Posted on 11.19.08 by templeton @ 7:00 pm
A patent represents a grant from the United States government to an individual for the exclusive right to make, use, import, sell, and offer to sell an invention. In order to obtain a patent, an inventor must prove that the invention is new, useful, and not merely an obvious improvement over what was already known. Inventions that may be patented include machines, articles of manufacture and methods of operation. Video games, virtual worlds and other types of software can be claimed as all three of those types.
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Posted on 11.18.08 by templeton @ 11:00 am
It’s a small wonder that the Linux operating system remains vibrant in multiple industries and is poised to make a dash for more consumers’ desktops, considering how often misunderstandings get in the way of its advancement. For instance, Linux was not immediately recognized as a real OS in the way that consumers and business owners viewed the Apple computer or IBM PC in the early days of computing. Linux was available in too many confusing distributions. Even today, many non-Linux users misunderstand the open source model.
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Posted on 11.18.08 by templeton @ 11:00 am
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who are the greatest geeks of us all? That question—posed in an Australian iTnews article, “The Top 10 Greatest Geeks of All Time” on Monday—sparked quite a discussion in the blogosphere last week, garnering more than 1,300 Diggs and 280 comments by Friday. Who was top of the list? We’ll give you a hint: He’s the father of our favorite operating system. Other notables on there? Richard Stallman in 9th position, and Paul Allen at 10.
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Posted on 11.18.08 by templeton @ 11:00 am
That blur you saw at the edges of your vision just now? That would be the Internet continuing to move at light speed to your cell phone and other mobile devices. So Adobe’s argument is, how can anything move that fast without Flash? The company is staging its MAX 2008 conference in San Francisco this week, and Adobe is putting the spotlight on announcements focusing on its market-dominating Flash Web media platform. The news item getting the most early attention is a deal with mobile microprocessor technology company ARM.
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Posted on 11.17.08 by templeton @ 3:00 am
A virtual affair is ending a real-life marriage in southwest England. Amy Taylor filed for divorce when she discovered her husband cheating in Second Life—an online community where players adopt personas called “avatars,” mingle with others and teleport themselves into a series of artificial worlds. “I caught him cuddling a woman on a sofa in the game,” Taylor told the South West News Service press agency. “It looked really affectionate. He confessed he’d been talking to this woman player in America for one or two weeks, and said our marriage was over and he didn’t love me any more.”
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Posted on 11.15.08 by templeton @ 7:00 pm
Recently, I stopped by a local T-Mobile store, the home of the new G1 phone. This is the so-called Google phone, the mobile device with Google’s Android operating system. Many in the press have anointed the Google phone as a potential “iPhone killer.” That is, a device capable of knocking the iPhone off its pedestal as the most desirable and most well-reviewed smartphone on the market. While the iPhone is not yet the leader in sales, it’s moving along here as well; latest reports show that the iPhone has surpassed RIM’s BlackBerry to reach second place in smartphone rankings.
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Posted on 11.14.08 by templeton @ 11:00 am
So here we are. Home prices and incomes are falling, foreclosures are rising, layoffs are multiplying, and wealth is evaporating. Everyone is looking for signs of stability, but each new day brings new despair and uncertainty. Amidst the reckoning, it’s hard to imagine the future, but regardless, it will arrive soon enough. While different countries of the world deal with this economic crisis and its effects in different ways, it seems blatantly evident that the status quo has failed. From trickle-down economics to proprietary software, We The People have been sold snake oils.
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Posted on 11.14.08 by templeton @ 11:00 am
The sour economy is causing industries and individuals alike to tighten their belts in just about all areas of spending, including software. Downloading free and low-cost open source software is often an attractive alternative to proprietary commercial products. The potential for enterprises and other users switching from high-priced software to open source alternatives poses a new opportunity for open source developers. Can open source meet this new niche of use in response to the economic slide industries are facing?
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Posted on 11.13.08 by templeton @ 3:00 am
Virtual worlds provide not only a new universe in which brave explorers stake their claims, but also a new legal landscape in which the colonists are often at odds with the natives from the “old world.” How do real-world laws apply? How do traditional concepts of intellectual property—patents, copyrights, and trademarks—apply in a virtual world? Can virtual worlds contract around intellectual property rights by forcing users to license their intellectual property, or forego such claims altogether?
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Posted on 11.11.08 by templeton @ 7:00 pm
Terra Soft Solutions, the developer of Yellow Dog Linux, has been acquired by the Japanese software firm Fixstars Corporation, a developer of Cell Broadband Engine solutions. The new company, now known as “Fixstars Solutions,” is operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Fixstars and will maintain its entire product line from a regional office in Loveland, Colo., where Terra Soft is based. Former Terra Soft CEO Kai Staats will serve the new company as its Chief Operating Officer.
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