Google isn't "patenting displaying patents", they are getting a design patent on the look of Google Patents. Design patents are harmless; they just mean that if you display patents, it should be visually different from Google.
And to those of us who have been hoping for a new desktop paradigm
What does using X11 have to do with having your hopes for a new desktop paradigm dashed? X11 is a portable and efficient way of getting bits on screen. It's a client/server system, just like Microsoft Windows and OS X. In fact, X11 got this right from the start, while Microsoft and Apple had to rewrite their window systems multiple times before ending up with something like X11.
Personally my hope for the future of Linux rests on Android, now.
Don't you worry your pretty little head about the future of Linux. (And Android will likely start using X11 at some point as well.)
Yes, and while that's good in the short term, that's not a good thing in the long run. Why? Because the negative feedback pushes us back towards a lower temperature stable state for now. That means we see only limited changes for now. People think nothing is happening and don't change their behavior.
But at some point, we will be in the attractor for a different stable state, and then positive feedback will rapidly move us to a stable state at a higher temperature. That's mathematically and physically inevitable; the only unknown is the point at which that happens.
There's also likely to be hysteresis, meaning that we won't be able to get back to our current state easily.
Two simple ways.
First, we know a pretty good lower limit on how much fossil fuel humanity actually burns, because it's accounted for in commodities markets.
Second, they have different isotopic signatures: fossil fuel doesn't contain C14, while CO2 generated from biomatter does (in known quantities).
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This is a design patent; design patents are harmless.
Google isn't "patenting displaying patents", they are getting a design patent on the look of Google Patents. Design patents are harmless; they just mean that if you display patents, it should be visually different from Google.
And to those of us who have been hoping for a new desktop paradigm
What does using X11 have to do with having your hopes for a new desktop paradigm dashed? X11 is a portable and efficient way of getting bits on screen. It's a client/server system, just like Microsoft Windows and OS X. In fact, X11 got this right from the start, while Microsoft and Apple had to rewrite their window systems multiple times before ending up with something like X11.
Personally my hope for the future of Linux rests on Android, now.
Don't you worry your pretty little head about the future of Linux. (And Android will likely start using X11 at some point as well.)
Maybe they could also add an X11 server, Gtk+, and Python? Just a thought.
Yes, and while that's good in the short term, that's not a good thing in the long run. Why? Because the negative feedback pushes us back towards a lower temperature stable state for now. That means we see only limited changes for now. People think nothing is happening and don't change their behavior.
But at some point, we will be in the attractor for a different stable state, and then positive feedback will rapidly move us to a stable state at a higher temperature. That's mathematically and physically inevitable; the only unknown is the point at which that happens.
There's also likely to be hysteresis, meaning that we won't be able to get back to our current state easily.
I suggest you first look up Isotopic signature. Then, you might have a look at the article on the Dunning-Kruger effect.
Two simple ways. First, we know a pretty good lower limit on how much fossil fuel humanity actually burns, because it's accounted for in commodities markets. Second, they have different isotopic signatures: fossil fuel doesn't contain C14, while CO2 generated from biomatter does (in known quantities).