bhollan
bhollan on Hacker News
I'm in DC. You're suggesting I just go to pitch meetings and pitch with no patent? Doesn't that make me vulnerable to IP 'theft'?
To be clear, I don't actually know if my "patentability" is sufficiently "non-obvious" or not. So I didn't want to talk about the invention/details _here_. I would obviously say more about the gizmo w/ potential cofounders.
The provisional serves as a timestamp only. It's literally not reviewed. The only reason at all to file a provisional is if you're going to file the proper one. Goods that are actually patented are under the 'proper' ones, and do not get the classic "protection" that we think of. The only thing the provisional really does is serve as the 'timestamped-steak-in-the-ground' that only you can claim as your timestamp. But it comes with conditions. You can't start selling your goods as-though-patented until you file the patents. You can put 'patent pending' on them after you file the big one and it's under review. But the provisional one doesn't really get you the 'patent pending' part at all. That's my not-even-close-to-a-lawyer version that I've learned in the last few months.
But what complicates this even more is that I don't really want to sit on the tech at all. I want it to become ubiquitous and (eventually) a standard (like how Yubico/Yubikey led to FIDO/FIDO2 later).
But others in the thread also bring up a totally valid point: I need to prove this has teeth with real people somehow.
I think I may have to bight the bullet and fork over some savings to get the proper patent done. I need to get busy with R&D to finalize the design.
Well, the patent attorney was very clear that a kickstarter (at least any that offer anything remotely like a 'sale' or anything) 'voids' a lot of the protections of the provisional, and maybe even the full patent.
Posted by
bhollan on Thursday September 17, 2026 @12:55PM
from the ask-hn dept.
I'm a technologist and have experience in academia, private, and now public sector work. I had an idea stewing in the back of my mind for about a year and it became 'fully-formed' enough to be a proof-of-concept such that I filed a provisional patent a few months ago. At this point, I don't want to quit my day job (federal agency, GS11, but have an in to be GS15 within 3 years). But I really...
Posted by
bhollan on Thursday June 25, 2026 @01:25PM
from the ask-hn dept.
I've recently had an idea for a hardware startup, but I'm torn between assuming I'm wrong (because I've never launched before) and discussing the idea in a public forum (also spiralling with the thought of being 'scooped').Do you "just have to know" the right people IRL to talk with who you trust not to steal your idea? Is there any chance of keeping my day job? How do you go from a seedling...
I cannot express to you how much fun this simple little game is! I'm really enjoying it!
If I got to work on this game for 90 seconds, I would move the "bonus text" down to the bottom. It gets in the way of tviewing the literal most important thing SO MUCH!!!
I've been looking for a game from the "flash era" that's incredibly similar to this one! It was "fling-this-wad-of-duct-tape-to-clog-the-black-hole" as a metaphor, but I forget the name. It had similar "orbit" dynamics, but the entire game was setting the initial angle/velocity and then the orbits just 'did their thing' from there.
This looks really cool! I'm already up to 11 as my best!
If you like this, you will for sure love the game "12 Orbits"!
I used MATLAB last year while I was re-learning it for work. It did okay, but we didn't have a license for the Image Processing Toolbox, which has a boatload of tools for the grid based problems.
What's the subscription fee(s) like after the course's access ends?
Cool tool. I think I'm seasick now from all the scrolling. But cool tool.
Love this!
UX nit: I love that I can 'lock' good ideas in and ask for a fresh batch, but I want a way to say 'I reject this idea and don't want to see it again.'
I kept getting the same 'wrong flavor' ideas even after 2-3 rounds.
I cannot even tell you how many glorious memories this brings up! Thanks for a walk down memory lane.
I actually just finished my second career pivot. I was in hardware, then in software, now I'm in government.
I'd take careful stock of your support network behind you, and of who you're supporting. But keep in mind, there's no "wrong answer". Live your life out loud and you do you. If your situation makes that untenable, do some soul searching and find peace without the shakeup. Lots of good advice on this thread, but you know you better than anyone (and if not, start there).
Know the risks though. My wife and I have changed our religious and political beliefs over the past decade or so and as a result have lost contact/intimacy with much of our families/friends. Losing community takes a much steeper toll than I would ever have guessed.
1) I think it depends on how you define all parts of "escaping evil regimes". But it's a fair point.
2) I studied electrical engineering and I just hadn't run the numbers. The numbers I had seen in most of the other articles didn't impress me in terms of national scale.
I have long-envisioned a "solar-miner-in-a-container" that could help impoverished nations. It would be a shipping container with 40-50 solar panels, a satellite internet kit, as well as a small server rack for mining. It could generate electricity, revenue, (shade) and if the mining part fails, it's a power source and an internet cafe.
A friend of mine escaped the Myanmar coup via bitcoin, so I don't think it's a purely zero-value enterprise. I agree, and there are many economists who also agree, that there is a strong odor of "tulips". But that's literally been the line from the haters for over a decade.
That said, I was laughing off environmental concerns over it until I read that, electrically, it's effectively a 'ghost state' in the US.
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=61364
Posted by
bhollan on Sunday June 25, 2023 @11:35PM
from the self-post dept.
I feel 100% qualified to do the job I'm interviewing for this week, but I'm mostly just looking for any tips on how to study for a non-coding interview w/ them. Any horror stories? I've checked Glassdoor (and googling) and coming up with mostly small odds/ends here and there. Any tips appreciated!
Bandwidth is a real concern, yes. Also, the intent is both for the school and open to the public.
But it's really not to build web dev skills, but literally to learn to read and write.
End user operations will be 100% Windows based and I won't be involved in the operation long term. Also, whoever is, probably won't know Linux at all, let alone at a sys admin level.
But I like the idea of having one machine to maintain. What's the best mechanic for that on Windows?
Posted by
bhollan on Tuesday May 16, 2023 @04:11PM
from the ask-hn dept.
I've been asked to help with the construction and opening of a computer lab in Belize. The plan is to have it used by the remedial school that will host it[1], but also available for use by the public. The target audience/content is more literacy-oriented than tech-oriented (think GED, not SWE).I'm sure this is not the first one of these in existence, so I'd love to hear any tips/tricks or...
Posted by
bhollan on Sunday March 19, 2023 @08:41PM
from the ask-hn dept.
Is there a way (yet?) to add a chat layer to a codebase? Basically a layer that would take it's best guess at the ERD and functions after reading the code, then be able to articulate about it and respond to questions?One of my biggest struggles is "getting to know" a codebase when I first walk up to it. I'm trying my best to get better, but I have to balance that with actually producing...
How do people build things like this? Is there a package that helps at all, or is it really just fighting with CSS for a few months to get it how you want it?
What else is in that folder?
Location: Washington, DC
Remote: hybrid or fully remote (can negotiate on-prem with master's classes)
Willing to relocate: Nope
Technologies: Python, R, JavaScript, Ruby, Linux, (...loads of others, but in small doses)
email: beehollander AT gmail DOT com
Resume:
WORK
Karat (conducted 1600 Interviews)
Independent Contractor (freelance)
Lockheed Martin (RF Engineer)
GBA Ships (Electrical Officer)
EDUCATION
Georgetown (Data Science for Public Policy) May '24
Auburn (Electrical Engineering) Dec '07
Auburn (Wireless Engineering) May '05
I'd love to see a segment/page/row added for Data Science.
- thinks Pandas is a subreddit
- said they have dplyr in his Magic deck
- saw data mining in a documentary about bitcoin once
He probably knew COBOL at one point. He used to write in FoxPro for the longest time. He had an old CompuServe email before we got Juno. My first email was tagged on with his Juno account in the late 90s.
I like the "Rescue us from Access" angle. That has good promise. He's never written a line of JavaScript in his life, so I doubt he'll want to do App Scripts, but that's another good one. Thanks.
Posted by
bhollan on Wednesday April 29, 2020 @02:28PM
from the ask-hn dept.
So my dad got a computer engineering degree back in the punch card days and ran his own business as a "computer consultant" since the early 90s up until he went to prison for 14 years starting in 2007 and gets out next March (his crime was not computer-related). He mainly used MS Access to develop on-prem apps for small businesses. What [printed] materials can I send to him to update him to...