More Geek, Less Nerd!

I usually think I'm a hip geek who knows all the latest (and even most of the older) Internet memes.

Not today.

The Supreme Court has created a stricter standard for those who want to claim patent infringement. This should provide a little breathing room for those of us at the mercy of lawyers trying to say we're tripping over patents we didn't even know existed. (h/t Slashdot)

Someone discussing The Physics of Star Trek is generically geeky. When that person is a Catholic theologian, not so much.

"Big engine - lightweight hippy car."

Would YouTube's transformation into a network TV clearinghouse change some minds about P2P?

Some community leaders are starting to question their members' safe use of wireless technology, and are taking steps to require encryption practices in their association rules. "We just don't want to see anybody hurt with their wireless system... If someone (unauthorized) were accessing it and an owner's information, there could be damage and a potential lawsuit.'" I was going to ask, "Can government be far behind?" but apparently, they're already ahead in this game. h/t Slashdot

If you're simply a normal genericgeek, you might not appreciate this.  But if you're an historic-minded kind of genericgeek, you might be interested that a distributed computing program has decrypted one of three remaining undeciphered Enigma intercepts. As reported in the article, after translation the message is: Radio signal 1851/19/252: "F T 1132/19 contents: Forced to submerge during attack. Depth charges. Last enemy position 0830h AJ 9863, (course]) 220 degrees, (speed) 8 knots. (I am) following (the enemy). (Barometer) falls 14 mb, (wind) nor-nor-east, (force) 4, visibility 10 (nautical miles)." For those of us who love history as well as technology, this is like being present at the building of a working time machine, allowing a glimse back into the past that no one has ever had a chance to see. Seriously cool.