Slashdot Mirror

It was evident that one of the most popular subject within the Usenet were the trading of recipes. Something I never expected, the popularity and the amounts (recipes) available in that area were just vast.

It's not so surprising if you think of it as a kind of porn.

Surveys show that almost 1/3 of Americans don't know how to cook. And this more shocking given that the bar for what constitutes "cooking" has been dropping. When I learned to cook one of the first things I learned was to bone a chicken -- something admittedly I haven't done in twenty years. My grandparents generation would have learned how pluck a chicken. Today buying a seasoned chicken breast and throwing it in the oven is "cooking".

I go to the supermarket and produce and meat sections have shrunk to make room for burgeoning frozen and microwave convenience foods. We are a country where you can literally buy frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

And yet at the same time cable TV is choked with cooking "reality" shows and how-to shows where food which is prepared that it is a fair bet that not one in a hundred viewers would attempt. I'd lay even odds that not one in thousand on some of the recipes. And the number of cookbooks that are published have gone up by 50% since 2002.

The inevitable conclusion is that there is a growing body of people who read about cooking, watch shows about cooking, but do not cook themselves.

Millions of people put peanutbutter on their bread. Millions of other people put jelly on their bread. But it takes a genius to think of combining these things, and should therefore be reasonably compensated for their services to mankind.

Brilliant!

I'm sorry, I'm an idiot. They have a "No Salt Added Creamy." Although SWEET JESUS LOOK AT THAT HIGH FAT CONTENT. I dunno, maybe my PB has a high fat content, but I just didn't notice.

Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter offers an unprocessed robust peanut flavor, made from peanuts and salt. [emphasis added]

This is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate opposition to patents that never should have been issued in the first place, and for attempting to step on the small businesses with these frivolous patents. Show the companies who use patents such as these to stifle competition and to step on small businesses and add their own tax to consumers' wallets that you will exact a penalty on them if they continue such despicable behavior. The best way to do this is to stop buying Smuckers peanut butter and jelly, and to let them know about it.

While I don't normally buy Smuckers peanut butter, I do buy their jellies. Mostly grape but sometimes other flavors/fruits. Smuckers is now banned in my house. I won't be purchasing anymore Smuckers Jellies, and won't try Smuckers Peanut Butter in the future even if on sale.

I'm going to let them know via email if they have contact info available, but I'm also going to start linking their name with the patent lawsuit action they started, to the news story, back to their page. Slashdot readers should do the same. A good Googlebomb will get their attention, so that when someone searches for Smuckers on Google (many less technical users use search engines to locate sites such as smuckers.com), some of the top ten hits will contain info on the patent lawsuit.

May not be a huge hit on their bottom line, but consumers swearing off their brand for years to come will get their attention. And more importantly, if the Googlebomb/linking is done sufficiently, then a news organization doing a story on patents may cover the issue or at least mention it, bringing more negative publicity to the company.

You have to show the companies that their are negative consequences to using frivolous patent, not just advantages. And you have to bring this to the attention to the general public. This is a perfect example of something the general public, something that soccer moms can understand. If they understand why patenting peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are bad, then it may help them to understand why software patents are bad.

So for Smuckers Peanut Butter & Jelly patents, whether on "crimping" or on a different patent for crustless peanut butter & jelly, show the companies that you have a long memory and that they will be taking a financial hit no matter how small because you will no longer purchase their products due to their use of frivolous patents.

With the soccer moms able to grasp the situation with frivolous patents thanks to PB & J sandwiches they make for their kids' school lunches, maybe enough Senators and Congressmen will show a little vulnerability on this issue during the next election and decide to go after soccer moms' votes, along with the greater population of tech end users as compared to tech company suits.

The last thing directors of a public traded company want is publicity surrounding a boycott of their company. If you are serious about opposing software patents, this PB & J issue is a perfect opportunity to put your shopping and eating habits where your mouths are, and to attempt to make a difference. All it takes is the numbers of users who view slashdot, and a little publicity. Do it today. Avoid purchasing Smuckers products and let them know why. And then Googlebomb the links from the news on the patent lawsuits to the companies. frivolous patents

This is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate opposition to patents that never should have been issued in the first place, and for attempting to step on the small businesses with these frivolous patents. Show the companies who use patents such as these to stifle competition and to step on small businesses and add their own tax to consumers' wallets that you will exact a penalty on them if they continue such despicable behavior. The best way to do this is to stop buying Smuckers peanut butter and jelly, and to let them know about it.

While I don't normally buy Smuckers peanut butter, I do buy their jellies. Mostly grape but sometimes other flavors/fruits. Smuckers is now banned in my house. I won't be purchasing anymore Smuckers Jellies, and won't try Smuckers Peanut Butter in the future even if on sale.

I'm going to let them know via email if they have contact info available, but I'm also going to start linking their name with the patent lawsuit action they started, to the news story, back to their page. Slashdot readers should do the same. A good Googlebomb will get their attention, so that when someone searches for Smuckers on Google (many less technical users use search engines to locate sites such as smuckers.com), some of the top ten hits will contain info on the patent lawsuit.

May not be a huge hit on their bottom line, but consumers swearing off their brand for years to come will get their attention. And more importantly, if the Googlebomb/linking is done sufficiently, then a news organization doing a story on patents may cover the issue or at least mention it, bringing more negative publicity to the company.

You have to show the companies that their are negative consequences to using frivolous patent, not just advantages. And you have to bring this to the attention to the general public. This is a perfect example of something the general public, something that soccer moms can understand. If they understand why patenting peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are bad, then it may help them to understand why software patents are bad.

So for Smuckers Peanut Butter & Jelly patents, whether on "crimping" or on a different patent for crustless peanut butter & jelly, show the companies that you have a long memory and that they will be taking a financial hit no matter how small because you will no longer purchase their products due to their use of frivolous patents.

With the soccer moms able to grasp the situation with frivolous patents thanks to PB & J sandwiches they make for their kids' school lunches, maybe enough Senators and Congressmen will show a little vulnerability on this issue during the next election and decide to go after soccer moms' votes, along with the greater population of tech end users as compared to tech company suits.

The last thing directors of a public traded company want is publicity surrounding a boycott of their company. If you are serious about opposing software patents, this PB & J issue is a perfect opportunity to put your shopping and eating habits where your mouths are, and to attempt to make a difference. All it takes is the numbers of users who view slashdot, and a little publicity. Do it today. Avoid purchasing Smuckers products and let them know why. And then Googlebomb the links from the news on the patent lawsuits to the companies. frivolous patents

And FYI, we should be getting about 500-2400mg of sodium a day, but the average American consumes something like 3000-6000mg per day, because we eat so much prepackaged food.

Smuckers sells PB&J sandwiches that are little round circles. The circles look like they are made by a process involving 2 pieces of bread thusly, but I really don't know the process:

1) Take 2 slices of bread
2) Dollop PB&J in the center
3) Put a ring on top, and one on bottom, smash the rings together crushing the dough into a crimped solid bit of dough.


Heres a product link

For people who don't like crust. Smucker's Uncrustables

Smuckers has a picture of them here.

Apparently they are found in the frozen foods aisle of the grocery store as the the page says, "All you do is thaw and serve."

If you can get passed the Amish on the way to Orville and end up near the Smucker's headquarters you are more than welcome to hand out PB&J's to the people of Orville. They are pretty self-reliant folk, with both Smucker's and Smith's dairy in the same town, they are ready for WWIII. They have all of the Peanut Butter, jams and preserves, and enough milk to wash it down until armeggedon.

Referring to High protein peanut butter and jelly sandwich and method of making the same, I see nothing which is non-obvious to "a person skilled in the art" of sandwich-making. I encourage folks to take direct action by handing out free home-made crustless PBJ's, especially if you can get to the corporate headquarters in Ohio.