If you RTFP, what's actually being patented is the idea of using multiple pointers so that the same item can be in more than one linked list at a time.
It is not the first and probably won't be the last patent describing some trivial use of linked lists (TFP actually lists at least four other patents featuring linked lists).
What really amazes me is the name of the patent: "Linked list" (!)
My collegues and I, being software engineers in X-Ray astronomy, disagree with you. [...] The systems we develop are used by X-Ray astronomers and would not exist without [...] Software Engineers.
You are missing the point. Claiming that software engineering is not science does not diminish software engineering, nor imply that it is not useful to scientists.
I am also an engineer and hope that my work can be useful to many people, but helping scientists in their work does not make me a scientist, the same way a taxi driver taking a scientist to some conference cannot claim to be scientist just because of this.
I think you need to understand that distinction between science and engineering: scientists ask why certain phenomena arise, and seek explanations for them. On the other hand, engineers use this understanding of the world to construct solutions to problems.
"Scientists study the world as it is; engineers create the world that has never been."
--Theodore von Kármán
> they're one of the only nations in Europe to accept refugees and grant asylum.
Most countries in western Europe DO accept refugees and grant asylum. Btw, France doesn't come off all that well, ranking low in terms of inflow of refugees per capita:
#1 Sweden #2 Denmark #3 Germany #4 Switzerland #5 Norway #6 Austria #7 Canada #8 Netherlands #9 Australia #10 United States #11 Finland #12 United Kingdom #13 New Zealand #14 France (...)
A: Microsoft leverages their monopoly to trap you into using MSFT tools, most of which are in some way or shape flawed compared to alternatives.
B: So if Microsoft's tools were technologically superior to the alternatives, the behavior would be okay? I don't think so.
Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to broaden your understanding English usage, and, in particular, to learn the distinction between restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/062.html. You would then realize he implied that leveraging one's monopoly to trap consumers into using one's tools is a bad thing in general (but, admittedly, this attitude is even more shameful if these products are flawed).
"Microsoft leverages their monopoly to trap you into using MSFT tools, [...] *WHICH* are in some way or shape flawed compared to alternatives."
!=
"Microsoft leverages their monopoly to trap you into using MSFT tools *THAT* are in some way or shape flawed compared to alternatives."
[...]
A leading opposition figure cites "the Singapore Government Investment Corporation's 1990s investment in the Myanmar Fund, controlled by Lo Hsing Han, one of Burma's most notorious drug lords, through his Asia World Company. Lo's son, Stephen Law, is married to a Singaporean and lives in Singapore."
Slashdot Mirror
If you RTFP, what's actually being patented is the idea of using multiple pointers so that the same item can be in more than one linked list at a time.
It is not the first and probably won't be the last patent describing some trivial use of linked lists (TFP actually lists at least four other patents featuring linked lists).
What really amazes me is the name of the patent: "Linked list" (!)
My collegues and I, being software engineers in X-Ray astronomy, disagree with you. [...] The systems we develop are used by X-Ray astronomers and would not exist without [...] Software Engineers.
You are missing the point. Claiming that software engineering is not science does not diminish software engineering, nor imply that it is not useful to scientists.
I am also an engineer and hope that my work can be useful to many people, but helping scientists in their work does not make me a scientist, the same way a taxi driver taking a scientist to some conference cannot claim to be scientist just because of this.
I think you need to understand that distinction between science and engineering: scientists ask why certain phenomena arise, and seek explanations for them. On the other hand, engineers use this understanding of the world to construct solutions to problems.
"Scientists study the world as it is; engineers create the world that has never been." --Theodore von Kármán
> they're one of the only nations in Europe to accept refugees and grant asylum.
_ percap-inflow-1990-99-per-capita
Most countries in western Europe DO accept refugees and grant asylum. Btw, France doesn't come off all that well, ranking low in terms of inflow of refugees per capita:
#1 Sweden
#2 Denmark
#3 Germany
#4 Switzerland
#5 Norway
#6 Austria
#7 Canada
#8 Netherlands
#9 Australia
#10 United States
#11 Finland
#12 United Kingdom
#13 New Zealand
#14 France
(...)
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/imm_ref_inf_199
Mod parent up. The podcast is from 2007, but the talk was "given by Minsky in 2001" (quote from the podcast).
B: So if Microsoft's tools were technologically superior to the alternatives, the behavior would be okay? I don't think so.
Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to broaden your understanding English usage, and, in particular, to learn the distinction between restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/062.html. You would then realize he implied that leveraging one's monopoly to trap consumers into using one's tools is a bad thing in general (but, admittedly, this attitude is even more shameful if these products are flawed).
"Microsoft leverages their monopoly to trap you into using MSFT tools, [...] *WHICH* are in some way or shape flawed compared to alternatives."
!=
"Microsoft leverages their monopoly to trap you into using MSFT tools *THAT* are in some way or shape flawed compared to alternatives."
"Tough on drugs, soft on drug lords
[...] A leading opposition figure cites "the Singapore Government Investment Corporation's 1990s investment in the Myanmar Fund, controlled by Lo Hsing Han, one of Burma's most notorious drug lords, through his Asia World Company. Lo's son, Stephen Law, is married to a Singaporean and lives in Singapore."