Glimpse of Nish's world

An Australian man has registered a patent for a "circular transportation facilitation device" - more commonly known as the wheel.
Melbourne patent lawyer John Keogh said he registered the patent to show flaws in an intellectual property law that came into effect in May, the Australian newspaper The Age reported.
The new law established the "innovation patent" system, which Mr Keogh said did not require sufficient oversight from the patent office.

The new innovation patent can be prepared without professional help and only requires claimants to show "innovation", not "invention".

Mr Keogh said it represented the government caving in to claimants who said it was too expensive to obtain a standard patent.

"The government decided to find a way to issue a patent more easily," he said.
"The patent office would be required to issue a patent for anything. All they're doing is putting a rubber stamp on it."

But Commissioner of Patents Vivienne Thom said: "To obtain the patent the applicant must make a declaration that they are the inventor.

"Obtaining a patent for the wheel would require a false claim, which would certainly invalidate the patent," she added.

Recently I had a problem with my VGA card. At first I was not sure whether it was a VGA card problem or some other hardware problem. So I had to check the VGA card first. Hence I went to the dealer I bought my PC - "PC Partners" (Its an under cover for "PC House Technologies") First I went to the shop which I bought the computer, and the sales boys were simply told me to goto the repair center which is located about 500m away, which I comply. Then there is a queue for inquires, and I was able to make my request after about 30 minutes. I made my request and handed-over my VGA card just for check whether its working fine or not. then I was asked to sit and I was told it will take about 30-40 minutes. Anyway..finally it took good TWO HOURS to tell me that the card is not working and the warranty is lapsed :(. During my two hour stay I witnessed the dealer's stubbornness few times. One customer has bought his Printer for Rs. 4000.00 and he is having a problem with that, the dealer asked him to pay Rs. 3800.00 for just to replace a Data cable an amount close enough the cost of a Brand new Printer. He went cursing. The Other occasion was, one client came with defected hard drive, He was simply told that they were not providing warranty for burnt hard drives. At that moment what I felt was what do they mean by warranty and how we know it is a 'burnt' or 'some other thing' or simply the dealer evading the warranty by telling the item is burnt...NO ONE TO CARE..

The other incident is, I bought a new VGA card from NEAT (or is it CHEAT) Technologies..when I try to install the VGA card, it was apparent that the dealer has changed the driver CD, hence I couldnt install the card. I had to go again to the CHEAT TECHNOLOGIES to get changed the wrong Driver CD. When I go there they simply told me to goto Wellawatte, totally ignoring my difficulties and it was their total negligence. what they had to do is simply provide me with the Correct Driver CD. But They Simply turned down the request and told me to goto Wellawatte for any after sales requests. If this is not a mafia what it is???

This is Sri Lanka..anything is possible when you have money..

I recently read an article on asiantribune.com about the lecture conducted by Mr. Bernard Goonetilleke, The Envoy in USA, about the Sri Lanka's conflict. Frankly I was so amused with the remarks made by him. It was very factual, and straight forward. Well done Mr. Goonetilleke, Keep up the good work.

Excerpts from the lecture:

When we speak of Sri Lanka today, our minds generally go to news items and editorials that dominate the day. During the month of October there have been many such editorials and news reporting. Some editorials referred to issues concerning Sri Lanka with captions such as “Asia’s unending war” (Boston Globe of October 22), “Tiger terror”, (The Times of October 19), “Targeting the Tamil Tigers” (Washington Times of October 18) etc. These referred to issues such as the ethnic conflict, terrorism, self-determination, Tamil homeland, aspirations and grievances of Tamils, human rights violations etc.

I would like to begin by saying that these are issues, which require in-depth knowledge of the topic, and not superficial understanding of the subjects. The time available is not sufficient for me to address all the issues, but I shall focus on some major ones.

Full article you can found from http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/2938