In another interesting approach to fighting recent software (and hardware, for that matter) patents, one CNet reader has written in to extoll the virtues of the Star Trek Defense. Although less likely to win you the case than to gain some laughter (and perhaps sympathy) from the jury, the approach …

An article from WebMD announces the extension of 2003 average life expectancy in the US to 78.6 years, up from 78.3 in 2002. Women still live longer than men (over 80 years now.... see our recent article about Eartha Kitt) and there are continuing ethnic and racial components …

Wired had an interesting article about the difficulties in dealing with program licensing when the music industry is involved. Anyone who was alive and watching TV in the US in the late 1970's and early 1980's will remember WKRP in Cincinnati, a campy sitcom about a small-time radio station in …

This weekend, Carol & I had the pleasure of seeing Eartha Kitt perform at Blues Alley in Washington, DC. When she began the night, along with some racy cabaret-style songs, she also reminded us that she was now 78 years old. But, that was the last anyone thought about her age …

I'm not a big fan of show trials, like the Michael Jackson trial that just got underway in CA, but stories about the jury system are more interesting to me. Here's a narrative from groklaw by a member who was also a potential juror for the Jackson trial. Of particular …

Halle Berry this past weekend became only one of a handful of stars to show up in person to accept her Razzie award for last year's flop Cat Woman. According to an article from Yahoo! (originally from the AP), she showed up to claim her anti-prize because her mother taught …

The article in the Post Gazette (of Pennsylvania, John Gilmore's home state) provides a pretty good overview of Mr. Gilmore's basic background and privacy concerns. Ignoring for the moment the somewhat aberrant UNIX commentary, it does a nice job of explaining Gilmore's concerns and the EFF's position on privacy and …

Have you ever reinstalled your laptop or desktop machine because Windows just isn't happy with the world and you think it would be better to get a fresh start? Well, if you need to do that and don't want to wait in a hold-queue forever, you probably should take care …

This might have been better posted to the HAM forum, but it has some amusing cross-over appeal. A plea for help on MacFixIt about a Macintosh that turned off whenever an ICOM two-way radio was keyed elicited a knowledgeable response (same page) that indicated that the problem was actually the …

Here's a great use of low tech: according to an article from the Boston Globe, MassHighway (the state highway department in Mass.) is using large curtains to keep people from seeing the results of accidents, thus keeping traffic moving.

An article from CNet claims that Cablevision has exceeded 270,000 VOIP customers on its cable network. Meanwhile, Time Warner (another cable provider) has announced that they are going after the business VOIP market by providing lines to customers with their own PBXs.

Well, you know the "nannycam", which is aimed at stopping abuse of children by babysitters through having their actions watched via video (and sometimes even the net). What's good for the young is apparently good for the old, or so think some lawmakers in Arkansas. According to reports from the …

An interesting interview this morning with Bruce Chizen, CEO of Adobe on CNet goes into some of Adobe's strategy for staying profitable and relevant. Unlike some large computer software manufacturers, they are focused on growth through innovation and quality, and it's hard to argue with their success. In the interview …

As reported in this article from ARS Technica, the DMCA lawsuit by Lexmark against a producer of chips to work-around Lexmark's toner reuse hack is not progressing well. It may be the first sign of a serious crack in the much-vaunted DMCA protections for everything from software to toner.

OK, the source may be questionable, but at least one list looks reasonable. The top 10 party schools does include: #3 University of Wisconsin-Madison #5 Ohio University #6 Florida State University #9 University of Colorado-Boulder Of course, you have to question any party school list that omits SIU (Southern Illinois …

For those into cryptography, you are probably anxiously wondering what "broken" means in this context. For those who aren't, you're probably wondering what SHA-1 is and why you should care. If you're in the latter group, bear with me a moment, while I speak to the former. Broken means that …

According to reports from everywhere, Tim Barnett of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD has presented a new paper at the annual AAAS (American Academy for the Advancement of Science) conference showing new and supposedly conclusive evidence of the human component of global warming. Details are scant at this point …

According to an article from the Washington Post, the Virginia Assembly has rejected another 5 bills aimed at extending red light cameras for beyond their expiration in July of this year. Proponents of the extension argue that the cameras cut side-impact collisions at traffic lights. Opponents argue that they increase …

A breast cancer survivor who found her cancer using a breast self-exam has launched a campaign promoting the practice called "Feel Your Boobies." She hopes that this direct approach will get more women, especially young women, to pay attention and take self- exams seriously. Diagnosed at the age of 33 …

I've seen a lot of these top 100 lists, but this one has some real legs to it. Mobile PC magazine has its list of Top 100 Gadgets of All Time, and they really include gadgets dating back before the sextant. Of course, there's a lot of taint toward the …