Patenting Wikified

And another site for patent disinformation, images and marketplace is up-and-clicking, www.wikipatents.com. The usual mix of searching, PDF downloading, blogging and patent marketplace (speaking of PDFs, how many more years of lies from PTO management are we going to have to endure on why the PTO refuses to make PDF images available, as opposed to the insane TIFF format they now make available? - seriously, are there children managing the PTO computer systems?)

Anyway, one aspect of the Web site is the WikiPatents Marketplace, where companies can list patents for sale - www.wikipatents.com/marketplace.php - which is highly entertaining for the seriously, or hallucinogenically deluded valuations given by some of the patent owners. I have always thought that patent valuations is a bit of a con job, and this site reinforces my belief. Case in point. One patent available for sale is U.S. Patent 6,868,444, titled "Server configuration management and tracking", basically a set of distributed Web servers, with a May 2000 filing date. Claim 1 A web hosting system comprising: a plurality of geographically separate web hosting facilities associated with a web hosting provider; a plurality of servers located at each of said facilities having internet resources hosted thereon; and a server inventory database remote from at least some of said geographically separate web hosting facilities, said database configured to allow access to a first portion of the database by first user and access to a second distinct portion by a second user. This is nothing more than a distributed database server, technology which dates back to the 1990s, if not earlier. It is a mostly crap patent, made worse by the usual fact that it cites no non-patent prior art. Yet the owner of this patent claims it has an estimated value of: $1,280,904,608 Now I ask, how much drugs do you have to simultaneously sniff/snort/inject to think this piece of crap patent is worth over one billion dollars? And what does this nonsense say about the credibility of the Web site, and the other Estimated Values for patents listed on the Web site? Not much. So if you need a good laugh, definitely visit this Web site.

A Saint: the George Bush joke

George Bush was scheduled to visit the Episcopal Church outside Washington as part of his campaign to restore his pathetic poll standings. His image handler made a visit to the Bishop and said, 'We've been getting a lot of bad publicity because of the president's position on stem cell research, the Iraq war, hurricane Katrina, and the Veterans Administration. We'll make a $100,000 contribution to your church if during your sermon you will say that the President is a saint.' The Bishop thought it over for a few moments and finally said, 'The Church is desperate for funding: I'll do it.' Bush showed up for the sermon, and the Bishop began: 'I'd like to speak to you all this morning about our President who is a liar, a cheat, and a low-intelligence numb-nut who can't put a compound sentence together. He bugged out of combat service during the Vietnam war and went AWOL to avoid a drug test, then had all reports on the sordid event destroyed. He is the spawn of a Nazi-loving great grandfather who smuggled anti-Americans into this country on his shipping line. He took the tragedy of September 11 and used it to frighten and manipulate the American people. He lied about weapons of mass destruction and invaded Iraq for oil and money, causing the deaths of tens of thousands and making the United States the most hated country on earth. It is a three-trillion dollar folly. He appointed fund-raiser cronies to positions of power and influence, leading to widespread death and destruction due to government paralysis after Hurricane Katrina. He awarded no-bid cost-plus contracts and tax cuts to his rich friends so that we now have more poverty in this country and a greater gap between rich and poor than we've had since the Depression. He has headed the most corrupt, bribe-inducing political party since Teapot Dome. The national surplus has turned into a staggering national debt of 7.6 trillion dollars. Oil rose from $18 to over a hundred per barrel, leading to transportation costs which the people of America cannot afford, with low minimum wages, part time jobs, no health insurance, and outsourcing. Vital research into global warming and stem cells is stifled because he's afraid to lose votes from religious kooks. He is the worst example of a true Christian I've ever known . . . BUT COMPARED TO DICK CHENEY, GEORGE W. BUSH IS A SAINT.