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Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

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Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#321

Post by taco_emoji »

gambler wrote: post #287
armada651 wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So Computer Science is Engineering?

It's a thing of its own. Used to be called informatics in some countries. Much better name, IMO. There are large parts of computer science that have nothing to do with computers. They're about information and can be applied outside of computers. I'm with Alan Kay when he says "computer science" used to be an aspiration and eventually became a misnomer. Same with software engineering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y…

"We need to do away with the myth that computer science is about computers. Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes, biology is about microscopes or chemistry is about beakers and test tubes. Science is not about tools, it is about how we use them and what we find out when we do."

- Michael R. Fellows, Ian Parberry (1993) "SIGACT trying to get children excited about CS"

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#322

Post by sn41 »

ionised wrote: post #203
sn41 wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this really the case? I know that Milton Friedman promoted this idea, but can pursuing some welfare at the cost of short-term profits be an offence?

I think it's time we all stopped listening to anything Friedman said.

I couldn't agree more. Amen.

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#323

Post by swiftcoder »

You may be underestimating the sheer pressure to file patents at big tech firms. Some companies have annual filing quotas, not just for patent attorneys, but also for engineers. Not filing enough patent applications may negatively affect your performance review.

I've had patent attorneys show up on a Friday afternoon with a case of beer, to get the entire team to sit in a room and brainstorm patents. Anything goes - doesn't matter if they relate to the field you work in, since the broader company works in almost every field.

As an employee, you are specifically forbidden from googling patents, because you might become aware of prior art. As long as you aren't aware... the reasoning goes that it isn't strictly-speaking illegal.

I can't say I'm surprised that cultures like that result in the sort of thing you experienced.

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#324

Post by mdpopescu »

monochromatic wrote: post #303
sneak wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The patent system is just a mechanism that uses the threat of state violence to prop up the idea that an idea is property that can be owned. This concept is false, and the sooner people abandon that model the better off we will all be. The state can’t use the threat of violence to make pi equal to 3, to make a public domain codec a “google invention”, nor to deed title to the number two. Remember, parents are just an…

You could say the same thing about any form of property.

No, only about Imaginary Property.

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#326

Post by nobody22453 »

PurpleBoxDragon wrote: post #266
_Schizotypy wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what is neuroscience then

That's why it should just be under neurology.

The "-logy" comes from Greek which means science: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/-logy and https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-%CE%BB%CE%BF%CE%B3%CE%AF%CE%...

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#327

Post by IshKebab »

paul7986 wrote: post #310
nathan_f77 wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow that's crazy. I didn't know they did stuff like that. Also I didn't know Google had patents for syncing audio across phones. I wonder if any of the mobile apps (like AmpMe [1]) have to pay some license fees. I once spent an evening researching the different apps that could sync audio across multiple devices [2]. I also wanted to build my own app, so tried to see if it would be possible (only if you have a jailbro…

Cool ours syncs audio on any IP device..desktop, laptop, tablets, phones, IOT devices, whatever

Is that not a fairly simple technology? You're basically measuring latencies (for which there exist very accurate solutions) and accounting for clock drift (again not difficult - USB audio did that many many years ago).

I guess you can get fancy if the devices have microphones but I still think it wouldn't be difficult. Like one man-year worth of work.

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#328

Post by virmundi »

velcrovan wrote: post #305
api wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So we should start a country called the Totalitarian Empire of Evil and it would be a utopia? I'm in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNhhz1yYk2U

I think the Satanists actually have this mindset. Seems like I'm frequently seeing headlines about them doing good works and stuff.

Most Satanists do not believe in Satan. They do not worship the individual, directly, named Satan who is found in the Christian religion. Satanists look at Satan, especially Milton's Satan as a literary figure who embodies individualism and free thought. To that end, they are edgy Libertarians.

Re: Google Tried to Patent My Work After a Job Interview

#330

Post by _pgmf »

Waterluvian wrote: post #181
jules wrote: post #134

If your country has "democratic" in the name it's probably not democratic. If your major has "science" in the name it's probably not science. If your company has "don't be evil" in its motto...

Any man who must say, "I am the king" is no true king.

John 19:21, Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.
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