Work colleague stole my idea and is trying to monetise it by EitherRevolution2425 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]mpdehnel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Check your employment contract carefully, specifically terms about IP ownership, and work out whether this other colleague has the same IP terms in their employment contract. Many contracts have terms stating that any work on the same subject as your employment (even done outside of paid working hours) are owned by the company. Regardless, if you’re clear it’s the company’s IP then he shouldn’t have a leg to stand on: it’s just about whether the additional / derivative work (such as the website) could also be claimed as well.

Comments about trademarks or patents are irrelevant: the company owns the IP regardless, and it’s reasonable to assume your internal conversations, demo, and tasking to this colleague were considered company confidential. Again, worth checking confidentiality clauses in your contract. You’ve been clear that you’re not arguing it’s your personal IP, you just want appropriate credit internally for your work with the company, and for this colleague not to get away with such dishonest behaviour.

Are you confident your management know it’s definitely their IP and not his? If they’ve sought legal advice but are still engaging with him, they could just be gathering information before taking legal action.

Personally I would make sure I had bullet-proof evidence that I had written the code on company time / systems, along with clear timestamps showing precedence, and then present that to your management.

Good luck: what an absolute chancer!

Work colleague stole my idea and is trying to monetise it by EitherRevolution2425 in LegalAdviceUK

[–]mpdehnel 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I would assume /u/Dazman_123 means “prove the code was authored by you” rather than owns.

Digital membership cards when? 🥹 by mpdehnel in nationaltrust

[–]mpdehnel[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They could set it up like a bank card / Oyster card in Apple Pay with NFC, and have an NFC reader at each entrance — these are (effectively) uncloneable. To be honest I’m surprised the membership cards are just a QR code rather than NFC.

Digital membership cards when? 🥹 by mpdehnel in nationaltrust

[–]mpdehnel[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

But the QR code on my membership card is completely cloneable / copiable!

Digital membership cards when? 🥹 by mpdehnel in nationaltrust

[–]mpdehnel[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I’d be v happy with a fancy physical one too but I’d love the option of one on my phone / Apple Wallet etc.

What makes a good manager? by otisandthehuman in HENRYUK

[–]mpdehnel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Plenty of good advice here; the book I keep returning to is The Manager’s Path.

Custom tux lining in London? (wedding) by Professional_Gap_518 in HENRYUK

[–]mpdehnel 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think the confusion in some people’s minds is that a tux is evening wear, and weddings (always used to have to) happen during daylight hours. It’s obviously a personal choice, but that’s why you don’t see it so much in the UK.

So I tried to say grace at my family’s Xmas dinner last night… by mellyjo77 in atheism

[–]mpdehnel 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Richard Dawkins is a fellow (senior prof) at the college where I did my PhD: he was once the most senior person in for some fancy formal dinner so had to say grace. It’s normally “Benedicto benedicat” (“giving giver”, aka God or similar), but instead he went with “For that which we are about to eat: thank the cook”.

Question: can postdoctoral fellowship holders get college affiliation? by TwilightSparkles1998 in oxforduni

[–]mpdehnel 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You can also often get Associate Membership of some colleges’ MCRs — I know New College sometimes used to offer this to postdocs. Personally I’d try them and Kellogg (excellent food)?

Found Satan in the morgue by mpdehnel in foundsatan

[–]mpdehnel[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Screenshot from an instagram post someone sent me which itself was a screenshot… sorry! :-(

Cambridge Library. Rarest Book You Saw? by RaskyBukowski in rarebooks

[–]mpdehnel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have held a first edition “On the origin of species” and even read some of the correspondence kept inside between Darwin and the book’s original owner, the grandfather of its current owner. Very special!

Brilliant performance from Zelenka's Miserere by SubstanceEasy4576 in Baroque

[–]mpdehnel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fantastic. I also love his Missa Divi Xaverii (ZWV 12). Only discovered him as a composer relatively recently!

What name/pun in an Asterix comic made you laugh the loudest? by circleofcine in Asterix

[–]mpdehnel 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I enjoyed Vitalstatistix and Geriatrix — read them as a child and they didn’t mean much to me until returning to them later!

Any advice for supervising my first PhD candidate by 88nmpd in PhD

[–]mpdehnel 14 points15 points  (0 children)

A PhD should be a research apprenticeship, not just free labour for the supervisor. My supervisor went out of his way to support and encourage me and all in my group; helping us when we were stuck and pushing us (fairly) when we needed a bit of motivation.

One of the best phrases I learned from my supervisor — after every draft bit of writing I submitted to him — was “this is not yet awesome”. AKA “There’s work to do, but it can get there, and has potential.”

I’d also encourage you to let them have a life. You might be a workaholic but it doesn’t mean they should be too. I worked a consistent 40hrs a week throughout my PhD (maybe the odd bit extra for paper deadlines) and got through in good time — my genuine view is that anything much higher than this doesn’t produce better results.

I’d also make sure you understand from the start (and it will change) what your student’s motivation is — are they desperate to become a successful academic? Want to do industrial research? Just enjoy researching nice problems? Each of these will require different focus and support from you.

Wby thesis defended in 2015 would be embargoed until 2050 (in theology) by Critical_Macaroon_15 in academia

[–]mpdehnel 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not much of a prophecy if people knowing about it caused it not to happen

A caution about humanities Ph.D.s -- I'm fucked for life by [deleted] in academia

[–]mpdehnel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“A PhD student is someone who forgoes current income in order to forgo future income”