Patent Bending Ding-a-ling!

This sounds like BIG BUSINESS to me...

The ITC blows up the cell-phone market.

Paging U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab: Please call us on your cell phone. And better do it fast because cell phones may soon be harder to come by thanks to one of the dumber rulings ever by the U.S. International Trade Commission.

By a 4-2 vote on Thursday, the ITC decided to ban the import of any new cell phone model produced with certain microchips made by Qualcomm. ITC Chairman David Pearson dissented on grounds that the ban was antithetical to the public good, which is certainly true. But the import ban is effective immediately, and this means that President Bush, through Ms. Schwab, has just 60 days to set the ruling aside before it becomes permanent. There's an overwhelming case for doing so.

The ITC's power to ban foreign-made, patent-infringing products goes back to the infamous Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930--which ought to be a hint that this is a bad idea. The fear was that American intellectual property would be stolen by foreign firms, which would use U.S. patents to produce goods overseas without paying royalties and then ship those products to the U.S. The law was never intended to substitute for domestic patent-infringement suits in federal courts between two American companies, which is the story here.

The patent holder in this instance is California-based Broadcom, which has sued Qualcomm for infringement. Broadcom owns several patents relevant to the production of certain cell phones sold by Sprint, Verizon, Alltel, as well as T-Mobile and AT&T. In other words, pretty much every large cell phone operator in the country sells at least some phones that contain the allegedly infringing chips.

The ITC tried to soften the blow of its ruling by grandfathering existing models and applying the ban only to future models. This was presumably a nod to the extraordinary breadth of the ban: Nobody, including Broadcom, actually makes competing chips in the U.S., so an import ban is tantamount to a total ban. However, anyone who's shopped recently for a cell phone knows that the future arrives fast in that industry, with new models coming all the time.

The ITC ban is in effect a bar to innovation by these U.S. companies--a fact recognized both by Chairman Pearson in his dissent, and by the administrative law judge who originally heard the case and refused to issue a broad ban in October 2006. Moreover, Broadcom is already suing Qualcomm in federal court over these very same patents. There is thus no need for the ITC to muscle in, except to expand its own bureaucratic turf in the patent field. The ITC's separate process was created only as a way to deal with patent infringers who were beyond the reach of U.S. courts.

This case is part of a larger legal patent quagmire that now has Congress entering with its own reform proposals. Uh, oh. So far, the proposals are a jumble of good and bad ideas, and that's before the boys on Capitol Hill start mulching in earnest. Everyone from Big Pharma to federal judges and small inventors is up in arms about something in the House and Senate twin bills. The only people not howling seem to be the lawyers, who no doubt assume that any big reform will require years of litigation and millions of billable hours before anyone is sure what in the name of invention it really means.

Our own sense is that the patent system needs two things above all: better patents and less litigation, and the two are related. The U.S. Patent Office needs to raise its standard of patent quality, so that patent-holders and potential licensees both know that any patent is likely to be valid and upheld by the courts. Better patents also mean less costly litigation, because a patent that is both of high quality and clear purpose is much less likely to go to trial than one that is dubious, or too broad, or of uncertain application.

Better patents depend most of all on a Patent Office that gives its examiners the right incentives--which means rewarding them for issuing quality patents rather than disposing of patent cases. The courts can help too, and recently they have been. Last month's Supreme Court decision in KSR v. Teleflex put down a marker on the "obviousness" of inventions that ought to be relevant to patent examiners who are considering whether to grant an application.

If Congress really wants to help, it could start by refusing to let companies like Broadcom use the ITC as a legal backstop at the same time they're suing in federal court. In the meantime, let's hope Ms. Schwab uses her power to overrule the ITC in this case and save American cell phone companies and consumers from needless harm.


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What is Net Neutrality?

I just made my voice heard on the net neutrality issue. IF you value the Internet, you should also.

"Net neutrality" is an issue that will shape the future of the Internet.

Save The Internet.

NetCompetition.org

Network neutrality is the principle that Internet users should be in control of what content they view and what applications they use on the Internet. The Internet has operated according to this neutrality principle since its earliest days. Indeed, it is this neutrality that has allowed many companies, including Google, to launch, grow, and innovate. Fundamentally, net neutrality is about equal access to the Internet. In our view, the broadband carriers should not be permitted to use their market power to discriminate against competing applications or content. Just as telephone companies are not permitted to tell consumers who they can call or what they can say, broadband carriers should not be allowed to use their market power to control activity online. Today, the neutrality of the Internet is at stake as the broadband carriers want Congress's permission to determine what content gets to you first and fastest. Put simply, this would fundamentally alter the openness of the Internet.

What is the Current Status of Net Neutrality?

Net neutrality is a major issue as the U.S. considers new telecommunications laws. The U.S. House of Representatives passed its telecommunications bill, H.R. 5252, in May, without adequate net neutrality protections. Now the fight has moved to U.S. Senate. On June 28, the Senate Commerce Committee passed its own telecom bill, S. 2686. While an amendment to the bill that would have added meaningful net neutrality safeguards failed 11-11, this tie vote marks a significant political victory and gives the effort new momentum. The debate now shifts to the full Senate, where advocates will be working to get strong net neutrality language is any bill that the Senate considers.

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This weekend...

Well, yesterday i took my Wife riding and we did 3.5 miles. It was on the streets. Afterwards, Mark and I went riding in one of the new housing editions and we made some jumps out of boards and stuff. It was fun and i caught some great air!!

This morning, Mark, Mike and i went to Pocahontas and we did the Blue, Double Red, and the Red trails. All in all, today we rode over 9 miles and all total for the weekend it was about 17 miles total for 2days. We went to the Comic Book show today and i got some of the Micronaut back issue that i have been looking for and they cost $1 an issue. Not a bad price!!

Back to work tomorrow...

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Thunder Storm Last Night...

I was able to get a few lightning photos last night. i have never tried this. So, give me a few comments...











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I TB Drive...

Remember when a 2 GIG drive was BIG?

Read This!!!

Struggling for to store all those photos, videos and music files? Philips might have the solution, with the launch of the SPD5130 external hard drive, packing in one terabyte of storage.
The new drive features an ultra-fast eSATA interface that is six times quicker than USB 2.0 and a small footprint, due to it beings a single-disk unit, as opposed to the double-drive devices usually seen with this capacity. There's also a 32MB buffer for reliable transfer, an extra thick shell for quietness and a suspension system that protects from knocks.

One terabyte, if you're not sure, should store around one million photos, 250,000 songs or six weeks of uncompressed video. It will be available to buy in Europe and the US in May, priced at the equivalent of 449 Euros.

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Interview Today...

Well it happened!! What a load off my chest! I had my interview today with the Tech Sup of 300mm Automation. The other person in the interview was the 200mm Tech Sup. I got some interesting questions asked of me.

All in all i think that it went very well. I only got 4.5 hrs of sleep today, so this weekend i am off and i will get some much needed rest! I feel much better because the interview is over...

We hope to hear something back in about 1 week.


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WWWOOORRRKKK!!!

For the last few weeks, i have been working like 70+ hours a week. Can you say BURNOUT?? I am very tired and i want to go and see my wife and daughter. I have been able to see my wife about 5-7 hrs during the week over the last few, SO IT SUCKS!! I get to see my daughter in the afternoon when i get up and she is in from school. I am tired and i want to go home...



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Mr. T...

Nuff Said!!!



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Dumbass of This week...6.6.2007

Talk about your Body Mods...

If this is real, that person needs their head examined and placed in a mental institution. No one in their RIGHT MIND would really do that!!



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Men's Restrooms...

Where I work, there are about 2000 people all together working the 4 different shifts. There are Men and Women's Restroom facilities all over the buildings.

Having said that, two things come to mind. One is how come at any given time that I want to go and use the head it is being cleaned? There are about 3 restrooms that I will use because they are not very high-traffic and stay fairly clean, or as clean as they can be with so many people.

There are about 5-8 cleaning personnel that work at night and do janitorial duties from cleaning the floor to emptying out trash cans. About 2 of them clean the bathrooms. Now given that so many people use them, they can get very dirty! It makes me wonder what some of these people's bathrooms at home look like. Look at the pic and you can see that the urinal is a very big opening. HOW CAN YOU MISS?? It is like a 2 foot circumference!! With piss all over the floor it is disgusting!! They had to totally rebuild one of the bathrooms here. It was shut down for over a month. You would walk into it and smell mildew and mold. YUCK!!

I wonder how the female bathrooms get around here? I know that they do not have urinals and problem have twice as many commodes. I am sure that they are very nice and pretty and smell good compared to ours. There is nothing worse than coming in to use the restroom and have the smell of stale urine hit you when you use the urinal!! Pee smells bad enough, but stale pee, I mean, come on.

Now, back to your regular scheduled biobreak...

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Work Stuf...

Well, i interview for the 300mm AMHS position at Qimonda on Thursday at 4.30pm!! I am very excited at the prospect of getting a job here...

Keep me in your prayers...


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Moving Night Shot.

Moving Night Shot., originally uploaded by RMStringer.

I was trying to get a shot of the US Air force memorial from across the river. I was standing at the Ben Franklin Memorial and it was too far to shoot free hand. I tried anyway and moved the cam while the shot was taking. This is what happened.

Our Personal Website

Today, i got our website back up and running. The URL = www.thermstringers.com


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My New Blog...

This one will always be my Main Blog to post on. I liked the name so much"Random Falling Trees" that i decided to make a blog about it!! I will post pics of fallen trees around the area i live and work. It will be a funny, strange new blog. It will be mainily a photography blog. So, give me some time and i will get some pics up on it soon!!

What is your opinion?

Random Falling Trees...

Folks over the last 7 years I have lived and traveled all over the USA. I have been to Yellowstone several times. I have been to Devils Tower and to Mt. Rushmore. I have skied in Colorado, New Mexico, and Massachusetts, but no where have I ever lived where we have random falling trees!

We go to several parks and ride our bikes along the trails and paths. You can see that people have used trees to make obstacles to ride over and they are fun. But to go riding on a regular basis and see that trees have fallen since the last time perhaps due to wind, poor soil condition, disease, or root structure is just amazing to me.

I know that some of this is natural and it will happen where ever you live and that it is a part of the natural process. I drive down Genito Road on my way home and it is very wooded. I see new fallen trees at least every 2-3 weeks in the wooded sides of the road. We road in Powhite Park several times in the last month and there were new fallen trees on some of the trails and others that were about to fall. Way is this?? If you drive down Charter Colony Parkway and look in the woods, you will see lots of fallen random trees that I have been told were from a hurricane Isabella that occurred several years ago. It looked like some one just at random took and pulled up the trees for no real reason.

Why would one tree withstand the force and one next to it succumb to it? I mean the base of the tree about 6 feet apart. And further more, it seams like the residents do not mind that they just lay there and rot on the ground. Trees are responsible for more power outages than one would imagine. Take a good storm that comes thru a wooded area and the power lines are not cut back; there you go, a limb has just takes out a power line. Why in fact in Texas where my mother used to live, a tree fell on her car and crushed it and on a separate occasion, a big limb fell out of another tree and tore down the power lines to her house. This in turn caused the house to catch on fire and burn to the ground. That sucked!!

So in guess what in am trying to say is watch out for Random Falling Trees...

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In The Dumbass File Today...Height restriction signs aren’t just a suggestion

Trucker sheers off roof driving too-big-rig length of Lincoln Tunnel

A damaged truck rests in a lane outside New York's Lincoln Tunnel on Thursday after a driver, whose rig was 6 inches too tall for the tunnel, drove its entire 1.5-mile length, peeling the trailer's roof and ripping off decorative ceiling tiles.

NEW YORK - A truck driver whose rig was 6 inches too tall for the Lincoln Tunnel drove its entire 1.5-mile length, peeling the trailer’s roof completely and ripping off decorative ceiling tiles.Flashing signs and officers using a loudspeaker had warned the driver, and it was unclear why he didn’t heed them, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the tunnel.

“He misjudged the height of the tunnel, and once he was inside it he didn’t realize the damage he was doing,” said Roy Guzman, the safety director of the trucker’s employer, U.S.A. Logistics Carriers of McAllen, Texas.

The driver, from Texas, was charged with nine misdemeanor moving violations.The central tube of three in the tunnel heading into Manhattan was closed for about 90 minutes after the accident early Thursday, but reopened just before the morning rush hour.

On the rare occasions when other trucks have scraped the tunnel’s ceiling, the drivers have stopped, Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said. Police then let air out of the trucks’ tires, so the rigs can be backed out.

I am going to make this a new post every week.

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Red Fridays...

Red Friday's

 

 Soon, you will see a great many people wearing RED every Friday. The reason? Americans who support our troops used to be called the "silent majority". We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers. We are not organized, boisterous or overbearing.

Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast majority of America supports our troops. Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday - and continues each and every Friday until the troops come home, sending a deafening message that ... every red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar, will wear something red.

By word of mouth, press, TV - let's make the United States on every Friday a sea of red, much like a homecoming football game in the bleachers. If every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, co-workers, friends and family, it will not be long before the USA is covered in RED and it will let our troops know that once "silent" majority is on their side more than ever, certainly more than the media lets on.

The first thing a soldier says when asked "What can we do to make things better for you?" is, "We need your support and your prayers." Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example, and wear something red every Friday.

Check out the Casa D' Ice RED FRIDAY Gear on our web site. Proceeds from all RED GEAR will be donated to (a Veteran Group soon to be named after the legalities are worked out and signed).

 

Thanks to LCDC Mike Sieverson for forwarding this to me.
--
RMSTringer
+++++++++++++++

A Post About Posting...

I know that people read my blog all over. I just wonder why it is that no one ever wants to leave comments. I welocme you feedback and replies. I want you to post and let me know what you think and if I am doing a good job or not.

So PLEASE people, leave me a little comment to let me know how i am doing.

Thankx,
RMStringer
***************
Owner, Operator, Bob's Thoughts

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Back at work...

Yesterday was basically my "day off" I got home around 8.15am, ate breakfast, showered and went to sleep. I got up around 3.30pm, drank a Full Throttle and the preceded to mow the lawn. It was hot and I also had to rake the grass off our hill.

I have been in a very reflective mood over the past few days and thinking about old long gone friends that I used to have. I have moved around a lot and made friends around the country. Through the years, I have lost several long time friends.

One friend that I lost I met in High School when I was in 11th grade. He had some issues and left dropped out from his other school He came to our school from another one. As it turned out, we had many things of interest, mainly music and partying and had some common friends. As the years followed, he moved to College Station (A&M) and I went to Nacogdoches (SFA) for college. We stayed in touch and got together when we could on Christmas and Thanksgiving breaks and during the summers.

I moved back home and attended Lamar Institute of Technology and he moved to Galveston to attend UTMB. He got his PHD in Genetic Chemistry and I got a Tech degree for LIT. During this time we both got heavily into drugs and did so for many years going to Houston and visiting a friend and all forms a debauchery ensued for many years. A long a bout 2001, while he was living on the East Coast, I was in Austin, I got clean and sober which was a good thing! He and I continued to talk and chat, share music and stuff like that via the internet. As fate would have it, we ended up living on the East Coast as well and visited a few times. He had become a research scientist for a government agencies and became all mature...

He tried to enforce his morals on me and we had several arguments and did not speak for some time (we are not speaking at the present and have not for over 6 months) He wools call out of the blue, drunk or so it seamed, and want to send me gifts, Very strange behavior. And then want to act like my Dad and enforce his morals again. His behavior became very eradiate and strange while my life had become very "normal" with being married and hopping about the country with my fire and daughter. It appears that all we really ever had in common was drugs and that when that was taken away; there was really no fiber as it were to sustain a friendship. With his erratic behavior we are no longer on speaking terms. He, several months ago, wanted me to come up and visit him and go to his girlfriend’s house. I was very uncomfortable with this idea and did not.

To this day, I do not know how or where he is and I guess that is for the best. Some chapters in your life need to be closed and kept closed. This is one in my life. I now have other friends that I do much more meaningful things with like ride mountain bikes and go to movies with. Life is nice here in Midlothian if only for a fleeting moment...

Time will tell.



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Work Stuff...

Well, it seams like the whole world is going crazy! People are leaving the job I work like rats on a sinking ship. I work on Nights 2 shift. Nights 1 shift, my old shift, is down to 1 tech, so I and my work partner have to rotate in and out of that shift to keep the coverage where it needs to be. So basically, I get 1 day off this week and that is tomorrow. I have worked since Sunday night and I will come back in on Thursday night and go till Sunday night.

I work a compressed work week and 12.5 hr shifts. My schedule is normally like this. 2 on 3 off. 3 on 2 off. But with shift coverage like it is, I am working more like 3 on 1 off 4 on 1 off. Great money, but it sucks because I like to have a life also.

The only thing that will make it all worthwhile is the fact that next week, I interview for Qimonda for a 300mm Automation position. It will be much better benifits and overall package as opposed to the contractor that I am working for now. We are subbed out to Murata via ColonialWebb and their benifits package suck and they offer no support and have offered no support during the last few months. SO it will be a BIG RELIEF if I get a job with Qimonda.

What really burns my ass up is when a company talks about "customer support" and "Integrity" but it is really a line of crap filled with smoke and mirrors to make you feel like they care, but when it really comes down to it, they worry about the bottom dollar and not the person. I have worked for many contractors and a few I have really liked and they meant what they said. But ColonialWebb talk a wonderful game and look good, but they have fallen down on the job where I work...

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