Archive for September, 2005
Tuesday, September 27th, 2005
openIPsource and the “Patent Bar”
What is the Patent Bar?
To become a practicing patent attorney or patent agent, one must pass the USPTO registration examination, most often referred to as the “Patent Bar”. The test is a 100-question, multiple choice test requiring a score of at least 70% to pass. On average, only 40% of examinees actually get this score. The test grabs questions out of the MPEP, or Manual of Patent Examining Procedure, which contains all of the USPTO rules and regulations.
It’s been recommended to me that I pass the test before I start law school, since I have more “free time” now than I will when I start school. Ahhhh…free time. Yeah right.
But having just shelled out a bunch of cash on the Kaplan LSAT review course, I can’t bear to spend more on a patent bar review. There are quite a few out there, and they range from study-at-home material for $300 to one-week courses for $2500. But when I was googling for more information, I found a site offering Patent Bar review material for free!
openIPsource describes itself as "a FREE comprehensive study course to successfully pass the Registration Examination for Patent Attorneys and Agents; otherwise known as the patent bar." I was naturally pretty doubtful at first, but it seems like a great resource. The creators, Stanford University graduates named Brett and Brad Krueger, felt that “education should be available for free to those who can’t afford the exorbitant prices of commercially available training”. I agree completely!!
OpenIPsource has the following items:
- Annotated MPEP
- Comprehensive MPEP Summary
- List of Important Dates
- Detailed Glossary
- MPEP Table of Contents and Index
- Past Exam Questions by MPEP Chapter
- Past Exams since 1999
- Study Guide
- Patent Laws and USPTO Rules
Tomorrow night is my last Kaplan class, and Saturday is the LSAT, which I’ll be taking here in Syracuse as LeMoyne College. I’m spending today, tomorrow, and Thursday doing some last-minute studying/review, and then I’m taking Friday off to sleep in and relax. I’ve been averaging in the mid to upper 160’s, and I figure I’ll do pretty well on the test.
1 Comment » - Posted in Uncategorized by thisbiochemicallife
Monday, September 26th, 2005
What is Reddit?
What is Reddit?
Reddit is a news service using articles submitted by readers. The articles can be submitted by anyone, and anyone can increase or decrease the popularity of an article. A nice feature is that you can see a list of the most popular or the most recent articles.
People who submit articles are called Redditors. When an article is demoted or promoted by a reader, the Redditor who submitted the article is either rewarded or punished. The creators of the site call this “a system of editorial karma.”
Comments Off - Posted in Uncategorized by blaine_5
Thursday, September 22nd, 2005
How Caffeine Works
I got a 164 on my latest LSAT diagnostic test, down from a 165 last time. I’m pretty happy with this range, but I was hoping to get a little bit higher with each test. I have one more full Kaplan-proctored test, and starting today I’ll be taking full-length tests on my own.
With the Kaplan review class, I don’t get to sleep on Mondays and Wednesdays until about 10:30 or 11:00, and then we have to be up at 5:00AM everyday so that we can all get to work on time. By Thursday morning, I’m usually exhausted. Thank God for Caffeine. I am and have been for many years a caffeine addict. I found a website called the Caffeine Database that lists the caffeine content of many popular drinks. One of my favorites, diet Coke, has 3.75mg/oz. Interestingly, Diet Pepsi has 20% less caffeine, with 3.00mg/oz. The highest thing on the list is Sky Rocket Caffeinated Syrup, which has 100mg/oz!!!! Apparently this is used for flavoring coffee and other drinks, and as a topping for things like ice cream. It even has a warning label on it to keep away from children.
I’ve often wondered exactly how caffeine works. Here’s a brief summary:
Caffeine, officially called 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine, is a xanthine chemical. When it enters the bloodstream through the stomach and small intestine, it travels throughout the body. Once in the brain, caffeine binds to and blocks adenosine receptors. Wait, what are adenosine receptors?
Adenosine is also a xanthine chemical. It’s produced by our brains and is used as a neurotransmitter (that is, it transmits signals between neurons in our brain). All day long when we’re active and awake, adenosine accumulates in our brain. As adenosine levels build the chemical binds to the aforementioned adenosine receptors and signals the need for sleep. Then, as you sleep, the concentration of adenosine slowly decreases.
So when caffeine binds to and blocks those adenosine receptors, the cells can no longer detect naturally-occurring adenosine, and they speed up instead of slowing down. The increased neuron firing and subsequent reaction by the body is what makes us feel ‘awake’ after we’ve consumed caffeine.
Interestingly caffeine has a half-life of about 6 hours, meaning that if you consume a 26oz coke at 4PM, there is still almost 50mg of caffeine in your system at 10PM. And even if you can fall asleep (as I usually can), the residual caffeine prevents the type of sleep that makes one feel rested.
Comments Off - Posted in Law School by blaine_5
Wednesday, September 21st, 2005
Doctor’s Appointment
A few weeks ago, at the E-man’s 4 month appointment, the doctor spotted something she thought might be a problem. She sent us to a specialist who would be qualified to diagnose such a problem. If he had it, we’d have to go to Rochester and he’d have to have a minor surgery. If not, then all was well.
Yesterday was our meeting with the specialist, a friendly doctor who seemed very knowledgeable. After a brief insecption, the E-man was given the OK. Everything was fine, and there was no need for surgery.
But as I was leaving, I thought about how this experience had brought out the differences in parenting styles between my wife and I.
My wife was terribly worried about it, and already had contingency plans for a trip to Rochester and surgery. She wondered things like, “What if he needs surgery?”, or “What will I do if he needs surgery?”. I, on the other hand, was convinced there was nothing wrong with him, and never moved on to the What If stage. “He’s fine, they’ll just tell us he’s fine once they check him out.”
Now, I love the E-man just as much as my wife does, but if I know he’s totally okay and I can see that he’s okay, and he starts cranking (as we call it), or crying a little bit, I don’t worry about getting to him in less than 0.5 seconds. My wife, however, will get to him before he draws the breath for the second whimper. Sometimes she stares at me afterwards like, “Do you love him at all?” I do, I just wanted to finish my drink, or finish the report on the news! “He’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with him, he just wanted to be picked up.” But this statement never placates her concerns, strangely enough. I guess it’s just another lesson to be learned along the way.
1 Comment » - Posted in Uncategorized by blaine_5
Friday, September 16th, 2005
Go Orange!
I can’t believe that the Eman is now 19.5 weeks old. (Actually, I had to quickly calculate that, using a calculator I found here. Turns out I’m 1542 weeks old!). Last night he was in his swing, and he was reaching for the toys that are attached to the tray. There was a time, not long ago, when he didn’t even know those toys were there! Then he was getting upset because he could reach them and play with them, but he couldn’t pull them into his mouth. So I took out the toy and handed it to him, and you could see the joy and sense of accomplishment in his face. He’s learning by leaps and bounds.
For some reason, his favorite color is orange! That’s works out well since we live near Syracuse, home of the Orangemen! We discovered this tendency accidentally, but now his favorite toys are a Tigger at daycare and a plush Orangemen doll at home. Last night S-mom was showing him a big board book of colors, and when she turned to the Orange page his legs kicked in excitement and he turned to her with eyes that seemed to say, “Is this for real? Is there really that much orange in the world? What a great place this is!” So we had to hug him.
1 Comment » - Posted in The E-man by blaine_5
Tuesday, September 13th, 2005
Ferdinand
I saw a post here and here about listing 10 reasons you love your pet. Our cat, Ferdinand, is 2.5 years old, and isn’t too fond of guests. He sometimes gets a bad reputation because of this, but I think he’s one of the greatest cats in the world. So here’s the top 10 reasons I love our cat:
1. Everyday, all day long, he crawls up under the comforter on the guest bed and sleeps.
2. Every night, as we go up the stairs to bed, he runs ahead of us and hides under the bed to avoid being shut out.
3. Every night I can coax him out from under the bed with a few cat treats.
4. Before the baby, he used to sleep with us, on or under the covers, every night.
5. He runs downstairs when we get home from work. Remember, he’s usually still under the covers of the guest bed, so seeing him run downstairs is truly important!
6. Whenever I use the computer, he jumps on top of the monitor (using my leg as a springboard) and relaxes there while I work.
7. Every once in a while he’ll curl into a ball on our laps, if we’ve been good and he’s a little bit cold.
8. You can pet him on his head and upper back, but as soon as you go for his lower back or his tail, he thinks it’s playtime.
9. He’s an incredibly beautiful cat, orange-and-white stripped, including his tail.
10. He loves me most.
P.S. - I’ll try to post a picture of the cat as soon as I can.
Comments Off - Posted in Ferdinand the Cat by blaine_5
Monday, September 12th, 2005
Susan Torres
I just saw a post on CNN that Susan Anne Catherine Torres, the 5-week-old infant daughter of Susan M. Torres, died last night, 11 September 2005. It’s confirmed on the Susan Torres website, as well. As you may or may not know, Susan Torres, a 26-year-old researcher at the National Institutes of Health, suffered a stroke in May 2005 after melanoma spread to her brain. She was kept alive, however, so that she could give birth to her fetus. Susan Anne Catherine Torres was born August 2nd, and appeared to be healthy, with no signs of cancer having crossed the placenta. According to the news reports, the infant died due to heart failure after emergency surgery to repair a perforated intestine. Apparently this condition can be common among premature babies.
This is an incredibly sad story, and even the happy ending turned out to be not-so-happy. My thoughts go out to Jason Torres, the bereaved husband and father.
Comments Off - Posted in Uncategorized by blaine_5
Thursday, September 8th, 2005
Last night I was reading Newsweek, when I came upon the following quote that got at something that’s been bothering me:
“The swiftness of New Orleans’ descent from chaos into barbarism must compound the nation’s anxiety that more irrationality is rampant in the world just now than this nation has the power to subdue or even keep at bay.” George F. Will, Newsweek, 12 September 2005.
Because of Katrina, thousands of people have died in the last 10 days, homes and lives and dreams and futures have been destroyed, and billions of dollars will have to be spent to fix or repair everything that can be fixed or repaired. But for 7 or 8 of those days, there was a scary lawlessness that ruled the town of New Orleans. I don’t mean the looting by people looking for the supplies they so desperately needed, rather the roving gangs of people with guns who were holding that city hostage. Human beings in the city shot at dying evacuees from the Charity Hospital and at hungry and thirsty refugees at the Stadium. It’s like a 7-day “Lord of the Flies” except the kids have guns and darker motivations.
Is there really such a fine line between civilization and lawlessness? If for whatever reason the security given to us by our goverment is suddenly lost, will our world descend into chaos and lawlessness? I guess these are just some of the things I’ve been thinking about lately.
Here’s info about two badges I thought were particulary helpful and pertinent at the current time:
You can post the following Red Cross badge to your website (it’s from my blog host, Typepad):
Also, here’s a link to the page containing the new sidebar badge, SyracuseGasPrices.com, if you’re interested on posting it to your website. baloghblog requested it for his blog, and I thought I’d list it here too:
Comments Off - Posted in Uncategorized by blaine_5
Wednesday, September 7th, 2005
Close Up
Germany’s The Stern has an article about a book by Martin Schoeller called “Close Up”, in which he takes close-up bright-light shots of celebrities. The article is in German, but there’s a link to a few of the photos, or just click here to go directly.
I subscribe to Yahoo’s Daily Wire, a daily email that summarizes cool, interesting, controversial, or new websites. Today’s wire mentioned the above site.
Comments Off - Posted in Uncategorized by blaine_5
Sunday, September 4th, 2005
The E-man’s debut
This morning we drove up to Sacket’s Harbor and met the family for breakfast at the Tin Pan Galley, one of the finest restaurants in the area. 90% of the seating is outdoors, and this morning was perfect, not too much sun but just enough to keep you warm. And we were sure to be there by 9:00AM before it got too busy. If you’re ever in the area, I HIGHLY recommend it! We had Prime Rib Hash, Stuffed French Toast, and Cinnamon Roll French Toast. And so many strawberries! We had a great time.
This is a picture of the E-man in the outfit he wore out to breakfast this morning:
2 Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by blaine_5
Saturday, September 3rd, 2005
Gas Prices
So on Wednesday morning, I filled the car with 13 gallons of gas at $2.67 a gallon. By the afternoon, it was $2.89 a gallon. By Friday morning, the same gas station was charging $3.49 a gallon. An $0.82 increase (that’s 30.7%) in 48 hours. That’s an average of 1.7 cents an hour!
Interestingly, the national average price of gasoline is currently $2.867 (See here for the daily average courtesy of the AAA). According to SyracuseGasPrices.com, the average cost of gas is $3.20 here in the area, and $3.30 across the state.
I never understand where the AAA gets its numbers. According to their website, the average price of gas in the Syracuse area is $2.866, and yet at syracusegasprices.com, where people enter in the cheapest gas in the area, not a single station is selling below $2.95. There’s an enormous discrepancy here, either in methodology, or in actual reporting. Are the AAA’s prices current? What’s their sample size? Who are they asking? In any case, I highly recommend syracusegasprices.com, or their parent website, gasbuddy.com.
Comments Off - Posted in Uncategorized by blaine_5
Thursday, September 1st, 2005
Flying Spaghetti Monsterism
Today on the internet, I discovered the new religion of Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, or FSM. As a biologist, the controversy over Intelligent Design is always interesting, so I thought someone else might be interested in FSM as well.
What is Flying Spaghetti Monsterism? It is a “parody religion created to protest the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to allow intelligent design to be taught in science classes alongside evolution (Wikipedia Entry).”
It was begun by Bobby Henderson in June 2005 when he wrote a letter to the Kansas Board of Education supporting his theory of Intelligent Design, namely that the world and everything in it was created by a Flying Spaghetti Montster. There are now hundreds of sites about FSM, and there are even tshirts, logos, and bumper-stickers.
The original letter can be found here.
Responses from Board members can be found here.
Newspaper Articles:
