One of my favorite quotes is from Steve Ciarcia, who wrote the long-running Circuit Cellar column in Byte (long since evolved into Circuit Cellar Ink Magazine). Steve preferred to do most of his work in hardware, and viewed software as a necessary evil upon occaison. Steve said this in one column, and it's now immortalized: "My favorite programming language is solder."
Re:There is a reason They don't like this
on
Make Your Own DSL
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· Score: 2, Informative
I'm reasonably sure that it's the reverse of what you state- the T-1 interferes with the DSL. T-1 is "high power" - there's real voltage running down a T-1 pair, and if there's a T-1 circuit in a bundle, that renders that bundle unfit for DSL.
Much less known, but staying in business, is New Edge Networks http://www.newedgenetworks.com. They're national, and providing DSL (including iDSL) in Tier II/III markets and rural areas. One of the reasons they're able to stay in business is that they built their own backbone network into those areas at the same time as installing DSLAMs and backone connections are now 60% of their business. They're picking up business from Rhythms and Northpoint (in the markets where they overlapped), and Speakeasy just signed up with them as a national ISP.
I used to think that common sense prevailed in most of the world, but that's not truly the case in dealing with Corporations. I echo the advice to see a lawyer. You can always take a long, hot, soaking shower afterwards to get back to feeling clean.
But it seems to me...
You're a FORMER employee. They no longer have a hold on you other than perhaps a non-compete agreement. If there IS some language that compels you to sign off on a patent application that was in progress when you quit, then make it as painful as you can for the former employer. One idea that springs immediately to mind is to charge 'em thousands of dollars in "consulting fees" to come back to sign it. They typically don't like that. Another is to present them with a letter (phrased with lawyer backup) saying that you feel the patent application is overly broad, you believe there is prior art, and if you are compelled to sign, you'll be providing the PTO with the information that leads you to believe that it's overly broad.
But mostly... it seems to me that as soon as you walked, they couldn't make you do anything to further the aims of the company you walked from.
Then again... there's the sad case of Evan Brown - www.unixguru.com.
Lastly, I have no idea where this "2x4 between the eyes" perspective was imparted to me, but FWIW: "They PAY you because money motivates you to do something that you wouldn't otherwise do". The counterbalance to that is that you're a functiontional human being, with a brain and a conscience - the responsibility for your actions is, ultimately, solely yours.
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One of my favorite quotes is from Steve Ciarcia, who wrote the long-running Circuit Cellar column in Byte (long since evolved into Circuit Cellar Ink Magazine). Steve preferred to do most of his work in hardware, and viewed software as a necessary evil upon occaison. Steve said this in one column, and it's now immortalized: "My favorite programming language is solder."
I'm reasonably sure that it's the reverse of what you state- the T-1 interferes with the DSL. T-1 is "high power" - there's real voltage running down a T-1 pair, and if there's a T-1 circuit in a bundle, that renders that bundle unfit for DSL.
Much less known, but staying in business, is New Edge Networks http://www.newedgenetworks.com. They're national, and providing DSL (including iDSL) in Tier II/III markets and rural areas. One of the reasons they're able to stay in business is that they built their own backbone network into those areas at the same time as installing DSLAMs and backone connections are now 60% of their business. They're picking up business from Rhythms and Northpoint (in the markets where they overlapped), and Speakeasy just signed up with them as a national ISP.
I used to think that common sense prevailed in most of the world, but that's not truly the case in dealing with Corporations. I echo the advice to see a lawyer. You can always take a long, hot, soaking shower afterwards to get back to feeling clean. But it seems to me... You're a FORMER employee. They no longer have a hold on you other than perhaps a non-compete agreement. If there IS some language that compels you to sign off on a patent application that was in progress when you quit, then make it as painful as you can for the former employer. One idea that springs immediately to mind is to charge 'em thousands of dollars in "consulting fees" to come back to sign it. They typically don't like that. Another is to present them with a letter (phrased with lawyer backup) saying that you feel the patent application is overly broad, you believe there is prior art, and if you are compelled to sign, you'll be providing the PTO with the information that leads you to believe that it's overly broad. But mostly... it seems to me that as soon as you walked, they couldn't make you do anything to further the aims of the company you walked from. Then again... there's the sad case of Evan Brown - www.unixguru.com. Lastly, I have no idea where this "2x4 between the eyes" perspective was imparted to me, but FWIW: "They PAY you because money motivates you to do something that you wouldn't otherwise do". The counterbalance to that is that you're a functiontional human being, with a brain and a conscience - the responsibility for your actions is, ultimately, solely yours.