Wednesday, June 04, 2003

Piccolo. If you haven't checked out Piccolo yet, what are you waiting for?  It's a very cool library for doing 2.5d user interfaces.  That's an interface that can zoom in and out, and do all kinds of Flash-like things.  I'd love to see what can be put together with it. I've been cooking an idea for a node-based user interface that uses Piccolo in part. Piccolo does more than just do zooming; it provides a framework for animation-based user interfaces in general.  By animation I don't mean UIs that have dancing monkeys; I mean a UI that shifts and moves and adapts, with context, to what the user needs. It's all about focus+context, and Piccolo is the means by which most Java programmers should be exploring this. If I never see another JTree, I'll be a happy man.  11:15:42 PM

Performance-based Patent Examination. If I have to read one more idiotic patent I'm going to scream.  Maybe I'll go ahead and scream anyway.  The problem, as I see it, is that these idiot examiners don't know what the word obvious means.  They also see to pretty much not feel like looking for any prior art.  And the people trying to get the patent certainly aren't going to point out any prior art that they know of -- not any more.  That would require something we call ethics, which used to exist, but no longer does. There are two things we can do to fix this.  First, tie the compensation system for patent examiners to accuracy.  If a patent they grant is ever overturned on prior art, their rating is reduced.  They get bonuses based on their ratings.  Second, allow prior art to be introduced at any time during the filing process.  The initial filing of the patent sets a mark in time for the invention.  It is then made public.  The public is then free to add any knowledge they may have of prior art.  This public comment period is a necessity to allow the vast, distributed processing power and knowledge of the internet to come into play. Why do we rely on one harried, stressed-out person to "examine" patents?  We all know there is no examination process.  Patents are simply checked to ensure that they have the right words in the right places, that they follow the correct forms.  Once you've got that, you're in. The process needs to be opened to the public. 6:30:36 PM

Comments Now Available. Go ahead, make my day (punk). 10:51:21 AM