FM Feature:
Analysis: Appeals Court Unlikely to Fix Software Patent Mess
From Ars Technica
In Re Bilski
Last Thursday the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard oral arguments in In Re Bilski, one of the most closely-watched patent cases in years. The case concerns a patent application of one Bernie Bilski for "a method for managing the consumption risk costs of a commodity sold by a commodity provider" by engaging in a series of financial transactions. The patent was rejected by the patent office as too abstract, and Mr. Bilski appealed the decision to the courts. The Federal Circuit, which has been under fire for its liberal rules for patenting abstract concepts, decided to use the case as an opportunity to revisit the issue. In its call for amicus briefs, the Federal Circuit explicitly asked for opinions on whether it should reconsider its State Street decision and tighten limits on abstract ideas.
To understand Thursday's oral arguments, it's important understand what the Federal Circuit did in State Street. The Supreme Court has consistently held that abstract ideas—including mathematical algorithms—are not patentable. But in the mid-1990s, the Federal Circuit, which has jurisdiction over most patent appeals, began to relax the Supreme Court's rule...
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Dear Yahoo: You’re Fired
From TechCrunch
Update: Yahoo Responds
Published on TechCrunch at 12:57 AM PermaLink
Paying to Sow Discontent
From Searchblog
Mark Cuban is clearly drinking and blogging again.
How many websites would have to recuse themselves from the Google Index before Google Search was negatively impacted ?
Mahalo.com thinks it needs to support the 25k most common search terms in order to be successful. What would happen if MicroSoft or Yahoo or a MicroHoo went to the 5 top results for the top 25k searches and paid them to leave the Google Index ?...
Published on Searchblog at 1:34 AM PermaLink
Samsung and LG Enter Mobile TV Competition
From MobileCrunch
As you know, after Feb. 17, 2009, all analog television broadcasts will end and the U.S. will go digital. Companies are competing with one another to set the standard for mobile TV, which will allow mobile phones to receive and display digital signals from local broadcast stations. Samsung Electronics and LG are joining the arena where only one standard comes out the winner...
Published on MobileCrunch at 1:32 AM PermaLink
The Monkey is Out of the Bag: Yahoo! Opens Search Developer Platform
From Read/Write Web
Paul Miller reports that Yahoo! is today opening up its open developer platform for search SearchMonkey. SearchMonkey, which we reported on at the Web 2.0 Expo, is a component of a major overhaul at Yahoo! across all of its properties to "rewire" for the social graph and data portability. SearchMonkey allows developers to build applications for Yahoo! search...
Published on Read/Write Web at 1:31 AM PermaLink
Easy Mobile Calling Phone
From Ubergizmo
Easy Mobile Calling, also known as EMC, is a concept phone by Matthias Pinkert. Meant to be a no-frills handset, it sounds as though retirees as well as baby boomers will welcome this phone instead of newer handsets released these days that have more functionality that Alexander Graham Bell could not have imagined of. You get four keys for direct calling, one-touch calling...
Published on Mainstream Imminent? Twitter Traffic Almost Doubled From February to April
From VentureBeat
When talking about the micro-messaging service Twitter, a lot of people recently have gotten hung up on its mainstream appeal — or lack thereof. I’ve argued that if current trends continue, this will come eventually (though I’ve also argued it doesn’t really matter for the service to be useful). Today, some data from Compete suggests the same thing...
Published on VentureBeat at 1:17 AM PermaLink
3 Ways to Build a Persuasive Business Plan
From Web Worker Daily
Remember the dot-com boom, when countless web workers were able to take a business plan written on a scrap of paper to potential investors and get funding? The investment community doesn’t play quite as fast and loose with business plans as it did back then, but if you have in mind an entrepeneurial effort on the web, there are some good resources to help you craft a persuasive business plan. In this post, I’ll cover three examples...
Published on Web Worker Daily at 1:17 AM PermaLink
Speed Test: Solid State Drives From DV Nation
From CrunchGear
I recently got the chance to test out a few solid state drives sent to me by Texas-based DV Nation.
I tried a super fast MemoRight GT 32GB 2.5-inch SSD, and two 32GB Mtron SSDs, one 3.5-inch and one 2.5-inch. I also tested a standard desktop and a standard laptop hard drive to see how they stacked up.
Here’s what I found...
Published on CrunchGear at 1:12 AM PermaLink
London Supermarket Secretly Photographs Alcohol/Cigarette Buyers, Wants National Database
From BoingBoing
Budgens, a London supermarket chain, secretly records biometric facial photos of people who buy cigarettes and alcohol and compares it to a database of known underage buyers, and they're hoping to link their database with other grocery chains around the country. This means that just bringing a bottle up to the till means that your likeness and details will be added to a nationwide database, recording your movements and purchasing habits...
Published on BoingBoing at 1:11 AM PermaLink
Comcast Buys Social Networking's Plaxo - Nobody Gets It
From Alarm: Clock
Online address book Plaxo announced today that it has been bought for an undisclosed amount by Comcast. Plaxo has been around the block. It was co-founded by Sean Parker - former Napster pin-up. The Mountain View-based startup was funded by Sequoia Capital, among others. The site reported 15M users October 2006. The original Plaxo idea was novel...
Published on Alarm: Clock at 12:58 AM PermaLink
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