杏吧原创

The things people are claiming patent rights to get more and more bizarre. Quite where the crucial 鈥渋nventive step鈥� is here, we鈥檙e not sure, but Yoshio Shimuzu of Tokyo reckons his idea will give extra 鈥渟tickiness鈥� to websites (W0 02/44975). Many websites, he notes, have an access counter on their opening page, boasting the number of people who have previously 鈥渉it鈥� the site. Shimuzu simply suggests a feature that lets people guess what the count will be by a specified date and time, with the closest prediction winning a prize from a sponsor. You click on the counter to place your guess and 鈥� joy of joys 鈥� get taken to the sponsor鈥檚 site in the process.