Posts by Charles Spalton 13 publicly visible posts • joined 5 Feb 2007
How about the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search? Launched in January 1996, and still running today? Plus, it's a great way to test an overclocked system. Take part and it could be YOU receiving some of the EFF's $100000 prize money for the discoverers of the first million-digit prime number. Take a look at www.mersenne.org for more info.
Mine's the white canvas blazer with optional long sleeves,
Charlie
PS Aside from running the software, I am not affiliated with the site I mentioned.
It's a shame that the 'gator is going to be destroyed for simply reacting to someone who ignored signs and warnings. Pity there was no sign saying "Don't feed the 'gators" really. Not that it would have made any difference to the volunteer meal, and the reasons for the law under which the alligator will be destroyed are clear enough, but still - what else was likely to happen when someone chooses to put themselves in the water with a wild or, worse, wild and human-habituated animal?
As Matt Bryant points out, pretty much SOP - all Broon has to do now is pick and choose the elements he actually wants to implement. It is somewhat new to include the whole self-inconsistent mess in a single speech, though.
And someone really should drop a hint to our current leader that this government has already written a "new chapter in our country's story of liberty" - it has mutilated and crippled it in whole new ways, to a degree never before achieved.
Mind you, at least with Brown spin, the colour gives a clue as to the value of the content.
If the USPO doesn't reject this one, it would pretty much prove that they don't apply ANY checks on validity - they of all organisations should be aware of the "prior art" in this case, since they facilitate it in the first place.
Mind you, I wouldn't mind watching the USPO challenge a patent it awarded itself when they realised that, as they are one of the vital links in making use of a patent portfolio, they themselves owed licensing fees to IBM ;) Just imagine them having to give evidence against themselves...
Why did they not go gunning for Microsoft as well? Outlook plus Exchange should certainly qualify - Out of Office notifications, automatic classification of (at least some) spam (complete with asking for confirmation from the user)... even Outlook Express (or whatever its current name of the month is) should qualify.
For that matter, you could read the patent as covering pretty much every email system ever written:
a) Receive email "from a source" - yep, covered, even without Matrix-style silliness.
b) Interpret the email using a rule base and case based knowledge engine - well, one rule is that the email must be addressed to a legit mailbox, OR an alias. Add to that any anti-spam or attachment stripping and you're covered.
c) classifying the electronic message as at least one of (i) being able to be responded to automatically; and (ii) requiring assistance from a human operator - bounce messages for the misaddressed emails (at least in some configurations) for (i), or else queue for reading by a human operator (covers (ii)).
Great. They patented the mail server. And possibly much more, depending on interpretation. Quite clearly the Patent Officers either have no background knowledge in the fields they are granting patents in, are in someone's pocket or simply can't read the patent proposals placed before them.
I think it's time for an investigation into the health effects of radar speed guns - on their users, naturally. Seriously, though, if EMR is such a threat, shouldn't all radio transmission be banned? Mind you, some of the content broadcast today seems to be much more damaging to the brain than any effect caused by the carrier wave.
I wonder what sort of threat they thought a small piece of thread posed?
So before they performed the medical procedure on him they refused to allow the gentleman entry to the US, presumably on the grounds that this unknown item might represent some sort of narcotic or terrorist threat. However, they WERE more than happy to let him get back on a plane home without discovering if their perceived threat was a danger while in-flight. Even though there would almost certainly be US citizens on that flight. An interesting reflection on the authorities' interests, that.
Additionally, if the airport doctor didn't know what the item was, would removing it in ignorance without even seeking additional advice (or for that matter contacting the victim's doctor) constitute medical malpractice?
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