Warning: Constant ABSPATH already defined in /home/public/wp-config.php on line 27
And Then I Woke Up … — Why Now?
On-line Opinion Magazine…OK, it's a blog
Random header image... Refresh for more!

And Then I Woke Up …

by Bryan

When I went to bed last night I had a limited agenda for today: make a deposit for the apartments, buy some groceries, and make some all purpose sauce for pasta. If I had time, the weather was supposed to be cooler, so I could do some yard work around my house.

Then I woke up and the inside temperature was 65°, which was definitely cooler than I like. I got warmth from the first cup of coffee of the day and turned on the computer after digging out a fleece bathrobe.

When I loaded my e-mail there was a notice from the credit union that for the second time in less than 12 months I needed to get a new debit card because one of the retailers I buy from had had its data stolen. I only use the debit card at local brick & mortar stores, but they store the information on the ‘Net and don’t protect it very well.

Shortly afterwards the wonderful person who keeps my Mother’s house clean called to tell me that she had time to clean the house today. I accepted her offer immediately because she is fast and thorough.

After time enough had passed for me to be on my second cup of coffee, my friend and landlord called to see if I had a 1-inch socket and long socket handle, as he had bent the blade on his riding lawn mower and needed to change it. I told him that I probably had a couple.

So I went in search of tools after I checked and determined that he really needed a 15/16th. I didn’t have that size, but did have a 24MM that was close enough, and located my 18-inch handle for the socket, as well as my 18-inch Crescent wrench.

I went over to my Mother’s house with the tools to wait and sat down in the chair featured in my Friday post. That was a mistake. It rained when the cold front came through yesterday and the rear seam on that cushion isn’t sealed, so I had to change my soaked pants. I keep planning on sealing that seam, but haven’t.

The banking went smoothly, but the store I went to for the groceries is rearranging shelves again, so I couldn’t buy everything I wanted. Several items hadn’t been assigned their new shelf slot yet so they were still in the warehouse.

Hopefully I can make the sauce tomorrow, then seal that cushion seam, and finally finish the repairs on the wind chimes.

4 comments

1 Badtux { 09.24.14 at 9:06 pm }

Sounds like retirement suits you. Heh.

2 Bryan { 09.24.14 at 11:49 pm }

Retirement is not going as I imagined it would.

As Burns wrote:

The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men,
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!

3 Kryten42 { 09.25.14 at 7:13 pm }

LOL Yeah… I know the sentiment! 😀

Here’s a piece of good news! 😀 Rackspace killed a patent troll! Yayyyyy… Score one for the good guys, and sanity! One down… so many to go!

Rackspace Helps Kill A Patent Troll: Rotating Your Smartphone Is No Longer Infringing

Summary if you don’t want to read the whole thing:

Rackspace has successfully defeated a patent troll called Rotatable Technologies by having its patent (US Patent 6,326,978) invalidated:

“Rotatable owned a patent that it claimed covers the screen rotation technology that comes standard in just about every smartphone. You know, when you flip your device sideways and the screen shifts orientation from portrait mode to landscape mode? Like nearly all the apps in the Apple and Android app stores, Rackspace uses standard functionality provided by Apple’s libraries and Android open source software to provide this display feature in our mobile cloud applications.

Rotatable sued us and immediately asked for $75,000 to go away. We refused. And we fought. It’s Rackspace policy to not pay off patent trolls, even if it costs us more to fight. Eventually Rotatable offered to just walk away – but we refused again. Just as we promised last year, we challenged the patent and the USPTO invalidated it.”

As Rackspace says, the company is now “an ex-patent troll.” Kudos to Rackspace for fighting and winning, rather than giving in to the troll.

And this one, which shows how insane the US Patent system is!
Alice Ruling Kills Another Patent Dead, As Lumen View Patent Troll Drops Appeal

If you don’t recall, Lumen View holds a patent (US Patent 8,069,073) (now officially and finally decided as invalid) for a “system and method for facilitating bilateral and multilateral decision making.” Don’t ask what that means because it doesn’t mean much. Even before the Alice ruling, the district court had said the patent was invalid as merely being an “abstract idea” and thus unpatentable subject matter.

Throughout the case, Lumen View (and its lawyers) had done some astounding things, including claiming that FindTheBest’s CEO committed a hate crime for calling Lumen View a patent troll. Lumen View’s lawyers later sought a gag order against FindTheBest’s Kevin O’Connor, demanding that he remove from the internet his discussions about Lumen View and his willingness to fight back against the troll rather than give in.

WTF?! Seriously? *sigh*

4 Bryan { 09.25.14 at 10:06 pm }

Going to court and getting these patents invalidated is the only way to get rid of these parasites. They don’t create anything, but they expect to get paid because the ‘royalties’ are cheaper than the court cases. Patent trolls are extortionists and should be prosecuted as the criminals they are.