Linked List: September 7, 2011

Wednesday, 7 September 2011

HTC: We Paid for Patents We Got From Google 

Ina Fried, reporting for some website:

HTC told AllThingsD on Wednesday that it did pay for the patents that it recently acquired from Google and is using in its latest patent actions against Apple. However, in answer to the million dollar (or $1, or $10,000) question, HTC won’t say how much it paid for the patents.

So Google is basically the Intellectual Ventures in this scenario. Cool.

Michael S. Hart, Founder of Project Gutenberg, Dies at Age 64 

From his obituary at Project Gutenberg:

Hart was best known for his 1971 invention of electronic books, or eBooks. He founded Project Gutenberg, which is recognized as one of the earliest and longest-lasting online literary projects. He often told this story of how he had the idea for eBooks. He had been granted access to significant computing power at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. On July 4 1971, after being inspired by a free printed copy of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, he decided to type the text into a computer, and to transmit it to other users on the computer network. From this beginning, the digitization and distribution of literature was to be Hart’s life’s work, spanning over 40 years.

A true pioneer, who made the world a better place.

Why Didn’t Google Sue Apple Directly? 

Nilay Patel has questions for Google re: the patents it bought and gave to HTC which HTC then used to countersue Apple:

  • Did Google acquire these patents knowing they would be alleged against Apple, by Google or a third party?

  • Has Google started acquiring patents for express purpose of offensive litigation, which it’s promised it would never do?

Like I said, fair’s fair once you start shooting in a patent war, and Apple started the shooting in this one. But can Google spare us the crocodile tears going forward? They complained only when they had no relevant patents, and soon as they got some, they gave them to HTC to sue with them.

‘Shape of the Earth – Both Sides Have a Point’ 

This 11-year-old Paul Krugman quip is what Kevin Drum was alluding to today with his “Views Differ on Shape of Earth, Climate Edition” headline:

If a presidential candidate were to declare that the earth is flat, you would be sure to see a news analysis under the headline “Shape of the Planet: Both Sides Have a Point.” After all, the earth isn’t perfectly spherical.

The argument is that the mainstream news media attempts at all costs to appear “balanced”, by giving both sides of any dispute equal footing — as opposed to simply trying to report what is actually accurate. Thus, in the debate over climate change, they give undue emphasis to arguments claiming that climate change lacks scientific consensus, when in fact the opposite is true.

Climate change may or may not be occurring. But there is no dispute that 98 percent of climate scientists believe that it is happening and is man-made. And Americans are grossly misinformed regarding this.

Update: Allow me to echo Kevin Drum’s footnote:

I wasn’t going to bother with this, but a reader emails to point out that, actually, 100% of climate scientists believe global warming is happening. Something like 98% of them believe that it’s mostly caused by humans. But I’m giving our survey respondents a break, since I suspect most people automatically think “human-caused global warming” whenever they hear “global warming.”

My “may or may not be occurring” line was sloppy writing, and wasn’t an indication that I personally am in doubt. What I was trying to say is that the debate over man-made climate change is one thing; the question as to how many climate scientists believe in man-made climate change is another. And there’s been a concentrated (and, obviously, effective) effort from those seeking to protect the status quo, carbon emissions-wise, to make common people believe that the science is in dispute. It’s not surprising that so many people don’t believe in or are unsure about man-made climate change, if they vastly underestimate the percentage of climate change experts who believe in it.

Favorite Mailboxes in Lion Mail 

Matt Gemmell:

There are several new features in Mail that I’m enjoying, and one of the least promoted is the new Favorites Bar. I think it’s very useful, particularly if you like to use keyboard shortcuts as much as possible, and so I’ve written this brief article describing how it works.

Mail, overall, is my favorite new thing in Lion.

HTC Sues Apple Using Patents Obtained From Google Last Week 

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

Detective Latchkey 

This week’s episode of The Talk Show, with me and Dan Benjamin talking about HP/Palm, Yahoo/Bartz, the purportedly lost iPhone 5 prototype, and the last of the Pierce Brosnan Bond films, Die Another Day.

Brought to you by easyDNS and MailChimp.

‘Do Not Develop in the Open’ 

Information from the Oracle v. Google lawsuit includes these bullet points from an internal Google presentation:

  • Do not develop in the open. Instead, make source code available after innovation is complete

  • Lead device concept: Give early access to the software to partners who build and distribute devices to our specification (ie [sic], Motorola and Verizon). They get a non-contractual time to market advantage and in return they align to our standard.

Views Differ on Shape of Earth, Climate Edition 

Americans — of all political stripes — are grossly misinformed about the percentage of climate scientists who think global warming is happening. Sad.

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