_perverse_effects_of_CC_in_the_developing_world
"There is an overall culture of sharing knowledge here, even if this isn't called 'Creative Commons'. We had the launch of CCIndia in early 2007, but there seems to be little activity there... I think CC is a bit too conservative and too respectful of copyright issues. Copyright has not worked for us (in the developing world) for generations. Generally speaking, copyright in any form, including CC, doesn't fit in too well with Asian ideas of knowledge, since it enables those controlling knowledge and information over the rest, and we find it impossible to emerge winners in this game. It is a colonial law, not meant to serve the interest of the people of those parts of the globe that are not ahead in the information race! Why should we be as respectful to it, as, say, Lawrence Lessig is?"

Maybe we'll see more good things from Skikshantar?
http://www.swaraj.org/shikshantar/udaipur.html

"The main thing is the solutions are there, the problem can be solved."

Yes, that is my key point. Solutions exist even if we may choose collectively not to pursue them. Thanks for the summary and insights into issues of power. A related item:
"The Mythology of Wealth"
http://www.conceptualguerilla.com/?q=node/402

Whether we decide to solve these problem is getting to be more a social issue than a technological one. A related essay I wrote:
http://groups.google.com/group/openmanufacturing/msg/a7abadb8867dae79?hl=en
"One can think of it this simplified way. Imagine abundance for all takes a society earning 100 "social-technical" points. :-) These points come from the multiplication of the "social" points times the "technical" points.
So, 50 * 2 = 100.
Or, 2 * 50 = 100.
or, 10 * 10 = 100."

One big problem is that every day it gets easier and easier for fewer and fewer people to wipe out all of humanity. For example, the genetic code was like a lock that prevented designer plagues (or attempts at them). Now that that code has been "broken", we are all at extreme risk of plagues created for whatever reasons. And it is not as easy to change your DNA as it is to change your ssh key.

As Bucky Fuller said decades ago, whether it will be Utopia or Oblivion will be a touch-and-go relay race to the very end...

I find this 1950s story called "The Skills of Xanadu" inspirational about the possible power of the internet for social change, but even then, the internet could be used for a crackdown too:
http://books.google.com/books?id=wpuJQrxHZXAC&pg=PA51#v=onepage&q&f=false

So, I don't know what will happen. I only can see from everything I've read on slashdot and elsewhere what could possibly happen in terms of solutions.

Likely we may get a range of outcomes in different places. India actually seems to me a place that may get it together best -- a culture of villages, a culture of sharing, a common knowledge of English, a youthful population, and so on...
http://p2pfoundation.net/Creative_Commons_-_Critiques#The_perverse_effects_of_CC_in_the_developing_world
"There is an overall culture of sharing knowledge here, even if this isn't called 'Creative Commons'. We had the launch of CCIndia in early 2007, but there seems to be little activity there... I think CC is a bit too conservative and too respectful of copyright issues. Copyright has not worked for us (in the developing world) for generations. Generally speaking, copyright in any form, including CC, doesn't fit in too well with Asian ideas of knowledge, since it enables those controlling knowledge and information over the rest, and we find it impossible to emerge winners in this game. It is a colonial law, not meant to serve the interest of the people of those parts of the globe that are not ahead in the information race! Why should we be as respectful to it, as, say, Lawrence Lessig is?"

Maybe we'll see more good things from Skikshantar?
http://www.swaraj.org/shikshantar/udaipur.html

I hope you realize Android is doomed to low-income markets. It's a terrible OS. It lags on even the latest hardware, requires huge amounts of RAM, slows down over time, drains battery much faster than other OS's (*especially on standby*), and overall is unintuitive. Google doesn't care about its bugs.

Let's take a look at what Google is doing with their OS and their own line of Nexus phones. When Google can not efficiently or speedily update their own OS on their own line of Nexus phones before the OEM's, there is a major problem. It is now March and we still have no idea what went wrong with the ICS update for the Nexus S and 4G as Google has been completely silent on the matter for the last three months. Three months without a word from Google does not instill any kind of confidence in their competence of supporting their own OS on just their own line of Nexus phones, let alone every other device with Android on it. Not to mention that this is a long time to strand your users on an OS (rooting and flashing a downgrade is not a viable fix as it voids manufacturers warranty) that is draining their phones battery in less than six hours. There is also a very large problem with Google's customer service for Android and the Nexus line of phones. The Nexus is special in that if there is any kind of software problem the manufacturer (Samsung, HTC) and the carrier (Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon) will refer you to Google to find any kind of help. They are not on the hook, as the Android OS is Google's responsibility on the Nexus line. Problem being that Google does not have any kind of customer service for the Nexus and it's OS other than a forum. This forum goes largely ignored with even the most basic of questions and problems. Imagine if Apple only supplied a forum (no 800 number, no e-mail address, no Genius bar) as customer service for the iPhone. People would flip out. How is it okay for Google to treat it's users and customers in this manner?

Please take a look at Google's forums here: http://www.google.com/support/... Almost every question marked as answered is not actually answered. They are just some reply from another user saying they have the same problem. On the off chance you finally find a question that Google has responded to, it is just some low level employee stating they know it's a problem (offering no solution) or asking for bug reports. In fact it has gotten so bad on these forums that it's Nexus users have resorted to spamming Android's Google+ page https://plus.google.com/104629... in the hopes that Google will finally say something, anything on the issue. There are a lot of ignored and angry Nexus users out there.

Frankly I am tired of paying to beta test Google's android OS and am appalled by their lack of customer service for the number one mobile OS in the world and their Nexus line of phones. Really, all of you should be too.

I hope you realize Android is doomed to low-income markets. It's a terrible OS. It lags on even the latest hardware, requires huge amounts of RAM, slows down over time, drains battery much faster than other OS's (*especially on standby*), and overall is unintuitive. Google doesn't care about its bugs.

Let's take a look at what Google is doing with their OS and their own line of Nexus phones. When Google can not efficiently or speedily update their own OS on their own line of Nexus phones before the OEM's, there is a major problem. It is now March and we still have no idea what went wrong with the ICS update for the Nexus S and 4G as Google has been completely silent on the matter for the last three months. Three months without a word from Google does not instill any kind of confidence in their competence of supporting their own OS on just their own line of Nexus phones, let alone every other device with Android on it. Not to mention that this is a long time to strand your users on an OS (rooting and flashing a downgrade is not a viable fix as it voids manufacturers warranty) that is draining their phones battery in less than six hours. There is also a very large problem with Google's customer service for Android and the Nexus line of phones. The Nexus is special in that if there is any kind of software problem the manufacturer (Samsung, HTC) and the carrier (Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon) will refer you to Google to find any kind of help. They are not on the hook, as the Android OS is Google's responsibility on the Nexus line. Problem being that Google does not have any kind of customer service for the Nexus and it's OS other than a forum. This forum goes largely ignored with even the most basic of questions and problems. Imagine if Apple only supplied a forum (no 800 number, no e-mail address, no Genius bar) as customer service for the iPhone. People would flip out. How is it okay for Google to treat it's users and customers in this manner?

Please take a look at Google's forums here: http://www.google.com/support/... Almost every question marked as answered is not actually answered. They are just some reply from another user saying they have the same problem. On the off chance you finally find a question that Google has responded to, it is just some low level employee stating they know it's a problem (offering no solution) or asking for bug reports. In fact it has gotten so bad on these forums that it's Nexus users have resorted to spamming Android's Google+ page https://plus.google.com/104629... in the hopes that Google will finally say something, anything on the issue. There are a lot of ignored and angry Nexus users out there.

Frankly I am tired of paying to beta test Google's android OS and am appalled by their lack of customer service for the number one mobile OS in the world and their Nexus line of phones. Really, all of you should be too.

I've cut back as much as I can,

IMHO, you can potentially cut out a lot more, albeit it's obviously your choice as to how minimalistic to be...

I travel for business (so that's two cards), - Are you doing so right now? If not then don't carry them. If so, keep them in your suit, briefcase, or what-have-you.

have a joint account for household expenses (one card) a credit card for personal use (another card) - If you wish to keep separate accounts, you can just transfer funds online. Or just carry the joint card when you plan to make such a purchase.

and a debit card which I use the most (another card). - First of all, a debit card combines the worst features of checks and credit cards, and it's the least accept common method of payment. If it's stolen your whole bank account is at risk, and there are generally no incentives (e.g. cash back) to use one. Any merchant who accepts credit cards cannot give you a discount for debit cards like they can for cash. Second, pick one card and stick with it. If you frequently use ATMs, then I'd advise planning ahead a bit better, and keeping enough reserve cash for incidentals. As a bonus, your bank account won't be cleaned out by a skimmer or mugger.

a driver's license - Which is your license to operate a motor vehicle. Keep it in said vehicle. The US does not require you to carry your papers with you, as we presume you have a license to exist. Note that if you look hispanic and live in the southwest, constitutional protections may not be applied to you.

and health insurance cards... Plural? That sounds excessive. While it's not a bad idea since you never know when you'll be taken unconscious to an ER, you can copy that information to a piece of paper if you want to cut-down on wallet thickness and just take the physical card with you to the doctor. Also, being insured doesn't change your initial treatment, so it's not strictly necessary to carry your insurance card.

I suspect you forgot your shopping loyalty cards, business cards, reminders, social security card, and other items, the bulk of which require an over-sized, two-inch-thick-while-empty wallet.

Personally, I switched to a combined phone case / wallet that clips to my belt. I carry my driver's license (pointless but there's room), health insurance card (paper thin, not plastic), Google one-time authorization codes (paper), a credit card, and one bill to cover most any single debt that I might incur. That leaves one space so I can temporarily carry HID and ID cards. That said, my needs are not the same as yours. I have to be minimalistic as I often need to unexpectedly change into (pocketless) scrubs, and almost invariably am forced to leave my stuff in an unlocked locker (or pile), so my current system works well for me.

*Yawn* Cameras that can see around corners aren't even new (provided you can control the light source):

http://graphics.stanford.edu/papers/dual_photography/

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8237361566146405294#