Commentary Ticker
- Different Strokes for Different Folks: How Masturbation Divides Us
May 24, 2013 | 7:10 pmWithout a doubt, the vast majority of people will engage in masturbation over the course of their lifetimes. May, even, is National Masturbation Month. Yet self-pleasure still remains a divisive issue, as it has for some time, and moreover, the question of its role forms the basis for much of the cultural divide in our [...]
- You Think You’re So Pretty: What Dove’s ‘Sketches’ Video Got Wrong
May 23, 2013 | 5:02 pm“I should be more grateful of my natural beauty” one woman concludes after participating in the Dove Beauty Sketches. In fact, the woman, Florence concludes that natural beauty “couldn’t be more critical to your happiness.” Florence came to these undesirable conclusions through participation in a commercial released as part of Dove’s campaign to promote “real [...]
- The Story of the Slurpee
May 21, 2013 | 5:37 pmIt might surprise you to hear that the Slurpee was an accident. Yet the beloved concoction, as a matter of fact, got its start when a Dairy Queen soda machine kept on malfunctioning. Its operator, Omar Knedlik of Kansas City, placed bottles of soda in his freezer as a failsafe. The bottles came out a [...]
- We Are More Germ Than Human
May 16, 2013 | 11:50 pmThe human body is one of the most fascinating and puzzling ecosystems in the universe, a complex community of cells, germs and microbes that is still being mapped and decoded. Recent discoveries in this field have caused scientists to reevaluate the way we look at our internal functions, and perhaps we aren’t as much ourselves [...]
- Daft Punk Streams New Album ‘Random Access Memories’
May 13, 2013 | 1:42 pmThe robots are back. The internet has been abuzz with hype for Daft Punk’s long awaited follow up to 2005′s Human After All, and today we finally get to hear it. While the official release date is still a week away, iTunes is offering fans the chance to stream all 13 tracks early. Simply follow [...]
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Absurd Patents for Commonplace Things
We know you like to have rounded corners on your electronic devices. Well, so does Apple. So much in fact that they found a way to get a patent on the concept. If you want to make a rectangular gizmo and round the corners, either keep a low-profile or consider lawyering up. This is just another attack in the insane patent war going on between major tech companies—one powerful enough to make Samsung cough up $1 billion.
This isn’t the first over-generalized patent to be granted and it certainly won’t be the last. Quartz put together a list of common sense patents that have been violated a countless number of times.
“Circular Transportation Facilitation Device”
As technical as that name might sound, it’s a patent for the wheel. The legal protection of the 5000-year-old invention was issued in 2001 to Australian John Keogh. It was done in order to demonstrate the failings of Australia’s patent system which would fast-track the patenting of “new ideas.”
“Wireless Communication System”
How vague is that? Vague enough. NetAirus Technologies filed to patent anything that’s wireless and communicates in 1999 and was granted the patent in 2006. Because the description of the patent is general enough, and NetAirus has no products of its own, they decided to go ahead and sue Apple. The case is ongoing.
“Method of Concealing Partial Baldness”
Not all hair-styles can be protected as intellectual property but in 1977 a duo of inventors in Florida were granted a patent for the double comb over. For those short on hair, technological folding can be the answer, e.g. master-yeller Donald Trump.
“Method of Swinging on a Swing”
Filed in 2000, granted in 2002, swinging is now a protected art. The actual details on the patent document are scant and mostly include a crude picture of a swing attached to what looks like a strip of bacon. The method isn’t your normal legs-out-legs-in means to movement but rather one where you alternatively pull on each chain, left than right, to induce side-to-side motion. Fun, right?
Attribution
Quartz