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Does this mean we can write apps to stream video from a camera phone or use a VOIP app?

There would be nothing new to this, especially considering apps have been written since the very beginning just about everywhere else: from ad hoc applications specific to a certain model, to more general ones, the so called MIDlets, written J2ME (plus vendor's extensions).

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All things considered he says, it's OK except for the OS.

I think the OS is good enough for (what I imagine is) the intended audience.

Granted, the desktop is a bit too green and maybe too much Google oriented but, let's face it, anyone who's been using computers at least a little as heard of Google and the gazillion services on offer, so it doesn't take very long to figure out what those icons at the bottom of the screen are supposed to do.

Also, in addition to the typical "OS on a cheap computer for mail and stuff" scenario, I think gOS might be quite useful in internet cafes: most of the applications needed by the average user are there, and there's very little to maintain -- or break.

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Yes, but the summary says:

judges have granted the requests without even requiring the government to demonstrate probable cause that a crime is taking place or that the inquiry will yield evidence of a crime

Of course is for our own protection but, as discussed in the Skype thread, once you have the technology in place and when you start granting too much power without any real oversight, who's to prevent them to abuse both technology and power?

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apply to a court for a warrant

You've just answered the question yourself: without a search warrant, the scope for abuse is immense.

Of course there are the usual, broad categories (terrorist, pedophiles, criminals, etc.) that make it sound as the sensible thing to do, but once you grant such sweeping powers, what's preventing the police to use them to spy on political opponents, activists, or anyone else who just happens to "think different"?

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The whole idea of "hosted desktop apps" is dubious (and I'm not even considering the inevitable "rental fees", which is a whole 'nuther scam). It might work for little "one-time use" stuff, but no one would ever rely on them for day-to-day work.

Is is just me or we're slowly going back to square one? That is, to the days when all you had was a terminal connected to a time sharing system you paid to rent resources from?

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If your e-commerce site leaves out any one of those 9 clauses, you're not infringing.

I might be wrong, but I don't see that many elements that an e-commerce site could leave out and still be fully functional. Actually, #1 to #8 are pretty much essential and #3 in particular is extremely broad and potentially troublesome:

3) in response to only a single action being performed, sending a request to order the item along with an identifier of a purchaser of the item to a server system;

Your run-of-the-mill cookie is commonly used to identify a purchaser (at least broadly speaking) and any shopping cart is using them in some way or another.

For example, if you're using a shopping cart ordering model, you're not infringing

This is really the heart of the patent, where they're basically preventing anyone else from coming up with alternatives to shopping cart, given #1 to #8 above.

Anyway, we're getting so carried away here that we're forgetting that this story is no about the patent per se, or patents in general, but the sleight-of-hand used to reinstate the 1-Click patent -- patent lawyers, don't you just love them?

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I've always found a paper book to be more convenient than anything online.

Not only that, there's something very physical about holding a book in your hands -- not to mention that some of them smell good too -- and with e-books is not quite the same.

On the other hand, carrying around a 1200+ page book or, heaven forbid, trying to read one in bed is far from comfortable. And what about those times when you wish you had something to read with you, or you didn't know in advance that you wanted to read just THAT book? That's why it's nice to be able to carry a few around all the time. All in all, it's an acceptable compromise: you lose a little, you gain little.

That being said, this baby from Amazon fails completely to... kindle my interest. Sorry, couldn't resist! :P

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That "spectacular failure" is selling about 300,000 copies per day.

Only because it (normally) comes preinstalled in every new PC and the average user doesn't know there are alternatives -- or couldn't care less about them.

In other words: every OS could boast the same sale figures... if it came preinstalled in every PC.

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It's handy if you just want to make some simple forms and display simple data, but for real application development I find it insufficient.

True. If you stick to the CLDC/MIDP profile your options are fairly limited, but usually developers target one series from one manufacturer. For instance, for a Series 60 model from Nokia, in addtion to the Connected Limited Device Configuration CLDC 1.1 (JSR-139) and the Mobile Information Device Profile MIDP 2.0 (JSR-118) you could use:

• Wireless Messaging API 2.0 (JSR-205)
• Mobile Media API 1.1 (JSR-135)
• AMMS API (JSR-234)
• Bluetooth API (JSR-82)
• Personal Information Management (PIM) API 1.1 (JSR-75)
• FileConnection (FC) API 1.1 (JSR-75)
• Mobile 3D Graphics API 1.1 (JSR-184)
• Location API (JSR-179)
• Web Services (JSR-172)
• Security and Trust Services API (JSR-177)
• Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) API (JSR180)
• Scalable 2D Vector Graphics API (JSR-226)
• Nokia UI API

Sure, this sort of beats the write-once-run-anywhere mantra (not to mention that Series 60 phones are fairly high end) but when you target a specific family of devices the options are no longer so limited.

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I'm going to go with 0, since Java is open-source and free. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong on this point.

Quoting from Java ME Lincensees:

The companies listed below have licensed Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME) configurations and profiles and the associated Technology Compatibility Kits (TCK). Only Java ME technology licensees can claim compatibility with Java ME technology specifications and TCKs.

The list is quite long and of course includes the usual suspects.

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The current setup that Sun provides has boatloads of backwards compatibility cruft and old API's like AWT

This may be true for desktops, but the version used on mobile phones and other handheld devices has no AWT (or Swing for that matter) and it's called Java ME -- check the Platform Overview for the details if you like.

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There's a reason Java ME has gone nowhere

Uh? You are kidding aren't you?

What about this list of Networks Operatos and Carriers

Or the Java ME Device Table?

Or, for that matter, what about these phones from Nokia, Motorola and Sony Ericcson just to name a few?

Google is trying to succeed where Java has failed

I agree that there's a lot NOT to like about Java, but calling it a failure it's just trolling... and I just fell for it! ;-)

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This is the the single best possibe thing that could have happened for the success of Java on devices.

And what about Java ME then? It has been around for a while now and, for better or for worse, it's available on a lot of devices.

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I wouldn't really mind being one of the experts while freeing up a large portion of the population to do whatever they want.

You mean starving/begging/stealing?

True, there are a lot of shitty jobs that people would happily do without but, let's face it, not everyone could possibly be employed as an expert -- even if they had the skills.

there are lots of people who would continue working because they were passionate about their jobs

I think it's far more likley that people work just because they need the money. I certainly do, or I would just have hobbies!

I'm not saying that you can't receive gratification (monetary or otherwise) from a job, only that you are lucky if/when you do. As I see it, it could be said that if you need to work to support yourself you are still a slave, but I digress... ;-)

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Ignoring the feasibility of it all, whose to say that they are looking at domestic data anyway.

Feasible? Yes. Practical? Maybe not. However, what defines "domestic data"? If you are communicating with someone in/from $rogue_state_of_choice is the communication any longer domestic? Or do you think they would be dropping just your half of the conversation?

So what if they are reading emails between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

And why should email between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia be routed through AT&T? Besides, Pakistan has been promoted to "good friend" (if not "best buddy") a few years ago, and Saudi Arabia has never been officially considered a rogue state. From Rogue State:

In late 1990s U.S. officials considered North Korea, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Libya as "rogue states". The U.S.-Pakistani alliance following the 9/11 terrorist attacks removed Pakistan from the list. The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan removed the country from the list, and Iraq followed suit after the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. Libya achieved success through diplomacy and now is also not considered in the list.

It's called espionage. Not only is it perfectly legal, but it's something we SHOULD be doing.

First you doubt the feasibility of data snooping of such proportions and then you flatly contradict yourself by suggesting that it should be done?!? The mind boggles...

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Of course the game had to be recalled, and we missed the Christmas launch.

Any chance to know the name of the game? Just curious, you know... ;-)

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As a matter of fact, you couldn't buy a phone branded Symbian even if you wanted to. However, here's quite a selection:

http://www.symbian.com/phones/index.html

That being said, I agree that Mr. Forsyth statement is unfortunate -- to put it mildly.

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