Konstantin Shemyak - blog » Politics http://www.konstantin.shemyak.com/blog Sat, 27 Mar 2010 19:44:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Donald Knuth to European Patent Office: algorithms not to be patentable http://www.konstantin.shemyak.com/blog/2009/06/11/donald-knuth-to-european-patent-office-algorithms-not-to-be-patentable/ http://www.konstantin.shemyak.com/blog/2009/06/11/donald-knuth-to-european-patent-office-algorithms-not-to-be-patentable/#comments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 07:03:42 +0000 konstantin http://www.konstantin.shemyak.com/blog/?p=203 Article at Groklaw.

My random pick:

“If Europe leads the way in this [allowing algorithms to be patented], I expect many Americans would want to emigrate so that they could continue to innovate in peace.”

]]> http://www.konstantin.shemyak.com/blog/2009/06/11/donald-knuth-to-european-patent-office-algorithms-not-to-be-patentable/feed/ 0 Example of bullshit http://www.konstantin.shemyak.com/blog/2008/01/18/example-of-bullshit/ http://www.konstantin.shemyak.com/blog/2008/01/18/example-of-bullshit/#comments Fri, 18 Jan 2008 15:34:19 +0000 konstantin http://www.konstantin.shemyak.com/blog/2008/01/18/example-of-bullshit/ Last years, I was not much exposed to bullshit at work. In fact, almost not at all. Now I received an email with a brilliant example of the subject. A person has an email signature, which ends like this:

[MyCompany] is one of the global leading suppliers of Information Logistics
Solutions and Product Information. Our customers are global leaders, at
the cutting edge of the telecom, software, automotive and industry sectors.
High expectations and demands from our customers drive [MyCompany] to
strive for operational excellence.

[MyCompany] currently employs some 500 highly talented and dedicated
staff globally, with offices in Sweden, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary,
Ukraine, and China.

They should use some of the on-line bullshit generators to add, for example, “incubate innovative e-markets” or “syndicate customer-centric initiatives”. I think I’ll eventually point the author of the email to this post :)

]]> http://www.konstantin.shemyak.com/blog/2008/01/18/example-of-bullshit/feed/ 0 Ursula K. Le Guin on modern fantasy http://www.konstantin.shemyak.com/blog/2007/04/13/ursula-k-le-guin-on-modern-fantasy/ http://www.konstantin.shemyak.com/blog/2007/04/13/ursula-k-le-guin-on-modern-fantasy/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2007 08:04:34 +0000 konstantin http://www.konstantin.shemyak.com/blog/2007/04/13/ursula-k-le-guin-on-modern-fantasy/ “In modern fantasy (literary or governmental), killing people is the usual solution to the so-called war between good and evil.”

This is from a response to “Gedo Senki,” the Earthsea film made by Goro Miyazaki for Studio Ghibli; but this citation deserves much wider audience than fans of Ursula’s books.

]]> http://www.konstantin.shemyak.com/blog/2007/04/13/ursula-k-le-guin-on-modern-fantasy/feed/ 0 Locking mobile phones in the USA http://www.konstantin.shemyak.com/blog/2007/01/17/locking-mobile-phones-in-the-usa/ http://www.konstantin.shemyak.com/blog/2007/01/17/locking-mobile-phones-in-the-usa/#comments Wed, 17 Jan 2007 08:03:22 +0000 konstantin http://www.konstantin.shemyak.com/blog/?p=3 The practice of locking mobile phones to a single mobile provider has become quite annoying in the United States. While the rest of the world can freely change providers by simply swapping out a SIM card, US customers are usually stuck with multi-year contracts and locked phones. Apple is continuing this tradition by locking all iPhones sold in the US to the Cingular network.

Source: 10 Ways The Nokia N800 Is Better Than Apple’s iPhone

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