RandomFailure

About 28 feet. At least, that’s my best attempt so far. As you can probably already tell, this post has nothing to do with the similarly named stock market phenomenon.

So now you’re thinking, “Steve, what the hell are you talking about?”

Earlier this evening, Victoria was playing on her computer and I heard this hysterical laughter coming from her room. I figured she was just amusing herself with something silly. When I went to check, she was playing a game called Kitten Cannon. (It’s also available from a bunch of other places; just search for it.) It’s a very silly and addictive variation of the ancient Human Cannonball game, but with an Itchy and Scratchy twist: you can hit objects along the way (i.e., explosives) to keep your journey going or objects (like spikes or a Venus Flytrap) that will end your trip.

My longest shot so far is 1,018 feet. I’ve reached a maximum height of 68 feet (after a balloon bomb burst) and a ground bounce of 28 feet. Though the latter two statistics are not kept by the game.

7,222,310 Graphical user interface(GUI), a synthesiser and a computer system including a GUI (6 pages)
A GUI for displaying three or more input signals. Used in audio and video editing. Uses the GUI to simulate a hardware audio/video editing board.

7,221,570 Heat dissipating device for an integrated circuit chip (14 pages)
Heat dissipation for a chip. Order of stacked components, starting from the bottom: support board, chip, thermal gap filler pad, support structure, heat dissipating device.

20070112743 Methods and systems for managing data (81 pages)
This is the sixth Spotlight-related application published on May 17, 2007. The claims of this application are directed to searching metadata based on a user’s search query, determining the user’s permissions to be able to view certain search results, and displaying the search results based on the user’s permissions.

20070110074 System and method for synchronizing media presentation at multiple recipients (29 pages)
Using iTunes (or similar software) to wirelessly play a media file to multiple locations from a central host. For example, you could play a song in multiple locations around your house, all controlled by software on your computer which is located elsewhere in the house. Each client device has a network interface through which it communicates with the host (just like regular networking). The host uses a reference clock to sync with local clocks in each of the client devices, so that playback is synchronized among all the clients.

20070109737 Computer enclosure (25 pages)
A laptop having a singular composite structure. This application describes how the case is assembled. The assembly includes structurally bonding (with adhesive) the parts together and electrically sealing the interface between the parts to provide electrical shielding.

20070109326 Intelligent scrolling (23 pages)
This is a latest in a long chain of continuation applications, with priority all the way back to December 28, 1990. This application relates to clicking and dragging an object in a GUI window, permitting scrolling within the window based on the dragging. Remember that this application dates back to 1990, so you need to consider the state of the art at that time when reading this patent.

20070112844 Method and apparatus for processing metadata (82 pages)
This application relates to Spotlight searching. The claims are directed to generating a first set of metadata (by extracting content or metadata from a file) and analyzing the first set of metadata to generate a second set of metadata, the second set of metadata containing different metadata than the first set. The second set of metadata can be searched to identify the file it is based on.

20070112814 Methods and systems for providing improved security when using a uniform resource locator (URL) or other address or identifier (29 pages)
URL security methods, including warning a user before clicking a link from an application other than a Web browser whether the user has visited that site or similar sites before. Can be used to prevent phishing or other e-mail spoofing type of attacks. The desired URL can be compared against a history list (based on bookmarks) to determine whether it is a legitimate URL.

20070112809 Methods and systems for managing data (79 pages)
Another Spotlight searching related application. The claims of this application are directed to combining notifications for a metadata database update and updating the database upon receipt of the combined notification.

20070112774 Methods and systems for providing improved security when using a uniform resource locator (URL) or other address or identifier (25 pages)
Another URL security related application. The claims of this application are directed to automatically determining whether a URL is a trusted URL and adding the URL to a trusted list.

20070112744 Methods and systems for managing data (73 pages)
One more Spotlight searching related application. The claims of this application are directed to searching a metadata database using at least some metadata relating to a selected file.

Or: How about a cell phone user’s Bill of Rights?

I’ve been thinking about this for some time lately, and this morning the Wall Street Journal had a front page article on the subject. (See the partial free preview of the article. And see my post at GigaOm from the other day on the same subject.)

My problem with cell phone service is basically this: it should be no more than a dumb pipe, just the way Internet access is.

• Charge me for airtime, since that’s what is sold to me.
• Don’t charge me extra just because I want to send a text message or a picture.
• Don’t charge me extra to put a song I already own the CD for onto my phone if I want to use it as a ringtone.
• Don’t make me pay to download an application to record my own ringtone. Let me do it from my computer and upload it to my phone.
• Let companies and individuals give away applications if they want to.
• Don’t cripple the features of my phone just because your network won’t support them or you want me to pay you more for a feature that’s already built into the phone.
• Stop dragging your collective feet and move to a 3G network.
• Make your networks interoperable so I can buy any phone I want and use any network I want.
• Don’t prevent me from using a WiFi connection to make a call if one is available to me. Obviously, this would only really work if I was stationary.

Of course, some people will say, “Why not just carry a laptop with you?” Because I don’t want to! Plus, I don’t own a laptop. Would I use all of those features I listed above? If I didn’t have to pay extra for them, I probably would.

I do realize that there is a big downside to making cell phone service a dumb pipe: the network would likely get overloaded in a hurry with people gorging themselves on the bandwidth. Regular airtime charges should be able to control that. Remember the old days when you had a dial-up Internet connection with per minute charges? You watched your usage or recoiled in horror when you saw the bill. Same could apply here. It’s too bad that the cell phone providers have an ancient business model that they’re interested in defending, and this won’t happen for a very long time.

Well, if the producers’ goal was to get lots of people talking about the final episode, then they’ve done their job. A whole bunch of articles (too many to mention) have made the same point. So to avoid contributing too much more to this overkill and ego stroking, I’ll satisfy myself by making post this my last words on the subject.

I’ll go to Aristotle for help with trying to make my point on this subject: “A whole is that which has beginning, middle and end.” To rephrase slightly: every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. What would you think if The Sopranos was a book? You’d feel rather gypped that there was no ending to it, wouldn’t you? So why not with a TV show?

So in an effort to give myself some sort of closure by providing an ending, here are some possible endings (I do not take credit for all of these; some may have appeared elsewhere first, and I just didn’t know about them):

1. Gray jacket guy shoots Tony (grabs a gun from the mens’ room, like in The Godfather).
2. Baseball hat guy shoots Tony.
3. Jukebox guys shoot Tony.
4. A combination of #1 to #3 shoot Tony.
5. At least one of #1 to #3 is an FBI agent there to arrest Tony.
6. At least of one #1 to #3 is an FBI agent to protect Tony from getting shot by one or more of the others.
7. At least one of #1 to #3 is there to kill another one of #1 to #, and Tony gets killed in the crossfire.
8. Meadow gets hit by car while crossing the street (remember that you never saw her enter the restaurant).
9. The restaurant blows up before Meadow goes inside.
10. The restaurant blows up once Meadow is inside.
11. The viewer is the one who gets killed. Taken from Tony’s line to Bobby on the boat earlier in the season that when they come for you, you don’t hear anything, it just goes black.
12. A close-up shot of a blinking eye. Pull back to see Dr. Jack Shephard in the opening scene from Lost. (Why the hell not?)
13. Bob Newhart sits up in bed and says to his wife, “You won’t believe the fucking dream I just had!” (Again, why the hell not?)

20070113193 Method and apparatus for managing Internet transactions (42 pages)
Relates back to work done for Next on WebObjects. The claims are directed to processing data retrieved from a Web page, handling a Web page, and controlling data contained in a Web page. Note that this application has priority back to September 22, 1995, so while some of the disclosure may seem rather basic now, you need to consider the state of the art in September 1995.

20070113192 Method and apparatus for managing Internet transactions (41 pages)
Another application related to WebObjects. This one has claims directed to generating a Web page by including a component in the Web page definition and generating an element definition for a repeating component of a Web page. Same note as above regarding the September 1995 priority date.

20070112900 Methods and systems for managing data (68 pages)
Managing data, such as metadata. Related to Spotlight searching. The claims are directed to managing data by capturing metadata from files and searching the metadata.

20070112891 Converting file-systems that organize and store data for computing systems (17 pages)
A method for converting a hard drive (for example) between different file systems (e.g., FAT32 to HFS+ or vice versa) without having to move or rewrite all of the data files. For example, see Figure 3A, which shows the second file system being written to a different portion of the disk than the first file system. Then the file system indicators (which tell which file system is being used) is rewritten so that the new file system is used. For example, the partition map and boot sector information may need to be rewritten so that the drive is usable under the new file system. The information that would need to be rewritten depends on the new target file system’s requirements.

20070112874 Methods and systems for managing data (70 pages)
This application also relates to Spotlight searching. The claims are directed to handling data by storing an OS, files, and an index of the files and then making the package available for distribution.

D542,808 Media device (4 pages)
Design for iPod nano. This is for the outer shape of the device and does not include the scroll wheel (which is why it is shown with dashed lines).

7,218,510 Computer controlled display device (116 pages)
Related to the construction and mechanical operation of the “lamp base” iMac. This patent describes how this iMac is put together, from a mechanical perspective. Shows a few different views of a gooseneck design (Figures 23A-23F), the straight neck design (Figures 33A-33F), and a telescoping neck design (Figure 47). The claims are directed to a moveable assembly that provides at least three degrees of freedom for a display and a brake device to control the positioning of the display.

7,218,226 Acceleration-based theft detection system for portable electronic devices (12 pages)
An electronic device has an acceleration sensor, and based on the sensor output, a determination is made whether the device is being stolen. Theft can be detected by using an acceleration profile characteristic of theft. The device can determine if the acceleration were due to a shock or an impact to the device. Certain types of movements could be filtered out based on the acceleration frequency generated by the movement (see column 4, lines 28-42). A theft profile can include various acceleration changes that are likely to result during a theft (see column 4, lines 43-62 and column 6, lines 43-57).

Note: I can’t quite figure out how a thief would be profiled. I also think that this could be easily be defeated by a constant motion for a period of time. The opposite could be true - the alarm could go off if you suddenly find yourself running for the bus, and that’s not normal behavior for you.

Un-frickin’-believable.

What a cop-out. Both Karen and I were expecting some kind of conclusion to The Sopranos finale, but all we got was a fade to black. At that moment (we were watching on a delay via DVR), we both looked at each other like something was wrong with the TV or with the cable box. And since we’ve had problems before with the cable box, that wouldn’t have been all that surprising.

“Stuffing onion rings into their fat faces? That’s what we get? Bitches.” said Karen.

Allusions to The Godfather aside (that would be the gray jacket guy going into the bathroom), the ending strike me as an indecisive creator’s refusal to let his characters go. And the TV critics aren’t helping. They’re too busy trying to give a verbal blow job to David Chase. See stories from the Philadelphia Inquirer, the AP, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Entertainment Weekly. Only the Hollywood Reporter addresses the fact that some people are bothered by the ending.

I’m guessing that there’s some kind of “TV critics club”, where if one influential critic (whoever that may be) decides that they like something, then all the rest have to follow, lest they get left out or shunned. I would not call The Sopranos the greatest TV show ever. Hell, it’s not even the best show currently on HBO (the would be The Wire). At times, particularly during Seasons 3 and 4, the show just plodded along. I kept watching, hoping something would happen. Lots of psychiatric blah, blah, blah. If I want character development, I’ll watch Masterpiece Theatre.

Title: Back-side interface for hand-held devices

Patent application publication number: 20070103454 (8 pages)

Publication date: May 10, 2007

Filing date: January 5, 2007 (priority to April 26, 2005)

AIPW Summary: A multimedia device uses separate surfaces for input and output. The input surface is a touch-sensitive surface so that the device can be operated with one hand. The back surface is preferably the input side (hence the title) so that the user can view the output surface while controlling the device. Devices mentioned in the application include an iPod, a mobile phone, and a video playback unit. However, I wouldn’t read too much into this, since the way the devices are mentioned in the text is as part of background material, rather than describing particular embodiments of the invention.

Having the input and output on opposite sides of the device is desirable so that the output is not obscured while the user is providing input to the device and to help preserve the output screen. The user only needs to look at the output side; a cursor on the display indicates where the user’s hand is on the input side (see paragraph 0014). This would obviously take some getting used to, since your hand movements would be counterintuitive. In an alternate embodiment, UI controls could be etched into the input surface (see paragraphs 0016 and 0017).

The claims cover the device itself with separate input and output surfaces, and a method for operating the device.

(Silly note: Figure 5 shows a virtual keyboard with two “V” keys and no “D” key.)