Nothing. That was 80 years before the patent was issued.
"In 1977, Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent that effectively gave him a 17-year monopoly over the entire telephone industry."
The saying is "They that can GIVE up...". Who's giving? No one asked me and I certainly never said "Go ahead and do what you want". These liberties have been taken from us. We can complain all we want; makes no difference because there's a deaf ear on the other side. Go to court to force the liberty be returned? Does not work because it was taken for the good of the people or the state. Protest in the streets? Sure, but there's not much use there either. There seems to be a view that all things Internet, all things phone, our personal habits, our spending habits, our whatever's, are now considered to be not "our's" anymore. Our communications and our lifestyles are no longer considered as private; takes a search warrant to enter your home but only a gentle request from a badge to get your phone records, your E-mails, etc. Homeland Security can search you up one side and down the other, and I guess they can even search your laptop and any other devices you carry and you just have to stand there and take it (well, I guess you can just not travel).
I'm with "Freedom" here, kinda: I'm very ashamed ... of our government, of the self-serving interests running this country, but not of the country and its people.
re: "radio announcers shouldn't be able to read the news on the air if they found the story in a newspaper". A newspaper article is not "factual information". It is a narration that includes factual information. So, an announcer reading the article directly would technically be violating copyright since the person is quoting a work and not just the facts contained in it. But, the announcer reading original text that included the facts, even if the facts were ascertained from one or more newspaper articles, would be reading her/his own copyrighted work.
I realize there may be some political correctness going on, but, it's well past time that the RIAA and other similar organizations be referred to as what they really are: organized crime; "companies" run by thieves and extortionists.
I have no problem ripping the telemarketer a new exit hole. The number of calls I receive DROPPED after I signed up. The few that do call now are the "survey" type. I kindly ask for company names, addresses, if I can, and then tear them apart ending with "This number is on the Do Not Call List. You have violated Federal law. I am going to file a complaint against your company and you". Most are so flustered they hang up, one or two try to argue. But, I file a complaint against each. That may be helping cut the numbers as well.
I have never understood though why they, or any advertiser for that matter, would want to force themselves on a person who has clearly stated they do not want the advertising. I'm gonna change my mind and buy some piece of crap because I have heard the ad for the 500th time (499 not being enough)??
The transplant idea though, absolute Genius!
"... it would seriously creep people out ..." has got to be a serious understatement. It would mean that, not only would we have provided some sort of license to be spied upon (maybe just by purchasing the TV ... could be a REALLY interesting EULA ... "... any videos captured may be used, without further compensation, in the upcoming release "Naughty Bits in Front of the American TV Spy Set ...") or maybe we would have to sign a form before we could have it plugged in. On the other hand, maybe just a bit of masking tape over a couple of appropriate openings on the front of the set would fix everything.
My aunt never connected her computer because she was sure that people on the Internet could see her. That was 7 years ago. Maybe she is a visionary.
ESS apparently missed the deadline to turn over their source code. To my way of thinking, they missed the deadline, they are out of the running. They were petulant about turning over the source code. One more reason they are out of the running. I don't see the quote in their letter really being threatening. They were just stating that they had trade secrets that must be kept confidential. MS, Apple, etc. all do that. I guess it's just that coupled with their attitude and failure to comply that the "threat" seems more of a threat. However, overall, if they really don't want to play nice with us, then we don't need 'em.
Scotty actually invented transparent aluminum. He conceived of it as he was talking about plexiglass and extracted the information as his fingers flew across that little Mac keyboard (ever wonder how all those neat symbols appeared on that screen from just typing?). The problem was that while he was a genius, his mind could not reconcile with the process of pure creation so it invented the fiction of Scotty having learned of the product in his own time. That created the apparent paradox; but in fact, there was none.
More on topic: for an interesting view of "creation" have a read through James Burke's "Connections". Every new creation is the accumulation of many other, sometimes unrelated pieces, each of which, in turn, is the result of other accumulations.
It's off thread but, we are no safer now than before. Neither are we really less safe than say, 5-10 years ago. There have always been nutters out there who want to "get" Americans. They are jealous, crazy, fanatic, etc. It's the government that wants us to be fearful so they can take more of our freedoms from us in the guise of protecting us.
Back on thread: The GAO must not be a government agency. First, they seem to do useful things. Their published reports seem to make sense. How do they manage to get funded when they make sense doing useful things? Shouldn't we, as the public, be able to raise some sort of cry that demands the government listen to the GAO?
And, I would love to see the HS office have to publish a list of what information they collect, who they share it with, and a means of correcting stuff on it. Imagine them having to obey at least some law.
Well, the article states that once the AG's get the names of the predators then they will contact the people who contacted the predators to see if anything bad was going on. So far, I guess that sounds OK. I mean, if you know people who do bad things and who are likely to continue doing bad things and you keep track of what they are doing then when they do more bad things you can maybe stop it before it gets too bad. Now then, I don't know if there's any illegal activity involved in that snooping, I can't figure out how they will be sure they are looking at a predator, how they will be sure they are looking at the right person at that IP address (after all, the RIAA can't get it right and they have a lot of money to throw around), etc. I'm gonna go with the best preventative I can think of: responsible parenting.
1. My DVR has two tuners so I can record 2 concurrent programs. My TV has two tuners as well so, if I get really ambitious, I can record two programs while I watch two more side by side on my HDTV
2. It's gotta be clear to all but the smallest of minds that if the networks have to FORCE us to watch commercials so we can see the program then most people do not WANT to watch commercials. So, my conclusion is that commercials are really not as valuable as the networks tell the advertisers and that the advertisers believe.
3. If the commercials are properly grouped, we have a well organized space for bio-breaks.
... maybe I, as a US citizen living in the US want to see a video of the Thai monarchy being mocked. If the Thai committee is successful in suing YouTube and having the clip removed, then my rights to be free to view content will be abridged. Maybe they should just tell their own citizens not to view things the government does not like. Oh wait, Streisand Effect.
Actually, these little tin dictatorships are pretty funny to watch ... I guess as long as you're not one of their citizens.
... the Nuremburg Defense: "I know what I did was illegal but I was ordered to do it, so I am blameless". And, on top of that "I have a Consitutional protection allowing me to do an illegal act". You know that if any of us did the same thing we would be smacked down so fast it would make our heads spin.
In the US, I think it is illegal to pull a fire alarm unless an emergency exists. Maybe the owners of the store will be arrested for falsly pulling the alarm. I presume the local fire department responded (unless they were informed there would be a test alarm at a certain time ... in which case the store personnel were actually the second to know). So, maybe the owners will also be charged for the cost of the fire department rolling on the call.
re: "For one thing, it's hard to imagine that companies would go through all of this trouble if it were just about saving money, as opposed to filling gaps in talent. "
Umm, WHO cannot imagine that?!
It's exactly about saving money. My company (actually, our outsoure "partner") does exactly that. The people brought in from offshore are paid SH*T wages for being here.
The reason the companies do this is because it's very difficult to deal with offshore presonnel. Crappy phone connections, 12 hour time differences, language problems, the hassle of trying to collaborate with someone half a world away, all make for good reasons to have your people on shore and sitting next to you. If you can get them here AND pay them less than 1/3 of what you pay your regular onshore personnel, you will save money and improve productivity.
Reports elsewhere said the FCC had not received enough technical data during public comment. Not sure what technical data they were expecting. Reseach and practical experience shows that that cell phones and other standard electronic devices do not cause intereference with the plane's systems or with ground support (and, since apparently, European airlines will be allowing it on their flights starting later this year, the evidence mounts that cell phones do not interfere with airplane controls). The only intereference is with the other fliers. I've recently found that my neighbor's elbows caused at least as much interference during the flight as would anyone talking on a cell phone.
I'm just as happy that cell phone use is not allowed on flights
Having just returned from Germany where I drove for 10 days, and NOT being a gamer at all, and not being an aggressive, I can say that aggressive driving on German roads is not necessarily related to gaming but to the necessity of not getting rammed by a BMW traveling at warp 3.1.
On the post: Bell Telephone Patent Was No Poster Child For The Patent System
What Happened
"In 1977, Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent that effectively gave him a 17-year monopoly over the entire telephone industry."
On the post: Did Slate Violate Copyright Law?
Yeah?
On the post: National Intelligence Director Wants Access To All Internet Communications
GIVING Up?
I'm with "Freedom" here, kinda: I'm very ashamed ... of our government, of the self-serving interests running this country, but not of the country and its people.
On the post: Driver Blames GPS For Driving On Railroad Tracks, Getting Hit By Train
Re: Re: Train 0 - GPS 1
On the post: Why Journalists Demanding Newspapers Charge For News Need To Check Up On Newspaper History
Reporting
On the post: Why Should XM Have To Pay The Record Labels In Order To Innovate?
It's Time
On the post: Telemarketers Finding Loopholes In The Do Not Call List
Telemarketers
I have never understood though why they, or any advertiser for that matter, would want to force themselves on a person who has clearly stated they do not want the advertising. I'm gonna change my mind and buy some piece of crap because I have heard the ad for the 500th time (499 not being enough)??
The transplant idea though, absolute Genius!
On the post: In Microsoft Patent App, TV Watches You
Understatement?
My aunt never connected her computer because she was sure that people on the Internet could see her. That was 7 years ago. Maybe she is a visionary.
On the post: E-Voting Company Agrees To Let California See Its Source Code... But Includes Angry Threats
Scratch ESS
On the post: No Fact Checking Necessary: Myth Of Cameraphone Inventor Lives On
Transparent Aluminum
More on topic: for an interesting view of "creation" have a read through James Burke's "Connections". Every new creation is the accumulation of many other, sometimes unrelated pieces, each of which, in turn, is the result of other accumulations.
On the post: GAO Says Homeland Security Is Breaking Privacy Laws
GAO
Back on thread: The GAO must not be a government agency. First, they seem to do useful things. Their published reports seem to make sense. How do they manage to get funded when they make sense doing useful things? Shouldn't we, as the public, be able to raise some sort of cry that demands the government listen to the GAO?
And, I would love to see the HS office have to publish a list of what information they collect, who they share it with, and a means of correcting stuff on it. Imagine them having to obey at least some law.
On the post: State Politicians Continue Meaningless Grandstanding Against MySpace
What're ya gonna do
On the post: ABC, ESPN To Put Shows On Cable VOD Systems -- But You Gotta Watch The Ads
DVR minus Commercials
2. It's gotta be clear to all but the smallest of minds that if the networks have to FORCE us to watch commercials so we can see the program then most people do not WANT to watch commercials. So, my conclusion is that commercials are really not as valuable as the networks tell the advertisers and that the advertisers believe.
3. If the commercials are properly grouped, we have a well organized space for bio-breaks.
On the post: Thailand Not Stopping With Just Blocking YouTube, Now Wants To Sue As Well
Plus
Actually, these little tin dictatorships are pretty funny to watch ... I guess as long as you're not one of their citizens.
On the post: Verizon Says It Has A First Amendment Right To Illegally Give Your Call Records To The Government
Baillif
On the post: Verizon Says It Has A First Amendment Right To Illegally Give Your Call Records To The Government
Sounds Like ...
On the post: That Fire Alarm Is False, But Hey, Speaking Of Fires, You're Fired
Illegal
On the post: H-1B Visas Exhausted In Record Time; Think It's Time To Raise The Cap?
Saving Money
Umm, WHO cannot imagine that?!
It's exactly about saving money. My company (actually, our outsoure "partner") does exactly that. The people brought in from offshore are paid SH*T wages for being here.
The reason the companies do this is because it's very difficult to deal with offshore presonnel. Crappy phone connections, 12 hour time differences, language problems, the hassle of trying to collaborate with someone half a world away, all make for good reasons to have your people on shore and sitting next to you. If you can get them here AND pay them less than 1/3 of what you pay your regular onshore personnel, you will save money and improve productivity.
That's the bottom line.
On the post: FCC Cancels Flight Of Cell Phones
Technical Data
I'm just as happy that cell phone use is not allowed on flights
On the post: Another Study 'Proves' Racing Games Cause Wrecks, Only Again, It Doesn't
Aggressive Driving
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