Clubbing the Tom-Tom

I’ve been doing some research on the issues in Microsoft’s lawsuit against Tom-Tom. Here’s what I’ve found about the patents are at issue in the case:

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Categorized as Software

The Microsoft patent attack

Steven Shankland from CNET sent OSI some questions yesterday about the Microsoft patent lawsuit against TomTom involving the use of Linux in their GPS devices. Here’s what I told him by email:

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Categorized as General

Translation Errors

God Wants You Dead is an entertaining and subversive little book that reminded me of a well-known controversy in the translation of the Judeo-Christian Bible. Most educated people probably know that in Isaiah 7:14 it is prophesied that the Messiah will be born of an ‘almah’ of the House of David — and thereby hangs… Continue reading Translation Errors

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Return of the Hex Wargame?

Some months ago I wrote about the death of the hex-wargame hobby and the subsequent evolution of the Eurogame. In that posting, I expressed the hope that the popularity of Commands and Colors: Ancients and Memoir ’44 might herald a revival of the hex wargame.

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Categorized as Games

What I do for Wesnoth

Several of my regular commenters have expressed interest in Battle For Wesnoth and my role in it. I’ll give a narrative summary of my role in the project, expanding on a comment I uttered a while back.

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Categorized as Games

Warmed-over Vista

OK, it’s now definite. Windows 7 is gonna suck, and suck hard. The plausible suspicion all along has been that it’s the Vista codebase with a superficial paint job. Now it appears there are holes in the paint; the public Windows 7 beta describes itself as Vista.

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The sound of empire falling, episode 2

From “200 Laptops Break a Business Model” in the pages of the New York Times: So who’s up, who’s down and who’s out this time around? Microsoft’s valuable Windows franchise appears vulnerable after two decades of dominance. Revenue for the company’s Windows operating system fell for the first time in history in the last quarter… Continue reading The sound of empire falling, episode 2

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Master Foo and the Nervous Novice

There was a novice who learned much at the Master’s feet, but felt something to be missing. After meditating on his doubts for some time, he found the courage to approach Master Foo about his problem. “Master Foo,” he asked “why do Unix users not employ antivirus programs? And defragmentors? And malware cleaners?” Master Foo… Continue reading Master Foo and the Nervous Novice

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The Politics of Lexicography, or How To Become Normative Without Really Trying

One of many hats I wear is that of a lexicographer. In 1990 I began maintaining the Jargon File, still available on my website and released as three paper editions in 1991, 1993, and 1996. At the time, I was a bit nervous about what I might learn if a “real” lexicographer ever showed up… Continue reading The Politics of Lexicography, or How To Become Normative Without Really Trying

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Categorized as Culture

My comment to the FCC on DRM

This comment is not confidential; I grant unconditional permission to republish it in full. DRM is a disaster for everyone involved with it, because it cannot do what it claims but imposes large costs in the process of failing. The people who have sold DRM technologies to Big Media are frauds playing on the ignorance… Continue reading My comment to the FCC on DRM

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Alzheimer’s and Herpes

There’s been a major breakthrough in the understanding of Alzheimer’s disease. Every face-to-face friend I’ve told about this has found it fascinating, and one of my regulars has rightly suggested I should blog it. It seems many cases of Alzheimer’s may be due to brain infection by the herpes simplex Type I virus — the… Continue reading Alzheimer’s and Herpes

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Categorized as Science

Old physicists fade away

A commenter writes, replying to my previous post on Eric and the Quantum Experts: >Eric, you may still have a chance to revolutionize physics, since decoherence by itself may not completely solve the problem. Alas, I am probably too old now. There is a way outside chance I could do it, yes, but,…hmm…how to explain… Continue reading Old physicists fade away

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Where the men are

A commenter wrote: Think about it: guys like Leo Dicaprio or Owen Wilson for example. These guys are not exactly manly men but seem more like teen boys. There’s no need to invoke exotic theories like endocrine disruptors; they’re just reflecting the zeitgeist. I just turned 51, and a disturbingly large percentage of men in… Continue reading Where the men are

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And they’re complaining why, exactly?

Scary news stories are beginning to make the rounds of the blogosphere about endocrine disruptors – synthetic chemical pollutents that mimic the effects of estrogen and have supposedly already created a generation of feminized young men and boys with shrunken genitals and preferences shifted towards girls’ toys.

A fragment from Wesnoth

I did some writing I’m feeling rather proud of today. It is storyline text from a Battle For Wesnoth campaign I’m working on. I’ve decided to post it here as a teaser and let my readers have the fun of deducing the kind of context in which it makes sense.

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