Boise Inventor Makes it to the Finals of the Gold Channel’s Fore Inventors Only Show

Congrats to a local inventor! Idaho Statesman — Boise businessman reaches final of Golf Channel reality show

Not that I’m biased or anything (I wrote the patent)…but I think that Dean Thompson’s “Z-Factor” invention is clearly the winner. Go Dean!

The winner will be determined by the viewers. To vote, go to http://www.thegolfchannel.com/foreinventors/.

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TV Show Recommendation: How It’s Made

If you have “The Science Channel” and haven’t caught “How It’s Made,” you really should. The show is 30 minutes long, and puts on 3-4 segments showing how various goods are manufactured. From light bulbs to plate glass to apple juice…they walk through the entire process. Highly informative and entertaining.

If you have a TiVo…try this link: TiVo: How It’s Made.

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American Inventor…reviews mixed

I had the pleasure of watching ABC’s new show "American Inventor" earlier tonight.  It is no American Idol, but certainly had its moments.  Overall, it was worth watching.  FINALLY my wife can appreciate the interesting types of personalities I see in my own clients.

What would a story about independent inventors be without a poor lady talking about an invention promotion company charging her $7000 ($12,000) for "a big book."  However, she also mentioned that she had a patent.  A quick patent search reveals that she has TWO patents.  USPN 6,848,132 (one of the shorter patents I’ve ever seen) and USPN D471,049.

We’ll see how the show progresses.  The first episode(s) was 90% wacky inventors.  Whether or not they can follow in American Idol’s steps and keep people watching when the "fun" inventors are gone, is to be seen.

Other blog coverage:   here and here.

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Alton Brown, blogger

One of the shows I TiVo every week is Good Eats, a cooking show on Food Network.  The show is hosted by Alton Brown, who is best described as the Food Network’s "Mr. Wizard," teaching as much about the science of cooking as about recipes/cooking techniques.  Alton often creates some of the strangest contraptions for use in his shows, for instance making a ravioli station out of a ironing board, using an old terra cotta pot as a smoker, etc.  I often wonder if he does it just to see what percent of his minion of followers will actually try it.  His show is definitely worth checking out. 

Alton also has a blog (although it is infrequently updated).  [RSS Feed].

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TiVo This!

PVRBlog had an interesting post today about TiVo’s new website ability called "Link to This" which allows you to create an URL for your fellow TiVo owners to set their TiVo to record a program you though was interesting… 

Let’s test it out.  For those of you who have a TiVo, a great television show you should check out is TLC’s Taking Care of Business where a group of branding/management/business gurus give a struggling mom and pop business a make-over.  The show is full of great ideas and insight for small businesses (and inventors).  Here’s the "Link to This" link.

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Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati

Catching up on some of my favorite TV shows for the week (via TiVo)…on right now is The Red Green Show. It appears to actually be a Canadian sit-com, but I’m watching it via PBS (since we bought the TiVo, PBS has become a major source of quality TV…Frontier House, Pioneer House, Colonial House, documentaries, etc.)

I don’t know if you have ever watched this show, but it is one of the funniest things I have ever seen (if I could only watch two shows they would be The Red Green Show and Good Eats (cooking show on Food Network).

In The Red Green Show, the main character (Red) is handyman extraordinaire and a master duct tape artisan (duct tape being “the handyman’s secret weapon”). Every episode includes some absolutely ludicrous invention he came up with…tonight it was mounting a boat trailer under your car so you can adjust the wheel base (reduce turning radius vs. better highway ride (longer wheel base)).

If you are a patent attorney, you know the personality type…you see him as a new client about once a month.
Check here to see if your local PBS carries it. Watch it once…trust me.

Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati — “When all else fails, play dead.”

Image via the www.redgreen.com website.

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