Author: Josh Witten

http://www.thefinchandpea.com

More Bad News for Patent Trolls

The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled several software patents invalid because the patents did not cover a detailed process, but an abstract idea. This could place a number of dubious patents in software, technology, and science at risk of being invalidated in the future, too.

It may set a very important precedent for other legal cases involving lawsuits involving “patent trolls”. Currently, the most well-known of these actions has been efforts by Personal Audio to extort money from podcasters by threatening lawsuits based on supposed infringement of patents Personal Audio claims cover podcasting.

A key element of patent trolling is the inherent vagueness of the patent, which allows the concept of infringement to be drawn as widely as possible. The vague patent interpretation that makes patent trolling possible makes them vulnerable to being viewed as too broad, too abstract, or too vague by the courts and the US Patent Office. Indeed, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has reported success with getting the US Patent Office to narrow or invalidate overbroad patents.

This ruling may add another arrow to the quiver of those fighting the abuse of patents to stifle innovation*.

Hat tip to Giles Newton

*And your ability to listen to the WTF Podcast.

Buffy the Pertussis Slayer

Sarah Michelle Gellar (aka, Buffy the Vampire Slayer1) is the celebrity ambassador for the Sounds of Pertussis vaccination campaign from the March of Dimes and Sanofi Pasteur. She recently published an editorial at CNN encouraging adults to get their pertussis vaccination in order to protect infants from this potentially fatal disease (aka, whooping cough).

Although we typically associate celebrity medical endorsements with disproven woonackery or dangerous foolishness, that is a bit unfair. We’ve always been able to recruit celebrity spokespeople for important public advocacy campaigns. In 20122, Amanda Peet made a splash for her advocacy in favor of vaccinations as a counter to Jenny McCarthy.

The Sounds of Pertussis campaign has clearly been learning from the successes (vaccination rates are down, infectious disease outbreaks are up) of the enemies of sound medical science, good public health, and social ethics. Continue reading “Buffy the Pertussis Slayer”

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain

Dr. Oz likes to defend his promotion of woonackery on the grounds that he is trying to be encouraging and provide motivational crutches via unproven alternative therapies to supplement health treatments that actually work (like, reducing calories and exercising for weight loss). He claims to be very offended when scam artists use his actual words to sell the unproven cures he promotes. You see, Dr. Oz doesn’t directly sell snake oil, nor does he endorse specific brands, directly.

What he is really saying is that the cost of providing inaccurate and deceptive medical advice is a worthwhile sacrifice if it allows him to be rich and famous. I mean, come on, y’all, according to CDC statistics you were probably going to get fat and stay fat anyway. Why should he suffer?

In a rare bit of wonderful from a Congressional committee, Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) calls him on his “blarney”:

“I don’t get why you say this stuff, because you know it’s not true,” said McCaskill. “So why, when you have this amazing megaphone, and this amazing ability to communicate, why would you cheapen your show by saying things like that?” – “Dr. Oz Grilled by Senator Over ‘Miracle’ Weight Loss Claims” by Chris Morran – The Consumerist

Hat tip to Leonid Kruglyak

Let’s Keep the Criticism (of Brain Imaging) Constructive

If you have interest in neuroscience and how developing brain imaging technology is influencing the field for better or for worse, you owe it to yourself to read Virginia Hughes’ “In Defense of Brain Imaging” at the Only Human blog at National Geographic’s Phenomena. Hughes applies an even hand to the issues confronting brain imaging, its public perception, and the times where the criticism may be too extreme. In the end, we are left with a picture of a field that continues to develop, much like any other field, with leaps forward and gross missteps:

…neuroscientist Martha Farah makes two compelling counterpoints. One is that brain imaging methods have improved a great deal since the technology’s inception. The second is that its drawbacks — statistical pitfalls, inappropriate interpretations, and the like — are not much different from those of other scientific fields. – Virginia Hughes

Chocograms

I recall, as a child, being mesmerized by a holographic cover of National Geographic. I think it was the November 1985 issue.

Now we have chocolate holograms. The images are, reportedly, created by Morphotonix by using molds to microscopically alter the surface of the chocolate to create the holograms. As an added benefit, the system needs chocolate with small crystal structures (ie, not grainy) in order to create the correct textures.

*Hat tip to Melissa Pandika at NPR.