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Patents

Apple, Starbucks Sued Over Music Gift Cards 151

Posted by kdawson from the you-can-brick-but-you-better-not-click dept.
Trintech writes "A Utah couple acting as their own attorneys have filed a lawsuit against Apple and Starbucks over the retailers' recent Song of the Day promotion, which offers Starbucks customers an iTunes gift card for a complimentary, pre-selected song download. In a seven-page formal complaint, James and Marguerite Driessen of Lindon, Utah say they developed in 2000, and were granted a patent in February 2006 for, an Internet merchandising utility dubbed RPOS (retail point of sale). The concept, which forms the heart of the infringement lawsuit, would allow gift cards for pre-defined items that can be sold at a brick-and-mortar store but used online; customers could redeem a card for a dining room set or a DVD, for example."
The Courts

Dell Suit Reveals Lucrative Domain Name Trade 147

Posted by kdawson from the pennies-times-millions dept.
alphadogg writes "A civil suit filed in Florida by Dell and its Alienware subsidiary is giving insight into the enormous sums of money that can be made by creating Web pages full of advertising links. In October, Dell sued a group of domain registrars, alleging the companies bought more than 1,100 domain names with trademark-infringing characteristics, such as 'dellbatterrogram.com' in order to put advertising links on the pages. The practice, known as typosquatting, is illegal. Dell alleges that the group of defendants, mostly registered offshore, control over a million domain names and have used over 64 million." The article also mentions Google's love-hate relationship with such shady advertising practices.
Technology

'Innovation In a Flash' Is a Myth 163

Posted by Zonk from the slouching-towards-greatness dept.
An anonymous reader writes "A New York Times article spells out what most of us probably already knew: real innovation takes lots of time and hard work to come to fruition. The article looks at the origins of new ideas, and attempts to dispel the myth that 'Eureka' moments create change. Comments author Scott Berkun, 'To focus on the magic moments is to miss the point. The goal isn't the magic moment: it's the end result of a useful innovation. Everything results from accretion. I didn't invent the English language. I have to use a language that someone else created in order to talk to you. So the process by which something is created is always incremental. It always involves using stuff that other people have made.'"
Microsoft

Time for a Vista Do-Over? 746

Posted by samzenpus from the better-luck-next-time dept.
DigitalDame2 writes "'There's nothing wrong with Vista,' PC Mag editor-in-chief Lance Ulanoff tells a Microsoft rep at this year's CES. 'But you guys have a big problem on your hands. Perception is reality, and the perception is that Vista is a dud.' He goes on to confess that the operating system is too complex and burdened by things people don't need. Plus, Vista sometimes seems so slow. Ulanoff gives four suggestions for a complete Vista makeover, like starting with new code and creating a universal interface table. But will Microsoft really listen?"
Government

ISP Filters & Copyright Extension Defeated In EU 211

Posted by kdawson from the spine-bat dept.
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Last November, EU regulators in the European Parliament's Committee on Culture and Education began looking at how culture affects the economy and recommended a 'balance between the opportunities for access to cultural events and content and intellectual property' saying that 'criminalizing consumers so as to combat digital piracy is not the right solution.' Industry lobbyists, of course, immediately sprang into action to try to turn that around, writing amendments that would set up mandatory ISP copyright filters and extend EU copyrights to match the USA's life-plus-70 term. Thankfully, the committee rejected all of those amendments: 'Clearly, they're not going to let the ITRE or the European recording industry push them around, which is great news for Europeans. Now if we could only get the US Congress to show as much spine as the French (ouch).'"
The Internet

Startup Building Floating Data Centers 256

Posted by CmdrTaco from the we're-leaking-bits-into-the-sea dept.
1sockchuck writes "A Bay Area startup is planning to build data centers on cargo container ships, which would be docked at piers in major Internet markets. The company, known as IDS (International Data Security) says it plans to use biodiesel to power its generators and use heat from equipment to manage temperature on board the ships, reducing their reliance on grid power. IDS is telling prospects that it hopes to eventually have more than 20 floating data centers docked at ports around the U.S."
Space

Introducing Magnet-Responsive Memory Foam 69

Posted by timothy from the had-this-stuff-in-my-head-for-years dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes "The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has recently reported that two research teams have developed a new porous foam of an alloy that changes shape when exposed to a magnetic field. The NSF states that this new material is able to remember its original shape after it's been deformed by a physical or magnetic force. This polycrystalline nickel-manganese-gallium alloy is potentially cheaper and lighter than other materials currently used in devices ranging from sonar to precision valves. It also could be used to design biomedical pumps without moving parts and even for space applications and automobiles."
IBM

IBM's Five Predictions for the Future 230

Posted by samzenpus from the silicon-ball dept.
StonyandCher writes "IBM has released its second annual set of 'Next Five in Five' predictions. The company's crystal ball also revealed that the long-simmering trend toward "smart energy" devices will proliferate wildly. "Dishwashers, air conditioners, house lights, and more will be connected directly to a 'smart' electric grid, making it possible to turn them on and off using your cell phone or any Web browser," a company statement asserts."
Google

Google Reader Begins Sharing Private Data 313

Posted by kdawson from the thought-it-was-your-data-eh dept.
Felipe Hoffa writes "One week ago Google Reader's team decided to begin showing your private data to all your GMail contacts. No need to opt-in, no way to opt-out. Complaints haven't been answered. Some users share their problems, including one family who says they won't be able to enjoy this Christmas because of this 'feature.' Will Google start doing this with all their products? You can check a summary of complaints in my journal here or browse the whole thread in Google Groups."
Security

Submission + - a little .mac security flaw

Submitted by
deleuth
deleuth writes: "The de facto online connectivity software sold along with many Apple computers, .Mac, has a web interface through which users can check their "iDisk" whilst away from their own computer. However, there is no Log-Out button in this web interface, so most users just close the browser and walk away...not realizing that their iDisk has been cached by the browser and that anyone who wants to can open up the browser, go back to the link in History, and get into their iDisk completely logged in. From here, files can be downloaded and/or deleted. This seems like a minor security flaw via bad interface design, and podcaster Klaatu (of thebadapples.info) posted this on the discussion.apple.com site, only to have his post removed by Apple. Furthermore, feedback at apple.com/feedback has gone unanswered. The problem remains: there is NO way for the average computer user to log-out of their iDisk on public computers! The format of the link that will get you into an iDisk is this: http://idisk.mac.com/USERNAME?view=web So a quick review of any public terminal's browser history could bring up all kinds of interesting things."

Feed The Register: The transistor turns 60 (theregister.com)

From feed by registerfeed
Birthday on Sunday

Forgotten Tech The transistor, the ubiquitous building block of all electronic circuits, will be 60 years old on Sunday. The device is jointly credited to William Shockley (1910-1989), John Bardeen (1908-1991) and Walter Brattain (1902-1987), and it was Bardeen and Brattain who made the first working point-contact transistor on 16 December 1947.
Editorial

Submission + - Top ten scientific discoveries of 2007 (time.com) 2

Submitted by
Josh Fink
Josh Fink writes: "Time Magazine has a piece about the top 10 scientific discoveries of 2007. While most of the items in the top ten are interesting, I do not know if they hold much value as the best top ten to pick from what has been discovered this year. Items such as "Kryptonite", stem cell research and the brighten supernova on file made it to the list though. Check out the editorial here. Also included in the top 10 editorial are pieces on the top 10 medical breakthroughs, the top 10 man made disasters and the top 10 green "ideas"."
Education

Submission + - Students 'should use Wikipedia' (bbc.co.uk) 3

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: The BBC has an article on these disturbing quotes from Jimmy Wales.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has said teachers who refuse students access to the site are "bad educators". Speaking at the Online Information conference at London's Olympia, he dismissed the long-running controversy over the site's authority. He said he now thinks that students should be able to cite the online encyclopaedia in their work.

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