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Where leaping to conclusions is my primary form of forward motion.
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Sen Cleland on Homeland Security
Get A Headset
Trademark Search Basics
Stop the Broadcast Flag. Save Your PC
A Little Patent History
NFL: Atlanta Over Vikings in OT
Business Implications for Changing CMS Landscape
Karl Sveiby at KM Europe 2002
Blocking Referer Spam
Tuesday, December 3, 2002
Collaborative EduBlogs
I'm collecting likely insights, examples, and helpful tips from the EduBlogger crowd, in support of an idea I have. This post about how the Spanish-American War blog is being used in the classroom is a good one.
Collaborative Posting.Will mentions writing up documentation on what posting is and what it is supposed to accomplish for those new to using weblogs at his school. As a few more class weblogs (including some poetry sites) get started at my school this week, teachers and students at my school are in need of something along these lines.
After almost exclusively posting to students' own weblogs, I'm trying some group posting on my Spanish-American War site. Charlie Lowe's course blogging procedure proved useful as I drew up my own. As usual time plays a critical factor here. As a group product, these posts will take longer to produce though the writing should be better. Nothing will really get done outside of class so I'm really pushing them along this week to do research, draft and edit their posts, and publish. I'm assigning commenting as homework for the week instead of posting to their own sites.
Our project took a step forward today as our guest historian joined us in her first post. [Joe Luft]
It is great to read more about the integration of outside experts via a course Weblog. And from what I have gathered... the students like the idea, too. [Sebastian Fiedler] via [Seblogging News]
Sen Cleland on Homeland Security
Received this e-mail today from US Sen Max Cleland on the Homeland Security Bill and the Total Information Awareness program.
Dear Terry:Thank you for contacting me regarding your concerns about the recently approved homeland security legislation, and reports of the new Total Information Awareness program administered by the Department of Defense.
The Total Information Awareness program, administered by the Pentagon as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is ostensibly designed to improve the government's ability to detect, classify and identify foreign terrorists. However, many have raised concerns about the methods this program may employ, such as the possibility that bank accounts, e-mails and other personal records of average citizens could be examined. Moreover, controversy has arisen from the choice of John Poindexter to head this program. Poindexter, a Reagan Administration official, was convicted of lying to Congress during the Iran-Contra scandal. I share many of these concerns, and hope and expect that the Pentagon and President Bush will give the American people a more thorough explanation of the Total Information Awareness program. It is imperative that in our efforts to improve our homeland defenses we remember that our aim is not just to save lives, but to save a way of life.
As you probably know, on November 19 the Senate, in a 90-9 vote, overwhelmingly approved the creation of a Department of Homeland Security before adjourning for the year. I was proud to support this landmark legislation, despite my concerns with certain eleventh hour special interest provisions added by the House. You will be heartened to learn that the legislation does not provide funding for the Total Information Awareness program. I certainly believe that future Congresses must scrupulously monitor the implementation of this program.
Again, thank you for contacting me. It was good to hear from you.
Most respectfully,
Max Cleland
United States Senator
Get A Headset
The cell phone cancer scare is back: maybe this time it's real.
FAST FORWARD
The Cell Phone Safety Disconnect
A new study and a new lawsuit bring up an old question: Does radiation from cell phones cause brain tumors?
FORTUNE
Wednesday, August 28, 2002
By David Kirkpatrick
At last year's Nokia analyst meeting in New York, the scene in the hallways was telling. At every break, hordes of analysts and pundits rushed out to make calls. Nothing unusual about that. But more than half of these callers were using a headset wire with their cell phones. When the wireless experts make calls, they play it safe. [...]
Some have called the use of cell phones the biggest biological experiment in history. Of course we all get marvelous efficiencies from our phones that could even be worth some minor health risks. But we ought to know what we're getting into. It's shameful that the U.S. industry doesn't have even one leader like Bill Ford in the automobile industry--someone who will step up and admit that there is a credibility gap between users and the companies that must be addressed. The way to address it is through more and aggressive research. In the meantime, those little headsets are inconvenient but reassuring. [Fortune.com] via [AudioTech Business Briefings]
Trademark Search Basics
Martin Schwimmer provides a primer on trademark search and relevant services.
Dear Abby: Should I Retain a Trademark Lawyer?.A business owner wrote a small business advisor in the Sacramento Bee:
As a new home-based business owner, I would like to find out more about searching and registering a trademark for my new Web service. I plan to sell ethnic food over the Internet and want to ensure my brand as well as avoid infringement on others. Should I work with a law firm or perform a trademark search on my own using the the U.S. Trademark and Patent Online service? What kind of costs would I incur using either vehicle?
The advisor, Alice Jacobs replied in part:
. . . you may find it easier and safer in terms of avoiding legal troubles down the road to shell out the money to pay an attorney who does this type of work on a daily basis and knows the ins and outs of trademark and patent searches and registration.
I've edited out any hedging on her part, but you can read her entire response here. A comprehensive Google search could not reveal any responsble businessperson urging that trademark counsel not be used (dry humor indicator on).
I want to emphasize and expand on several points she made.
First, it wasn't clear from the column that searching the U.S. Trademark Registry is insufficent for clearing a mark, simply because of common law rights - mere use of a trademark creates protectable rights.
Second, while it's great that deadhit searching is as freely available as it is, it is not a reliable tool for clearing a trademark for availability, because:
(1) the underlying databases can be incomplete;
(2) it is difficult to manually search all confusingly similar marks (N-R-G, ENERGIEE and ZENERGY may all be confusingly similar to ENERGY); and
(3) only the outside search firms presently have the databases sufficient to conduct a comprehensive common law search. Google is not enough.
As to filing trademarks, a trademark application is a document filed in order to perfect legal rights. It is conceivable that a layperson could locate free legal advice online or elsewhere, but in any event, legal advice is required to maximize those rights. In worst case scenarios, I have seen laypeople simply lose rights through avoidable mistakes.
As to costs, the outside search firms such as NameProtect and T and T, charge several hundred dollars for a full search. I have seen website-based search firms essentially re-sell Dogpile as a common law search. Small obscure usages can come back to haunt you. Amazon had a lawsuit when a tiny bookstore named Amazon came out of the woodwork. Comprehensiveness of the common law search is worth the money.
As to evaluation of the search, I evaluate searches so of course I think they're essential. The person who reviews a search must perform a small likelihood of confusion test for each 'hit' in the search. Trademark lawyers are trained to perform likelihood of confusion tests. Some lawyers charge by the hour for this, some bundle the analysis with the search. The large NY firms will charge several hundred dollars for the evaluation. I cap my opinion letters at $300. The trademarkguru.biz (who bought a sponsored link which shows up when you search for Trademark Blog on Google) charges $350).
As to filing, the large trademark firms (like my old Mother Firm), tend to charge approximately $600 as a standard fee, with additional charges for additional classes. Sometimes there are multiple filing discounts. Litman Law (who also have a sponsored link for a Trademark Blog Google search) appear to charge approximately $600. Some of the online trademark firms appear to charge less. I charge $395, with no additional charges for up to two additional classes.
Bear in mind that standard fees usually cover only what is referred to as "routine prosecution." One application may sail through the PTO while another might require hours and hours of argumentation. I have only seen firms agree to let set fees cover extensive responses to office actions when the client gives the firm sufficient work so that it all evens out.
I would be happy to answer more questions on this topic. Email me at marty@schwimmerlegal.com. [The Trademark Blog]
Monday, December 2, 2002
Stop the Broadcast Flag. Save Your PC
Your ability to buy televisions without built-in copy protection is about to be killed by federal fiat. As TVs and PCs converge be assured that this same regulation will be pushed onto PC makers. Stop it now, or forever regret your apathy. You will lose you ability to do what you want with your PC.
Hollywood tastes new copyright victory. ZDNet Dec 2 2002 9:42AM ET[...] To let the FCC know what you think, go to their Web site to file comments for proceeding 02- 230. Keep in mind that the FCC is under tremendous pressure from Democrats and Republicans in Congress to do this.
As of Monday morning, only 158 comments have been submitted. What are you waiting for? [...]
Sunday, December 1, 2002
A Little Patent History
A short, fairly basic, but useful article on patent history for those studying the topic.
Innovation and patents. Bangkok Post Dec 1 2002 5:30PM ET[...] Any particular society's prevailing attitudes toward patents and other intellectual property rights can say as much about that society as they do about patents in any objective sense. These attitudes can be an unconscious reflex of what a particular society values and what it considers important. If it values innovation and creativity, that society will have a positive attitude. If it does not value these things, it will have a negative attitude.
Venice in the 1200s and England during the Industrial Revolution were self- confident societies. They valued innovation and had favourable attitudes. Interestingly, the same society can have different attitudes at different stages in its development. In the United States in the 1930s after the Depression, the government and courts were less favourably inclined toward patents than after World War II with the rise of the pharmaceutical industry and the development of new medicines to treat diseases that had previously been untreatable. [Moreover - IP and patents news]
NFL: Atlanta Over Vikings in OT
The Falcons beat the Vikings in OT, based on nothing more than the incredible talent of Michael Vick. Vick made a spectacular 46-yard run in OT, jamming Walter Payton-like moves to elude defensive players and score the winning TD. The guy is incredible.Unfortunately, the best that can be said about the rest of the team is they didn't screw up enough to cost Vick the game, although they got close. Vick accounted for 346 of Atlanta's 379 yards. That's no way to play football in the NFL.
I hate to say it, but Vick is the team. And the sad fact is he won't last more than a season or two playing the way he does. It just doesn't work that way. I dread the day some defensive back ties Vick in a knot and they cart him off the field. But until that happens, he makes for one hell of a ball game.
Vick's walk-off home run gives Falcons OT victory. FOXSports.com Dec 1 2002 7:26PM ET [Moreover - NFL: Atlanta Falcons news]
Business Implications for Changing CMS Landscape
Martin White expands on the business implications inherent in James Robertson's predictions about the future of CMS.
The future for CMS applications. There are a small number of blogs I look at on a regular basis, amongst them Column Two from James Robertston, based in Sydney, Australia. How James manages to maintain his blog at such a consistently high level of quality constantly amazes me. I expect that many readers of his...[...] To me the interesting area is the current gap between the low cost systems, such as Ektron ($3k), and the next level of CMS solutions represented by companies such as Merant and Reddot. These are of course departmental/small enterprise solutions with initial price tags in the $50k area. I am certain that we will see new entrants, or 'light' versions of established products, come in at the $15k - $25k base price. [Intranet Focus Blog]
Karl Sveiby at KM Europe 2002
Ton Zijlstra has posted his notes from the keynote speech at KM Europe 2002. Speaker Karl Sveiby presents yet another model for studying KM -- this one focused on the individual.I discovered Ton via the Blogs & Bloggers Tribe on Ryze.
Karl Sveiby's key note speech at KM in Europe 2002 .... Karl Sveiby's key note speech at KM in Europe 2002
As I wrote before, I visited the KM in Europe 2002 convention in London November 13-15th. On the last day Karl Erik Sveiby held his key note speech. I did not find time before to make a report from my hand written notes, so I'm doing it now.The powerpoint presentation (even though he thinks powerpoint is a very bad way of 'pushing' information at people) of Sveiby's talk can be found at the KM Europe download page. You will also find all the other key note presentations there.
Sveiby started his talk with an exercise: close your eyes and touch your nose with your right index finger. About 3 people couldn't. Now talk your neighbour trough the same exercise by giving him precise instructions on what to do. About 3 people could.
That, says Sveiby, is the difference between knowledge and information. So to him all knowledge is implicit. "Knowledge is the capacity to act within context." Both the emphasis on action and context are important I think.
He then continued to define KM, a term coined by Karl Wiig in 1986, something Wiig "now bitterly regrets". Sveiby defines KM as the management of a company/organisation that consists only/mostly of "knowledge workers". Knowledge workers here are highly educated, highly skilled and experienced. So to Sveiby not everybody is a knowledge worker, as can be heard quite often lately. The latter would also render the term useless by the way, as it does away with all the distinctive qualities of the phrase.
The next step was connecting the definition of knowledge to the definition of KM. In essence he closely follows his own 1997 book The New Organizational Wealth. He talked of internal structures, external structures and competences in both the book and his speech. However, where in the book all three are presented more or less at once, in his speech he explained more clearly the way internal and external structures come forth from individual competences. And this deepened my own insight.
As an individual uses his knowledge, his capacity to act within context, to do just that, act, he "stretches" himself into the outside world, he is reaching out. The result of this, relations, transactions, etc, are the external structures. It is by putting individual competences to use that external structures are built. So now you have two circles, competences and external structures, with a two-way link between them. The third circle, internal structures is added as you become succesful in the outside world. You start to need other people to help you, you start building an organisation. The internal structures are the translation of your own individual competences into a larger scale. This cluster therefore has a two way link to your own competences, but also starts to interact with the already existing external structures in its own right. You end up with three circles, each dually linked. Value is created in the overlap of all three circles, and is the product of all interaction taking place. The one thing I value the most in this description is that it takes the individual as a starting point. This also emphasizes to me that humans are at the heart of KM, whatever the IT-boys might think. (Sveiby: "Alas, Knowledge management has been hijacked by IT")
The three circle picture identifies 10 strategic issues. One for each circle in itself (3), two for each two way connection between circles (6), and the tenth is the overall question how the value creation capacity of the whole system can be maximised. In the sheets, examples of all ten strategic issues are described. I will give a list of them here:
The three circles:
Individual competences: Improve the transfer of competence between the people in our organisation External structures: Support our customers' conversation with their customers Internal structures: Integrate systems, tools, processes and products The two-way links between each pair of circles:
External to Competence: transfer competences to customers, suppliers and other stakeholders Competence to External: learn from customers, suppliers and other stakeholders Internal to Competence: improve individuals competence by using systems, tools and templates Competence to Internal: convert individually held competence to systems, tools and templates Internal to External: allow customers and suppliers to learn by accessing our systems External to Internal: use competence from customers and suppliers to add value to our systems processes and products And, as mentioned above the tenth strategic issue is how the value creation capacity of the whole system can be maximised.
You can now proceed by identifying bloccades on each of these ten issues. Sveiby gave some good and bad practices he encountered concerning these ten issues. The last part of his talk was about the benchmark system he helped make, the Collaborative Climate Index. In three years of testing, with 20 questions, 12.000 respondents in 80 organisations he created a database for benchmarking. Some of the general results can be seen in the sheets.
Most of what is described above, you are propably already dealing with in some way or another in your organisation. But not consciously as Sveiby pointed out. And that is precisely what I am constantly pleading for: conscious choice making, based on self knowledge (in this case of your competences). Sveiby also named trust as the one vital ingredient for knowledge sharing.
One last remark that Sveiby made: "Value is independent of the way it is measured." Euro's and Dollars are not equal to value, but merely one way of trying to measure it.
The New Organizational Wealth: Managing... [Ton's Interdependent thoughts]
Blocking Referer Spam
Brent Ashley keeps an eye on spam blocking techniques: ask him about SimpleFilter for e-mail.
Rogue Referral Reduction. Unxmaal describes a simple way to block referral spam. Mmmmm - less filling!... [brentashley]
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