Agreed to help year 11 student

Had a great time today at Byron Bay High and grabbed a young guy to interview him about his invention... there was a bit of chuckling until he got stuck into explaining his concept for a temporary power assist for bike riders... Im determined to give him some time and file a prov for him in the next week or so... didn't get his name so I hope he contacts me with the card I gave him.

#ByronBayHighSchool

Do software patents stifle innovation?

http://www.cio.com.au/article/424871/do_software_patents_stifle_innovation_/

At the recent IP Forum sponsered by Australia's patent office (IP Australia), the organizers well meaningly gave opportunity to an anti patent protagonist named Ben Sturmfels.

It was an egalitarian move and quite open minded of IP Australia, but in my mind a bit of a mistake. This congenial open forum was used by Ben for statement making and not any real reasoned interchange.

Ben took the arbitrary stance that patents were for the betterment of society and should NOT be used for the protection of inventor rights.

In my mind his whole argument fell apart when I asked him the following:

"If a person who comes up with a verifiably new way of doing something do you feel that anyone should be allowed to steal that idea and use it as they please?"

Time and again, he said "Im not going to answer that as it is not relevant. Patents are not about that."

I then asked him about copyright. I asked him if someone working for him took his code and used it as he pleased, is he happy with that?".

He again ignored the issue saying he was not going to comment on copyright or stealing of ideas since they had nothing to do with software patents.

His whole position on patents circles around on itself in the misplaced and misguided notion that patents are not conected to any other form of IP law.

Interestingly, when I looked up the technical purpose of the patent law as it is expressed around the world in places like the USPTO web site and wikipedia, the definition is pretty simply stated in a way that is good to thoroughly understand:

"A set of exclusive rights granted by a government of a country to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention."

"A key benefit of this system of disclosure of inventions is to ensure there is no duplication of effort by others working on the same invention." - that seems to be a good thing for society - R

Both these statements are simple and quite sound and seem to ring true of the core principles of western law. If it is in the common good to not have people duplicating work and wasting precious resources, then it is also in the common good that those ideas be published and shared without allowing indiscriminate stealing of that idea.

Like with any other law, these often are a series of restrictions that benefit society by regulating extreme behaviour of individuals in that society. Driving on the left side of the road infringes the rights of an idiot that wants to drive on the right, but it makes for less stress when going to the shops.

Copyright protects makers of written, musical and graphic works so that great stories and movies can be shared and the investment of the creator rewarded and preserved.

To say that patents and copyright are not rooted in the same principles of law is just outright ignorance.

I asked everyone I met in attendance at the forum what they thought of Ben's position and there was clearly confusion about the basic assumptions of his position. What was he saying? That it's ok to protect technologies and inventions that are not software based but that its open season on anything software based? Go for your life, take anything you want?

I'm sorry Ben. You seem like a nice guy, but come back when your position is a bit more grounded in logic mate.

In closing, one of the inventors I help made a joke about Chinese R&D. He called it Receive and Deploy! Funny. Where copyright and patent law is not respected you cannot expect people to make major investments or contributions when their work is just going to be stolen.

Interestingly it seems that China's IP laws and respect for IP is increasing not only because of pressure to be part of the international community that respects IP law but also because, as Chinese technology advances, they need IP laws to stop their own internal competitors from just taking their work and abusing it.

What goes around comes around. You steal, then you you can't complain when someone steals off you. Better just to move somewhere where people respect each other and give fair compensation when someone shares a great new way of doing something.

Ric opens forum to help with help request backlog

Ric has just put up a forum to help answer some basic questions while he works his way through the 400 people who have requested help from him.

The forum is at:
https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/rics-inventor-help

Ask questions here and Ric will do his best to answer them. The advantage is that other visitors can benefit from seeing the answers Ric gives to you. So go ahead.. ask a question and hopefully he can answer you and benefit other visitors.

Fri probono with Jeff Caligari

Met Jeff and discussed his myriad inventions including his rescue device concept. Will fill in later but I think this is a goer. Met at Byron at Byron. Coffee by the pool. Great.

Visitor request for a book on Inventing

In answer to:

Ric, loved the Australian Story done last week. It's not over, you have to write a book about your adventures. Most people are scared about taking their ideas to the world, fearing exactly what happened to you.. guidance, advice and skills - tell us what is needed to make it from dreams to reality.. Regards Christine McVeigh on Thank you Australian Story

Christine, you are so right.. I do have a book in process, its called Making your ideas fly and it is the essence of what I share with each person that comes to visit me on my Friday morning sessions....

I will keep my promise and get the book done soon...

Whooah... 3000 visitors and 200 requests

I may have been a little hasty in making my email available as I have had over 200 requests for help from Inventors... which is both a privilege and a bit overwhelming... I am trying to work out what to do. A this rate i will have booked out a whole year of pro bono Fridays. Please be patient with me as I try to work out what to do to try and help. Apologies. Also just topped the 3,000 visitor mark from the latest Australian Story. I think the interest is more about the fact that the average Aussie is a closet inventor! On a recent trip to Sydney dozens of people said hello to me and Karen and most of them confessed to having a heritage of tinkering. Well if I can be a part of encouraging that I'm all for it. Ric

Crikey reports 1.3 million watched Australian Story

Web site Crikey reports that the episode of Australian Story featuring the final chapter of the Uniloc Microsoft story and inventor Ric Richardson attracted 1.3 million viewers. The previous largest rating for the year was the Gina Reinhardt story screened the previous week. The figures are particularly interesting given that this rating happened on a holiday Monday which usually draws a smaller number of viewers. Well done Australian Story.

Segment on Channel 10 - Breakfast

Ric appeared on a segment of the Breakfast program on Channel 10 this Wednesday morning. The segment highlighted the Underground Wireless power transmission system, Ezypeezy Urine sample collection funnel, Ric's flat tire warning system, and the Byron Rashie which is a hoody for surfing... you can watch it here:

http://tenbreakfast.com.au/video.htm?movideo_m=177059

Getting help from Ric

Again like last time I am being flooded with fellow Aussies who want some ideas about how to get their invention going or how to patent stuff...

Well here is what I can do...

If you want pro bono help I have slots on Friday mornings where i talk to people about their inventions and ideas. If you come to Byron and speak in person I will give you a couple of hours at a local Cafe... if you want help on the phone ill give you half an hour.. at the moment im booked into mid May.

If you want paid help just say so and ill fit you into my normal work cycle depending on what else i have going... my day rate is 3k but sometimes ill give a couple of hours if you are willing to contribute to a cause..

Also.. I hate homework... so please don't send stuff for me to read and research... if i do that ill have no time for other people... this way i get to help as many people as i can and still get to be an inventor.

My email is ricricho@gmail.com

Thank you Australian Story

AN OPEN LETTER TO REBECCA LATHAM
Supervising Producer of Australian Story

Dear Rebecca,

When I first came home from the US in late 2008 I had no idea what Australian Story was. Your show had only just started when I left in 1997 but with my Dad’s heritage as a founding cameraman for Four Corners, back when television started, I knew the ABC had potential for a truly special program.

When the story of the Jury verdict win of $388 million USD first hit, the publicity machine the company consulted with in the states said to stick to tightly scripted and controlled statements. Initially this gave me great pause. The seriousness of the situation weighed heavily on me.

Yet I also felt a reasonable pressure to at least recognize and show appreciation for the tremendous display of support and interest that the every day Australian showed in reaction to the win.

Then my dear friend Jim Revitt, who represented Australia as the ABC’s Vietnam War Correspondent, rang me and said that Australian Story had approached him to see if he could get me to consider an episode. They had found our connection in an article on my blog web site.

Jim said “Ric, if you are ever going to do an interview on this thing, then do it with Australian Story”. He explained that the unique format of not having an interviewers questions appear or be heard on screen means that I can have some level of control over what is said. The only person I can blame if the wrong thing comes out is myself, since my own voice is all that is presented.

Jim also said that, in effect, Australian Story is like a mirror held up to the Australian public where, in the majority of stories, everyday Australian qualities are reflected and documented usually in extreme situations or scenarios.

I suppose I qualified as a pretty normal Aussie in a pretty extreme situation. 

Australian Story is like a time capsule. No one is going to be going back to watch Deal or No Deal in 10 years time... I feel very privileged to have warranted being included

Kristine Taylor came and interviewed me in Byron. The stories just flowed. She made me feel comfortable and that I could trust her and the team to follow.

Then I met Kent Gordon, Anthony Sines and Marc Smith on our first day of shooting. The pressure was there not to just capture fluff. But amazingly there also seemed to be no agenda… no pressure to dig for dirt. Just the truth and to capture the moment.

It has been a real privilege to be selected as a subject for your show. And the professionalism and personableness of Kent and the boys made it a real pleasure to work with them. The fact is that Kent was the first person I spoke to from the media when the settlement became public. He is the keeper of the Ric Richardson story and the only person I could trust to be fair and honest about everything that has happened.

After being back a few years now from the States a lot of my old friends from the film industry are connecting and they all feel the pressure to commoditize television... and as supervising producer I know you do too. But Rebecca, you have something really special in your hands. Kent's special people skills, the boys (Anthony and Marcs) ability to capture the story are so valuable as is the format of the program. Please keep fighting to make sure Australian Story keeps its rightful place in Australian television.

Even though we lost Jim Revitt a few months after the first show I know he would have backed me up on this. In fact he would have beat me to it!

Congratulations on a wonderful show and to your team, especially Kent, Anthony and Marc for doing such a great job of capturing and explaining my story.

Thankfully yours,

Ric Richardson
Inventor

Kaz and Lily say thank you too!

Another Australian Story about Ric to air Monday 9th April

Shooting finished today of material to wrap up the Uniloc Microsoft story that started back in 2009 when Australian Story first picked up on the struggle between Microsoft and the company I started back in 1992, Uniloc.

My good friend Jim Revitt, who sadly passed away soon after the first show, always said that if I was to do one television show then Australian Story was the one to do... and his advice proved right. Sadly Jim will not be here to see the final chapter air this coming Monday (the 9th).

The show will review the twists and turns leading up to the settlement a few weeks back and it will also feature some upbeat segments covering projects I am working on now and people I am trying to help with their inventions... and some more guitar playing with my good mate Steve Cox... I hope I am in tune... I was playing so loud I couldn't tell :-)

It has been a real privilege to have had the Australian Story team revisit and it was great fun showing them some of the interesting people and ideas I have been working on over the last year or so...

I hope the show does more than fill peoples curiosity on the back story of the struggle with Microsoft. There are so many inventive Australians out there, and so many great ideas to explore and make happen... I hope that it gives viewers the invention bug, and gives them another reason to have a go at inventing themselves...

Revised Executable QR code provisional patent filed

Ric has submitted a revised version of his patent for executable QR codes. The patent was filed with IP Australia tonight at appropriately 8pm with reference number SPEP-16112161 and covers the extended use of the popular QR code format to allow interactive transactions and macros between devices and Internet services.

The original patent filing documents are available here: but require a password to open. The password is available to business partners that are helping Ric roll out this business. 

Ever wondor why QR codes seem so interesting but fall short of what your gut says they should be able to do?

Executable QR codes take up where standard QR codes left off:

* A QR code on a web page that initiates payment and automates the exchange of credit card and delivery details without setting up an account.

* A QR code at a taxi stand that books a taxi and allows you to track the taxi as it drives towards you without typing anything in...

* A QR code that allows you to buy a can of Coke from a vending machine that is not Internet enabled.

* The ability to buy something from a QR code flashed at you while watching the shorts in a cinema.

* The ability to pay for your restaurant meal by taking a pic of a QR code printed on your bill.

*The ability to book a plumbing service and making an appointment by taking a picture of an executable QR code on a plumbers truck as they drive by.

In due course Ric will be producing an iPhone/ iPad app showcasing the capabilities of the technology.

How will Ric get around Apples probable perception that this will become a platform for a myriad mini apps?

The strategy to date is to include all the code segments that would be available to a specific version of the app in the initial submission to Apple, but by default only download the segments as needed by the user thus avoiding the downloading of any unnecessary segments of code. 

How will you control security for such a powerful application?

Similar to Apples current policy we will ensure that all submitted macros and code segments are thoroughly tested and the process of each macro not expose the user to abuses of the information on their device.

Video segment covering Australian Story crew

Echonet Daily did a video segment covering a visit by Australian Story for an update and closing chapter on the Uniloc/ Microsoft battle. This segment covers my support of the Gamma team as they try to make one of Nikola Tesla's major inventions work... well shot and edited with a nice comment from Kent Gordon who is a professional as always and one of Australia's great television story tellers... he even makes my story sound interesting...

Today Tonight runs a segment on the Settlement

Segment on Channel 7's Today Tonight

http://au.news.yahoo.com/today-tonight/video/watch/28617994/aussie-settles-with-microsoft/ 

The above was aired last Thursday. Due to a bit of a kerfuffle I was not able to be interviewed for the show so I have promised them first dibs on the next big thing I do... they were good sports and I really do owe them...

Some questions people have asked...

Thanks for visiting... and particularly thanks to all the visitors who have shown support over the years. Its was really appreciated. How kind of you all.

Following are some questions that people have asked as a result of the settlement with Microsoft:

• Why is the amount of the settlement not disclosed?
• We presume amicable means that the settlement amount was sizable... is it?
• What are you going to do with the money that comes to you?
• How do you feel now that it's over

Why is the amount of the settlement not disclosed?
Simply, the Uniloc team were the guys that reached settlement with Microsoft. There ability to represent the shareholders and me as the inventor was established over many years of trusted negotiation and work. There is no question that they obtained the best possible arrangement for the company with Microsoft and if part of that arrangement was for us to honor a request from Microsoft that we not disclose the amount of the settlement, then I think I am bound by that same act of good faith and have every confidence that it is for the good of the company and for our ongoing interaction with Microsoft over time.

We presume amicable means that the settlement amount was sizable... is it?

Again, I am honor bound to not disclose what little I know of the settlement to date, but logic states that if the arrangement was mutually amicable as Microsoft reported then I am confident it is the best arrangement we could of had for the company. The team is incredibly experienced now and there is no way that every opportunity was not explored. 

What are you going to do with the money that comes to you?

It's too early to start being specific about that. As I have said before my wife and I support a cause, but the amount available and how the company chooses to use it all need to be resolved before I can make any plans along those lines. Additionally there are a lot of other projects on the boil that cannot be interrupted so stopping everything to think about the money side is just not important at the moment. In fact, for the moment, all I want to enjoy is the satisfaction of sharing with the team in the benefits of having been tenacious and patient.

How do you feel now that it's over?

As I said above and in previous posts, the biggest thing at this moment so soon after the moment is the satisfaction of having stayed the course in support of the team at Uniloc. They really have done a great job.

Update on articles so far

This article (above) appeared in the UK publication The Register. Its great to see people being supportive. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/03/08/uniloc_vanquishes_microsoft/

Another from Smarthouse.com.au: 

Has OZ Developer Just Got $300M+ Out Of Microsoft?

Sad to say this article got a few things wrong. Besides settlement terms which are not being disclosed there are quite a few misconceptions to be corrected:

1. No I was never an INXS roadie... I just worked a bit with Tim Farris at his home studio and have been friendly with their manager Chris Murphy for many years.
   
2. They say I was domiciled in a VW Kombi for some years.... Wha? Never... I think they got this from the story about how I use a Ford Transit as a mobile office (I certainly never lived in it... my Mrs like a comfy home thank you very much). I don't do this out of necessity but rather by choice so that I can enjoy the beautiful scenery around Byron as I do my work.
   
3. The judge in the jury case overturned the Jury decision and we WON the appeal to reverse his decision. The court case we just were in when we settled was to confirm the amount of damages we were to get.
   
4. And no.. Im not an Aus developer... Im an inventor...

Just like to keep the facts straight.

It's over!

Its over! Uniloc and Microsoft settled... finally. Quite understandably the settlement terms are not being disclosed in a gesture of goodwill for each party since it was according to Microsoft's spokesman a mutually agreeable resolution.

At some stage, what this means for Uniloc and Microsoft will become more apparent, but for me as the inventor it means the question mark hanging over my patent is no longer in question.

It's kind of like having your career anchored on a test you did when you were a kid and someone questioning your score decades after the fact... all you can do is stick to your position and hope the truth rings true.

Also, to be candid, having a large powerful corporation as a detractor is not an easy thing to deal with.

To be fair, the Uniloc team was the real relentless effort behind this good turn. Even though I started this by filing the patent 20 years ago, I have relied on the Uniloc team for much of the last 8 years to represent my interests along with the other shareholders of Uniloc as the case ran it's course.

For those of you who have been long term supporters and interested in the ongoing battle, I just want to say thanks on my own behalf. Most of this story played out in the States, but since winning the Jury verdict for $388 mill back in 2009, the subsequent Australian Story episode and the many articles following the case since then, pretty much all the notes and messages I have had have been of support and well wishes. Well thanks everyone.... it really was appreciated.

Ric

Microsoft and Uniloc settle

Bloomberg reports that the case between Microsoft and Uniloc has been settled on amicable terms.

It's been along day so I will be filling everyone in more tomorrow. Great news.

Voicy Software Design Overview by Ric Richardson

This video shows how Voicy is going to work... its a new approach to email where you can reply using your own voice in two clicks... very fast and convenient...

The app is also going to be a platform for a whole lot of related advances such as video, streaming and much more.

How does Voicy Work and why I came up with it

Voicy is a new concept in Email use that with two clicks allows you to reply to emails with your voice... the average email reply takes 5 seconds! The app has been user tested and is in coding now...

Breaking 100 year old Tesla Mystery

Over 100 years ago Nikola Tesla patented a method for distributing power WITHOUT WIRES.... but no one was ever able to use his patent to make it work...

Until Now.

A central coast inventor and a team of founders think they have cracked the problem by focusing the electricity and minimizing electro magnetic radiation.

The site talking about their plans and showing how to do your own tests is at http://www.gammachallenge.com . The site is sponsored by me to help them get their project evaluated by Australia's academic community and to get some real world feedback before we head out finding capital to do a large scale test.

I helped them get their patent and now want to see it independently evaluated before taking it to the next level.

Tesla claimed that any amount of energy could be sent any distance underground at as little as 2% loss of energy. I want to be there when Keith Howard and his team make this work.

Candidate for a zkimmer book

I have been thinking about using zkimmer for some time to publish really good photo books as iPhone apps maybe this is the first book to try this with.

How about 1200 dpi with zoom and beautiful pictures? What do you think?

Flat Tire Detection

A simple system that alerts drivers to a flat tire without the need for RFID or any electronic sensors.

I designed this system during an evening with a former neighbor and good friend Herb Elliott who had just had a flat tire experience and suggested there must be a better way.




......

Reputation Driven Social Network

This concept is based on the simple premise that your membership in the network is based upon having at least two people who are willing to vouch for you and who can be held accountable by network rules if you run amok.

The idea behind this invention is to make people accountable. After considerable research a basic rule for membership is that you must personally know and vouch for the person you allow to join the network and be able to prove their age, sex and identity or risk being expelled.

Someone who breaks the network rules not only jeopardizes their own membership but also the membership of the person that helped them join. In extreme cases such as pedophilia everyone associated with allowing that person onto the network would be questioned as to their suitability for membership.


....

Personal Data Blackbox

After reading about the recovery of the Air France 330 that crashed into the Atlantic last year losing all aboard, I somehow made the jump to the need for a Personal Black Box for all our personal and important data... images, documents, videos etc.

So what would a personal black-box achieve? It would be fire proof, waterproof... recoverable after an earthquake, flood or fire. It would be easy to access. It would have a wired and wireless connection capability with its own security. Namely data could be sent one way with one password and require another password to be accessed.

It would have a heartbeat system that raised the alarm if it lost power or was damaged in any way (for example if the hard drive detected damage to itself). A service would try to connect with the black-box at regular intervals and if unsuccessful send a series of alerts on an escalating schedule... It would try to contact you for a couple of days, then a second designee or a third or a fourth until it found someone to confirm that they will follow up to retrieve the device. For example the heartbeat service could initially try to contact you via email, then via SMS, then your spouse, then your Dad or your brother or sister gradually raising the alarm as it takes longer to find someone to contact.

The system could also include a secondary or tertiary drive or even an optical disk backup and writing system. It would have a battery to survive blackouts and possibly even a 3G pinging service capability to make contact itself in an emergency.

What about the Software?
Ideally, via a government certification process owners should be able to be given permanent access license keys to all the software and media they own. You should be able to have backups of all the media you own and have access to that media and software no matter where you decide to live in the world.

Photos/ scans of every important document, all your passwords and usernames and all your cherished movies, videos and photos should be safely stored inside.

Updates on the Inventor Roadshow

The Inventor Roadshow is an idea by Ric Richardson to combine the sense of discovery of the Antiques Roadshow TV program and the positive value of helping inventors get real world feedback about their inventions.

Latest Update

• Jan 6th 2012: It's been a long time but finally a meeting is set with a TV programmer to see what the future holds for the show.

Related Links

• Inventor Roadshow hits the news
• Inventor Roadshow Video News Segment on NBN TV News - Video
• Show Mentioned in the Echo Newspaper

......

List of Music written or recorded by Ric Richardson

As you may have seen at the end of the Australian Story about him, Ric is a guitarist and also writes his own music. Most of the recording below are original compositions by Ric and are mostly in rough demo form as he has never attempted to become a recording artist. Most of the tracks feature either the actual drumming or the drum programming of Ric's life long friend Steve Cox. A couple of the tracks below actually ended up used on films. The track "Move It" was the soundtrack for a short film that accompanied the Australian Feature Film "Man from Snowy River" during its worldwide release. Another short film he provided music for ran with the "Muppet Movie". The music is the track entitled "Drive like hell". Ric still gets a royalty check for these films from time to time.

Last updated 9/9/2011

• Freedom - Hendrix Cover - Ric (vocals and instruments), Steve Cox (Drums)
• Rock and Roll - Zep cover - Ric (vocals) Steve Drums
• Black Mountain Woman - by Steve Cox (vocals, drums) and Ric Richardson
• Move It - Rhinoceros studios mix, written by Ric, Dave Girsh (keyboard), Mick Hennesey (Bass), Steve Cox (Drums)
• Lonely in the City
• Cha - by Ric Richardson
• Drive Like Hell - soundtrack for off road racing film
• Dues
• Epping Studio Jam
• Going Home
• HSC Composition
• How I feel - written by Ric, Sven Knudsen (vocals), Steve Cox (Drums), Mick Hennesy (Bass)
• King Tut
• Living with a Tiger
• Lonely in the city - original rough 2 track
• Police idea 1983
• Six Feet Tall
• Something here
• Swords to plowshares
• Top of my mountain
• Your coming back to me
• Dark Zep Test

...

Australian Story - Episode about Ric

In 2009, the renowned biographical and social commentating television show known as Australian Story aired an episode covering Ric and his battle to that time with Microsoft. In the first week of viewing it is estimated that 1.8 million Australians saw the show.

Below are links relating to that story:

• Link to the actual episode on the shows web site.
• The blog article announcing the airing.
• Article about people from the the episode.
• Stories from behind the scenes
• What its like to be interviewed by Australian Story
• Frequently Asked Questions about the show

....

List of patents

The following are patents that have been published in either the USPTO online search engine or other public databases around the world. This list of patents only includes those that have been publicly published. As the dozens of patents covering inventions by Ric are published they will be included in the list below

Last updated 9/9/2011

• System and Method for Device Bound Public Key Infrastructure
• System and Method for Adjustable Licensing of Digital Products
• SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISPLAYING DIGITAL EDITIONS OF PERIODICALS ...
• Installing Protected Software Product Using Unprotected ...
• System and method for auditing software usage
• SYSTEM OF DEPENDANT KEYS ACROSS MULTIPLE PIECES OF RELATED ...
• Method and apparatus for using imperfections in computing devices ...
• METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USING PERFORMANCE AND STRESS TESTING ON ...
• METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTION OF TAMPERING ATTACKS
• METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USING IMPERFECTIONS AND IRREGULARITIES IN ...
• Methods and systems for integrating physical mail with electronic mail
• Data compression system and method
• System for software registration (The Original Uniloc patent)

....

Richard Bransons latest book

I am only a few pages into Richard's latest book and it is really interesting reading. The basic premise is that corporations should have a social conscience.

Interestingly this was the complaint of Michael Moore's movie about corporations back in the 90s. By designing corporations so that they could outlive individual shareholders and directors the idea was to give a company a multiple generational value to a family and allow the value to easily transfer from owner to owner as stock was bought and sold.

But giving a corporation the rights of an individual without the moral accountability that the law expects of a real person allowed directors to make decisions that were purely profit driven and devoid of normal social accountabilities. Branson reasons that corporate social and environmental accountability are the only viable long term approach to business.

It really is an upbeat and positive message and worth a look.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00667HHNO/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1324986010&sr=1-1

Siri. iPhone and Bluetooth glasses. Mmmmm

It's about time for some new glasses and the latest idea is some Bluetooth sunglasses that can link up with the voice control on my iPhone. Wonder how heavy they are? Oh. And I'll do my old trick of putting normal prescription lenses in them.

People often say they like my glasses and are amused to find out that they are tortoiseshell Ray Bans with prescription lenses. Simple. Obvious. Like a lot of my inventions yet still unique in a simple way.

My latest office location

Hard at work finalizing a patent for a Japanese company and some problem solving for Fortescue Metal.

Secret Project Codename: TZ

Sounds all very mysterious... and it is... a new technology that will really surprise most people in its simplicity and its pervasiveness... it has been around a little while now and was the reason behind my announcement about three weeks back of a special event in Sydney.

Well there is good news and bad news. The bad news is that the special event in Sydney has been delayed.... but that is because the good news is that there will be instead a US release some time later in the year. Yes things are moving along and unfortunately for Australia, again the technology has quickly migrated to the US.

Please accept my apologies if you had signed up to be at the event. I really appreciate the support. And as soon as it comes to do the Australian press release (probably after the US press event) I will make sure you all all taken care of... unfortunately by that time the cat will be out of the bag.

Sorry for the disappointment, but exciting none-the-less.

With some inventor friends and a great designer and prototyping expert

Thought I'd just share with you  a photo from my lunch today with some dear friends who are also fellow inventors. We had lunch together with a really fine designer and prototyping expert named Mark Boardman who I have worked with over the last 18 months...

The couples invention is yet to be publicly announced so I will have to wait to share their story with you but I thought Id share Mark Boardman's expertise with you... most of my projects are fairly large scale and dont require 3D printing or CAD CAM rendering but most of you who want help from me usually do... Mark has a day gig working for a 4 wheel accessories company but he is open to doing jobs for inventors on the side... hes not cheap, but he's good and solid... and delivers... which is why I work with him.

If you need a 3D print or a simulated cadcam rendering of your invention give him a call.

Mark Boardman
0468961042
markgboardman@gmail.com

Just because he works with me does not mean he does the freeby thing so only call him if you are willing to pay... but if you want a good job done I recommend him.

Handy texting for iPhone concept

One of the young gentlemen I give time to on a Friday morning asked me about the idea of a simple device to enable fast texting without having to get your phone out.

This concept is what I came up with. His logic is that there are millions of people out there who learned to text on an old phone keyboard made sense... simply hook an old style keyboard to your iPhone using Bluetooth and your off.



....

Aqua-mation...wha?

I met with an optimistic fellow name Max Dumais yesterday who needed some patent and start up advice for he and a friend who are the brains behind the idea of Aquamation... using hydrolysis which is a high speed decomposition process to replace cremation as a earth-friendly way of burial.

Here are some incredible facts: 1. That 15% of the mercury in the atmosphere in the UK is from smoke related to the burning of human remains; 2. That using Aquamation in place of cremation would do the equivalent of taking 35,000 cars of the road every year in Australia and; 3. The way the EU is dealing with the issue of cremation is by enforcing a law that requires a $300,000 chemical and carbon scrubber be placed on the flew of every cremation burner.

A quick survey of some of my personal network uncovered that over 60% of Australia's crematoriums are owned by one off shore American, and that Cremation has obtained an exception under the Australian carbon tax laws. Obviously the government wants to avoid dragging loved ones through the carbon tax debate during the grief of losing a loved one. But it seems that overseas interests are profiting from that goodheartedness.

On top of that a survey by the Fairfax news group last year showed that most people would prefer Aquamation if it was available.

Mmmmmm. Here's an idea. Let me state for the record that I am neutral on all political issues. That said, there is an obvious opportunity for consideration in that the EU is already moving to stop the pollution by regulatory means, by insisting that a scrubber that costs more than the furnace be installed.

Could this be done in Australia?
If people really would prefer Aquamation then why not?
Its Australian technology... it's carbon-less.. it's cheaper and the proceeds go back to a company here in Australia.

Note: Ric is neutral on matters of politics and has no affiliation whatsoever with any political party.

Ric's Hobbies

Ric has a few past times he enjoys that he like to share with some of the sites visitors. These include:

• Playing and Writing Music
• List of Music he's written and or recorded
• Ric playing the lead guitar from Deep Purple "Smoke on the Water" in the last 5 minutes of Australian Story.
• His latest gear/ setup (Marshall Stack and Fender Strat)
• Surfing
• Video of Ric Surfing as a young man (from 1984) was only a foot or so but its a good memory.
• Motorbike Riding
• Video from unused section of Australian Story
• Karen's abuse of Ric's monster bike by putting streamers on it
• Video of Ric climbing a rock face on his bike
• Video of Ric's mates practicing Monos in the 90's
• Writing Books
• Jason's Toy (A Novel)
• The Patent Fallacy
• Making Your Ideas Fly

About the Van

Ric uses a Ford Transit Van as a mobile office. For some reason it seams to have grabbed the imagination of a lot of Aussies and seems to be one of the most popular visited subjects. It's nothing much. Just a regular van with a comfy office chair and a desk in the back and most days a really great view.

Various articels about Ric's invention Van:

• One of the most recent locations for Ric's Van office
• Ideas for fitting out Ric's van
• How Ric uses the Van to help the invention process.
• The Van appears in the Sydney Morning Herald.

...

Siri works... amazingly

I've had my iPhone 4s for a few weeks now and just realized something really significant has happened in the way I use technology. I found myself actually PREFERRING to reply to emails using my phone and voice dictation than typing at my PC.

The key was realizing that you can actually edit the text in the Siri screen after it shows you dictation results and also realizing that this actually helps the voice recognition system improve.

This became clear when I was constantly signing off emails as Ric and Siri would type out "Rick". When I started editing the emails, Siri picked up on the problem and started to spell my name correctly. Someone who says "this stuff has been around for a long time" is not a serious user of it..

I remeber when I used a mouse and a WYSIWYG display for the first time (on my first Mac and Amiga). The feeling was empowering... this darn phone is giving me the same feeling... a paradigm shift.

Inside the new fitted-out Dick Mobile... Man in the Van goes upscale

Nah, only joking... but looks impressive just the same. Came across this on Treehugger.com. Basically it appears that New Yorkers are fitting out transit vans and cruising around in things like this in between meetings...

Actually I like my thing more. I can put my dirt bike in it... my surfboard.. it opens out to let the breeze through and I don't have to lock it... best of all it has no computers, no screens.. just a good solid desk, a comfy chair and a big picture window that lets me choose any scene from around Byron Bay as my daily inspiration... Mmmmmm... I think I have it over these New Yorkers and probably for a tenth of the cost!
No I have not upgraded to a Mercedes.. still have the old Transit Van but this is the Van the guys in New York tend to use...

What has Ric been up to lately?

A lot of you have been asking what's been happening lately... well I've been pretty flat out! Last month I did a speaking event in Adelaide and a week ago to a great bunch of innovation managers for mid to large size corporations... I also have helped a handful of fellow inventors inch their projects forward.

Most mornings I start at 5am often working on problem solving for Fortescue Metal. They are really fun people to work with. Besides these I have the preparation for the new technology role out in January (that I have mentioned in this blog), another hush hush technology announcement that I have NOT discussed before (I'm waiting to see if the team involved hits their deadlines) and three other projects I can discuss.

These include a website to help Model Agencies get control over their clients photos and copyright, a group of Japanese businessmen visiting me to rethink the worlds Digital Rights Management systems and to design an inter-operative and better flavor of DRM and the Australian Patent Trading Exchange.

Many have asked about the TV show I've mentioned in the past and the prospect of a book. Well both are on the cards still. The TV show is in the hands of respected television veteran Peter Abbott at Freehand TV. He is patiently working through the process with the television programmers so I have no question things are going as fast as they can on that front.

And regarding the book, I am adding tidbit here and tidbit there and also firming up what I think will be the most reliable advice for the many inventors out there who really need some insight into how things work from my perspective, and to give them a clearer more direct path to a taste of success without dragging the family into debt... wow. It makes me tired just reading about it :-)

Pretty big technology announcement coming within 4-6 weeks.

Update. This project has gone worldwide and will probably be announced in the US initially. An Australian announcement will follow so I will make sure to notify everyone in due course however it means that the main announcement will have already hit the press.

To those of you who keep track of what's happening in the world of Ric, there is a pretty big technology release and press event coming in the next month or so... it will be in Sydney at a location yet to be finalized and will involve as much of the press as is willing to turn up on the day, but I promise not to waste their time..

For those who visit this site often Id like to know if you would like to come along to see a little bit of new technology so if you would like to send me your email address (send to ricricho at gmail.com) I will send an invite to you when it's all locked down...

Here's a clue... it is not an Apple iPhone App but everyone coming including the press will be invited to download an iPhone App for the event as part of the interactive demo... and the demo will include live TV, a radio station and a Youtube video...

Sound cryptic?

I guarantee it will be fun for most of you if you want to come along.

Ric

Every good turn deserves... at least a thank you.

I have a little sad story to share... About a month ago, I asked the cashier at my families favorite Chinese restaurant why they didn't have a web site? She said they were not real technical and would not know what to do and in a moment of community spirit I offered to put up a quick site up for them as a favor... no obligation just a bit of a thank you to one of the local businesses...

I was thinking that I help local inventors a lot but it's nice to do something for someone outside of inventing every now and then.

So  I went home and dared myself to do a site in less than 30 minutes...

This is what I came up with....

It's pretty basic... just a scan of the takeaway menu and a Google Map etc but it was fun to do since it was an opportunity to learn how to use the new Adobe Muse software.

As a favor I registered the .au domain tsangschinese.com.au and got it directing to the site at a $20-$30 domain reg and DNS redirect cost... thats all ok...

Then I proudly ring the restaurant to get the to have a look at the site... I speak to a girl there and she knows nothing about it (the girl I offered the help to hadn't mentioned it to her)... oooohhhh a bit disappointing... oh well I tell her the web address and leave my number and watch the visitor logs for the site to see when someone visits... a day goes past, a week then finally I call...

Obviously there is some mis-communication... maybe they lost my number... maybe.. I speak to someone and get onto the owner and here is how it goes...

Ric:" Hi there I was just calling to see what you thought of the web site I did for you..." (the logs showed no one had visited but I had forgotten that important fact)

Owner: "Oh yes.. its the takeaway menu isn't it?" (this means one of the girls I spoke to had probably told him)

Ric: "Yes I tried to make it look good and let everyone know your prices and your telephone number for ordering."

Owner: "Yes." (pregnant pause) About this time it was clear to me that a thank you was not going to be forthcoming.

Ric: "Well I was not expecting any money or anything but I was wondering what you wanted me to do to transfer the domain over to you."

Owner: "Well I'm not really a computer person so I don't know what to do with it.. so I really cant help you with that." (pregnant pause) About this time I was getting a bit cranky..

Ric: "Well it really is your property and it cost me $20 bucks to register for you so its not nothing." 

Owner: "As I said, Im not a computer person so I really don't know what to do." 

About this time it hit me that some people are so busy thinking that a little kindness is a veiled attempt to somehow get you to pay money that this guy can't see that its just a neighborly gesture... or maybe he just doesn't care.

Ric: "Oh look... sorry to bother you I have obviously wasted your time". And I hung up...

So here I am now, paying for a domain and a website that no one wants with such a bad taste in my mouth that Ill probably not eat Chinese Food for a long time...

But on the other hand I am probably spoiled. Nearly everyone else I have helped has been so genuinely thankful that its been a real joy for me to be able to say I helped them without charge...

The moral of the story, sometimes it doesn't work to surprise someone with a free gift... better always to ask them if they want it first so you make sure you don't waste your time and theirs when they really don't appreciate anything you do for them.

Fwd: notice of allowance for 11/470,235

Just received this email today from the Uniloc patent lawyer:


Gentlemen, On November 3 the USPTO issued a Notice of Allowance for Ric's invention entitled: METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTION OF TAMPERING ATTACKS Congratulations to Ric Richardson on another U.S. Patent!  Sean D. Burdick, P.E. | Uniloc USA, Inc, Patent Counsel.

Another patent granted. I feel very privileged. This patent tracks to see if a hardware system is trying to fool the fingerprinting software into thinking its running on a registered device when it is really not... cool stuff even if I do say so myself... it was fun doing that invention.

APTX site to help inventors

Just been working on the Australian Patent Trading Exchange and getting ready for a beta in a few days/ weeks. Its designed as a way for inventors to get their patents looked at and to generate sponsorship to help them get their provisional patent converted to full apps... and some other great things thrown in...

http://aptx.com.au

Come join us for the beta.. we'd love you to be involved.

Incubators new look

Please have a look at the NEW Incubator web site.

After many months of experimenting with a wiki based format for the Incubator, I finally gave up on the free form but messy approach and opted for the simpler more structured approach of the new site design that combines automation from a back end database I'm very familiar with and the new design tool from Adobe called use.

The design is also changed to focus more on specifically getting the project managers to walk step by step through my own project development process designed to make it easier for inventor types to move as quickly as possible from idea to patent to execution and market entry. The process is also explained on the site... I am still adding projects to the site so that it can be formally released in a short while.

Uniloc and band Kulcha first music and interactive CD ever?

Wow this was a blast from the past! Was going through old video footage from my early days running Uniloc and came across this project... a multimedia CD which Warner Music advertised as the worlds first music and computer game CD!

It featured a hip hop band called Kulcha and a Uniloc protected copy of Doom on the same CD..
I remember working out how to mask the data to stop the speakers from blowing up when the CD player tried to playback the game data... we came up with the trick of setting the track number for the data to track number zero which in most cases fooled the CD player to go straight to track one and ignore the data on the CD... CDROM drives could see the data and install from it... pretty cool for 94.

Wow. We really did a lot of cool things over the years.

At the end of the video the Warner voice over says that it was the WORLDS FIRST interactive music and game CD.... maybe it was! What an honour.

Cherio from Ric to all the visitors coming in from the Sydney Morning Herald news site.

 

A little message for all of you visiting from the Sydney Morning Herald article that appeared today.

Sydney Morning Herald runs Good Weekend story

Asher Moses from the Sydney Morning Herald emailed me yesterday to tell me they were running the Good Weekend story online soon and it popped up just now.

The link to the story is this: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/the-beautiful-mind-of-the-aussie-who-beat-microsoft-20110810-1ilm6.html

For a bit of background on some of the projects mentioned in the story please click the special welcome in the right column to Good Weekend Readers.

Some extra news for you is that Microsoft’s attempt to have the Uniloc patent questioned by the US Patent office failed last Friday. The patent office ruled that the 216 patent is legal and stands in its entirety despite claims by Microsoft that there were prior inventions… now all that is left is to get a Jury to give us a good damages amount and then wait to see if Microsoft appeals that decision and then tries for the Supreme Court… well that’s my understanding of what’s ahead… it’s been a long battle but I’m not complaining… anything worth while usually takes a long time.

Still can’t get my head around the beautiful mind thing… to me most people will be surprised how well they think when they clear out pressures, get in a good calm and interesting setting (like the fig tree lane in the article) and take their time to really analyze a problem… the brain just seems to love that situation… oh and a good cappuccino every two hours or so!

Carbon Tax explained… a non political explanation.

Please note that I personally am completely neutral on political matters and do not have an opinion one way or the other regarding governmental initiatives.
That said, I also would like to weigh in on clarifying how the carbon tax seems to have been designed to work.
A basic fact:

• According to government figures Australians per capita produce more carbon than anyone in the western world mainly due to the use of coal for generating electricity.

To stem this tide the government is introducing a tax on carbon. It is really a tax on dirty energy generation.
To understand how this works you may want to consider import duty. The idea behind an import duty is to artificially raise the price of imported goods so that locally produced (more expensive goods) can compete on a level playing ground even though the basic costs of producing Australian goods are higher due to Australia’s higher hourly worker rate etc.
The duty is then redistributed to Australian tax payers and probably results in less need for taxes to cover other costs that the government needs to pay for.
Most people understand this and comprehend that the higher price Australian’s pay is directly related to the good of preserving jobs and also a small reduction in taxes due to the funds being used to offset costs in other areas of the government spending.
The carbon tax? Well imagine all our energy was imported and we only had wind farms and solar panels to produce our electricity. The import duty (carbon tax) would make the imported energy more expensive driving down demand and allowing local competing technology like wind and solar generators to be more competitive and increasing the demand for it. The key is how the collected duty (carbon tax) is redistributed. If the tax is redirected to Australian tax payers then the whole process is relatively cost neutral.
For me to understand it, the key was seeing it as a redistribution rather than another tax. In fact the whole process of taxation seems to be about balancing the redistribution of profits from Australian people and companies for hopefully the benefit and common interest of tax payers.
I reiterate. Personally I am neutral to political and national issues. This article was simply an attempt to try and clarify how I think the carbon tax is designed to work.