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:
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:
Why GPSes suck, and what to do about it
I’m the lead of the GPSD project, a service daemon that monitors GPS receivers on serial or USB ports and provides TPV (time-position-velocity) reports in a simple format on on a well-known Internet port. GPSD makes this job looks easy. But it’s not — oh, it’s decidedly not — and thereby hangs an entertaining tale… Continue reading Why GPSes suck, and what to do about it
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
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.
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.
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.
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
The present war in Gaza
Some commenters have asked me to express a position on the war in Gaza.
Scenes from Mixed Martial Arts
There’s a classic Warner Brothers cartoon from 1951 1948 in which Bugs Bunny takes on a huge, evil bruiser of a fighter called the Crusher. One of the funniest bits is a scene where Bugs is grunting and straining in an attempt to shift one of the Crusher’s legs. The viewpoint pans back and we… Continue reading Scenes from Mixed Martial Arts
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
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
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
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
From Scythia to Camelot with Thud and Blunder
I am not sure when or where I first encountered it, but the theory that the Arthurian cycle of legends might be rooted in the mythology of Scythia and the Sarmathians instantly struck me as not only plausible but almost certainly correct. The Sarmatians (and the closely-related or identical tribe of Alans) introduced armored heavy… Continue reading From Scythia to Camelot with Thud and Blunder
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
Eric and the Quantum Experts: A Cautionary Tale
On my favorite mailing list, it was written: > Anyway, if you think someone who lives and breathes some field is missing > some obvious point, they’re probably right and you’re probably wrong. Generally I think this is true. However, I hereby submit the story of Eric and the Quantum Experts as a cautionary tale… Continue reading Eric and the Quantum Experts: A Cautionary Tale
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
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.