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Dr Nathan

@nathan.butnotdetroit.com
390 followers 576 following 415 posts

He/Him. Physics PhD. Patent agent. Bibliophile. Utahn. Negotiating with religion and history. I mostly post (and occasionally vent) about US politics, Utah politics, Mormonism, and occasionally patent law. Profile pic by @mae-bee-cringe.bsky.social

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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 30/08/2026
Yeah, CAFC is where you appeal an adverse decision by USPTO, but if you're suing another individual/company for patent infringement (like Apple v. Samsung) or trademark issues (like Buc-ee's), that's currently the jurisdiction of a normal district court.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 30/08/2026
Would also be interesting to have some informal policy in place where a SCOTUS nominee for overseeing a particular circuit is from there, to get some national diversity on the bench. Also, calling SCOTUS justices circuit overseers would be funny for the JW connotations.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 30/08/2026
My first reaction was "that's what the CAFC is for." But I think mtsw is talking about expanding its jurisdiction beyond just disputes between applicants and USPTO to those between litigants, so you don't have Alan Albright setting up a plaintiff-friendly patent court in WDTX.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 18/08/2026
Don't let Utah Governor Spencer Cox hear you criticizing farmers. "No one conserves more water than farmers!" 🙄 (He himself has an alfalfa farm.)
deseret.com
Utah declares statewide drought emergency
Utah has declared a statewide drought emergency amid record-low snowpack and severe water shortages, which will likely trigger emergency funding.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 13/08/2026
I'd read this section before, since it was recently updated, but somehow I missed the last two sentences. Left unsaid, but presumably if the SP disagrees with the parents, he doesn't pass on their sealing request to the FP. Canonized leadership roulette!
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 19/07/2026
🎶I don't wanna close my eyes, I don't wanna fall asleep, 'cuz the Oneiroi would haunt my dreams, baby, And I don't wanna miss a thing... 🎶
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 11/07/2026
Ah, got it. Yes, been seeing less and less figures. PTO has been adding more and more "security" before you can even search for a pub no.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 11/07/2026
I haven't seen any issues with Google Patents yet, but now I'm worried. I use it daily as a patent agent, so it would be quite a loss. Are the issues with newer published apps/patents?
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 07/07/2026
@peark.es @rickywlmsbong.bsky.social @proptermalone.bsky.social @ed3d.net it's clear from the last episode that the Normal Men need a Midwest correspondent/apologist. Having grown up in Michigan, I volunteer. I can also cover the mountain West (lived here ~20 yrs) if needed.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 06/07/2026
No British announcer can pronounce "Quiñones".
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 25/06/2026
First line: "It is easy to miss the Match Momentum graphic the Fox network stamps onto its World Cup broadcasts." I'm fairly certain it's FIFA, not Fox, putting up those graphics. BBC shows them, too. The only thing Fox gets to put on the screen is the top left score box. FIFA controls the rest.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 21/04/2026
I don't know what faithful answer to "why so long?" will be retconned, but to me the clearest explanation is Oaks is now in charge. When they dropped the old names, the stated goal was flexibility. That's obviously no longer a priority. www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/genera...
churchofjesuschrist.org
Beloved Daughters
Sister Cordon announces adjustments to the Young Women organization and teaches that the changes will help young women draw closer to the Savior.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 13/02/2026
Yep. Anyone who was hoping for a drop of progress just got served a big bowl of retrenchment. Dude is 55, he'll be bigoting all over the place for decades.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 07/02/2026
Now, I'm part of "the problem": I have thousands of ebooks and a collection of HCs of books I really enjoy. I still have a few PBs, but not many. And most of those are trade, not MMPB. If my kids want to browse my version of my dad's library, they can log onto my calibre server and download a book.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 07/02/2026
Mixed feelings on this one. My dad had a small library in the basement with 4 walls of shelves filled with MMPBs. Teen me loved going down and browsing for an interesting book. Lots of war and spy thrillers. Some were hidden gems, some were crap, but this was a formative practice for me.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 30/01/2026
My apologies, and I know you literally wrote the book on the subject, but I still read the headline as "Leading Ornithologists." Also, my apologies to ornithologists for connecting them with these sickos.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 30/01/2026
To be jerrified would be jerrific
Reply by Jerry to one of my commentsJerry being correctly identified as "and 1 other" in liking 2 of my comments.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 28/01/2026
Is it still true that, in addition to being a ridiculous price, library ebooks are limited to a specific number of borrows before you would have to buy it again?
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 27/01/2026
Well, if we had just been good little voters and let the lege raid the income tax revenues instead of wasting it on silly things like education, we could have had the food tax repealed. So really, it's our own fault. (Sarcasm, in case unclear. UT lege are a bunch of whiny bitches)
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 12/01/2026
I'll just leave this here.
deals.techdirt.com
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 for Windows | Techdirt
<p>Microsoft-Verified Partner! Get All the Essential MS Apps for Your PC With This One-Time Purchase.</p>
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 09/01/2026
Classic German pickup line from LOVE IS BLIND: GERMANY: "I find it so attractive that you use the genitive case." 😍 Related link:
en.wikipedia.org
Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod - Wikipedia
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 03/01/2026
He tries so hard to be cool and ends up shooting himself in the dick every time. Most of the time I can just shorten it to "Pete Hegseth gives me the ick."
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 02/01/2026
Good luck to you, sir! Regrettably, I can't vote for you, but I can make a donation :) I bet @schotthappens.com would be interested in interviewing you.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 25/12/2025
The one with Santa specifically is book 14, aptly named COLD DAYS.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 24/12/2025
Quiche is the worst type of pie.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 24/12/2025
I think the decision came from higher up the chain.
whitehouse.gov
Providing for the Closure of Executive Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government on December 24, 2025, and December 26, 2025
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.  All
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 10/12/2025
1. Their logo looks like Aldi. Probably not enough to be a trademark issue, but still 2. Their website is terrible on mobile, which tracks for a retired couple in St George
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 10/12/2025
Seems the same couple who runs this org also have a teen version. From their website: "When they couldn't find an organization that was oriented for their teens, they organized Humanitarian XP (formerly HEFY)"
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 04/12/2025
Tennessee is closer to Washington than Arizona is /s
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 01/12/2025
My version of this was when the USPTO raised all patent fees in January 2025. Everything went up by at least 7.5%, but certain fees went up by as much as 100%, plus some new fees were added for things that previously were free. That was an exciting Friday...
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 29/11/2025
I remember getting an invite last year to baptism for cousin's 8yo. The invite read, "[8yo] has chosen to become a member of the Church..." That seems to be the standard language on these things, and it's so disingenuous to the kids.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 27/11/2025
I grew up in Michigan, so it's as much a harbinger of November as the gales it mentions.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 27/11/2025
@golikehellmachine.com @peark.es @proptermalone.bsky.social @ed3d.net @rickywlmsbong.bsky.social does "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" count as a Thanksgiving song?
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 27/11/2025
*mellifluous Uchtdorf voice* The note has been noted.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 26/11/2025
This is from the 2010 Handbook 1 and, indeed, it was previously just Melchizedek priesthood holders that would merit a stake disciplinary council.
6.2.1 Stake President
The stake president has authority over Check discipline in the stake. However, bishops normally administer Check discipline unless evidence indicates that a man who holds the Melchizedek... (continued from first screenshot) 
Priesthood is likely to be excommunicated. In that case, the stake president convenes a stake disciplinary council.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 26/11/2025
Was this changed recently? The handbook agrees with you that the dividing line between ward and stake membership council is temple endowment. My recollection was that it was Melchizedek priesthood holders (aka men) were subject to stake, all others ward.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 26/11/2025
The endowment is a ceremony in temple. The term refers to the "gift" of knowledge that is given in that ceremony.
churchofjesuschrist.org
About the Temple Endowment | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Find out more about the temple endowment.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 23/11/2025
I guess for the gunners in the SP who are calling/recommending bishopric, knowing who is in the presidency of the 70 makes some sense, though.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 23/11/2025
Sure, but the visibility increases so much when it's an apostle, especially for those outside Utah. To me it's much more plausible to imagine, "we're calling bro Christofferson to be in the bishopric" while the congregation whispers excitedly, "his brother is an apostle!"
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 23/11/2025
If he really was excommunicated in 1995/1996, especially if for anything related to CSA, huge risk to call him into bishoprics after. Uncharitably, I wondered if he was called because his brother was an apostle, but the first calling floodlit lists (2006) is before Todd was called (2008).
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 23/11/2025
An interesting fact pattern: -lives in Ohio, had a calling there up to this month -turned himself in in SLC I'm sure more details will make this clearer. Was he in Utah (visiting family? Thanksgiving?), learned he was sought by law enforcement, and arranged the surrender?
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 17/11/2025
She's narrating the audiobook herself. The level of overacting will be unfathomable.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 17/11/2025
SHE'S NARRATING THE AUDIOBOOK HERSELF.
Screenshot of American Canto on libro.fm. The page notes that the audiobook is "Read by the author."
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 16/11/2025
"oh, you think you're a real poor person? Name three European sports cars you can't afford." These fucking ghouls.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 13/11/2025
I have a pi-hole set up, and the majority of my block logs is Roku trying to phone home every 30 seconds. 🙄
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 07/11/2025
This is an amazing feature. Wish I'd known about it sooner, would have saved so many headaches in building my new homelab server over the past month. (The real lifesaver was a Comet KVM, which saved me from having to keep it near a keyboard and monitor each time the network card name changed.)
youtu.be
Networking Pinning in PVE 9. Keeping network adapter names from changes with hardware changes
YouTube video by ElectronicsWizardry
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 07/11/2025
Serious question: do you have strong reasons for vim over nano? The main one I've heard is "I've used it forever, I know all the keyboard shortcuts." Which is a totally valid answer, I'm just curious.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 07/11/2025
Was the business called Mr. Robot?
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 07/11/2025
Based solely on the games I got with the system when I bought it from a friend in 1997, the best Genesis games were Jurassic Park, Road Rash II, and Boogerman.
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Dr Nathan @nathan.butnotdetroit.com · 04/11/2025
That's one of Johnson's BS excuses for why the shutdown is good actually.
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