I find it very disturbing the USPTO cannot uniquely identify patent holders... If they cannot uniquely identify patent holders, then how can the USPTO (or courts) *identify* patent holders???
How many people named "John Doe" (Chris Smith, John Williams, etc) own patents?
Now how to do they show ownership of the patent (e.g. in an infringement case)? Sure, they probably got a nice little notorized certificate... but surely a piece of stamped paper cannot be the only proof!
Seems like an IP company could just hire a few people with really common names (at least common in the Patent database)... Then they could have all sorts of fun by suing everyone else for infringment... Yes, this would be perjury, but for the other side to prove their "John Doe" is not the same "John Doe" on the patent might be a bit tough....
What other application could update itself weekly and be so intergrated with the OS that a complete removal would render the OS inoperable. Makes that Win32 virus that associated EXEs with itself look like child's play.
You are assuming the laws he is breaking are just and thus should be followed.
I was trying to avoid making that assumption. But if the laws are unjust, then they need to be changed. Breaking them because of perceived injustice just encourages everyone to only follow the subset they believe to be just...
Which means society won't be doing most of what most people want...
So putting lives at risk, harming your body, and funding gangs and terrorists and etc is the American SPRIT of Freedom????
If you wish to speak idealistically, the PEOPLE aren't going to want you doing that... Thus the PEOPLE aren't going to allow you to ejoy this fond "freedom" behind bars...
Now more realistically, think about what "PEOPLE" are actually actively involved...
Clean up your act dude. I'm not saying its "unAmerican" to jay-walk, but you are doing several things, each of which could potentially have extremely serious consequences (besides the law).
The fact that you freely admitted to what you've been doing and freely admitted that you are doing so with the full knowledge that it is wrong, and you are doing this without posting as AC speaks volumes...
One other thing... If it is considered "American" to break a few small laws, then it is only fair to allow companies and law-enforcement to do the same... So its okay if a politican takes a little kickback in exchange for his hard work... Its okay if a governor hands a huge project to his best buddy without a public bidding process.
Whether or not these things occur today is irrevelant, if you allow these to be "occasionally" performed. How "often" must these acts occur before things get too bad? How many drinks before driving? How large a kickback for a politician? How much will you allow a biomedical company to get away with, for YOUR medication???
Yes, the US has a lot of laws... But your "justification" is a slipperly slope to chaos... (Unless you believe that *some* people are so special that the laws don't apply to them)
So is dihydrogen monoxide... It has been detected in every cancerous cell and is directly linked to thousands of deaths each year. It has also been linked to food-poisoning, and dysbarism.
Furthermore, it is known with certainty, that people without this hazardous substance will never get cancer in the future... Also, when this toxin is removed from the body, that person will never get cancer.
Thus, the necessary action is clear: We must eradicate dihydrogen-monoxide in order to prevent the human race from getting cancer.
The Bible contains discussions involving incest, bestiality, prostitution, and masterbation.
Should the Bible (or sections thereof) be classified as an obsecene work? Should access to it be regulated?
Keep in mind that many great literary works have been banned from schools due to passing-references of such content. Given the amount of content in the Bible, it would only be consistent to ban it as well...
Amusingly, the above topics are left out of Sunday school, and primary/secondary school teachings... WHY? I can only see a double-standard....
And for those of thinking of "the separation between church and state", does this mean that religions are permitted to be above such laws? In that case, other illegal actions should be pardoned when performed on religious basis...
And such separation is going to maintain that relgious are free to decide what that basis should be...
See where this is going? Religion cannot be an excuse for freedoms. They must be provided to all, regardless of sex, creed, race, etc... Which means we cannot have laws preventing minors from obtaining such material, regardless of how much we would like to prevent them from doing so.
Laws don't keep college freshmen from drinking, and they sure as hell are not going to be effective with sexual/violent games.
Interestingly, I saw a through-provoking question on a *sitcom* of all things... If Adam and Eve were the first humans, then their kids had to marry each other... Which means all their kids committed incest... While means their direct descendants also committed incest... (What the first 3-4 generations did would be illegal by today's standards)
Which makes eating that damn apple seem rather minor!!!!
IANAL.. But I do know that Louisiana is under the "Napoleonic Code", which is slightly different than the (constitutions?) that most states follow. C'est la vie...
Not sure if this stops the "estoppel" idea or not.
I've been to India... By US standards, their driving style is insane... All over the road, no separation of directions (they drive directly toward oncoming cars sometimes), multiple cars side-by-side in a single lane!
And I also saw very very few damaged cars and no wrecks... I also doubt they're going to rush to fix small dents/scrapes (unlike the US/etc)...
I have a feeling they know everyone drives that way so they anticipate it... Here, we assume people are going to follow the rules and then accidents often because someone doesn't.
Home automation is really cool, but how many people are going to use it?
Radio Shack has (used to?) sold the "X11" modules since the early/mid 80s... They could control lights, fans, thermostat, etc... I think they even had them intergrated into light switches, etc... And they had a module that could be programmed with a computer to automate everything... Even had something so that you could control the house from a telephone...
Sadly, this seems to have gone the way of the Dodo bird and the Clapper...
Even as far as luxury items go, the general public isn't all that interested in most of the crap that academics dream up in order to lengthen their publication list...
Wireless Sensor Networks supposedly are the "Next Great Thing", but I really don't many people using this for other than military surveilance...
Disclaimer: I am a grad student... And I'm starting to think that most of academica is wasting their time....
Its kinda humorous to think about the difficult topics in MIMO-OFDM communications, when the end result will be a teenager gabbing away on a next-generation phone, while IMing her buddies and watching streaming videos all at the same time.
In Soviet Russia, you know how to invert the MATRIX, diagnoalize the MATRIX, QR factorize it, find its eigenvalues, do singular value decomposition on it, etc, etc...
In Capitalist America, you know the MATRIX is a movie with Keanu Reeves...
In large cities in India (Calcutta, Bombay), trains carry several MILLION people to and from the cities EACH DAY.
Must be nice, to not worry about "parking"... To not worry about paying for fuel (approx USD ~$30/gallon, relatively speaking). While India's trains are aged and show their use, they are a vital mode of transportation. Perhaps the only improvement left desired would be larger/more streamlined entry/exit ways....
Or does the parent feel that is easier to use less efficient, less sustainable modes of transportation?
Recently, I traveled to Berkeley via flying into San Francisco... I took the BART train (Bay-Area Rapid Transit) from SF to Berkeley, and walked (1 mi) from the BART station in Berkeley to my hotel. The train was extremely efficient and quick. No rental car. No taxis. No car insurance, no gas.
I'll glady take dirty seats on a train over a worldwide energy crisis and international war. But that's just me...
and BTW, are the seats in YOUR CAR really all that clean? When was the last time you applied a disinfectant?
In Texas, when one is stopped for speeding, they have the option to take a defensive driving course to get out of the ticket. (This is a state law). Upon completion of the course, the ticket will be dismissed. However, one still has to pay "court fees" even though there is no court appearance.
To a typical scenario is as follows:
1) J. Doe gets stopped in a small town for going 65 in a 55. 2) J. Doe sends check/money order of ~$100 to small town court. 3) J. Doe takes defensive driving course... 4) Ticket dismissed.
Note: The sending of the $100 technically is supposed to "delay" court proceedings. Which means means at no point was the citation ever upheld.
So basically J. Doe gets to pay court fees to "prove" he his innocent... Since when does the victor pay court fees in criminal trials??????????????????
This is really a bribe (thinly disguised), and it is manadated by law!
Yes, I know India has far more serious corruption problems, and is getting better. But where is the US going?
When I was on part of the Autobahn in Germany, I didn't recall seeing many SUVs and full-size pickup trucks... (I'm from the US).
I suspect most of the world has lower accident rates because you learn to drive more carefully when your mode of transportation is a tiny car... I also noticed that in the winter, people in Germany signal with their brakes when people ahead start slowing... There is a sense of teamwork that doesn't exist in the US. (When people here start slowing others immediately swerve to try to pass.... )
If people perceive a car as "safe", they will be less careful in how they operate it, knowing they're protected. I suspect large vehicles give a false sense of safety.. (False in the sense they are more likely to roll, harder to manuever, etc).
Which means more accidents...
BTW, I don't think driving fast is inherently unsafe, but it makes things a bit precarious when something un-expected happens -- such as an obstacle in the road, sudden turn, etc... If the vehicle is agile at fast speeds, then no problem. Otherwise....
The reason the free market gets away with such crap is probably due to consumer apathy and ignorance.
Ideally, consumer backlash would be strong enough to keep companies in-line.
For example: A Fry's Electronics and a Compusa exist within about 2-3 miles of each other here. Why does Compusa stay in business? Well, it surely isn't due to competitive pricing!
Business execs seem to have realized that is far easier (and more profit) to create the illusion of value rather than to create value in the first place... Example: What are "screensavers" advertised as a feature on cell phones? Or maybe I should be upset that my microwave doesn't have a cool screensaver....
In many industries, consumers are all too eager just to bend down and grab their ankles...
I thought I once heard that buckyball molecules were extremely hazardous to humans (they would slice/punch holes in cells due to their hardness and not easily got rid of)
And this device is supposed to be powered from methanol?
Only in Capitalist America would a device constructed of hazardous materials, fueled by a flammable substance be allowed on an airplane while strictly forbidding toe-nail clippers. (or did the ban on them end?)
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Doesn't the Win XP firewall by default allow several things such as UPNP, etc....
A lot of that crap has had some major security flaws...
Just "enabling the firewall" isn't enough... This guy needs to go and make sure nothing is let in...
No is isn't "Wong". It's "Sim Wong Hoo".. RTFA!
Stupid Microsft Moderators... That was meant to be +5 Insightful...
I find it very disturbing the USPTO cannot uniquely identify patent holders... If they cannot uniquely identify patent holders, then how can the USPTO (or courts) *identify* patent holders???
How many people named "John Doe" (Chris Smith, John Williams, etc) own patents?
Now how to do they show ownership of the patent (e.g. in an infringement case)? Sure, they probably got a nice little notorized certificate... but surely a piece of stamped paper cannot be the only proof!
Seems like an IP company could just hire a few people with really common names (at least common in the Patent database)... Then they could have all sorts of fun by suing everyone else for infringment... Yes, this would be perjury, but for the other side to prove their "John Doe" is not the same "John Doe" on the patent might be a bit tough....
Geologists selectively observe what they want to see.
If one gave notice of their resignation "6 months" before the effective date, would they get 6 months of pay?
Seems like it would be a wrongful termination if they fired the employee two weeks after giving notice...
..."Internet Explorer" by thy name.
What other application could update itself weekly and be so intergrated with the OS that a complete removal would render the OS inoperable. Makes that Win32 virus that associated EXEs with itself look like child's play.
Hot-Swapping motherboards??? ROTFL. ROTFL!
I was trying to avoid making that assumption. But if the laws are unjust, then they need to be changed. Breaking them because of perceived injustice just encourages everyone to only follow the subset they believe to be just...
Which means society won't be doing most of what most people want...
Which starts to sound like anarchy...
So putting lives at risk, harming your body, and funding gangs and terrorists and etc is the American SPRIT of Freedom????
If you wish to speak idealistically, the PEOPLE aren't going to want you doing that... Thus the PEOPLE aren't going to allow you to ejoy this fond "freedom" behind bars...
Now more realistically, think about what "PEOPLE" are actually actively involved...
Clean up your act dude. I'm not saying its "unAmerican" to jay-walk, but you are doing several things, each of which could potentially have extremely serious consequences (besides the law).
The fact that you freely admitted to what you've been doing and freely admitted that you are doing so with the full knowledge that it is wrong, and you are doing this without posting as AC speaks volumes...
One other thing... If it is considered "American" to break a few small laws, then it is only fair to allow companies and law-enforcement to do the same... So its okay if a politican takes a little kickback in exchange for his hard work... Its okay if a governor hands a huge project to his best buddy without a public bidding process.
Whether or not these things occur today is irrevelant, if you allow these to be "occasionally" performed. How "often" must these acts occur before things get too bad? How many drinks before driving? How large a kickback for a politician? How much will you allow a biomedical company to get away with, for YOUR medication???
Yes, the US has a lot of laws... But your "justification" is a slipperly slope to chaos...
(Unless you believe that *some* people are so special that the laws don't apply to them)
So is dihydrogen monoxide... It has been detected in every cancerous cell and is directly linked to thousands of deaths each year. It has also been linked to food-poisoning, and dysbarism.
Furthermore, it is known with certainty, that people without this hazardous substance will never get cancer in the future... Also, when this toxin is removed from the body, that person will never get cancer.
Thus, the necessary action is clear: We must eradicate dihydrogen-monoxide in order to prevent the human race from getting cancer.
Sounds like MS can't even get a decent photographer either...
Problem with CRTs being photographed can be avoided by mindful selection of shutter speed.
The Bible contains discussions involving incest, bestiality, prostitution, and masterbation.
Should the Bible (or sections thereof) be classified as an obsecene work? Should access to it be regulated?
Keep in mind that many great literary works have been banned from schools due to passing-references of such content. Given the amount of content in the Bible, it would only be consistent to ban it as well...
Amusingly, the above topics are left out of Sunday school, and primary/secondary school teachings... WHY? I can only see a double-standard....
And for those of thinking of "the separation between church and state", does this mean that religions are permitted to be above such laws? In that case, other illegal actions should be pardoned when performed on religious basis...
And such separation is going to maintain that relgious are free to decide what that basis should be...
See where this is going? Religion cannot be an excuse for freedoms. They must be provided to all, regardless of sex, creed, race, etc... Which means we cannot have laws preventing minors from obtaining such material, regardless of how much we would like to prevent them from doing so.
Laws don't keep college freshmen from drinking, and they sure as hell are not going to be effective with sexual/violent games.
Interestingly, I saw a through-provoking question on a *sitcom* of all things... If Adam and Eve were the first humans, then their kids had to marry each other... Which means all their kids committed incest... While means their direct descendants also committed incest... (What the first 3-4 generations did would be illegal by today's standards)
Which makes eating that damn apple seem rather minor!!!!
IANAL.. But I do know that Louisiana is under the "Napoleonic Code", which is slightly different than the (constitutions?) that most states follow. C'est la vie...
Not sure if this stops the "estoppel" idea or not.
When I was a BellSouth customer, I did not have any need of long-distance services...
Because I did not select a carrier, they actually charged me a FEE for NOT using a carrier!!!!
Charged if you do, charged if you don't...
Even the basic tax rules of the IRS are a bit more sensible...
I've been to India... By US standards, their driving style is insane... All over the road, no separation of directions (they drive directly toward oncoming cars sometimes), multiple cars side-by-side in a single lane!
And I also saw very very few damaged cars and no wrecks... I also doubt they're going to rush to fix small dents/scrapes (unlike the US/etc)...
I have a feeling they know everyone drives that way so they anticipate it... Here, we assume people are going to follow the rules and then accidents often because someone doesn't.
Home automation is really cool, but how many people are going to use it?
Radio Shack has (used to?) sold the "X11" modules since the early/mid 80s... They could control lights, fans, thermostat, etc... I think they even had them intergrated into light switches, etc... And they had a module that could be programmed with a computer to automate everything... Even had something so that you could control the house from a telephone...
Sadly, this seems to have gone the way of the Dodo bird and the Clapper...
Even as far as luxury items go, the general public isn't all that interested in most of the crap that academics dream up in order to lengthen their publication list...
Wireless Sensor Networks supposedly are the "Next Great Thing", but I really don't many people using this for other than military surveilance...
Disclaimer: I am a grad student... And I'm starting to think that most of academica is wasting their time....
Its kinda humorous to think about the difficult topics in MIMO-OFDM communications, when the end result will be a teenager gabbing away on a next-generation phone, while IMing her buddies and watching streaming videos all at the same time.
That's even better than the "up to or higher" scam...
The Greeks really were quite advanced!
In Soviet Russia, you know how to invert the MATRIX, diagnoalize the MATRIX, QR factorize it, find its eigenvalues, do singular value decomposition on it, etc, etc...
In Capitalist America, you know the MATRIX is a movie with Keanu Reeves...
In large cities in India (Calcutta, Bombay), trains carry several MILLION people to and from the cities EACH DAY.
Must be nice, to not worry about "parking"... To not worry about paying for fuel (approx USD ~$30/gallon, relatively speaking). While India's trains are aged and show their use, they are a vital mode of transportation. Perhaps the only improvement left desired would be larger/more streamlined entry/exit ways....
Or does the parent feel that is easier to use less efficient, less sustainable modes of transportation?
Recently, I traveled to Berkeley via flying into San Francisco... I took the BART train (Bay-Area Rapid Transit) from SF to Berkeley, and walked (1 mi) from the BART station in Berkeley to my hotel. The train was extremely efficient and quick. No rental car. No taxis. No car insurance, no gas.
I'll glady take dirty seats on a train over a worldwide energy crisis and international war. But that's just me...
and BTW, are the seats in YOUR CAR really all that clean? When was the last time you applied a disinfectant?
In Texas, when one is stopped for speeding, they have the option to take a defensive driving course to get out of the ticket. (This is a state law). Upon completion of the course, the ticket will be dismissed. However, one still has to pay "court fees" even though there is no court appearance.
To a typical scenario is as follows:
1) J. Doe gets stopped in a small town for going 65 in a 55.
2) J. Doe sends check/money order of ~$100 to small town court.
3) J. Doe takes defensive driving course...
4) Ticket dismissed.
Note: The sending of the $100 technically is supposed to "delay" court proceedings. Which means means at no point was the citation ever upheld.
So basically J. Doe gets to pay court fees to "prove" he his innocent... Since when does the victor pay court fees in criminal trials??????????????????
This is really a bribe (thinly disguised), and it is manadated by law!
Yes, I know India has far more serious corruption problems, and is getting better. But where is the US going?
Wow. I'm considerably enlightened.
I didn't know Target sold anything as cheap as $4.99... That amount must fetch a single roll of toilet paper.
When I was on part of the Autobahn in Germany, I didn't recall seeing many SUVs and full-size pickup trucks... (I'm from the US).
I suspect most of the world has lower accident rates because you learn to drive more carefully when your mode of transportation is a tiny car... I also noticed that in the winter, people in Germany signal with their brakes when people ahead start slowing... There is a sense of teamwork that doesn't exist in the US. (When people here start slowing others immediately swerve to try to pass.... )
If people perceive a car as "safe", they will be less careful in how they operate it, knowing they're protected. I suspect large vehicles give a false sense of safety.. (False in the sense they are more likely to roll, harder to manuever, etc).
Which means more accidents...
BTW, I don't think driving fast is inherently unsafe, but it makes things a bit precarious when something un-expected happens -- such as an obstacle in the road, sudden turn, etc... If the vehicle is agile at fast speeds, then no problem. Otherwise....
The reason the free market gets away with such crap is probably due to consumer apathy and ignorance.
Ideally, consumer backlash would be strong enough to keep companies in-line.
For example: A Fry's Electronics and a Compusa exist within about 2-3 miles of each other here. Why does Compusa stay in business? Well, it surely isn't due to competitive pricing!
Business execs seem to have realized that is far easier (and more profit) to create the illusion of value rather than to create value in the first place... Example: What are "screensavers" advertised as a feature on cell phones? Or maybe I should be upset that my microwave doesn't have a cool screensaver....
In many industries, consumers are all too eager just to bend down and grab their ankles...
Well, with the increasing frequency of taser use, perhaps they can design the jacket to get recharged from such.
I thought I once heard that buckyball molecules were extremely hazardous to humans (they would slice/punch holes in cells due to their hardness and not easily got rid of)
And this device is supposed to be powered from methanol?
Only in Capitalist America would a device constructed of hazardous materials, fueled by a flammable substance be allowed on an airplane while strictly forbidding toe-nail clippers. (or did the ban on them end?)