Clipmarks | ericskiff's 'tech' clips

Patent law may be changing!

Sat, 08 Sep 2007 10:41:58 GMT

clipped by: ericskiff
clipper's remarks: I've long believed the US patent system to be broken, allowing "patent portfolio" companies to file for the simplest and most inane things and then sit on them while others actually innovate in a space.

That said, I don't know if I'm behind the switch from first-to-invent to first-to-file. Could that cause an even bigger problem of people rushing to patent every little thing before someone else steals it out from under them?

Lets hope the section on improving patent quality includes stricter checks for prior art and limits frivolous claims.

Clip Source: money.cnn.com

The House of Representatives approves a highly controversial bill that makes key changes to the U.S. patent system; manufacturers, biotechs oppose.

Technology and financial services firms won a key patent reform victory Friday when the House approved legislation

The Coalition for Patent Fairness and the Business Software Alliance, whose members include high-tech titans such as Apple (Charts, Fortune 500) and Microsoft (Charts, Fortune 500), lauded the decision as a boon for inventors and consumers.

the bill seeks to improve patent quality and reduce patent litigation, which can be a costly and time-consuming exercise for firms of all sizes.

The legislation would limit damage awards for patent infringement and grant patents to the first inventor to file an application, a switch from current law in which the patent goes to the first person to develop the innovation.

Charlie Weis and Lloyd Carr: Coaches of the Week

Sun, 02 Sep 2007 17:34:09 GMT

clipped by: yojoe
clipper's remarks: Notre Dame loses to Georgia Tech and Michigan loses to Appalachian State.

Clip Source: dreadnaught.wordpress.com

Charlie “It’s my responsibility” Weis, who earlier in the week refused to divulge his starting quarterback, shocked us all by playing three quarterbacks, who were able to pass for an amazing 130 yards. This was nothing compared to the -9 yard of rushing for the Irish. The most cheering from the Irish fans was for Jimmy Clausen, as he came in to pass for 34 yards. The Irish lost 33-3 to Georgia Tech.

Tags: notre-dame, charlie-weis, lloyd-carr, michigan, appalachian-state, jimmy-clausen

German restaurant replaces waitstaff with computers

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 14:21:59 GMT

clipped by: Caleythia
clipper's remarks: I could see it working as a niche kind of thing, especially if you just want a quick bite at a quirky place. But, in general, I'll keep my waiters and waitresses, thanks.

Clip Source: blog.scifi.com

Bad news, waiters and waitresses: your days are numbered. You're about to become obsolete, replaced by technology that can do your job more efficiently and without requiring tips. A new restaurant in Nuremburg, Germany has replaced its waitstaff with a completely automated system that delivers meals to diners via a gravity-powered rail system.

Sure, while that might be kind of cool and cheap for the owners, are diners really ready to give up that personal interaction with servers? Can a computer really make good recommendations? Can you flirt with a cute computer? I didn't think so. Perhaps you shouldn't get worried about your job security just yet, waiters and waitresses. — Adam Frucci

Tags: tech, restaurants

#1 Programmer Excuse

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 21:20:12 GMT

clipped by: ericskiff
clipper's remarks: Compiling can take a while. Besides, you've got to blow of some steam somehow

Clip Source: xkcd.com

Tags: xkcd, comic, tech, funny

The Named Laws of Technology

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 22:09:57 GMT

clipped by: ericskiff
clipper's remarks: I'm amazed how many of these I already knew! There's lots of wisdom in these funny little sayings.

Clip Source: globalnerdy.com

The Law

Who Said It

What it Says

Amdahl’s Law

Gene Amdahl

The speedup gained from running a program on a parallel computer is greatly limited by the fraction of that program that can’t be parallelized.

Augustine’s Second Law of Socioscience

Norman Augustine

For every scientific (or engineering) action, there is an equal and opposite social reaction.

Brooks’ Law

Fred Brooks

Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.

Dilbert Principle

Scott Adams

The most ineffective workers are systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage: management.

Ellison’s Law of Cryptography and Usability

Carl Ellison

The userbase for strong cryptography declines by half with every additional keystroke or mouseclick required to make it work.

Godwin’s Law

Mike Godwin

As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.

Linus’ Law

Eric S. Raymond, who named it after Linus Torvalds

Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.

Tags: tech, technology, laws

iWant One

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 22:27:59 GMT

clipped by: Julia Bradley
clipper's remarks: As an extremely happy user of one of the very first 128k Macs back in the day, I doubt the price of the new iPhone will be a limiting factor in its sales. I willingly spent my entire summer's earnings to buy my own fab 128k Mac for my college years...and it was worth every hard-earned dollar I spent. Considering that this generation of teens and twenty-somethings tends to have access to more cash than any prior youth generation, I predict the iPhone's price tag will barely be a hurdle in acquiring it, and a justifiable sacrifice for those who must earn their way to buy one.

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

“Everyone we talk to hates their phones—it’s universal,” Steve Jobs told me on a call to my iPhone a couple of days ago.

Apple has a history of using cutting-edge technology, slick design and friendly software to break the common logjam in which our machines have the capability to perform certain tasks, but developers haven’t figured out how to make the experience easy, even pleasurable, for users. That’s one reason why people, especially the tens of millions who love iPods, have been so eagerly awaiting the iPhone.

And there it is: one of the most hyped consumer products ever comes pretty close to justifying the bombast.

Tags: iphone, ipod, apple, consumer products, tech trends

Medieval Tech Support

Thu, 31 May 2007 17:16:57 GMT

clipped by: ericskiff
clipper's remarks: Wow - I'm usually not that jaded about tech support (I loved that job when I did it) but this is really true and really funny!

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: funny, computers, tech support

Are you stuck in an infinite loop?

Thu, 10 May 2007 16:58:56 GMT

clipped by: ericskiff
clipper's remarks: Found in Chris Brogan's twitter stream

Clip Source: www.feedblog.org

Tags: funny, tech, humor

Imagining a day without open source

Wed, 09 May 2007 15:41:31 GMT

clipped by: ericskiff
clipper's remarks: Interesting post by Whurley - what would a day without open source be like?

Clip Source: talk.bmc.com

I was at a conference when two techies walked into the open bar, one an open source supporter and one staunchly anti. They got into it a bit after a few drinks, and Mr. Anti commented loudly, “I wish open source would just go away! It causes more trouble than it's worth.” Statements I obviously have issues with. Now, I know most people don’t understand the role of open source software in our world, or just how many services that we take for granted would disappear without it. If you’re a card-carrying member of the community, you probably know where I’m headed.

Say at the stroke of midnight, all open source software magically vanished. What would still work tomorrow?

For starters, the Internet would “disappear” for the average user

Tags: open source, tech, technology, software

Restart firefox and keep your tabs and windows open

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 22:16:24 GMT

clipped by: ericskiff
clipper's remarks: The "restart firefox" button when you install a new addon is awesome - this gives you the option to restart anyitme from the file menu while preserving open tabs in all windows.

Clip Source: addons.mozilla.org

Restarter 1.0

'Restarter' uses FF2 saved sessions and reopens all tabs and windows.

Add 'restart' to file menu. See bug#336050. In Firefox 2.0 there are situations where you want to restart (eg changing theme) but there is no restart button, so you don't get a saved session. This makes restart visible always...

Firefox: 2.0 – 2.0.0.*

Install Now

Tags: firefox, tech, restart, firefox2, extension

Awesome Mac Remote Tricks

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 16:53:31 GMT

clipped by: ericskiff
clipper's remarks: I put my remote away the first day I got my macbook and haven't used it since. These tips might get me using it again!

Clip Source: www.macinstruct.com

If you've purchased a Mac recently, you probably have an Apple Remote.

What you might not know is that you can also use your remote to put your Mac to sleep, present a Keynote presentation, and lock your Mac. We'll show you how!

After a Long Day, It's Time to Go to Sleep!

Simply hold down the Play/Pause button and your Mac will go to sleep. To wake up your Mac, press any button on the remote. It's that easy!

Keynote + Apple Remote = Seamless Presentation

Open Keynote, start your presentation, and use the arrow keys on the Apple Remote to move forward and backward through your slides.

Flip Through Your iPhotos

You can, of course, flip through your photos in Front Row. But it's also possible to control your iPhoto slideshows with the Apple Remote.

Open iPhoto, start your slideshow, and use the arrow keys on the Apple Remote to move forward and backward through your pictures.

Tags: mac, apple, remote, trick, tech, technology, cool, presentation, keynote, iphoto, itunes, macbook, macbook pro

Twitter and the new era of Everywhere Messaging

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 20:15:18 GMT

clipped by: ericskiff
clipper's remarks: I've just jumped into the twitter world with both feet, and I have to admit that I love it. You can't help but feel connected with folks as you get micro-updates about what they're up to.

Clip Source: www.socialmediaclub.org

Instant Messaging (IM) is not dead or even dying, but EM is about to change everything. While IM emphasizes the immediacy of the communication, EM can represent the value of the communication. Then again, like any communications channel, what gets transmitted can also be pure drivel. EM, however, has tremendous potential for solving some of the biggest problems I face on a daily basis, and have been thinking about for over a decade, most especially the idea of annotating the world around us and sharing key insytes about what is happening and what I see as the important matters of the day.

What is EM? EM is “Everywhere Messaging” - in particular, Text-Web-IM-Blog/Site.

I started thinking about the idea of EM the other day when I finally gave in to peer pressure and began to use my Twitter account.

With Twitter and other EM services, the purpose is not about communicating with another person instantly.

Tags: twitter, tech, technology, im, em, everywhere, blogging, tools

Jobs speaks out against DRM

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 20:18:01 GMT

clipped by: ericskiff
clipper's remarks: There's a million things I hate about DRM, but the main one is that it's often used to restrict behavior that its not illegal, but is simply not in the record companies favor. Give me a reasonably priced, DRM-free .mp3 download service, and I'll never buy a CD again.

Clip Source: www.dailytech.com

Apple's leader believes that a DRM-free world would be the best one for consumers

Jobs wrote that the inconveniences posed by DRM are a result of restrictions set in place by the music industry, and that if record companies would be willing to abolish DRM on music, Apple would embrace the decision in a heartbeat.

Jobs defended his devices and software by saying Apple does not own or control any of the music sold over iTunes, that that the DRM restrictions are set primarily by the “big four” music companies: Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI.

Tags: drm, apple, steve jobs, technology, tech, ipod

Free RSS to Podcast Service

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 21:01:43 GMT

clipped by: ericskiff
clipper's remarks: The text to speech on this sounds incredible, and going straight from RSS gives it a whole lot of potential.

Clip Source: www.odiogo.com

Odiogo – a play on “Audio To Go” – extracts blog posts or articles from member news sites and converts them to lightweight MP3 files in seconds. The files can be loaded to any mobile device, giving users anytime-anywhere access to their favorite web content.

“Think of Odiogo as a DVR for blogs” said Yahoo! Tech's Techie Diva, one of the top technology blogs online today. “It saves your favorite content which you can rewind, play, and even fast-forward through right from your iPod™ or computer. The audio quality of these voice files is simply superb.”

How It Works: Odiogo™ Generates Podcasts of Text Content

Free Service for Bloggers

Bloggers can join the service for free at www.odiogo.com. The integration is done in a snap as all blog platforms support the RSS standard.

Tags: podcast, podcasting, audio, web 2.0, tech, technology

"There's a new plague" of bedbugs in NYC

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 19:47:44 GMT

clipped by: ericskiff
clipper's remarks: We dealt with a lot of these at my old job (providing supportive housing for the formerly homeless).

Beware shopping at thrift stores and traveling abroad!

Clip Source: www.boingboing.net

New York City apartment dwellers lodged 4,638 bedbug complaints in fiscal 2006, up from none three years earlier. Complaints ballooned 67% in the first half of this year from their pace a year earlier.

"There's a new plague," said Dini Miller, an entomologist at Virginia Tech University.

Tags: bedbug, gross, insect, insects, nyc, newyork, new york, new york city, bedbugs