Kevin Federline’s Playing with Fire record gets tagged as “laughable crap” that’s “horrible, pathetic, and god awful” and is so “painful and appalling” to listen to that “aardvarks died for his sins”. Among other things…
I.B.M., the holder of the largest patent storehouse in corporate America, often finds itself defending itself against patent claims from aggressive plaintiffs, seeking a payout.
But the International Business Machines Corporation became the aggressor on Monday, filing two lawsuits against Amazon.com that contend the big online retailer has built its business on technology developed by I.B.M.
The suits, filed in two federal courts in Texas, seek unspecified damages, but I.B.M. contends that Amazon’s infringement is broad, suggesting the potential for a sizable judgment or settlement.
“These patents are core to modern electronic commerce,” said John Kelly, senior vice president for technology and intellectual property at I.B.M. “Most if not all of Amazon’s business is built on top of this technology.”
Amazon.com has decided to put the Internet up for rent via their subsidiary Alexa. The service gives anyone access to nearly all of the information available on the world wide web, nearly 300 terabytes of information, which is updated monthly.
Via the Alexa service, anyone with a basic knowledge of programming will be able to search 4.5 billion web pages from more than 16 million websites for whatever they want.
Prices for the service start at $1 per processor per hour to crunch the data.
Amazon is hoping this move will help them challenge Google and Yahoo’s search dominance.
[via The BBC]
Definitive Hip. Herbert Ypma is the creator of a series of well illustrated travel books on boutique hotels called Hip Hotels. There’s a Hip Hotels book for every region on the planet. With Atlas, every region on the planet is now in a single Hip Hotels book. Six sections/regions to be exact; Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, North America, and South America, each with its own introduction and atmospheric historical map. It’s a biggie, 528 pages, more than 1000 photos, hardcover and $31.50 at Amazon. Due in November of 2005.
[via MoCo Loco]
Apple has found itself in the middle of another patent battle over the iPod, but this time it’s real. Creative Technology, creator of the Zen music player, has accused Apple of violating their newly granted patent which covers the way users navigate music.
Creative Technology, which is based in Singapore and has United States operations in Milpitas, Calif., said it would consider every option available to defend the patent, including possible legal action. Apple declined to comment on the patent.
The patent, which the company calls the Zen Patent, covers Creative’s interface for portable players, which allows users to select a song, album or track by navigating a succession of menus. The patent office awarded the patent on Aug. 9.
Patenting the way people navigate music selections? Really now, that’s about as brilliant as Amazon’s filing of the One-Click patent.
[via NY Times]
Amazon made a very quiet venture into the adult market — Amazon is now selling sex toys … a lot of sex toys, some 37,000 of them.
More than you knew it would ever dare sell and more than you even knew were being manufactured in the world today and a more advanced and varied selection than you probably imagined they could ever get away with.
And what’s more, Amazon has added this array of delicious adult goods quietly, effortlessly, with zero fanfare and zero marketing and zero apparent intolerant outcry (so far as I know) from the right-wing Christian sex tormenters, and with absolutely no children anywhere in the nation spontaneously combusting or being struck by lightning and/or converting to wanton paganism (yet) by viewing any of these items (which they easily can) –
which, as we all know, is just fabulously encouraging and good.
Tucked neatly away in their Health & Beauty section, listed under Sex & Sensuality you’ll find them, everything from oils to personal massagers. Amazon has definitely not held back by any means. “This, then, is the most glorious upshot. Sex toys, like much of the porn biz in general, have gone mainstream. They have been normalized.”
[via SF Gate]
It appears as though Amazon is planning to make a move on the DVD rental market. Netflix, having just won the recent bout against Wal-Mart’s attempt, has already proven its dominance in the area. It will be nothing less than an uphill battle for the retail giant, which is announcing its entry into the arena via job postings on its website.
[via Wired]
