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Study: patent trolls have cost innovators half a trillion dollars
By now, the story of patent trolls has become well-known: a small company with no products of its own threatens lawsuits against larger companies who inadvertently infringe its portfolio of broad patents. The scenario has become so common that we don't even try to cover all the cases here at Ars. If we did, we'd have little time to write about much else.
But anecdotal evidence is one thing. Data is another. Three Boston University researchers have produced a rigorous empirical estimate of the cost of patent trolling. And the number is breath-taking: patent trolls ("non-practicing entity" is the clinical term) have cost publicly traded defendants $500 billion since 1990. And the problem has become most severe in recent years. In the last four years, the costs have averaged $83 billion per year. The study says this is more than a quarter of US industrial research and development spending during those years. -
One Statement from Bachmann, Two Steps Back for HPV Vaccine - NYTimes.com
During a debate last week for Republican presidential candidates and in interviews after it, Representative Michele Bachmann called the vaccine to prevent cervical cancer “dangerous.” Medical experts fired back quickly. Her statements were false, they said, emphasizing that the vaccine is safe and can save lives. Mrs. Bachmann was soon on the defensive, acknowledging that she was not a doctor or a scientist.
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Dan Wagner/Sarasota Herald-Tribune, via Associated Press
NO DEBATE Representative Michele Bachmann called the vaccine to prevent cervical cancer “dangerous.” Experts disagreed.
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But the harm to public health may have already been done. When politicians or celebrities raise alarms about vaccines, even false alarms, vaccination rates drop. -
Small-Town Gossip Moves to the Web, Anonymous and Vicious - NYTimes.com
MOUNTAIN GROVE, Mo. — In the small towns nestled throughout the Ozarks, people like to say that everybody knows everybody’s business — and if they do not, they feel free to offer an educated guess.
Here are some examples of anonymous exchanges on popular Topix forums around the country:
FROM PARAGOULD, ARK. (POPULATION 26,113)
“I met a girl who at Wal-mart the other day, she was bragging that she was getting 1200 dollars a month from the state for having 4 kids! She doesn’t work and doesn’t want to. Bragging that she also getting child support from 3 different men! Oh my god! Why would anyone brag about being a total drain on society?”
“i think when these girls have one child ok maybe an accident. but when it gets to two of them. i think the law should be pasted that they have to get fixed so there isn’t a third child. sorry just my thought.
FROM LONDON, KY. (POPULATION 7,993)
“does anyone know anything about him, i know that a close family member of mine has been hanging out over there a lot with her child, and i was just wanting to know what kind of guy he is and if its a safe place for them, she has had a drug problem in the past and i am just concerned about the childs safety i have heard a lot of bad things about him and that place, just wondering if it was true ...”
“HE is a BIG TIME dopehead! If your friend is there, so is she!”
“I agree. He is a deadbeat dad and stays to high to see them! I heard she is already hooked”
FROM ALTON, MO. (POPULATION 871)
“Has anyone noticed she is shaped like a penguin. She looks like that penguin character on batman. Id hate to wake up next to that every morning. Fat slobbery cow. I feel sorry for fred.”
“You people are horrible and hurtful. I bet you don’t have any room to talk about others. Take a good look at your self BEAUTY QUEEN I bet your not that great yourself.”
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Steve Hebert for The New York Times
Jennifer James, who says she was a victim of an online smear.
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Steve Hebert for The New York Times
At Dee's Place, a sign hangs over a table reserved for the "Old Farts Club".
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One of the established places here for trading the gossip of the day is Dee’s Place, a country diner where a dozen longtime residents gather each morning around a table permanently reserved with a members-only sign for the “Old Farts Club,” as they call themselves, to talk about weather, politics and, of course, their neighbors. -
Brown Says California G.O.P. Is Harder to Work With Decades Later - NYTimes.com
SACRAMENTO — Jerry Brown ran for governor on the argument that his age and experience — the son of a governor, he has spent a lifetime in politics, including two terms as governor himself 30 years ago — was what California needed to rescue it from a spiral of partisanship and financial decline as destructive as anywhere in the nation.
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Jim Wilson/The New York Times
Gov. Jerry Brown of California, his wife and advisers studied legislation at his office courtyard.
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But 10 months after his return here, a time when Mr. Brown might have hoped to move beyond struggling with the budget crisis that has dragged down this state, his associates say he appears bewildered and stunned by how much Sacramento has changed since he first served. -
Some advice I wish I'd been given when I was younger. (i.imgur.com)submitted 2 hours ago by Weequay2178 commentssharesavehidereport
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How to prevent a depression | The Great Debate
AMSTERDAM – The latest economic data suggests that recession is returning to most advanced economies, with financial markets now reaching levels of stress unseen since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. The risks of an economic and financial crisis even worse than the previous one – now involving not just the private sector, but also near-insolvent sovereigns – are significant. So, what can be done to minimize the fallout of another economic contraction and prevent a deeper depression and financial meltdown?
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How to Stop the Drop in Verbal Scores - NYTimes.com
THE latest bad but unsurprising news on education is that reading and writing scores on the SAT have once again declined. The language competence of our high schoolers fell steeply in the 1970s and has never recovered.
This is very worrisome, because the best single measure of the overall quality of our primary and secondary schools is the average verbal score of 17-year-olds. This score correlates with the ability to learn new things readily, to communicate with others and to hold down a job. It also predicts future income. -
Layoff Fears Rise as the Economy Sputters - NYTimes.com
Not again. That is the plea of many Americans fearful about their jobs as the economy falters.
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Monica Almeida/The New York Times
Terrance and Briana Myricks. He was laid off Sept. 1 for the second time in three years and she was laid off in January.
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Monica Almeida/The New York Times
Terrance and Briana Myricks. He was laid off Sept. 1 for the second time in three years and she was laid off in January.
“I don’t have any more savings or anything like that,” said Terrance Myricks, 21, who was dismissed for the second time in less than three years on Sept. 1. “I’ll probably have to rely on unemployment, which I’d really rather not do. And that’s assuming I can even get it.”
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
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