Online Auctions Patented, eBay Sued

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Online Auctions Patented, eBay Sued

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday September 5, 2002 @01:32AM from the where-will-I-get-old-d&d-books dept.

mattfusf writes "This article from News.com talks about a guy who has filed a lawsuit against eBay for patent infringment. Patent 5,845,265 covers a "method..for creating a computerized market for used and collectible goods""

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MY FINGER SMELLS LIKE CAT!!! by govtcheez · 2002-09-05 01:33 · Score: -1, Offtopic

I was just testing the temperature of her pee.
gotta get it :-) by Anonymous Coward · 2002-09-05 01:33 · Score: -1, Offtopic

FP for the CLIT
(Adolf Hitroll)
Troll -1 by Anonymous Coward · 2002-09-05 01:38 · Score: -1, Offtopic

Bring on the comments of how the US Patent Office is screwed up and how dumb they are for allowing something like this to be patented...

Ya see it almost EVERY time there is an article in the "Patents" topic area. :-/
the spelling and grammar troll v1.2 by Anonymous Coward · 2002-09-05 01:39 · Score: -1, Offtopic
It has come to my attention that "slashdot", subsidiary of VA Software, is a refuge for people with a terrible sense for grammar and spelling. As a remediation, please accept the following recommendations about the use of some frequent linguistic expressions :
- "Alot" vs. "A lot" : There is no such word as alot. In fact, when confronted with the word alot, ispell tells us the following : "how about : allot,aloe,aloft, alto, blot, clot, lot, plot, slot"
- Just because moronic Americans pronounce Berstein, neither, Einstein and other as "Burnstean", "neather", "Ainstean", etc... doesn't mean they have to write those words "Bernstien", "niether" or "Einstien". Special mention to "thier", "becuase" and "amatuer".
- "Than" vs. "Then" : Just the fact that in some inferior dialects of the English language, "than" and "then" are pronounced about the same way doesn't mean that the comparative "than" has any reason to be written as the conjunctive/logical "then".
- Your vs. You're : The former means "not my, not his, not our", in other words it is a possessive. The latter is a shortcut for "You are". Similar point for There vs Their vs They're.
- Hobbyist and lobbyist are not superlatives. Hence they musn't be written as hobbiest and lobbiest.
- Thi fuct thit ya ridnucks prunince any avelible vowal as "uh" doesn't forbid you to open a book from time to time to actually build up some vocabulary. It's "ludicrous" and "compatible", not "ludacris" and "compatable".
- Its vs It's. The former is the genitive form of "It" and will therefore make the following word an attribute of the word replaced by the pronoun. Example : illitteracy and its consequences. The latter is an shortcut for "It is". Example : Illiteracy. It's so annoying.
...many more to come. Reply to this comment to suggest some.

A definition of irony : a bunch of computer nerds without a sense for spelling and grammar mocking japanese game translators for their lack of skills in english spelling and grammar.

Contribution by Erpo :

I'm not any kind of grammar nazi, but decent spelling and grammar are important to me. The occasional affect/effect problem doesn't bother me (it just lowers my opinion of the author), but when a piece is riddled with errors (there/they're/their, its/it's, then/than, etc..) it's hard for me to read. Partially, I think this is because I sight read and I don't subvocalize. In other words, when I see, "It's over their," in print the first thing I think is, "It's over their what? Is it hovering over their kitchen counter? Is it over their heads? What is this person trying to say?" Of course, I don't just sit there pondering those questions (it only takes a split second to see there was a grammar error in the sentence), but I can't read as quickly when every few lines my eyes flick back to an earlier word.

Maybe I'm just hypersensitive. I don't know. If you don't know what I'm talking about though, check out this piece by Prince. It doesn't have very many grammar problems, but the "creative" spelling is really distracting.
1. Re:the spelling and grammar troll v1.2 by Anonymous Coward · 2002-09-05 01:59 · Score: -1, Offtopic
  
  You might want to mention "grammar" in there as well. The number of people spelling it "grammer" appears to be on the increase.
2. Re:the spelling and grammar troll v1.2 by fmaxwell · 2002-09-05 02:00 · Score: 1, Offtopic
  
  Just because moronic Americans pronounce
  
  It was the Americans that had the foresight and intelligence to correct idiotic spellings that the British imposed. Examples include:
  
  color vs. colour
  check vs. cheque
  maneuver vs. manoeuvre
  license vs. licence
  
  Given the British penchant for inconsistency and convoluted spellings of what should be easy-to-spell words, Americans are far less "moronic" than the British when it comes to the English language.
3. Re:the spelling and grammar troll v1.2 by Anonymous Coward · 2002-09-05 02:00 · Score: -1, Offtopic
  
  My most annoying grammatical pet peeve:
  
  'I could care less.' When I was 7 or 8 years old I had a camp counselor that said this all the time; my first exposure to this inane phrase. I was very confused.
  
  I could care less would mean you care some, pretty much always the exact opposite of the message the speaker is trying to convey.
  
  What is generally meant is I couldn't care less, which makes much more sense in the context I've always heard it.
  
  And as far Prince - Well, while I admire and respect his musical talents, and might even go so far as to consider him a musical genius, his stylistic, effected spelling annoys the crap out of me, as does his changing his name to that stupid symbol. I think he needs somebody to knock him off his arrogance-filled perch and bring him back down to reality. He's just a guy, and he can follow the same conventions, both name and grammatical, that the rest of us mere mortals adhere to.
  
  That's my rant for the day.
4. Re:the spelling and grammar troll v1.2 by spakka · 2002-09-05 02:16 · Score: 0, Offtopic
  
  Given the British penchant for inconsistency and convoluted spellings of what should be easy-to-spell words
  
  Huh?
  
  tap vs. faucet
  
  lift vs. elevator
5. Re:the spelling and grammar troll v1.2 by Anonymous Coward · 2002-09-05 02:20 · Score: -1, Offtopic
  
  You could add "lose" vs "loose" to the list, especially since losenotlooseguy seems to have stopped posting...
6. Re:the spelling and grammar troll v1.2 by GabboFlabbo · 2002-09-05 02:35 · Score: 0, Offtopic
  
  Calling someone or a group of people moronic will in no way help them see any problems you present, but only cause them to get defensive and pissed off.
7. Re:the spelling and grammar troll v1.2 by cbowland · 2002-09-05 02:36 · Score: 0, Offtopic
  
  And my favorite...
  
  loo vs. toilet
  
  --
  Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.
  Teach him to eat and he will fish forever.
8. Re:the spelling and grammar troll v1.2 by Anonymous Coward · 2002-09-05 02:53 · Score: -1, Offtopic
  
  Thank you for this advice. I will put more insulting words in version 1.3 as you pretend it will only cause them to get defensive and pissed off.
nude pics of kelly clarkson! by Anonymous Coward · 2002-09-05 01:42 · Score: -1, Offtopic

kelly clarkson nude!
Re:Please by Anonymous Coward · 2002-09-05 01:44 · Score: -1, Offtopic

You sound very bitter. Haven't had sex recently? Fantasize about your mother much?
Loser.....Lawyer......Difference? by totallygeek · 2002-09-05 02:15 · Score: 1, Offtopic

You thought the L was for Loser and I said it was Lawyer. We were both correct.

--
Click here or here.
Riiiight... by Badanov · 2002-09-05 02:31 · Score: 0, Offtopic

The only evil profits are the ones you say are evil.

--
Dawn of the Dead
Oh no! My company is violating his patents too! by Anonymous Coward · 2002-09-05 02:31 · Score: -1, Offtopic

I run an auction site with about 20,000 members. Let this fucknut try and sue me. I'll save on legal fees and just spring for a first class air ticket and an aluminum bat.
Re:The plural of "Auction" is not "Auctions" by blancolioni · 2002-09-05 02:33 · Score: 0, Offtopic

[don't reply to trolls ... do not reply to trolls]

The plural of auction is auctions. Was the original poster trying to fake a Latin connection? That word is "auctio", and if I'm not too rusty the plural would be "auctiones." But since we're speaking English, this sort of argument can go and get fucked.

And what on earth does the word "auction" have to do with "ox" and "box"? The slight 'x' sound? Please. Furthermore, anybody who uses the non-word "boxen" is a complete wanker and should be shot on sight.

"Auctionae" if anything would be the plural of "auctiona", which, as it isn't a word, doesn't have a plural.

Now, if that's all clear, I'd like to go back to reading about the patent-driven end to intellectual freedom in peace. Thanks.
Re:Patent auctioned by Anonymous Coward · 2002-09-05 02:37 · Score: -1, Offtopic

ltrol
Re:Ouch by Anonymous Coward · 2002-09-05 02:41 · Score: -1, Offtopic

please attribute your sig to the appropriate author (HST) or your life is forfeit.
thank you.
Re:The plural of "Auction" is not "Auctions" by Golias · 2002-09-05 02:48 · Score: 0, Offtopic

1. You obviously are incapable of recognizing a joke, even if it's a really dumb one.
2. Using wrong plurals like boxen and virii; always funny.
3. You're both wrong. "Auction" is obviously the plural form of Auct. Duh.

--
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
Re:The plural of "Auction" is not "Auctions" by Anonymous Coward · 2002-09-05 02:57 · Score: -1, Offtopic

Thanks for giving me a laugh, I needed that. I mean, you can correctly handle Latin plurals, but you can't recognise a dumb joke? Take a chill pill, or you'll be having your third coronary before you're forty!
Re:Sorry, just can't buy it. by squaretorus · 2002-09-05 03:07 · Score: 1, Offtopic

At the very least, if you are going to go after corporate America, go after the ones that are fucking up people's health, the government, and the planet.

But surely we WANT them to fuck up the government!!!
MOD PARENT DOWN!!! by Anonymous Coward · 2002-09-05 05:30 · Score: -1, Offtopic

He's criticizing the moderators.