Microsoft beats Apple, files iPod patents

CBC News

There are likely some red faces at Apple Computer.

Apple took too long to file a patent on part of its blockbuster iPod music players, so Microsoft jumped in and beat Apple to it.

Tech pundits are snickering at the prospect of Apple having to pay Bill Gates big royalties on the hugely popular iPods, which account for more than a third of Apple's revenue.

On Tuesday, technology lawyer John Ferrell said Apple still has a lot of options, and this isn't a knockout blow. He said Apple could file a declaration stating it invented the technology before Microsoft filed its patent request.

The company could also alter the patent claims so they don't overlap Microsoft's. Ferrell estimates it could be at least another six months before it's all sorted out. Full Story

You got to love it,,ms is so worried about their patents,they put spyware in their updates.Then they turn around and steal ipod's shit,,,big biss,,,got to love it ,,,,NOT..

Well,more Bush bashing (in his own words) ;)

The following assertions were collected from public statements made by George W. Bush and his official spokesmen since 1997. Originally from Harper's Magazine, May 2004.
SourcesThe President of the United States is not a fact-checker.

I'm not a statistician.

I'm not a numbers-cruncher.

I'm not one of these bean counters.

I'm not very analytical.

I'm not a precision guy.

The President is not a micromanager.

I'm not a member of the legislative branch.

The President is not a rubber stamp for the Congress.

I'm not a censor-guy.

I'm not a lawyer.

I'm not a doctor.

The President is not an economist.

I'm not a stockbroker or a stock-picker.

I'm not a forecaster.

I'm not a predictor.

I'm not a pollster, a poll-reader guy.

I'm not a very good prognosticator of elections.

I'm not a committee chairman.

I'm not of the Washington scene.

I'm not a lonely person.

I'm not a poet.

I'm not a very good novelist.

I'm not a textbook player.

I'm not an emailer.

I'm not a very long-winded person.

I'm not a very formal guy.

I am not a revengeful person.

I'm not an Iraqi citizen.

I'm not a divider.

I am not a unilateralist.

I'm not a tree, I'm a Bush.

LOL,at least he has not said"I'm not a crook" ;)

Bits and Bytes

Some Random stuff found surfing ;)

Siberia's Rapid Thaw Causes Alarm -- (BBC -- August 11, 2005)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4141348.stm
The huge expanse of western Siberia is thawing for the first time since its formation, 11,000 years ago. The area, which is the size of France and Germany combined, could release billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This could potentially act as a tipping point, causing global warming to snowball, scientists fear.

Scientists Sound Alarm on Arctic Ice Cap -- (CBC News -- July 29, 2005)
http://north.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=arctic-ice-29072005
Satellite data for the month of June show Arctic sea ice has shrunk to a record low, raising concerns about climate change, coastal erosion, and changes to wildlife patterns. The National Snow and Ice Data Center in the United States uses remote sensing imagery to survey ice cover at both poles. The center says 2002 was a record low year for sea ice cover in the Arctic, since satellite observations began in 1979. There's evidence that may have been the lowest coverage in a century. Now scientists fear this year could be worse


'Strange Things' Along Pacific Coast Waters -- (Associated Press -- August 2, 2005)
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8796487/
Marine biologists are seeing mysterious and disturbing things along the Pacific Coast this year: higher water temperatures, plummeting catches of fish, lots of dead birds on the beaches, and perhaps most worrisome, very little plankton - the tiny organisms that are a vital link in the ocean food chain. "The bottom has fallen out of the coastal food chain, and there's just not enough food out there," said Julia Parrish, a seabird ecologist at the University of Washington in Seattle.


Can you say "Global Warming" ?

Are You a Science-Fiction Scholar?

Take the test ;)

Mine was

Are You a Science-Fiction Scholar?
Feet on the ground, but reaching for the stars.
You talk the talk, but would you know what to do in an alien invasion? You got 10/11 correct.

YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT

In a case argued before the Supreme Court last Wednesday, Deputy Solicitor General Paul Clement explained that coercive interrogations in no way violate the rights of detainees. He claimed that the constitutional violation at issue in Miranda v. Arizona occurs only in court, if and when the prosecution tries to introduce a suspect's coerced statements as evidence.

Put bluntly, you have no right to remain silent. What you have, instead, is a right not to be criminally prosecuted on the basis of your coerced statements. If the government is correct, then the language of the Miranda warnings is wrong. Full Story

I was digging around and found this.Other than that,I'm going to keep silent on it ;)