I don’t suppose someone knows of any prior art, do they?

CNET News.com –

[Quote] Patent creates IM wrinkle: “America Online quietly secures a patent that could shake up the competitive landscape for instant messaging software.” [Quote]

If AOL ever does decide to go after other IM networks, well – that would not be a good thing.

Would a Unix chat system, or (IRC even?) count as prior art?

Out Shopping…

my wife and I are out doing some christmas shopping – in the rain.
There is a new shopping center in Emeryville that we decided to check out. We just ducked into an Apple Store to get out of the rain for a bit. Just thought I’d hop on one of the iLamps and see if it had net access. It does. 🙂

(Yes, I am a geek, and a g-blog addict.)

I want one of these G4’s that are sitting next to the iMacs…

Anyway – back out into the weather we go!

Nifty Quantum Computing Experiment

Experiment points to new spin on storage

In an experiment that could bring the computing world closer to an advanced method of data storage, a team of scientists successfully reproduced an image that was digitally encoded and momentarily stored within a liquid crystal molecule.

Preview, Robert, Preview…

Edited on Dec 3rd 2002, 00:15 by Hooloovoo

Frustration.

Wouldn’t you think it’s bad when a company upgrades its firewall and the person primarily responsible for updating content on said company’s live web server can no longer gain access to it because traffic on port 22 (used for ssh) is now blocked?

Or how about blocking all port 443 (https) traffic – which ends up breaking the company’s online store, since customers can no longer access the secure transaction server?

That’s just the tip of the iceburg.

Gah.

Oct 11th 2002, 03:19 GMT

[Quote]
I’ve come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:

1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.

2. Anything that is invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.

3. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is agains the natural order of things.
[Quote]

-Douglas Adams

Found in The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time

Chipset could give sight to the blind

http://news.com.com/2100-1040-958402.html

I had a friend in gradeschool who was blind since birth. This technology might not be able to help her, but it is an interesting medical technology nonetheless.

Maybe someday Geordi’s VISOR will be a real technology.

rfoy: gocrf ;oml

edit edit: moved my fingers over to the left…

Edited on Sep 18th 2002, 18:46 by Hooloovoo

Edited on Sep 18th 2002, 18:46 by Hooloovoo