Maze Zen - Pyschedelic Ying Yang Maze
Maze Zen - Pyschedelic Ying Yang Maze
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For more mazes by this artist, Yonatan Frimer, visit these sites:
Team Of Monkeys Maze - Maze Cartoon Website
Ink Blot Mazes - Maze Art
SCOTTS VALLEY — A federal jury in Texas awarded VirnetX, a small, publicly held company in Scotts Valley, $105.75 million Tuesday in a patent infringement case against Microsoft Corp.
An "extremely pleased" Kendall Larsen, VirnetX president and chief executive officer, called the nine-figure award "tremendous" and said it "verifies our belief that our patents are foundational and important." Larsen founded the 12-person company in 2005 to commercialize a patent portfolio derived from a Central Intelligence Agency security project. The company's patents relate to virtual private networking, technology that allows Internet users to securely communicate and collaborate over the Internet. The company holds over 48 U.S. and international patents and pending applications which it intends to use in the development of a licensing program and new software products.
The patent infringement suit was filed in 2007 and claimed that Microsoft had purposely violated existing patents in eight products that generate billions of dollars in annual revenues and include Windows Vista, Windows XP, Server 2003, Server 2008 and Office Communicator.
After years of pre-trial hearings, a jury began to hear the case on March 8. The jury decided Tuesday that Microsoft had infringed on two VirnetX patents and had done so willfully or with knowledge, which opens the door for VirnetX to request injunctive relief.
The case is far from over as Microsoft is expected to appeal.
"We look forward to the appeals process as further validation of our patents," Larsen said. " With this landmark decision behind us, we can now fully concentrate on our licensing program, Secure Domain Name Registry, essential 4G security patents, and Gabriel Connection Technology Beta." The company's target market is estimated to be more than $100 billion and the company has been cited in recent months as a good buy within the investment community. In December, however, the company reported a third quarter loss of more than $2.2 million. The company reported a loss of nearly $10 million for the first nine months of 2009 and an accumulated a debt of more than $33 million.
Yet, with every favorable court ruling, VirnetX has watched its stock price rise. It went from $1.05 a year ago to $6.29 Wednesday.
The Scotts Valley Drive office was buzzing with news this week.
"It's not every day that you win against the largest software company in the world," said Greg Wood, director of corporate communications. "This goes a long ways in validating our patent portfolio."
Help get rid of that Microsoft frustration by solving one of these mazes!
Team Of Monkeys Lumberjacks Maze.
Arrows mark the entrance and exit to the maze.
Team Of Monkeys Maze By Y.Frimer & RSL
Maze of Lumber jack monkeys
This is hurt, anguish, and embarrassment all wrapped up in one corporate migraine. The problem, you see, is that there are quite a few people at Microsoft who love the iPhone. At least that is what an article in The Wall Street Journal is suggesting.
The article offers stories of Steve Ballmer himself pretending to stomp on an employee's iPhone. It tells of Microsoft employees being sheepish about exposing their Apple-made contraptions in meetings. It even suggests that as many as 10 percent of Microsoft employees might be in the thrall of the Cupertino King.
Naturally, there will be those who suggest such behavior is heresy. Ballmer, according to the article, explains that when his father worked for Ford, the family only drove Fords. But in those days, corporations were slightly different beings than they are now. People believed they had a job that would last forever, rather than one that might not survive the next clever little financial ruse from some halfwit on Wall Street or the next pandering to Wall Street by a halfwitted CFO. Employees offered loyalty, because they thought it would be returned. What hope is there now of that?
It is, though, a ticklish area. Does an employee's preference for the iPhone suggest that Microsoft products aren't good enough? Why, yes it does. At least for them. But does that have to be a bad thing?
Ad agencies sometimes become (even more) neurotic when they entertain clients whose products many at the agency don't use (or even privately loathe). The truth is, you can create fine ads to sell Daewoo cars without ever driving one. You can happily sell a bank where you don't have an account. Please may I also confess that I've done successful campaigns for both baby shampoo and tampons, while, strangely, not being a user of either?
If the Journal's tales are accurate, then perhaps the different behaviors of Microsoft employees say more about the people than the products.
If there are those who harass iPhone users, that reflects those people's management styles. If there are those who are embarrassed about being seen with an iPhone, then perhaps it might just suggest they are worried about their careers and desperate not to inspire ire. Are those the kinds of employees that thrive at Microsoft?
While some, such as Microsoft software engineer Eugene Lim, reportedly use their spare time to give public talks about developing apps for the iPhone, others sneak around not wishing to be seen as traitorous.
There seems even disagreement amongst senior Microsoft figures about how this issue should be handled, though in 2009 the company reportedly performed a little tweak to its corporate cell phone policy. You only get your service fees reimbursed if your very smart phone uses Windows Phone software.
At heart, though, perhaps the message that resonates most personally and most deeply in the heads of both management and employees might be: "Why couldn't we have made that? Are we really not cool enough?"
This article sponcored by Team Of Monkeys Maze
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