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+14 +1
First patent troll ordered to pay “extraordinary case” fees
When Santa Barbara startup FindTheBest (FTB) was sued by a patent troll called Lumen View last year, it vowed to fight back rather than pay up the $50,000 licensing fee Lumen was asking for. Company CEO Kevin O'Connor made it personal, pledging $1 million of his own money to fight the legal battle.
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+16 +1
Chinese gov’t reveals Microsoft’s secret list of Android-killer patents
Microsoft crows about transparency, but it didn't reveal this list of 310 patents. For more than three years now, Microsoft has held to the line that it has loads of patents that are infringed by Google's Android operating system. "Licensing is the solution," wrote the company's head IP honcho in 2011, explaining Microsoft's decision to sue Barnes & Noble's Android-powered Nook reader.
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+23 +1
How to build a Tesla, according to Tesla
The company's wide-ranging patent portfolio has been opened up for anyone to use. Here's what's in it.
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+31 +1
The New Technology That Could Cut Public Restroom Wait Times By 50%
The annual 4th of July fireworks won’t be the only light show inspiring awe at the Hollywood Bowl this week. Concertgoers at the iconic Los Angeles venue are also ooh-ing and ahh-ing over new technology called Tooshlights, which is reducing restroom wait times.
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+15 +1
Solar-powered 'smart' benches coming to Boston
Solar-powered benches called Soofas will be appearing in Boston parks soon, the Boston Globe reports. Besides, you know, something to sit on, the bench will offer a charging station and a wireless internet connection to provide information such as air quality, using your location-based data.
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+22 +1
Listen up, America: It’s time to start making mass transit free!
Thought it might seem counterintuitive, city governments have much to gain by letting riders off the hook
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+18 +1
The Seventh Next Gen GPS Satellite Is Now In Orbit
On August 1, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket successfully launched an Air Force GPS-IIF satellite in the orbit. This is the seventh GPS-IIF satellite launched into orbit of a planned constellation of 12 satellites. This satellite is the third launched in 2014, with one more launch planned for later this year.
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+18 +1
This car may soon be the world’s first street-legal vehicle powered by the sun
An Australian team just built the fastest solar-powered vehicle to cover 500 kilometers.
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+20 +1
Know Your Troll: Innovative Display Technologies Targeting Any Company That Creates A Product With An LCD Screen
Innovative Technologies, LLC of Austin, Texas doesn't make any products or even have its own website. What it does have, however, is a handful of weaponized patents its parent company, Acacia, acquired from "we're not a patent troll" Rambus. It's using a handful of display-related patents to sue anyone who utilizes an integrated LCD screen.
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+16 +1
Yes, patent trolls go out of their way to target rich companies
Right up until this summer, the tech industry seemed poised for a win against patent trolls, the companies that go around accusing other companies of patent infringement in hopes that the defendants will settle for money rather than go to court.
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+26 +1
High-flying turbine produces more power
MIT alumni develop airborne wind turbine that floats 1,000 feet aloft to capture stronger, steadier winds.
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+18 +1
Turning Big Problems Into Big Business Opportunities
Want to become a billionaire? Then help a billion people. The world’s biggest problems are the world’s biggest business opportunities. That’s the premise for companies launching out of Singularity University (SU). Allow me to explain.
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+6 +1
Cheap Drinking Water From The Sun, Aided By A Pop Of Pencil Shavings
Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel did it to survive on the Pacific Ocean. Robert Redford used the trick in All Is Lost. When you're trapped on a boat, you can easily make fresh water, right? Simply let the sun heat up and evaporate salt water. Then trap the steam, condense it on a plastic surface and collect the fresh water. The liquid even gets sterilized in the process. So why can't people around the world who lack clean drinking water do something similar?
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+15 +1
This Reinvented Pizza Box Is Positively Genius
The only flawed thing about pizza is the pizza box. It consumes a tremendous amount of refrigerator space and is terribly difficult to dispose of: It calls for strong arms and a foot-stomping jig to fit inside any conventionally-sized garbage can.
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+12 +1
Behind the wheel of world's first 3D-printed car
There have been 3D-printed buildings, dresses, hats, jewellery and even parts of the anatomy. And now the world has been introduced to Strati, a 3D-printed car which was created using direct digital manufacturing techniques. The car is composed of 40 parts - a significantly smaller number than that of a conventional vehicle which has more than 20,000 components.
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+27 +1
Bill Introduced in Congress to Let You Actually Own Things, Even if They Contain Software
We’ve written before about how copyright is chipping away at your right to own devices you’ve bought and paid for—from e-books to toasters and even your car. Time and again, people who want to modify their own property or sell it to others are told that they can’t, because their property comes saddled with copyrighted code they’re not allowed to modify or give away when they are done with the device.
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+27 +1
The coming era of unlimited — and free — clean energy
The incredible drop in the price of solar energy will shake up our world.
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+13 +1
New 'Company' Claims It Uses Algorithms To Create Content Faster Than Creators Can
Over the weekend, TorrentFreak covered the discovery of the latest thing in copyright enforcement: algorithmically-generated content created solely for the purpose of extracting infringement settlements and licensing fees.
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+16 +1
Make your clothes stain-repellant with Sofft hydrophobic fabric softener
Hydrophobic materials –that is, materials that reject water at the molecular level– are quickly making their way into the mainstream. In the past couple years alone, we’ve seen the rise of nanoscale hydrophobic treatments for electronics, all-purpose hydrophobic sprays that can be applied to nearly anything, and even dishes that don’t need to be washed.
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+1 +1
FedEx's New Electric Trucks Get a Boost From Diesel Turbines
FedEx runs such a massive operation—it uses more than 47,000 vehicles and nearly 700 aircraft to deliver about 4 million packages every day—that any systemic change it makes to cut down its carbon footprint can have major consequences. That’s why news that it’s using technology developed by a founder of Tesla Motors to make its trucks way more fuel efficient is so exciting, both for its investors and those who want the planet to breathe easy.
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