stellar7 - Slashdot User

Comment Re:The author is missing something... (Score 1) 591

by stellar7 on Wednesday January 14, 2009 @11:51AM (#26449379) Attached to: Switching To Solar Power — Six Months Later

I used to live in a 1500 sq ft house (built in 2001) in the southern part of Georgia. I did run my PC 24/7, but I had compact fluorescent bulbs in nearly every fixture (including outside lights).

January was usually the highest energy consumption month (I know I've hit 1200 kWh), but the summer wasn't far behind. In the summer, the rates are higher and the bills were significantly more.

Why so much electricity in the cold months? In that area most houses use heat pumps for heating (no natural gas infrastructure) with electric heating elements in the unit for when the temperature is too low for a heat pump to work (below 40F?).

Submission + - Non-Compete Agreements

Submitted by stellar7 on Sunday November 11, 2007 @01:55PM

stellar7 writes: I work in IT for a large company. They have recently asked me to sign a new non-compete and confidentiality agreement. I signed an agreement when I began employment, but now they want me to sign an updated agreement. Below are a few paragraphs from the new agreement. It states that the company has a royalty free license to _any_ "Invention" I create including up to six months after leaving (and the company fully owns any Invention that relates to the company in this same period). Has anyone signed a similar agreement that reaches beyond the end of employment and includes things not related to the business?

A. Employee shall promptly and fully disclose in writing to [Company] any inventions, improvements, discoveries, operating techniques, or "know-how", whether patentable or not (hereinafter referred to as "Inventions"), conceived or discovered by Employee, either solely or jointly with others, during the course of Employee's employment with [Company], or within six (6) months thereafter.

B. Employee shall, on the request of [Company], and hereby does, assign to [Company] all of Employee's right, title and interest in any of the Inventions which relate to, or are useful in connection with, any aspect of the business of [Company], as carried on or contemplated at the time the Invention is made, whether or not Employee's duties are directly related thereto. [Company] shall be the sole and absolute owner of any of the Inventions so assigned. Employee shall perform any further acts or execute any papers, at the expense of [Company], which it may consider necessary to secure for [Company] or its successors or assigns any and all rights relating to the Inventions, including patents in the United States and foreign countries.

C. [Company] shall be the sole judge as to whether the Inventions are related to or useful in connection with any aspect of the business of [Company] as earned on or contemplated at the time the Invention is made and as to whether patent applications should be filed in the United States or in foreign countries.

D. [Company] shall have the option of taking a permanent, royalty-free license to manufacture, use, and sell any of the Inventions conceived or discovered by Employee during the course of Employee's employment with [Company], or within six (6) months thereafter, that are not assigned to [Company] under paragraph B. of this Agreement.

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