Flux
About Time: They finally got around to recognizing software as patentable, not that it clears up the deeper mess much (see "Patently Absurd," Wired 2.07, page 104). After two appeals, printer manufacturer Tektronix of Beaverton, Oregon, was awarded a patent on a software rasterizing process by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The majority opinion found that while Tektronix's work was based on mathematical algorithms (a common justification for denying patents), it constituted "a specific machine to produce a useful, concrete, and tangible result." Why do we care? Software is now legally defined as a machine. Think on that one for a minute.
Tout Bon! Remember Mr. All Good (Toubon), the French cultural minister who, in the name of purity, championed a law banning 3,000 English words from French lips? Turns out he's been shot down by none other than his own government's Constitutional Council, which found that Toubon's edict was contrary to France's 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man. Hoist by their own (dare we say it?) petard.
Microsoft Plugs In: Readers of this space know that Bill & Co. have plans for an online service in the near future, and that Windows 95 (formerly Chicago) will include built-in Internet capability if and when it ever ships. (And you can bet those hooks talk directly to the new service.) That's a pretty aggressive move into new markets for the once-staid Office Supply Company. Ever wonder what sparked it? Could it be that the Microsoft ftp site is the most popular site on the Net? The company claims that more than 2 million visitors hit microsoft.com since it went up last year.
Who Isn't Starting One?: Microsoft has some competition, it seems. Sony Corp. is starting a WWW-based online service, initially to market its music offerings, but eventually to tie together all of Sony's operating companies, including Sony Electronics, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Electronic Publishing, and Sony Signatures. Let's hope it doesn't look like Sony Style. (We're not holding our breath.) And, as an aside, even the gray lady has a foothold in cyberspace: The New York Times is experimenting with an online national classified system. Lending technical chops is none other than The Pipeline (see Wired's interview with James Gleick, page 114).
Some Aren't Buying: Microsoft, Sony, and all the others stampeding to make hay while the Net sun is shining would do well to go visit alt.destroy.the.internet, a Usenet newsgroup "whose primary purpose is the discussion, and hopefully the eventual development and usage, of various methods to destroy that accursed worldwide electronic network that goes by the collective name of 'The Internet.' The users of this newsgroup search for weaknesses in the Net's structure that they can exploit, with the hope that one day the entire Net will collapse and disappear forever!"
Forza Italia: They call it Associazione per la Libertá nella Comunicazione Elettronica Interattiva, but the easier way to think of it is the EFF, Italian style. Spurred by the EFF's success in influencing US policy, and a huge police assault against FidoNet BBSes (see "Hacker Crackdown, Italian Style," Wired 2.08, page 29), a group of Italians formed the ALCEI last July in Milan. For more info e-mail alcei@mailbox.iunet.it.
Found on the Net: An amusing list of the "Top 20 Engineers' Terminologies," with translations. First on the list: A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT APPROACHES ARE BEING TRIED; translated, this means "We are still pissing in the wind." EXTENSIVE REPORT IS BEING PREPARED ON A FRESH APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM really means "We just hired three kids fresh out of college," and TEST RESULTS WERE EXTREMELY GRATIFYING means "We are so surprised that the stupid thing works."
Any Day Now: Expect to see yet another wave of PDA expectation in the coming months, as the second tier of products hits the market. That market has been buoyed by predictions from analysts like Forrester Research, which sees PDA prices dropping to US$300 and sales reaching 2.3 million units by 1998.
Online Tutorial: Imagine hitting a snag while doing a homework problem and having a network of more than 600 teachers and tutors standing ready to lend a hand. Sound like a latchkey kid's fantasy? Nope. Send e-mail to homework24@aol.com and see what happens.
Sour Apples: Didja see what an Apple executive VP has to say in Newsweek on the subject of licensing Apple's Macintosh OS? "If we had licensed earlier, we would be the Microsoft of today." There's always tomorrow.
Unclear on the Concept: News item late this summer in New York City: "Police say Wiretap Log Is Lost." The story reports that an official log of police wiretaps was "stolen or misplaced," but - not to worry - "no investigations have been compromised." No investigations have been compromised? How about the accountability of the police department? Hasn't that been just a tad bit compromised? NY Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said this: "It's not that big a thing. I'm not overly concerned about it."
Art of the Deal: Creative Minds, a Knowledge Adventure spinoff, recently licensed the name and likeness of Donald Trump for use in CD-ROM games. Yup, the same Knowledge Adventure with those pesky accounting problems. (Like The Donald, they had a habit of overstating their expected revenues.)
