Patent Problems Creep Into WiFi

Grok Headline matches for Patent Problems Creep Into WiFi

More Patent Problems For WiFi

More Patent Problems For WiFi 09/23/2004 11:18 AM
Earlier this year, we noted that Wi-Lan's legal team was drooling over the opportunity to hit up WiFi equipment vendors for patent licensing fees. The company basically admitted that they knew they had a patent that covered an element of WiFi -- but waited until the technology was widespread to pounce. Now, we can add Symbol to the list of companies who "want their piece" of the WiFi pie. After a win last week against Proxim over patents, Symbol is preparing to send threatening legal letters to plenty of WiFi vendors, claiming they violate Symbol's patents. In other words, WiFi equipment is about to get more expensive. Again, this totally defeats the stated purpose of patents, does nothing to promote innovation, and promotes patent hoarding. It also weakens the standards creation process for new technologies. Too many companies now join standards groups for the sole purpose of making sure that their patented technology is somehow included, so that they'll be able to set up a tollbooth.

WiFi popularity overshadows security
problems

WiFi popularity overshadows security
problems 06/01/2004 01:06 AM
Boston Globe Jun 1 2004 4:45AM GMT

Mystery WiFi Connection Problems in
Windows XP

Mystery WiFi Connection Problems in
Windows XP 06/04/2004 10:35 AM

There's an article on Wired News this morning talking about problems with the way Windows XP handles WiFi connections -- something that is especially topical for me, since I spent all day yesterday dropping connections (literally about 40-50 times throughout the day). While Microsoft is claiming there isn't anything wrong with XP itself (besides the natural clutter that comes from hundreds of vendors with hundreds of driver), the same solution offered by Wi-Fi Networking News's Glenn Fleishman -- stopping and starting the Wireless Zero Configuration tool. I still have this little dialog bubble popping up and going away every four or five minutes (so fast I can barely see it), but at least it's maintaining the connection. Still, I hate that all the trouble getting this connection stable is forcing me to accelerate my plans to run Ethernet to this single machine.
Read [Wired via WiFiNetNews]

Microsoft's Solution To XP WiFi
Problems: Semantics

Microsoft's Solution To XP WiFi
Problems: Semantics 06/04/2004 11:05 AM
Going one step further than the "it's not a bug, it's a feature" type of response, Microsoft has just gone a little nutty in trying to defend themselves against claims that XP's Wireless Zero Configuration sometimes just drops the connection without telling the user. First, they claim they've never really heard of the problem, despite the fact that many have experienced it (though, as the article points out, many blame the WiFi hardware, rather than the software). However, one of the major complaints is that the little connection icon in the task bar still shows a connection, though no data is coming back from the access point. When asked why the icon doesn't show the loss of connectivity, Microsoft responds with this: "It indicates that you've associated with an access point. It is possible for you to be associated without having connectivity." Now, if you're techie enough (and many of you are) it's not too hard to figure out what this means, but there's no way the average user wants to care about the difference between "associated with an access point" and "having connectivity." While it may be useful to pinpoint that the problem does not have to do a problem between associating the machine and the access point, why not just have a separate way of indicating if there's no connectivity as well?

Patent Problems Hit RFIDs

Patent Problems Hit RFIDs 07/08/2004 02:23 AM
We were just talking about how both WiFi and WiMax may be facing patent problems from companies who claim they own patents over the technology and are waving them around along with licensing terms and legal treats. Now, Wal-Mart's favorite new technology may face similar patent questions. Intermec Technologies has already sued one RFID technology supplier and are hoping that if those claims succeed, they'll be able to hit up just about everyone else in the chain for fees as well. Considering that part of the appeal of RFIDs is their cheap price, this certainly could put a damper on the proceedings, unless Wal-Mart uses some of their spare billions to buy out the patents completely. Once again, though, this looks to be a case where patents are slowing down innovation, rather than speeding it up. Where's the benefit again?

Patent enforcement victory could mean
higher WiFi prices

Patent enforcement victory could mean
higher WiFi prices 09/24/2004 01:40 PM
A company holding a patent on a power saving feature in 802.11 chipsets has prevailed in a battle with another WiFi vendor. Will all WiFi manufacturers have to sign licensing agreements?

Patent problems pester penguin

Patent problems pester penguin 08/05/2004 10:16 AM
Free Software Foundation counsel Daniel Ravicher says a broken patent system is in urgent need of repair.

Latest Pointless Patent: Redirect Page
For WiFi Logins

Latest Pointless Patent: Redirect Page
For WiFi Logins 01/27/2004 02:24 AM
Wouldn't it be nice if we could go just one week without hearing about yet another ridiculous patent? These days, that seems to be wishful thinking. The latest, dug up by the always excellent WiFi Networking News is the fact that someone has actually gone and patented the concept of using a redirect to force you to a login page when you connect to a WiFi network. How is this possibly patentable? It seems like an insanely obvious idea - and one that plenty of companies use because it's obvious - and not because they ripped off someone's "intellectual property". The point of the patent system is to encourage innovation. The point of this patent (like so many others we've been hearing about recently) is to hold companies hostage for doing something obvious.

Be mindful of the creep

Be mindful of the creep 01/27/2004 04:04 PM
it's always nice to see someone launch a web app and learn these lessons. hard, frustrating lessons.

Your move, creep!

Your move, creep! 04/29/2004 01:48 AM
A futuristic robot polices the chaotic streets of a developing nation in this [creepy] spec commercial/corporate video." Quicktime is involved. Also, people who are scared of robots might not want to watch, because there is a robot in this video.

PHP for RTF, and Feature Creep

PHP for RTF, and Feature Creep 05/24/2002 07:46 AM

Ward off feature creep

Ward off feature creep 05/23/2002 10:39 PM

Free open WiFi on Tacoma-Washington
train, courtesy WiFi hacker

Free open WiFi on Tacoma-Washington
train, courtesy WiFi hacker 03/24/2005 08:15 PM
Cory Doctorow: A Seattle wireless hacker rides a commuter train from Tacoma every day with a battery-powered WiFi hotspot in his backpack that's linked up to the Internet with a 14.4 144k wireless modem. Catch his train and get free WiFi on your commute.

The open wireless node can be found in the first car of the last morning train and in Car 403 on the 5:10pm return trip. Use SSID "FreeInternetAccess" or "seattlewireless" to connect - You may have to assign yourself an IP in the range 192.168.0.0/24 and use the Default Gateway 192.168.0.1 as the DHCP is sometimes flakey

Link (via Make)

Hit-and-run parking garage creep caught

Hit-and-run parking garage creep caught 04/13/2005 05:46 PM
Mark Frauenfelder: Disney designer Steve Lodefink's car was in a parking garage and it got bashed by a hit-and-run driver. Steve found a stray hubcap next to his car, and using hupcaps.org, he identified the model of the car. He printed out a picture of the car (an aggressively ugly car called the Mazda MPV minivan) and sent it, along with a statement of the facts, to the parking garage management.

The parking garage management reviewed the security tapes and found the vehicle. Steve got the license plate number, tracked down the registered owner's name, address and telephone number, and sent it to his insurance company. He ended up getting "a check for the full amount of the damages minus the $100 deductable for my uninsured driver coverage."
Link

Gmail Storage Continues to Creep Up

Gmail Storage Continues to Creep Up 04/04/2005 01:21 PM
Slowly but surely, Google has honored its promise to take Gmail storage beyond 2 GB. As of Monday morning, Gmail users found 2057MB of e-mail capacity, and the number continues to march upwards according to a counter on the free Web mail service's homepage.

Feature Creep: 500 Books In Your Gadget
Bag

Feature Creep: 500 Books In Your Gadget
Bag 07/28/2004 10:58 AM

Feature Creep is a new weekly column on Gizmodo which explores the intersection of gadgets into mass culture. This week editor Sanford May looks at what it will take for an eBooks to finally compete with dead tree publishing.

The common wisdom is that eBooks will have a hard time for two reasons: bad reader devices and book junkies opting only for the hard stuff, the dead-tree form factor. But display technology, a sticking point in making attractive readers, has come a long way. And the idea that eBooks and books printed on paper can't coexist peacefully is an almost Luddite belief. Steve Jobs doesn't show up and take your CD deck when you buy an iPod - music and books on physical media remain, for some time to come. Still, bring up eBooks in a bookish crowd, and you've got conflict as contentious as any Manchester United/Arsenal match.

Feature Creep: The Real World

Feature Creep: The Real World 08/18/2004 11:01 AM
I really have to hand it to Glaser. Steve Jobs may someday permit licensing Fairplay technology to competing music services, but Real's CEO, almost assuredly a dedicated Apple worshiper, has single-handedly insured that his own company won't be one of them. By Sanford May, Gizmodo (via MyAppleMenu)

Hermosa Beach, California Launches Free
Citywide WiFi Service using advanced
WiFi-Plus obstruction penetrating
antennas.

Hermosa Beach, California Launches Free
Citywide WiFi Service using advanced
WiFi-Plus obstruction penetrating
antennas. 08/05/2004 03:39 AM
Los Angeles Beach Community WiFi service made possible by WiFi-Plus antennas. Makes internet available on the beach. [PRWEB Aug 5, 2004]

Shuttle Begins Slow Creep to Launch Pad
(AP)

Shuttle Begins Slow Creep to Launch Pad
(AP) 04/06/2005 08:59 PM
AP - Space shuttle Discovery began its slow creep to the launch pad Wednesday after a brief delay caused by the discovery of a crack in the external fuel tank's foam insulation. NASA later said the crack was no reason for concern.

Tips from A List Apart: Avoiding Scope
Creep

Tips from A List Apart: Avoiding Scope
Creep 09/24/2002 08:11 AM

Feature Creep: In the Year 2014, When
Man Is Ruled By Machine

Feature Creep: In the Year 2014, When
Man Is Ruled By Machine 09/01/2004 01:19 PM

SANFORD MAY -- Science-fiction novelist Robert J. Sawyer recently penned a revelatory vision of the near future for Backbone Magazine. Sawyer, like me, must have pored rapt as a child over social studies texts, paying particular attention to the renderings of deco-inspired hover cars. Heady stuff, and I for one can't wait, because of course this future will come swiftly, efficiently, and flawlessly, as the future always does.

Sawyer opines that in 2014 I will still be waking up in the morning. Sure, you think, better technology, less work, more time to sleep, but no. Instead we'll use that time to work more. Lots more. (A common human fear is that we will lie abed in our final hours lamenting all the times we could have gone to work but didn't? Technology will fix that for us.) He proposes replacing my jarring clock-radio alarm with a sophisticated brainwave monitor programmed to slowly bring up the room lights for a serene awakening. Fantastic, but I hope I can set it to stay off when my middle-aged self tries to pull a stealthy three a.m. move on my sleeping wife.

That's all I need to disrupt the domestic serenity: an over-eager brain triggering an over-eager brain monitor to spotlight my aging and unclothed ass trying to sneak in the once-a-month Bareback Cowboy. And trust me, you can't sue an alarm clock manufacturer after a divorce, either.

Feature Creep: e-Voting, Taking the
Faith-Based Initiative

Feature Creep: e-Voting, Taking the
Faith-Based Initiative 08/04/2004 07:05 PM

This week columnist Sanford May cracks open that hoary chestnut e-voting and wonders if it may be time to stop worrying and start loving the bomb. The bomb of self-rule, I'm saying.

Dare to dream of soon casting your vote in local and national elections via laptop or mobile phone, you'll run headlong into the great black wall of security issues. Indeed, security experts are lined up against e-voting, and they often present well-reasoned arguments. Yet as the Internet and devices that use it rapidly subsume other means of communication, the yen for perfect security in the digital realm is becoming outmoded. Each major step in the evolution of democracy has involved risks, obvious flaws, hidden traps, and, most importantly, the will of the people to solve the problems in the best way possible. The only sure route to the success of a democratic society is faith in the system. E-voting has the potential to greatly enhance democracy, in voter representation and a more direct process. At some point we must trust ourselves -- our talents and innovative spirit -- to create the future of self-rule.

"killer flash movie to radiohead's
acoustic version of creep"

"killer flash movie to radiohead's
acoustic version of creep" 08/06/2004 09:45 AM

Review: WiFi Seeker / WiFi Spy

Review: WiFi Seeker / WiFi Spy 07/16/2004 04:50 PM
A few weeks ago I got Chrisalis Developemnt's WiFi Seeker, a convenient keychain-sized wireless network locator. Marware's recently announced WiFi Spy is a rebranded version of the same device, so it should perform identically.

To locate a wireless network simply press the button and watch the LEDs. When the lights stop sweeping back and forth, the number that remain lit will show the strength of the wireless signal. If the lights continue to sweep back and forth, you're not in range for any wireless network. Unlike other devices, the WiFi Seeker isn't fooled by other 2.5 GHz signals like microwave ovens or cordless phones, and it doesn't depend on 802.11 client activity to detect the access point. It detects both 802.11b and 802.11g.

"Mission creep? A new bill could expand
the Pentagon's ability to gather
intelligence inside the United State"

"Mission creep? A new bill could expand
the Pentagon's ability to gather
intelligence inside the United State" 06/15/2004 12:12 AM

Chinese Patent Office Grants Fingerprint
Recognition Hardware Patent

Chinese Patent Office Grants Fingerprint
Recognition Hardware Patent 12/28/2004 11:11 PM
ChinaTechNews.com Dec 29 2004 3:10AM GMT

US Patent and Trademark Office Nixes
Eolas Browser Plug-in Patent

US Patent and Trademark Office Nixes
Eolas Browser Plug-in Patent 03/06/2004 01:59 AM

World Wide Web Consortium Presents the
US Patent Office with Evidence
Invalidating Eolas Patent

World Wide Web Consortium Presents the
US Patent Office with Evidence
Invalidating Eolas Patent 10/30/2003 12:34 AM
World Wide Web Consortium Presents the US Patent Office with Evidence Invalidating Eolas Patent .. se ha presentado en las oficinas de patentes y marcas de los Estados Unidos .. Read the briefing .. News release

w3.org/2003/10/28-906-briefing
track this site | 7 links

U.S. Patent Office Grants New Patent for
BUGS Carbon Reactivation Technology;
Innovative Biotechnology Solutio

U.S. Patent Office Grants New Patent for
BUGS Carbon Reactivation Technology;
Innovative Biotechnology Solutio 06/17/2005 04:27 PM
Investors Business Daily Jun 16 2005 1:56PM GMT

Patent Office Agrees To Check Into All
That Prior Art On The Eolas Patent

Patent Office Agrees To Check Into All
That Prior Art On The Eolas Patent 11/12/2003 01:35 PM
The latest in the Eolas patent saga is that someone at the Patent Office has finally agreed to review the patent based on stacks and stacks of prior art that people have been finding. Amazingly, the Patent Office appears to have responded quickly (though, they don't say how long it will take for a new decision on the patent) to the requests for a re-examination of the patent. There's a quote from the USPTO's deputy commissioner for patent examination policy saying that this was an "extraordinary situation" which necessitated the quick response. The problem with this statement is that it's not an extraordinary situation. In fact, it's an increasingly common situation, where silly patents are getting the stamp of approval every day - and then used to hold other companies up for extortion, rather than for encouraging innovation.

Eolas browser plug-in patent invalidated
by US Patent Office

Eolas browser plug-in patent invalidated
by US Patent Office 03/08/2004 11:08 PM
The US Patent and Trademark Office has now stepped in and invalidated the Eolas patent. The decision, if it is upheld, will clear Microsoft of charges of wrong-doing.

CyberMonday Midday: Microsoft Settles
Patent Suit with InterTrust; Wireless
Sees Patent Tech as Growth Key: Re

CyberMonday Midday: Microsoft Settles
Patent Suit with InterTrust; Wireless
Sees Patent Tech as Growth Key: Re 04/12/2004 07:26 PM
AVN Online Apr 12 2004 11:05PM GMT

Patent Office asked to review Microsoft
FAT patent

Patent Office asked to review Microsoft
FAT patent 04/15/2004 05:09 PM
Write open source software - and go to jail

Patent Office to Undertake New Review of
Critical Web Patent

Patent Office to Undertake New Review of
Critical Web Patent 11/13/2003 03:09 AM
BeSpacific Nov 13 2003 1:29AM ET

Silly Patent Of The Day: Adobe Hit With
Lawsuit Over Hyperlink Patent

Silly Patent Of The Day: Adobe Hit With
Lawsuit Over Hyperlink Patent 07/08/2004 05:05 PM
I think it's about time we came up with a new topic/icon for stupid patents. There are just so many of them these days. The latest is that Adobe, who is no stranger to abusing intellectual property rules, is now being hit with a patent over their PDF technology. The patent is for a method of extracting network information via hyperlinks. Reading through the patent, they're basically describing a system for clicking on a hyperlinking and having the system not only download the page in question, but all locally related pages linked from that page as well. Perhaps a useful system, but it seems like this sort of technology was around well before the patent was granted, and it's unclear what it has to do with PDF files.

Newly Launched Patent Database Opens
Free Search Access to IBM's Open Source
Software Patent Collection

Newly Launched Patent Database Opens
Free Search Access to IBM's Open Source
Software Patent Collection 02/01/2005 09:16 PM
PatentCafe's Natural Language Based OSS Patent Search Engine™ Accelerates Software Developers' Use of IBM's 500 Pledged Patents. Freely accessible by the entire OSS community, PatentCafe's Open Source Software Patent Search Engine adds significant value to IBM's contribution by accelerating the integration of IBM's patented technology into the marketplace, helping to foster worldwide interoperability standards. [PRWEB Feb 1, 2005]

Patent Office Reviews Disputed Web
Patent

Patent Office Reviews Disputed Web
Patent 11/14/2003 04:41 AM
BizReport.com Nov 14 2003 4:18AM ET

The Patent Office is going to re-examine
the Eolas patent

The Patent Office is going to re-examine
the Eolas patent 11/13/2003 08:53 AM

news.com.com/2100-1032_3-5106129.html
track this site | 6 links

Patent office to re-examine Eolas patent

Patent office to re-examine Eolas patent 11/12/2003 01:14 PM

Grok Description matches for Patent Problems Creep Into WiFi
GrokA matches for Patent Problems Creep Into WiFi

Patent Problems Creep Into WiFi

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