Does It Compute?

"Not Enough Licenses?"

I occasionally get a call from a client complaining that someone has gotten a “Not Enough Licenses” message when trying to log in to Worldox.  The cause is simple, the solution to date has not been. 

The cause is that one or more users have logged in twice, either on two computers or has left their office computer on and logged in via Terminal Services, VPN, etc. That uses two licenses.

In the past, the only solution has been to go around to all PCs and try to figure out who is logged in twice. Alternatively, to check the server for open files and kill the extra logins.

Worldox has just released a utility for GX3, “Wdinfo,” that tells you who is logged in and what machine. It also notes how many networked (mirrored) logins there are and how many “direct” (that is, via Terminal Services or similar) logins. This makes it possible to track down the extra licenses easily. Since the IT people in most larger firms have access to user computers, it would be fairly simple to connect in and exit out of the extra copy of Worldox.

The utility also gives you other useful information, such as how many unposted items there are (if there are a lot, it could be an indication of a problem with the indexer) and how many records are in the system.

Lastly, you can set it to send you a “Worldox Health” email, say every morning at 8 am, to make sure everything is fine.

Wdinfo is only available with the latest release of GX3 (dated Sept. 12 under Worldox | Help | About).

Patently Idiotic

So Apple won (at least initially) its patent infringement suit against Samsung. However, the U.S. is the only major jurisdiction where patent infringement cases are tried by a jury, and similar lawsuits across the world have been divided about 50-50. Apple lost in Japan, for example, which is a huge market. And it turns out that the jury foreman, Velvin Hogan, is a patent-holder himself. And juror interviews indicate that the jury may have just ignored at least some of the Judge’s instructions.

John Dvorak thinks the whole thing may turn out to be a disaster for Apple. See his article “Why Apple Actually Lost to Samsung.”  The core of his argument is as follows:

“This is a disaster for Apple no matter what Samsung does to its interface and its rounded corners. The case and its results, because of Apple testimonies, make it sound as if Apple was suing because a better product evolved.”

And the fact is that Android-powered phones (like Samsung) now own a majority market share in new sales.

Others have noted that it is totally unrealistic to expect that jurors spent any significant thought in going through the 700 charges in only three days, although the likelihood of getting much reversed is slim.  See last week’s Foss Patents blog: 

More recently there are rumors of talks between Apple and Samsung to stop the endless, multi-billion dollar international litigation.

But the most striking issue here is the utter idiocy of design patents. Patent round corners?  Really.  The patent system in the U.S. is obviously broken and this entire suit simply underlines that fact.