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bhollan

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.

Ask HN: Co-Founder(s). Do I need any? How would I even find them?

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...

( Read More... | 17 comments | 7 points | on HN )

Ask HN: How to Germinate Ideas?

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...

( Read More... | 1 comment | 4 points | on HN )
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"!

Re:Advent of Code 2025 on Sunday November 30, 2025 @09:37AM (#46096975)
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.
Re:Launching Solveit – an antidote to AI fatigue on Wednesday October 15, 2025 @06:56PM (#45599326)
What's the subscription fee(s) like after the course's access ends?
Re:Launching Solveit – an antidote to AI fatigue on Wednesday October 15, 2025 @06:37PM (#45599161)
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.

Niche meta deep cut quip
Re:Show HN: SQL Noir – Learn SQL by solving crimes on Thursday February 13, 2025 @09:57PM (#43044284)
I cannot even tell you how many glorious memories this brings up! Thanks for a walk down memory lane.
Re:Ask HN: How can I realistically change careers? on Friday January 17, 2025 @07:50AM (#42736995)
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.

Re:Ask HN: How can I realistically change careers? on Friday January 17, 2025 @07:43AM (#42736945)
Craps?
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

Anybody ever interviewed at SpaceX before?

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!

( Read More... | 38 comments | 2 points | on HN )
Re:Ask HN: Computer Lab in Developing Nation on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @11:03AM (#35976291)
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.

Re:Ask HN: Computer Lab in Developing Nation on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @10:25AM (#35975624)
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?

Ask HN: Computer Lab in Developing Nation

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...

( Read More... | 5 comments | 4 points | on HN )

Ask HN: LLM for “talking to” a code repo? (like chatpdf.com, but for a codebase)

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...

( Read More... | 1 comment | on HN )
Re:A Suspiciously Criminal Portfolio Website on Saturday March 11, 2023 @12:52PM (#35110753)
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?
Re:A Suspiciously Criminal Portfolio Website on Saturday March 11, 2023 @12:51PM (#35110750)
What else is in that folder?
Re:Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (February 2023) on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @08:58PM (#34621044)
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

Re:Ask HN: Update My Dad on Wednesday April 29, 2020 @09:37PM (#23026606)
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.
Re:Ask HN: Update My Dad on Wednesday April 29, 2020 @09:32PM (#23026577)
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.

Ask HN: Update My Dad

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...

( Read More... | 5 comments | 4 points | on HN )

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