* Posts by Jered

4 publicly visible posts • joined 28 Feb 2017

How do you like them Apples? Farewell sensible sized phones, forever

Jered

Alternate analysis - iPhone X

Here's a different view - those of us who would have bought the 8 (non-plussed) waited instead for the X, which is the same physical size with a larger screen. Analysts get so overheated with their desired narrative they abandon common sense....

Symbolic IO CEO insists the IRIS i1 is more than a bunch of pretty lights

Jered

Re: Perhaps this isn't so complicated

AC, this is a rather depressing list. I don't think I can bring myself to dig through it all, but let's look at... oh, application US 13/756,921. Ignomirello is trying to patent tokenized compression. You know, that underlying concept below LZ-variants and most other lossless compression.

I mean look at that first claim:

---

1. A method for storing data on a recording medium comprising:

i. receiving a plurality of digital binary signals, wherein the digital binary signals are organized in a plurality of chunklets, wherein each chunklet is N bits long, wherein N is an integer number greater than 1 and wherein the chunklets have an order;

ii. dividing each chunklet into subunits of a uniform size and assigning a marker to each subunit from a set of X markers to form a set of a plurality of markers, wherein X equals the number of different combinations of bits within a subunit, identical subunits are assigned the same marker and at least one marker is smaller than the size of a subunit; and

iii. storing the set of the plurality of markers on a non-transitory recording medium in an order that corresponds to the order of the chunklets.

---

So, breaking it down:

1) Take some data, and break it up into fixed-sized blocks,

2a) Break up those blocks until smaller sub-blocks, [an unnecessary step, but whatever]

2b) Assign a token to each unique sub-block. where at least one token is smaller than the fixed sub-block size, [mathematically, of course, this means in random data some will be larger],

3) Store the tokens.

That's basically the description of a dictionary coder, leaving out all the actual hard parts. There's no technology development here. Thankfully, the people at the USPTO are very good at stacking you up with prior art in responses, so if this gets granted that independent claim will get saddled with a whole bunch of dependent clauses like "when a self-destructing GPS card is present," or "when the moon is in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars".

But, if you hop over to PAIR (http://portal.uspto.gov/pair/PublicPair) you'll see that this application received a Final Rejection Notice two weeks ago, on 3/3/2017.

Jered

Checked the calendar...

We're still 4 weeks out from April 1 for US readers.

Does global warming mean that the UK silly season is now starting in March?

Uber's Boston T party – and T is for taxi: City's cabbies sue app maker

Jered

Pot, meet kettle

I have no desire to defend Uber, but the Boston taxi industry makes them look like saints.

We have, hands down, the worst taxis of anywhere in the world that I've travelled -- from cars where you can see the road through the floor, to extensive scenic detours, to "broken" credit card readers that magically work when you don't have cash, to drivers being required much lower insurance than everyday folks, and shell corporations to prevent payouts to those hit or killed by taxis.

The Boston industry is a shining pinnacle of corruption in a city with a long history of petty corruption. This is largely driven by being one of the few cities that has capped, transferable licenses which became very valuable indeed.

Our local publication did an expose on the situation in 2013; it hasn't gotten much better: http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/specials/taxi

So, Uber may have awful leadership, but I love being able to get a modern car that doesn't smell like a smoke-filled brothel, on a predictable schedule, with consistent payment methods, a driver who won't talk on the phone the entire ride, the opportunity for feedback, and insurance. And there's plenty of other TNCs here if you don't like Uber.

Boston Taxi Medallion owners, rot in hell. Or, preferably, jail.