May
1st
Thu
1st
Let's skip the meeting
Chris sends us this classic “ad.”
Today’s resolution: skip at least one meeting every day for the next two weeks. Watch what happens.
United States Patent Application 20070078663: Method and instrument for proposing marriage to an individual
The purpose of this invention is to provide an improved method of proposing marriage to an individual. The method of proposing to an individual generally comprising the steps of meeting the individual; exchanging names with the individual; dating the individual (not necessary); drafting a government document having a proposal to marry the individual incorporated therein; and showing the government document to the individual. The government document may be a patent application. The patent application may claim the method by which the proposor will make a marriage proposal to the individual. The proposor could then use the method claimed in the patent application to propose to the individual. The patent application could be the actual marriage proposal.
via PHOSITA
Apr
30th
Wed
30th
Grocery Store Wars
Self promotion
Owen Wilson starred in a really bad movie that came out a few months ago. Most notable: he didn’t go out to shill for it. No Colbert, no Daily Show, no Larry King.
Perhaps he’s nursing a bad cold,…
Apr
28th
Mon
28th
eBay’s allegations of harm are based, in part, on the argument that BE’s activities should be thought of as equivalent to sending in an army of 100,000 robots a day to check the prices in a competitor’s store. This analogy, while graphic, appears inappropriate. Although an admittedly formalistic distinction, unauthorized robot intruders into a “brick and mortar” store would be committing a trespass to real property. There does not appear to be any doubt that the appropriate remedy for an ongoing trespass to business premises would be a preliminary injunction. More importantly, for the analogy to be accurate, the robots would have to make up less than two out of every one-hundred customers in the store, the robots would not interfere with the customers’ shopping experience, nor would the robots even be seen by the customers. Under such circumstances, there is a legitimate claim that the robots would not pose any threat of irreparable harm.
— eBay, Inc. v. Bidder’s Edge, Inc., 100 F. Supp. 2d 1058 (N.D. Cal. 2000). From reading for Software and Internet Law
Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.
— Howard Aiken, as cited by Paul Graham
Apr
25th
Fri
25th
Girl from Bangladesh at one of America’s Top 100 high schools
I ran into a girl from Bangladesh who is here in Cincinnati for one year at one of America’s Top 100 high schools (Walnut Hills). I asked her how the courses compared to what she was accustomed…
