The WELL: pre.vue.118: Business and Technology News for 2006

#106: fluted pan (satyr) Sat 23 Dec 06 10:45

Sat, 23 Dec 2006 10:45:00 PST

\<a href="http://www.apple.com/getamac/">What MS seems to be saying...\</a> [Read entire topic]

#105: Cleave the general ear (ronks) Fri 22 Dec 06 17:13

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 17:13:00 PST

The Self-Mutilating OS

By now most of us have heard of "rootkits", those malicious pieces of software that embed themselves deep within a computer's operating system to subvert or degrade its functioning. Black-hat hackers have produced some, and Sony recently suffered a public shaming and considerable litigation over its use of one on its audio CDs. According to a report at http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt Microsoft has eliminated the middleman and bundled the function into its own code in Windows Vista. Its rationale is said to be that of making MS a major player in the DRM (Digital Rights Management, audio and video content protection) arena. In the course of doing so, Vista will disable S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface Format) high-end audio, component (YPbPr) video, and automatic echo cancellation (AEC) if it detects, or thinks it detects, an attempt to play "premium" [protected] content without a note from your mother. The author cites the example of someone using a medical imaging system while trying to listen to a bootleg CD, or merely being thought to by Vista; lo, their multi-megabucks high-resolution workstation is transformed into the equivalent of an IBM PCjr. At times the author sounds a little overwrought and ready to believe the sky is falling; but if even half of his claims are correct, a firestorm may be about to occur that will dwarf the Sony brouhaha. Other problems he cites:

"Once a weakness is found in a particular driver or device, that driver will have its signature revoked by Microsoft, which means that it will cease to function".

"Elimination of Open-source Hardware Support" and "Elimination of Unified Drivers"

"Denial-of-Service via Driver Revocation" and "Decreased System Reliability" raise the possibility that "voltage fluctuations" or other random anomalies could trigger a hyper-sensitive Vista tripwire. So could some teenager from Novosibirsk: as the story puts it, "With the number of easily-accessible grenade pins that Vista's content protection provides, any piece of malware that decides to pull a few of them will cause considerable damage." [Read entire topic]

#104: Cleave the general ear (ronks) Mon 18 Dec 06 10:09

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 10:09:00 PST

Fatboards

A new type of advertising billboard from a company called Magink can display varied images like a giant LED screen but reportedly costs than half as much and uses less than a tenth of the electricity. Eight of them, each about 20 feet by 10, have been erected in London after a test at the Cannes film festival and are expected to appear in the US in about a year. The medium is cholesterol, whose "molecules change shape and size, forming full-color images" when current is applied to them in a thin layer behind a transparent screen. The cholesterol is synthetically produced, however, so don't expect the company to pay people to do liposuction on them. [Read entire topic]

#103: Hasidic bra guy (static) Fri 8 Dec 06 12:16

Fri, 08 Dec 2006 12:16:00 PST

iPoop [Read entire topic]

#102: Cleave the general ear (ronks) Wed 6 Dec 06 16:55

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 16:55:00 PST

Jingle Bowl

Just in time for holiday gift-giving and the entertainment of house guests comes the Atech Flash iCarta: a combination iPod dock, music player, and toilet paper roll holder. With four speakers it can produce full stereo, though the proper listening position may involve leaning perilously forward. The review says it is "compatible with most recent iPod models (and presumably all brands of toilet paper)". It can also recharge the docked iPod, though that involves a power source; possibly water power, or unrolling the paper charges the unit. If it plugs in, I hope it is properly grounded; otherwise what a way to go, so to speak. Details available at http://atechflash.com/products-icarta.html [Read entire topic]

#101: Cleave the general ear (ronks) Wed 6 Dec 06 12:48

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 12:48:00 PST

> only implementations were patentable, not general ideas

I suspect that defining the border is what a fair amount of patent litigation is about. If an idea is "new, useful, and not obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the field" it's unlikely to be too general, surely. [Read entire topic]

#100: perisynchronous (satyr) Wed 6 Dec 06 12:26

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 12:26:00 PST

The impression I had, when I reached adulthood, 30-something years ago, was that only implementations were patentable, not general ideas.

Was I wrong, or has that concept gotten lost along the way? [Read entire topic]

#99: John Payne (satyr) Wed 6 Dec 06 12:25

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 12:25:00 PST

<scribbled by satyr Wed 6 Dec 06 12:26> [Read entire topic]

#98: Cleave the general ear (ronks) Mon 4 Dec 06 12:37

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 12:37:00 PST

> Would that include description of the idea in fiction

I expect the key here is the phrase "would have led someone else to the idea"; for example, a story about interplanetary travel based on giant rubber bands might not be enough. As for the raising-sunken-ships idea, seems to me the patent application would include the concept of inflating the bags with a surface-based air hose or something which might distinguish it from the Disney concept, but if it didn't... [Read entire topic]

#97: Tom Digby (bubbles) Mon 4 Dec 06 11:04

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 11:04:00 PST

Wasn't there a patent application for a way to raise sunken ships using air bags that was ruled unpatentable because of a Donald Duck comic where they used ping-pong balls? [Read entire topic]