I was recently involved in the development of a patent portfolio for a tech startup, and I was shocked and appalled by how broken the US patent system is. I was thinking that it would be fun and exciting to patent an invention of my own, but now that I’ve gone through the process (on someone else’s dime) I really don’t care to try it myself until things improve.
Michael S's Life List
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1. extract my own DNA at home
1 entry . 1 cheer7 people -
2. Learn to use an Airbrush
33 people -
3. learn resin casting
2 people -
4. create an action figure
2 entries . 1 cheer3 people -
5. learn to build prop replicas
1 person -
6. Learn Cocoa
181 people -
7. build a musical instrument
2 cheers4 people -
8. learn to play the accordion
1 cheer244 people -
9. learn to tune the piano
1 cheer5 people -
10. hybridize a plant
4 people -
11. create a hologram
5 people -
12. invent something
1 cheer1,299 people -
13. live off the grid
382 people -
14. Sit on a jury
86 people -
15. read the world's religious texts
2 cheers2 people -
16. attend a service for every major religion
8 people -
17. work for a nonprofit
62 people -
18. Learn to clean, load, and shoot several types of guns
1 entry33 people -
19. be homeless
55 people -
20. Plant a rock garden
1 cheer2 people -
21. Invest
870 people -
22. write interactive fiction
1 cheer26 people -
23. learn motion graphics
18 people -
24. Own a Neo Geo MVS arcade cabinet
1 person -
25. start a laserdisc collection
1 person -
26. Design my own house
1 cheer1,198 people -
27. scan all my old photographs
258 people -
28. learn bookbinding
77 people -
29. create a fictional universe
1 cheer1 person -
30. Get into pixel art
2 cheers4 people -
31. make chocolate
17 people -
32. write a children's book
1 cheer1,320 people -
33. make an adventure game
26 people -
34. dumpster dive more
1 cheer27 people -
35. sell stock photography
5 people -
36. contribute to an open source project
113 people
Recent entries
Horribly broken system
7 months ago
3D printing
8 months ago
Although I was hoping to physically sculpt my figure and then cast it in resin, this is probably not feasible right now. I found a really neat company called Shapeways that will do very cheap 3D printing from 3D data, so I’m modeling my figure in Maya. I’ll model the joints as well, so when the printed pieces are put back together I’ll hopefully have a fully articulated figure.
Beretta
9 months ago
Last week I had a chance to fire a beretta at an indoor range. It was my first time using a handgun and was a huge amount of fun (though I’m a terrible aim). I’m planning to make trips to the shooting range a regular thing.
