'try that at patent-happy qualcomm'? Shit man, your NAME is on some of those;) and you get extra $$ for them.

And I know from whence I speak. :-)

I didn't mind getting extra money from the patent apps, sure; it was quite a chuck of change (in fact it more than paid for our first London trip). But in the long run I think I'd rather not have to worry about whether or not what I do for a living is encumbered and/or proprietary. Anything I do from now on can't be claimed by some other entity. I can't get in trouble for giving code to others (as long as it's non-commercial). I could put code on this very web site and as long as that license it attached, I'm home free. That's nice, and quite the contrast to the laptop I have chock full of unused software I wrote at that last failed startup I worked for. None of which I can even *look at*, much less use, because someone "owns" it (or at least has claims to it). All that effort was essentially wasted, except for what I learned while doing it.

In a more esoteric sense, I like the fact that I can give stuff away to people, that maybe they'll find it useful. I already do that in my spare time, so it's nice to be able to do it for a living too (or at least have the option). I hated feeling like I had to watch what I on at night or on weekends because it could have been construed as too similar to what I did during the workweek. I like that I can get a new job if I want to without the previous employer playing stupid games with non-compete agreements. I'm proud of the patentable work I did, but I like the current arrangment much better.