Defenseload

Most See Inequality Growing but Partisans Differ over Solutions

According to a 2014 national survey by the Pew Research Center and USA TODAY, there is broad public agreement that economic inequality has grown over the past decade. But there are wide partisan differences over how much the government should – and can – do to address these issues.

Read more here:
http://www.people-press.org/2014/01/23/most-see-inequality-growing-but-partisans-differ-over-solutions/

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My Blog Is Dead But Its Ok

Bear In Heaven - "Autumn"

I always refer to the music of Bear In Heaven as "danceable reflection in slow motion."  The music drives forward in a systematic form that makes one want to dance, but there are also layers of dark emotion that make the listener want to reflect, elevating each track to much more than just a good time.  The music beats heavy and cycles upon itself, a gentle tornado of synths and bold vocals that makes the world seem larger and more important, every sound creating a visceral reaction and causing mandatory reflection note after note.



James Bay - "If You Ever Want To Be In Love"

The blending of several genres of music fits this James Bay track very well.  It has a bit of twang on the guitars and is complimented by booming vocals that drive the song forward.  "If You Ever Want To Be In Love" is all about being smooth, from its great production to its emotive vocals.  This is a perfect summer song that pulls all the right strings to put the listener in that special mental space that ballads tend to do.  There is a lovely drop out with a gentle piano at the end which clearly marks Bay as a clever musician in full control of his craft.




This problem was recently fixed by the Numero Group record label, who released what has to be my favorite "reissue special release" on vinyl this year.  It sports a beautiful gatefold packaging with twenty-four perfect tracks.  The release includes the one and only original Sandy Denny & The Srawbs album that has always been hard to find on wax, along with a ton of b-sides that never saw the light of day.  The most impressive quality of this release is how every single b-side is of top quality and makes you question why anything was ever cut.  This is a must own album -- maybe Ill buy two because my first copy has been glued to the turntable and I dont think it will be leaving its spot anytime soon.PURCHASE / LEARN MOREMUSIC VIDEO OF THE WEEK

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More Arguing About Women In Video Games But This Time the Women Can Beat You Up

Frankly, I want my avatar to look more like this ...

The argument about how women should be portrayed in video games rages inexplicably on. Speaking as someone who writes these things for money, not systematically alienating half the human population and almost half of actual gamers is just good business.

Happily, progress is being made. There have been quite a few games out this year, indie and AAA, that prominently feature interesting women as main characters and supporting cast. (e.g. Gone Home. Last of Us. Tomb Raider. Bioshock: Infinite, sorta.)

Were getting there. Fossilized designs like Grand Theft Auto V are increasingly out of place. But angry young men on forums make it seem like theres an actual controversy, so on we go.

Its all kind of a waste, because, as far as Im concerned, the interview that should settle the argument decisively came out in September, and it didnt get nearly as much attention as it should have.

Its an interview with two female soldiers, one who served in Afghanistan and one who served in Iraq, about how women are portrayed in gunshooters.

Its full of great quotes, but heres a nice one, talking about Call of Duty (which only finally put in playable female soldiers in the newest title) ...

Its because you have men who are designing these games in the first place. Put me, or any of the women who have served in charge of a shooter that includes women as the main protagonists. You can bet that youll get a character who is far more concerned about her kill streak than she is her makeup or how she looks. And you can believe she wouldnt be running around in a bikini either. Save that for Dead or Alive where the women dont do any real combat, and flounce around with their tits bouncing like they are in a rodeo.

I think that this should be the beginning of the end of the conversation. Heres why.

... than this.

Soldiers and Video Games, The Basics

Bear in mind here that video games are insanely popular among soldiers overseas, as they provide a reliable distraction during the inevitable seemingly infinite hours of boredom and inactivity.

I have received so many e-mails from soldiers who wanted to get my games up and running before they leave on a long deployment. Of course, I find it impossible to reject requests like that.

The Last Stand of Principle

Of course, in our society, pretty much any moral principle can instantly be abandoned if the money is right. In the video game industry, its gotten to the point where anyone’s appeal to basic ethics is generally treated with open mockery. (How many huge games in the last year or two shipped in a basically non-functional state?)

There is one principle, however, that is almost never questioned by the sane: The people who chose to sacrifice years of their lives (and perhaps their entire life) to defend their countries deserve respect.

The people willing to die for us should be honored for that. Must it be said that this is still true when they are women?

From the upcoming game, Warface. This is a PR image. Everything about it was carefully planned. What does it want to say, and what does it want to teach? (Answer below.)

So Here Is The Absolute Minimum That Is Required

One. If its a game about soldiers, female avatars should be available whenever possible. With a AAA budget, there is NO excuse to not have this in the multiplayer. You can afford it.

Two. Women soldiers should look like soldiers. When someone goes overseas and gives up years of her life in public service, she should not see that her culture regards woman warriors as a bunch of mindless sex dolls.

I mean, right?

And lets be clear. I know game devs. Ive been around them for decades. They are mostly doughy, deskbound guys who never came within a thousand miles of serving in the military. That these guys are insulting the women doing the tough job so few of them signed up for is truly galling.

Answer: Thank you for your service.

And It Matters

Culture matters. I mean theres not a question, right? The images we surround ourselves with affect us. Why are such massive fortunes spent on advertising? You think they dont affect people? Corporations like wasting money?

(And dont kid yourself. There is a wealth of research that says that ads do affect you, even when you dont realize it.)

We absorb the media around us, and it shapes us. Nobody plays these games more than kids, and kids learn.

So ask yourself the question. What do you want young people to learn? Not what it is easiest or most profitable to teach them. Ask what we want. What is best for the country. What is just. What is right.

Im no white knight. The women in the interview dont need my help or my pity. They do, however, deserve respect. Depicting soldiers as soldiers, man or woman, seems like a tiny, reasonable way to start.

---

As always, were still on Facebook and Twitter.

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Myriad and the ACLU Disagree over Claim Scope But Apparently Not over Patent Eligibility of Genetic Diagnostic Methods

After reading the briefs submitted by Myriad and the ACLU/PubPat in AMP v. PTO (the challenge to Myriad’s gene patents, described in previous posts to this blog), one thing that struck me was that the parties do not appear to disagree over the patent eligibility of genetic diagnostic methods. In fact, with respect to these method claims, the only dispute is with respect to the proper interpretation of the claims.

The challenged diagnostic method claims recite processes of either "analyzing" or "comparing" nucleotide sequences. For example, claim 1 of US patent number 6,033,857 claims:

A method for identifying a mutant BRCA2 nucleotide sequence in a suspected mutant BRCA2 allele which comprises comparing the nucleotide sequence of the suspected mutant BRCA2 allele with the wild-type BRCA2 nucleotide sequence, wherein a difference between the suspected mutant and the wild-type sequence identifies a mutant BRCA2 nucleotide sequence.

Myriad argues for a relatively narrow interpretation of the claims, under which the claims are limited to methods which require actual physical analysis of DNA molecules. Under their interpretation, the term "nucleotide sequence," as used in the claims, refers to actual polynucleotides, i.e., DNA or RNA molecules, and the step of comparing these molecules necessarily requires physically isolating polynucleotides from a patients tissue sample, and then processing and analyzing the molecules. Myriad argues that these processes are all clearly transformative of physical molecules, and because the transformations are “central to the purpose of the claims,” the claims satisfy the machine or transformation test. They cite to Prometheus for the proposition that transformative steps that are central to the purpose of the claims cannot be disregarded in the analysis as mere "data-gathering steps,” and argue these transformative steps render the claim patent eligible.

The ACLU, on the other hand, argues for a much broader interpretation of the method claims. They argue that the term "nucleotide sequence" in the claims refers to sequence information, not to molecules, and that the claims cover the purely mental process of "comparing" or "analyzing" DNA sequence information. Under this broad interpretation, the claims clearly do not require any sort of physical transformation, and on this basis the ACLU argues they fail the machine or transformation test, which they correctly note remains "a useful and important clue" to patent eligibility (using the language of the Supreme Court).

Interestingly, the ACLU never suggests in their brief that the diagnostic method claims would be patent ineligible if limited to methods involving actual isolation and processing of DNA molecules, i.e., the only processes covered by the claims under Myriads interpretation of the claims. Conversely, Myriad never argues that a method claim that encompasses purely mental processes for comparing DNA sequence information would be patent eligible. Thus, both parties seem implicitly to agree on a consensus approach under which a claim directed toward a genetic diagnostic method is patent eligible if limited to diagnostic methods that involve actual isolation and manipulation of DNA molecules, but patent ineligible if the claim would also cover merely comparing DNA sequence information.

Notably, the district court adopted the ACLUs broad interpretation of the claims, and held that the claims cover a process of comparing or analyzing DNA sequence information. However, in dicta the district court went even further, stating that "[e]ven if the challenged claims were read to include the transformations associated with isolating and sequencing human DNA, these transformations would constitute no more than ‘data-gathering step[s]’ that are not central to the purpose of the claimed process.. . . . Consequently, even if the method claims-in-suit were construed to include the physical transformations associated with isolating and sequencing DNA, they would still fail the ‘machine or transformation’ test under Section 101 for subject matter patentability."

In my analysis of the district court decision, I pointed out that this dicta seems clearly wrong, and is inconsistent with the Federal Circuits decision in Prometheus. Clearly, these data-gathering steps are central to the purpose of the claim and should be included in the machine or transformation analysis. I suspect that the ACLU agrees with my assessment, and is not even trying to argue for more extreme position taken by the district court.

It seems to me that the implicit consensus between Myriad and the ACLU is correct, i.e., method of genetic diagnostic claims are patent eligible if they include steps involving the actual physical manipulation of DNA molecules, but patent ineligible if they would cover the wholly mental process of analyzing DNA sequence information.

As a side note, another point of contention regarding claim interpretation exists with respect to whether some of the claims are limited to cDNA molecules. In its amicus brief, the United States government has argued that claims to isolated genomic DNA are patent ineligible, but claims limited to cDNA molecules are patent eligible (as reported in an earlier post to this blog). For some reason, in its brief the ACLU argues that the United States is mistaken, and that none of the challenged claims is limited to cDNA. ACLU seems to be clearly mistaken on this point--for example, Claim 2 of US patent 5,747,282 (one of the challenged claims) recites "DNA [having] the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:1.” The Sequence Listing section of the patent specification explicitly identifies SEQ ID NO:1 as a cDNA.

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