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grrlscientist writes "In response to what appears to be a growing problem of scientific misconduct, a group of people at the Institute of Medical Science at University of Toronto in Canada wrote a scientist's version of the Hippocratic oath. This oath (which is cited in the story) was recited by all graduate students in the biological sciences at the beginning of the 2007-2008 academic year." This blogger argues that merely reciting an oath is not going to help much when "...the corruption in 'science' is systemic. It is due to corporate science being run according to a business model instead of in accordance to an educational paradigm. It is due to unrestrained corporate greed combined with a tremendous disparity in power and income..."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Cutting-Edge AI Projects?
Xeth writes "I'm a consultant with DARPA, and I'm working on an initiative to push the boundaries of neuromorphic computing (i.e. artificial intelligence). The project is designed to advance ideas all fronts, including measuring and understanding biological brains, creating AI systems, and investigating the fundamental nature of intelligence. I'm conducting a wide search of these fields, but I wanted to know if any in this community know of neat projects along those lines that I might overlook. Maybe you're working on a project like that and want to talk it up? No promises (seriously), but interesting work will be brought to the attention of the project manager I'm working with. If you want to start up a dialog, send me an email, and we'll see where it goes. I'll also be reading the comments for the story."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Prior Art In Barracuda-Trend Micro Lawsuit
Joe Barr writes "Bruce Byfield reports at Linux.com that a Swedish developer, Goran Fransson, has 'given a deposition in the Barracuda-Trend Micro case that appears to seriously undermine Trend Micro's patent on gateway virus scanning.' Gransson has resurrected a product (still in its shrinkwrap) sold by Ten Four, the company he worked for at the time, to prove that it provided gateway virus scanning in January 1995. Trend Micro's patent application was filed in September of that year. If you were — or worked for — a Ten Four customer during 1995, you might be able to help Barracuda prove that Trend Micro's patent omits prior art." We discussed this important patent case when it was filed in January. (Slashdot and Linux.com share a corporate overlord.)Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Google Abandons the Gmail Name In Germany
praps writes "A three-year trademark conflict has ended with Google withdrawing its use of the Gmail brand in Germany. On Friday, a plain-text message appeared, beginning 'We can't provide service under the Gmail name in Germany... Bummer.' But despite the climbdown, Google Germany's spokesman said on Monday that the action was being taken 'even though we believe we're not legally obliged to do so.'" We discussed the tussle in Germany when Google first lost in court a year ago.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Brendan Eich Discusses the Future of JavaScript
snydeq writes "JavaScript creator Brendan Eich talks at length about the future of JavaScript, ARAX, disputes with Microsoft, and the Screaming Monkey scripting engine for IE in an interview with InfoWorld's Paul Krill. JavaScript 2, which Mozilla's Eich expects to be available in some form by the end of the year, will 'address programming in the large.' To do that, Eich hopes to improve the integrity of the language without sacrificing flexibility and making JavaScript 'painfully static in a fixed way like Java does.' Eich does not expect Firefox support for JavaScript 2 until at least Version 3.1 of the browser. As for Internet Explorer, Eich explains how Screaming Monkey will help bring JavaScript 2 to IE should Microsoft drag its heels on providing meaningful support."Read more of this story at Slashdot.