I recently ordered an HP-12c off of eBay, and I ended up paying 35 dollars without the manual. Brand new, the HP-12c sells for approximately $60 on Amazon. I never thought that the resale value for a physical calculator would be so high. As you can see, the preferred calculator for business is the HP-12c. There’s even an iPhone app that emulates the function and look of the 12c.

One thing about the 12c though is that the RPN is difficult to get used to, and it isn’t just the keyboard orientation. I find myself double-checking my math on a regular basis to make sure I did not key something in incorrectly. I assume that once I get used to it I will not want to do calculations any other way.

Sun’s weaker position, and its alliance with the Open Source community, did not allow it to sue Google for patent infringement. This is all covered in depth in this CNET article. Given Sun’s massive patent portfolio, and Oracle’s need to monetize their acquisition, the lawsuit is not surprising.

Oracle’s behavior seems troll-like. It is also seems unabashedly capitalist. Big companies that act like trolls have a tendency to be countersued. Chances are, others can find a patent or two that the bigger company has run afoul of. The question is, why is a large company like Oracle going after a large company like Google, besides the money? Oracle has much to lose in this case. In addition, it is not clear that they have all that much to gain either.

As Eben Moglen pointed out at his recent Linuxcon keynote “The patent system is built for secrecy and for trouble-making — it’s not a pro-innovation system.” Patent trolls and those that sue for patent infringement usually are not creating any value. This is a reason that the Open Source community, people who create value for the common good, finds this behavior so reprehensible.

A lot of enterprise software companies are sitting on a lot of cash. Investment opportunities are not good as a few years ago. Consequently, for companies that have not donated their patents to cross-licensing organizations (such as OIN), it makes sense to extract as much value as possible out of their patent portfolio. Also, it has the benefit of helping companies to build out their cash stockpiles, suppress competition and stifle innovation.

Methods for a first party to acquire and assert a patent property against a second party are disclosed. The methods include obtaining an equity interest in the patent property. The methods further include writing a claim within the scope of the patent property. The claim is written to cover a product of the second party where the product includes a secret aspect. The methods further include filing the claim with a patent office. The methods sometimes include offering a license of the patent property to the second party after the patent property issues as a patent with the claim. The methods sometimes include asserting infringement of the claim by the second party after the patent property issues as a patent with the claim. The methods sometimes include negotiating a cross-license with the second party based on the assertion of infringement of the claim, where under the cross-license the first party obtains a license to an intellectual property right from the second party. The methods sometime include attempting to obtain a monetary settlement from the second party based on the assertion of infringement of the claim. – link

This reminds me of the plaque I see every day on my way to work.

• Makers of signs need employment too
• There is a multiplier effect with this spending
• It is a small portion of the total spend
• They tell people what projects are started, in their community
• They remind people of the projects that were accomplished

The remote fits very nicely in my hands. It is a full-featured keyboard which reminds me of a Blackberry, though the feel is not as good. The remote is very lightweight, so much so that it makes me question the quality. However, I have not had any issues with it yet. The rollerball could be a bit smoother and it takes some getting used to the operation, especially clicking.

The USB dongle is extremely small. One great design point is that it fits in the base of the remote, next to the 2 AA batteries, in case you want to retire the remote without losing the dongle. Another good feature is a on/off switch under the remote to save on batteries.

One missing feature this keyboard is a back-lighting on the keyboard. It is impossible to see the keys in the dark, which is a PITA if you want to use this to control your HTPC. The remote worked immediately with Ubuntu and the dongle is almost invisible with my HTPC. Overall, I am happy with my purchase and would buy this keyboard again, especially at the $35 price point. It was definitely worth it to retire the wired keyboard I had before.

• Non-biodegradable plastic bags – $$ – These will sit in a landfill forever. Well, not forever, but a very, very long time (500-1,000 years)
• Transport to toilet – $ – The greenest and best way to dispose of doggie waste. It ends up being processed the same as human waste.
• Transport to compost pile – $$ – Very green, but more expensive than toilet-disposal since you have to have a composting system
• Transport to garbage/other – $ – Inexpensive, but not as green as you think, since pet waste is one of the top pollutants in our waterways
• Biodegradable bags (non-ASTM D-6400) – $$$ – These bags bio-degrade over time, given the right conditions (light, heat, moisture, etc.) There is some suspicion that non-conforming bags are actually the same as the non-biodegradable plastic bags, but misleadingly labeled biodegradable. However, most landfills are designed to prevent decomposition, so it is likely that these will just sit in the landfill for a very long time. On the bright side, these will not release methane or CO2 until they decompose.
• Biodegradable bags (ASTM D-6400 conforming) – $$$$ – In order to conform to the standard, the bags should decompose at the rate of an apple. They release methane and other gases that can be harvested, but very few landfills are equipped for methane recapture.

I thought about flaming poop in a bag as a disposal methodology, but it did not make the cut.

Since we live in a 3rd floor apartment, we’ve decided on the non-ASTM D-6400 conforming bags to the garbage for now. It makes us feel good about ourselves, and we hope that our landfill allows for degradation and is equipped for methane recapture. We plan on a composting system when we purchase a home.