William W. Chuang's Blog

Thank God everyone survived, though. RT @YahooNews Jet from New York crashes, breaks in half upon landing in South America, yet all 163 passengers survived: http://t.co/dSQJILw

RT @YahooNews Family launches campaign about health risks of playing online games after son dies following marathon session on Xbox: http://t.co/WrQFJ0M

Last year, Judge Sweet of the Southern District Court of New York shocked the legal and scientific communities by ruling that genes cannot be patented, as they constitute products of nature, and the comparison of gene sequences cannot be patented as they are abstract mental processes. Yesterday, the Federal Circuit overruled that decision with regard to genes. Essentially, it held that breaking the covalent bonds that hold the gene to the DNA strand results in a new chemical compound, just as burning sugar breaks it into carbon dioxide and water.

The dissent argued that the genes already existed within the DNA strand, so their isolation is akin to mining a mineral from ore--the process may be patentable, but the mineral itself is not patentable as it is a natural product.

The implications of the ruling are significant, especially as medical science progresses. The lawsuit concerns the BRCA1/2 genes associated with breast cancer, and a diagnostic test for these genes. After the patent …

Users don't have to think of subject lines. I'm waiting for the bus to take me home and it is too dark to read my Kindle.

Sharing an Internet connection can be a pretty risky move. Companies are increasingly filing copyright infringement lawsuits against Internet users who they believe illegally downloaded their IP. And even someone posting on a message board can bring the Secret Service to your door if he says someone should shoot the President. But if you have an office, you have no choice but to share Internet access. Filtering software would be impractical: what if a guest brings a laptop over to a meeting?

That's where OpenDNS comes in. It allows you to control the browsing habits of anyone using your Internet connection. This is how it works. Every time you access a website, your web browser has to ask a special server called a domain name server (DNS) to translate the website name (e.g. "google.com") to an IP address (e.g. 74.125.226.176). Normally, you use your Internet service provider's DNS. But OpenDNS provides an alternative DNS that lets you filter out requests to domain na…

I try to keep my office as paper-free a you can keep a law office. That means lots of pdf documents. I finally caved in and bought software to help manage it. I selected PaperPort 12.1. That was a mistake.First, it doesn't work. It scans documents, but it doesn't convert them to searchable documents. It just freezes and tech support couldn't help me. It also doesn't do much in the way of organization except to create folders. Hi, I do that already. So it is going back. Anyone have recommendations for non-cloud document management systems?

I was sick and tired of going to the post office to buy stamps or to use certified mail. So a few months ago, I joined Stamps.com. The welcome kit includes a digital scale that plus into the computer for the software to use.
The software is really powerful. It automatically weighs the letter and lets you print the right postage and address right into the envelope. For packages, it prints onto paper. I have a Dymo LabelWriter Twin 450, which also works with the Stamps software.As for certified mail, I ordered  a bunch of forms from the USPS website. After filing out the form by hand, I can print the postage right into the envelope, which I then drop into the mailbox.Now some off you are asking if I needed the letters franked or postmarked. Once the post office lost a piece of certified mail. I had the postmarked certified mail receipt but it did no good. From that point on, I have made a point of checking each certified letter on the Post Office website the day after I dropped it off …

It takes ten megabyte of memory in the background. I know that's not much by current standards, but surely it can be done more efficiently. Perhaps when Google rolls Blogger into Plus the two apps will be merged into a better one. And it would be nice to sync my blog automatically with Plus.P.S. The app makes me blog a lot more frequently haha.

I have never been reading as much as I am now. Currently reading Too Big To Fail. Any recommendations?

Pom Pom, my three year old Pomeranian, had a seizure Saturday night. He suddenly started drooling and his hind legs went spastic. His pupils were dialated and he vomited and lost control of his bladder.When the seizure subside, he was scared and sat in a corner. I consoled him and offered him bacon and chicken which made him a bit happier. The vet said to wait and see how often the seizures happen before giving him medication but Pom Pom is back to his usual self.If your dog has such an episode, take him to the vet. Smaller dogs are more susceptible to epilepsy and some might have it worse than Pom Pom. With any luck, he'll be fine but for now, he will get more chicken from me.

My WordPress based website was the subject of a hack attempt. A few IP addresses in Boise, Idaho was trying various SQL injection hacks that were being turned away by WordPress Firewall. I still have to review the ISP logs but everything seems okay.I never thought I was interesting enough to hack but I guess bots don't care.

Android phones are popular nowadays despite the patent infringement issues surrounding them. One reason that they are so popular is their hackability. Most Android devices can be rooted so that the user has full control over the hardware. Custom software can then be installed on the rooted phones. For instance, a rooted phone can be backed up using Titanium Backup. A customized version of the operating system can remove the bloated carrier-installed software on the device.I have the HTC G2. It came with an operating system that was pretty much stock Android, with very few customizations. I didn't like how plain vanilla it was, so I installed the HTC Sense 2.0 software that was installed on the European version of the HTC G2. I also overclocked the processor from the default 800 MHz to 1.4 GHz. Overclocking a smart phone sounds stupid, but the snappiness of the user interface and the quickness of the web browsing would change your mind.Rooting is not for everyone. If you do it inco…