Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with squatting

Patent Application Squatting

CollectiveMind — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:50:42 -0800

I have an idea that may be patentable. I want to search patent listing websites to see if something like it already exists. But I have heard that some people somehow monitor queries and figure out what a patent is. Then they submit provisional applications to preempt the searcher. I've also heard this happens with website domain names. Does anybody know if its true for patent websites, including the insecure USPTO search page?

To squat or not?

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:09:06 -0800

I am considering renting out an artist's studio space and squatting in it temporarily, does anyone have any experience in this? Good idea, bad idea? So, I have been staying at a friends place in Chicago for the past few months and am ready to move out. Only problem is finding a good roommate/apartment combination hasn't quite happened yet. Because of this I am considering getting artist's studio space to move all of my stuff into and sleep in while I keep looking for a proper apartment. This could really be an ideal situation for me, because having studio space is really more of a concern to me than having a swanky apartment and most of the time I would actually use the space for art making etc. I figure in the future, if I find a better apartment situation I can just share my studio space with someone else to help offset the cost.

I have an older friend who has managed to squat in her studio in NYC for years and years, even after getting married for a while, so it seems like something I could manage. What I am more curious about are peoples experiences trying to do this in Chicago, and what the worst legal ramifications would be if I was found out. How do landlords even check for this or prove it if they are suspicious?

Thanks in advance.

My dog can't pee right, help?

Dave. — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:52:59 -0800

My dog has a hard time peeing. I've had a specialist diagnose the cause and they tell me that "they've never seen it before" and "cannot find anything in any journals/literature that reference it". I'd like to explain it to see if any Mefites have any experience or knowledge of the situation ... Basically its this ... at the juncture of her urethra and bladder, the opening has become constricted. A flap of tissue is trying to grow closed over this opening. Not a good thing!

Here's the story ... She's a 5 year old labrador, in otherwise perfect health. About 2 1/2 years ago, she started having trouble peeing. She would squat, and it would drip.drip.drip ... and after a long time she would be done. I took her to my local vet, who did all he could to diagnose it (primarily consisting of checking for urinary tract infection and prescribing a food that was more acidic to breakdown crystals in her urine). Eventually, he referred me to the University of Florida Veterinary Research Center. After some more work, they eventually decided to run a camera up her urethra. At that point, they discovered the constriction at the juncture to the bladder and broke it apart with the camera head device.

All is well until about a year ago ...

She had the same exact problem again. I go back to the college and this time they actually get me a "research grant" that covers the cost of that camera procedure (not a cheap procedure, about $800). So she's fixed again.

But now I think I might be starting to see some symptoms again and I'm getting worried this might be round 3. Anyone have any experience with something similar?

Squatting with a barbell: I fall backward or my torso bends too much forward.

zeek321 — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:10:05 -0800

Squatting technique with barbells: I either fall backward or I bend too much forward. I am having *exactly* the same problem as mkawa2k3 describes here:

http://stronglifts.com/forum/squatting-falling-backwards-when-keeping-chest-up-t12244.html

And I mean, exactly. That includes the knee issues when he started playing with his stance. As far as I can tell, the videos don't look like me. I have the bar lower on my delts.

How can I keep my knees from hurting? How can I prevent myself from tipping over or bending forward too much?

(I want to do *this* kind of squat, if possible, because it's the most balanced version in terms of which muscles it works.)

Domain stealing with a twist

Lame_username — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:52:31 -0800

A friend of mine has a small business breeding and training horses. They asked an employee to help them create a website and she did. They later fired the employee, but the employee holds the registration to their domain in their own name. Is there any way to wrestle it away without going to court? Somehow as the most technical friend they have, I'm the designated expert. However, I don't know much about it. They have an employment attorney to pursue other aspects of the failed employment relationship, but that attorney is not particularly tech savvy.

The domain is in the exact name of their Florida corporation. It hosted a web site describing their horse business until the employee was fired, when the employee replaced it with a page looking to sell the employee's personal horse. After a nasty letter from the farm's lawyer, the employee replaced it with an ugly "under construction" page. I'm given to understand that a peaceful resolution is out of the question at this time.

The domain is hosted by Yahoo domains, who are listed as the admin and tech contacts on whois. The actual registrar is "MELBOURNE IT, LTD. D/B/A INTERNET NAMES WORLDWIDE" if that matters.

Is the only process for overturning a registration the UDRP appeal? I think he has a problem with that approach because the domain is a name of a corporation, but not a registered trademark. Is there any value in appealing directly to the registrar?

Can I get my domain back?

willbaude — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 21:12:37 -0800

Is there anything I can do to deal with a quasi-cyber-squatter? Owing to a serious miscommunication between me and my hosting provider (not sure whose fault), the domain name on my blog expired about a month and a half ago, and was sold at auction to a Search Engine Optimization outfit (it has a Pagerank 7).

I discovered this for the first time today, since they'd left everything so that it continued to behave as normal for a while. Other than asking them if they're willing to ransom the site back to me, is there anything I can do?

I think that the UDRP doesn't help very much because I never trademarked the name of the blog, but surely I'm not the first person this has happened to. Is there anything else to be done?

Please explain this strange domain name situation.

davey_darling — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 14:23:07 -0800

Are there people/businesses that somehow track domains that people try but don't exist, and purchase them? Last week I tried the domain name for the lake that my cottage is on (Loughborough Lake in Sydenham, ON - www.loughboroughlake.com). It came back with a server not found error, and I thought, hmm, I should buy that and do something cool with it.

Today I checked it and it comes up with a network solutions page, and whois shows me that it was purchased by a Cliff Baitsholts of Rochester, NY on July 16th.

Now, either this is a (in my opinion) pretty unusual coincidence, or somehow I had the rug pulled out from under my feet.

Can anyone give me any insight as to which of these possibilities it may be? Legitimate coincidence or malicious squatting?