Remains of the Day: Lego my Apple Store

05.07.2012
Someone finally figured out how to recreate the Apple Store, brick by brick; at least one judge thinks patent lawyers are animals; and Steve Jobs apparently was influenced by more of France than just its citizens' penchants for black turtlenecks. The remainders for Thursday, July 5, 2012 are having a cow.

(Cult of Mac)

Microsoft can't do it. RIM . No, to recreate the true feeling of the Apple Store, it's clear that one need only turn to thousands and thousands of Lego bricks. Oh, and not have any other hobbies.

(Ars Technica)

A federal judge calling Apple and Motorola patent lawyers "animals" seems a bit hare-brained. Why patent attorneys monkeying around would make a judge go ape is beyond me; one wonders how angry he really is, and whether his bark is worse than his bite. Clearly, though, patent litigators are eager beavers, as busy as bees as they file suit against one another--apparently bugging this judge and putting quite a bee in his bonnet. A little bird told me that the lawyers involved wish a cat had gotten the tongue of the bull-headed judge, pointing out that it's a dog-eat-dog world out there for companies with patents to defend, and that they'd be crazy like a fox not to watch their competitors like a hawk. But there's no sense beating a dead horse; we all know that patent lawyers aren't likely to quit the rat race any time soon--and they certainly won't stop cold turkey.

(Computerworld)

Sure, may one day be the computerized accessory that defines nerds and over-sharers everywhere, but it won't necessarily be the only game in town. Apple on Tuesday was awarded a patent for "a head-mounted display device that's designed to project an image in front of a user's eyes." It was unclear at press time whether boys will make passes at female wearers of either device.

(Reuters)

France's famed nationwide computer network caught the interest of the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs years ago, says a French engineer who was involved in the network's creation. Which I mostly bring up because I told Madame Burkhart in tenth grade French class that it was a waste of time for her to teach us about the Minitel, since that was information that could never prove useful in any of our lives. I was wrong, Madame Burkhart, and je suis désolé. Et j'ai raté mon train. Minitel, for its part, was finally retired on June 30, the same day that Mobile Me drew to a close. France, for its part, surrendered.

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