Patents and Software

(Yes, I am back.  I tired of not writing my thoughts and not having anyone read them.)

For those who don't know me, I actually have a vested interest in the patent system.  I almost became a patent examiner at one point, I was going to be a patent lawyer earlier in life, and currently I am very active in pursuing patents for me original ideas.  If you follow patents you will know that there is a lot of talk recently about the laws in congress currently.  I am not going to discuss them today but I would like to lead you to an interesting article I found: (http://thisismynext.com/2011/08/11/broken-patent-system/).

Rarely is there a conversation on patents that start at basically first principles and tried to bring the debate into that context.  This does that work and I appreciate it.  I think it is often missed how important patents are to the public good.  (The use of copyrights and their length is another conversation entirely.)  I think this posting rights the conversation around patents appropriately for the current times.  Whether or not you agree with software, medical, business, etc. patents you should spend the time reviewing this it is worth your time.

For me I still sit in my position I have had for a long time.  This is the system we have and so I have to work inside of it.  Failure to seek protection for my ideas and inventions would be self-destructive.  However I do notice that there are issues with the current system, mostly due to ambiguity and human nature in charting the course of this section of the U.S. Code through time.  I try to remember that for every bad patent there is a good one out there, someone who was able to monetize their work and get rewarded for their effort.  For every neat new widget there are a million copies 20 years later.  I don't like waiting 20 years but I would rather have that then nothing.  I also realize that not everyone is going to agree and I would like the system to be simplified, I would vote at the ballot for this, but I need someone who is intelligent working towards this end and I currently have little to no hope that the current government (all of them) can do anything about it.

Book I have been reading for 4 years

It isn't often that I don't finish a book for years, well I just finished one last night that took that long.  This book was "Mel Gibson's Passion and Philosphy."  It took me a long time to get through it which is indicative of my review of the book.  Unfortunately I have read a lot of the 'pop culture and philosphy' series of books and after a while it is just the same thing over and over.  This book was actually a little different in that some of the essays were unique but I don't think that saved the book.  I feel the series on a whole has gone downhill and this book was a clear example.  It just wasn't engaging.  I remember having an intense reaction to the movie (I am an evangelical Christian for reference, or at least I think that is the sect that most defines most of my beliefs though there are major differences between me and the dogma).  Anyway.  I can't recommend this book.  If you want to read about philosphy and christianity there are better books and if you want to read one of this specific series there are way better ones as well.

Quick Post: Classic Daily Show

So for some reason this segment of the Daily show has been in my head recently.  So I am posting it.  :-)

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
South Park Death Threats
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Video round-up

Thought I would highlight a couple of videos I watched tonight because they were interesting.  So here we go:

1) Question: Do you think reason.com could defend government intervention in the fishing industry and spin it towards a free market solution?



It was interesting to here this argument which I had never really heard made.  I think there is a moral hazard in the other way though for instance, overstating fishing reserves or promoting the growth of one species over another so they can get more of the quota.  I just never thought I would hear that argument before.

2) Question: Can John Stewart attack someone from the American Enterprise Institute?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Arthur Brooks Unedited Interview Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Arthur Brooks Unedited Interview Pt. 2
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Answer is yes again.  I don't know what I think about this answer.  I think John Stewart instead of actually attacking the book attacked the methods the soft sciences use to understand the world.  I feel like this attack was slightly unjustified.  Also he didn't really let the guest talk enough.  The guest was trying to say that there was a dissonance between the views the voters had and their actions and John Stewart wanted to take his argument to an extreme.  This was extremely unhelpful to the discourse in my opinion.  He would have better served his audience to not have gone that way.  However he did have good points that this isn't some vast conspiracy and that sometimes the markets are messed up and need a little help from the government.  The problem is  the government is usually the source of those problems but I digress.

3)  The last set of videos are the most recent videos on 'Uncommon Knowledge'.  I won't post the link since  you can get to it from the sidebar and I can't really recommend the videos.  The discussing was all about foreign policy, Israel, and Iran and I feel the discussion wasn't intelligent nor thought provoking and in general boring and unhelpful.

Quick Post: Changes in the Republican Party

I found this article on Newsweek.  It has some interesting thoughts.  Basically the idea is the the heart of the republican party is moving ideologically.  This distinction is seen in the southern republican ideology moving into a western republican ideology.  I will say I completely disagree that Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck are western republicans.  They belong to the trendy moron republican crowd.

What is most exciting though is that western republicanism is very libertarian in roots and ideology.  I guess my hope that the republican party would split between the trendy moron crowd and the libertarians is instead a movement to a more libertarian viewpoint.  I don't know how truthful this article is but it is thought provoking.

Pay me to wait

I usually don't talk much about investing in a particular way.  However I am posting about a blog posting which I found interesting.  For refernce I haven't verified the analysis.  It seems like there is more than meets the eye from the chart but the chart is pretty compelling if it is even partially true.

I have been investing a lot of dividend paying stocks recently.  Even though I keep losing money in a lot of bets the dividends just keep on coming.  I will likely continue to invest mostly in this way.  Partially because it is simplier from a longer term perspective.  As long as the company can afford its dividend you are being paid to wait, which is helpful.  I have said that there is a tough problem with companies that don't give dividends yet have huge margins, they tend to invest poorly.  Anyway.  I liked the graph so I posted this.

Deduction that is sinking America

As most reader know I am not friend of the mortgage interest deduction in America.  If changes the costs of housing and skews them against apartments.  It also causes people to unreasonably assume you will get a huge deduction for the interest and get themselves into trouble.  Well I was glad to come across a posting discussing the mortgage deduction.  This was set off by an op-ed in the Boston Globe.

This is a very important discussion that needs to be had in America.  The mortgage deduction really needs to be rethought.  While I would like to completely remove all market skewing taxes I do not really think we will be able to do that.  So I think removing it above a certain areas with a phase out.  This seems to be a really good option, as long as we don't index to inflation, this will eventually work itself out which would be great.

Moving up the Ladder

There was an interesting article on NPR (yes I sometimes read that too) about mobility in India.  What was interesting to me is that this article says the best way for a person to move up, especially someone who isn't in primary education, is to move from poor to a manufacturing job.  The point of the article is that there is no manufacturing jobs in India.

So this made me think of two things.  First, which countries are the ones that have both services and manufacturing sectors that are robust or growing robustly.  While investing in India can make money it seems like the political stability and future growth prospects are shadowed by this problem.  China doesn't have enough manufacturing jobs and is starting to move to a more service oriented (and high-tech) economy.  This doesn't help the poor, and this could be really bad.  I think this is a good place to look to when considering investments, countries where both areas are growing.

Second, I have often wondered if the world is hamstrung because they see America (a developed economy) and so the citizens want to jump quickly to more advanced economies from simplier less developed economies.  In the 1900's the American economy couldn't just jump to 2000.  This was an advantage, as trailblazing does, to slowly grow into larger shoes.  I fear that this aspiration of emerging economies is driving unnatural growth in a way that significantly divides the populace.  In all countries there is a small number of people who can benefit from such a fast change and most emerging economies have an even worse story to tell with regards to that.  I worry what this could do to those countries.

Awesome Idea

So this is awesome, Planet Money has bought a piece of an MBS for $1000 (originally it sold for $75000) and they are tracking the progress of the MBS.  This is so neat.  For $1000 they have quite a story for their blog.  The tracking widget is here.

Man I wish I had thought of it, it would have been a great hook for a blog and since I am not great at picking stocks I may have made more money than I am currently making in the market.

Also they have a map of where the mortgages are located.  So neat.  Such a great idea, wish I had thought of it.

Additionally what is interesting is that the New Jersey Carpenter's Vacation Fund is suing the company that made the MBS (Royal Bank of Scotland).  It keeps getting more interesting.

Maps that changed the world

Thought this may be interesting to those who read my blog.  It is a listing of maps that changed the world from the head of maps collections at the British Library.  Note that Google maps is on there.

Ideas worth watching

So Sunday I was waiting for the Lost finale I decided I was going to watch a bunch of TED videos.  (

You may remember TED from a previous post.)  Well I thought I would review a couple of them for you so you can watch them is you want.

•  Mosquito zap.  This was recently discussed in the IEEE Spectrum.  Basically this guy works at a place which just thinks of cool stuff and they made a laser mosquito zapper.  Pretty cool.
• Coral Reefs.  Maybe skip this one.  The guy basically talks about the problems of coral reefs dying.  If you are up on the problems this won't give you any new information.
• Schools and Creativity.  Funny, worth a watch.  This is about how schools kill creativity and how we need to encourage this.
• Eating to Starve Cancer.  Totally worth watching.  Basically this is about how blood vessels grow around cancer (and fat cells which was really interesting).  The thesis is that by starving the area of blood vessel growth you can prevent the growth of cancer (and keep you skinny).  This is really worth watching, really interesting.  Made me eat my tomatoes this week.  :-)
• Dangers of Science Denial.  This is interesting.  I think there is a balance between blindly believing science and blindly rejecting science.  However I feel like this guy may be too blindly non-questioning.  Interesting video.
• Spaghetti Sauce.  I know I have posted this before I am pretty sure.  This is presenting Malcolm Gladwell.  This is an interesting one to watch just because it is thought provoking.
• Danger of Choice.  I think everyone knows that too much choice is paralyzing.  Interesting discussion if nothing else.
• Family Tree of you and Me.  This is a video about the efforts to map the family tree of humanity.  What is most interesting to me is that there have only been about 2000 generations since the 'adam' and 'eve' moments in human history.  Amazing to think how much diversity there is in such a small time.

Those were a selection of the ones I watched.  Have fun, watch the laser one it is neat, watch the spaghetti sauce one it is thought-provoking, and watch the eating to starve cancer one because it is important.

FOUND!

So tonight is the end of Lost.  I am actually pretty jazzed.  For one there is about 10 hours of stuff to watch tonight.  For two this means the season is over.  I watch way too much TV in general.  I recently had a conversation with another friend about how life changes when you get a real (non-graduate studentish) job.  When you get home from working (usually more than 8 hours) it is really easy to just veg in front of the TV.  So anyway I have a weekly schedule that is all done this week, and I couldn't be happier.  With the exception of Mythbusters on the weekends I don't really have channel which carries anything I want to watch.  SO I am looking forward  to finally finishing some books I have been reading, finishing up a couple of programs I am writing, getting some more exercise as the weather turns nicer, in general I am hoping for a more forceful introduction to this again.  The lack of interesting TV shows will do this for me.

I also would like to note that tonight's food (which I will prepare for the lost finale) will be prepared with my new Vidalia Chop wizard.  So much nicer than doing this by hand.  :-)

I will have my thoughts on the lost finale tonight...

Mixing up Empathy with Political Philosphy

Recently Rand Paul won the primary in Kentucky.  (I am sure most of you know this by now.)  I don't actually know a lot about him so I am not going to support him or defend his person.  However I would like to discuss an article I read on the huffington post.  (I am sure everyone knows how much I hate the blogs and articles written specifically for the huffington post.  They are always one sided and spread fud.)

Here is my problem with the article, it is essentially saying that a political ideology that doesn't allow for massive spending for 'empathy' is a bad thing.  This is intellectual suicide.  Political morality is a option not a constant.  Some political philosphies do not state an inherent morality of the government.  (I know I am equating morality with empathy but since ideologies can't think we have to talk about morality.)  So why are people attacking Rand Paul?  Well he is stating things in a way that opens himself up to attacks.  However his ideology is sound.  He doesn't think there is an importance in the government spending money on various programs (I diverge with him in a lot here).  As a person he should show more of his empathy (I am sure he isn't heartless) but on the flip side the media should leave him alone.  Not everyone thinks spending money on 'moral' things is the best idea for the government despite what talkgin heads would leave you to believe.

For instance, Rand Paul said that Obama should lay off BP.  Well he is wrong here, BP screwed up, however he is right that Obama and congress in a populist rage are looking to tar and feather BP.  Here is what Rand Paul is trying to say:

"Without risk there can be no oil.  There is a certain amount of risk in everything and if you want to have the benefits of modern society you have to realize there are consequences.  The government should not be holier than thou when it comes to industry because the warped incentives of government intervention cause in industry to not appropriately account for the risk in business.  For instance the government limits profits of oil companies which cause problems with funding risk.  As such the government should step back and look at its role in prevention oil leaks and enabling oil companies."

Or something like that.  That being said I think Rand Paul sounds like a non-pragmatic Sarah Palin wanna be.  I think he is a bad example of a libertarian.  But I guess time will tell if he can convey his message in a productive manner.  I am betting the media doesn't want to hear the message anyway.

Expand your mind

So have a new favorite way to waste time: Lumosity.

The website claims to help your mind by helping you exercise your mind.  While I doubt this claim it is a fun way to waste a while online.  If nothing else it is a good way to quantify your abilities.  I doubt there is a high real world correlation though.  I am also a little surprised to see the website wants like $6 a month for a membership.  It seems like a lot, heck XBOX Live isn't even that much and you can play a lot more games there.

Long times away and long travels

I have been traveling and sick recently (those are unrelated I am pretty sure).  I have to say 4 hours on a plane is getting pretty painful.  I did find someone to talk to on the way back.  He was studying C++ on the plane and I asked him why he was learning that (C++ is way more painful than Java for object oriented programming and C is way better for learning the internals of a computer).  So I got to talk to him for quite a while.  He is looking for a job as a quant after spending the last 5 years teaching as an assistant professor in math.  It was an interesting conversation, made me remember how good of a job I actually have most days.

I had a couple of interesting experiences while doing my usual green commute back home.  On the light rail (which is brand-new BTW) I watch 3 girls get on who had the biggest potty mouths and the poorest grasp of the english language I have seen in a long time.  We are talking bad language.  I can remember being that age and having  the same pointless conversations about who did what to whom and whose cousin could help in a fight (for reference none of my cousins could help).  But this made me feel really old.  All I could think was how uneducated they sounded and how much they will be disadvantaged in life.  Additionally, they had poor attitudes.  One girl was picking the decals off the window for the train.  The older lady behind them asked them not to do that because her tax dollars paid for that and someone would have to replace it.  Then I heard a conversation I could not believe where these young girls just dismissed and insulted this lady.  Incredible, their parents should get out the spanking paddle for this conversation.  The girl continued to do it insisting that the lady couldn't tell her what to do.  Then the lady mentioned something about her tax dollars paying for their education and the girls were like 'no, my mom pays'.  It was obvious the girls did not go to any private school because no private school would ever let their children act like that.  It was pretty amazing how disjoint from reality their perceptions of the world are.  Even if they went to a private school the state still sends tax payer dollars their way for a wealth of programs (that aren't helping these girls obviously).  It was just amazing, I really want to do something.  I know older people always complain about the younger generation but this was quite incredible.  These girls, if they continue on their course, will never amount to anything, no one with the attitude and language that they showed could ever go anywhere.  It just made me feel very old and sad for them.

Then when I was walking around downtown there was this kid on a skateboard who almost ran into me while he was trying to run a red walk signal (for reference he was completely wrong to even try).  To which I was of course at fault and he called me a 'fucking idiot'.  A completely ridiculous statement.  I wasn't the asshole who fell off my skateboard nor the idiot who thought I had the right of way when I didn't.

It was just a couple of incidents that made me feel old because I was complaining about the younger people, sad because I had acted similar though to a significantly smaller extent in my youth, and angry that these kids are acting this way.  The future is going to be full of a few smart people and a lot of dumb people and unfortunately the difference will be larger than it is today and these kids I saw will be on the wrong side of that with a high probability.  Just sad, parents should raise their kids better.

The Heart of a (Classical) Liberal

(It is upsetting to me that the adjective liberal has been hijacked in this day and age.)

With this post I am kicking off (what I hope will be slightly less than) a weekly post series on (Classical) Liberalism in the modern world.  My goal with this series is to look at all of the issues facing us in this current world, no matter how small, and analyze the correct and current responses in light of classical liberalism (libertarianism) and what is pragmatically politically acceptable.  I am also planning multiple posts on what the various aspects of libertarianism are and how important these differences are in general and especially when the current current politic climate is decidedly anti-libertarian.

This series will approach the hard issues and ask what it is that we actually need  to worry about and what do we not.  (For instance, does it matter that Post Office is run by the government when we have a 1.4 Trillion dollar deficit this year?  Probably not though people still fight about that these days.)  In my view the current political climate of the younger generation (18 - 35 y.o.) is decidedly pro-libertarian in their ideals but there is no strong movement to collect those voters nor is there a common vision on the important things.  I hope to flesh this out.

At the end of the day, in my opinion (which is supported by research, see this video series), American is not blue or red.  The reality of the situation is that we are all purple.  Not only are constituencies purple in general but people are purple.  Everyone cares about the same things.  Everyone cares about the fact that some people don't have health care however we all disagree on how best to tackle the problem.  This is where the media steps in and 'on the surface' polarizes the populace into two diametrically opposed camps.  The reality of the situation is that a rational and helpful solution is likely very amiable to all people but the media and the politicians don't sell that.  Everyone cares about people making a living wage but we disagree on whether the minimum wage places people out of jobs they are qualified for (just like unions do), or whether certain 'rights' are afforded by the constitution or by modern society.  If a real conversation was had about the issues it is likely that everyone would realize that politicians are full of hot air in general and real solutions are usually acceptable to both sides.

This series will have a definite rational and logical slant.  That is what I am and that is how I view politics and economics.  I don't think some magical fairy will come down and make the deficit disappear.  So if you are decidedly pro-fairy solutions you will likely not like the series.  Sorry.

Quotes for thought

So, I have been reading John Adams by David McCullough.  I came across an interesting quote which I thought was really interesting.  I don't remember the original reference but the quote is:

"In all things consider the end."

Think of this for a minute.  In all things consider how it will end.  In the context of government this seems to have an obvious application, however, think of this in general.  Always consider how it will end.  I just feel like the quote is very challenging to think about in our quick answer, think on your feet world, do we consider this enough?

A second quote which is more transparent:

"All men would be tyrants if they could."

I think we all know what that means.  However think of it.  If this is your idea and philosphy you would definitely make a government where no man could have too much power.

I am definitely enjoying the book.  I see some of the same character traits in John Adams as I see in myself sometimes.  The most compelling likeness is in his approach to studies and to life.  In studies he self-studied a LOT.  I have a hankering to always be learning.  Additionally, and I think this is very interesting, John Adams was asked by someone what would be the best way to prepare for a trip to Europe.  And he replied that the best way was to be more learned and respected, then he would be ready.  The writer was obviously looking for which languages were more important etc.

Anyway, those quotes are interesting thoughts.

Always have a backup plans

So today I woke up and I was like, 'I am going for a bike ride.'  I planned out a path that would take me about 23 miles and would end up at a bus stop where I could get a ride back home.  Let me tell you I was flying, it was a great ride.  I was at about mile 12 when my back tire blew out.  Not only that but I didn't have a spare.  So I had to walk the remaining 11 miles to the bus stop to get a ride home.  So a 1.5 hour trip turned into a 5 hour trip.  It was not fun.  Now I have to get my bike fixed and I can't ride it into work tomorrow.  :-(

This also reminds me.  On my list of things that need to exist in heaven are:

1. Cold shower after a long run or bike ride
2. Naps on Sunday or Saturday afternoons when the wind blows through the house and it is sunny outside.

Those are two of my favorite things.  I got to take a nap today and it was great.

Dividends on Education

So I have a funny story about this one, I was surfing reason.com about a week ago and the banner was for this Frontline documentary on for profit colleges.  Well the ad right under it was an ad for University of Phoenix online.  Strangely ironic, that I was also reading an article about education policy.  Perhaps the programmers should make the website not place ads for both sides of the argument at the same time.  :-)

So, I have very complicated thoughts on education.  I spent a considerable amount of time in college/graduate school.  I have a lot to say about the problems and sometimes I even have solutions to some of the problems.  This post, however, is not about traditional colleges.

I have long said that not everyone should go to college.  Our colleges are stuffed with people who are only there to get a job when they graduate, they have very slight interest in their chosen field, and/or are there to party and live without parental supervision.  This is bad and hurts our education system.  I have also in the same breath said that we need community colleges and technical schools to step up and educate those who are not bound or should not be bound for college.  So where do the for-profits sit in that equation?

America has a lot of problems.  (All countries do.)  However there is one common thread, if people were more educated they would be less likely to 1) do stupid or irrational things, 2) vote for stupid or irrational things, and 3) be a detriment to society.  If this gap can be filled with for profit institutions then I say go for it.  However, I personally would not invest in a for profit school.  I feel like the problem is education policy at the regional and state level and more intelligent administration could fill in the gaps more effectively and render the profit margins of for profit schools lower.  (However good luck getting any government at any level to do anything remotely rational.)  Education is one of those ivory tower things that benefit all of society.  I feel like they should be non-profit and private (maybe owned by alumni).  So I guess for profits are here to stay.  As a society we need smarter people who are more able to fill the roles needed and less likely to need jobs we can't do (like a lot of manufacturing these days).

So what are the problems?  Cost.  They cost more.  There are more loans needed by the students.  This is a huge issue.  I was surprised that the 10% default number (default right after they leave school) for these schools was shown as a good thing (as opposed to a higher number).  (I have no idea what it is for private or state school but the video said for profits are 10% of the loans but 50% of the defaults so you can do the math.)  Basically people get a lot of loans and then get out or don't finish and can't pay their bills.  This seems like a place where the government could step in and say, hey, thats fine that you make money on education but you have to find private funding for loans.  (I feel that a lot of government financing of education should be allocated with a thought to whether or not the investment is worth it on an individual basis and private investors should do that.)

Unfortunately not everyone can handle the work load of an online university either.  This shows a major failing of the primary educational system in America.  This is a topic for another post though.

The biggest problem I feel is accreditation and quality of knowledge when people exit.  I also feel this is a major problem with foreign schools as well.  (I have had to work with a lot of people who may be the cream of the crop in another country, where they were educated, however in America they just can't cut the mustard.)  This suggests a failing of the schooling and not the person as it is a systemic problem.  (This is a general statement, individual results may vary.)  For profits, especially the online ones, lack this credibility as well.  Is this justified?  In some cases yes, I believe so and in others no I do not.  I do not feel that a for profit education is the same as a poor education.  However a lot of people do.  I feel like the variance is high in the quality of graduate and mean may be a little lower due to the sample of students who enter.  The rate of cheating is just as bad in regular colleges (man do I have stories I could tell you).  Grade inflation is just as bad in both places.  So why finger one type of school and say they are worse?

Also on the other side of the coin I do not think the established universities are out to get for profits or online schools.  While their structure does have specific failings of their own (I will discuss another time) they are not enemies.  In fact they could complement each other very well if they could work together.

Anyway, education is important and in America there are problems.  This video suggests an interesting approach to the problem and presented the problems associated with it.  I have given my stance (they can exist but I do not support them), watch the video, make up your mind.

Knowing More: Autism and Vaccines

I recently discussed the frontline video about vaccines.  If you didn't have a chance to watch it (it is an hour long) the reason has produced a video which essentially the same content but in 6 minutes.  I feel the content of the video is much better representative of a logical and rational response to the issues (as compared with frontline which I basically just complained about the lack of reason from the people in the video).

Since I basically just dismissed the editing and raiontality of the people on the video last time this time I thought I would discuss more of the substance of the debate.  Basically I am of the opinion that something is wrong with kids.  The rates of autism have been rising in recent years (including in Europe) and there is little to no scientific link to the vaccines.  So what does this mean?  We should spend our little resources on finding the real issue behind what is wrong.  Basically I am very frustrated with people who know nothign about the subject saying that people who do science are wrong.  Scientists are not always right but they are in a better position to be correct than someone just guessing.  I feel like we should focus the 'vaccines cause autism' movement into the 'we need to know what is causing autism' movement.  Unfortunately this will not happen because there is nothing to be mad at in the later movement and people need something to be mad at or to blame.