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Showing posts from March, 2010

Australian Regional Newspaper features zkimmer digital editions

The local newspaper for one of Australia’s favourite vacation locations has featured a zkimmer edition of their newspaper. The Byron Bay Echo has agreed to publishing the zkimmer edition to accompany an upcoming article about this new technology as it is prepared for sale to unnamed publishers in Australia and the US. The  zkimmer edition utilizes Ric Richardson’s patent pending technique of laying out a newspaper as a plan view of all the pages of the newspaper that then capitalizes on the power of tiles which is the technology that allows Google Maps to deliver satellite imagery so quickly and efficiently. The technology also utilizes the Deep Zoom tile management system that allows tiles of different magnification level to be smoothly transitioned. Ric explains that “zkimmer is designed to do digitally what people do when they look at newspapers in real life… moving the paper from close up to arms length as they trade context for clarity… zooming in and zooming out to

Aussie singing legend Johnny O’Keefe – first Music video ever?

As part of the material I was asked to dig up for my Australian Story Episode , we came across this old music video my Dad did for Johnny O'Keefe when he was first big on Australian music TV show Bandstand. Artists used to do all their singing in studio to an audience but my Dad was asked to do something creative for the Bandstand people and what he and Johnny O'Keeffe came up with may be the first music video ever shot in Australia. It must have been around 1968 because my brother and I look as if we are 5 or 6 years old. Look for us in the video. We are the ones playing with th airplane in the later third of the song. It sure was cool doing something like this with a music legend like Johhny O’Keefe.

Ric’s Hobby: Dirt Bike Riding on Australian Story

One of Ric’s favourite hobbies is dirt bike riding. It was pretty frustrating for him in the US as he had to travel over an hour to get to a riding area and then at least 6 hours to ride amongst trees. A segment of Ric riding his KTM 450 in a paddock near his home in Byron Bay was shot for the Australian Story episode but never used, however the Austory people did put the segment up on the episodes web page if you want to take a peek. Just look for the link to it in the video selection area next to the main video.

Song No. 14 – Zep Test (Unnamed)

For those out there that are the “creative type” you’ll know what I’m talk about when I rattle on about having an alternative creative outlet. For me it’s having a go at writing music. This song is a big experiment for me. I started out with a riff and a bridge on slide guitar really recorded roughly (through my webcam audio would you believe). Then I started experimenting with a piece of software called Sequel which I then used to edit down the rough guitar audio into sections and added a basic drum arrangement. The first rough arrangement I recorded to MP3 and can be heard here. This is by no means anything like finished but I hope to use it to experiment with arrangements and try different vocal arrangements. Note: This is only a very rough initial demo without vocals Link to the MP3 is here.   In the near future I will be putting mp3s here for each of the guys I am auditioning to play the various parts in the song… drums, bass and vocal. Vocal Audition Demo I hope

Ric's song No. 2 - High School Exam Piece

Music: Instrumental; two interplaying acoustic guitars. Written about 1980 in Ric's final year at High School. This song was originally written as part of my High School Certificate music exams. I had selected it as a piece to use for a perofrmance major but my teacher said I would have got a much higher grade if I used it as a composition major which was a downer but a nice compliment.The music comprises a Led Zeppish "Stairway to Heaven" style falling arpeggio with a middle section of light strumming and a lead line incorporating harmonics and ascending diatonic scales. A school freind named Gary Spring accompanied me when i performed it during the exam. The version here is a re-recording I did later on when I started to learn how to use drum machines and multi-track recorders.

Ric's song No. 4 - Epping Studio Jam

After recording the soundtrack for the short film about off-road racing we used the remaining booked studio time to put down a jam between my good mate Steve Cox and I. At the time we used to play together in his whole floor sized bedroom at his parents house in Castle Crag in Sydney.

Ric's song No. 5 - Drive Like Hell

This song was written for a short film that accompanied the Australian release of  the film "The Muppet Movie" during it's theater release in the early 80's. The song was meant to capture the power of off-road racing. I was sitting with my Dad who was the producer of the short listening to music and when he heard one of Pink Floyd's songs and said that he'd like something like that. "Drive like hell" was recorded in a home studio of a guy who lived in Epping near Sydney.

Ric's song No. 3 - Move It

This song was written for a short film that accompanied the release of Aussie film "Man from Snowy River" during it's theatre release around the world back in the early 80's. The song was meant to capture the energy of the then growing BMX craze. I was sitting with the producer of the short listening to music and when he heard Devo's song Whip It, he said "that's it... but I want to it to sound more green" and the song Move It was the result. I wrote this piece just fresh out of high school at the age of 18 or 19. Move It was recorded in Rhinoceros Studio's which had just opened. In fact I think Andrew who ran the studio said we were his second customers ever. Rhino later went on to become the home ground and owned by Australia's major music export INXS with whom I worked as a computer music guy at Tim Farriss's home studio from time to time. I recorded the track with the help of my good mate Steve Cox and two of his friends on keyboar

Listing of Ric's Songs and Music pieces

Throughout my life I’ve loved music. Playing it with good friends and even at times having a go at writing a song or two. Below is a list of songs that I’ve written or recorded over the years and gradually I'll complete the list as I compile either recordings or video. Here is a quicklink for Ric to edit this list .

Seminar at Sydney University with PHD and Business post grads

At the kind invitation of former Innovation director for CISCO, Jeffrey Tobias I was a guest speaker at Sydney University last night talking about building Uniloc, invention and the importance of patents. The audience was so engaging that we completely lost sense of time and went 2 hours instead of the planned 1 and a bit. Sorry guys... but the interaction with you made it really engrossing for me too. Interestingly, some of my ideas about business building is what really got people going but we only got to that in the last 10 minutes. Come back soon and I promise to include some of that in the blog but in the meantime look for the article "Making your ideas fly" which also covers some of the principles I discussed. Please feel free to ask questions and ill try and answer them here in the blog... had a great time. Thanks for having me. Ric

Rics Strengths based on book - Now Know Your Strengths

Below you will see a listing of my top 5 strengths according to the results of the Strengths Finder test results from the Gallup Organization. These results have been verified by nearly all the professionals I work closely with and are a good indication of what I may be good at. ------------- Test Results start here ----------------- Your Signature Themes Many years of research conducted by The Gallup Organization suggest that the most effective people are those who understand their strengths and behaviors. These people are best able to develop strategies to meet and exceed the demands of their daily lives, their careers, and their families. A review of the knowledge and skills you have acquired can provide a basic sense of your abilities, but an awareness and understanding of your natural talents will provide true insight into the core reasons behind your consistent successes. Your Signature Themes report presents your five most dominant themes of talent, in the rank order r

How to get Ric's help

Before you contact Ric Please respect these few wishes: Please don't ask Ric for money. He is not an investor or a general philanthropist. Ric does not do homework for your call... please include a simple explanation of why you need his time and what help you need and he'll do what he can to fit you in. Average wait times are between 1-4 weeks. Please include your mobile phone in your email... Ric hates typing! Send your email directly to him ric.r@r2labs.com . What Ric has done for others Some of the things Ric has done for others is: Done patent drawings, written the text of a provisional patent Explained how to simplify existing patent applications that have not been submitted Organised his team to file provisional patents for sponsored inventors for $200 plus workers time. Spoken to investors and partners on behalf of inventors with special inventions. Acted as a reference to inventors existing investors to help them understand the value of the inventors

From Canberra to Sydney next to a Hydro Electric Project Specialist

Last week I sat next to a real smart Hydro Electricity project manager. I was coming back from talking to a couple of government department people about a couple of projects. He asked me why I knew so much about Hydro and was interested to hear that I was experimenting in home scale mini hydro electricity systems with the idea of using water as a battery storage medium to back up wind and solar energy generation systems. We quickly got to tin tacks as he explained how important height is in the equation that defines the basic principles of Hydro power generation being: e=mgh Or energy available equals the mass of the water times gravity times the height difference between the stored location of the water and the turbine generating the power. To illustrate the importance of height he explained that the Snowy scheme gets about 2.5 megawatt hours from 1 megalitre of water. At that rate an average Australian 22 kilowatt hour per day home would only require 8,800 litres of water (less

Listing of Ric's Projects and Inventions

Over time I have been compiling a list of all the projects and inventions that I have worked on over the years. Feel free to have a look as I build it... please note that I am adding links to web pages, blog pages and Google Doc pages related to each project. In some cases you will need to have an invitation to view the Google Docs as many inventions are still in the private stage of development, so if you want to get access contact seb@r2labs.com to get clearance.

< 8 million patents in US patent office - How many good inventions are possible?

Is there only 8 million great ideas out there? This data I collected from the USPTO shows the number of patents applied for and granted since the office opened. Its interesting reading... but it makes you think how few great ideas are captured in patents and what an under utilized resource patent protection is. You can also checkout a link to the data here.

EASA - Evening with association of electric motor repairers

Last night I had the privilege of being a guest speaker for a great bunch who were enjoying their annual get together at Tweed Heads. They invited me to share the Uniloc story and to talk a bit about being an inventor but it turned into a really good interactive discussion about the Aussie invention spirit and how most Aussie's don't even realize they are inventing. It was amazing that a room of 100+ people were so tuned into the subject. One thing I took away from the night was that there is a lot more innovation going on in most industries that anyone thinks. One gentleman I met has been engineering custom tools for decades and never even thought he could patent them. A lady I met thought that patents can be routed by doing the smallest changes to an infringing device. I explained that it is about how well the patent is written and ow patents are different to copyright in that patents are like the storyline of a book but copyright is the actual mix and sequence of words. It

Australian Govt Grant and Loan System amazing but sad it's needed

It seems that every time I run into another company that is just getting going or is doing some serious R&D, that they have been or now in the process of getting Government Grants or Loans. Back in the States this is unheard of. You would only think of such a thing  if your innovation can only be used by government or the military, and even then there are investment groups and VC's who focus on these areas. It's really hard to get your head around how this has happened in Australia. It seams that inventors usually mortgage their houses, then rely on family and friends before eventually going to the government who from what I can tell usually contribute $1 for every 1 to $3 you put in. Which may not be a lot since you spent that $3 getting to the point where you need the extra $1 from the government. I'm getting my head around all this now as I prepare to investigate loan and grant options for the many people that I have done provisional patents... Here are some

Invention - Biodegradable Specimen Funnel and collector

A good friend of my wife and I visited today with a great idea. Like most people that know me well she new I'd be supportive of at least vetting the idea. She proceeded to describe her idea to me in detail and as I was already researching another invention I did a quick search of the web and then the USPTO and WIPO patent databases. Like so often happens, we found no products covering her idea, but a search of the patent databases found something so close I didn't feel like showing her so as not to discourage her so quickly.   http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wads.jsp?IA=AU2006001008&LANGUAGE=EN&ID=id00000004751268&VOL=67&DOC=006a98&WO=07/009170&WEEK=04/2007&TYPE=A1&DOC_TYPE=PAMPH&PAGE=1 What happened next taught me a big lesson. She outlined why the patent didn't apply to the invention and how it was utterly un-usable for what she had in mind and completely had me sold that her idea was not only patentable, but needs to be made...

The Golden rule of Invention

After years of inventing and developing high technology a growing trend is becoming more prevalent in my thinking, namely; Always use professional investors funds and professionals to run your business if you possibly can. Why? Because the personal investment made by an inventor during the conception and prototyping stages invariably skews their thinking. This makes it hard for them to be realistic about the market opportunity, the cost to get the product made and into the market, and the development of a business plan that has a realistic expectation and exit. For example, if I used Uniloc proceeds to fund another project, I would hire a market entry CEO and go for broke. Since the CEO would be working for me, being also the financier, it would be very hard for him to tell me that the project is failing. Whereas if I have to convince professional investors to be involved, the interaction and push-back that happens between founders, management and investors is all very healthy and

Teflon as a graffiti deterrent/ solution

Self promotion, rebel statement or just plain visual bullying? What about Teflon as a protective layer for signs and wall surfaces that are frequently damaged by graffiti? Teflon is usually used in non-stick cooking pans to protect the bottom of the pan from sticking to burnt food. Would you believe my wife and I have been testing paint properties when sprayed on old Teflon coated cooking pans and the results are worth exploring but not as good as you would think. Paint applied to the sides of an old pan where the Teflon is the least damaged was the easiest place to get the test paint to come off... but it still took a bit of effort. Our target is to find an ease of paint release that would allow a high pressure hose to remove the graffiti paint without damaging the original surface. In practice this would allow a community owned tank truck to go around the neighbourhood and power clean the the signs and damaged walls without the need for extensive manual work. Why work on

Uniloc vs Microsoft

Disclaimer: The following is gathered from public information and does not represent the personal opinion of Mr Ric Richardson. The information supplied is not a legal statement but simply a layman's summary of what has happened in the case in basic terms. In 2003 Ric Richardson became aware of a possible infringement of the 216 patent by certain Microsoft products. Shortly after this Ric started working with Uniloc management and the firm of Mintz Levin to protect Uniloc's patent rights. Latest news - current status 25th Feb 2010: At this time Ric is not aware of a date for the appeal however he is informed that Uniloc and Mintz Levin are steadily working towards securing an appeal court date. The suit At some time in 2003 Ric Richardson started noticing references to the way Microsoft's Software Activation Technology worked in web page references that related to large corporations that wanted to verify what information was and was not collected during the activatio

Safe and Affordable Jetpack: Just $90,000

Just the thing to get into town... wonder if they make a 4 jet model? Notice... standard gasoline and a half hour of fly time per tank. Of course this is not a Richo invention but every now and then I like to showcase really cool inventions by others here. Sent to you by RicRicho via Google Reader: Safe and Affordable Jetpack: Just $90,000 via Gadget Lab by Charlie Sorrel on 3/9/10 For years, man has been trying to build a jetpack which would actually be safe and cheap enough to be used by anyone other than Lee Majors on the title sequence of The Fall Guy . It turns out that we've been doing it wrong. Instead of starting with a pack and adding on the jet, we should have torn the giant engines from a plane and strapped them to some poor schmuck. This is what the New Zealand Martin Aircraft Company did, resulting in the Martin Jetpack. The jetpack is made from carbon fiber, with a touch of kevlar in the rotors, and generates 600 pounds of thrust. Because the center of gravity

Main zkimmer patent now lodged as full patent

The main zkimmer patent is now lodged as a full application. For visitors with access it can be seen here: https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B8eWAXMBWrHFNDAxMWM2OWYtMjMxNy00ODQ0LTg3ZWItN2Y5OGRjNzgzN2Ix&hl=en Re:       U.S. Patent Application No. 12/247,165 Filed:          October 7, 2008 Title:           System and Method for Displaying Digital Editions of Periodicals and Publications Applicant:    Ric B. Richardson Assignee:    zkimmer Inc. Our Ref:      70333-00002 Subject:      U.S. Publication No. US 2010/0002935 Ric, Sky: The above-referenced U.S. patent application has published as Publication No. US 2010/0002935 on January 7, 2010.  Attached for your records is a copy of the publication. We will keep you informed of further developments in this matter.  Please contact me if you have any questions.   Thanks, John

Raising Capital and Business Building options

This article was written in preparation for a symposium covering capital raising choices and business building strategies. The following ideas are only that... my personal ideas based on my personal experience so please take that into consideration as you consider the ideas and principles I explain. Start with the end in mind Like all good business books I agree with the adage that goals must be clearly defined and realistic. One of my favorite business books is Business Corps a book of lessons from the US Marine Corp and one of its key concepts... the visualization and clear definition of the end state . Where you want to be. But this is easier said than done. With options ranging from boot strapping and organic growth, to a fully fledged VC backed market entry to tapping into government business development and R&D assistance programs, it's hard to know what combination of approaches best suit your business and opportunity. I wish I could give you real-life examples of the

About Ric: Overview

Ric Richardson (born May, 1962) is an Australian inventor, technologist and founder of Uniloc, the software company he started in 1992. Uniloc recently received worldwide attention when a jury in Rhode Island sided with the company against Microsoft in a patent infringement dispute.The judge subsequently overturned the jury's decision and the case is now going to the appeal court in the US. During his career at Uniloc, Ric has held the positions of Chairman, CEO and CTO, and remains one of the largest individual shareholders. Ric left day-to-day activities at Uniloc to begin working as a full-time independent inventor in late 2007. Since that time Ric has worked on a small number of major technology projects as well as a diverse assortment of smaller projects. Major projects include Logarex which is an ambitious logarithmic compression technology that he hopes will radically reduce the size of all stored digital data by between 50-98%, and zkimmer, a digital document viewing tech

When must PCT or WIPO patents be filed?

A few of the visitors to this blog have asked when is the latest you can file your PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) application. This is not legal advice and I request that you always check with a lawyer but according to this link... http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/1800_1842.htm ... from the USPTO you have 12 months from your FULL national application to file your PCT application without losing your priority date. So as far as I can tell this is how it is.... You have up to 12 months from when you first complete your invention to file a provisional. Then you have 12 months from your provisional filing in which to file your full application (at least this is so in the US. The according to the link above you have 12 months to file your PCT application. Remeber your PCT application is only that... it is an application, NOT a patent in itself. All the PCT does is maintain a priority date while you explore in which individual countries you will proceed to do a

View Australian Story Episode online Now - Updated

For a few months the online access to the ABC Australian Story episode featuring Ric Richardson has been restricted due to an ongoing legal situation regarding copyright for music used in the series. As that issue nears resolution the Australian Story management has kindly re-established online access to the show which can be now viewed at: http://www.abc.net.au/austory/specials/thebigdeal/default.htm Also on this page are links to the following videos: Ric riding his dirt bike Ric as a kid featured on a Johnny O'Keefe music video for Bandstand produced by his Dad and agrueably one of the first music video's made in Australia. Background photos from the story ...

Ric's Current Work List

Below is an abbreviated list of Ric's current work. Sometimes it may not be updated for an extended period of time, but for most people that work with Ric this is a way of knowing what im currently working on and whether your project scheduled for work by him in the immediate future.
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