text:
Cowrie shells, strips of leather, huge stone discs, decorated rectangles of paper. They all share something in common: at one time, people used them as currency. In 2009, when Bitcoin went live, ones and zeros were added to the list. And like each new format that preceded it, this digital currency has changed a few of money's core concepts, including who controls it and how and where it gets spent.
Nowadays Bitcoin adopters are providing some clues about the benefits of a decentralized, anonymous, digital currency. For instance, independent merchants use it to receive online payments directly from customers, WikiLeaks uses it to dodge financial barricades, and drug users use Bitcoin to shop anonymously on the Internet's black market. But not everything works smoothly. The system lacks a quick way for people to trade in their physical cash for Bitcoins. Foreign currency exchanges don't deal in Bitcoins, and finding someone to sell them in person remains a huge challenge. A few of the online exchanges that do exist have lost huge amounts of their customers' Bitcoins to hackers—a combined sum now worth over one million dollars—whereas the more stable ones require users to self-identify in a way that undermines the network's anonymity. And although the number of merchants using Bitcoin is growing, one still can't find very many places to spend them. At a conference this month in London, Bitcoin's core developers and many of those who are building applications to make it more user-friendly confronted the currency's setbacks of the past year and planned a course forward intended to elevate it from a niche technophile currency into one that competes with physical money on all levels.
"'It's a challenging project, but it's one that's going to change the world. So that's why we're all here,"' said Jeff Garzik, one of Bitcoin's lead developers.
How it works
Imagine sending money over the Internet as easily as sending an e-mail—any amount, any time, to anywhere in the world—just as though you're standing next to a person and handing them cash. This was never possible before Bitcoin.
The name, Bitcoin, is slightly misleading as there are no real coins involved. In fact, it's a publicly shared ledger that keeps track of transactions among different accounts. The task of updating the ledger falls to whichever computers (referred to as nodes) happen to be running the Bitcoin software at any given time—a role that is completely voluntary.
Anyone can participate at this level once they've downloaded the Bitcoin software and purchased "coins"—usually from an online exchange. The price they pay for them depends entirely on how the market values them from one day to the next. When Bitcoin users want to transfer their money to another account, they send an encrypted request to the network, identifying the involved parties by random strings of letters and numbers rather than by name. In order to verify the transaction and update the ledger, one of the nodes must come up with the solution to a difficult mathematical problem called a "'hash function,"' which takes the raw data from the transaction request and reduces it into a new string of data with a shorter, fixed length. A computer can only settle on the solution by trial and error, making multiple random guesses until it works. Once completed, this work is prohibitively difficult to reproduce and, in effect, time stamps the transactions as they come in so that no one can work backward on the chain. The first node to solve the puzzle broadcasts its solution to all of the other nodes, which then agree on the new version of the ledger. In this way, control over the ledger is spread over the entire Bitcoin network.
To the network, all of this looks like a long chain of transactions, reassigning ownership of an arbitrary unit called a Bitcoin. What users see depends on which applications they run to access the Bitcoin network. In general, the interface allows users to open any number of new anonymous accounts and then receive and send Bitcoins to and from any other account. A person who owns Bitcoins really just owns a cryptographic key used to access a specific account.
The computers that maintain Bitcoin guzzle electricity, enough so that many people admit to running them at work instead of at home to shift the cost (many people rely on specialized GPUs and multiple units to run the software, such that power bills can noticeably increase). They are driven by an incentive. Every time a computer seals a block of transactions with a hash function, Bitcoin software creates 50 new coins and assigns them to the owner's account. This is how new currency is issued in the first place.
Given that Bitcoin transactions occur in public, it's easy to measure the level of participation. According to Garzik, Bitcoin is expanding faster than it ever has since its birth three years ago. More than 60 trillion Bitcoins bounced between accounts since the beginning of this year, constituting nearly five million transactions, which is more than twice the number of transactions processed in 2011.
Ever so slowly, merchants seem to be warming up to Bitcoin, according to Tony Gallippi, whose company, Bitpay, provides mobile checkout services to companies that want to accept Bitcoins. "I went to the Prague conference in November 2011 and we had about 100 merchants," he says. "We have about 1,100 now."
Very few merchants deal only in Bitcoin. Most—for example, a massage therapist in Vancouver, a guitar shop in New Hampshire and 18 craftsmen in the Etsy marketplace—list Bitcoin alongside the standard payment options. When they finalize a deal in Bitcoin, they do so knowing that the transaction can never be reversed. The Bitcoin network doesn't edit its ledger. As such, merchants no longer have to worry whether they are charging a stolen credit card.
"'The fraud mitigation is big for Internet merchants, because they are all handling card-not-present transactions. And the business has to eat the loss if the payment is reversed later on,"' Gallippi says. "'Using Bitcoin, a business can receive a payment from any country on the planet, instantly, with no risk of fraud."'
Underworld and legitimate uses
For others, Bitcoin has become a lifeline.
In December 2010, soon after WikiLeaks uploaded 251,287 leaked U.S. embassy cables to its site, VISA, MasterCard, PayPal, Bank of America and Western Union united to embargo the group, refusing to carry out its transactions. According to WikiLeaks, the blockade, which continues today, choked off 95 percent of its donation stream. The activist group has been able to restore donations, in part, by accepting Bitcoin. As of September 30 WikiLeaks was holding the equivalent of $12,000 in its public Bitcoin address.
"'It's important to them. At least they have one way of getting donations,"' says Birgitta Jónsdóttir, a member of the Icelandic parliament and a co-producer of the WikiLeaks's Collateral Murder video (which chronicles two 2007 U.S. Army helicopter air strikes in Baghdad that killed two Reuters war correspondents and several probably unarmed men), who spoke in favor of Bitcoin at the conference.
It would seem that Bitcoin has a little something for everyone: You can send money overseas to your kid in college without paying wire fees. You can anonymously fund activist institutions. You can buy drugs (legal and illegal pharmaceuticals as well as recreational ones). But first you have to have some to spend. And right now, getting a hold of Bitcoins is much harder than the people who advocate the currency would like it to be.
Many of the smaller online exchanges where customers purchase their account value have fallen prey to hackers who broke in and stole the Bitcoins users were storing on the site. This summer Bitcoinica lost over $400,000 in Bitcoins to hackers, and early this month another exchange called Bitfloor closed down as it sought to rebound from $200,000 in stolen funds.
The large exchanges that remain have responded to the crises by collecting personal details from their clients as a defense, a practice that many in the community say undermines the whole point of having an anonymous currency. Frank Braun, an IT security consultant and self-described privacy extremist, confronted the problem by urging people at the conference to open new over-the-counter exchanges.
But it may also be possible to build an exchange that is as anonymous and decentralized as the Bitcoin network itself. In his talk in London, Mike Hearn, another core Bitcoin developer, proposed a peer-to-peer currency exchange that would link trusted buyers and sellers online and then leave them to sort out payment details amongst themselves. The system would require no central repository of money, eliminating the target for hackers. Nor would the system collect private details about the users, working from the same string of letters and numbers as the Bitcoin protocol.
But perhaps most consequential for the future of Bitcoin—in order to shut down a peer-to-peer currency exchange, one would have to terminate every node on the network. The few lawyers who have studied Bitcoin all agree that the currency inhabits a legal gray area. No one really knows how governments would react if it gains traction, but many consider the exchanges to be the easiest target for people who want to regulate Bitcoin. Decentralizing the exchanges would make that job nearly impossible.
Bitcoin developers are quickly proving that they can design decentralized alternatives to even the most sophisticated financial institutions. But some are building applications that use money in ways that had never before been possible in the digital world.
Chris Raggio, a programmer in Mississippi, is working on a digital alternative for the common tip jar. The collection "vessel" would be a wall poster embedded with an NFC (near-field communication) chip, which could be programmed to accept Bitcoin donations. Unlike similar payments with PayPal or credit cards, one could make small donations without a fee, right on the spot, just like throwing a quarter in a jar. "'We hear all this talk that we're going to a cashless society," Raggio says. "Maybe we are and maybe we aren't. But if we are, we're going to need something like this to protect that money jar."'
Similar applications are being built to facilitate micro-payments on the Internet and, if successful, they could reduce the extent to which content providers now depend on advertising revenue. Such applications could aid in inviting new users to participate in the Bitcoin economy. None of them have arrived yet, but many people are writing them, often quitting steady jobs to do so.
At the end of his speech, Garzik rallied for the currency and asked for patience over the long haul. "'How long did it take to create the euro, implement the euro, widely distribute the currency, widely distribute the cash registers, point-of-sales systems—all of that stuff,"' he asked. "'It took years and years. And so one cannot reasonably expect Bitcoin to be an immediate success in two years."'


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Get Great Promotion With Social Media
|Written by Administrator
Public Relations expert Annie Jennings explains how to get great publicity and promotion using the Social Media networks. Marketing and branding success can be achieved through an effective social media marketing strategy. Depending on the strategy used, Facebook or Twitter or other social media tools can be utilized to communicate with potential consumers or partners. As for Facebook, in the present time, it is the greatest tool to communicate with buyers and consumers, even if a business does not have a website.
The successful Social Media Internet Marketing is becoming a valued commodity for businesses. A smart marketer knows where to find such sites and how to integrate the usage of them for optimal performance. The most important factor of marketing is solely based on time. If it is utilized correctly, the combination of particular social sites will propel a business. But it can be confusing as well.
Be sure to set your mind to doing the research to find great ideas from the professionals on social media strategy and publicity branding for promotion, book marketing and author PR with #1 NYC publicist, Annie Jennings PR using social media. Once you know how to get publicity using social media works, you will love it. There are lots of strategies so be sure find the one for you. Find out how to use author marketing and branding publicity strategies with Annie Jennings PR for your great success.
The use of social sites is mainly a marketing technique. Marketers will stay updated on the latest websites that gain such recognition.
To begin with, Facebook and Twitter have millions of users. Facebook claims to have about 300 million and Twitter has not made public of their user numbers, but it over 50 million apparently.
Some people refer to this as a type of viral marketing but if used properly, it will not be considered black hat techniques. It is important to retain white hat values because after all, to the marketer, reputation is everything. Rules and regulations will have to be followed in order to refrain from having accounts suspended or even banned.
Features that have the capacity to keep track of others and for others to keep track of you is a godsend. For many people who have a website, they can market it in Facebook and Twitter. The search bars that are existent in the medias, is best compared to Google search. Pretty soon, they may have their own search engine.
Social Media Internet Marketing entail strategies that are used to gain a standing position in a crowd. Facebook has the Wall and Twitter has the Tweets. They are both simple tools to make sure all information is updated and processes. Users are know to create a business in Facebook and Twitter instead of investing a lot of money into a website.
Get lots of influential resources on social media and publicity branding for promotion, book marketing and author PR with #1 NYC publicist, Annie Jennings PR. Understand how to use author marketing and branding publicity strategies with Annie Jennings PR.

subset: commoncrawl


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Brayan Villarreal hands Giants the win with bases-loaded walk in 9th
SAN FRANCISCO -- Unable to produce a clutch hit, the San Francisco Giants still found a way to win.
Brayan Villarreal walked Marco Scutaro with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, handing the Giants a 3-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night.
The Giants squandered numerous opportunities early in the game, going 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, but they tied it in the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly in foul territory and used two walks and a hit batsman to win it.
"We have been on the other end of these games," manager Bruce Bochy said. "You take it any way you can get it. This was a good one."
Roger Kieschnick started the winning rally with a one-out single against Franklin Morales (2-1) for his third hit of the game. The Giants loaded the bases with two outs when Morales walked Andres Torres and hit pinch hitter Hector Sanchez on the left wrist.
"We started out the inning in pretty good shape, and then seemingly in a matter of about seven or eight pitches, it looked like Franklin lost the strike zone a little bit and leaves us in a tough spot with two outs," Red Sox manager John Farrell said.
With Brandon Workman having pitched the past two days, Farrell gave Villarreal his first appearance with the Red Sox. Villarreal was acquired from Detroit in a deal last month and was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket on Monday.
He made a poor first impression, throwing four straight balls to Scutaro. Giants hitting coach Hensley Meulens told Scutaro that Villarreal had control problems before the at-bat, and that proved true. Villarreal has walked nine of 29 batters he has faced this season, including two with the bases loaded.
"When he told me that, I wanted to make sure I looked for my pitch and not be too aggressive," Scutaro said.
He did just that, giving the defending World Series champion Giants a rare reason to celebrate.
"It's nice to win one like this because we have been on the other side of them," said starter Ryan Vogelsong, who allowed two runs in seven innings. "When you play a tough game like that and things aren't going your way ... it's good to come out on the winning end of it."
The Red Sox couldn't hold a 2-0 lead and lost for the fifth time in seven games to fall percentage points behind Tampa Bay for the lead in the AL East.
Sergio Romo (4-6) pitched a perfect ninth for the win.
After twice failing to get a runner in from third with no outs, the Giants finally delivered in the eighth inning to tie the game.
Scutaro reached on a one-out single and went to third on Brandon Belt's single against Junichi Tazawa. Buster Posey then hit a high fly down the right-field line that Shane Victorino caught in foul territory. Scutaro scored easily on the sacrifice fly, but Tazawa escaped without any further damage to keep the score tied at 2.
"No second-guessing, guys. I let that ball fall and he hits a three-run homer, then what are you guys going to say?" Victorino said. "When I was on the move over there, I told myself catch the ball and try and get in the best position I could to make the throw."
Victorino helped give Boston the lead when he hit a rare right-handed homer off a righty pitcher. The switch-hitting Victorino is unable to bat left-handed because of an injured left leg. But that did not bother him when he led off the third inning with a drive to left that made it 2-0.
It was just the second time Victorino had hit a right-handed homer against a righty in his career, also doing it against knuckleballer R.A. Dickey on Sept. 24, 2010, according to STATS LLC.
It looked as if that 2-0 lead would stand up when Jake Peavy escaped jams in the fourth and fifth innings. Belt, who had three hits, was stranded after a leadoff triple in the fourth when Posey grounded out and Peavy struck out Hunter Pence and Brandon Crawford.
The Giants scored their first run of the series when Kieschnick led off the fifth with a single and scored on Joaquin Arias' triple. But San Francisco couldn't get the equalizer when Vogelsong, Gregor Blanco and Scutaro followed with groundouts.
Game notes
SS Xander Bogaerts (20 years, 323 days) became the youngest position player to appear in a game for Boston since Dwight Evans (20, 318) in 1972. He went 0-for-3 and stranded five runners. ... San Francisco 3B Pablo Sandoval was scratched because of a sore back. ... Boston RHP Clay Buchholz (neck and shoulder) threw 46 pitches in a simulated game and is set to make a rehab start Sunday. Farrell said he would like Buchholz to get three rehab starts, but he might get only two depending on the minor league schedule. ... LHP Barry Zito (4-8) makes his first start of the month for the Giants in the series finale Wednesday after Chad Gaudin was placed on the DL. Felix Doubront (8-6) goes for Boston.
BOS Wins 2-1
Game Information
- Umpires:
- Home Plate Umpire - Mike Everitt
- First Base Umpire - Dan Bellino
- Second Base Umpire - Bruce Dreckman
- Third Base Umpire - Tim Welke
2023 American League East Standings
2023 National League West Standings
|Los Angeles
|San Francisco
|San Diego


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This article originally appeared in the Harvard Business Review
As more and more companies face disruption from globalization, new technology, and startups that have more capital than the incumbents, the continuing cry from Wall Street investors is, "Why can't companies be as innovative as startups?"
Here's one reason why:
Startups can do anything.
Companies can only do what's legal.
Startups can do anything
One of the unheralded advantages of a startup is what at first glance appears to be its weakness. Initially, a startup has no business model and no market share to defend. Its employees and investors don't depend on an existing revenue stream. If they select a business model that targets industry incumbents, they don't have to worry about upsetting existing customers, partners or distribution channels.
Yet those very weaknesses give startups an overwhelming advantage in innovation. Startups can try any idea and any business model—even those that are on the surface patently illegal.
At times laws and regulations are in place for the health and safety of consumers. But often the legal obstacles confronting startups have been put in place by companies that look to the government and regulators as their first line of defense against new market entrants. (Existing companies also use network effects of monopolies/duopolies, distribution channel kickbacks, etc., to stifle competition.)
In the past, these anti-innovation tools were sufficient to keep new entrants out. But today, investors realize that companies that depend on regulation and artificial market constraints are actually vulnerable. Once presented with an alternative to the status quo, customers who have been locked into rent-seeking companies flock to innovative startups with business models that provide better service, lower prices, etc. Enormous financial returns are available to startups taking on incumbents, regulators and the law. So, startup investors comfortable making a risk capital bet are actively encouraging startups to go after large, static industries that look prime for disruption.
Here are some of the most visible examples.
Uber – current valuation >$70 billion – knew the day they started that their ridesharing service violated the law in most jurisdictions. Carrying passengers for payment, historically considered commercial use, was regulated in most cities. In addition, some cities put an artificial limit on the number of taxi operators by requiring them to buy medallions and agree to a set of local regulations. Uber ignored all of these requirements and reinvented local transportation by offering a more convenient service. Today, New York City has 13,587 yellow-taxi medallions and more than 50,000 Uber and Lyft cars.
PayPal – acquired by eBay three years after it was founded for $1.5 billion – started as a money transfer system for buyers and sellers on eBay. Banks protested that PayPal was an unregulated bank; and of course, are regulated by the federal government and states. As PayPal grew, incumbent banks forced it to register in each state. Ironically, once PayPal complied with state regulations by registering as a "money transmitter" on a state-by-state basis, it created a barrier to entry for future new entrants.
Airbnb – current valuation $31 billion – allows people to rent out their homes, rooms or apartments to visitors. Not surprisingly Airbnb violates local housing laws and regulations in many cities. None of the renters pay hotel or tourist tax. Every Airbnb rental is a lost night of revenue for hotels that hate it. The company has more rooms available then any hotel chain.
Tesla – current valuation $50 billion – sells cars directly through its own distribution channel. To protect auto dealerships in the 1920s, direct sales by an automobile manufacturer were made illegal in most states in the U.S. Because Tesla believed that existing auto dealers would have no incentive to sell electric cars, they created an alternative option for consumers.
Companies can do anything legal
In the 20th century companies worried about increasing their market share, profit margins, return on investment and return on net assets. They tenaciously protected their existing markets from other existing companies that were using the same business model. They very rarely worried about disruption from new firms as the barriers to entry (financial, legal, regulatory) were so high.
Ironically once companies become locked in their entrenched market positions, it became difficult for them to compete by breaking the same laws or untangling their existing channel relationships. In contrast to startups, companies are constrained by local, state and federal laws and regulations. The risk of breaking laws can result in large penalties and shareholder lawsuits. The Justice Department and State Attorneys General find large companies attractive targets.
As a consequence, one of the roles of the legal department in large corporations is to protect the company from straying into any legal or regulatory danger. (For example, when Volkswagen discovered their diesel cars couldn't pass U.S. pollution standards, it faked the tests by programming cars to pass inspections. However, in normal driving these cars put out over 40 times the allowed nitrous oxide pollutants allowed by law. After it was discovered, legal penalties cost Volkswagen $18 billion and several indicted executives.)
Yet trying to stay within the legal lines companies paint themselves into a corner by creating their own internal barriers to innovation. Instead of innovating, most industries being disrupted turn to litigation.
To compete with Tesla's direct sales to consumers, GM, Ford, and the rest of the auto industry either have to shut Tesla out of selling directly to consumers or they have to abandon their own dealer networks and sell directly as well. It's an untenable and unsustainable position as consumers find car salesmen to be one of the least trusted groups. To defend their dealer network, car makers decided to litigate instead of innovating.
Taxi companies needed to start copying Uber's business model but instead they turned to lobbyists and legislation to convince cities that deregulated ridesharing was a bad idea.
Hotel chains burdened with even a greater capital investment in their physical buildings are doing the same thing.
Corporations using existing business models have people, processes and revenue goals that can't be changed overnight. These incumbents tend to have short-term goals and incentives (stock price, quarterly earnings, year-end bonuses) and often fail to recognize that more money can be made on new platforms and new distribution channels. In each case litigation versus innovation is seems obvious choice.
What can a company do?
The introduction of new technology has always been disruptive to existing markets, particularly to those who sell through well-established distribution channels and have extensive capital equipment and fixed investments. But today, as disruption happens faster, and is funded at enterprise scale, companies need to figure how to create a portfolio of innovation. They can do so by first identifying technology trends with innovation outposts located in technology centers; second, by investing in early-stage disruptors; third – buying disruptors and keeping their innovation culture and people; while fourth, creating an innovation culture internally that disrupts their own business model before others do.
Filed under: Corporate/Gov't Innovation |


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Will Section 5 survive? The Shelby v. Holder argument in Plain English (with audio)
on Mar 6, 2013 at 8:54 pm
On Wednesday morning, the Court spent seventy-six minutes – well more than the one hour originally allotted – deliberating the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which requires states and local governments with a history of discrimination to get permission from the federal government before making any changes, no matter how small, to their voting procedures. (I previewed the issues in the case last week.) By the time the Justices left the bench that day, it seemed almost certain that five of them would vote to put a halt to Section 5 as it currently operates.
First up on Wednesday morning was lawyer Bert Rein, representing Shelby County in its challenge to the statute. He began by reminding the Court of its 2009 decision in Northwest Austin Municipal Utilities District No. 1 v. Holder, in which it acknowledged that "the South had changed" and "questioned whether current remedial needs justified" the costs – both financial and to the jurisdictions' autonomy – of the preclearance requirement. But Justice Sonia Sotomayor quickly jumped in, observing that even if the South as a whole has changed, Shelby County itself has not. Because Shelby County's track record of discrimination at the polls remains poor, she suggested, it "may be the wrong party bringing this" case.
That comment was the first in a series from the Court's four more liberal Justices, who may well have believed that their colleagues were poised to strike down all of Section 5 and were hoping to stave off such a decision on the ground that even if it may not be needed in all of the jurisdictions that must comply with it, it is still needed in Shelby County. Therefore, the thinking goes, Shelby County has no right to challenge the law as it applies to all of those jurisdictions. Justice Elena Kagan agreed with Sotomayor, telling Rein that, under any formula that Congress could come up with to cover jurisdictions that continued to discriminate, Alabama would still be covered. But this line of reasoning did not necessarily find much support among the other Justices: although Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is often regarded as the Court's "swing vote" in high-profile cases, asked one question that some have interpreted as showing some sympathy for this position, the Chief Justice later emphasized that "Shelby County is just challenging the formula as it applies to" it.
Another theme to which the Justices repeatedly returned at oral argument boiled down to whether Section 5 had done its job and was no longer needed now that the kinds of problems that Congress had originally used to identify the jurisdictions that should be covered by Section 5's preclearance requirement – for example, poor records in voter registration and voter turn-out for African Americans when compared with whites – have largely been eliminated. Moreover, who gets to make that decision: Congress or the courts?
On the first question – whether Section 5 was still necessary – some of the Court's more liberal Justices were emphatic that even if voter registration and voter turn-out rates have improved in the states covered by Section 5, there is still discrimination at the polls in those states. Justice Sotomayor asserted that "Section 5 was created . . . because states were moving faster than" litigation could catch up with new kinds of discrimination; "[a]s the courts struck down one form, the states would find another." Justice Kagan echoed this sentiment, telling Rein that, when Congress decided to renew Section 5 in 2006, it compiled a very substantial record and concluded that "although the problem had changed, the problem was still evident enough that the Act should continue." Justice Ginsburg made the same point: "Congress said up front: We know that the registration is fine. That is no longer the problem. But the discrimination continues in other forms."
The Court's more conservative Justices saw things through a very different lens. They focused on voting problems in states and local governments that are not required to comply with Section 5's preclearance requirement, and the perception of injustice that results when jurisdictions with arguably better records are still required to comply. So when Solicitor General Don Verrilli began his oral argument by emphasizing that when Congress extended Section 5 in 2006, it had before it "a very substantial record . . . of continuing need" for the preclearance provision, the Chief Justice peppered him with a series of questions about voter registration and voter turn-out statistics indicating that Mississippi – which must comply with the preclearance requirement – has a better record than Massachusetts, which is not required to do so. And Justice Alito asked skeptically whether changes in polling places – which the United States cited as an example of a modern, potentially discriminatory practice for which Section 5 preapproval should be required – were actually "a bigger problem in Virginia [which is covered by the law] than in Tennessee [which is not], or it's a bigger problem in Arizona [covered] than Nevada [not covered], or in the Bronx [covered] as opposed to Brooklyn [not covered]."
On the question of who should decide whether Section 5 has done its work and run its course, there were different views here too. In response to a question from Justice Kagan, Bert Rein suggested that although "Congress can examine it [and] . . . make[] a record," "it is up to the Court to determine whether the problem indeed has been solved." This led Justice Kagan to express surprise: "Well, that's a big, new power that you are giving us . . . we have the power now to decide whether racial discrimination has been solved? I did not think that that fell within our bailiwick." Solicitor General Verrilli, by contrast, told the Court that it should defer to Congress's determination that Section 5 is still necessary because Congress is better at making these kinds of judgments, which "are judgments about social conditions and human behavior about something that the people in Congress know the most about, which is voting and the political process." And Debo Adegbile of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, who argued on behalf of a group of individuals who joined the lawsuit to defend Section 5, added that "[i]t is reasonable for Congress to make the decision that we need to stay the course so that we can turn the corner" on voting discrimination.
In what was certainly the most memorable part of the argument, Justice Scalia strongly suggested that perhaps the Court needed to step in and make this determination because Congress was incapable of doing so objectively. He recounted how the initial enactment and re-authorization of Section 5 had faced "double-digit" opposition, which slowly faded away until the 2006 vote to reauthorize the provision was unanimous in the Senate and nearly unanimous in the House of Representatives. He posited that this lack of opposition wasn't "attributable to the fact that it is so much clearer now that we needed this" but instead was "very likely attributable . . . to a phenomenon that is called perpetuation of racial entitlement. . . . [W]henever a society adopts racial entitlements, it is very difficult to get out of them through the normal political processes. . . . And I am fairly confident it will be reenacted in perpetuity unless . . . a court can say it does not comport with the Constitution. . . . [I]t's a concern that this is not the kind of a question you can leave to Congress."
The Court's more conservative Justices also explored the possibility that any lingering problems in voting could be addressed through Section 2 of the Act, which allows the government and individuals to bring lawsuits challenging allegedly discriminatory laws or practices – a solution that in some Justices' eyes would have the added benefit of treating all states equally. Justice Kennedy led the charge on this point, observing that the government "can very easily bring a Section 2 suit and as part of that ask" to have a jurisdiction "bailed in" – that is, required by court order to follow Section 5's preclearance requirements. Rein agreed that lawsuits under Section 2 would be effective and would treat all states equally: "at this point, given the record, given the history, the right thing to do is go forward under Section 2 and remove the stigma of prior restraint and preclearance from the states and the unequal application [of Section 5] based on data" from 1972.
When it was his turn at the lectern, however, Solicitor General Verrilli disagreed. Section 2 is not a good substitute for Section 5, he explained, because Section 5 puts the burden on the state or local government to show that the proposed change won't be discriminatory, and the change can't go into effect until it is approved. By contrast, under Section 2, the federal government or individuals have to sue to stop the change, which may take a while, and they have to show that it has a discriminatory purpose. He offered the example of changes in a polling place, which he noted are "the most frequent type of" change submitted for preapproval and "can be a source of great mischief."
Although Justice Thomas did not ask any questions at Wednesday's oral argument, he made clear four years ago in the Northwest Austin case that he would have voted to strike down Section 5. And the questions and comments from the Chief Justice, Justice Scalia, and Justice Alito strongly hinted that they too would join Justice Thomas on this go-round. On the other end of the ideological spectrum, the comments by the Court's four more liberal Justices all pointed toward a vote to keep Section 5 intact. That leaves, as it so often does, the vote of Justice Kennedy. And although at least one of his questions has been interpreted as signaling support for the law, for the most part his comments and questions left the overwhelming impression that he too would be inclined to rule in favor of Shelby County.
Will the Court ultimately do so? And if so, what will the contours of its decision be? The Justices have already voted on those questions, but the rest of us won't know until the Court releases its opinion – which probably won't happen until late June. When it does, we'll be here to cover it in Plain English.


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Microsoft Patent: More Money for Less Functions
With U.S. Patent 7,536,726, Microsoft has been granted a patent with which they hope to make a successful business model out of a potentially severely restricted operating system.
Under the title "Restricted software and hardware usage on a computer," the U.S. Patent Office granted Microsoft innovative invention status on May 19, 2009 for their resourceful business idea. Microsoft had filed the patent in 2005 and now the ideas of its coworkers Joachim Kempin, Carl Gulledge, Edward Stubbs and others were finally considered worthy. The patent text, in all its arcane language, gets to the bottom line of a concept not totally unfamiliar to Microsoft: make selected portions and functionality of the operating system unavailable to users or limit their ability to add software applications or device drivers until an "agreed upon sum of money" is paid to "'unlock' or otherwise make available the restricted functionality." The patent seekers see this as a safeguard against the following situation: "One problem inherent in open architecture systems is they are generally licensed with complete use rights and/or functionality that may be beyond the need or desire of the system purchaser... [so that] users with limited needs pay the same rate for these systems as those with universal needs."
So Microsoft has a remedy based on a brilliant idea. The "Summary of the Invention" section of the patent statement provides a scenario: "a consumer initially purchases a computer with restricted functionality at a price that is less than the price that would be charged for a computer with full functionality. Subsequently, the user can, at an additional cost, acquire a digital key that allows the restrictions to be removed, upgrading the computer to full functionality." The Microsoft co-inventors see revenue in it: for a few dollars more a new digital signature will open up further applications and drivers. The hardware maker (read "OEM"), under an agreement with Redmond, can thus determine what apps or drivers to switch on or off based on what users pay. The trick: it will cost the user even just to peek at the OEM's digest catalog of available programs. Also, "the consumer can be given a limited amount of time (e.g., one month or one year) within which he or she can access the OEM's digest catalog."
There's further rationale Microsoft has to provide crippled functionality: "An additional problem with open architecture systems is that virtually anyone can write an application that can be executed on the system." Microsoft will need to work hard to get the extra revenue they seek with this solution. Apparently unfazed by the millions of dollars paid in fines to the European Commission on antitrust charges, they're looking for help in their endeavor. Their conclusion in the patent write-up: "Thus, it would be beneficial to provide a way for the manufacturer of the system to control the extensibility of the system."
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This will not work.This will not work. Everybody has it wrong, especially MS. It is the geeks that drive the industry, not the clueless end-user. Who do the end users go to when things go wrong? The geeks. Who do companies hire to fix troubleshoot problems and identify potential bugs? The geeks. Who are the biggest critics of strong or weak operating systems? The geeks. Who complained the most about the pain in the arz it is to run Vista? The geeks. Who will bad-mouth MS when things go really bad with these driver patents, especially when he/she has to fix a problem on a PC? The geeks. Who will eventually figure out or has already figured out that there is a better alternative than MS out there? The geeks.
MS did a great job to bring computers to the masses but now hey want to monopolize all computers and it will not work - it is proven that monopolies do not work. This will be among their worst most recent mistakes apart from Vista. We'll see.
It would fail in the marketplaceThey can patent all the vaporware they want. The reality is that people and businesses won't pay for such a scheme.
Heck, businesses have already boycotted Vista by refusing to purchase it. The same would happen if Ms tries to implement this "idea".
Personally, I hope MS tries it, it would be their biggest mistake and it would precipitate a mass migration to Linux.
Bilski - USPTO=Big FailThis ain't the bottom of the barrel yet. The amount of insipidity is a crucial clue into what's happening generally in the good ole US of A. It's not 'MS bashing' because MS is just a microcosm of corporate behaviour in general.
Patenting an idea (Gee, I thought about it first in 199x) without implementation. This goes beyond being ludicrous, that is, even if you ignore prior art. As kids we used to call it 'Fantasy' or 'Role Playing' (Hollywood's strengths).
Limiting multi-bootImagine restricting the ability to partition a hard drive so you cannot alter the boot loader software without paying for the feature? Imagine a deal where the BIOS restricts to only allow MS licensed feacture/approve to boot a system....no unapproved rescue disk...no GRUB, no live boot, or...even limiting virtual computing. This is bigger than just pay per feature!!
Even More Prior ArtCDC used to produce the Phoenix disk drive with one two or three fixed platters and one removable platter. It was possible, for a price, to buy an upgrade. A service engineer would arrive and install the extra platter(s) and your fixed storage would go up from 15MB to 45MB or 75MB.
Later CDC realised that it was cheaper to build the drives with all the platters in place and disable one or two platters for customers who only needed smaller drives. Customers who bought upgrades for the later drives paid for a service engineer to come on site and move a couple of jumpers or flip a couple of switches to enable the extra paltters.
The Desktop makes it1. I think people want what they know. So as long as they demand a Windowslike look, they will prefer Windows. As soon the user interface becomes like a cell phone with icons they will not bother what the OS behind it is. And I think the desktop as we know it will disappear and only icons will lead the user to the application he want to use.
2. The more Linux is used, and there are many good reasons for the hardware producers to become more independent from MS, the more drivers/software will Linux see and the more hardware will just run like today for Windows. This will have a pull effect on users to be happy with Linux other than it was with the netbooks. The first round in this case went to MS but "one lost battle is not a lost war" (Napoleon Bonaparte).
Yet another piece of prior artA lot of computers in the UK are sold with Windows pre-installed, which is itself a clear restriction on the machine's capabilities. The system will typically lock up after a time peroid previously unknown to the user, unless the user pays an additional fee to the retailer (or some third party) for "anti-virus" software. Further performance improvements can often be made by purchasing additional software, but closed APIs are often used to restrict the features available on non-Microsoft software.
Most of these restrictions can be overcome by installing Linux, but that also normally requires the user to pay a fee - either the cost of an Internet connection for a period of time, or the cost of some physical storage medium. This fee is relatively small, but it looks like the patent attempts to cover small as well as large fees.
Astonishing - prior art aboundsAs one comment above says, mainframes typically had this "functionality" and telephone switches (which are just computers) have used this for years. How on earth can this be a novel enough idea for a patent? Strange that when these morally wrong things happen elsewhere it's called corruption but to MS and its ilk it's good business.
software hooksThey've already done it. Have a browse in this ubuntu thread: http://www.uluga.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1036051. Essentially, the table that reports data to your OS also can (and does- I've checked mine) report what OS is running, and it's possible to modify the information that gets reported to the OS on that basis. Some laptops running Linux had a problem with the fans not working properly for a while (can't remember which brand). It turned out the DSDT was set up so in windows the OS could manipulate the fan speed, in Linux you had a choice of on or on.
Only In Windows?Maybe a bit strange, but you all seem to think it is in Windows these restrictions would be. Why not at BIOS level? That way they can absolutely and totally control what kind of hardware you can use. Some hardware would not work without the right "Key".
If Microsoft makes a deal with the hardware maker they can control what hardware you can use. I can imagine there also could be some software "hooks" that can control witch software can use what hardware. Yes - the BIOS would grow in size, but that's no problem these days...
Starting to see the picture?
MS derails itself, way to go down the slope!Well, this patent describes the way IBM went win OS/2 in 1980-s. IBM tried to earn on everything from selling specifications to licensing applications, and this couldn't work: charging for contributing to the culture of platform was costy to IBM.
I don't think Microsoft will try to go this way, though they're welcome to kill themselves this way.
re that fantastic patentSo the US of A thinks it's a new idea to sell a computer program for money? And if it does some more, you maybe should pay more money for it? They should try exporting that idea. It's really novel. In fact, why don't they give someone a patent on the idea of selling ANYTHING for money?
Prior ArtI am not a lawyer but based on all the comments thus far there is already prior art. So they can file all they want, this patent likely will never hold up. I am sure there are other angles to send this one to /dev/null.
Are you kidding me???Are you effing kidding me? Who in the effing world is rubber stamping this cruft??? For the life of me, the ONLY thing this could be considered is an improvement on an already vast amount of prior art. Holy crap! Just take a look at the thousands of freeware titles that promise to unlock the rest of the features once a valid product key is entered. Is M$ now promising they can eff around with your hardware now, just because you haven't paid their tax?
Heck, even some of the netbooks sold by cellular companies give the companies the option to brick the hardware if the user doesn't keep up with their monthly installments.
old newsOne thing that comes to my mind is the Fanuc and Mitsubishi CNCs have been this way for years.
Have had this a long time ...We have had this sort of thing on the IBM mainframes (zSeries) for a long time. I have a product with multiple features. For each feature that we license, we get a key for that specific feature to apply using a utility. That key allows use of the selected feature for, usually, one year. At the end of the year, we pay another fee and get a new key. No pay fee, no get key, no use software.
This Is Not OriginalSimilar functionality is available in the OLPC Bitfrost security system. You must get a 'developer key' in order to access/modify various parts of your system. Of course, the OLPC system is only in place for the security of the users. I can't imagine Microsoft's motives are as pure.
Cool. Always wanted a way to pay more for something I can get for free. Thanks.This will most certainly increase the profits Microsoft can milk from business and governments. I also think it makes since not to let computer users who upgrade their graphics cards to use them until an additional fee is paid based on the computational capabilities of the card.
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Rabbi Chanan Porat, circa 1988.
Photo: Sa'ar Ya'acov/Israel Government Press Office
"A 'Sabbath Jew' he was—not because he showed his Jewishness once a week, but because his entire life was one of Sabbath: serenity, sanctity, and joy." So said Rabbi Chanan Porat's daughter at her father's funeral, held in Kfar Etzion during Aseret Yemei Teshuvah this past year and attended by thousands of mourners.
A profound Torah scholar and man of action driven by a poetic soul and sparkling spirituality, Rabbi Porat succumbed to a malignant growth in his brain—the only thing that could stop his vigorous and vibrant love for God and the "holy triangle"—the Torah of Israel for the people of Israel in the Land of Israel.
As Judea-and-Samaria leader Yisrael Harel noted, Rabbi Porat, co-founder of the Gush Emunim settlement movement who passed away at age sixty-seven, was "one of the very few who was able, by virtue of his personality alone, without holding any public office or position of authority, to inspire thousands of people" to leave their homes, change their lives, and become part of the settlement enterprise in Yesha. This was due, no doubt, not only to his winning smile and remarkable charisma, but also to his sincere enthusiasm, integrity, and leadership abilities. Or in short, as Rabbi Yaakov Shapira, the rosh yeshivah of Mercaz HaRav, wrote, Rabbi Porat was the "shofar of the Land of Israel, without fear." He broadcast loud and clear throughout the Jewish world the message that the Land of Israel is the home of the Jewish nation and the Torah.
The Early Years
At the age of twenty-four, as an IDF paratrooper, Rabbi Porat helped liberate Jerusalem during the Six-Day War. Shortly after, he led the group that pressured then Prime Minister Levi Eshkol to rebuild his childhood kibbutz, Kfar Etzion. Rabbi Porat had lived there, just south of Yerushalayim, until the age of four, when he and the other children, as well as the women, were evacuated out of fear that the Jordanians would capture the region. The Jordanians succeeded in capturing the kibbutz and destroying the community, as well as nearly all of the other defenders (many of whom had already surrendered), in the process. The Porat family never forgot their home, and when a shadow of an opportunity to return and rebuild presented itself, Rabbi Porat latched on to it and did not let go.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking with MK Chanan Porat during discussions on bringing forward the elections, held at the Knesset Plenum (1998).
Photo: Ohayon Avi/Israel Government Press Office
Rabbi Porat was not only one of the leaders of the surviving children of Kfar Etzion, leading them back nineteen years later in 1967 to re-establish the Jewish presence in Gush Etzion after Israel re-conquered the area. As mentioned, he also helped found Gush Emunim, the movement to resettle Yehuda, Shomron and Aza, in 1974, when Israeli society as a whole was feeling down in the aftermath of the Six-Day War. Ironically, despite the amazing victory, a general national malaise pervaded the country after the war and the revelation of Israel's vulnerability. Rabbi Porat's goal was to "raise the national spirit" and to this end, he—fresh off severe war wounds—together with others, set about settling the Shomron.
A Lifetime of Accomplishment
Rabbi Porat's activities were not limited to building Eretz Yisrael. He founded the Orot Chessed charity organization, worked for Ethiopian and Russian aliyah, and was wholly involved in a "meetings of the hearts" between the religious and secular.
He taught in several yeshivot and was a Knesset member for over ten years. Rabbi Porat later said that his proudest parliamentary achievement was having sponsored and ensured the passage of a law entitled "Do Not Stand by Your Neighbor's Blood"—rendering it a legal duty to offer assistance to someone in mortal danger. Based on a verse in Vayikra, Rabbi Porat's law ensures that sanctity of life is a national value not only in word, but in deed.
When Rabbi Porat spoke at the Mercaz HaRav thanksgiving ceremony shortly after the Six-Day War, a secular high school girl who heard him was moved to write some of her questions about Torah and Judaism to him. Rabbi Porat's responses to her (and later, after she became observant, to her and her husband) over the next several years became a book entitled Et Achai Anochi Mevakesh, My Brothers I Seek. More than just an encapsulation of his love for the entire Jewish people, it deals with issues of life and death, faith and disbelief, religious coercion, rabbinical authority, marriage, and more—sprinkled with quotes from Chazal, from modern Hebrew poets, and from his own profound musings.
Rabbi Porat was the "shofar of the Land of Israel, without fear." He broadcast loud and clear throughout the Jewish world the message that the Land of Israel is the home of the Jewish nation and the Torah.
The last chapter, for example, describes in picturesque and lyrical detail a visit he made to the secular Kibbutz Ein Harod to pay a shivah call to a family who shared his attachment to the Land of Israel, where he was greeted like an old beloved friend. They talked deep into the night about issues such as the sanctity and lusciousness of the shemittah-year fruits he had brought them, the story of Rabbi Amnon of Mainz who was wracked by guilt for not having refused quickly enough to convert to Christianity, the solemn High Holiday Unetaneh Tokef prayer, and the need for the government to take a confident and independent stand against Israel's enemies. Rabbi Porat left after midnight, and then, before dawn, nearly crashed into a group of stranded anti-Zionist Chassidim near Jericho whose car had two flat tires. While exchanging some Torah thoughts with them—with their glaring differences constantly in the background—Rabbi Porat lent them his spare tire and accompanied them back to Meah She'arim. He finally arrived home to Kfar Etzion just in time for the morning prayers.
Rabbi Porat concludes his story with an optimistic prayer that symbolizes his life: "Have mercy on the People of Israel," I thought, biting my lips tightly. "How torn and ripped asunder they are, from one extreme to the other. How tired and wounded they are from their long nightmare of Exile and Holocaust; how confused and bewildered . . . How can we ever connect these ends that are so far apart? How do we build a bridge between the people of Ein Harod who have forgotten the holy Unetaneh Tokef prayer and the Neturei Karta people who turn their backs on and kick aside the State of Israel? Can we yet build something together, or is it too late?"
His answer was inspired by the vision of the Biblical Yosef walking northward along the same route he was then traversing to bring Yaakov Avinu's regards to his hostile brothers: Yes! Despite all, Yaakov's and Yosef's home was not totally destroyed! The brotherly covenant was never broken! Yosef still lives! . . . And as he cried "My brothers I seek," . . . an echo arose from the mountains: "My brothers . . . my brothers . . . my brothers . . . "
"As one who grew up in the sheltered greenhouse of the [anti-religious] HaShomer HaTza'ir," wrote a family friend in a consolation note to Rabbi Porat's wife and eleven children, "I knew that the name Chanan Porat was a 'red flag'—an image that the media arduously built up. But I am happy that I had the privilege of knowing your father from up close, seeing his sensitive heart [and] his all-around love for people . . . I am quite sure that my decisions leading me to [become religious] were nourished by the special Sabbaths and the Rosh Hashanah I spent with your family."
No summation of Rabbi Porat's life would be complete without noting the fortitude with which he accepted his fatal illness. With his body ravaged by cancer, his speech already slurred, Rabbi Porat remarked at one point, "Thank God! We thank God for every drop of life, for every breath."
Asked how he was able to continue learning and teaching despite his pain and suffering, Rabbi Porat explained simply: "Rav Kook writes that the verse 'Those who hope for Hashem will renew [lit., switch] strength' means that they will replace their physical power with spiritual strength."
Later, just a month before his death when his condition had deteriorated even more, a friend was visiting with him. Rabbi Porat began to recite Eishet Chayil to him, singing with a breaking voice, "Strength and beauty are her garb, she laughed at [her] last day." Overcome with emotion at the mention of the symbolic words "the last day," the friend said, "I have to go." "And Chanan," the friend later recounted, "who always knew how to say what had to be said, without fear and without missing a beat, looked at me and repeated my words, slowly and clearly: 'I have to go.'"
"I cried at the collapse of his body," wrote the friend, "and stood amazed at the tremendous powers in his soul."
Rabbi Hillel Fendel, the founding editor of Arutz-7 Israel National News, is a frequent contributor to various Jewish English-language publications. He is also the author of One Thing I Ask (Jerusalem, 1998).


text: Google Chrome will soon provide users with the option to use the do-not-track setting when browsing the Web, effectively allowing them to opt out of many website ad targeting systems. MORE FROM GOOGLE: Google open-sources online learning toolsGOOGLE'S ACQUISITIONS: FAQ: Why did Google buy these companies?The change was first reported by AllThingsD, which noted that Google had agreed to support the standard in February. Chrome will be the last of the major browsers to implement do-not-track, which isn't a surprise, given Google's dependence on online advertising for the vast majority of its revenue, according to AllThingsD.When active, do-not-track sends a request to websites not to collect information about the browser for tracking or advertising purposes. It's meant to work, ideally, as a simple button users can click to ensure a modicum of privacy.However, online advertisers and privacy advocates alike have raised issues with do-not-track. The former group fears that the standard could badly disrupt the sophisticated ecosystem of ad targeting and delivery and threaten revenues, while the latter warns that the voluntary nature of compliance with do-not-track means there are few guarantees that websites will pay attention to the requests.Indeed, Microsoft's recent decision to not only implement do-not-track in Internet Explorer 10 but enable it by default has caused significant controversy. Apache recently announced that its server software would ignore do-not-track requests from IE10, since Microsoft's use of do-not-track as a default setting undercuts the voluntary nature of the standard.Email Jon Gold at email@example.com and follow him on Twitter at @NWWJonGold.Read more about software in Network World's Software section.


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Literally two books in one! On one side of this 180-page hardcover is a reprint of H.J. Burlingame's 1907 paperback release How to Read People's Minds which includes some history on muscle reading and how it works along with a fascinating section on training your dog to read minds!
Then give the book a flip end over end and you have Banachek's Psychophysiological Thought Reading. This section not only covers more details on the history of muscle reading, but also teaches updated effects using muscle reading as it is performed today by performers such as Kreskin, Derren Brown, and of course, Banachek himself, among others. These effects are used onstage and close-up in routined and impromptu performances.
Laminated hardcover, 180 6" x 9" pages with new illustrations by Earle Oakes
"Psychophysiological Thought Reading is a must-have for anyone interested in learning contact-mind reading, and when combined with Burlingame, also a must-have for anyone interested in mentalism history. It is the most complete treatment of ideomotor effects I have seen written for mentalists."
- Christopher Carter
Pages 180
* gilt für Lieferungen innerhalb Deutschlands, Lieferzeiten für andere Länder entnehmen Sie bitte der Schaltfläche mit den Versandinformationen