important

Professor asks trade body to investigate everyone and their mom

What do you do when some of the biggest names in consumer electronics might be in violation of your patents?

Why, try to take away their right to sell their products in the U.S., of course.

Columbia University Professor Emeritus Gertrude Neumark Rothschild says 30 companies are infringing on her patent for laser and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In response, she wants the U.S. government to ban those companies' imports to the U.S. that are in violation. A lot of companies use LEDs and laser diodes for a variety of reasons--Sony uses blue laser diodes in its Blu-ray … Read more

Share and synchronize your Outlook and Google calendars

Since I started synchronizing my e-mail inboxes a few months ago, I rarely even open my Outlook mail client. I much prefer seeing the messages sent to my ISP's POP account and those sent to my Gmail account together in my Gmail inbox. But I still have to open Outlook to view my calendar, which I've been using for years, even though I now put many of my nonwork appointments in Google Calendar, which I can access from my iPhone or any Internet-connected PC.

I thought I found a free program that would let me synchronize the two … Read more

E-waste returns with a ready-to-wear vengeance

Castoff computer parts can make for quirky jewelry, if you feel like flashing keyboard button earrings or circuitboard cufflinks.

Unlike these models of creative recycling, some costume jewelry imported from China contains heavy metals from discarded electronics and could make you sick, as the Wall Street Journal reported last week.

Some novelty necklaces and earrings are laced with lead and antimony that likely came from e-waste thrown away by consumers in the United States and other developed nations, then shipped to China for unsafe recycling. "Best Friends Forever" necklaces from Claire's mall shops and stud earrings from … Read more

When in Rome, Prada is plentiful. Bringsome?

It's always those little things spotted in a foreign country that I wish I'd grabbed more of to bring back home, like $2 cartoon-print chopsticks from Tokyo, a $3 sack of paprika from Budapest, or $1 bottles of local lavender oil from Zagreb. I may not revisit those places, but I could ask for someone going there to snag some stuff for me. If you're my friend, however, that could interfere with your carefree vacation. Why not ask a stranger instead?

Bringsome is built just for that. Travelers on the site offer to bring back goodies from … Read more

Lik-Sang now sunk

According to a notice on its site, the import game company Lik-Sang has gone out of business. The reason? It was sued into oblivion by Sony, apparently. Sony brought lawsuits against the company for infringing Sony's "trademarks, copyright and registered design rights by selling Sony PSP consoles from Asia to European customers." This comes shortly after Sony's controversial announcement that they'll use all legal means available to them to prevent the import of PS3s to Europe.

Before it closed down, Lik-Sang was one of the top online stores for importing Japanese games and gaming consoles. … Read more