After hearing about the court ruling that Palm infringed on Xerox’s handwriting recognition patent, I decided to search through Ye Olde Patent Database to see what Palm has for leverage. As the higher-ups are always fond of telling me when I start spouting my philosophical views about software patents, patents are like chits that companies trade off with each other, so you have to get some to counter your competition’s claims of infringement (see Xerox vs HP). If Palm had had a patent to use against Xerox, I assume they would have pulled it out by now. The problem is, Xerox doesn’t actually compete with Palm, so Palm can’t say “well, your PDA uses xyz which infringes on our patent for abc.” Instead, Xerox is cashing in on something they happened to have patented but do not use commercially. Well, they missed the boat with GUIs (Apple) and who knows what else, so this is a long awaited win for their research teams (ie PARC).

Palm owns a few patents on methods for synchronizing computer systems, their “cradle with combined status indicator light and stylus holder” (I’m looking at mine right now) is patented, their “method for securely transmitting a message between a wireless client and a proxy server” could be useful against other wireless device companies, an early patent is for their original backlight dispay, and it appears that the way a user moves the antenna to the up position on a Palm VII in order to start wireless connectivity is patented. One broad patent they have covers the separate alpha and numeric input areas on the Palm. It is phrased generically enough to cover any handwriting recognition areas that are designed to recognize specific character sets. But there isn’t anything useful against Xerox, which has pretty much stuck to printers and scanners. (Note: the suit was also filed against Palm’s former parent, 3Com whose 572 patents I assume were also no help.) (Disclaimer: I am not a patent attorney, nor do I play one on TV. But I did just break a company rule against not looking at patents in case I accidentally infringe one in the future. Whoops.)

It is extremely handy when I’m too busy (or sniffly) to find unique things on the wonderful Internet and instead nice friends send links to me. Jen & Mark discovered the Flo Control Box from Quantum Picture. This computer controlled cat door was designed to prevent Flo (a cat) from bringing her captured prey inside (where she would then chase them for hours). A camera captures a profile of the creature at the entryway and an image-recognition algorithm decides if it looks like a cat without anything dangling from its mouth. Within a fraction of a second the door is unlocked for a prey-free cat. Nowadays, the device is doing its work for new cats Squirrel & Ellipse and a record of each day’s camera snaps is saved for your viewing pleasure.

I have two excuses: I’m getting over a cold so my brain is at low ebb and I am tired from watching the three hour “Fellowship of the Ring”. Therefore I am going to amuse myself (and hopefully you) by quoting from the NY Times review of the movie (you may choose to skip this; I don’t read reviews before seeing movies): “evil — a word from which British stage actors can extract at least three syllables.” and “Mr. Jackson apparently feels that the way to keep each of the fighting groups separate in the audience’s minds is to provide them with hairstyles reminiscent of 1970’s bands.” He then goes on to describe which group goes with which 70’s band and that “Gimli could be a roadie for any of them”. This from the staid NY Times. I kid you not. My one word review of the movie: “Excellent.”

201 New York buildings are pictured and described in An Amateur Guide to architectural New York. The description for the Flatiron reveals the origin of the phrase “Twenty-three skiddoo”. No opinions are held back in the scathing critique of Trump Tower. Discover lesser known buildings and reacquaint yourself (if necessary) with the vocabulary and time periods of grand architecture. (via Yahoo’s Daily Picks)

Long years ago, seven maybe, Apple launched what they termed a “ground breaking online service”. Called eWorld, it was an interactive community with a characteristically Apple-friendly environment. I recall wandering through a life-sized depiction of it at MacWorld. Standing amongst those cartoon building and friendly people cut-outs I thought “could this be the future of online communities?” But within a year I had loaded up my first web browser over my Netcom account and never looked back. eWorld pressed on, as their list of press releases attests, adding content from various publishers, Apple & Claris support areas, NewtonMail, and O.J. Simpson coverage. They added World Wide Web access in July of 1995 (not shabby at all). But in March 1996 the happy world came to an end and the friendly people cut-outs were witnesses to an employee memorial.

Two days ago, courtesy of a random brain spark, I suddenly said to my husband (a long-ago Apple employee): “Whatever happened to eWorld?” His response? “It turned into AOL.” I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “turned into” is perhaps not the right phrase; Apple replaced eWorld with AOL as its preferred online service and AOL committed to an Apple client and WWW access. But Apple hasn’t forgotten eWorld entirely. eworld.com, purchased January 1994 and last renewed in February 2001, takes you to Apple’s home page.

Alton Brown’s online store has finally opened so you can purchase your very own Sodium Chloride Containment Unit. Unfortunately, the 200 (rumored 400) signed ones were probably all gone within hours.

The SF Chronicle’s look into “Who killed Excite@Home” brought forth these facts I had not heard yet: “board members never considered adjusting the price they charged cable companies” (much of the board was the cable companies), “as of a few months ago, cable operators owed the company close to $100 million”, and George Bell, the chief executive in 2000, lived in Brookline, Mass and was rarely at the Silicon Valley headquarters.

Guinness connoisseurs are already familiar with the widget that creates the proper foam when a can of the stuff is opened and poured into a glass. Now Guinness has created a rocket-shaped device that releases gaseous nitrogen in a bottle, and you don’t need to pour it out into a glass for the correct effect. Purists, of course, will always insist on Guinness from the tap. And super-purists deride any that isn’t from the source in Ireland.

Long ago, in a place far away, I used to watch the WPIX Yule Log at Christmas time. Now, in this place, I often use it in the bonding part of the “hey I’m from [Connecticut, Long Island, Manhattan, etc]” conversation, as in “hey, did you ever watch the Channel 11 Yule Log?” The televised video of a crackling fire, accompanied by a soundtrack of carols was fascinating in ways I could not fathom. I’d stare at it, wonder how long the loop must be (the log never got smaller), and then realize I had just spent many minutes watching a fireplace on television. Gone since 1989, the log returns this year, but only for two hours on Christmas morning. The NY Times reveals background trivia (the first log video was a 17 second loop, the one I knew was a 7 minute loop), and this Bring Back the Log website helped get that log back where it belongs.

The A2Z4Birders Online Guide has free access to their North American Shorebird and Warblers guides. The details for each bird include excellent photos, sound samples of their calls and videos of them in action. I used to see and hear many birds in the suburbs of Connecticut, but in the urban sprawl of California I rarely see more than pigeons, crows, and the occasional hummingbird. (via Yahoo’s Daily Picks)