...then a rheostat/sensor attached to their knees can determine if they are sitting down or not - isn't that the traditional way of telling if it's going to rain?

Or have I been out of the countryside in in London too long?

Steven R

There is *nothing* that Big Blue won't try and get its hands on. I learnt this at personal cost earlier this year. I had an idea for a piece of consumer software that I thought was completely unrelated to IBM's business. I asked for permission to develop this on my own time, and was basically told that IBM reserved the right to take my IP at any time if they thought that it was even vaguely related to IBM's business *or future business*.

I mean, fair enough, if I was building a new app server or database, then that would be competing with IBM. The thing I wanted to do was in a completely different field, that IBM had never been in or showed any sign of wanting to be in. But no, the thought that one of their employees might make a buck or two was just too much for them.

So I quit and started my own company.

The poor sod who came up with this idea probably got a laminated bit of A4 saying "well done", while the idea will never be put into practice because IBM is not in that line of business - and heaven forfend that the chap should actually go ahead and build it anyway.

prinklerIQ automatically adjusts and postpones watering cycles based on an on-board weather forecasting device therefore ensuring that the unit will not water prior to there being rain.

$99

http://www.sprinkleriq.com/

You signed the employment contract which spelled that out, take some responsibility and deal with it. You don't get to decide what is in big blue's interests and what's not. Incidentally, should you go forward on your own, if it turns out to be a success IBM would have reasonable cause to come knocking on your door.

- Another AC

ps. Scull&Crossbones because you're their wench, matey. Ha-aar.

I worked for the TORO company many years ago. Back in the very early 90's we were building a device that measured the moisture of the soil and determined whether or not to water. The NET8000 system did everything that this patent is supposing 20 years ago. It took national weather information, types of grass and degrees of slope on the courses and automatically adjusted run times.

Oh well. TORO long ago decided they didn't care about the controllers they built and sent them to China. They would rather focus on making the little water poppy-up thingys.

To the AC who approached management about this idea:- how naive and stupid are you? You develop it on the side, get it good and ready and then quit to develop it yourself, if its any good. Or transfer it to a partner/spouse etc etc.

Never mention it to the employer (IBM is not special in this regard)

and "a piece of consumer software" ? well yes, that would fall into IBM's remit.

There's probably some open source project already doing it any way - join them if you want.

Don't tell me that there aren't any sprinkler systems currently in use that are built according to that principle. How obvious can you get?

I work for a different enormous corporation and my contract also says that any IP I dream up is the property of my employers, whether or not I dream it up at home on my own time.

I recently discussed it informally with a lawyer, who thought it was quite legit if it related to the business area I work in, but probably unenforceable outside that. So if I do invent the next mousetrap I can claim the rights to it. That's UK law, apparently.

Mind you, it's probably a lot easier to do the right thing (as you have) and quit to pursue it on your own. These things can get kind of tetchy - and you certainly don't want to face IBM in court, even if you are in the right.

By the way, I wouldn't want to give the impression that I ever do dream up nifty ideas at home. By the time I get in at night my brain is like cheese, thus proving that my employer is getting their money's worth anyway and don't need to waste their time dreaming up dubious contracts like this.

* If rock is wet, it is raining.

* If rock is green, it rained a while ago.

* If rock is white, it is snowing.

* If rock is shaking, there is an earthquake.

* If rock is dry, the weather is fair.

* If rock is swinging, it's windy.

* If rock is warm, the sun is out.

* If rock is not visible, it's dark outside.

* If rock is under water, there is a flood.

* If rock is gone, there is a tornado (Run!!)

About as reliable as the person at the meteorological department.

Sure it's predicted to rain in my area today, but that doesn't mean that it will.

that looks like just the ticket mate! Ive been looking for a reliable means of weather forcasing for some time now, where can I purchase said machine from? what sort of warranty does it have, is it Mac compatible and does it have USB/serial or firewire connection for me to blog the changes in climate?! :)

The battery life is where they really get you. Seriously, I had this awesome high-iron-content rock, guaranteed to last pretty much forever. Put a pair of high-capacity double-As in there and a couple of hours later I had a warm rock with two electrolyte-encrusted batteries in it.

Thumbs down from me!

A more on-topic point- surely anything saying "Radio" is now pretty old-hat? You'd have thought IBM would have at least allowed for the idea of using WiFi- but that's microwave frequency radiation rather than radio so a WiFi enabled version wouldn't be covered by their patent!