I'm under the impression that the government stopped caring about patents a long time ago.
You bet your ass they care about the PTO! It's one of the few governemnt offices that generates it's own profits through fees accrued from patent prosecution. 75% of those fees are taken by the Govenrment for other things. That's half the reason the PTO is in the straits it's in because they could be using that money to get more and better educated examiners, but it's funnelled into other programs by the Powers-That-Be (TM).
The other reason the PTO is so backward on software patents is because to be an Examiner, you have to have a degree in one or more of a range of 30-something "hard sciences". Computer Engineering qualifies. Computer Programming does not which means they have very (if any) few people who know anything about programming examining patents.
I buy the game and it has a bug that won't let you go past turn 88. Than they repackage it as Machiavelli and I buy it AGAIN but they didn't fix the bug. And now, I can find the patch to fix the bug, but the game is nowhere to be found.
I just think that they could have been more faithful to the book than they were. I mean, they cut a lot of wonderful dialog from the book, but still made up things that weren't even in it. Voice overs revealing character's thoughts would have saved the entire series, telling things to the viewer and alleviating the need to make up plot devices to explain them. All in all, I think that the Lynch theatrical release was better than this miniseries. I'm not even sure what Sci-Fi was thinking. Did they think that no one watching had read the book? I can understand them dumbing it down a little or adding action to make it viewable, but all they did IMHO was hack up the story while tossing out the style. I give it a C+ for effort.
I really loved the book series, but if Dune Messiah and Children of Dune are going to be like this, I might just skip them.
Assuming you are speaking with someone who somewhat unfamiliar with OpenBSD, what would you say sets it apart from other operating systems? Why would it be preferable to *nixes or NT or whatever else someone could think of?
Lady and Gentlemen,
What precisely are your positions regarding the imbalance between corporate power and individual liberty and what do you specifically do you intend to do to safeguard individual liberty?
It's not uncommon for claims in an application to be written broadly to try to get as much as possible out. Many of the overly broad claims will get thrown out and that is expected.
Unfortunately, that is not always the case, especially with some of the newer software and internet related patents. If you are legally obligated, you have to sign, but there is a possible way to hinder the patent.
An Information Disclosure statement will be submitted, giving relevant information, articles and literature to help the examiner judge the novelty and obviousness of the patent. The duty is to submit ALL KNOWN relevant information.
All you have to do is make sure you can find information which will demonstrate that it is not new or that it is obvious or both. If you submit enough, it should scuttle the patent assuming the examiner isn't a total moron.
The fatal flaw of both the Traditions and the Technocratic Union in Mage is a very important thing for all of us to note.
Both sides may be working for a supposed common good for the people of the world, but they both push their agenda to the exclusion of all others. Both sides are far too narrow in their thinking.
In the case of the Union, it can be understood. They started off as a collective dedicated to the safety of mankind and have overcompensated in the task. Sounds like the Government, actually. It wants to protect the citizens (stealing is bad, killing is bad), but has gone too far in the quest to protect them (copying a tape is stealing, if people can't have weapons noone can be killed).
The Traditions are more like organizations which form for a purpose and once the purpose is served, don't want to relinquish the power they've built. Sounds like a lot of groups like the RIAA, the MPAA, many labor unions, the NAACP (and before anyone calls me racist, I am black), many congressional committees and sub-committees, and a host of others.
I'm sure anyone who has read Mage will draw a parrallel between the readers of Slashdot and the Virtual Adepts. There also is another telling point. Both are insulated in their own little world, disregarding the outside reality. Both seem to talk quite a bit about how others are inferior to them, but do little to help the rest of the world, spending most of their time preaching to the choir. I think that everyone should take note and try to avoid that mistake. Some do try, but others don't. If we aren't careful, we will eventually become those clueless people we laugh at and deride...
Are we the first citizens of a new kind of society? Or simply participants in the ongoing modification of the old one?
Not that this hasn't been said a hundred times before, but the way things are now has little difference to the way they were before. The names have changed and the technology has advanced, but things are still the same. Some people are more equal than others. Might makes right. He who has the gold makes the rules.
How is the buying of influence in Congress any different than Borgias controlling Popes? Many people don't believe that might makes right, but the "might" of the sword has simply been replaced with the "might" of the dollar. Corporations are modern translations of the "robber barons" of last century and trading guilds of previous centuries. Every new technological advance will supposedly change the way we conduct our lives. Bread and circuses have been replaced with Big Macs and television. The intellectual elite still make their debates and the common man still has little control of the institutions that control his life.
Nothing really changes except for names, dates and methods. And that is why Santayana was right... People keep forgetting the past. We just keep deluding oursleves into thinking that the situations we see are like nothing that has ever happened before.
The article states "The transformation will be all but universal." If history has taught us anything, it tells that transformation is anything but universal. It is a slow process that tends to build quietly and then explodes under its own pressure in a place where there is little resistance. Look at any technological advance or social or religious movement of the last five millenia. We're still following paths laid in place in the past and governing authorities will change to accomodate the changes coming. They have before. They will again. It will take time and patience, but they will.
Slashdot Mirror
Well if people are talking about vintage equipment, does anyone here have a lead or an idea on acquiring a Space Cowboy keyboard?
I'm under the impression that the government stopped caring about patents a long time ago.
You bet your ass they care about the PTO! It's one of the few governemnt offices that generates it's own profits through fees accrued from patent prosecution. 75% of those fees are taken by the Govenrment for other things. That's half the reason the PTO is in the straits it's in because they could be using that money to get more and better educated examiners, but it's funnelled into other programs by the Powers-That-Be (TM).
The other reason the PTO is so backward on software patents is because to be an Examiner, you have to have a degree in one or more of a range of 30-something "hard sciences". Computer Engineering qualifies. Computer Programming does not which means they have very (if any) few people who know anything about programming examining patents.
This was bound to happen sooner or later.
I buy the game and it has a bug that won't let you go past turn 88. Than they repackage it as Machiavelli and I buy it AGAIN but they didn't fix the bug. And now, I can find the patch to fix the bug, but the game is nowhere to be found.
That's why we need abandonware.
I just think that they could have been more faithful to the book than they were. I mean, they cut a lot of wonderful dialog from the book, but still made up things that weren't even in it. Voice overs revealing character's thoughts would have saved the entire series, telling things to the viewer and alleviating the need to make up plot devices to explain them. All in all, I think that the Lynch theatrical release was better than this miniseries. I'm not even sure what Sci-Fi was thinking. Did they think that no one watching had read the book? I can understand them dumbing it down a little or adding action to make it viewable, but all they did IMHO was hack up the story while tossing out the style. I give it a C+ for effort.
I really loved the book series, but if Dune Messiah and Children of Dune are going to be like this, I might just skip them.
Assuming you are speaking with someone who somewhat unfamiliar with OpenBSD, what would you say sets it apart from other operating systems? Why would it be preferable to *nixes or NT or whatever else someone could think of?
I always feel so bad for Duncan Idaho. Eight books spanning five thousand years and they just won't let him stay dead...
Lady and Gentlemen,
What precisely are your positions regarding the imbalance between corporate power and individual liberty and what do you specifically do you intend to do to safeguard individual liberty?
Screw local or state or even federal...
I can be an INTERNATIONAL criminal!
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!
It's not uncommon for claims in an application to be written broadly to try to get as much as possible out. Many of the overly broad claims will get thrown out and that is expected.
Unfortunately, that is not always the case, especially with some of the newer software and internet related patents. If you are legally obligated, you have to sign, but there is a possible way to hinder the patent.
An Information Disclosure statement will be submitted, giving relevant information, articles and literature to help the examiner judge the novelty and obviousness of the patent. The duty is to submit ALL KNOWN relevant information.
All you have to do is make sure you can find information which will demonstrate that it is not new or that it is obvious or both. If you submit enough, it should scuttle the patent assuming the examiner isn't a total moron.
What's this "we", Kemo Sabe?
...you're saying that the Syndicate is winning the Ascension War?
Both sides may be working for a supposed common good for the people of the world, but they both push their agenda to the exclusion of all others. Both sides are far too narrow in their thinking.
In the case of the Union, it can be understood. They started off as a collective dedicated to the safety of mankind and have overcompensated in the task. Sounds like the Government, actually. It wants to protect the citizens (stealing is bad, killing is bad), but has gone too far in the quest to protect them (copying a tape is stealing, if people can't have weapons noone can be killed).
The Traditions are more like organizations which form for a purpose and once the purpose is served, don't want to relinquish the power they've built. Sounds like a lot of groups like the RIAA, the MPAA, many labor unions, the NAACP (and before anyone calls me racist, I am black), many congressional committees and sub-committees, and a host of others.
I'm sure anyone who has read Mage will draw a parrallel between the readers of Slashdot and the Virtual Adepts. There also is another telling point. Both are insulated in their own little world, disregarding the outside reality. Both seem to talk quite a bit about how others are inferior to them, but do little to help the rest of the world, spending most of their time preaching to the choir. I think that everyone should take note and try to avoid that mistake. Some do try, but others don't. If we aren't careful, we will eventually become those clueless people we laugh at and deride...
Are we the first citizens of a new kind of society? Or simply participants in the ongoing modification of the old one? Not that this hasn't been said a hundred times before, but the way things are now has little difference to the way they were before. The names have changed and the technology has advanced, but things are still the same. Some people are more equal than others. Might makes right. He who has the gold makes the rules. How is the buying of influence in Congress any different than Borgias controlling Popes? Many people don't believe that might makes right, but the "might" of the sword has simply been replaced with the "might" of the dollar. Corporations are modern translations of the "robber barons" of last century and trading guilds of previous centuries. Every new technological advance will supposedly change the way we conduct our lives. Bread and circuses have been replaced with Big Macs and television. The intellectual elite still make their debates and the common man still has little control of the institutions that control his life. Nothing really changes except for names, dates and methods. And that is why Santayana was right... People keep forgetting the past. We just keep deluding oursleves into thinking that the situations we see are like nothing that has ever happened before. The article states "The transformation will be all but universal." If history has taught us anything, it tells that transformation is anything but universal. It is a slow process that tends to build quietly and then explodes under its own pressure in a place where there is little resistance. Look at any technological advance or social or religious movement of the last five millenia. We're still following paths laid in place in the past and governing authorities will change to accomodate the changes coming. They have before. They will again. It will take time and patience, but they will.