would-be-funny-if-it-wasn't-so-sad attempt

總是會有些人（人們），想法與眾人不同，有時候我們叫這種想法是「創意」，有時候美其名曰「眾人皆醉伊獨醒」，但是有時候我們只能稱之為 would-be-funny-if-it-wasn't-so-sad...

Who owns "Cyberlaw"?

一位在美國華盛頓特區執業的律師 Eric Menhart 去年（2007）向美國的專利局申請 Cyberlaw 這個字眼的商標（federal trademark），申請的業務涵蓋範圍包括(資料來源：Technology & Marketing Law Blog)：

Legal document preparation and research services for attorneys; Legal research; Legal services; Legal services, namely, preparation of applications for trademark registration; Consulting and legal services in the field of privacy and security laws, regulations, and requirements; Expert witness services in legal matters in the field of intellectual property and information technology; Providing a website that features information on the development of international law, regulations, legal policies, and legal practices in a manner that promotes global governance by all types of organizations; Reviewing standards and practices to assure compliance with intellectual property and information technology laws and regulations; Attorney services; Litigation services; Legal services, namely, trademark maintenance services; Copyright management; Copyright management consultation; Registration of domain names for identification of users on a global computer network; Arbitration; Arbitration services; Consultation in the field of data theft and identity theft; Intellectual property consultation; Intellectual property watch services; Licensing of advertising slogans and cartoon characters; Licensing of computer software; Licensing of intellectual property; Litigation consultancy; Mediation; Patent licensing; Preparing and filing incorporation papers; Providing information relating to legal affairs

你猜這項申請通過的機會有多大？

10 萬美金的搜尋引擎

新加坡的 Agency for Science, Technology and Research （科學技術研究局）日前公佈將提供十萬美金舉辦一個搜尋引擎競賽，依照新聞稿的說法，參賽的搜尋引擎，不僅要能作一般的文字搜尋，還要能在多媒體檔案中找出關鍵字，PHYSORG.COM 公佈的原文如下：

Contestants are required to create a search engine that can identify search terms found not only in text within websites, but in music and video files as well.

The competition is aimed at creating a search engine that works across all multi-media platforms, especially Web 2.0 and user-generated content websites such as Facebook and YouTube, the agency said.

比起 Netflix 的大手筆（一百萬美金耶），十萬元實在是太少了...