Patent laws being abused by Apple iPhone claims

PHOTO: an example of a U.S. software patent, which I am named as an inventor on at Hewlett-Packard: U.S. Patent Number 5,883,639 "Visual Software Engineering system and method for developing visual prototypes and for connecting user code to them" Date of Patent: Mar. 16, 1999. See previous post Steve Jobs never acknowledged standing on the shoulders of giants (10/28/11).

Recent articles by Paul M. Barrett, "Patents: Apple vs. Samsung: The Cage Match Begins," BusinessWeek, Aug. 6-12, 2012, p. 36-37 and David Meyer, "US congressmen take on patent trolls with SHIELD Act," ZDNet.com posted Aug. 2, 2012 prompted me to write the following letter to the editor of my local newspaper:

The need to reform U.S. Patent laws can be seen in the current case of Apple accusing Samsung and others of violating the iPhone patents, despite previous testimony that these patents are invalid due to prior art invented at Hewlett-Packard in Corvallis.

Motorola described their soon-to-be-released cell phone invention in a 1982 Bell System Journal technical paper. In response, as an HP research project manager, I initiated a partnership with Motorola to integrate cell phones with already existing HP handheld computer technology.

Unfortunately, an HP corporate executive dismissed my cell phone computer idea for the sexist reason that only female secretaries answered his telephone and therefore no HP customer would be interested. Yes, I was upset by his stupid reason, but I was equally stupid to dismiss his other sexist demand that all future HP computers include a touch screen interface because only women used typewriter keyboards.

After HP cancelled my project, I personally showed a prototype cell phone computer to Apple founder Steve Jobs at a trade show in Silicon Valley while he was successfully recruiting a few key HP engineers to start up his Apple portable product line. (I was too stupid to take his job offer!)

In most countries, the above facts would automatically invalidate Apple's patents instead of allowing Apple to abuse a system originally created to protect individual inventors.
(Quoted from Thomas Kraemer, "Patent laws don't protect inventors of technology goods," Gazette-Times, Aug. 28, 2012, p. A7)

Listed below are my previous posts on U.S. Patents and the iPhone connection between Apple and HP:

• Steve Jobs never acknowledged standing on the shoulders of giants (10/28/11)
• Apple founder Steve Jobs cosmic connection to HP Corvallis (10/12/11) -- (See my letter "H-P: What goes around went around -- to California for a while," Gazette-Times, Jun. 14, 2011)
• Apple to bulldoze HP site to build circular building for 12,000 employees (6/15/11)
• HP 110, Apple, Steve Sakoman book (12/18/08) -- quotes from Steve Sakoman who was one of the principal engineers and project managers in Corvallis, Oregon for the HP 110 portable computer that came out May, 1984 for $2,995. Steve Jobs, cofounder of Apple, hired Steve Sakoman (p. 206) in 1984 after bringing out the first Mac and being impressed with the HP 110. Jobs initially asked him to build a Macintosh telephone (p. 206-209) that was also a computer. Ironically, this was the idea that just two years earlier I had proposed and got laughed at during management reviews that ended up choosing to do the HP 110 portable computer and the HP Integral PC (HP IPC) transportable or luggable computer.

Also see my previous posts on HP handheld computer and calculator history:

• HP and Corvallis newspaper history (3/11/09)
• IEEE Milestones HP 35 calculator (5/2/09)
• HP-35 scientific calculator anniversary (10/10/07)
• HP Integral PC 1985 video demo (4/14/09)

OSU mentioned in The Advocate 45th anniversary issue

PHOTO: (click on photo to enlarge) Oregon State University is mentioned in an article by Trudy Ring, "LGBTQQIA -- After 15 years of copy editing The Advocate, you learn -- and unlearn -- a lot," The Advocate, 45th Anniversary print edition, Sept. 2012, p. 17 published on Advocate.com August 22 2012. The article describes the changing journalistic standards over the years for referring to people with a minority sexual orientation or gender identity. As an example of the pursuit for inclusiveness it references the Web page Oregon State University Office of LGBTQ Outreach & Services, that "serves to meet the needs of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, and Allied communities, as well as those who identify as Same Gender Loving, Two Spirit, Asexual, Pansexual, and Poly-Amorous (Quoted from oregonstate.edu/lgbtqqia/ last accessed Aug. 18, 2012)". After repeating this long list in the magazine article, the article's author Trudy Ring adds the comment, "Phew."

Similar to "The Advocate" writer Trudy Ring, I have also loved this very inclusive OSU list, but I do not know who wrote it originally and I would love to credit them.

UPDATE Aug. 21, 2012 - I got a reply from Steven Leider, Graduate Teaching Assistant, Oregon State University Women Studies Department School of Language, Culture, and Society Waldo Hall who said: "I think this is a joint effort between Christian Matheis, who wrote the original blurb for the LGBT Outreach & Services web site, I remember adding at least the "Same Gender Loving, Two Spirit," part of the longer quote that includes "Asexual, Pansexual, and Poly-Amorous," when I arrived at OSU in 2005. And it seems that Jeff cleaned up and consolidated the language recently so the quote reads much better." END OF UPDATE Aug. 21, 2012

I don't know how "The Advocate" writer learned about OSU, but I have previously mentioned this long list in my local history, leading up to the Oregon State University Pride Center by Thomas Kraemer, "Corvallis, Oregon State University gay activism 1969-2004," posted April 30, 2010 that is available on the Web site OutHistory.org produced by The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS), located at the City University of New York Graduate Center and now hosted at the University of Chicago. The shortened URL goo.gl/BQhv2 will also go to it more easily if you are text messaging or hand typing the link.

PHOTO: Thomas Kraemer wearing the new slogan t-shirt "touching your lifestyle" in 1976, which was given to subscribers of "The Advocate" by the new publisher. This t-shirt was part of a marketing campaign by the new Wall Street millionaire owner David B. Goodstein who had bought it in 1975. This was the first instance of gay activism being co-opted for profit. Note that journalist stylebooks today discourage referring to the gay lifestyle. John Preston, who was the newly appointed editor, later became a famous author. Goodstein's strategy was to upgrade the quality of the gay press by hiring journalism professionals. One such hire was University of Oregon journalism graduate Randy Shilts who started his career at The Advocate before moving on to be a reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle where he became world famous for his reporting on the AIDS crisis. (See Dudley Clendinen and Adam Nagourney, "Out for Good: the struggle to build a gay rights movement in America," Simon & Schuster, 1999, Chp. 18 and p. 251) See previous posts Advocate Touching Your Lifestyle 1976 (9/16/06) and Wall Street Journal 1975 Advocate Story (7/8/06).

Sally ride and the epistemology of the closet

PHOTO: Google Books Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, "Epistemology of the Closet," University of California Press, 2008 -- About this book -- "Since the late 1980s, queer studies and theory have become vital to the intellectual and political life of the United States. This has been due, in no small degree, to the influence of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's critically acclaimed Epistemology of the Closet. Working from classic texts of European and American writers--including Melville, James, Nietzsche, Proust, and Wilde--Sedgwick analyzes a turn-of-the-century historical moment in which sexual orientation became as important a demarcation of personhood as gender had been for centuries. In her preface to this updated edition Sedgwick places the book both personally and historically, looking specifically at the horror of the first wave of the AIDS epidemic and its influence on the text."

Another antigay letter appeared in my local newspaper (by Marian Ely, "Letter: Who cares if Sally Ride was gay? She was an excellent role model," Gazette-Times, Jul. 27, 2012, p. A13). Similar to previous ones, it was disguised as a naive question by somebody who insisted they had "gay friends. At first I ignored it because it wasn't clear if the person was well intentioned, but clueless, or if they were just repeating an old point made by a few uninitiated gay people and also antigay political groups. However, I was also concerned that a short letter in reply could not convey all of the complex ideas surrounding how the closet only perpetuates anti-gay discrimination. Below is the copy edited version as it was printed in the newspaper:

(Marian Ely's) letter of July 27 letter asked, who cares if Sally Ride was gay?

One answer is it matters to the bare majority who voted to deny Ride's spouse the equal rights of opposite-sex married citizens.

Sally Ride volunteered to be a role model for female students seeking a science or engineering degree at Oregon State University.

A century ago, females had to literally hide their sex (today called gender) to become a successful engineer.

It is relevant news that Ride, an otherwise brave astronaut, apparently felt too intimidated by society to also be a role model for students with a minority sexual orientation or gender identity.

Ultimately, it was her choice to remain in the closet.

More than one doctoral thesis has analyzed the epistemology of the closet. All confirm the conventional wisdom that those who defend the closet facilitate discrimination.

(Quoted from Thomas Kraemer, "Letter: Life of closeted homosexuality and global acclaim hold a lesson," Gazette-Times, posted Aug. 2, 2012)

Related links:

• Marian Ely, "Letter: Who cares if Sally Ride was gay? She was an excellent role model," Gazette-Times, Jul. 27, 2012, p. A13
• Mania Monaco, "Sally Ride: An Inspiration for Women in Engineering," theinstitute.ieee.org posted July 30, 2012
• Erik Robelen,"Astronaut Sally Ride, a Leader in STEM Education, Dies at 61," Education Week's blogs, July 24, 2012 -- "But one of her passions was working to inspire young people, especially girls, to become interested in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics."
• Michelangelo Signorile, "Why Sally Ride's Sexual Orientation Matters," huffingtonpost.com posted Jul. 27, 2012
• Michelangelo Signorile, "Gore Vidal: Certainly Not the Last Word on a Proud 'Fag,'" huffingtonpost.com posted Aug. 8, 2012 -- more from the outing champion
• Rex Wockner, "Sally Ride's final public act: a gift to LGBT community," posted Saturday, July 28, 2012 -- Rex also asks "why it matters" and decides it does.
• epistemology (Wikipedia) -- "branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope (limitations) of knowledge"
• Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, "Epistemology of the Closet," University of California Press, 1990 (See Google Books) -- Epistemology of the Closet (ISBN 0-520-07874-8), 1991 -- Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (Wikipedia) -- "Argues that questions of sexual definition are at the heart of every form of literature, and discusses the writings of Melville, James, Wilde, and Proust."
• conventional wisdom -- "is a term used to describe ideas or explanations that are generally accepted as true by the public or by experts in a field. Such ideas or explanations, though widely held, are unexamined. Unqualified societal discourse preserves the status quo."
• Concerning Anderson Cooper's recent coming out to Andrew Sullivan see Thomas Kraemer comment to wayne Dynes, "I dissent from the chorus of approval that has greeted Anderson Cooper's announcement about his sexual orientation," dyneslines.blogspot.com posted Jul. 3, 2012.
• Daniel Mendelsohn, "A Closet by Another Name," New York Times, posted Jul. 3, 2012
• John M. Becker, "Thoughts on Anderson Cooper and the "Private Lives" of LGBT People," truthwinsout.org posted Jul. 3, 2012

Marc Breedlove seeks donations for gay science documentary

PHOTO: Gay men are more likely than straight men to have a counterclockwise whorl. Photographs by Mark Mahaney from David France, "The Science of Gaydar," New York Magazine, Photograph by Mark Mahaney accessed 6/20/07. See Marc Breedlove, a neuroscience professor at Michigan State University and see previous post Gender and sexual orientation science (7/21/07)

PHOTO: OSU student Tess Jarmain escorts four male-oriented (homosexual) rams in Oregon State University's flock back to pasture. Photo by Tiffany Brown from 'The science of rams and sexuality: Not all seek ewes,' By Mary Ann Albright, Corvallis (Oregon) Gazette-Times, August 12, 2005 (See previous post OSU Gay Sheep NY Times (2/7/07))

Cover of the journal Cell June 3, 2005 showing gay fruit flies having sex. (See previous post OSU gay fruit fly sex research (9/16/06))

Researcher S. Marc Breedlove, a neuroscience professor at Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI started a request for donations for "Reviewing scientific evidence that processes at work before birth influence sexual orientation. Nature has a say in whom you love." See "Whom you love," accessed Aug. 4, 2012 by S. Marc Breedlove, East Lansing, MI, "Whom You Love: the biology of sexual orientation," kickstarter.com Jul. 23, 2012 accessed Aug. 4, 2012 says that $6,453 has been pledged of $50,000 goal. Donations for a gay science documentary and lecture series are being sought by Marc Breedlove of the Breedlove Jordan Lab Michigan State University, Lansing, Michigan. (517) 355-1749 breedsm [at] msu [dot] edu. This would be the type of project perfect for funding by my OSU Foundation Magnus Hirschfeld Fund Agreement (1/4/12). The gay sheep research at OHSU and OSU is mentioned in my history of OSU. (See by Thomas Kraemer, "Corvallis, Oregon State University gay activism 1969-2004," posted April 30, 2010 or via the shortened URL goo.gl/BQhv2 is hosted by outhistory.org).

This was brought to my attention thanks to a post by A post by Wayne Besen, "Help Fund Important Documentary On The Development of Sexual Orientation," truthwinsout.org posted Aug. 1, 2012, which pitches the request for funding by researcher Dr. Marc Breedlove for a lecture series to be made into a documentary on gay science.

Some related links and list of scientists invited to speak:

• See previous post Simon LeVay's new gay science book (10/14/10) and Older brothers make you gay (6/27/06). My low vision blindness due to a stroke has slowed me down in reading Simon LeVay's book -- I read his first book years ago and I've only managed to get through the first few chapters of his new book (that is now two years old!)
• Daniel Schorn, "The Science of Sexual Orientation," CBS 60 Minutes, This story originally aired on March 12, 2006
• Breedlove Jordan Lab 108 Giltner Hall Michigan State University -- The Breedlove lab studies the effect of steroid hormones on the developing and adult nervous system, including sexual differentiation of the developing brain and spinal cord, as well as the activation of plasticity in the adult nervous system.
• Marc Breedlove page Breedlove Jordan Lab Michigan State University
• Eric Vilain, MD. Chief, Medical Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA: Born This Way: Biological Tales of Sexual Orientation.
• Sari van Anders Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan: Beyond Sexual Orientation: Testosterone and sexual diversity in humans.
• Dennis McFadden Ph.D., Ashbel Smith Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin: Physiological Evidence about the Origins of Sexual Orientation.
• Paul L. Vasey Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, University of Lethbridge: No Dodos: What Cross-Cultural Research Tells us About Why Homosexual Males Do Not Become Extinct.
• Charles Roselli Ph.D., Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology, Oregon Health & Science University: Gay Rams: Barnyard Insights into Sexuality.
• Meredith Chivers Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Queen's National Scholar, Queen's University: The Puzzle of Women's Sexual Orientation - Why Straight Sexuality Isn't so Straightforward in Women.
• Simon LeVay Ph.D., West Hollywood: My Brain Made Me Gay: Sexual Orientation, Science, and Society.
• J. Michael Bailey Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Northwestern University: Is Sexual Orientation Chosen, Learned, Inborn, Genetic, or What?
• Ray Blanchard Ph.D., Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto: How and Why Do Older Brothers Influence Sexual Orientation in Men?
• Alice Dreger Ph.D., Professor of Clinical Medical Humanities and Bioethics, Northwestern University: Fetishes I Don't Get: A Travelogue of Sexology

Arthur Leonard CA Prop 8 appeal still citing Jack Baker gay marriage case

PHOTO: An original printed bound copy of first U.S. Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage that was initiated by University of Minnesota law student Jack Baker in and his lover McConnell in 1970 after they noticed that Minnesota State law did not specify the gender of married couples and they got married: Baker et al. v. Nelson, Oct. 10, 1972, "United States Reports, Volume 409, Cases Adjudged in the Supreme Court, October Term, 1972," U.S. Government Printing Office, 1974, p. 810. At the time, and unlike today, state court cases that had a Constitutional rights question were automatically entitled to be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, which often refuses to hear cases. However, the court frequently dodged this obligation by using the same one-sentence ruling that they used in this case, "Dismissed for want of a substantial federal question." Given how frequently the Court used this one-sentence ruling, it may or may not have been because the Court had actually given it enough thought to decide that marriage was a matter of State law and not Federal law. However, it is true that marriage was strictly a matter of state law until plural and interracial marriage cases were challenged and after anti-gay marriage groups had forced the passage of Federal laws, such as the Defense of Marriage Act, which by definition make marriage an issue of Federal law. Pending state gay marriage cases, which are about to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, have made this point to the Court. (See previous posts Baker v. Nelson 1972 Supreme Court order on gay marriage (7/22/09) and (NY Constitutional law Professor) Arthur S. Leonard on Baker v Nelson gay marriage case (7/28/09))

A new post by New York Law School Professor Arthur S. Leonard, "Prop 8 Supporters File Supreme Court Appeal," newyorklawschool.typepad.com posted July 31, 2012 notes "They also argued that the 9th Circuit ruling is inconsistent with the Supreme Court's action in 1972 in Baker v. Nelson, in which it dismissed a same-sex marriage appeal from Minnesota on the ground that the right of same-sex couples to marry does not present "a substantial federal constitutional question.""

See previous posts Frank Kameny letter to gay marriage pioneer Jack Baker in 1973 (7/16/12) and Jack Baker deserves mainstream press coverage after gay marriage ruling (7/7/12).

OSU gay football player Esera Tuaolo boyfriend troubles

PHOTO: Former Oregon State University and NFL player Esera Tuaolo came out on the cover of The Advocate. ("Tackling football's closet," By Bruce C. Steele, The Advocate, Nov. 26, 2002, cover story, pp. 3, 30-39) (See previous posts OSU gay sports panel (10/17/08), OSU Esera Tuaolo gay football star (8/12/06) and OSU gay football player 1908 (6/19/08))

This is old news, but I just got around to writing about the boyfriend troubles that the former OSU and NFL football player Esera Tuaolo has faced. I couldn't find any bad news updates. He was arrested on a domestic violence charge with his boyfriend, but those charges were dropped with his boyfriend saying it was all a misunderstanding. See C.J. Columnist, The Dish, "Former NFLer Tuaolo took charges to heart," Minneapolis Star-Tribune, posted June 28, 2011. I was reminded about this by Jim Burroway, "The Daily Agenda for Wednesday, July 11," boxturtlebulletin.com posted July 11th, 2012 who celebrated Esera Tuaolo's 1968 birthday.

OSU Linus Pauling using HP calculator in PBS documentary

PHOTO: former Oregon State University student and the Nobel Laureate for peace and chemistry, Linus Pauling (1901-1994), is shown using a Hewlett-Packard calculator, given to him as a gift by company cofounders Dave Packard and Bill Hewlett, in a PBS documentary (at approx. 3 min.), which mentions (approx. 11 min.) that tuition was free for Oregon residents when Pauling started OSU in 1917, just shy of getting his high school diploma (OSU was named Oregon Agricultural College at that time). (See "Linus Pauling," Premiered May 30, 2011, 9:00 PM on OPB TV, watched on Corvallis, Oregon, KOAC-TV July 30, 2012 10-11PM.) The show's description says, "Linus Pauling is considered one of the greatest chemists of the 20th century. A brilliant scientist and humanitarian he made revolutionary discoveries in chemistry, physics, molecular biology and medicine; then used his international fame and popularity to promote world peace. Targeted by the FBI and labeled a Communist during the height of the Cold War, Linus Pauling is the only person in history to win two unshared" Just like gay activists, Pauling had to testify that he was "not a communist" and was "never a Communist." (See Linus PaulingFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)

PHOTO: Hewlett-Packard HP-12c financial calculator similar to the one scientific version being used by Pauling. (See previous posts HP 12c financial calculator history (6/21/06), HP-12C calculator 30th anniversary in BusinessWeek (9/16/11), First HP Corvallis division manager dies at 76 (4/23/11) and HP 12c 25th Anniversary (2/13/07))

Listening to Linus Pauling's biography, it occurred to me that when he went Germany, the mecca of chemistry at that time, he probably rubbed elbows with my grandfather. (See Elmer Kraemer, chemist, nylon, synthetic rubber pioneer (10/18/09))