Microsoft Patents The Task List 730
theodp writes "'Better not get too fancy with your grocery list, now that Microsoft has patented a glorified form of the to-do list.' Issued Tuesday, the patent covers the use of a 'task list' generated from 'TODO' comments in source code."
Of course... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Of course... (Score:5, Informative)
Actually it's much older than that (Score:4, Informative)
I've seen programmers littering the code with initialed comments like "FIX ME [NAME]" and running the highly complex "grep" and "find" utilities under *nix and Windows for a couple decades.
The fact that someone formatted it in a pretty dialog box is about as innovative as changing the color of your shoelaces.
The fact that anyone would apply for such a patent just demonstrates how sad and pathetic the American legal system has become as it self-destructs on a diet of lawyers and political kickbacks feeding on the very businesses that used to drive the economy. It's a shame, really. Probably no more than 10-15 years before the nation starts looking to India or Poland for handouts.
OTOH, maybe we should worry. Broke bullies with guns tend to become muggers, not beggars.
Re:Of course... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Of course... (Score:4, Informative)
I wouldn't worry about your grocery list... (Score:5, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I wouldn't worry about your grocery list... (Score:3)
For now it sounds like a glorrified form of
grep -r "TODO:' * >tasklist
Or similar.. I bet there is a lot of prior art also..
Re:I wouldn't worry about your grocery list... (Score:3, Insightful)
At the moment none of this applies to Europe, but this will soon change for the worse.
Now, where did I put my "Non-face-to-face communications" patent application?
Because it's not what they're actually paid to do (Score:5, Insightful)
And they are proud of the fact that they're one of the few parts of government that is a revenue center.
And other parts of government are hungry for their revenue.
This is one of those cases where following the bottom line is going to get you the wrong result.
Patent abuse... is a lot of hot air. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I wouldn't worry about your grocery list... (Score:5, Funny)
It's so convenient to make notes in source code. Isn't that what our computers are for, to manage our data? Compare this
with the verbose
Oh man, I need to pay my electric bill...
Wasn't it in Eclipse first? (Score:3, Interesting)
I seem to remember using the TODO list feature in Eclipse before it showed up in Visual Studio. Am I wrong?
Re:Wasn't it in Eclipse first? (Score:3, Informative)
This patent was filed in 2000.
Microsoft wins.
Actually this is a bloody good patent, one that actually makes sense and is worth patenting.
Re:Wasn't it in Eclipse first? (Score:5, Funny)
Are YOU crazy? "TODO" items must be like 98% of their code base. Here is a sample of their kernel that I yanked off the internet:
int main(){
TODO: WinFS
TODO: Trusted Computing
TODO: Network Security
TODO: Usable Kernel
bsod();
exit(-1);
}
Re:Wasn't it in Eclipse first? (Score:4, Insightful)
runs around saying "WELL THAT'S OBVIOUS!!"
Yeah, and if you were really as smart as the inventor, you'd have patented it
first.
Just like someone patented sucking dust through a bit of cloth, and now every
house has one of these wonder-machines. There was a patent filed not long back
in the UK for using two little bits of plastic to stop shopping bags slicing
your fingers off. Now *THAT* was obvious - hundreds of people were doing that
with bits of plastic and cartons for years. Patenting it makes it commercially
someone's, as opposed to "used only in your own personal little world"
There are housewives and street bums inventing shit that is *so* obvious, but
they're the only people who go and try. Why? Maybe they're less cynical than
us. When we think "it's obvious!!!!!", we tend to think it's been done before.
Maybe it hasn't. Maybe it has. You gotta check first
By the way, your comments in code are not at risk. Neither is your perl script.
Unless by chance you had them all integrated into an IDE, which automatically
detected that you were typing a TODO comment, and added it to a pretty GUI list,
let you jump to the code in question, and so on, in real time. And then you
tried to sell it.
The Eclipse method may not even be at risk, since the patent MS have filed is
quite rightly quite specific in it's application, and does a lot of things
Eclipse does not.
Neko
Re:Wasn't it in Eclipse first? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, and if you were really as smart as the inventor, you'd have patented it first.
I figure that if I can (and did) come with it independently, then it must be obvious. The fact that the inventor chose to pursue a patent has no bearing on whether it is obvious or not.
This is not a case of hearing about an idea and saying "Oh that's obvious". This is a case of lot's of people (not just me) saying "I've been doing that for years."
Re:Wasn't it in Eclipse first? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Wasn't it in Eclipse first? (Score:5, Funny)
yeah, I know. J++ 6.0. I feel suitably ashamed, thank you.
Prior Art: Eclipse Project (Score:5, Interesting)
What the hell is M$ thinking here?
Re:Prior Art: Eclipse Project (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Prior Art: Doxygen (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Prior Art: Eclipse Project (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, Eclipse and its users are in trouble then, because the patent application in question has been filed over 4 years ago. Just a reminder to every developer next time you try to implement a feature in your program, don't forget to search all existing patents and patent applications for possible violations. And another reminder to all software users - you are not immune from patent lawsuits if the software you are using (whether closed or open source) is violating other(s') patent(s) and neither you or your software vendor have a license to use or distribute the patented "technology."
Re:Prior Art: Eclipse Project (Score:5, Insightful)
This is NOT what one should do when implementing a feature in a program. First of all, developers should not be wasting time with the legal side of software. Most developers do not care for patents. Second, the moment a developer starts sifting through patent portfolios, they are both seeing a solution from the point of view of another developer(s) (or lawyers) and may have a hard time getting past this "better" option and sticking with their own, and they now can not legally say they had no idea the patent existed. I have heard before that even patent lawyers suggest that an inventor/developer not search through patents. What is a developer, a lawyer? No, they are interested in solving problems. Engineers are not interested in making things more complex (and you can not argue that law is about making things simple). Although the process itself may be complex, it is not in the interest of developers and such to complicate things. Fear is what I see in your entire post. Scare tactics. FUD, whatever you want to call it. Let me repeat, DEVELOPERS, ENGINEERS, SCIENTISTS, etc. ARE NOT INTERESTED IN COMPLICATING THINGS. They seek the truth and/or they build machines/software/ideas to solve problems or understand a problem(or event). How many great scientists/developers/engineers do you know that support the patent system? Yes, some will say that we need it, but that it is currently flawed. Yet, even they will admit that they don't have the solution. There have been economists and various other social science professionals on the other hand that are against the idea of the patent system. First you must understand the reasons the patent system was created and why it still exists. You can spout the old myths about progress due to the patent system, but I dare you to show me scientifically (or any other possible, but convincing way) that patents are directly related to progress and I'll give my apologies. I'm very sorry for the rant, but I'm tired of the ignorance behind this patent issue. It is bad enough that people support the system, but to recommend that developers go spend their time sifting through patent files? If the patent system was unenforced though, it would be a great system for sharing knowledge related to inventing/engineering/etc.
Re:Prior Art: Eclipse Project (Score:5, Funny)
Can I quote you on that?
Yours sincerely,
Ken Brown, AdTI
eclipse (Score:3, Interesting)
We just need to beat 2000 (when the patent was filed)
If The Trend continues (Score:3, Insightful)
A beuracracy of legalities to work through before your project can ever be put in the public domain and Microsoft sueing people who bring us OSS.
Navigating all this will disuade a lot of potential help, and will only stifile Microsoft's competitors.
I can't be the only one seeing this coming.
~ Jon
Re:If The Trend continues (Score:3, Insightful)
The one thing that people must remember about Bill Gates is that he absolutely can not stand competition. Period.
Actually a neat feature (Score:3, Informative)
Others may have it, but it's one of those quiet innovations MS has they don't make too much noise about. Like Autocomplete (can't run across a single browser nowadays that doesn't have this).
Yes, the first M$ appologist! (Score:3, Insightful)
Your attempt at making it seem like an innovation is dissappointing even for Microsoft standards. Where's the jargoned up spiel about M$'s new paradigms and methods? That .NET reference and the mention of different languages, as if other compiler collections did not exist is a start. Oh wait, a new metho
Microsoft Hit & Miss (Score:5, Funny)
Microsoft's latest patents:
It's a lot like submitting a story for slashdot, but easier, and way more double posts
Re:Microsoft Hit & Miss (Score:3, Informative)
I hate this false urban legend [snopes.com] because I believe it cost Gore a few votes. He never said it, and this was spread as a rumor to make Gore sound like a pompous jerk. (His personality did leave something to be desired, but get a guy for stuff he's done, not made up shit).
Yeah, he said he "creat[ed] the internet", and that's a stretch (outside forces helped a lot), but the Invented thing makes him sound like he pretended he was at Berkeley, sharing missiv
Re:Microsoft Hit & Miss (Score:5, Informative)
"I took the initiative in creating the internet".
There is no other way to interpret this. He was just trying to sound cool and it backfired on him. Note he did *not* say "I took the initiaive in allowing the internet to flourish", as snopes would have you believe, nor did he say "I created the environment in which the internet was allowed to grow". He said "I took the initiative in creating the internet".
Re:Microsoft Hit & Miss (Score:3, Informative)
Create is not a synonym for invent, plain and simple. This rumor, even though he is guilty of misspeaking, was deliberately put out to make him look stupid/snobish/(insert negative quality). And the saddest thing is that it worked.
Re:Microsoft Hit & Miss (Score:4, Informative)
"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system."
He's referring to his support for the Internet and the Web in it's early days. He made sure projects got funding and encouraged the use of the 'Net in government. Here's a quote from Peter Hallam-Baker:
"In the early days of the Web, he was a believer, not after the fact when our success was already established -- he gave us help when it counted. He got us the funding to set up at MIT after we got kicked out of CERN for being too successful. He also personally saw to it that the entire federal government set up Web sites. Before the White House site went online, he would show the prototype to each agency director who came into his office. At the end he would click on the link to their agency site. If it returned 'Not Found' the said director got a powerful message that he better have a Web site before he next saw the veep."
More links about this lovely little mind virus are here:
http://www.sethf.com/gore/
Hell, I had grave doubts about Gore in the last election--so much so that I voted for Nader. But give the man his due.
Re:Microsoft Hit & Miss (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Microsoft Hit & Miss (Score:4, Informative)
Gore Speech before the Senate in 1989
"But I genuinely believe that the creation of this nationwide network and the broader installation of lower capacity fiber optic cables to all parts of this country, will create an environment where work stations are common in homes and even small businesses with access to supercomputing capability being very, very widespread. It's sort of like, once the interstate highway system existed, then a college student in California who lived in North Carolina would be more likely to buy a car, drive back and forth instead of taking the bus. Once that network for supercomputing is in place, you're going to have a lot more people gaining access to the capability, developing an interest in it. That will lead to more people getting training and more purchases of machines."
September 1, 2000, Newt Gingrich, during a CSPAN broadcast
"In all fairness, it's something Gore had worked on a long time. Gore is not the Father of the Internet, but in all fairness Gore is the person who, in the Congress, most systematically worked to make sure that we got to an Internet, and the truth is--and I worked with him starting in 1978 when I got there, we were both part of a 'futures group'--the fact is, in the Clinton administration the world we had talked about in the '80s began to actually happen. You can see it in your own life, between the Internet, the computer, the cell phone."
Re:Microsoft Hit & Miss (Score:5, Funny)
Prior Art (Score:3, Interesting)
grep TODO *.c (of java, or obj-c, etc...etc...) (Score:5, Funny)
GJC
Re:grep TODO *.c (of java, or obj-c, etc...etc...) (Score:5, Funny)
while [ TRUE ] ; do sleep 1; grep
Re:grep TODO *.c (of java, or obj-c, etc...etc...) (Score:4, Informative)
Many IDEs allow running shell/batch scripts, and outputting the results to an in-IDE window. So yes, it could run within such an environment. In fact, I have personally used grep in such a manner (though admittedly not to look for "TODO").
Microsoft May Help Everyone In The Long Run (Score:3, Insightful)
If they patent enough simple and obvious ideas, that will make great fodder for the argument for abolishing software patents. They're going so far out of their way to stiffle competition that, at some point, the government will have to realize that software patents don't help competition, but hurt it.
(Yeah, I know it's the guv'ment we're talking about, but at some point congress will get enough complaints from everyone else that even they might wake up.)
WTF (Score:5, Insightful)
grep (Score:3, Insightful)
grep -r TODO * > tasklist
hopefully they won't catch me, this post infringes.
Have fun Novell (Score:3, Insightful)
It will be even more interesting when all of Gnome is implemented with Mono. Maybe I'm the only one who finds it ironic that a desktop environment founded because the KDE license wasn't free enough is falling over themselves to implement Microsoft technology.
Re:Have fun Novell (Score:3, Interesting)
When will that be? References, please?
The GNOME project is not Miguel de Icaza, and Miguel isn't the GNOME project, and there are no current plans to junk the C code base and replace it with Mono.
Miguel thinks there is so much prior art that Microsoft cannot shut down Mono. At worst MS can wall off the
Maybe I'm the only one who finds it ironic that a desk
Okay... (Score:4, Informative)
Huzzah! (Score:3, Insightful)
I just hope we don't destroy the economy beforehand.
Cheers.
I did this in Hypercard in 1997 (Score:3, Interesting)
The little tool was actually more versatile than the Microsoft system because I could search, list, and visit on any token (it search scripts for a string) - great for finding all the places that used a certain variable or accessed a particular stack feature. It also had a pull-down list for sorting the "task list" in several different ways. Other tools let me quickly visit "Next" and "Previous" or cull the list by deleting task list items that met different criteria.
The only thing different from my stack search tool and the patent is that my little tool did not change the script code in response to anything. But I suspect that someone with "ordinary skill in the art" could easily have do that.
New Slashdot Policy (Score:5, Insightful)
The patent is on a relatively complex system that I've never seen or heard of before. It's about an IDE tool that dynamically identifies syntax errors and TODO comments throughout your code, associates them with named tasks and gives them priorities.
It is not about the little notebook you keep next to your computer, nor about running "grep
If anyone of you out there have been working on this kind of thing for emacs or Eclipse 5 years ago, I suggest you speak up now...
I don't think we'll be hearing much.
Re:New Slashdot Policy (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:New Slashdot Policy (Score:3, Insightful)
More Prior Art (Score:3, Informative)
Sigh.
Just waiting for someone to patent the concept of Prior Art itself.
Patents, and what they are and aren't (Score:5, Informative)
A patent is a description of an invention. It covers the WHOLE invention, and the
requirement of the patent office is that the description of the invention is very
very specific.
Microsoft's "double click" patent you all keep going on about does NOT patent
the double click. It patents differentiating between different lengths of time
holding a button on a PDA, in order to start different applications or
application methods - for the sole purpose of reducing the need for 100 buttons
on devices with crap input and no screen estate.
That they mentioned the double click does not mean they patented it. They may
have patented the use of the double click when combined with time-based
selection of the application to be launched, but that is FAR from the same
thing. And as far as I know - hasn't been done on any system anyway. Personally
I think it'd be rather unwieldy which probably explains why nobody did it
What THIS new patent covers is, and if you go PAST the f**king summary and
actually read the PATENT:
In an IDE (interactive!), adding
automatically, and in real-time, added to a task list. When comments are removed
or the task is clicked off on the GUI (and possibly in combination with revision
control) you can see what stuff has been done and has not been done. In real
time. From an IDE.
Note that manually running "grep" does not act in real time as you type, display
it in an IDE or generally do anything listed in the patent.
It does not patent TODO comments merely because of their mention. Nor is it
patenting any other COMPONENT of the patented methods. Just the methods themselves
when brought to a whole.
It was also filed in 2000. People are whining that Eclipse is prior art. Sorry,
but Eclipse came about 18 months after the patent was filed.
The next time I read a "Microsoft patents wiping ass with soft paper" story on
Slashdot, remind me to explain this again. I'm sure I'll have to, because the
amount of goddamned idiots here who can't or don't read past the headline (and
that includes you, story submitter and mr. moderator) and jump to conclusions
is incredible.
Before we get started on this whole patent argument: yeah I think Amazon's
one-click shopping thing is a bit rich. But that's different, it's a feature we
can all remember using since the dark ages when cookies first arrived, the
current batch of MS patents are actually quite original thinking from people,
and generally well thought-out well-defendable inventions.
Neko
Re:Patents, and what they are and aren't (Score:5, Insightful)
holding a button on a PDA, in order to start different applications or
application methods - for the sole purpose of reducing the need for 100 buttons
on devices with crap input and no screen estate.
Kind of like the digital watch I had in 1979? Or the bike computer I had ten years ago?
I really don't understand how they got that patent. It flunks both the prior art and "obvious" requirements.
steveha
Re:Patents, and what they are and aren't (Score:5, Informative)
And converts this to a todo list idea subject=blah, with priority of 1.
It does this in real time, as you type in the todo comment. This is prior to when the patent was filed by MS. So yeah, I think this is patent law abuse. I think it is primarily the government's fault (to date, MS is apparently playing the defensive patent game -- though I may have missed news where they attempt to enforce patents -- if so, shame on MS again).
Now, maybe you can argue that MS has a better, more complete implementation that Delphi did/does. But that is the purpose behind copyright law, not patent law. Surely MS is protected adequately in such a case by copyright law. I can't pirate/steal their product legally when protected by copyright instead of patent.
U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8:
Congress shall have the power
Congress has the right (not the requirement) to grant patents with the intent to promoting science and the useful arts. Please, explain to me how granting MS excludsive use of automated todo lists advances science or the useful arts. If that's not good enough, give a single example of a software patent that advances science or the useful arts. Specifically in ways that are better than copyright protection.
Software patents are the result of a revisionist judge deciding that he (not Congress) had the right to grant software patents.
Patents must also display "more ingenuity" than the work of a mechanic skilled in the arts. Usually this is referred to legally as novelty again, I ask what is really novel in this patent.
The patent system, as applied to software does not serve the purpose to which constitutional authority grants Congress the priviledge of patents. State of the art in software advances in spite of software, not because of patents. Only real advantage that I can see in the U.S. patent system is lining the pockets of patent attorney's and giving large corp with a patent portfolio a bigger stick with which to beat up the competition.
I feel better now at least.
The Patent is not as bad as the Topic suggests (Score:4, Insightful)
Looks like MS is preparing to go the SCO way. (Score:3, Insightful)
We all know development at microsoft has stopped for IE, Longhorn is not comming along, we know MS market-share is falling, and recent
With all that cash lying around, and 'doing business' gets you problems in the EU, it might be better to change from a 'software' business to a 'investment'-business...
Less hassle, less employees, less lawsuits..
To keep it in a
Visual Studio has had this since 1998... (Score:4, Informative)
See here...
Task List Window [microsoft.com]
I've said it before.... (Score:3, Funny)
"Someday, Microsoft will patent the alphabet. And when that happens, we'll find ourselves paying royalties every time we sit down at the keyboard."
Thankfully... (Score:5, Funny)
In related news (Score:3, Funny)
Missing the point (Score:5, Interesting)
I am unsure if their claim is correct but, even if it is, it should have been thrown out as a totally obvious extension to routine, long standing software development methodologies.
The new MS - Linux strategy (Score:4, Insightful)
FYI - you are now beginning to get a tase of the new Microsoft Linux strategy.
That is - patent the daylights out of everything, hopeing to catch, snag, and delay Linux somewhere along the way. (Well you didn't actually expect them to innovate did you?)
The next frontier in liberty - Project Libertopia [inetsoda.com]
prior art (Score:3)
Seriously, how is this different? Check off the task and the source code changes. Wouldn't it be easier to just delete the comment since you're already editing the source code?
Time to dump MS stock... (Score:3, Informative)
Then there was this article [slashdot.org], discussing how Microsoft has begun making changes to its previously onerous licensing terms in favor of its customers.
Now we've seen two patents in recent weeks which seem to be the overly-broad type normally associated with companies who are desparate to produce licensing revenue, and not real products.
Combine this with the fact they have been forced to delay much new product development because they must finally start focusing on security, and it all adds up to clear indications of bad times coming for them. (Of course, they have plenty of cash to tide them over for quite a long period.)
Easy to overcome (Score:4, Informative)
Or, use emacs. That's a platform, not IDE....
Allow me. (Score:5, Interesting)
Already been done.. its an illegal patent (Score:4, Informative)
PRIOR ART!! (Score:4, Informative)
Easy... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Easy... (Score:4, Interesting)
3. Sue everyone else.
This is what they're up to. I've been pondering what it was that they've been doing over the past year or so with all these settlements of lawsuits, and now we see all these patents being granted -- they're going to bombard the USPTO in patent applications hoping that given the sad state of affairs there that a fair amount like this will be granted, regardless of any prior art.
Then, once a critical mass of patents have been built, they'll bury the US legal system and competitors in so much paperwork for patent infringement that neither the courts nor the defendant parties will be able to react. With patents in hand (legit or not), there's little that the courts can do to them for bringing frivolous lawsuits, and the people being sued won't be able to keep up with the sheer amount of litigation in either time or cost.
Then, once a sufficient amount of patent lawsuit success is obtained and precedents are set, they launch the blitzkrieg against IBM. What better way to fight a patent war than to have your own arsenal of battle-tested patents.
And while all this is going on, they'll be able to do just about whatever the heck they want, a la the bully days of the 90's. Gobble up companies, steal ideas, squelch OSS innovation due to FUD over whether or not a given product is free of proprietary code....it all makes sense....
Damn....it's just one of those things that is so obvious and so simple, yet so well hidden. It may be worth doing a lookup of pending patents with the USPTO to see what's coming up -- I'm guessing the backlog from Redmond is substantial.
Re:Easy... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Easy... (Score:5, Interesting)
At that rate surely IBM (and/or others) have patents for just about everything MS are trying to patent... or for most components of the patents.....
Is "somebody else patented that before you did" a valid argument in patent law?
IBM won't enter into it unless MS are stupid enough to take them on directly, but the little people MS are using as a leg-up for their argument might just be able to say "your patent is just the combination of all these patents, all owned by other people" - which might remove any argument they can throw at you. (obligatory: IANAL)
All that remains is finding time to find all the necessary patents. Perhaps this is a good open project: looking up the patents that cover stuff MS has patents for/is patenting. Make the info available on a web site so anyone under threat has a ready-reference of defenses, and cases they hae been successfully used in. People will still get dragged into court, but it will only take them an hour to do the research, rather than possible years.
Who knows, maybe one day there will be a ruling of "invalid as listed on the Many Silly PATENTS web site - mspatents.net"
Re:Easy... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Easy... (Score:5, Informative)
I think your numbers are just a *tad* off. Yes, they do a bit more than a patent per day. In fact, according to IBM [ibm.com], they get over 6,000 patents per year. That's over 16 every day of the year, or about 24 per business day.
Re:Easy... (Score:4, Informative)
In 2003, IBM received 3,415 U.S. patents from the USPTO. This is the eleventh consecutive year that IBM has received more U.S. patents than any other company in the world.
linky [ibm.com].
So not quite 6K, but more than I thought (almost 10 a day!) Their 10 year average is closer to 7 a day, and if you go back 26 years I'm sure it's even lower. Of course the rediculous number makes my point even more clear that fighting IBM in a patent battle is sheer stupidity.
Re:Easy... (Score:5, Funny)
Next, I hear, Microsoft plans to go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line...
Re:Easy... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Easy... (Score:5, Interesting)
What's even scarier. Not only does IBM have a massive patent portfolio... But, since the antitrust trial in the early '80s, they never, ever abuse them. They know just how much damage attracting the government's attention and earning the ill will of the techies can cause. So instead, they take the simplest, most direct road to success. They play fair.
Re:Easy... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Easy... (Score:5, Funny)
Hehehe. Sorry. Couldn't resist. But it'll be worth it even for the negative mods.
Re:Perfect Setup (Score:5, Insightful)
Remember our tea-throwing ancenstors. Corporations, governments cannot, must not control the people. This is another disgusting move to get to own each and every aspect of the peoples lives.
Remember the phrase "divide et impera" - it's used again one fringe minority each time. "No one cares about Microsoft but the zealots", "No one cares about civil liberties but the conspiracy nutcases", "No one cares about media consolidation but the art freaks", "No one cares about the environment but the rabid tree huggers", "No one can think $something but $fringe/criminal/outcastgroup_X"
Stop being indifferent about it. "First they came for the jews, then for them and for them and last for me", you remember that poem.
Ever asked why no one in Germany resisted Hitler? They always thought "it's not gonna be THAT worse, calm down!". They didn't believe the thing about Auschwitz even if they saw it afterwards.
Re:Perfect Setup (Score:4, Insightful)
And so many people believe it is the Arabs who started a kind of war with the US and that a war on terror or torturing them in concentration camps is fair "revenge" for something "the Arabs" (all 800 million of them?) had supposedly done.
Add to that the incarceration without lawyer or notice, torture, prison camps outside the borders (like many German camps back then, most of them were in former Poland!) media and population control, a "war on everything" and you're pretty close on what kind of state 1936's Germany was in.
Re:Perfect Setup (Score:3, Funny)
3. Patent Profit*
4. Rule the world**
NOTE:
*It will be unprofitable to try to make profit for anyone else than MS. Injunction, will be deposited as soon as you try to make money.
**Patent the world if required.
Be Fair (Score:5, Funny)
I'm all for the usual baiting of Micro$oft as the evil monopoly that they are but this one's legitimate.
I think anyone who ever installed a copy of Windows ME will agree that Microsoft need all the help they can when it comes to itemising the TODO list in their source code.
Re:Be Fair (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Be Fair (Score:4, Insightful)
hostname$ grep TODO *
Can I play too? Microsoft's To-Do List (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Can I play too? Microsoft's To-Do List (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Avoiding the TODO (Score:4, Funny)
This sed script to avoid this patent is released under the GPL.
Re:Perfect Setup (Score:4, Insightful)
To name a few from the last couple years:
There was the incredibly broad Eolas patent.
There was the burst patent.
There was the down right stupid DRM patent.
There were a couple hand held device patents.
There was the supposed "relational database" patent, which really offended me.
And others.
If I were getting sued anywhere near as much as they are, you better believe I would patent every stupid feature I came up with.
Yet, in most of these stupid patent cases that actually make it to court, they lose. And they keep losing.
Not that they can't afford it.
It's the principle, I guess.
Re:sigh there we go again-Prior art anyone? (Score:5, Informative)
Here you go.... From this page: http://www.marcocantu.com/papers/face5.htm
"The ToDo List is a great tool for tracking the progress of a single person or an entire team in developing and debugging a project. The ToDo Items window automatically scans the source code of the entire project, looking for ToDo comments and the project's special ToDo file. Its visual support is outstanding. I'm using the list frequently with my projects."
Re:sigh there we go again-Prior art anyone? (Score:5, Informative)
The second page of the linked article in the parent explains that this might even be technology that Borland did give Microsoft from the Delphi stuff.
Re:Oh for pete's sake ... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Oh for pete's sake ... (Score:3, Insightful)
--
Evan "Didn't read the article, don't really care enough to"
Re:Oh for pete's sake ... (Score:4, Interesting)
Ugh! Usefulness makes it worse. (Score:3, Insightful)
Of course it's helpful, that's one reason it's an outrage that it's been patented. There are lots of ways to do this and it's a common practice. Oh yeah, that it's obvious and common practice is another reason it's an outrage.
Is Microsoft now going to demand that KDE not distribute similar features with their IDE? Are posters here going to be threatened for recommending "grep TODO *.c > tasklist"? Wh
Re:Other IDEs (Score:3, Insightful)