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Cingular Patents the Emoticon?
massysett writes "Mobile phone carrier Cingular Wireless may have managed to get a patent on the emoticon. The patent describes a system for selecting a displayable icon to indicate the mood or emotion of the user. It also covers text-based emoticons, 'so presumably sending :) via an SMS - if selected via a dedicated or softkey, would be a breach of the patent in future.'" My response? >:/
Prior art!
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
They can stick that patent in their (_|_).
http://religiousfreaks.com/They really need to beef up their standards for patent review. Stuff like this should never even get through. People shouldn't have to spend money battling these patents in court. I think cingular should be fined for even submitting a patent which is quite obviously not novel, and just an attempt to patent something that's already used everywhere in order to squeeze money out of others
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
This patent will conflict with Despair.com's registered trademark, won't it?
n|m
12:50 - press return.
The whole point of an emoticon is to draw a mood using normal ascii characters that are visible from the keyboard. The whole redrawing of those emoticons graphically is just nonsense.
You know, it looks like it's another one of those “we're doing X, but on the internet” patents, except this time it's on a phone.
I thought that I had lost all hope in the patent system some time ago, but I just lost more.
Activating an emoticon from tapping one key is NO different then activating something via a single Macro key, which has been used in applications and games for ages.
Writing a series of symbols out to be displayed as an emoticon is also soemthing that has been performed for ages.
Seriously, when will this patent frenzy of stupidity end?
If you ignore the other uses of a tool, does that make the tool less useful, or you less useful?
Well, yeah, they're making an almighty grab for the system. Never mind I received my first list of emoticons, a rather comprehensive one at that, back in the 80's.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I suspect the use of emoticons in UseNet predates the existence of Cingular.
[Insert pithy quote here]
"There Is No Emoticon For What I Am Feeling!"
Obtaining little funny animated smileys seems to be as popular as changing your ring tone every hour on your cell phone. What's wrong with :)? It really doesn't need to be so flashy to get the point across. Maybe we should just go back to <g> for "grin".
The article, even the summary, clearly indicates all they are patenting is the process of using a smiley on the phone/sending it. They are NOT patenting the smiley, that's just an inflammatory headline used to create negative response.
That will never fly. People have been using emoticons, and especially ASCII smilies etc., for a very, very long time. --- How long has that been in the character map? Surely somebody can find some instance of someone, somewhere, mapping that character to a single key?
Unpleasantries.
I always though /. was suposed to be Cmdr Taco pissed off and standing on his head, cause, he's only got one eye ya know.
-Rick (Just Kidding!)
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
At first, my reaction was :O but I'm guessing a lot of us are >:( but as world government bodies are getting tired of the US patenting everything from berries to sounds :^o we sign in their general direction with our tongue firmly in cheek :p
Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. - Peter F. Drucker
This inspires me. I'm taking out a patent on AOL-speak and then off to the courts to force the stopping of it! :P
My response? >:/
And here's mine: t(-_-)
Come on. Just... come on.
These people aren't actually "inventing" anything. They're just taking something obvious, like binding a macro to a hotkey and pretending it's an innovation. It's trivial. You shouldn't have to face the possibility for paying licensing for trivial things.
But then, this is hardly news to anyone here, is it? Just another line in a book of examples of the abuse of patents.
(_|_) (_/_) (_|_) (_\_) (_|_)
XD
(Homer) "Kiss my fat hairy yellow ass" (/homer)
First rule of holes; When in one, stop digging.
I maybe is on thin ice here and Cingular might even be noted on some stock exchange.
But stuff like this must be artifacts of the hysteria that is the stock market, patents are part of company value, no matter how ridicules they are.
I doubt that they think they can squeeze any money out of this, but +1 in the patent row in the books might look nice to people buying/selling their stock....
http://www.intellipool.se/ - Intellipool Network Monitor
if(!toilet_paper) roll.replace(new roll);
to fix the patent office. It seems that Cingular should get both of these .!.. ..!.
If this Cingular case is a precident, then every stream of characters (no matter what they are, i.e. asdffsdjklsf) can be patented. It's more like getting a patent for a word.
My Fav emoticon is this one: (._|_.) dibs on that patent ;)
I'm sure this topic will be followed with hundreds of posts about why patents are evil, about how we're patenting too much, blah blah yeah. I agree. This, though? How the hell could a patent clerk look at this and stamp it? Did they even look at it? Do we have any recourse or any way to fire these morons? Why in the name of all that is holy did this GET patented?
Patents are out of control... I'm just wondering if anyone has any input on how the hell they get by with this bullshit.
There is no reference to any actual patent number within that page. Rather a published patent application. No need to get up in a huff yet.
US2006015812 is not a patent number, merely a publication number.
Bring back the old version of slashdot.
I though you could only copyright photos and images.
If this Changed were and how did this change happen?
Seceret courts?
Now when we finally revolt aginst the sappy emoticons we will have a target to attack;-)
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
>:(
:-P
and I really want to
in the face of the lawyer who thought this up
Worst customer service on the planet. Now this. Humph.
US utility patent numbers have sequential numbers and are currently in the 6 million range. Application numbers have a year (2006) and a serial number within the year (15812).
What a bunch 'o crap. I'm not sure how long the text emotes have been around, but I know I personally have been using them for at least 16 years.
The patent office should be ashamed!
Didn't microsoft already do this? link
Maybe the differences are SMS vs IM
Not everything is analogous to cars. Car analogies rarely work.
It's not patented yet (it's a patent application) and they aren't attempting to patent emoticons (just a system to use them, which is just as silly IMO).
Just thought I'd throw out some facts...
I am still bitter at Crapular for what they did to my beautiful AT&T Wireless network. I live in the Twin Cities and AT&T had the best service for the area. That all changed a year ago from last October when Crapular finally took over. I went from almost no dropped calls and great reception to many dropped calls and piss poor reception. I couldn't even get good reception in my apartment when before, I got full strength.
All times I called them, many many times, I got the same answer. Nothing has changed, but we have heard these complaints. They offered nothing beyond that, not even we are working on that. Their customer service went down the pisser too, which they had the same response as they did to the service problems.
From my dealings with Crapular, it doesn't surprise me that they are pulling something like this.
this is a patent application publication, not an actual patent, rather it is a published copy of a patent application.
these things are great as they provide a much greater source of prior art than merely actual patents themselves.
no need to get so relied up. it is not a patent, yet.
US2006015812
Bring back the old version of slashdot.
Verizon, not to be outdone, patents the "Send" button
I searched for that patent number (US2006015812) at www.uspto.gov and found no results. So the number must be off. I dropped the US too.
It's important to read the patent. So many people don't know how to read patents but still just go off on wild tagents.
OK, I'll bite. Where is this supposed patent? I'd like to RTFP, but US2006015812 is not a US patent number. A quick search of Cingular's patents doesn't come up with it either.
The article references patent number US2006015812. The USPTO site says that number does not exist, and a search for the word "Emoticon" in patents gives 14 hits, none of them matching the story... and a few of them arguably providing prior art!
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
... can suck my (_)==D
Instant messaging is pretty prolific these days so I would think that a pretty large cross-section of their demographic is aware of "emoticons". Wouldn't this kinda look like a money-grab? I can't imagine a positive reponse to something like this. Seems that it will inevitably be shot down as prior art anyways. Difficult to see what they expect to ultimately gain.
A goal is a dream with a deadline
I didn't realize that my cappuccino machine violates patent laws only if it's placed next to a south-facing window. That view is mighty tasty!
I saw my first emoticon back in 1987 or 1988 on an informal BBS run by my University's library. I had no idea what the little :) meant until I happened to tilt my head.
Doesn't this qualify as "prior art", or am I missing something important here?
-- The reason it's called the right wing? Irony.
Emoticons are over 25 years old. If they had been patented in the first place, the patent would have expired by now, anyway.
English is easier said than done.
Who are there to represent YOU and not their campaign contributors.
Deleted
Can't find "invention date" for this, but my Sony-Ericsson T616 phone has a way to pick an smiley to add to a text message - which inserts a face icon but sends ":-)". Sounds like exactly what they are applying for.
MSN Messenger with a touchscreen would be prior art, and I *know* people have used MSN Messenger with a touchscreen - the problem is, I can't *prove* it so they'll have to stop doing it now.
And let me tell you, it took my team of crack researchers (lawyers), months to come up with that one.
Okay, everyone take a deep breath. Though the original post says this is a patent, it is not. It is a patent application. Anyone can file whatever they want, and it will get published as a patent application in 18 months. ANYTHING. I could write something up for "kissing up to my boss" and it would get published. This application has yet to see an examiner, who will in all likelihood reject it pretty much as quickly as you all have based on a slew of prior art out there. Check back in two or so odd years to see if this issues or not. Link to the full text... http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=P TO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2F srchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220060015812%22.PGN R.&OS=DN/20060015812&RS=DN/20060015812
Can I patent the use of a prehensile didget for the purpose of activating a switching device? Could be useful for anything from lightswitches to keyboards to mice! Or......on second thought, how about Patenting the use of an LED for the purpose of annoying the user ?
19-Sep-82 11:44 Scott E Fahlman :-)
:-)
:-(
From: Scott E Fahlman
I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers:
Read it sideways. Actually, it is probably more economical to mark
things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use
My response? >:/
:( :( :(
:( :>(
:( to get that out :( (without upsetting the lameness filter) while I still could. :(
Just had
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
Both pre-date the WWW, which pre-dates text messaging over the phone. In fact, technically, dial-up IS text messaging over the phone. Anyone who used an ANSI art drawing tool or a macro key on their terminal emulator back in the 1200 bps modem days could define macros to generate emoticons. So the only possible basis for this that I can see is the fact that it's over the phone or if they substitute special characters for the emoticon text (i.e., an actual happy face for :) ).
Every single previous platform for text messages has developed the capability for emoticons, and the special characters have already been done by various IM services like Yahoo, MSN, and PHPBB. Also, the mechanism for implementing this feature is the same across all platforms: byte substitution. The technique is platform independent, and therefore the platform can't be used as a basis for non-obvious part.
We are the 198 proof..
They were a little too specific I think, look at this.
:'( ?" If that was not my emotion then is it ok?
....
system for selecting a displayable icon to indicate the mood or emotion of the user
For this patent to work can they prove this was actually *your* mood/emotion? If so and the mood you conveyed != actual mood then would it be a part of the patent? Or consider this SMS "are you
By patenting a description of the senders emotions and actually centering out that only the senders emotions/moods will be described using this method then there are quite a few "work arounds". Come up with CingIcons which display moods opposing the ones you are discribing and have fun. Or dont describe your emotions but describe how the person you are talking to would feel in this situation.
In short this is just plain stupid. For a company this large to try something this pathetic their R&D must be at real low. I think they are forgetting the most complex device of them all
us
A loop, by its nature, continues. If that didn't make sense, start reading this sentence again.
Ignore them.
Sue me for violating your unjust and stupid patents, I'll just laugh at you and continue violating them. Send me to court, I'll ignore you, then to jail, I'll continue to ignore you. Enough people do this, we'll get the attention of the masses and something will be done.
Civil disobedience. The last hope in a dying country full of people wanting to destroy our way of life so they can get more money.
I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
They would have got a 'F' on hydrodynamics or something and Math was utterly beyond them so they get their revenge by screwing with a history of incremental improvements (you're gonna get sued,) or revolutionary ideas (Okay, there aren't any revolutionary ideas... Really.)
You end up 'needing' layers of lawyers to cushion you from the blows of other lawyers.
Shakespeare had it right: "First thing we do," says one of the followers of the rebel Jack Cade in Henry VI, Part II, "is kill all the lawyers."
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
The wonderful patent they show is not a patent, but a Published Application. How do I know this? The number starts 2006. This means it is a Pre-Grant Publication (PGPUB) that was published in 2006. If it were a Patent it would have a number in sequential order with other patents, which would make it something along the lines of the high 6 millions or low 7 millions for a number (assuming recent approval).
So stop the panicking, stop the whining, and check the facts of articles and summaries on slashdot before blindly crying foul.
"Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb."
This just published and is years from becoming a patent. This is just a laundry list of claims that they want, not that they will get.
You can see it here: http://appft1.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/srchnum.html/
Patent this... t(o_O)t
Cingular has not received any patent such as the article describes. The number that appears in the article, US2006015812, is actually a publication number for a U.S. patent application. The application itself can be found on the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office's web site.
Not only is this only an application for a patent, and not only has this application not yet been granted, but the PTO hasn't even examined it yet. (You can look up the status of the application yourself using PAIR.)
Cingular is not going to wind up with a patent that will stop you from using smileys in you text messages. In fact, on a quick read, the claims and specification appear to discuss ways to make it easier to insert emoticons in your text, not the mere use of emoticons. And the patent examiners, despite what you may have heard, are pretty tough about claims like this, too.
In short, it looks like the writer of the article dropped the ball here, not the U.S. Patent Office.
DISGUSTING
Chaos maximizes locally around me.
Your bullying skill has improved (+1)!
Your empathy skill has decreased (-25)!
While this is just an application I'd wager 7:3 that it will be approved. After all, is it not the government's job to ensure that large businesses have every tool at their disposal to squash any would-be start up?
Remind me again why innovation in the US is 5 years behind Japan, Denmark, Norway, et al? Oh, right. Nevermind.
Has anyone patented "the use of parts of a word to represent the whole word in electronic communication" yet? This is getting ridiculous.
:(
The US Patent system is totally stupid. Needs a revision fast!
The patent referenced is for the process of sending the emoticon. More specifically, there would be a way insert the way someone is feeling via a special button, or some other method other than saying "I'm feeling happy". Typing in ":)" doesn't even fall into this patent since that's just typing in characters. But if T-Mobile came out with phones that had smiley-faced buttons that inserted a smiley face while typing an SMS, then that could violate this patent.
Even as specific as this wording is, Nokia have been doing that for years. If I hold down asterix on my phone during 'create text message' mode (to get to the symbols menu), then press it again, I get a menu of smileys...
TFA had a bogus number.
Check the actual patent out.
HCG 50a = 2MASX J11170638+5455016
11h17m06.4s +54d55m02s
The US Patent System is a joke. There really isn't anything more to it than that. We patent everything then insist other countries respect our patents. Then when they dont we take away their allowance.
It hasn't been stamped. It is just an application.
Did they even look at it?
They are looking at it.
Do we have any recourse or any way to fire these morons?
They haven't done anything.
Why in the name of all that is holy did this GET patented?
It isn't patented.
Patents are out of control... I'm just wondering if anyone has any input on how the hell they get by with this bullshit.
This headline, summary, and post represent the very worst of slashdot. A blatantly wrong headline and summary are posted that just coincidentally happen to inflame the commenters, who immediately posture and condemn without knowing any more about the subject than the misleading headline. A correction, if it is ever made, is already off the front page, and all these geeks who sincerely believe themselves to be rational and intellectually superior go off believing a complete falsehood, because it validates their beliefs.
If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
Wasn't it first discovered in 1979?
-Palal
There is no emoticon for what I'm feeling!
"they are patenting is the process of using a smiley on the phone/sending it."
Actually, now that I think of it, your interpretation makes the patent seem worse.
Here's why...
If they got a patent on emoticons, you could justify it by saying "The patent examiner never heard of emoticons, ah ha!"
Instead, this indicates they knew about emoticons and felt that sending an emoticon was sufficiently unique that it deserved patent protection. In otherwords, the examiner was so stupid that they thought that emoticons had been invented, but never sent to anyone before. What were they thinking? Emoticons were first used on BBS's over the phone, but never sent? Huh?
Do you see?
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
I thought this would be a great opportunity to see a lot of creative emoticons in the comments ^.^, but I am disappointed. -.-
home
Prior art! http://research.microsoft.com/~mbj/Smiley/Smiley.h tml
Acronyms? L33t speak?
I'm sure if they tried it most people would just LOL or say WTFE!
DEAD DEAD DEAD DELETE ME
This is not a patent, it is a published patent application. Applications in the U.S. are published 18 months after they are filed. The patent application has not even been examined yet. Feel free to look up the application in the Patent Application Information Retrieval system http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/pair bleat .
For Prior Art, how about the "Add symbol" option while sending an SMS on the Sony Ericsson phones? There are 5 smiley graphical emoticons to pick from on my T616, which get translated into :-) style text for compatiblity with other phones.
so we'd all better find another website or start paying the piper.
The memories of a man in his old age are the deeds of a man in his prime - Floyd, Pink
,,!,
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
How are we ever going to be able to agree on the meaning without an emoticon standard?
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
: ) ----see how the extra space makes it even more happier and avoids the copyrighted sequence.
:(.
Though the amount of patents on what are common sence, mainly prior art is very distastful and realy needs to be addressed before we all adapt a sue(shoot) first, ask questions later approach
For those veiwing this post in Australia were the patent may not apply, all I can say is (:.
^(O.o)^
You heard right, Cingular. I just dropped your service! I hope you enjoy that loss of profit.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
You guys know that the patent is actually for having a key on a cell phone that is just for emoticons right?
This article should be taken down because its completely wrong.
I couldn't find this in the database. Is this real?
They are actually patenting a set key that is only for emoticons on the cell phone. not the emoticons yourself. I hate when people post stories here that are complete lies. Did they even read the patent? THe accompanying images even show that they are patenting a set button. Ughhh
ASCII art, including emoticons, is prior art, regardless of the medium, IMO.
_n_
( | )
use Sig::Witty;
My response? >:/
Cingular's response: <^> ^__^ <^>
An hot news story that makes the outrageous inducing claim that Cingular has just patented the Emoticon appears to be untrue, since the US Patent office shows no such listing for the claimed Cingular patent. But that's not to say it's not outrageous :-0 since in fact AT&T, some guy in kirkland WA, and a dozen others have patented the emoticon or aspects of it. Perhaps most galling is that the patents actually use the word "emoticon" to describe what they are patenting. They of course don't actually patent the emoticon itself but the act of entering an emoticon into multi-media, sort of like patenting the one-click patent versus patenting, say, commerce. Is this one of the whackiest patents ever :-p
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
guess...
Only 'flamers' flame!
Does slashdot hate my posts?
It's good they only specified mobile devices otherwise every IM app with an emoticon dropdown list would have to remove the button. The patent application doesn't say if it applies only to physical buttons or those softcoded into a touch screen.
If it will apply to (programmed) touch-screen buttons then they could extend the patent to cover anything typed, since your typed characters indicate a message or emotion. For that matter, any dropdown list may qualify. Emoticons are made up of several characters, aren't they?
Maybe the real goal isn't just emoticons?
i just recently had a class about law and stuff.. and it was said there that for something to be patended, it needs to be "not comprised out of things already state of technology"... so just talking technology floating around and putting it together is not a new invention worthy of patent protection.
so why do all these software related patends ignore that?
like scrollbars or progressbars.. they have been there since forever. they are common technology and not "new".
as with emoticons:
they are based on the 70ties smiley, and just represent a way of "drawing" smileys with ascii charachters. drawing with ascii characters is also a pretty old "technology". result: not new.
if cingular's patent is all about the "replace image with ascii smiley to be transmitted in an sms, and then converted back"... well that has also been in icq & co for ages and not "new".
wtf???
Nope, this is wrong.
It's only a patent application, not an actual patent.
See this comment.
HCG 50a = 2MASX J11170638+5455016
11h17m06.4s +54d55m02s
Lock S-foils in the attack position >o
. . . look at my handle! I think I've been using this for about six or seven years.
I am singularly unimpressed by Cingular's pathetic attempt to make cash off others' ideas and the internet's prior art will get shoved up Cingular's arse.
Well, I don't like patent abuse which this clearly seems to be, but I've always hated when they make a button to do smiley faces anyways. How hard is it to type :)? MSN and Yahoo have these 'emotions' to make many different faces, but it's just pointless to me. I like making my own :/.
No Sigs!
i already have the missionary style patent in europe so u cant use that on ur next vacation
That is not the patent application that TFA is talking about. Patent number 6,990,452 has the following people listed as inventors and is assigned to AT&T:
Ostermann; Joern (Morganville, NJ); Civanlar; Mehmet Reha (Middletown, NJ); Cosatto; Eric (Highlands, NJ); Graf; Hans Peter (Lincroft, NJ); LeCun; Yann Andre (Lincroft, NJ)
Whereas patent application number 20060015812 has only two inventors and is (or will be) assigned to Cingular Wireless:
Cunningham; Ivy; (Seattle, WA) ; White; Christopher; (Redmond, WA)
Both of them are concerned with emoticons, but that's as far as the similarity goes. The '452 patent is about using them as hints in a text-to-speech system that has an animated face reading your messages to you, so that the computer can make the face smile or frown or whatever at the appropriate point. The '812 application is about a menu system for inserting emoticons into messages.
Just another wannabe fantasy novelist...
How about .|.. ?
Applications publish 18 months after their submission date. Likely, nobody has even looked at this yet.
Now read the claims in the patent. Everything else is just informative (mainly).
To save you the trouble, here are the only independent claims. All the others just narrow them down. When you read them, they are nothing exciting. They are just trying to patent the method that their phones use for customers to insert multimedia emoticons by choosing them from a list using some specific button pushes. Since the patent was only filed in 1994, these guys might still be out of luck trying to get this patent.
Note that these claims are long, but all of the items are "and'ed" together, making them very narrow. Basically, they probably paid some designers a lot of money to design something that they think is really great and a signature of how they want their service to work. With the patent, they can tell their vendors to build phones and software to work that way, without risking having a competing network just telling their vendors to copy that method.
As someone else mentioned, if this provides a barrier to people sending animated emoticons in their mobile IMs, all the better.
CLAIM 1
A method of customizing a multi-media message with emoticons, the multi-media message being created by a sender for a recipient wherein the multi-media message comprises an animated entity audibly delivering a text message, the method comprising: storing emoticons related to actions associated with the animated entity; providing to a sender at least one button option for choosing emoticons to insert into the text message at a location of a cursor; and upon the sender choosing an emoticon using one of the at least one button options, inserting an emoticon into the text message at the location of the cursor, wherein when the animated entity delivers the text message, the animated entity exhibits the actions associated with the inserted emoticons beginning at a point corresponding to a first predetermined number of words before a respective one of the emoticons and ending at a second point corresponding to a second predetermined number of words after the respective one of the emoticons, wherein the first predetermined number of words and the second predetermined number of words are associated with respective word lengths of words before and after a position of the respective one of the emoticons within the text message.
9. A method of customizing a multi-media message by choosing emoticons from a group of stored emoticons, the multi-media message being created by a sender where text typed by the sender is presented to a recipient using an animated entity in the multi-media message, the method comprising: providing to the sender at least one button option, each button option of the at least one button option associated with an emoticon is associated with an emotion displayed by the animated entity during delivery of the multi-media message; and upon the sender choosing an emoticon using one of the at least one button options, inserting the emoticon into the text typed by the sender, wherein as the multi-media message is delivered to the recipient, the animated entity displays the associated emotion beginning at a point corresponding to a first predetermined number of words before the emoticon and ending at a second point corresponding to a second predetermined number of words after the emoticon, wherein the first predetermined number of words and the second predetermined number of words are associated with respective word lengths of words before and after a position of the emoticon within the text message.
16. A method of pr
C:\
I've got only one thing to say about that: 8==D O:
In Soviet Russia, the emoticon patents you.
I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them.
Every Time! Every Time!!!!
When I sign on anonymous from another location that doesnt have my login cookies cached, and hence my 'blocked editors', I see yet another 'article' from Zonk.
The problem is not slashdot, the problem is ZONK! I suggest to anyone to use the archives of slashdot and look over the 'articles' that this editor has published on the front page. His sole joy in life is posting the most outrageous falsehoods, or flat out editorialized biased article. What is suprising this time is that so many people actually commented on it, as it began to seem as if less and less people were paying this asshat any attention.
Either this guy is way to into the concept of treating people like puppets, or he really is that ignorant. Those are the only two options to the thought process displayed by what stories he normally posts. I just wonder how long its gonna take before someone looks over the ad revenues on slashdot and sees the 20% decline in page views, and connects it with this editor.
It was this single editor that made me learn about the 'display editor' options in my slashdot homepage. You have NO IDEA how much better slashdot is with just that SINGLE editors stories blocked. I just stopped coming here before I saw that option, it wasnt even funny watching the things he posts, it was just pathetic.
by moving organic waste material from the cloaca to a water filled waste evacuation unit via a group of circularly organized muscles! now anyone who decides to take a shit on the toilet will need to get a right of use license from me. MWHAHAHAHA!
three can keep a secret, if two are dead - benjamin franklin
Nearly fell out of my chair.
This is a patent application, not an issued patent.
The application traces back to 2004, well after emoticons were in use. So there's a bit of prior art.
The application claims methods of providing / using emoticons on wireless devices. If it gets issued, the claims may be narrowed by the PTO.
Not much to see here...move along...
Mike Borella http://www.borella.net/mike
Maybe it'll get people to stop using those damn emoticons. If they could secure a patent purely on graphical ones, that'd be even better.
[sour grapes] Rejected slashdot submission: [/sour grapes]
...
An hot news story
"A hot news story".
If you pronounce the "h", use "a": "a horse", "a hospital", "a hotel".
If you don't pronounce the "h" - i.e. you pronounce the vowel - use "an": "an honour", "an hour".
You would only say "an hot" if you pronounce it Cockney style: "An 'ot news mornin' glory."
That justify reading the comments, or the article, before posting. It takes five minutes to determine the truth behind the submission, just read something relevant so I don't spend an hour sorting through the same "END OF THE WORLD" or "NOT END OF THE WORLD" posts.
"If dying were anything special, they wouldn't let everyone do it."
I'm not a lawyer, but if I read the application correctly, it mentions some form of interpreting the emoticon as a voice message.
Maybe that's the only actual invention related to the emoticon they can get through(i.e Usefull for blind people if that's the case)
You guys should go read the patent application itself. It states a method for generating an emoticon through the use of an emoticon key, a physical key provided for on the phone. It's not something people should worry about on their current phones. It's more of a gimmick I think, that they'll try to sell to cellphone makers. It's not that hot of a story if you think about it.
Back in the 70s (I'm unusually old for a Slashdot reader) I had a paperback book from Mad that was filled with what they called "typetoons." These were cartoons made with typewriter characters, very much like the simpler forms of ASCII art. I haven't read the patent application (very much in the Slashdot mainstream there), but I think Alfred E. Newman can claim priority.
From: Joe Sixpack
Since you're now the "man" with that shiny new patent, what's the emoticon for F_CK YOU?
Sincerely,
Joe
I think it is extremely appropriate...it brings to the attention of the slashdot community the absurdity and utter stupidity of the US patent system. The APPLICATION should not have even seen the light of day, let alone going any further with it.
\m/ >_< \m/ Capitalism Rocks!
Hell, my cell-phone has all sorts of happy little emoticons right now! Of course, I live in Japan.
"so presumably sending
I have Moderator privs right now, and at first I was going to Mod a few posts down, but then I saw that I would need to Mod down about 90% of the posts, so I didn't bother. I am posting this instead.
People, if you aren't going to RTFA, and you are going to rely on the blurb on the Slashdot front page to be accurate, you may as well just make up your own facts and believe them. I know it is a common thing here on Slashdot, but this article drives home the need to RTFA. If you aren't going to do that, why even bother reading the Slashdot blurbs at all? (rhetorical)
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
Somebody patented brains and the Patent Office didn't want to pay royalties for its workers.
Table-ized A.I.
The application seems to describe something that I have done on my Sony Ericsson phone for five years: When writing a SMS message, I can press a button to get up a menu of symbols, including some "smilies" or "emoticons".
Nothing new there.
/ The Arrow
"How lovely you are. So lovely in my straightjacket..." - Nny
Because when I create a text message on my LG/Verizon phone, which I've had for two years, I get options to enter text, numbers, or I have the option to use any of 40, yes 40 different smilies, all pre-created and accessible from their own menu. This has got to be one of the most retarded patent requests I have ever heard of. I'm sure some of you slashdotters can come up with something better, but this is it for me.
I don't know how cell phones look in the states, but an animated face reading your text message out loud is not what I am used to. Isn't that what is implied in the patent (not application)?
The subject who is truly loyal to the Chief Magistrate will neither advise nor submit to arbitrary measures (Junius)
...here -> http://www.lovedungeon.net/humor/dave/emoticons.ht ml