This is the New York Times hoping to get a scoop for free so they can increase readership without actually doing any real investigative journalism for themselves.
You know, as an attorney, we're hired to defend vigorously the position of our clients or their interests. That doesn't necessarily mean we advocate for that position as private individuals, or that we are incapable of striking a fair position. The only thing that should matter as a nominee for a Solicitor General position is whether she can diligently represent the government's position, and that is all.
Despite the implication, nobody looks good with this leak. Among the Palestineans, do you think the news that Palistinean negotiators gave such wide concessions would be very popular?
A lot of what you said isn't true. In the United States, the term of a patent is 20 years from the date of filing, however protection only begins when a patent is issued. The "patent pending" stage grants you extremely limited protections (which you can't even take advantage of until the patent issues).
Further, it's not true that dragging out the prosecution of a patent will extend the time of protection. As I said, the patent dies 20 years from the date of filing, so even if prosecution took 10 years (although it rarely does), 10 years after issue, it's dead. Now, it's possible that the USPTO may grant term adjustments if there are delays caused by the USPTO that is of no fault of the applicant. However, the Applicant's own delay does not grant any term adjustments.
Even during the term while an application is in a pending state, it is possible for your competitors to read your specification. The USPTO publishes, generally, a publication containing the application spec, drawings, claims, etc 18 months after filing. Plus, after the App. is published, all documents used in prosecution is publicly available through the USPTO through the PAIR system or through documentation requests.
Lastly, no, that's not the only way to know if a thing has patents filed. Companies, in execution of their due diligence, usually execute searches to see if there are any patents available that blocks operation. These are called "Freedom of Operation Searches". Businesses are stupid to proceed blind.
In case you were wondering, I am a patent attorney, so I take this seriously.
The reason that Google has comparatively fewer software patents issuing every year is because there's often a massive lag behind filing a patent and having it issued. I've seen software patents that have taken as long as 6 or 7 years before it gets issued due to the amount of prosecution done on it. 6 or 7 years ago, Google was a much smaller (and newer) company with much less resources to file software patents. In comparison, the reason Apple gets 3000 patents a year is because they've been in business for over 20 years.
Considering that Singapore is a country that will cane you for the most minor littering, spitting, or other innocuous offenses, I wonder how much higher the incidence of mental illness would be in that 10% if they didn't have an avenue to blow off steam.
I keep seeing people saying that temperatures have not risen since 1998, but nobody ever cites any real data to back up that assertion. Care to step up?
I liked using Chrome, but I still stick with Firefox. I'm always rather wary about how seriously a company whose revenue stream comes from mining your activities for advertising will take your privacy.
I just don't understand the bit of reasoning Peter Bright made about why Google dropping H.264 is a bad thing because they may incur licensing fees. Especially this last bit:
It's not as if Google can't afford the $6.5 million a year, and by paying that money the company would enable web users to view open, standards-compliant, H.264 video.
What, just because a company can afford the licensing fees means that it MUST pay the licensing fees, especially in the face of other open source alternatives that doesn't require them?
From what I know, the Software Freedom Law Center ( http://www.softwarefreedom.org/ ) provide pro bono legal representation to creators of Free and Open Source projects. Maybe you should contact both the SFLC and the maintainer of the mtr and see if there's any way of getting them together to file a GPL violation case or an injunction.
There are several things that would go a long way towards improving education in the US. First, stop worrying about "education in the U.S." and warry about education in your state. Second, get rid of teacher's tenure. Third is related to the first, shrink school districts, so that a few parents can influence the outcome of schoolboard elections.
That last part about how a few parents can influence the outcome of schoolboard elections is precisely the reason why a bunch of school districts either started or tried to teach either creationism or intelligent design in the last couple of decades. If you think that having hundreds of districts where science and math education is controlled by religious fundamentalists will improve education, then you're wrong.
Noting: "Attracting and Retaining Top-Third Graduates to Careers in Teaching,” we review the experiences of the top-performing systems in the world—Singapore, Finland, and South Korea. These countries recruit, develop, and retain the leading academic talent as one of their central education strategies, and they have achieved extraordinary results. In the United States, by contrast, only 23 percent of new teachers come from the top third, and just 14 percent in high poverty schools, where the difficulty of attracting and retaining talented teachers is particularly acute."
From the Article: "The United States has fallen from top of the class to average in world education rankings, said a report Tuesday that warned of US economic losses from the trend..... ranked the United States 14th out of 34 OECD countries for reading skills, 17th for science and a below-average 25th for mathematics.
Incidentally, the PISA Report on education on which the previous article is about uses a sampling of 15 year old students. It's not comparing our students with the cream of their crop. It's comparing our average students with their average students.
Most other countries are trying to make their education system more like Finland, South Korea and Singapore, not our's. Heck, even in the US, there are non-Asian parents who send their kids to Chinese school as an afterschool supplement because the math and science education offered there is often much better than what's offered in public schools.
The ordinance also mentions "significant health questions" raised about "increased electromagnetic frequently radiation (EMF) emitted by the wireless technology in SmartMeters."
I wonder how many in the Marin County government also don't carry cellular phones (often near their hips or groins), or use wifi, or bluetooth.
In a lot of other countries with a much better education system, teachers are recruited from the top of the graduating classes and are given incentives to go and teach. I wish that's something we could implement in the US for education reform rather than grading teachers on how effective they are at teaching their kids how to take a specific test.
Kids get discouraged way too early in their school lives. From their peers, their teachers and their parents, they get the message that science and math is boring and hard, and they take that to college. That's why in math classes, you might find a person that can perfectly integrate a function, but be utterly unable to describe what integration actually does. Science and math has become just an algorithm to them: If you follow X steps, then you will get the answer, then you will path the class.
If touchscreens do kill the keyboard (and I am very doubtful), then it'll just be another milestone for the trend of crappier and crappier keyboard input devices. Back in the day, the mechanical switch and the buckler keyboards were fantastic. They had the weight, they had the tactile response, they had the satisfying click you get when you press down a key, plus they were nigh indestructible. Then, everyone moved to the quiet keyboards that use the rubber sheet and the dielectric, and it had less of a tactical response. Then people started moving towards those awful chiclet keyboards (are they called Island keyboards?) and they make it so frustrating to type something. If touchscreens take over, it'll just be the next logical step towards crappier keyboards.
Let's raise the stakes. I propose raising half a trillion dollars to develop a time machine and put a monolith in Olduvai Gorge three million years in the past to influence Astralopithecus Afarensis evolution. Our very existence might depend on it.
Thanks for the list. I'm a bit surprised that 2001 didn't make the most realistic list. I mean, sure, the idea of an above-human-level AI and aliens might be a bit on the less realistic side, but no more so than The Day The Earth Stood Still.
Slashdot Mirror
This is the New York Times hoping to get a scoop for free so they can increase readership without actually doing any real investigative journalism for themselves.
You know, as an attorney, we're hired to defend vigorously the position of our clients or their interests. That doesn't necessarily mean we advocate for that position as private individuals, or that we are incapable of striking a fair position. The only thing that should matter as a nominee for a Solicitor General position is whether she can diligently represent the government's position, and that is all.
Despite the implication, nobody looks good with this leak. Among the Palestineans, do you think the news that Palistinean negotiators gave such wide concessions would be very popular?
A lot of what you said isn't true. In the United States, the term of a patent is 20 years from the date of filing, however protection only begins when a patent is issued. The "patent pending" stage grants you extremely limited protections (which you can't even take advantage of until the patent issues).
Further, it's not true that dragging out the prosecution of a patent will extend the time of protection. As I said, the patent dies 20 years from the date of filing, so even if prosecution took 10 years (although it rarely does), 10 years after issue, it's dead. Now, it's possible that the USPTO may grant term adjustments if there are delays caused by the USPTO that is of no fault of the applicant. However, the Applicant's own delay does not grant any term adjustments.
Even during the term while an application is in a pending state, it is possible for your competitors to read your specification. The USPTO publishes, generally, a publication containing the application spec, drawings, claims, etc 18 months after filing. Plus, after the App. is published, all documents used in prosecution is publicly available through the USPTO through the PAIR system or through documentation requests.
Lastly, no, that's not the only way to know if a thing has patents filed. Companies, in execution of their due diligence, usually execute searches to see if there are any patents available that blocks operation. These are called "Freedom of Operation Searches". Businesses are stupid to proceed blind.
In case you were wondering, I am a patent attorney, so I take this seriously.
Maybe what he means by "open source" economic model is that he wants state workers to work for free.
The reason that Google has comparatively fewer software patents issuing every year is because there's often a massive lag behind filing a patent and having it issued. I've seen software patents that have taken as long as 6 or 7 years before it gets issued due to the amount of prosecution done on it. 6 or 7 years ago, Google was a much smaller (and newer) company with much less resources to file software patents. In comparison, the reason Apple gets 3000 patents a year is because they've been in business for over 20 years.
The really devout ones would probably take this as evidence of intelligent design anyway.
"Ha ha!" they'd say, "Because the universe isn't fine-tuned for life, the fact that life exists here is clearly a miracle that only god can produce!"
You can't win. They'll twist any argument around, no matter how logical, to suit their views, and it'll strengthen their belief, not weaken it.
Considering that Singapore is a country that will cane you for the most minor littering, spitting, or other innocuous offenses, I wonder how much higher the incidence of mental illness would be in that 10% if they didn't have an avenue to blow off steam.
I keep seeing people saying that temperatures have not risen since 1998, but nobody ever cites any real data to back up that assertion. Care to step up?
I liked using Chrome, but I still stick with Firefox. I'm always rather wary about how seriously a company whose revenue stream comes from mining your activities for advertising will take your privacy.
What's the point of a portable console as powerful as the PS3 if the display is smaller than a playing card?
Luckily, nuclear war is a cure for depression, hypertension, heart attack and stroke.
I just don't understand the bit of reasoning Peter Bright made about why Google dropping H.264 is a bad thing because they may incur licensing fees. Especially this last bit:
It's not as if Google can't afford the $6.5 million a year, and by paying that money the company would enable web users to view open, standards-compliant, H.264 video.
What, just because a company can afford the licensing fees means that it MUST pay the licensing fees, especially in the face of other open source alternatives that doesn't require them?
From what I know, the Software Freedom Law Center ( http://www.softwarefreedom.org/ ) provide pro bono legal representation to creators of Free and Open Source projects. Maybe you should contact both the SFLC and the maintainer of the mtr and see if there's any way of getting them together to file a GPL violation case or an injunction.
There are several things that would go a long way towards improving education in the US. First, stop worrying about "education in the U.S." and warry about education in your state. Second, get rid of teacher's tenure. Third is related to the first, shrink school districts, so that a few parents can influence the outcome of schoolboard elections.
That last part about how a few parents can influence the outcome of schoolboard elections is precisely the reason why a bunch of school districts either started or tried to teach either creationism or intelligent design in the last couple of decades. If you think that having hundreds of districts where science and math education is controlled by religious fundamentalists will improve education, then you're wrong.
http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/Social_Sector/our_practices/Education/Knowledge_Highlights/Closing_the_talent_gap.aspx
Noting: "Attracting and Retaining Top-Third Graduates to Careers in Teaching ,” we review the experiences of the top-performing systems in the world—Singapore, Finland, and South Korea. These countries recruit, develop, and retain the leading academic talent as one of their central education strategies, and they have achieved extraordinary results. In the United States, by contrast, only 23 percent of new teachers come from the top third, and just 14 percent in high poverty schools, where the difficulty of attracting and retaining talented teachers is particularly acute."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5juGFSx9LiPaur6eO1KJAypB2ImVQ?docId=CNG.5337504e8f65acf16c57d5cac3cfe339.1c1
From the Article: "The United States has fallen from top of the class to average in world education rankings, said a report Tuesday that warned of US economic losses from the trend. .... ranked the United States 14th out of 34 OECD countries for reading skills, 17th for science and a below-average 25th for mathematics.
Incidentally, the PISA Report on education on which the previous article is about uses a sampling of 15 year old students. It's not comparing our students with the cream of their crop. It's comparing our average students with their average students.
Most other countries are trying to make their education system more like Finland, South Korea and Singapore, not our's. Heck, even in the US, there are non-Asian parents who send their kids to Chinese school as an afterschool supplement because the math and science education offered there is often much better than what's offered in public schools.
The ordinance also mentions "significant health questions" raised about "increased electromagnetic frequently radiation (EMF) emitted by the wireless technology in SmartMeters."
I wonder how many in the Marin County government also don't carry cellular phones (often near their hips or groins), or use wifi, or bluetooth.
In a lot of other countries with a much better education system, teachers are recruited from the top of the graduating classes and are given incentives to go and teach. I wish that's something we could implement in the US for education reform rather than grading teachers on how effective they are at teaching their kids how to take a specific test.
path=pass. Clearly, I didn't pass spelling.
Kids get discouraged way too early in their school lives. From their peers, their teachers and their parents, they get the message that science and math is boring and hard, and they take that to college. That's why in math classes, you might find a person that can perfectly integrate a function, but be utterly unable to describe what integration actually does. Science and math has become just an algorithm to them: If you follow X steps, then you will get the answer, then you will path the class.
Don't forget, a virtual keyboard just means you only have half of the screen to actually view stuff.
If touchscreens do kill the keyboard (and I am very doubtful), then it'll just be another milestone for the trend of crappier and crappier keyboard input devices. Back in the day, the mechanical switch and the buckler keyboards were fantastic. They had the weight, they had the tactile response, they had the satisfying click you get when you press down a key, plus they were nigh indestructible. Then, everyone moved to the quiet keyboards that use the rubber sheet and the dielectric, and it had less of a tactical response. Then people started moving towards those awful chiclet keyboards (are they called Island keyboards?) and they make it so frustrating to type something. If touchscreens take over, it'll just be the next logical step towards crappier keyboards.
The switch from Mayan to Gregorian was hard on us all.
Let's raise the stakes. I propose raising half a trillion dollars to develop a time machine and put a monolith in Olduvai Gorge three million years in the past to influence Astralopithecus Afarensis evolution. Our very existence might depend on it.
Thanks for the list. I'm a bit surprised that 2001 didn't make the most realistic list. I mean, sure, the idea of an above-human-level AI and aliens might be a bit on the less realistic side, but no more so than The Day The Earth Stood Still.