I used the default wordpress importer, but I still had to do a fair bit of manual hacking to get everything setup just right. I’m using rake to deploy to a public_html folder using rsync over SSH.
So far I love it! Thank you Andy Mroczkowski, Mat Schaffer, and Ian Davis for the suggestions!
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Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Bilski v. Kappos, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) plans to release new guidance as to which patent applications will be accepted, and which will not. As part of this process, they are seeking input from the public about how that guidance should be structured.
Here is my message:
Subject: I’ve published 6 software patent applications, and I urge you to please end software patents
From: Chris Cera <chris@XXXX.us>
To: Bilski_Guidance@uspto.gov
Cc: licensing@fsf.org
Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 16:57:47 -0400
Dear Sir or Madam:
First of all, these opinions are my own and do not reflect those of my current or previous employers. Please note that this opinion is counter to my personal and financial interests which will likely benefit from keeping things as they are today.
I am an “inventor”, software developer, and currently co-founder of a small internet software company. I have published 6 patent applications [1,2,3,4,5,6] in the past five years, and I have experience from all sides: big vs small companies; owner vs employee; co-inventor vs consumer; etc.
I believe software patents are extremely harmful to the industry as a whole. The current approach doesn’t strengthen our economy, protect inventors or investors, or make our country more productive compared to the rest of the world. The winners in today’s global internet economy are the innovators that can execute, and not the companies that choose to litigate.
I have a number of issues that I’ve ranked in order of what I think are the most problematic aspects of software patents today:
– Obvious – Many software patents are obvious, and nearly every web-based product is infringing on some patent claims that are technically still in good standing. This is a valid cause of concern for stakeholders of any software company, and very inefficient use of time and energy for the country.
– Harmful to small companies – It’s very difficult for a small company to afford a patent. Small companies are the life-blood of our economy, the sector that generates the most jobs, and embodies the entrepreneurial spirit which this country was founded upon. The majority of all software innovations are coming from startup or small companies.
The attorney fees can cost up to $30,000 for filing the patent. Then you can easily spend another $30,000 in attorney fees getting the claims approved by the USPTO clerks. Your competitors can also get involved which is an indirect way of driving up your costs. The USPTO maintenance fees also add to the expense of maintaining a patent.
I’ve had many colleagues ask why my current company filed for patents. The answer is that it’s needed as a defensive tactic so a competitor doesn’t try to shut us down with an injunction on their existing claims leaving us bankrupt from attorney fees.
All in all, favoring larger companies that can afford this luxury does little to promote innovation or the economy as a whole.
– Length of Coverage – Twenty years might as well be an eternity in the software industry, and if the majority of software patents are not deemed obvious, then the duration should be reduced to something like three years. This leads to the next problem …
– Time to Approval – Many applications take 5+ years to get approval. Most software inventions are obsolete in less than five years. The majority of the patents I’ve co-invented (circa 2006) are currently at the status: “Docketed New Case - Ready for Examination” (i.e. still pending).
Furthermore, “patent pending” distorts business valuations since the value could be huge or worthless. As a result most early-stage software investors don’t consider patents a barrier to entry for competitors at all [7]. I believe this was one of the main reasons patents were adopted into law in the first place.
– Exploitation – This “Time to Approval” hurts business more than it helps. A common tactic is to send a notice to your competitors that they “might be infringing” if their patent is ever granted, etc. I’ve had attorneys tell me that if/when the patent is granted, then you can collect damages more easily based on the time since you provided notice to the competitor. This same “putting them on notice” tactic is used if your patent is approved and you’re thinking about collecting damages later.
Despite my personal objections to certain available tactics, I have a fiduciary responsibility to my shareholders to use whatever means necessary to deliver long-term value to them. I hope it never comes to that point.
– Possible Exceptions – In graduate school I learned and appreciated the art and science that goes into a beautifully complex algorithm. Some of these are a combination of non-obvious techniques and complicated mathematics. There is something there that my conscience says might be worthy of patent protection, but I would rather see the slate wiped clean than protect <0.1% of current applications. The harm to the software industry is vast, well known, and so I urge you to please end software patents.
Best Regards -Chris
[1] 20060253246: Data-driven combined traffic/weather views
[2] 20060247846: Data-driven traffic views with continuous real-time rendering of traffic flow map
[3] 20060247850: Data-driven traffic views with keyroute status
[5] 20060247845: Data-driven traffic views with the view based on a user-selected object of interest
[6] 20090144158: System And Method For Enabling Viewing Of Documents Not In HTML Format
[7] ”Depending on Pending …” by Josh Kopelman. http://redeye.firstround.com/2008/05/depending-on-pe.html
]]>Hacker Community == Hacker Company
There is a lot to be fleshed out, and since I don’t have this problem I’m hoping somebody else might run with it. If it doesn’t exist already, I’d be willing to bet there is a Champion out there who could make it work. -Chris
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I went to see NIN with Jim Stogdill from Gestault and it was a blast. The band has clearly worked very hard to integrate 3D visual effects into the music, and it was the most amazing visual show I had ever seen. I highly recommend going to see it.
I gave Jim some feedback on early versions of what ended up being a semi-controversial blog post he wrote on O’Reilly Radar called ”I Am Trying To Believe (that Rock Stars aren’t Dead)”. Here are some hindsights and comments.
I listen to a lot of “B-label” bands that I buy from emusic. I think many of these bands are fantastic and just as good as their “A-label” enemies. However, the majority of the people I know have never heard of most of them.
Established bands are able to do whatever they want. The Beastie Boys launched their own label [it failed for different reasons], but they were already huge. RadioHead did the “pay what you want” model. Walmart is inking exclusive albums and is positioned as an iTunes competitor (CD costs $12!). Madonna signed a deal with Live Nation focused on performances. Nine Inch Nails didn’t charge a price, but you had to register for marketing purposes. I can’t recall which car company launched a music label.
How do the Indies build an Enterprise if the marketing machines provided by the major labels no longer exist? Do-It-Yourself. Thievery Corporation is a rising star Indy band that created their own ESL Music label. The major labels are simply one type of investor, and the capital stream needs to come from elsewhere as they lose both respect and relevance. Monopolies get toppled, innovation takes over, and it is happening right now.
I think the majority of music will be purchased [DRM-free] by consumers, and meanwhile the free streaming services will serve advertising. The free streaming services won’t replace the need for your iPod’s flash drive until every phone has pervasive and affordable internet access. Even when that happens, I think you’ll have the option to stream music you already own. I firmly believe in our ownership society and nothing is going to change that. Anywhere.fm is ahead of that game.
]]>In case you missed it, Nicolas Warren from Tapinko provided the flaming nunchucks (and Alex Hillman caught the video). You guys are awesome!
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I have stacks of business cards, and only “important” people make it into the Rolodex (joke). It was a good idea once, but I rarely pull a card from the Rolodex. I have been thinking for the past year about buying the Neat Business Cards scanner to digitize them, and throw away the originals. NeatReceipts is a Philly startup located near Vuzit at the University City Science Center. Now I have another reason to procrastinate on this buying decision: Dropcard.
Dropcard, a fellow DreamIt Ventures company, is a free service with a vision of replacing business cards by using a combination of SMS text messages, email, and an online service. It is easy to connect to someone by texting ’drop joe@gmail.com’ to 41411, then a vCard is emailed to each person for use with your favorite address book. The time of the exchange is permanently recorded so it replaces the need to write the date/time on the business card (something I try to do).
My address book is scattered in so many products, services, devices, and matter so I’m hoping this will help fix the problem over time. Another thought I have is that browsing a stack of business cards is nostalgic and triggers memories like the time/place it was exchanged … and it’s always fun to look at your own business cards from previous employers. I hope future applications will preserve this characteristic somehow.
Dropcard created a promotional video that I had to share because it’s hilarious:
]]>In this “Chariot Techcast” interview, I am talking to Ken Rimple from Chariot Solutions. Chariot Solutions holds the ”Emerging Technologies for the Enterprise” Conference, and has an upcoming Cloud Computing Conference called ”Fall Forecast 2008 - Computing Among The Clouds”. Chariot’s 50+ employees find themselves involved in a number of interesting things in the Philadelphia area.
I listened to every episode of this podcast before I knew I would be appearing on it. I recommend it if you like a mix of web, open source, and “enterprisey” content. I particularly liked episodes 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, and 12 is an absolute thriller.
Listen Now
Here are some post-interview hindsights, corrections, and links that may be relevant. I also posted these in the comments for Episode #12.
Links on topics that were discussed:
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