Usually when people file lawsuits it’s very serious business, but every so often lawsuits are filed that are rather ridiculous.
Below are a few interesting and amusing tech industry lawsuits which have been filed in the last ten years.

Pentium Hives? – In 2002, a Dutch woman filed a lawsuit against the government and Intel because she said that she got hives from her Pentium processor. Her 486-base processor did not give her the hives however and no judge was “itching” to take the case.

A Woman Lead into Danger by Google? – In 2009, Google was sued by a woman who had been hit by a car on a dark narrow highway that did not have pedestrian paths. She blamed Google because she was just following the walking directions they gave her. A judge dismissed her case and Google “dodged” the lawsuit.

Star Wars Galaxies Killed by Sony! – In 2010, angry fans of Star
Wars Galaxies filed a class-action lawsuit against Sony for shutting down the game. The MMORPG had had a steadily lessening subscribership for several years.  I guess the “force” was not strong enough to sustain the game, the fans, or the case.

Failed Mafia Wars Romance Ends With a Lawsuit – A woman sued a man over for damages from their broken Mafia Wars romance. After meeting and falling in love over the Facebook game, Mafia Wars, the woman spent thousands of dollars on game credits and gifts for her new love interest. After the relationship ended, she sued him for the money spent. Both the relationship as well as the case are now “sleeping with the fishes.”

If you have heard of any interesting lawsuits, let us know by commenting on this blog or on one of our other social media accounts! 

It seems like as soon as you buy a new piece of technology, a faster and better version comes out. Technologies which were ground breaking last week are old news this week. However, it may surprise you to know that the root of these technologies have stayed the same for 50 years.

If we live in a world of ever changing technology, what makes these core technologies remain unchanged? Was the initial design so strong that it didn’t need much improvement? Here are a few technologies that have retained their integrity for over 4 decades.

Virtual Memory – 1962 – This allows systems to use hardware memory more efficiently by recycling space used for memory.
This concept led to time-sharing or the ability for systems to multitask.

MOS Chip – 1967 – Metal-oxide semiconductor. This technology is used today to make computer chips and is termed CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor). The technology has changed a bit over time so adaptability is one trait that has kept it alive.

C programming language – 1969 – Developed by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs, C is the most popular and widely used programming language in the world. When you get something right why change it?

We have seen these technologies transform into other types of tech, programming languages, and inspire new concepts and designs. It’s amazing that these technologies have remained at the root of so many technological innovations today!

You can find more tech which has withstood the test of time here:
http://www.osnews.com/thread?484715

Remember DOS, with its black screen and blinking cursor eagerly awaiting your command. The Disk Operation System (DOS) celebrated its 30th anniversary a week ago. DOS has arguably been the most crucial OS of all time and in honor of it turning thirty, I would like to reflect on where it has come from and where it is going.

In 1981 IBM released the PC and the following options for operating systems (OS).

• IBM Personal Computer Disk Operating System – cost at the time: $40
• Digital Research CP/M-86 – cost at the time: $240
• SofTech USCD p-System w/Pascal – cost at the time: $695

For the price tag, DOS was the economical choice and DOS had also been the only one immediately available.  DOS dominated the market by a landslide and DOS was crowned the operating system of choice for those who were fortunate enough to have a PC.  DOS enjoyed its popularity until the release of Windows in 1985, a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that required DOS as a platform to run it on. Newer versions of Windows continued to be released and they needed DOS less and less.

Eventually, a version of Windows was developed which could run independently from DOS as it contained its own standalone OS, this was MS-Windows 95. It did, however, include a tiny bit of the 16-bit DOS code. I suppose Windows still needed a little bit of help from its trusty old friend DOS.

But all things must come to an end and in 1996 a version of Windows was released that did not need DOS. This was Windows-NT and after that Windows and DOS would part ways, but it has not left our lives.

There are many die-hard DOS users still out there that prefer its efficient and simplistic nature. They believe that the more “user friendly” interfaces have too many bells and whistles that can muck up the system. For this reason we are still seeing new versions of DOS being developed, a few of these are FreeDOS, ROM-DOS, and DR-DOS. Some computer manufactures still make computers with DOS as the main OS. We have seen DOS change however I do not believe it will go the way of the eight-track as long as people still want the simple functionality of cmd enter.

Staying cool in the summer is sometimes more difficult than it sounds. We all have our own means of beating the heat, be it swimming, eating ice cream, or lounging in a good old-fashioned air-conditioned room. However, there will always be more unique strategies to stay cool, thanks to gadget technology. If you’re looking to last out the summer in comfort, one of these quirky devices just might do the trick.

The Bedfan

This first gadget promises to keep you cool at night, even if you like to sleep under a large blanket. The Bedfan connects to the end of your bed, positioning a small vent just under the covers, and creates a slight breeze. Thanks to natural insulation, this strategically placed airflow generates a fantastic cooling effect. If you sleep best nestled under a large cover but hate being too warm, the Bedfan is here to help. For a closer look at the Bedfan, check out this website.

The BEX Runner

Staying active in the summer can be difficult. Your probabilities for heat exhaustion can almost double when exercising in severe heat.
While the BEX Runner does not claim to prevent these dangers, it does claim to help regulate body temperature.  The BEX runner attaches to your palm and through the power of science, draws in and stores heat from your body. This effect can make exercising in high temperatures much more comfortable. To learn more about the BEX Runner, visit their website.

The iPocket Fan

This is the perfect gadget for any iPhone fanatic looking for an interesting way to cool down. The iPocket Fan is a charging deck for your iPhone or iPod. Attached to the dock is a small desk fan and, when the iPhone is attached, an animated fan display also appears on screen. If you want to make the fan go faster, simply spin the blades on the animated fan on your touch screen. While this device may not be the best thing to rely on while staying cool, it sure is a lot of fun. Check out the website to learn more.

Keeping cool is easy with the right gadgets. Make sure and beat the heat this summer by regulating your temperature. If you’d like to read up on some more cooling gadgets, take a look at this article.

Patton staggered home very late after another evening with his drinking buddy, Paddy.   He took off his shoes to avoid waking his wife, Kathleen.

He tiptoed as quietly as he could toward the stairs leading to their upstairs bedroom, but misjudged the bottom step.   As he caught himself by grabbing the banister, his body swung around and he landed heavily on his rump.   A whiskey bottle in each back pocket broke and made the landing especially painful.  (more…)