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Corona Virus Fears in your area (pg. 51)
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| Lews |
| I just think people are being unnecessarily pessimistic. |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Arbiter
A lot of software patents are basically utter nonsense. For example, a patent owned by a major chipmaker claimed the concept of displaying video in the background of a computer screen while some other application remained "actively" displayed in the foreground. The patent office concluded that this patent was both novel and non-obvious over earlier publications showing another application overlaying video displayed in the background because there was no proof that the earlier applications were being "actively" displayed (I guess as opposed to passively? In any case, the office didn't elaborate as to what it thought "actively" meant in this context.) I have to deal with crap like that all the time. |
i hear a lot of the tech stuff described as patent trolling in the gaming media ie purchase an existing patent and see if you can sue someone for infringing it.
| quote: | Originally posted by Arbiter
That said, I did encounter a few absolutely ridiculous cases brought by pro se patent applicants when I briefly worked at the court of appeals. One woman claimed, in her 2008 patent application, to have invented the internet. She apparently believed that the patent office was rejecting her application solely as an act of race and sex discrimination. Spoiler: she didn't get a patent. Another applicant was trying to patent a supposedly-new cat breed. His appeal was also unsuccessful. |
:stongue::stongue: amazing. |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lews
I just think people are being unnecessarily pessimistic. |
i obviously don't have my ear to the ground in the US but im leaning in jay's direction.
i think that while more people might turn out to vote against him they'll mostly be in states which already vote blue? my assumption before COVID was that if the employment/economic fortunes of the swing states or rust belt are good, then he'll win. he is the most bulletproof politician of my lifetime because his idiotic fans genuinely don't care how many clusters of s he finds himself in. and there are clearly way, way too many fans.
perhaps things are a bit different now but i can see him blaming all economic bad news on COVID and getting a second term. i hope im wrong obviously but after 2016 i have zero faith in voters. |
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| OrangestO |
| Andrew Cuomo 2024. |
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| Arbiter |
Unfortunately the most predictive factor in U.S. presidential elections is which candidate is less boring. Trump was less boring than Hillary. Obama was less boring than either Romney or McCain. Dubya was less boring than Kerry or Gore. Bill Clinton was less boring than Dole or Bush I. Bush I, while quite boring, was still a bit less boring than Dukakis. And Reagan was less boring than Mondale or Carter.
Yes, Ford may have been slightly less boring than Carter as well, but if you need to go back nearly a half century to find a counterexample, then you're in trouble. In sum, if the Democrats wanted to win, they needed to nominate Dwayne Johnson or some such nonsense. Well, assuming we even have an election, that is. |
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| Arbiter |
| quote: | Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
i hear a lot of the tech stuff described as patent trolling in the gaming media ie purchase an existing patent and see if you can sue someone for infringing it. |
Yes that's very common. At least 75-80% of U.S. patent lawsuits are filed by entities that are clearly "trolls," and the proportion is significantly higher than that if you exclude "life sciences" patents such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics, et cetera. Often these plaintiffs are shell companies with no assets other than the patents (usually laundered through a few other shell companies), and they will make early settlement offers for far less than the cost of defending the lawsuit.
Probably somewhere around half my time is spent defending companies against those types of suits. If they didn't settle early so frequently, it would be more. |
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| Vector A |
| quote: | Originally posted by Arbiter
Unfortunately the most predictive factor in U.S. presidential elections is which candidate is less boring. Trump was less boring than Hillary. Obama was less boring than either Romney or McCain. Dubya was less boring than Kerry or Gore. Bill Clinton was less boring than Dole or Bush I. Bush I, while quite boring, was still a bit less boring than Dukakis. And Reagan was less boring than Mondale or Carter.
Yes, Ford may have been slightly less boring than Carter as well, but if you need to go back nearly a half century to find a counterexample, then you're in trouble. In sum, if the Democrats wanted to win, they needed to nominate Dwayne Johnson or some such nonsense. Well, assuming we even have an election, that is. |
So what you're saying is the Dems should have gone with Marianne Williamson?
:thepirate |
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| Arbiter |
| quote: | Originally posted by Vector A
So what you're saying is the Dems should have gone with Marianne Williamson?
:thepirate |
Probably her or Yang would have fared best, but I don't think either is quite the match for Trump as an entertainer. |
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| Zoso |
| quote: | Originally posted by Arbiter
Probably her or Yang would have fared best, but I don't think either is quite the match for Trump as an entertainer. |
This administration has been, by far, one of the most bread and circuses we've had in a long time....maybe ever? I know in my lifetime, at least.
What scares me is how another human being can be so beholden (almost religiously) to another, simply because of the political party letter he or she carries after his/her name. Christ, people, you aren't electing Ds or Rs...you are electing human beings. Flawed, broken, lazy, greedy, selfish human beings that have committed every "sin" you ever have done (or even thought about doing), and because they are a "politician" with a letter, you suddenly expect them to rise above all of that and perform miracles?
I don't trust ANY politician and have equal disdain for all parties. 'em and feed 'em fish heads. |
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| Arbiter |
| quote: | Originally posted by Zoso
This administration has been, by far, one of the most bread and circuses we've had in a long time....maybe ever? I know in my lifetime, at least.
What scares me is how another human being can be so beholden (almost religiously) to another, simply because of the political party letter he or she carries after his/her name. Christ, people, you aren't electing Ds or Rs...you are electing human beings. Flawed, broken, lazy, greedy, selfish human beings that have committed every "sin" you ever have done (or even thought about doing), and because they are a "politician" with a letter, you suddenly expect them to rise above all of that and perform miracles?
I don't trust ANY politician and have equal disdain for all parties. 'em and feed 'em fish heads. |
For me the most striking moment was watching colleagues who had ardently opposed Trump as unqualified during the Republican primaries suddenly because his supporters nearly overnight, as soon as he won the nomination in 2016.
The problem is made worse by the fact that the Democrats and Republicans essentially operate together as a cartel to prevent any other party from getting a foothold in U.S. politics. This makes it easy for them to both offer up very weak platforms and candidates simply because there are no viable alternatives. |
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| planetaryplayer |
| Omar s still hasn’t shipped me his CD after i PayPal’d nearly 2 months ago. My s smell awful during quarantine. This one smells like acidic vomit |
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| Dykes_on_Jay |
| Playing Set It Out really loud and 3 coffees usually lead to maasive one push Movement. |
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