Texas judges make it harder to fight patent trolls

Federal courts might have made it harder for patent trolls to sue over vague ideas, but the Eastern District of Texas (the trolls’ preferred venue) just put the ball back in their court. Some judges in the region now demand that the targets of these lawsuits get permission before they file motions to dismiss cases based on abstract concepts. If the defendants don’t show “good cause” for needing those motions, the lawsuits go ahead — and historically, that means that the trolls either win their cases or extract settlements from companies unwilling to endure the costs of a prolonged legal battle.

If there’s any consolation, it’s that these judges will likely have to mend their ways at some point. As the Electronic Frontier Foundation notes, defendants have both the right and precedents to ask for a motion to dismiss. Judges aren’t allowed to establish rules that clash with those on the federal level, so these Texas officials are technically breaking the law. The question is whether or not there will be an effective challenge to these Eastern District rules before a large number of companies are asked to defend against patent trolls with their hands tied.

[Image credit: Señor Nejo, Flickr]

Filed under: Misc

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Via: EFF

Source: USCourts.gov (PDF)

One iOS productivity feature that I would love to see on Android

Flagship smartphones are often billed as computer replacements, as they have the power and performance of a premium laptop with the portability of a mobile phone. Android as a platform is capable of doing a lot – and arguably a lot more than Apple’s iOS can – but there’s one iPhone feature that absolutely every Android smartphone needs.

“On every Android smartphone I’ve used, there’s never been a way to undo your last change”

I personally don’t like Apple’s smartphones too much – as I prefer the flexibility of Android – and I’m what you might refer to as a mobile worker, in that I spend a lot of time on the move and often have to compose articles, emails and more from my smartphone. However, the main reason I do like the iPhone – and arguably, the key reason that the iPad is better than Android tablets – is that Apple have included a laptop feature that’s sorely missing on Android; the undo button.

This might sound strange but let me explain why the undo button is so key. A week ago, I was drafting a long article on my phone and having just drafted over 1000 words, I selected all only to type something before I could press copy. The result? I just lost the entire article I had written.

setTimeout(function()
brightcove.createExperiences();
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3000);

On every Android smartphone I’ve used, there’s never been a way to undo your last change – whether this is pasting a lot of data or changing blocks of text – but iOS has this built in. If this had happened on the iPhone, I could simply shake my device and a pop-up menu would have given me the option to undo (or redo) my last action (like the one in the picture above).

As a company, Apple have taken a different approach to Google and others by limiting the options and functionality available to end-users. From the closed-nature of the App Store to limitations around customisation of your smartphone, there’s a lot of features that I don’t personally like, but the Undo button is certainly one I’d love on any smartphone I used.

Read on: Android vs iOS

It’s likely that Apple has protected this feature in some way – whether it’s the contextual menu or just the feature itself – but that’s not to say that Google can’t find a way around this. Furthermore, this shouldn’t even be limited to Google to find a problem, as each OEM adds their own UI with new features and they could easily add the feature themselves.

The Play Store comes with dozens of third-party keyboards that you can install and, given that many of these keyboards track your input history, any one of these developers could also easily add the feature. The fact that none of these manufacturers have implemented this simple feature yet – despite Android being several years old – suggests that Apple’s UI team takes a different approach to its rivals when considering what features to add to the platform.

Adding the feature would also increase the usefulness of Android tablets for business purposes and considering that Android has failed to dominate the tablet market like it has done with the smartphone market, there’s clearly features that are missing which might be considered core to business users.

So, how could Google, its partner OEMs, or third-party developers implement an undo button? Here’s a few of the ways:

• Gestures: Gestures are present on lots of current Android smartphones and allowing a user to make a gesture with their hand to undo their last change would certainly be intuitive and easy to use.
• Permanent Button: The easiest way to implement the undo/redo feature would be to have a permanent button on the keyboard. Whether it’s the arrows that many people are familiar with – thanks to Microsoft Office – or a simple button, adding the button as part of the core Android OS would mean developers/partners would not need to add it themselves. If its available in the core OS, there’s very little reason for partners and keyboard developers not to include the feature. Ironically, this post was written a couple of days before WWDC 2015, where Apple revealed it had tweaked the iPad keyboard to include quick access to the copy and paste buttons directly above the keyboard (as you’ll see in the image above).
• Swipe: Alternatively, the undo button (along with other contextual buttons) could be revealed by swiping the keyboard or on a second page in the keyboard’s alternative characters menu. This would be the most complex for usability and would likely be missed by most users.
• Copy/Paste Menu: The best way by far would be to simply add the options to the pop-up copy/paste menu. The feature is present on all Android devices, is frequently used and would be familiar to all users. Adding the option to this menu would also likely require the least development time as the menu is already present.

Any of these options would provide an easy way for customers to undo their last change and increase the potential for Android to be used for business and productivity purposes. While there are certainly lots of applications that replicate desktop software on your Android device, there are several laptop-features – such as the undo button, a clipboard (although this is present on LG’s G UX) and more – that are missing.

As the saying goes – it’s the simple things in life that mean the most – and never has this been truer than with smartphones and technology.

Netflix raises the price of its basic HD plan (again) in the UK

Netflix is investing heavily in new TV originals, and maintaining the standard set by House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and Daredevil doesn’t come cheap. With that in mind, it should come as little surprise to hear that Netflix is raising the price of its basic HD subscription from £6.99 to £7.49 per month in the UK. Subscribers are being notified via email, and it’s worth noting that the increase only applies to new customers. When the rate was last changed in May 2014, Netflix promised a two-year price freeze for existing subscribers paying £5.99 per month. It’s not yet clear, however, if those paying the £6.99 rate will be offered a similar deal. At least for now, it seems Netflix is keeping its cheapest plan (one device at a time, SD only) at £5.99 per month and its premium plan (four devices at a time, HD and 4K) at £8.99 per month. At face value the price rise is bad news, but maybe it’ll give Netflix the money to hire Clarkson and friends for House of Cars.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

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Slow broadband? Ofcom says you can ditch your contract

While the UK’s broadband coverage is expanding, its infrastructure is only maintained by a few providers. With little overlap, some areas suffer from a lack of investment, which often means that speeds are lower than advertised. Those affected have previously had little choice but to put up with it, but a new ruling from communications regulator Ofcom could change that. The watchdog has announced that it will let consumers escape broadband contracts if speeds “fall below expected levels.”

In its “strengthened code of practice,” drawn up with help from BT, EE, Plusnet, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media, customers can walk away from their provider “during the whole term of the contract,” not just in the first three months. Currently, it will only apply to ISPs using copper or fibre-based broadband up to 80Mbps, which means Virgin Media plans are excluded.

Ofcom also has plans to make it easier for customers to switch their provider. From June 20th, it’ll implement a new system that will put more power in the hands of the ISP a customer is moving to. It means that if you’re using a traditional BT phone line, you’ll be able to jump between BT, EE, Sky, TalkTalk and other smaller ISPs using Ofcom’s new “one touch” process. The regulator says the same will happen with mobile phone tariffs, but will detail its plans next month.

Filed under: Household, Internet

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Source: Ofcom

Reddit brings the banhammer down on harassment subreddits

Reddit announced its official definition of harassment just recently to clarify what kind of practices will get users banned. Now, the website’s administrators have started taking action, deleting five subreddits, which break the rules “based on their harassment of individuals.” The most famous among those five is “fatpeoplehate,” which had over 5,000 subscribers, followed by “hamplanethatred,” “transfags,” “neofag” and “shitniggerssay.” We’re sure their names can already give you an idea of what they stood for. According to the social network’s head honchos: “We will ban subreddits that allow their communities to use the subreddit as a platform to harass individuals when moderators don’t take action. We’re banning behavior, not ideas.”

When the website announced its definition of harassment, it also mentioned that it conducted a survey involving 15,000 users. That survey revealed that the number one reason they wouldn’t recommend Reddit “is because they want to avoid exposing friends to hate and offensive content.” By the looks of things, the forum’s admins have decided that banning toxic and vile subreddits is one way to deal with the problem. However, if you go to the website right now, you’ll see that a number of users are extremely unhappy with the development. Some see these bans as a form of censorship, while others believe that this is just as an excuse to clean up Reddit and make it more agreeable to advertisers.

[Image credit: shutterstock]

Filed under: Misc

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Source: Reddit