The SCO Group today warned that Linux is an unauthorized derivative of UNIX and that legal liability for the use of Linux may extend to commercial users. SCO issued this alert based on its findings of illegal inclusions of SCO UNIX intellectual property in Linux. The company also indicated that until the attendant risks with Linux are better understood and properly resolved, the company will suspend all of its future sales of the Linux operating system.

[Linux Today]

If one assumes that SCO UNIX got into Linux, the big question is at what point did SCO IP get into the source, who put it there, and can it be removed without damage to Linux.  It would seem to be well settled that Linux was created from 'whole cloth' some 10 years ago and at its core does not infringe on SCO IP.  Another point to examine is how long did folks holding UNIX IP right know or suspect that Linux was infringing.  In order to protect your IP you need to be aggressive about it, you can't just toss it about and then one day wake and say 'hold on there'.   

5:23:56 PM    comment []  

Amazon receives patent for 'Search Query Autocompletion' - from the abstract:

A system for facilitating online searches suggests query autocompletion strings (terms and/or phrases) to users during the query entry process, wherein the suggested strings are based on specific attributes of the particular database access system being searched. A string extraction component associated with a database access system, such as a web site of an online merchant, periodically generates a dataset that contains the autocompletion strings for the system. The datasets are preferably biased to favor the database items that are currently the most popular (e.g., best selling or most frequently viewed), and may be customized to particular users or user groups. The datasets are transmitted to users' computing devices, which may include handheld and other wireless devices that lack a full keyboard. An autocompletion client which runs on the computing devices in association with a browser uses the datasets to suggest the autocompletion strings as users enter queries that are directed to the database access system.

C'mon guys... Just how do you propose enforcing this?  If I track search on my database (I do) and I want to make sure folks see whatever the flavor of the day is, it would take me about a day to come up with a way to do this autocompletion thingy using DHTML or javascript.  I fail to see how this is a patentable invention.  Browser have been doing autocompletes for years.  Doesn't the patent office even try for prior art anymore?

Slashdot | Amazon Takes Pikachu To The Patent Office

Amazon Takes Pikachu To The Patent Office

Posted by Hemos on Wednesday May 14, @12:15PM
from the it's-not-"would-be-nice-to-catch-them-all" dept.
theodp writes "On Tuesday, Amazon was awarded a patent for Search Query Autocompletion. From the Summary of the Invention--'For example, if Pokemon toys are currently the best selling or most-frequently-searched-for items within the database, the term POKEMON may be suggested whenever a user enters the letters "PO," even though many hundreds of other items in the database may start with "PO.'" See, Amazon practices the mantra "Gotta catch 'em all" with patents.

1:20:51 PM    comment []  

If you visit http://www.edwardtufte.com/ you'll see a new publication from the great man:  "The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint".  ...
Slides are useful when you need to show everyone in a room a graph, a photo, or some other item for discussion.  Somewhere in the 1960s and 1970s things went horribly wrong, however, as bullet points began to make their way onto the slides.
...
Question for discussion:  if this essay were handed out to every corporate slave in the U.S., could the tide of PowerPoint be reversed?

10:38:49 AM    comment []