The American Patent System

The patent system in the United States is broken. Patents are granted for “inventions” that aren’t innovative. For example, Apple was granted a patent on “slide to unlock,” which has been in fence gates for many years. The validity of a patent is not contingent on progress of the invention. Courts making rulings on patent cases aren’t knowledgeable about the industry or invention in question. A recent Supreme Court ruling about a patent on DNA was decided by judges without any experience in DNA sequencing. There isn’t an easy way to search the patent database. There is no patent exchange currently in existence. I think that all of these problems should be fixed to make room for the modern age. Patents should be granted or denied based on innovation; this should be determined by an expert in the field the patent is being filed in. If no significant progress is made on an invention for five years after the patent was issued then that patent should go up for sale in a public auction similar to the stock exchange. Lastly, there should be an easy to use, online patent database; I found the current version confusing to use.

Cyber Security

Humans have become increasingly dependent on technology over the past 20 years. Nearly every career requires the ability to interface with a computer to some degree. Not having a cell phone by the time you turn 17 is considered strange. As technology becomes more ingrained in our society we are increasingly at risk from cyber criminals. Computer viruses have caused millions of dollars in damage. Cyber criminals stole the identities of at least 250,000 people in 4 months. The thing that scares me is that we know about all these things happening, but we still cannot stop them. Part of that is due to different international regulations regarding hacking. For example, Russia has a public hacking school website and a public hacking magazine that the authorities do not monitor or regulate. In Bolivia it is only illegal to hack into another Bolivian’s computer or account; this gives Bolivians free license to hack American, European and many other accounts. The other part of this is that the hackers are working on the newest technology, the stuff that hasn’t been tested yet. My personal opinion is to make yourself harder to hack than the next guy. Use good passwords, update your software, stay away from suspicious sites and use an anti-virus program. This is like locking the doors and turning on the alarm in your home when you leave. No one would leave their home unlocked while they’re gone for a weekend trip, so don’t leave your computer open to hackers.

New Chromebook

Google is forging onward with Chrome OS and announced the new HP Chromebook 11. I love the idea of a Chromebook: a portable, thin client with great battery life. I have a powerful desktop that I use for my CPU heavy tasks so I have no need for a powerful laptop too. I recently purchased a new laptop and I seriously considered buying a new Chromebook instead. The thing that held me back was the possibility that I wouldn’t always have Internet access. For example, I went to Missouri this past summer for my job with the BYU Archaeology department. I was out in the middle of nowhere without Internet access and needed to work. This situation is unlikely for the average consumer. I frequently have people asking me what computer they should buy. If they plan to listen to music, watch YouTube, check Facebook and write papers I always encourage them to look at buying a Chromebook. They get all the desired functionality at a much cheaper price.