[FSUG-Bangalore] Microsoft has been granted a patent on 'Page Up' and 'Page Down' keystrokes.

[Hemanth H.M]

*One of the zdnet.com articles had this issue

"Microsoft has been granted a patent on 'Page Up' and 'Page Down'
keystrokes. *

The software giant applied for the patent in 2005, and was granted it on
August 19, 2008. US patent number
7,415,666<http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1%3Cbr%20%3E%3C/a%3E%20&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,415,666.PN.&OS=PN/7,415%3Cbr%20/%3E%20,666&RS=PN/7,415,666>describes
"a method and system in a document viewer for scrolling a
substantially exact increment in a document, such as one page, regardless of
whether the zoom is such that some, all or one page is currently being
viewed".

The patent's listed 'inventors' are Timothy Sellers, Heather Grantham and
Joshua Dersch. However, Page Up and Page Down keyboard buttons have been in
existence for at least quarter of a century, as evidenced by this image of a
1981 IBM PC keyboard <http://www.vintage-computer.com/images/83key.jpg>.

"In one implementation, pressing a Page Down or Page Up keyboard key/button
allows a user to begin at any starting vertical location within a page, and
navigate to that same location on the next or previous page," reads the
patent's summary.

"For example, if a user is viewing a page starting in a viewing area from
the middle of that page and ending at the bottom, a Page Down command will
cause the next page to be shown in the viewing area starting at the middle
of the next page and ending at the bottom of the next page. Similar behavior
occurs when there is more than one column of pages being displayed in a
row," states the summary.

Microsoft has a long history of applying for, and being granted patents for,
inventions that many argue--and can sometimes demonstrate--were based on
earlier work carried out by others, or based on a common, self-evident idea.


One example is the company's patent on a mouse wheel that can scroll up and
down; another is its patent on double-clicking buttons. The company received
its 5,000th patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office in March 2006,
and is currently approaching the 10,000 mark."
*
Please Think what can be done for things like these, are we so helpless ?
Are the giants over our head?*
*How can we the people of FSUG make people around us to rebel against things
like this!*



The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so
certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.
Bertrand Russell

I ask you only two questions :

1. Did u find joy in ur life?
2.How many found joy from ur life ??

-Hemanth HM
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