As usual the summary tells a tiny bit and its not the whole story so from the article here is your answer:
A group including Apple Inc. (AAPL), Google Inc. (GOOG) and Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) agreed to buy patents from bankrupt Eastman Kodak Co. for about $525 million, gaining the right to use the digital technology to capture and share photos.
The group is led by Intellectual Ventures Management LLC and RPX Corp. (RPXC), Kodak said in a statement today. Google, Apple and RIM are among the 12 companies that will license the patents in the deal, according to a court filing. Under the terms, Intellectual Ventures will split the payment with the licensees.
Facebook Inc. (FB), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) also are part of the group, the court filing shows, along with Samsung Electronics Co., Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE), Fujifilm Holdings Corp. (4901), Huawei Technologies Co., HTC Corp. (2498) and Shutterfly Inc. (SFLY) The auctioned patents -- more than 1,100 related to the capture, manipulation and sharing of digital images -- were previously estimated by advisory firm 284 Partners LLC to be worth as much as $2.6 billion.
“This is a fraction of our overall patent portfolio,” said Chris Veronda, a spokesman for Rochester, New York-based Kodak. “We retain ownership of about 9,600 other patents for our ongoing businesses.” The agreement resolves all patent-infringement lawsuits between Kodak and the 12 licensees, Veronda said. That includes suits Kodak had against Apple, RIM, Fujifilm, HTC, Samsung and Shutterfly. In a May filing, Kodak had said Apple alone owed it more than $1 billion in patent royalties.
I disagree, it is only seemingly about vengeance because it isn't handled correctly. You say lets take that mass murderer, sure let consider him. He did it, he admits it, he is not remorseful. He is clearly dangerous, why risk keeping him around? He is exactly the case the death penalty should be for. It shouldn't be handed out willy nilly, but reserved for cases where there is clear evidence. Perhaps require a confession, and not in the interrogation room but in the court room, perhaps require video of the crime (shootings in public), eye witnesses can be wrong and have proven unreliable in several cases so maybe we just have to have either a confession or video. That may mean that 99% of the death penalties handed out in the US are invalid, I am ok with that, cancel them unless they meet the new requirments.
The key is once you raise this bar, no more years and years of delaying and waiting. If you have his confession, why put it off. Once the trial is over, the sentence given, 30 days. Then a single bullet to the head and its over. Why risk keeping someone as dangerous as that mass murderer around, and why risk innocent people guarding him. Why pay for the criminal to live when all they represent is a huge risk should they ever decide to have another go, on a guard or even another inmate.
Could the wrong guy cop to a crime? Yes, he could lie and the person who did it could have given him enough info to cover all the bases and allow an investigation to conclude that he was the criminal instead of the actual person. There is no fool proof system, if my family member copped to a crime and got the death penalty when I knew they were innocent, I'd still support the death penalty.
You talk about forgiveness, but there is nothing for me to forgive. I didn't know any of the victims, or their families, or their friends. What I know is, there is a person who is a known danger, truly dangerous to all of those around him. Why take the risks?
You give MS far too much credit for owning game studios. Look at the number of MS owned games, much less AAA titles, for 2012. It is underwhelming compared to days past, especially if you drop the Kinect games. Then compare Xbox with Games for Windows Live, its very sad. I can't imagine ever buying things from GFWL, instead of Steam. I would always choose Steam if available. While MS could go back to creating great games on their own, I don't see them writing the checks to create new Age Of Empires/Mythology, Mechwarrior, Flight Simulator etc games.
I suppose MS could spend the money needed to get GFWL to work as well as Steam, then make enough AAA games that are only available on GFWL in order to draw customers. I just don't see them doing it, ever. I can't imagine them investing in Windows as a gaming platform while they have Xbox. I agree that Steam is expendable if someone produces an equivalent product, but noone has really, not even close. I think if anyone had a shot it would have been Stardock post Gamestop but in the end they would rather also make money on Steam Wallet card sales as well.
I agree with your assessment of there being more than 1 type of "Question Guy", and as someone who really hates some of those types...
I am taking an Assembly Language class right now, and there is a question guy. Luckily he is not types 2 or 4, as those are for me the worst. He does meander into 3 a lot and that's where it is an issue for me. When the professor is teaching I am following, I have no issues with focus, and its good for me. Then along comes a question, which almost always will be added to mid answer. He seems to always want to talk about C, and there is a lot of "In C..... global variable..... pointer...". My problem is just that, my problem and not his fault, is about focus. I feel like the long questions he asks that just go over what the teacher said or then go into these seemingly random hypothetical situations make it hard for me to focus on the new material being taught. That's why I cringe when he asks a question. If its a short clarification or something I don't have any problems getting back on task, but the meandering comparisons to C make me drift off and it gets harder and harder to get back. The people I sit near take bets on how many minutes these offshoots go, it averages 5-6 per. I just wish he would teach a section and then take questions afterwards and not in the middle, but I know everyone learns differently so I just gotta find a way to focus up after a long mental walk around the C/pointer/variable/memory map lane that seems to happen 2-3 times per class. It doesn't help that after class is a lab, which the questioner never attends.
Luckily our teacher seems to never have issues with #4, as he always shows something and then says "Oh, and now you say 'but professor Tak, I don't believe you, I don't think that works', well lets do it then and find out" and I think he does a fantastic job of showing what he means rather than just telling us "I said so and my PhD means I can't be wrong!"
You can, its how I get all of my wife's photos off her Kodak Camera. I just tell the Easyshare software to die in a fire and goto My Computer and browse to the camera from there.
Really? You think its like a window washer doing the work on your car first then asking for money? Perhaps I misunderstand the current situation, but he doesn't seem to have installed it and the company doesn't seem to be using it already.
I think it is much more akin to the guy who I pay to do my lawn deciding on his own time to design an irrigation system on his own time then comes to me and says he has designed it, and he would like to implement it but he wants to charge me for the design time. I can choose to pay or not, if I don't he doesn't owe me the system. He simply wasted his time designing something I didn't want to purchase.
Again this assumes that the submitter has NOT deployed the system already, if he has its a whole different situation much closer to your perception.
My community college does not have mandatory remedial classes for anyone. When you sign up you take aptitude tests and the results of those tests determines your starting levels in math and English. Don't all colleges employ a similar system?
I personally prefer a teacher because in the time it takes me to read and practice a new concept in programming a teacher can show me two and I'll have learned them both. Now once you factor in the other students who ask about how they personally write code and how the teacher will score them on the tests, it is no longer as efficient, but still preferable for me to have someone on hand who knows the material so well and can automatically steer me away from certain common pitfalls.
You replace TV with Netflix, and you maintain a relationship with the theater. My brother and his 4 kids have TV and replace the theater with Redbox. I myself don't use Redbox because I love going to the theater but I don't have a gaggle of children to incorporate into a theater trip. I think that's the thing about Redbox you weren't quite grasping, that for those who want the top 100 and newest titles only, it is a theater replacement, not TV replacement. I think that is how the Redbox model differs from Netflix beyond nuts and bolts, but conceptually. Just a thought.
You are missing the mastermind behind all of this. The entity that needs to drive usage, and consumption in order to reap profits..... the electric company! They enable piracy, porn, and terrorist communication! How do they get away with it!?!? Down with electricity!!!
I got my email as well, but its been probably 5 years since I played any game on there, and I signed up for EQ at launch. I'll double check the info today when I get a chance to make sure it is nothing important, ie old CC, change password etc.
Because it's a substantial price increase for an incremental upgrade in quality and often a downgrade in convenience.
^^This! I have a Blu-Ray player (PS3), and I have maybe 15 discs bought since I got it, 3 years ago. The fact that I cannot bring them with me wherever I go and be assured that they will be watchable is a small factor, but a factor none the less. For me, it is the few discs I have gotten from Netflix with ads that I couldn't skip direct to menu, none of the menu buttons seemed to go past them. You have to hit next chapter/FF to go past them. That was enough for me to decide it was not worth paying for content that was going to force me to watch or deal with ads. In addition most DVDs are available for ~$15, whereas most Blu-Ray releases are ~$30 locally. Admitedly I don't have a 1080 display other than my monitor, but I do have a great 50" 720p TV, it has mattered a bit to me that I am not getting the full visual upgrade, but I can't afford another TV right now.
One night at 3:30AM local time I called the police because a woman down the street was kicking a garage door and threatening to break into the house she was at. She told the man on the other side of the door that if he didn't give her what she was there for, she would break in and kill him. She claimed a common friend sent her there, she offered to trade her bra for the object in question, and claimed she would get $50 if she talked him into giving her a beer as well. She shouted this over and over. At one point she got in her car, put it into gear, drove 5 feet then parked it and got out an yelled "And another thing". She then returned to her threats. The police showed up, asked her some questions, asked her if the car was hers, and within 5 minutes let her drive off.
I called to complain and spoke to the sergeant and he said it is only a crime if you specify the manner, had she said she would stab him, choke him or shoot him then they could have arrested her. They didn't even take her in for disturbing the peace.
So no, I don't think police take threats against regular people as seriously as threats against politicians. I wouldn't suggest that this incident be used as a guide that it is ok to behave that way, but I don't believe that they care that it happens.
I wasn't clear I suppose, I didn't bring them up as issues, they were the first reasons I wanted the iPad instead of a laptop. The iPad being able to type and draw as needed was the lure, it was the lack of the apps I need for my course load that was my issue.
I use my Windows 7 tablet to take notes because not only can I dock it onto a keyboard if I want, I also can use the stylus to draw diagrams etc as needed for the notes. I would have tried the iPad but it wouldn't let me do my homework on it, so unfortunately it doesn't work for me.
That's odd, because I live in Ca and the first 5 CS courses are Algorithm Design, C, Assembly, OO in C++, and Data Structures (in C++) which is the last class I completed last semester. I took a Java class just because I could but it does not count towards my requirements for graduation. I wonder how different the requirements are for a CS degree across the country, it seems much more varied than I would have expected.
My Win 7 Tablet uses a Wacom pen with embedded pen tracking. I can also use my fingers, but I don't usually do so due to it being a work tablet and at work my fingers often are dusty/dirty during the work when I need to use the tablet. I think pen system covers the issue very well, as well as letting me flip the pen over to use the 'eraser' when taking notes.
My concern is that the criteria used are overly simplistic. Clearly a breadmaker and a Blu-ray player are not computers. The satnav may be slightly closer depending on what yours does, mine certainly does all 3 of the judges criteria, storing gigs of data, processing new data, and transmitting data regularly. I wouldn't classify it as a computer either. That said I know people who use actual computers as routers, and I've seen routers with so many features that they surely seemed to be computers. Another poster however clarified, that after checking out the original story, that the intrusion does not expose personal data, it doesn't matter. That makes the whole ordeal seem much more sane. It is a much more clear requirement than the other three and all four balance out pretty well I think.
How many "bits and bytes" does a device have to store to be declared a computer? I mean, mine stores a password, those are a few bits, where is the limit? I don't know enough about the case to comment on the details, but it seems an odd thing to base a ruling on to me.
Unless you have a contract stating that when a business does close, they destroy their databases etc, I would bet the first thing the people in charge of liquidating do is place a price on said information and sell it. Its easy, many marketers want all the data they can possibly gather, and its one more dollar they can squeeze out before shuttering the doors forever.
Slashdot Mirror
Thanks for the post, I stayed up too late watching it, it was very interesting.
As usual the summary tells a tiny bit and its not the whole story so from the article here is your answer:
A group including Apple Inc. (AAPL), Google Inc. (GOOG) and Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) agreed to buy patents from bankrupt Eastman Kodak Co. for about $525 million, gaining the right to use the digital technology to capture and share photos.
The group is led by Intellectual Ventures Management LLC and RPX Corp. (RPXC), Kodak said in a statement today. Google, Apple and RIM are among the 12 companies that will license the patents in the deal, according to a court filing. Under the terms, Intellectual Ventures will split the payment with the licensees.
Facebook Inc. (FB), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) also are part of the group, the court filing shows, along with Samsung Electronics Co., Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE), Fujifilm Holdings Corp. (4901), Huawei Technologies Co., HTC Corp. (2498) and Shutterfly Inc. (SFLY) The auctioned patents -- more than 1,100 related to the capture, manipulation and sharing of digital images -- were previously estimated by advisory firm 284 Partners LLC to be worth as much as $2.6 billion.
“This is a fraction of our overall patent portfolio,” said Chris Veronda, a spokesman for Rochester, New York-based Kodak. “We retain ownership of about 9,600 other patents for our ongoing businesses.” The agreement resolves all patent-infringement lawsuits between Kodak and the 12 licensees, Veronda said. That includes suits Kodak had against Apple, RIM, Fujifilm, HTC, Samsung and Shutterfly. In a May filing, Kodak had said Apple alone owed it more than $1 billion in patent royalties.
I disagree, it is only seemingly about vengeance because it isn't handled correctly. You say lets take that mass murderer, sure let consider him. He did it, he admits it, he is not remorseful. He is clearly dangerous, why risk keeping him around? He is exactly the case the death penalty should be for. It shouldn't be handed out willy nilly, but reserved for cases where there is clear evidence. Perhaps require a confession, and not in the interrogation room but in the court room, perhaps require video of the crime (shootings in public), eye witnesses can be wrong and have proven unreliable in several cases so maybe we just have to have either a confession or video. That may mean that 99% of the death penalties handed out in the US are invalid, I am ok with that, cancel them unless they meet the new requirments.
The key is once you raise this bar, no more years and years of delaying and waiting. If you have his confession, why put it off. Once the trial is over, the sentence given, 30 days. Then a single bullet to the head and its over. Why risk keeping someone as dangerous as that mass murderer around, and why risk innocent people guarding him. Why pay for the criminal to live when all they represent is a huge risk should they ever decide to have another go, on a guard or even another inmate.
Could the wrong guy cop to a crime? Yes, he could lie and the person who did it could have given him enough info to cover all the bases and allow an investigation to conclude that he was the criminal instead of the actual person. There is no fool proof system, if my family member copped to a crime and got the death penalty when I knew they were innocent, I'd still support the death penalty.
You talk about forgiveness, but there is nothing for me to forgive. I didn't know any of the victims, or their families, or their friends. What I know is, there is a person who is a known danger, truly dangerous to all of those around him. Why take the risks?
You give MS far too much credit for owning game studios. Look at the number of MS owned games, much less AAA titles, for 2012. It is underwhelming compared to days past, especially if you drop the Kinect games. Then compare Xbox with Games for Windows Live, its very sad. I can't imagine ever buying things from GFWL, instead of Steam. I would always choose Steam if available. While MS could go back to creating great games on their own, I don't see them writing the checks to create new Age Of Empires/Mythology, Mechwarrior, Flight Simulator etc games.
I suppose MS could spend the money needed to get GFWL to work as well as Steam, then make enough AAA games that are only available on GFWL in order to draw customers. I just don't see them doing it, ever. I can't imagine them investing in Windows as a gaming platform while they have Xbox. I agree that Steam is expendable if someone produces an equivalent product, but noone has really, not even close. I think if anyone had a shot it would have been Stardock post Gamestop but in the end they would rather also make money on Steam Wallet card sales as well.
The MicrApple XPad 72OsX HD, coming this holiday season!
I agree with your assessment of there being more than 1 type of "Question Guy", and as someone who really hates some of those types...
I am taking an Assembly Language class right now, and there is a question guy. Luckily he is not types 2 or 4, as those are for me the worst. He does meander into 3 a lot and that's where it is an issue for me. When the professor is teaching I am following, I have no issues with focus, and its good for me. Then along comes a question, which almost always will be added to mid answer. He seems to always want to talk about C, and there is a lot of "In C..... global variable..... pointer...". My problem is just that, my problem and not his fault, is about focus. I feel like the long questions he asks that just go over what the teacher said or then go into these seemingly random hypothetical situations make it hard for me to focus on the new material being taught. That's why I cringe when he asks a question. If its a short clarification or something I don't have any problems getting back on task, but the meandering comparisons to C make me drift off and it gets harder and harder to get back. The people I sit near take bets on how many minutes these offshoots go, it averages 5-6 per. I just wish he would teach a section and then take questions afterwards and not in the middle, but I know everyone learns differently so I just gotta find a way to focus up after a long mental walk around the C/pointer/variable/memory map lane that seems to happen 2-3 times per class. It doesn't help that after class is a lab, which the questioner never attends.
Luckily our teacher seems to never have issues with #4, as he always shows something and then says "Oh, and now you say 'but professor Tak, I don't believe you, I don't think that works', well lets do it then and find out" and I think he does a fantastic job of showing what he means rather than just telling us "I said so and my PhD means I can't be wrong!"
Where doe the ROFLCopter come in though?
I drive my Prius in Ca at ~75mph. I have the speeding tickets for the two times I was doing 84, now I dont do that. I still get 43-46mpg per tank.
You can, its how I get all of my wife's photos off her Kodak Camera. I just tell the Easyshare software to die in a fire and goto My Computer and browse to the camera from there.
Really? You think its like a window washer doing the work on your car first then asking for money? Perhaps I misunderstand the current situation, but he doesn't seem to have installed it and the company doesn't seem to be using it already. I think it is much more akin to the guy who I pay to do my lawn deciding on his own time to design an irrigation system on his own time then comes to me and says he has designed it, and he would like to implement it but he wants to charge me for the design time. I can choose to pay or not, if I don't he doesn't owe me the system. He simply wasted his time designing something I didn't want to purchase. Again this assumes that the submitter has NOT deployed the system already, if he has its a whole different situation much closer to your perception.
My community college does not have mandatory remedial classes for anyone. When you sign up you take aptitude tests and the results of those tests determines your starting levels in math and English. Don't all colleges employ a similar system?
I personally prefer a teacher because in the time it takes me to read and practice a new concept in programming a teacher can show me two and I'll have learned them both. Now once you factor in the other students who ask about how they personally write code and how the teacher will score them on the tests, it is no longer as efficient, but still preferable for me to have someone on hand who knows the material so well and can automatically steer me away from certain common pitfalls.
You replace TV with Netflix, and you maintain a relationship with the theater. My brother and his 4 kids have TV and replace the theater with Redbox. I myself don't use Redbox because I love going to the theater but I don't have a gaggle of children to incorporate into a theater trip. I think that's the thing about Redbox you weren't quite grasping, that for those who want the top 100 and newest titles only, it is a theater replacement, not TV replacement. I think that is how the Redbox model differs from Netflix beyond nuts and bolts, but conceptually. Just a thought.
You are missing the mastermind behind all of this. The entity that needs to drive usage, and consumption in order to reap profits..... the electric company! They enable piracy, porn, and terrorist communication! How do they get away with it!?!? Down with electricity!!!
I got my email as well, but its been probably 5 years since I played any game on there, and I signed up for EQ at launch. I'll double check the info today when I get a chance to make sure it is nothing important, ie old CC, change password etc.
Because it's a substantial price increase for an incremental upgrade in quality and often a downgrade in convenience.
^^This! I have a Blu-Ray player (PS3), and I have maybe 15 discs bought since I got it, 3 years ago. The fact that I cannot bring them with me wherever I go and be assured that they will be watchable is a small factor, but a factor none the less. For me, it is the few discs I have gotten from Netflix with ads that I couldn't skip direct to menu, none of the menu buttons seemed to go past them. You have to hit next chapter/FF to go past them. That was enough for me to decide it was not worth paying for content that was going to force me to watch or deal with ads. In addition most DVDs are available for ~$15, whereas most Blu-Ray releases are ~$30 locally. Admitedly I don't have a 1080 display other than my monitor, but I do have a great 50" 720p TV, it has mattered a bit to me that I am not getting the full visual upgrade, but I can't afford another TV right now.
One night at 3:30AM local time I called the police because a woman down the street was kicking a garage door and threatening to break into the house she was at. She told the man on the other side of the door that if he didn't give her what she was there for, she would break in and kill him. She claimed a common friend sent her there, she offered to trade her bra for the object in question, and claimed she would get $50 if she talked him into giving her a beer as well. She shouted this over and over. At one point she got in her car, put it into gear, drove 5 feet then parked it and got out an yelled "And another thing". She then returned to her threats. The police showed up, asked her some questions, asked her if the car was hers, and within 5 minutes let her drive off.
I called to complain and spoke to the sergeant and he said it is only a crime if you specify the manner, had she said she would stab him, choke him or shoot him then they could have arrested her. They didn't even take her in for disturbing the peace. So no, I don't think police take threats against regular people as seriously as threats against politicians. I wouldn't suggest that this incident be used as a guide that it is ok to behave that way, but I don't believe that they care that it happens.
I wasn't clear I suppose, I didn't bring them up as issues, they were the first reasons I wanted the iPad instead of a laptop. The iPad being able to type and draw as needed was the lure, it was the lack of the apps I need for my course load that was my issue.
yeah, but at the time I needed Java, C++ and Assembly compilers for my schoolwork. I couldn't find them for iPad at the time, are they now available?
I use my Windows 7 tablet to take notes because not only can I dock it onto a keyboard if I want, I also can use the stylus to draw diagrams etc as needed for the notes. I would have tried the iPad but it wouldn't let me do my homework on it, so unfortunately it doesn't work for me.
That's odd, because I live in Ca and the first 5 CS courses are Algorithm Design, C, Assembly, OO in C++, and Data Structures (in C++) which is the last class I completed last semester. I took a Java class just because I could but it does not count towards my requirements for graduation. I wonder how different the requirements are for a CS degree across the country, it seems much more varied than I would have expected.
My Win 7 Tablet uses a Wacom pen with embedded pen tracking. I can also use my fingers, but I don't usually do so due to it being a work tablet and at work my fingers often are dusty/dirty during the work when I need to use the tablet. I think pen system covers the issue very well, as well as letting me flip the pen over to use the 'eraser' when taking notes.
My concern is that the criteria used are overly simplistic. Clearly a breadmaker and a Blu-ray player are not computers. The satnav may be slightly closer depending on what yours does, mine certainly does all 3 of the judges criteria, storing gigs of data, processing new data, and transmitting data regularly. I wouldn't classify it as a computer either. That said I know people who use actual computers as routers, and I've seen routers with so many features that they surely seemed to be computers. Another poster however clarified, that after checking out the original story, that the intrusion does not expose personal data, it doesn't matter. That makes the whole ordeal seem much more sane. It is a much more clear requirement than the other three and all four balance out pretty well I think.
How many "bits and bytes" does a device have to store to be declared a computer? I mean, mine stores a password, those are a few bits, where is the limit? I don't know enough about the case to comment on the details, but it seems an odd thing to base a ruling on to me.
Unless you have a contract stating that when a business does close, they destroy their databases etc, I would bet the first thing the people in charge of liquidating do is place a price on said information and sell it. Its easy, many marketers want all the data they can possibly gather, and its one more dollar they can squeeze out before shuttering the doors forever.
You can always have a face to face with them about it, I hear they enjoy meetings.