During the first phase of the transition process carried out earlier this year, Afghan forces assumed control of seven cities and provinces.

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It was an anticlimactic end to a case whose decision was so long delayed that some speculated the justices were deadlocked over how far to rein in what some see as an out-of-control patent process.

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Part of that process is figuring out the "balance between control in chaos, " as it is in any middle school, said Salen, from the Institute of Play.

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But the crucial element may be that, in contracting manufacturing out to Chinese factories, GE lost control over, and input into, the foundation of the manufacturing process, the assembly line.

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