University, Waltham license holder say they own technology

Northeastern University and a start-up company cofounded by an associate professor have filed a patent-infringement suit against Google Inc., claiming that database technology patented in 1997 was misappropriated by the world's most popular Internet search service.

"This particular patent has to do with the fundamental database architecture, which they use to serve up every single result they serve to you," said Michael Belanger, president of Jarg Corp. in Waltham. Jarg is a privately funded developer of advanced search technology. The company was cofounded by Northeastern associate professor Kenneth P. Baclawski and holds an exclusive license to the patent, which is owned by Northeastern.

Full story: boston.com 

Labels: lawsuit, lawyers, patent, technology, university

Arizona State University has announced that students will test a new product by a major internet company, which will be launched later this year. The product includes 3D-modelling and video gaming features.

The university has an ongoing relationship with Google, and there are growing rumours that the company in question is Google, and the product to be tested, an online virtual universe based on Google’s satellite imagery software.

Read more: platinax.co.uk 

Labels: satellite, Second Life, university, virtual

Survey shows university students don't seem to question Google's ranking system.

University students may be encouraged to be critical but they don't seem to question Google's ranking system, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.

The experiment involved 22 undergraduate students (with various majors) from Cornell University in the U.S. It found that overall, the students had an inherent trust in Google's ability to rank results by their true relevance to the query.

Full article: pcworld.com 

Labels: students, university

Google Inc. said Thursday that it had added five universities to its roster of customers for Google Apps, a collection of Web-based programs that compete with Microsoft Corp.'s products.

The University of North Carolina in Greensboro and the University of Texas in San Antonio are among the institutions that will start using the product, Mountain View, Calif.-based Google said. Google Apps includes e-mail, word processing and spreadsheet programs.

Read more: latimes.com 

Labels: apps, online, university, Web

Need to dig up some information from a centuries-old text on ayurvedic medicine? Soon you'll be able to do so from the comfort of your living room. Google has agreed to index and digitize 800,000 texts stored at the University of Mysore in India as part of its attempt to broaden the Google Book Search program, according to the Indo-Asian News Service.

"Written in both papers and palm leaves, there are around 100,000 manuscripts in our library, some dating back to the eighth century," said the vice chancellor of Mysore. "The effort is to restore and preserve this cultural heritage for effective dissemination of knowledge." He also added, cryptically, that the University plans to "patent them before making them available on public domain."

Full article: arstechnica.com 

Labels: books, library, manuscripts, university