The case has already been to the Iowa Supreme Court three times, but today Microsoft agreed to settle an Iowa class action antitrust lawsuit against it for an undisclosed amount. Terms of the settlement could be released at a hearing in late April when the judge decides whether to accept the agreement, but for now all that has been disclosed is that Microsoft will contribute half of any unclaimed proceeds from the settlement to Iowa schools.
The case stems from the pricing of Microsoft operating systems and Office applications from May 1994 through June 2006—and, yes, the case even encompasses sales of MS-DOS. The Iowa plaintiffs, headed up by Des Moines lawyer Roxanne Conlin alleged that Microsoft abused its monopoly position in the marketplace to overcharge for its software products. Microsoft’s defense seemed to center on asserting its prices were, in fact, fair, and, even if they weren’t, no actual harm came to Iowa residents.
Previous settlement agreements in cases of this nature have often involved rebates or refunds to consumers, usually implemented through coupons and/or discounts on the purchase of new products. Given that Microsoft has already said it will donate half of unclaimed funds to Iowa schools, it seems safe to assume the agreement requires Microsoft to set aside a certain amount of money to resolve consumer claims, and that half of any unused portion of that fund will go to Iowa’s Department of Education. Microsoft’s associate general counsel Rich Wallis described the agreement this way: "One of the best aspects of resolving this case is that we can provide much needed resources to underprivileged schools." Rather a pity it took a class action lawsuit and years of litigation to elicit such a sentiment.
In 1950, Alan Turing asked whether machines can think. Rather than argue over definitions, he turned the question into a party game, where an interrogator trades typed messages with hidden players and tries to work out who is who. Since then, chatbots have gotten so good that they have already fooled humans in modern versions of the test.
So, four researchers from Paris Cité University asked the obvious follow-up question in a new study published in Computers in Human Behavior Reports: can AI at least catch its own kind?
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.