Words Words Words

Words. We use them all the time. Writing e-mails back and forth to coworkers, sending instant messages to friends, talking to someone on the phone or over a meal or, well, anytime!

( I'm pretty sure they have a much larger impact on the way we think and see the world than we realize. )

Patent Ponderings

I think I've asked this before, but I can't remember where or when or what the answer was, so I'll post it again:

Say you invent something that you want anybody in the world to be able to use, and you want to make sure that nobody else tries to put a patent or copyright or anything like that on the design. Can you file for an Anti-Patent or something? Is there some sort of established procedure for ensuring this? (Can the GPL--Gnu Public License--be extended to mechanical blueprints, and would it accomplish the above purpose?)