Amazon Releases 1-Click Patent Sequel 237
theodp writes "Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is seeking a patent for coordinating the delivery of a gift. The invention was bundled with the 1-Click claims in this 1998 EPO filing, but its USPTO filing was allowed to lapse. Amazon refiled with the USPTO in July, 2002--a few months after settling the BN 1-Click lawsuit." Update: 12/13 05:35 GMT by T : Ben Silverman writes "Please note that Shel Kaphan is no longer the CTO of Amazon.com and has not been with the company for over three years. I apologize for any inconvience this has caused Mr. Kaphan and to readers for the error. Mr. Kaphan pointed out my error in an email this evening." (Kaphan is identified as CTO in the linked NY Post story.)
Bad news (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Bad news (Score:1)
Re:Bad news (Score:2)
MT.
Re:Bad news (Score:3, Funny)
Sorry Tiny Tim. There won't be any presents this year. Amazon allready has the patent for that sort of thing.
Re:Bad news (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Bad news (Score:3, Funny)
On the gift delivery, or the ass reaming?
Re:Bad news (Score:2)
Re:Bad news (Score:3, Funny)
In light of this (har har), I will now patent the following:
A method for inducing cats to exercise consists of directing a beam of visible light produced by a hand-held laser apparatus onto the floor or wall or other opaque surface in the vicinity of the cat, then moving the laser so as to cause the bright pattern of light to move in an irregular way fascinating to cats, and to any other animal with a chase instinct.
--Patent #39210293874-a.1, Safety Cap, Inc.
Exercise a cat... (Score:5, Funny)
>
> (emphasis mine) Now I don't know about them, but all those years of college physics taught me that unless the wavelength is altered, "invisible" light cannot become "visible," and focusing light doesn't alter its wavelength. Therefore, this patent is impossible to implement, and therefore a waste of cash and ink.
Naw. Infrared light, such as that produced from a CO2 laser, is invisible to the human eye.
So you use a 10W CO2 laser. Believe me, you'll get plenty of light wherever the beam intersects with an opaque surface, and while I'm not convinced that "fascinated" is the right word to use, I can guarantee you that any cats in the vicinity will move very quickly.
(Note: If your cat moves towards the light, you'll need to get a new cat. But think of it as Darwin's way of telling you that you probably needed a new cat anyways.)
amazon again? (Score:2, Troll)
Re:amazon again? (Score:1)
Re:amazon again? (Score:2)
Re:amazon again? (Score:2)
Re:amazon again? (Score:1)
Re:amazon again? (Score:2)
A man of my word... yup, I still boycott them to this day.
Santa is in trouble (Score:2, Funny)
Scratching his chin again, is he? (Score:1)
Re:Scratching his chin again, is he? (Score:1)
Oh, wait... Never Mind....
Ted
Prior Art: If not Santa then the Grinch (Score:3, Funny)
Ted
Patent this! (Score:1)
Delivering gifts with one click... that's a paddling
Selling canoes on amazon.com... you'd better believe that's a paddling
Nothing new here (Score:3, Insightful)
Continue the boycott. Spread it to your neighbors and friends. That's the only currency Bezos and other megacorp CEOs understand; the bottom line.
Re:Nothing new here (Score:2, Flamebait)
Re:Nothing new here (Score:2)
BOYCOTTS do little for Patent Reform (Score:5, Insightful)
1. LEARN as much as you can about the patent system. Learn how to read patent abstracts, how to file a patent, and how patents are processesed.
2. LEARN about as many bogus claims as you can. LEARN EXACTLY why they are bogus.
3. EXPLAIN it to as many people as you can, as economical as you can, without putting them off...
4. Explain it to someone who can explain it back better than you can.
5. Learn how to explain it so well, that person whom you explained it to will want to explain it to someone else as good as you explained it to them.
6. Explain it to Slashdot
6. Explain the TRUTH, not misconceptions and misinformation littered with fallicies.
MOST OF ALL: Do what this post is trying to do. Try to encourage as many people as you can to learn about the causes they care about, rather than just shouting opinions.
You didn't honestly think that people care about your opinions more than thiers?
Re:BOYCOTTS do little for Patent Reform (Score:4, Insightful)
I didn't have a lot of time when I saw this article, and I've been in the activist seat plenty of times before on this and similar topics. Besides, this is Slashdot. Everyone here (that gives a crap, anyway) should be aware of the issues and of the many ways of making a positive difference.
BTW, I am not boycotting Amazon for the purposes of patent reform; I am spanking them for not having any character or the balls to resist abusing a broken system. I do spend a lot of time explaining such things to many people, both online and off, as I find the time. The REAL problem is that the patent system is pretty much "above the law" (well, it IS the law, but I digress). What I mean by that is that it is at least one level further removed from my control than many things the government does, so a change in it and the overall bad situation is a lot less likely to happen.
So, while I am fighting the war on the government representative front, I am also fighting it on the "abuser" front. While we wait for the (even slower in the case of the PTO and WIPO) wheels of reform to correct this gross manifest travesty, we might as well also punish those who abuse the existing broken system and fail to be responsible corporate citizens and help clean up the mess. Being part of the problem and not part of the solution is as unforgivable as causing the problem in the first place. Especially since many of those abusing the system are supporting its continued existence for their own selfish ends.
As a result, those on the wrong side of the fence in this issue deserve no quarter, and I am not about to give them any.
At any rate, I agree 100% with your list of suggestions; I knew someone would come through where I came up short.
Thanks again,
Re:BOYCOTTS do little for Patent Reform (Score:2, Funny)
8. Profit
Re:Explaining the patent systems (Score:2)
Secondly, You brought up a great point. No questions, no answers.
You can't expect people to ask questions today. People don't give a shit about asking questions, they just want to spew off thier opinions. This is deficient because people aren't asking for the information they need to make informed opinions.
So one's options are (A)Shrug your shoulders, or (B) ask the questions for them, and give them the answers anyway. (C) One could also encourage people to ask questions.
I have nowhere near the knowledge you do about patent law, or the patent process, but if I did (I'm tying), you can bet your ass I'd be in here, clearly explaining as much as I can, the best I can.
Instead... (Score:5, Funny)
Er... haven't they? (Score:2)
I'm not quite defending them, many of their policy choices have been unfortunate, though I think their actual business is run fairly well.
Yes, I'm glad it hasn't occurred to Bezos to patent breathing. ("A method of assimilating oxygen molecules into a ferrous-impreganted aqueous solution for later facilitation of metabolism.") This stuff is easy to make fun of. But it does employ a lot of lawyers in this slow economy -- and that's a good thing, right?
Hmmm.... (Score:2)
Hrm. (Score:1)
Hrm, who does this sound like: "Look at me! I own everything"
Re:Hrm. (Score:2)
In related news... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:In related news... (Score:1)
Re:In related news... (Score:4, Funny)
Patent ######
Title
Communication Between a Person Sitting on the Crapper Who Forgot to Bring in the Reading Material and the Person Outside Who Will go Fetch the Reading Material.
Description of the problem
A person on the crapper without reading material and the ability to yell to a partner who has the ability to hear.....
Amazon Patently Ridiculous (Score:1, Insightful)
thing i found strange (Score:1)
Yet then he goes and files his general common sense business practices as patents, seems like a hypocrite
Amazon patents zero-click shopping? (Score:2, Funny)
Am I mistaken... (Score:1)
If only they could coordinate Shipping (Score:3, Interesting)
One of my stronger Geek attributes is I like to have certain things on Release day. A year or so ago, I was even willing to order on line and pay next day shipping to do so. We're talking a few movies here and there, and a couple of games. Geek stuff.
Roughly 12 months ago, the formerly reliable Amazon completely lost the ability to ship these preorders on the release date (or in some cases to arrive on the release date). This was rare before that point. In the rare instance that they would slip up, they would comp the shipping (after all I'm not paying next day so I can get the item a week later). Once this chronic problem turned up, they stopped making any sort of amends whatsoever.
Amazon has not seen dime one from me since that time, and will not in the future. I spent a LARGE amount of money with them prior to that.
I'm a bit amused to see a buy.com banner as I type this, as they are one of the companies who have gotten business from me since I dropped Amazon from my list. I don't preorder from ANYONE anymore though.
Re:If only they could coordinate Shipping (Score:2)
For books try Books-A-Million [bamm.com]. They have very good prices and if you join their "Millionaire's Club" for $5/year you'll save 10%. The club card is good in their physical stores too.
Re:If only they could coordinate Shipping (Score:2)
I ordered GTA:VC months ahead of time (along with several million other people), because GTA3 was so damned entertaining. Day before release date rolls around and they're saying that they won't be shipping my copy for another week or so, thus completely defeating the reason that I preordered. Conveniently enough, ebgames.com was able to ship me a copy for release day play, as they had realized that the masses of preorders probably wanted their game on release day.
Why I Don't Buy From Amazon Any More (Score:5, Interesting)
2. Change in customer info privacy policy
And the straw that broke the camel's back...
3. Charging existing customers higher prices than prospective new customers.
3a. After getting caught at (3) once, and apologizing for it, doing it again.
We used to spend quite a few bucks at Amazon. Haven't bought anything there in quite some time. Have no plans to buy there again.
Re:Why I Don't Buy From Amazon Any More (Score:3, Interesting)
Amazon is just using the available legal tools to try to protect their original concepts from the other megacorps, there's no reason to believe that they're trying to steal christmas, charge royalties on breathing or any of the other sinister accusations that are flying around here like shit in a monkey cage.
Prior Art... (Score:1)
Not really delivering gifts but still crap (Score:2, Insightful)
It's not even basic mail correction software. (Score:3, Informative)
You want to give Uncle Jimbo a gift, but don't have his address. Rather than calling Uncle Jimbo, you give Uncle Jimbo's email and/phone number to Amazon. Amazon's automated system, will first email Uncle Jimbo for his address. When that fails, Uncle Jimbo get put on a calling list to get his address.
It's just a superflous system for getting someone's address...
Why not just call Uncle Jimbo yourself, and ask?
Re:It's not even basic mail correction software. (Score:2)
Do they really think this'll fly? Okay...while it may be cool to say "here...send this to bob at (912)-575-3900 and let them take care of the rest...really, if you don't know someones address, are you really that close to bother sending them a gift?
Seems silly.
Are you anti-social? (Score:2)
Other than anti-social people, I can't imagine anybody getting angry, because Amazon wants thier address to send them a gift? I can understand that you might object to Amazon having your address (A horrible invasion of privacy!), but other than that, what is there to get angry about?
Secondly, You obviously don't understand that there are an overwhelming number of people who don't concern themselves with petty issues like, "Do I know someone well enough to send them a gift?"
I'm not saying you're wierd, and I'm not saying you're not normal. (There are many people like you)
I'm pointing out that you shouldn't really be knocking a lot of other people when you're freak.
(NOTE: Please don't take this message personally, I'm mearly practicing the art of turning the tables and introducing arguments that don't exist. What do you think of it?)
Re:Are you anti-social? (Score:2)
Re:Are you anti-social? (Score:2)
That pretty much sums it up...
A related question.... (Score:2)
MSN makes every word in a page a link. Has this been patented too?
Do I have this right.... (Score:2, Insightful)
Come one, there *must* be a mail order industry group willing to initiate a lawsuit against them for this phony patent.
Re:Do I have this right.... (Score:2)
Misconceptions hurt chances for Patent Reform (Score:4, Insightful)
I invite you and others who obviously care about corruption in the patent system, to actually read this patent abstract. You will learn a bit of the terminology, and maybe get a little sense of what can and what can't be patented. I don't expect you guys to become patent attorneys, but if you're going to critisize a patent (let alone the patent system), atleast know what you're critisizing.
This fight to reform the patent system is rooted in influencing enough of the right people who can make the reform happen. In order to influence the people, we need to be well educated and well versed on the subjects. We can't afford these embarassing misconceptions. And I've read a lot of embarassing misconceptions.
How are we going to make everybody else easily understand our problem if we don't even understand our problem?
ridiculous (Score:1)
Re:ridiculous (Score:1)
At the end of the day so is a light-bulb schematic or the RSA algorithm. Your point?
Re:ridiculous (Score:4, Interesting)
This is the problem. You're not supposed to get a patent on something because it's hard to make, you're supposed to get a patent on it because it's hard to discover.
Both the 1-click and this are both simple excercises in using technology developed by others to do exactly what the technology was designed for.
Cookies were invented by Netscape. They store information on the client's computer. Basically, Amazon got a patent on using cookies to store information.
Bezos' defense is that "it took them lots of work to make".. well, that's what copyright is for.
Re:ridiculous (Score:2)
My deep annoyance with the current patent system is that you can get a patent on something which takes negligible work to "invent". 1-click is a perfect example. It isn't innovative, it wasn't hard to do, and just about anyone who happened to get the idea including Joe or Jane Coder could sit down and do it themselves in short order. It has become a race to the patent office for the first person to happen upon a solution. Often that translates into the first person to notice a problem.
Imagine someone creates a GOOD non-keyboard interface to a computer. I'd argue that hasn't been done yet, in spite of lots of people trying and spending quite a bit of money in the process. Patentable, or I should say *ethically* patentable. What Bozos, er Bezos would come along and do is patent *using* such a device to place an order at an online store, an obvious application devoid of innovation. Anyone with an online store and an awareness of the technology would see that solution and implement it. Most of them would implement that trivial solution without thinking of patenting it. Those who do so to extort money from the rest of us are nothing more than parasites.
Userfriendly on Amazon (Score:2, Funny)
Patented 1-click Technology Versus Public-Doman 1-finger Technology [userfriendly.org]
Patenting the idea of a "wish list"? (Score:3)
But the more general issue, of contacting the buyer if they didn't provide enough information - I thought the USPTO didn't allow "trivial" patents. Can someone explain how the idea of "you didn't tell me your credit card's expiration date, so I called to get it" doesn't count as trivial?
Absolutely absurd. The USPTO *really* needs to start actually *reading* the applications it approves. And issuing some sort of fines to companies that repeatedly try to push through complete drivel.
Re:Patenting the idea of a "wish list"? (Score:2)
They haven't approved this. The USPTO makes more than its share of truly retarded blunders, but this isn't one, yet.
And I agree with you that there should be some sort of fine for companies that try to push through drivel, but I can't really imagine how you would do that. I mean, all the corps are lawyered up in this department, and you start trying to assess those fines and they are going to put up a huge argument about the drivel. It would probably end up costing more time and money than it would save, is my bet.
Re:Patenting the idea of a "wish list"? (Score:2)
The publicity surrounding this claim might make the patent office make a closer than usual look for prior "art".
Well we'll see more of this (Score:2)
After his administration removed so many of their restrictions, they are busy showing why they need restraining.
We can expect a big resurgence of the American Left in the next ten years or so.
Re:Well we'll see more of this (Score:2, Interesting)
We "liberals" (at least those of us formerly known as "independent thinkers" and now derisively and indescriminately labelled liberal because we disagree with SOME extreme right rhetoric) never thought of regulations as entertainment, just a necessary evil --- for these exact reasons.
Wealthy people don't get wealthy by being nice. They have a right to get wealthy -- but they don't have a right to thwart any in the path of their greed, in any manner they choose.
You're damn right I'm a liberal (Score:5, Insightful)
You say that like it's a bad thing. Well, okay, the "derisively" part is, but as for the rest of it
Thomas Jefferson was a liberal. Abraham Lincoln was a liberal. Both Roosevelts were liberals. JFK was a liberal. Bill Clinton -- that's right, the President whose term gave us the longest stretch of peace and prosperity in recent history -- was a liberal. And it's not just Presidents. Benjamin Franklin. Frederick Douglass. Martin Luther King.
I think I'm in pretty good company.
It's time to take back the word "liberal," to make it a term of pride instead of shame. Liberalism is the greatest force for improving the human condition the world has ever known. Conservatism is one of the greatest forces for dragging it down into the much where it's been for most of human history. Which label would you rather wear?
Re:You're damn right I'm a liberal (Score:3, Interesting)
dude i was with you till this comment.. longest stretch of peace? he sent more military missions around the world then anyone else during his presidency.... sorry.. no respect for clinton for anything
Re:You're damn right I'm a liberal (Score:2)
Oh and the way the term 'liberal' is used to label political views is an insult to it's dictionary meaning. In Europe, liberal generally refers to free-market enthusiasts, people who want less government, more liberty for trade and citizens.
In the US political newspeak, it seems to mean a combination of libertine, constitutional rights fighter and big-government enthusiast.
Please define 'conservatist'. If you mean fascist racist bastiches who eat their mommas then sure, sure they're bad. Define it differently and things change.
Using blanket labels like liberal and conservative is both semantically misleading and insulting to the wide variety of political and moral stances out there.
I don't want to wear any label.
Unvention (Score:2, Interesting)
FTD, Hickory Farms, Swiss Colony (Score:2)
Patent Application (Score:2, Informative)
Amazon... (Score:4, Insightful)
I've also promoted alternative online retailers such as Buy.com and Fatbrain.com (now B&N) to my coworkers and friends every chance I had. On numerous occasions, this has resulted in at least hundreds of dollars in book purchases that would have otherwise gone to Amazon.com for work going to Fat Brain.
CDNow used to be my #1 stop for CDs. I frequently chose it over all other online retailers, local CD shops, and the big stores such as Best Buy. Quite frankly, they were the ONLY place that always had stocks of the kind of music I listen to which is unfortunately frequently difficult to find in America. The other day, they more or less switched over to Amazon.com with the CDNow logo stapled up front. I will never make another purchase from them again.
I can only hope others are doing the same. For all his talk about wanting to improve the patent system, Jeff Bezos is one of the prime examples of what is wrong with it and he is doing NOTHING to improve it, he is only covering his ass at the expense of others.
Bryan
We Are Lucky... (Score:2, Funny)
I guess that's why they were Wise Men.
New xmas carol (Score:3, Funny)
11 lobbiests bribing
10 lawyers lying (IANAL)
9 slashdotted websites
8 "innovations"
7 corrupt senators
6 media magnates
5 bankruptcies
4 corrupt CEOs
3 anti-privacy laws
2 monopolies
and a patent on a pear tree
Re:New xmas carol (Score:2)
Really? How do I know you arent a lawyer - if you were you'd lie.
If you are a lawyer, and are lying about not being a lawyer, then you'd be lying about lawyers lying, and therefore not lying, which would be impossible as you are.
*explode*
Benjamin Franklin on patents (Score:5, Insightful)
"As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously."
This was after being offered a patent on the Franklin Stove. He basically gave the technology away. Same with the lightning rod.
M@
Statutory Bar (Score:2)
Boycotts Do Nothing, Unfortunately (Score:4, Insightful)
When Amazon started that bullcrap, I switched all my online book-ordering to a comptetitor (bamm.com) and badmouthed them to everyone I know, as did many other geeks who were pissed about it. Then, suddenly, everyone forgot about it. Not long after, tons of weblogs once again started sporting Amazon ads on their site (cough*phpnuke*cough) and totally forgot about the patent idiocy.
This patent, too, will soon disapper from the headlines and from the minds of the people not long after.
Re:Boycotts Do Nothing, Unfortunately (Score:4, Funny)
Shop at Amazon, purchase elsewhere. (Score:2, Informative)
Amazon's online product reviews, the ones provided by customers, I find to be extremely helpul when choosing a purchase. The book excerpts are also valuable. Their site is easily navigable, searches are smart, the pages graphically well-laid out. Once I choose what I want at Amazon, I just cut and paste the product number or ISBN number into the site search box of one of their competitors, hit the search button, and place the order. An ISBN number is an unambiguous descriptor of the product, so searches at competing vendors turn up the product instantly and you get the identical thing as if you orderded from Amazon.
I do find that Amazon's site is enough better for shopping that it warrants that extra cut and paste of the ISBN or product number. One thing which does distinquish Amazon from their bargain-basement competitors is the quality of their web site design, so why not take advantage of that, and have the best of both ? Convenient shopping (at Amazon) and low prices (from discount competitors).
Shopping at amazon and purchasing elsewhere also gives the warm feeling of serving a larger good, if only in small degree. I've hurt Amazon by loading their servers just a little harder and helped one of their competitors by giving them my business, and furthermore, whithout loading their servers as I browse products.
I'm not sure how long my moral conviction would last if it actually cost me more to purchase from an Amazon competitor, but so far I've always found lower prices and good service elsewhere. For books, in my experience, books-a-million has lower prices, equivalent selection and I am always satisfied with their service. Of course, I've been happy enough with that that I have not looked elsewhere, so there well be many other good alternatives to books-a-million which I have not discovered.
Re:Boycotts Do Nothing, Unfortunately (Score:2)
Personally, I've never claimed to be boycotting Amazon. However, I no longer shop there. I take my business elsewhere FatBrain/BN for books and DVDs, CDNOW (of course, they are now Amazon so... I will be moving on) and various independant shops for my music. In general, though, I only use them for the reviews (with a grain of salt at that.)
My point... taking on a cause via a boycott turns out in the long run to seem inaffectual and pointless. Maybe we should just all take our dollars elsewhere. It's the same thing without the Cause attached.
Boycotts work great (Score:3, Insightful)
However if a large part of the population boycotts a company or product, it will work. A great example is Divx, the DVD alternative from Circut City, not the MPEG-4 knockoff. Divx was an "enhancement" of DVD that was basically pay-per-play DVD. You bought a Divx disc dor like $4 and it was encrypted. Your player would call in and get the key and let you watch it for 40 hours. After that, you had to buy more time if you wanted to play it again.
Ok, so, the movies industry loved this. Some studios decided they'd be ONLY doing Divx releases, no DVD, and many others were committing more titles to Divx or to Divx before DVD. Fine, but the consumers didn't bite. Almost noone bought it because this whole pay-to-play thing wasn't sitting well. There were a number of websites espousing the evils of Divx and so on.
The end result was that Circut City took a bath to the tune of $100 million, the studios backtracked and started supporting DVD, and that's what we have now.
Really, voting with your dollars DOES work.
Computer Security vs Real Security (Score:2, Interesting)
The two options are that
Retailers (Amazon.Com) will keep a database of e-mail addresses and physical addresses with or without your permission this can be used to coordinate your visits to multiple retailers.
A morally flexible person who knows your e-mail address but not your physical address sends you a forged e-mail that perfectly mimics a retailer's (Amazon.Com) gift notification e-mail but sends the reply to an unscrupulus individual. WOOOOTTTTT!!!! This individual will now have your physical address and can really harass you.
God forbid anything be done to prevent these types of idiotic security holes but allow a fsking winpopup message to be sent over the internet and people are storming the streets.
Quick, give us your physical address! (Score:2)
Suuuure. I'll file that one with the email offering me a free viagra substitute, breast enlargement and penile enlargement.
Honestly, what kind of idiot would use such a system to send a gift? No good can come of this.
Amazon Releases 1-Click Patent... Sequel? (Score:2)
I heard it's not as creative as the original.
Translated from "patent application"-ese (Score:2)
2. If they don't have it, ask for an email address
3. If they don't have that, ask for a phone number
4. If they don't have that, ask for a name, and use that to look up an email address or telephone number in various databases.
5. email or call the recipient and ask them for delivery information
Throw in enough "methods" and "computer systems" and somehow it becomes patentable I guess.
What isn't patentable? (Score:2)
The absurdity is that they are not patenting "devices", in this case a program, like what patents are intended for, but they are patenting the outcome of those devices. You could write any number of different perl or php scripts to implement a one-click or gift coordination scheme, and each of them would violate amazon's patents, even though they could use totally different mechanisms for completing the task!!!
It's as if the patent on Eli Whitney's cotton gin did not give him protection for his cotton separator, but for all separated cotton. It's absolutely absurd, and it's a damn shame that this patent has been sucessfully enforced.
In other news... (Score:4, Funny)
"It's a wonderful development," said the USPTO spokesperson, "we sell all our related law, patent, and trademark texts online. This invaluable partnership will allow our customers to order any of our texts with only 1-click(tm) on amazon.com. And, coming soon, our customers will even be able to send these out as gifts and get their products when their delivery address is not complete! Really, it's an amazing technology!"
Others speculate that USPTO will start out as one of the zShops on amazon.com and move up to the partnership level when their orders reach an adequate number.
Meanwhile, several consumer unions, groups of hackers, mostly [slashdot.org] terrorists [slashdot.org], are crying foul. They allege the patent system in the U.S. has been abused and needs review. These outlaws are somehow trying to link this story with the old and outdated argument that USPTO is too loose on how they grant patents.
In that discussion in a televised interview few years back, Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, while agreeing that USPTO should be reviewed was seen winking his eye to a patent officer in the audience. The intent from Jeff Bezos was apparently to calm down and feed to the hacker crowd that is known to frequently visit slashdot.org [slashdot.org] website, now under heavy surveillance from both FBI and the Office of Homeland Security.
anyone wearing clothes? (Score:3, Funny)
Customers who wear clothes also shop for:
Clean Underwear from Amazon's Target Store
Ladybug Rain Boots from Amazon's Nordstrom Store
Arm Warmers from Amazon's Urban Outfitters Store
Cheetah Print Slippers from Amazon's Old Navy Store
?????
Customers who wear clothes? as opposed to? And "Clean Underwear"? I'll pass, but do you have any soiled teenage cheerleader panties? wtf?
They were considerate (Score:2)
I will be very pissed off about this... (Score:2)
I wrote that patent's first draft (Score:5, Interesting)
I always wondered what happened to that patent, and lo and behold, here it is! It's certainly nostagia for me, but I was a pretty naive guy about patents in those days, and I wrote the draft not as a lawyer, but just as a technical guy who understand the mechanisms.
I have a very different opinion of things today, although it was clear at the time I wrote it that what Jeff had come up with was, in fact, unique, original, and significant under the way the law is still interpreted.
Mail order and Telephones (Score:4, Interesting)
My new patent... (Score:2)
One click patent approval
and I just licenced it to the patent office for $128 million.
-
Re:My new patent... (Score:2)
Re:It's a good thing I... (Score:1, Funny)
<body>Please wait while we decide whether or not you want to purchase this item.</body>
Re:Sequel? (Score:1)
2-Click
3-???
4-Profit!
Re:Automation Everywhere (Score:2)
Re:Automation Everywhere (Score:2, Funny)
oh wait...
doh! -smacks hand on forehead-
Re:FUCK THE SYSTEM (Score:2)
--
[McP]KAAOS