Remember when Microsoft was criticized for enabling “workplace surveillance” over “productivity scores” in its Microsoft 365 office software which gave managers highly detailed profiles of each individual employee’s activity. Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes:
The Microsoft 365 Productivity Score apparently has roots in another Microsoft patent application for Systems, Methods, and Software for Implementing a Behavior Change Management Program, which also lays…
Tag: patent
Vestager Seeks Patents Overhaul Amid Court Fights Over Cars
The European Union will seek to overhaul the system for key patents such as those that have fueled legal battles between car makers and technology companies, the EU’s technology chief said Wednesday. From a report: Margrethe Vestager promised that regulators will weigh reforms to improve the framework in place for so-called standard-essential patents and work on industry-led initiatives “to reduce frictions…
Elon Musk’s Tesla Tequila Will Run You $250 a Bottle
A Tesla-branded tequila, which is being described as a “small-batch premium 100% de agave tequila anejo made from sustainably sourced highland and lowland agaves,” is now being sold on the automaker’s website for $250. It comes in a handblown glass bottle shaped in the electric charge symbol. TechCrunch reports: The tequila first popped up in April 2018 when Musk tweeted a…
Learn how Ian Camacho successfully changed careers with the Google IT Support Professional Certificate
We’d like to introduce you to Ian Camacho. He’s a successful IT professional, and he shares his story below about how he made a career change from entertainment to IT by enrolling in the Google IT Support Professional Certificate. He explains why he was eager to make the change, and offers some excellent advice to […]
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Cisco Ordered To Cough Up $2 Billion Plus Royalties After Ripping Off Biz’s Cybersecurity Patents
Cisco has been hit with a massive $1.9 billion patent-infringement bill for copying cybersecurity tech from Centripetal Networks and pushing the company out of lucrative government contracts. The Register reports: The network switch maker infringed four patents, a Virginia court decided on Monday, but since the infringement was “willful and egregious,” the judge multiplied the $756 million owed by 2.5 to…
Slashback: How Eddie Van Halen Hacks a Guitar
In honor of legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen, who tragically passed away today from throat cancer at the age of 65, we wanted to resurface an article Eddie wrote in 2015 for Popular Mechanics. While many know him as the guitar god, Eddie Van Halen was also an inventor and patent holder who has spent the better part of 35 years…
A Utah Company Claims It Invented Contact Tracing Tech
In the fight against Covid-19, contact tracing apps have so far largely been disappointments — in the United States, at least. Proposed in the spring as a way to help quickly stifle viral outbreaks by tracking down potential exposures using smartphones, they were stunted by technical glitches, concerns over privacy, and the US’s fragmented, haphazard pandemic response. Now, they may become…
Software Could Help Reform Policing — If Only Police Unions Wanted It
tedlistens writes: The CEO of Taser maker Axon, Rick Smith, has a lot of high-tech ideas for fixing policing. One idea for identifying potentially abusive behavior is AI, integrated with the company’s increasingly ubiquitous body cameras and the footage they produce. In a patent application filed last month, Axon describes the ability to search video not only for words and locations…
Apple Researching Apple Watch Bands That Can Provide Information In Braille
According to Apple Insider, Apple is researching an Apple Watch band that could contain controllable protrusions to present tactile information on the surface. From the report: Apple has famously always researched providing accessibility features in its devices, whether or not it’s profitable. However, so far there has been a limit to what the Apple Watch can do — and its bands…
Big Tech is Suing the Patent Office
Apple, Google, Cisco and Intel this week sued the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, challenging the agency’s recent rule that it can refuse to adjudicate patent claims while litigation about them is pending in court. From a report: The companies say the rule hurts innovation and their legal rights, letting invalid patents stay on the books while lawsuits slowly wend their…