| Piled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham | www.phdcomics.com | |
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| title: "How many Ph.D.s does it take?" - originally published 10/31/2012 For the latest news in PHD Comics, CLICK HERE! | ||
My wife and I thoroughly enjoy the movie The Legend of Bagger Vance. One of our favorite scenes is the following exchange between the two principal characters, Adele (played by Charlize Theron) and Rannulph (Matt Damon):
Rannulph: There something you wanted to tell me?
Adele: Well, I'm trying to think of how to say it, Junuh.
There is a purpose to this visit…
…and that's to apologize.
I'm not an apologetic woman, it takes me longer to organize my thoughts.
I want to seem properly contrite for having gotten you into this match…
…but not seem what I did was ill-intentioned, since it wasn't.
Rannulph: What exactly are you apologizing for?
Adele: For publicly humiliating you.
Rannulph: That'd be a good thing to apologize for.
Adele: However, I think that…
Basically, what I'm trying to say is…
…that I'm sorry.
But it's not my fault.
You're the one to blame.
Rannulph: That's one hell of an apology, Adele.
While it's not often that you see something from the silver screen play out in real life, that little exchange is essentially what happened. If you remember back in July, we told you about a judge in the UK telling Apple that they needed to publicly apologize to Samsung in newspapers and the Apple EU websites, stating that Samsung did in fact not copy the iPad. The judge clearly stated that the notice should provide details about the ruling that Samsung's Galaxy tablets don't infringe on Apple's registered designs. Apple appealed the decision, but lost. They were then ordered to follow through with the judgement. Fast forward almost four months, and Apple has indeed published a notice. First off, let's just post the full statement made by Apple on their UK website:
Samsung / Apple UK judgment
On 9th July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronic(UK) Limited's Galaxy Tablet Computer, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do notinfringe Apple's registered design No. 0000181607-0001. A copy of the full judgment of the Highcourt is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2012/1882.html.
In the ruling, the judge made several important points comparing the designs of the Apple and Samsung products:
"The extreme simplicity of the Apple design is striking. Overall it has undecorated flat surfaces with a plate of glass on the front all the way out to a very thin rim and a blank back. There is a crisp edge around the rim and a combination of curves, both at the corners and the sides. The design looks like an object the informed user would want to pick up and hold. It is an understated, smooth and simple product. It is a cool design."
"The informed user's overall impression of each of the Samsung Galaxy Tablets is the following. From the front they belong to the family which includes the Apple design; but the Samsung products are very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family with unusual details on the back. They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool."
That Judgment has effect throughout the European Union and was upheld by the Court of Appeal on 18 October 2012. A copy of the Court of Appeal's judgment is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html. There is no injunction in respect of the registered design in force anywhere in Europe.
However, in a case tried in Germany regarding the same patent, the court found that Samsung engaged in unfair competition by copying the iPad design. A U.S. jury also found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple's design and utility patents, awarding over one billion U.S. dollars in damages to Apple Inc. So while the U.K. court did not find Samsung guilty of infringement, other courts have recognized that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple's far more popular iPad.
Now I don't know about you, but this is about the worst example of following a judge's orders I have seen in a long time. Here's exactly what the judge told Apple to do [bold is mine]:
Within seven days of the date of this Order the Defendant shall, at its own expense, (a) post in a font size no small than Arial 14 pt the notice specified in Schedule 1 to this Order on the home pages of its EU websites ("the Defendant's Websites"), as specified in Schedule 1 to this order, together with a hyperlink to the judgment of HHJ Birss QC dated 09 July 2012, said notice and hyperlink to remain displayed on the Defendant's Websites for a period of one year from the date of this Order or until further order of the Court (b) publish in a font size no small than Arial 14 pt the notice specified in Schedule 1 to this Order on a page earlier than page 6 in The Financial Times, the Daily Mail, The Guardian, Mobile Magazine and T3 magazine.
The following notice shall be posted and displayed upon the Defendant's Websites….
"On 9th July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronics (UK) Limited's Galaxy Tablet computers, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe Apple's registered design 000181607-0001. A copy of the full judgment of the High Court is available via the following link [insert hyperlink]."
The defendant shall arrange for the following notice to be published in The Financial Times; the Daily Mail; The Guardian; Mobile Magazine; and T3 magazine:
"On 9th July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronics (UK) Limited's Galaxy Tablet computers, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe Apple's registered design 000181607-0001. A copy of the full judgment of the High Court is available via the following link [insert hyperlink]."
Now one could argue that Apple complied with the judge's order because they do in fact include the text from the judge. However, they then proceed to completely invalidate his statement by essentially stating that he was misinformed because other courts have found that Samsung does in fact copy Apple. Of course they neglect to mention anything about what the Court of Appeals had to say in their rejection of Apple's appeal (emphasis is mine):
Because this case (and parallel cases in other countries) has generated much publicity, it will avoid confusion to say what this case is about and not about. It is not about whether Samsung copied Apple's iPad. Infringement of a registered design does not involve any question of whether there was copying: the issue is simply whether the accused design is too close to the registered design according to the tests laid down in the law. Whether or not Apple could have sued in England and Wales for copying is utterly irrelevant to this case. If they could, they did not. Likewise there is no issue about infringement of any patent for an invention.
So this case is all about, and only about, Apple's registered design and the Samsung products. The registered design is not the same as the design of the iPad. It is quite a lot different. For instance the iPad is a lot thinner, and has noticeably different curves on its sides. There may be other differences – even though I own one, I have not made a detailed comparison. Whether the iPad would fall within the scope of protection of the registered design is completely irrelevant. We are not deciding that one way or the other. This case must be decided as if the iPad never existed.
What we have here is a blatant attempt by Apple to continue Steve Jobs's legacy of a "reality distortion field" in how they view the world. The Court of Appeals went further to speak out against Apple's attempts within the EU to go around the UK judge's orders in sections 78-88 of the appeal ruling, stating that in order to make sure there was no doubt as to what the UK courts had ruled,
"Apple itself must (having created the confusion) make the position clear: that it acknowledges that the court has decided that these Samsung products do not infringe its registered design. The acknowledgement must come from the horse's mouth. Nothing short of that will be sure to do the job completely."
I fully expect the UK Court of Appeals to come down hard on Apple with this notice, given that they did not make things clear. Instead they spent more time attempting to discredit the judgments and trying to save face. This could very well be grounds for the UK Court to hold Apple in contempt and impose heavy fines, so we shall see what the next few weeks brings.
I purposely left out the last bit of the exchange between Rannulph and Adele.
Adele: So, you want my apology or not?
Rannulph: No.
Does this seem fitting? Let's see how Samsung responds.
"We're in a global race today. And that means an hour of reckoning for countries like ours. Sink or swim. Do or decline."
- D. Cameron 10/10/2012
http://news.in.gr/greece/article/?aid=1231218333
Kitakste poso gtp ine afti pou kivernoun.-
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| Piled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham | www.phdcomics.com | |
 | ||
| title: "Secret Faculty Meeting" - originally published 10/19/2012 For the latest news in PHD Comics, CLICK HERE! | ||
A bit over a year ago, we talked a bit about a planet scientists had discovered that they believed was festooned with diamonds. Scientists conducting planetary research led by a team from Yale University have discovered a planet roughly twice the size of the Earth orbiting a nearby star they believed has a thick layer of diamond material. The planet is called 55 Cancri e.
The scientists say that this is the first glimpse we have had of a rocky world with a fundamentally different chemistry from the Earth. The planet is said to be extremely hot with the surface mostly composed of graphite surrounding a thick layer of diamond. The scientists believe that underneath that thick layer of diamond is a layer of silicon-based minerals and a molten iron core at the center.
The Earth's surface is mostly covered in granite and water, this newly discovered planet is believed to be mostly covered in graphite and diamond. 55 Cancri e has a radius of twice the Earth's and is eight times more massive putting it into the category of super-Earth. The planet is one of five that orbits a sun-like star called 55 Cancri.
The star is 40 light years from Earth and visible to the naked eye in the constellation of Cancer. The planet orbits its star a very fast speed with a year lasting only 18 hours. The surface temperature of the planet is believed to be about 3900°F. The scientists estimate that as much as a third of the planet's mass could be diamond.
[via Yale]
http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/adUwLgWpmZ8/
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I can't say that I've ever heard of the Jovian Trojans before. It sounds like some sort of high school football team, but the name actually refers to asteroids that circle the sun in the same orbit as Jupiter. Scientists have been studying these asteroids using data generated by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Explorer or WISE. NASA says that the Jovian Trojans travel in packs with one group of asteroids ahead of Jupiter and the other group behind Jupiter.
The observations made using WISE are the first that have offered a detailed look at the color of the Trojans in the leading and trailing packs. The data determined that the Jovian Trojans are made up predominantly of dark, reddish rocks with a matte, non-reflective surface. The observations also allowed astronomers to confirm previous suspicions that the leading pack of Jovian Trojans was larger than the trailing pack.
The scientists are trying to determine more than simply what the asteroids look like, they want to know where the asteroids came from. WISE data shows that the asteroids are strikingly similar with no interlopers from other parts of the solar system. The Jovian Trojans also don't resemble asteroids from the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
The scientists say that the Jovian Trojans don't resemble asteroids from the Kuiper belt family of objects near Pluto either. The first Jovian Trojan was discovered in February 22, 1906 by German astronomer named Max Wolf. This particular Trojan was called Achilles and is roughly 220 miles wide. The scientists are still unsure exactly how many asteroids are included in the two packs of Jovian Trojans, but they believe there are as many objects in the two packs as there are in the entirety of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The scientists have proposed future space mission to study the Jovian Trojans and gather data needed to determine how old they are and where the asteroids came from.
A group of astronomers, including some volunteers has made a very interesting discovery of a new planet in a unique system. The new planet that was discovered is a gas giant about six times the size of the Earth. The planet itself isn't as interesting as the fact that it orbits a unique star system.
The gas giant orbits a binary star system, and that binary star system has a second stellar pair of stars orbiting around them. That means the planet has four suns. The planet and its unique star system were discovered by volunteers using the Planethunters.org website and confirmed by a team of astronomers from the UK and the US. The planet and its four different stars were also observed using the Keck Observatory.
The planet is slightly less than 5000 light years away from the Earth and has been named PH1. The PH1 name is a hat tip to the Planethunters website. Astronomers say that binary stars aren't uncommon in themselves. However, there are only a handful of known exoplanets orbiting binary pairs. To make this particular star system even rarer, none of the other known exoplanets have another pair of stars orbiting them.
Despite the fact that the gas giant has gravity from four different starts pulling on it, it remains a stable orbit. The volunteer astronomers who discovered the planet using Planethunters.org are Kian Jek of San Francisco and Robert Gagliano from Cottonwood, Arizona. The pair spotted changes in light caused by the planet passing in front of the parent stars. Once the volunteers discovered the dip in light using the website, the professional astronomers confirm the discovery using the Keck telescopes in Hawaii.
[via BBC]
http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/CE1QPHPOgWU/
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Foxconn is no stranger to controversy. Workers protests, suicides, threats of suicide, and riots have all marred the Taiwan manufacturer, which is accused of underpaying and overworking its workers while providing harsh, unsafe working conditions. The latest issue? Threatening to cut hospital funding for a worker who was severely injured on the job a year ago.
Foxconn employee Zhang Tingzhen, aged 26, was electrocuted while fixing a light. He fell 12 feet to the ground, and suffered severe, life-altering injuries. Several surgeries later, and nearly half of Tingzhen's brain has been surgically removed, leaving him handicapped. He has been in hospital care since the accident, and is still not in good enough condition to leave.
Reportedly, Foxconn, who has been paying the medical bills, has been sending the worker's family messages since July demanding that Tingzhen be removed from the hospital. The company has threatened to stop paying the bills, something that would be lawful under the applicable labor laws, unless Tingzhen undergoes a medical evaluation at a facility located 43 miles away. Due to the severity of his injuries, this is not possible.
Foxconn stated that it would have Tingzhen transported back to the hospital after the evaluation, but doctors fear that the trip could result in potentially fatal bleeding. The Chinese company, while acknowledging that it wants Tingzhen to travel for a medical evaluation, denies stopping payments on the medical bills. At the heart of this issue is a story that's all too familiar: unsafe working environments, and disregard for workers, something that that seems to be at the core of Foxconn.
Chances are you know someone who takes their CoD a little too seriously -- well, this peripheral is for them. The Delta Six controller is the latest brainchild of Avenger inventor David Kotkin, made to please hardcore FPS gamers with immersive and responsive input. A built-in accelerometer is used for aiming, while the faux recoil and acting out a reload will put you closer to real combat than an appearance on Stars Earn Stripes. The hardware also features a scattering of pressure sensors -- allowing you, for example, to bring up the sights by meeting cheek with gun body, or if you're feeling lazy, squeezing the side of it instead. Depending on your class bias, you can add and retract plastic from the main frame for an SMG, assault or sniper rifle form factor (see below for the gist). There's no word on availability, or if it will actually improve your game, but the price is slated as $89 at launch. After the break is a short product demo in video form, although we suggest you skip straight to 1:30 to avoid the awkward live-action CTF scene.
Continue reading Delta Six controller brings fragging to life, worries your friends
Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals
Delta Six controller brings fragging to life, worries your friends originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 04:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsIf you're an avid Minecraft fan and just can't get enough of the sandbox-style game, we hope you're not planning to upgrade to Windows 8. The creator and developer of Minecraft, Markus "Notch" Persson, has stated that he won't be bringing Minecraft to the Windows 8 platform because of Microsoft locking down the new OS.
Persson tweeted earlier yesterday that Microsoft contacted him about certifying Minecraft for Windows 8. The game developer humbly declined, saying that he "told them to stop trying to ruin the PC as an open platform." He added that he'd "rather have Minecraft not run on Windows 8 at all than to play along."
He went on to protest Microsoft's new operating system in a way, mentioning that "maybe we can convince a few people not to switch to Windows 8 that way." We're not sure how many people will take his advice, but knowing that he's a popular name in the gaming industry, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of gamers passed on a Windows 8 upgrade.
This wouldn't be the first time that Persson has bashed Windows 8. In a Reddit AMA thread last month he stated, "I hope we can keep a lot of open and free platforms around. If Microsoft decides to lock down Windows 8, it would be very very bad for Indie games and competition in general…there's going to be a lot of very interesting games in ten years, mixed in with the huge AAA games that we all love."
