What is Digg?28 Comments
- jamsea, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Someone should patent the Blue Screen of Death, that would drive Microsoft right out of buisiness...
- slemmons, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"custom emoticons"
"arbitrary image"
Yes, it's stupid and wrong to patent an idea, but the title given is wrong. They are not patenting emoticons.
I suspect you could use various IM clients' ability to import custom emoticon sets to prove prior art, so this is probably not going to result in much, anyway. - RHamel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Prior art.
- Polly, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"Does this mean we'll be seeing less emoticons? Because that can only be a good thing."
If that means less stupid anime-like smilies I'll be happy ^_^ KEKEKE!!!111 - matriculated, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Can you really blame people for making these stupid patents? I mean, the people in charge of approving these things are absolute morons so is it any wonder that people are taking advantage of that? The fault lies with the approval process just as much as it does with greedy corporations.
- k3ymaster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2yeah you'll write :), and a message window will appear asking: "You have written a smiley, do you wish it to be graphically represented?", you choose yes and another window comes up: "User license agreement, blah blah blah..., accept/decline" "are you sure do you want your smiley graphically represented?" YES, "but really sure?" YES "!!!!! Windows XP has encountered a fatal error, it will now need to be restarted".
- Panzerfaust, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"But if I see a bunch of retarded little smilies all over Vista I'm going to be so mad..."
You actually plan on using that thing with all the DRM, patented Microsoft smiley technology, etc? Not I, my friend. I've settled with Windows 2000, after my allotted number of XP re-installs ran out, till I can get used to this unix thing, or bust. (bust = buy a Mac).
Yes, I ran out of re-installs. It sucks. I complained to Microsoft Customer Noservice, and they told me they could send a GNAA technician to give it to me up the rear to make me feel better, and I gracefully declined.
Anyway, the patent is for software that allows chat smiley artwork to be selected by the user, not patents in general. - CygnusXII, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1And to top this Patent, MS will, later this year Patent BiFf TeXt and l33t 5P34K, thus crippling the burgeoning growth noob5, and wannabe posers, generating yet another revenue stream for the up and coming Patent Czar.
- Capand, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Someone should patent the Blue Screen of Death, that would drive Microsoft right out of buisiness..."
hahaha so true... and now to display my further enjoyment of this comment i will use an emoticon... ^.^ yes i'm cool 8^) - kpelley, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1o god whats this world coming too?? What stupid patent well some crappy company get next I wonder??
- Mongoose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1All your emoticons are belong to M$.
- ajb2015, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I have a mouse pad from some magazine dating back to 1995 with all the emoticons on it and it wasn't from M$
- hardcoredj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1There are days I question the sanity of M$. Those days started with the release of Windows 3.1 and haven't stopped since.
- cquinnd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Like slemmons said:
MS did not patent emoticons.
read the patent abstract, it includes the word "emoticons"
several times, which means they recognize and acknowledge the
prior existence of emoticons (text) in online correspondence.
What MS has patented is apparently the technology to create
your own emoticon image, and a method to assign a specific
character set to that image to transfer as text-only messages.
Aside from that, it is still an invalid patent IMO. Because
there have been methods to convert :) into for quite
some time before the filing of this patent. - scorwitz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This just in... Microsoft Patents Oprah!, Microsoft Patents Grilled Cheese, oh wait...startling, Microsoft Patents Matter and Anti-Matter.
- Pile, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It seems like the patent applies to the process of representing character text translations of arbitrary images. For example, if you enter : ) the process of converting that to a graphic icon of a smiley face is what they're trying to own.
However, there's tons of prior art on that. Almost all the bulletin board software out there has this as a feature. - taktu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i guess seeing this in the future isn't so far-fetched:
":-)™ © Microsoft 2005
The Smiley is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved." - scorwitz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1ok, one more to report... Microsoft Patents Your Mom :o ;)
- garretble, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Microsoft can have them. I haven't used an emoticon since...ever. But if I see a bunch of retarded little smilies all over Vista I'm going to be so mad...
- kebera, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This is the strongest (publically understandable) example yet why software patents should not be allowed at all.
- siestaguy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0^^^^Aren't there several ways around that re-install problem? I personally use the Volume License Edition from my now-defunct former employer.
- ProfMoriarty, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I fail to see how this means there shouldn't be software patents at all. Poor application of an idea does not invalidate the idea, simply the application in question.
- caldroun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I am waiting for the Air patent.
- ProfMoriarty, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Does this mean we'll be seeing less emoticons? Because that can only be a good thing.
- DarthDemo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Didn't O'Reilly and Associates publish the first book on emoticons? Their "Smileys" book published back in 1993 was the definitive work on emoticons, unless a USENET FAQ on them existed prior to it. Microsoft didn't know what the Internet was in 1993, much less an emoticon.
http://oakland.pm.org/reviews/smileys.html - jfair, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0They make patents WAY too easy to obtain. There's a group fighting ridiculous patents. I know someone will post their link here.
- ZicklePop, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0What the hell is the patent office thinking? I don't understand why the hell you could patent this crap expecially since they didn't make the first emoticon. (Atlest I don't think they did.)
- JimXugle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Who Lets this ***** fly? This isn't new or novel. and I have Proof.
It's a little program known as AIM or skype or IRC
Microsoft needs to spend less money on patents and IP, and most of their $ on Stability.
to Microsoft: THIS IS WHY YOU'RE LOSEING CUSTOMERS TO *NIX
Digg is coming to a city (and computer) near you! Check out all the details on our 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is