Answering Will (resurrected from 3/29)
I owe Will Cox of the Peanut Gallery an answer to a question about the gene patent issues I blogged awhile back. Will asked if the patent is on the gene itself (the gene qua gene), or on the process of isolating the gene. The answer is, both things are uniquely patentable in their own right. "Utility patents" may be granted to someone who invents a new and useful process or discovers new and useful "compositions of matters" (or both). Thus, according to the USPTO's guidelines, a gene patent is possible once you identify "the compound" - the gene itself - and a use for the compound. If someone then develops "new an non-obvious methods of using the patented compound" - the gene - they can apply for a separate process patent for that use, notwithstanding that someone already holds the patent for the gene.

Blogger weirdness
Don't know why my 3/28 and 3/30 posts below just got combined, but... they seem to want to stay that way. Anyway, I was trying to point out Gary's due diligence about Thomas Pacheco, and concur that it would be nice if he beat out breakfast-cereal quizzes on Daypop (I think Jeneane might think so too). Guess I'll have to re-post my item from yesterday, which seems to have been eaten by Blogger.

Good Linkage
Thanks, Kevin, for blogging Thomas Pacheco on RGE. Proceeds from Thomas's art sales go to help him and potentially many others fight cancer, and his pieces make excellent "Blogstickers."

-Later: thanks for the Share Post Email Post

'Morning, Coffee
Juicy morsels from Sabrina Pacifici of llrx:

~The Google Blog: Two great tastes that taste great together. Lists top stories from news organizations, by category, and lets you search them. In Beta.

~Business Week takes on Hollings, in commentary by Alex Salkever: "The proposed cure is far worse than the disease...Yes, the law does have a provision for Fair Use, the legal precedent that awards consumers some rights to replicate copyrighted materials, either for academic reasons or for personal use. But Fair Use protections in the bill remain vague. At the very least, they would have to be toughened."

~Tim Berners-Lee on "The Semantic Web:" "Suppose you're on the Web and find a conference you want to go to...You would prefer, when you see the notice of an interesting conference, to just say: "O.K., I want to go," and everything will get taken care of, automatically. All the entries will pop into your agenda, your address book, your GPS. Then you'll get pinged by your agenda when it's time to leave, because it knows from your GPS how long it will take to drive there. And, in addition, it will block out the driving time on your schedule and alert you if you try to make a conflicting appointment."

~California Supreme Court will review Intel spam trespass case: The Court will examine whether former Intel engineer Kourosh Kenneth Hamidi committed trespass by sending tens of thousands of emails to Intel workers.

Top Ten Signs Of A Microcontent Obsession
1. For news, you read doc, law.com, llrx and writ instead of the morning paper.
2. It has crossed your mind to keep a blog about things to blog.
3. You know what fish do when they're late.
4. You can't define a fucknozzle, but you know it when you see it.
5. Recent credit card receipts show at least three purchases from CafePress.
6. You can name at least six species of blogware.
7. You can name at least two species of blog-fowl.
8. You know several pets who blog or encourage people to.
9. You have formed opinions about political controversies you never would have heard of.
10. You know how to make Notepad wrap text.