How many times have you heard or read about a patent and thought to yourself, “What were they thinking?”

The patent system is one of many parts of our society that has to be reformed. Even if the dramatic number of patent submissions has been a result of increased litigation amongst companies (especially software companies), the government should have gotten a wake-up call a long time ago.

So many countries have already reformed their patent system, so it’s nice to see that we’re slowly following their lead with things like Community Patent Reviews. It’s funny to watch companies like IBM, Microsoft, Google, and others treat patents like nuclear missiles. The big boys have a huge arsenal, but as long as you don’t fire at us, we won’t fire at you. However, as soon as someone fires, we’ve got a patent holocaust.

Ever wonder why you have to type in “www.” before the actual name of the website you want to go to? Well, it’s a good question, but the answer isn’t what you wanted to hear.

Years ago, “www” used to be used to differentiate between the various protocols on the internet. That’s not the case anymore, but we still use “www” anyway. Why? Well, it has more to do with tradition than anything else. It’s one of those things that has become so ingrained into the system and society that to change it just wouldn’t make sense. It wouldn’t be worth the effort.

I don’t think the guys who designed the Internet so many years ago ever expected it to have evolved into what it is today. I guess we can cut them a little slack

Or, should I say, Happy Thanksgving

I love my Turkey Day dinners. It’s one of those days when you can eat like a pig and stuff your stomach with Pumpkin Pie, Cheesecake, and all those other scrumptious goodies. And, to top it off, we can be lazy for the next 24 hours and blame it on the turkey. Sounds like a winner to me.

Now, not to get you worried, but… I thought I’d remind you that Christmas is just around the corner Gobble gobble!

Software user interfaces can change. So why don’t they?

One place I’d like to see groundbreaking work done is in what I call “living” user interfaces. The advantage that software has over your microwave is that it can learn and adapt to the way you use it. Your microwave can’t resize buttons based on your usage patterns, but software can. So why doesn’t it?

I think the reason is twofold. First, creating a generic process that changes a user interface without contextual information is hard. Second, is it worth it? Does the improvement in usability actually happen and is it worth the effort?

My guess is that it will be. The potential is there to improve the user experience. I think it’s not a question of “Will this happen?” more than “When will it happen?”

Even if you’re the healthiest eater, it won’t mean a thing if you don’t get out and exercise.

Maybe that’s exaggerating the truth a little I know that I cook well for myself and usually keep away from the junk food. It helps you stay energized during the day. However, so many of us have desk jobs where we sit all day, only to go home and sit down again in front of the T.V. No good!

You need to eat healthy and exercise. I’m not necessarily talking about getting a gym membership, but you need to go take a walk or play a sport or do something. So many people who are on a diet think they can magically get healthy by just changing the food they eat. This is true to a certain extent. The fact is that everyone needs to go out and get a little exercise at least a few times each week. It’ll make a world of difference, I promise!

Did you know Josh Groban was born in California? That would have been my very last guess.

We all know Josh for his amazing baritone voice of which few can match. However, I always thought the guy was Italian! So many of his songs are Italian so I kind of inferred a connection there between his language and his homeland. Not that it changes how I think about him, but wow!

It’s interesting how the people around you often have a subtle impact on the way you talk, in both accent and phrases.

I remember back when I was in elementary school, I went to a camp where all of the kids in my group started their sentences with “Dude”. “Dude, wanna get some food?” “Dude, come check this out!” I really never used “dude” that often, but after only 2 weeks with this group, I found my language changing and become more and more like the group’s, as if we were all coming to an equilibrium.

It even happens with accents. Spend time in the South with a Jersey accent and you’ll find yourself unknowingly adjusting your accent ever so slightly in order to sound more like your peers. It’s an interesting phenomenon and shows just how much of an impact your peers can have on you, even when it comes to language.

It always seems like I get my best ideas when I’m in the shower. Strange, isn’t it?

It’s funny, in college I used to schedule my showers so that they would correspond with studying plans or while I was working on a hard problem. Whenever I came out of the shower, I almost always had a solution to the problem I was working on. Sometimes it’s hard to hold back from taking two showers in a day if I’m trying to solve several problems

I don’t know what it is though. Maybe the moist air and soothing water opens up some pathways in your brain that causes you to more clearly see the solution. It would be interesting to see if there are any studies on this.

Always carry a notebook around with you. You never know when you’ll come up with an idea!

A friend of mine always has his black notebook with him whenever he’s at home or on the road. Inside that notebook are countless ideas that popped into his head at one point or another. It’s a great way to go back over ideas you may have had, no matter how stupid they were.

Even though “a windshield wiper mechanism for eyeglasses” and “a George Foreman device for baking cookies” may never come to fruition, you never know… one day one of those ideas may end up contributing to the formation of a business

I never realized that turning down a job offer almost feels like breaking up with a girlfriend.

If you ever get the unique opportunity to interview with a bunch of companies, you naturally will have to turn down a few offers. Unfortunately, it gets a little awkward because the e-mail conversation sometimes goes something like this:

you:	I appreciate the offer, but I don’t feel it will be a good fit for me at this time.
them:	Is it the money? Let’s talk about this.
you:	It’s not about the money.
them:	Is it something I did? We can work this thing out!

It feels like it becomes a game of poker: “I’ll call your raise. And raise you another 10!” But some companies don’t realize that the deciding factor is usually something that can’t be negotiated, be it the people you’ll be working with or the business you’ll be working in.