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    A Chinese company you’ve never heard of says it invented Siri first

    There’s been a lot of angst recently over America’s trade deficit with China, but it seems the United States has finally found something that it can successfully export to the People’s Republic: patent suits! Per the Dow Jones Newswire, a Chinese company called Shanghai Zhi Zhen Internet Technology has filed a patent suit against Apple claiming that it had originally patented the technology behind Siri all the way back in 2004. A company spokesman says that Zhi Zhen holds a patent for a digital personal assistant known as Xiao i Robot, a Mandarin-language automated voice system that’s “similar to Siri.” This all raises an obvious question, of course: How long until Steve Wozniak comes out and says that Xiao i Robot is superior to his former company’s voice-enabled software in every respect?

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    • Trucker bumps I-5 bridge, sees tragedy behind him

      MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) — The trucker was hauling a load of drilling equipment when his load bumped against the steel framework over an Interstate 5 bridge. He looked in his rearview mirror and watched in horror as the span collapsed into the water behind him. Two vehicles fell into the icy Skagit River.

    • No Wonder Republican Criticism of Obama Isn’t Working

      Henny Youngman, the late borscht belt comedian, told hundreds of politically incorrect jokes. One of them was his response when asked, “How’s your wife?” “Compared to what?” he’d say.

    • Elton John Is Like a Nagging Mom for Billy Joel

      Andrew Goldman has an extensive interview with Billy Joel in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine, which — after you finish admiring the accompanying photo of Joel and his pug posing in a sidecar — covers the piano man's finances, divorces, and drinking. It also tackles the question of why Joel isn't recording new pop music, something about which Elton John, who toured with Joel for many years, has an opinion. Goldman asked Joel: "Are you cool with Elton now? Basically he said that you’re not writing new songs out of fear or laziness. ...

    • Wife says trucker saw bridge collapse in mirror

      MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) — The wife of a Canadian trucker whose rig caused the collapse of a Washington bridge says a special vehicle called a pole car had travelled the route to make sure the load would fit.

    • Why is AT&T milking subscribers for an extra $500 million? ‘Because they can’

      AT&T said earlier this week that it will add a new administrative fee to each of its wireless subscribers’ monthly bills. The fee is only $0.61, which doesn’t sound like much, and an AT&T spokesperson was quick to point out to several news sites that this new fee is lower than similar fees charged by rival carriers. Subscribers were still outraged. Now that the shouting has died down a bit, however, people are looking for a batter explanation for the new charge they’ll see each month. According to one industry watcher, that explanation couldn’t be simpler: “Because they can.” “Why would AT&T do this? Because they can, and it is all in the pricing strategy,” Joe Hoffman, principal analyst at ABI Research

    • Dog Found Standing Guard Over a Tornado Victim Reunited With Her Owner

      There's a happy ending to the story of a dog, found alive in the rubble after a massive tornado devastated Moore, Oklahoma: she's been reunited with her owner.

    • Visa, Mastercard ask U.S. court to declare card fees are lawful

      By Jessica Dye NEW YORK (Reuters) - Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc, opening another front in an eight-year battle over credit card fees paid by retailers, on Friday asked a federal judge to declare that the fees do not violate antitrust law. The lawsuit seeks to give the card companies legal ammunition against some retailers who are trying to opt out a proposed settlement under which they would receive a share of $7.2 billion in cash and fee discounts from the card companies. ...

    • Damage reported from magnitude-5.7 quake in Calif.

      GREENVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Residents in rural northeastern California assessed damage to their homes and businesses Friday from a magnitude-5.7 earthquake, one of the strongest temblors to hit the densely forested region in decades.

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