Well, software IS mathematics, and in the end I think you could also make a case that physics IS mathematics. To illustrate how subjective these matters are, consider copyright law. Every musical composition can be saved in a.wav file, and the bits in that file can be regarded as a (huge) number. Of course, nobody is going to be able to claim that, because you can write a song as number, which belongs to the domain of mathematics, you can just do away with copyright law.
The real issue is where you draw the line between something that is ingenious and something which everybody could have come up with.
If someone can link me a software patent that they feel was a new invention and that others might benefit from then by all means, I am happy to be proved wrong...
The problem is that a lot of software patents you hear about are of the silly kind (e.g. hyperlinks, one-click shopping, user-interfaces etc.) To give a better example, consider this patent, which covers a method of computing fluid flow. There are many other patents like this one.
Why worry about this when we're already en-masse handing over all our private information to gmail? You don't think these communications are monitored? Of course they are, at least for advertisement-purposes.
I say we need encryption at the client-to-client level. Something by which we can still use gmail, but in such a way that even google cannot inspect our communications.
I guess that some simple extensions to javascript/html would do the trick (in principle it could be done in javascript, but you'll also want to encrypt attachments). However, I have the feeling that at least in chrome we won't see such an extension coming soon... perhaps firefox... (there's already a plugin called firegpg but I'm not sure if it encrypts attachments).
should not be too difficult. you see, the government has nothing to gain from people switching to encrypted forms of communication, in fact it would make their intelligence operations much more complicated.
And that's by having only one quantum computer in a single universe... now imagine what would happen if all the other universes would start inventing such computers!
A feature which is missing, in my opinion, is a way to convert paths into strokes with a calligraphic pen. Adobe Illustrator has this feature, and it is really helpful for creating cartoons or cartoon-like images.
What would be also nice, and this is something that Illustrator does not offer, is a way to convert these calligraphic paths into outlines.
Even if you are not really drawing cartoons, I think such an option can give drawings a certain extra "edge", so to speak.
a better idea would be to give away those millions to bing users... for example by letting users participate in a free lottery, every time they make a query...
in this day and age, you know, you'll have to not only give away your service for free, you'll also have to pay your users:-)
Yes I also wanted this for a long time... except... I have one additional requirement:
**I do not want all that user-generated content to be in the hands of one company**
Instead, all those comments should be in the public domain, just as wikipedia is in the public domain. Look at all the data that Amazon has gathered from users... wouldn't it be great if all those product reviews were in the public domain, and if anyone could verify to the maximum extent possible the truthfulness of those reviews? Think of all the nice mash-up applications that could be created based on that data!
Therefore, I hope that an open organization (wikimedia for example, or a branch of w3c) will take the challenge and produce a useful website commenting system, of course including some sort of moderation system (a la wikipedia).
1. are these clauses actually respected in a court of law? 2. can't microsoft just "rebrand" the imagemaster tool? i.e., some other tool using the same source.
ps: i'm not a microsoft fan, but i can imagine getting in a similar situation myself since linking to a gpl library just is too easy to do by accident these days (any linux distribution comes loaded with this stuff).
Slashdot Mirror
Your interpretation of my comment is exactly the opposite of how it was intended... perhaps you should read it again (?)
...in exchange for full explanations of their inventions.
That would be nice, but most patents are unreadable, and would not pass any serious scientific review!
Well, software IS mathematics, and in the end I think you could also make a case that physics IS mathematics. To illustrate how subjective these matters are, consider copyright law. Every musical composition can be saved in a .wav file, and the bits in that file can be regarded as a (huge) number. Of course, nobody is going to be able to claim that, because you can write a song as number, which belongs to the domain of mathematics, you can just do away with copyright law.
The real issue is where you draw the line between something that is ingenious and something which everybody could have come up with.
If someone can link me a software patent that they feel was a new invention and that others might benefit from then by all means, I am happy to be proved wrong...
The problem is that a lot of software patents you hear about are of the silly kind (e.g. hyperlinks, one-click shopping, user-interfaces etc.)
To give a better example, consider this patent, which covers a method of computing
fluid flow. There are many other patents like this one.
Take an example from Edsger Dijkstra. He was originally a theoretical physicist, but insisted on being called a "programmer".
From this article:
What struck me 30 years ago and still
resonates in my mind today is how
Dijkstra was proud to be a programmer instead of a theoretical physicist.
open source!
at least, once we get open-source search engines utilizing peer-to-peer distributed processing techniques...
Funny thing is, right next to TFA, it showed an ad for a perpetuum mobile
http://www.smallbizcenter.info/magniwork.php
(normally I would not link to an ad, but this one is just too weird)
Why worry about this when we're already en-masse handing over all our private information to gmail? You don't think these communications are
monitored? Of course they are, at least for advertisement-purposes.
I say we need encryption at the client-to-client level. Something by which we can still use gmail, but in such a way that even google cannot inspect our communications.
I guess that some simple extensions to javascript/html would do the trick (in principle it could be done in javascript, but you'll also want to encrypt attachments).
However, I have the feeling that at least in chrome we won't see such an extension coming soon... perhaps firefox... (there's already a plugin called firegpg but I'm not sure if it encrypts attachments).
If we make it technically or financially unfeasible to monitor communications en masse, then Governments will be more reluctant to do it
or... governments will switch to more radical forms of tapping, like pointing a directional microphone at your house...
should not be too difficult. you see, the government has nothing to gain from people switching to encrypted forms of communication, in fact it would make their intelligence operations much more complicated.
By the way, who would be able to claim the invention when the universes merge? Hmm, intriguing concept, prior art in a parallel universe...
And that's by having only one quantum computer in a single universe... now imagine what would happen if all the other universes would start inventing such computers!
But now social networking sites ala FB are a dime a dozen.
I think it is only a matter of time until some more open, perhaps distributed networking system will emerge.
Right now, FB is tightly binding its users to itself, but with a more open system, users could move freely from implementation to implementation.
with all this censoring going on and all, perhaps it's time for a distributed peer-to-peer open-source search engine...
interesting, I just found this project: http://www.majestic12.co.uk/
A feature which is missing, in my opinion, is a way to convert paths into strokes with a calligraphic pen.
Adobe Illustrator has this feature, and it is really helpful for creating cartoons or cartoon-like images.
What would be also nice, and this is something that Illustrator does not offer, is a way to convert these calligraphic paths
into outlines.
Even if you are not really drawing cartoons, I think such an option can give drawings a certain extra "edge", so to speak.
Of course, visit the West End, and if you like, go to a theatre.
all technology aside, they're still facilitating the illegal distribution of copyrighted material.
like it or not, it is as simple as that.
so i guess this technological cover-up would be easily punched through in a court of law.
this idea sounds stupid.
a better idea would be to give away those millions to bing users... for example by letting users participate in a free lottery, every time they make a query...
in this day and age, you know, you'll have to not only give away your service for free, you'll also have to pay your users :-)
Hey, thanks for making that comment!
yes, it has goto
umm, but it appears to have a "go" statement too, with completely different semantics. ... this is too confusing!
"go" and "goto"
I guess it will not take long until Google will have their ads displayed on that LED array...
Yes I also wanted this for a long time... except... I have one additional requirement:
**I do not want all that user-generated content to be in the hands of one company**
Instead, all those comments should be in the public domain, just as wikipedia is in the public domain.
Look at all the data that Amazon has gathered from users... wouldn't it be great if all those product reviews
were in the public domain, and if anyone could verify to the maximum extent possible the truthfulness of those reviews?
Think of all the nice mash-up applications that could be created based on that data!
Therefore, I hope that an open organization (wikimedia for example, or a branch of w3c) will take the challenge and produce a
useful website commenting system, of course including some sort of moderation system (a la wikipedia).
what about android? or chrome?
both quite respectable projects, I would say.
two questions:
1. are these clauses actually respected in a court of law?
2. can't microsoft just "rebrand" the imagemaster tool? i.e., some other tool using the same source.
ps: i'm not a microsoft fan, but i can imagine getting in a similar situation myself since linking to a gpl library just is too easy to do by accident these days (any linux distribution comes loaded with this stuff).
you got me there,
but let's be realistic... if MS would publish the source, I don't think any judge is going to fine them...