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Another Australian Story about Ric to air Monday 9th April

Shooting finished today of material to wrap up the Uniloc Microsoft story that started back in 2009 when Australian Story first picked up on the struggle between Microsoft and the company I started back in 1992, Uniloc.

My good friend Jim Revitt, who sadly passed away soon after the first show, always said that if I was to do one television show then Australian Story was the one to do... and his advice proved right. Sadly Jim will not be here to see the final chapter air this coming Monday (the 9th).

The show will review the twists and turns leading up to the settlement a few weeks back and it will also feature some upbeat segments covering projects I am working on now and people I am trying to help with their inventions... and some more guitar playing with my good mate Steve Cox... I hope I am in tune... I was playing so loud I couldn't tell :-)

It has been a real privilege to have had the Australian Story team revisit and it was great fun showing them some of the interesting people and ideas I have been working on over the last year or so...

I hope the show does more than fill peoples curiosity on the back story of the struggle with Microsoft. There are so many inventive Australians out there, and so many great ideas to explore and make happen... I hope that it gives viewers the invention bug, and gives them another reason to have a go at inventing themselves...

Comments

  1. So very proud of you Ric. I can't wait to see the concluding chapter. Even they will feature people you have helped with their inventions, there are countless (hundreds?) others that you have also so humbly helped and generously shared your expertise and time with.x

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    1. Good on you for that... its all a guy in my position should do... really appreciated.
      R

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  2. Dear Ric,
    Ross and I are so stoked to have you as our mentor! Can't wait to see the show and it must be time to catch up, we are both back in OZ after our epic tour.

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  3. Dear Ric,
    I love what you are doing and your incedible attitude. I am not interested in money but would like some help with a business concept in higher education. Solves some big problems in delivery and outcomes. Will catch up with you in cafe later in the year if that's OK. Many thanks,
    AM

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  4. Ric, what a great story, very inspiring. Would love to have a coffee next time we're on the north coast . Congratulations, and I hope you keep on doing amazing things.

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  5. What a wonderful story Ric, Glad you got such a fantastic outcome...

    Keep on Inventing!!!!

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  6. Ric, you and your family deserve the money you gained from the settlement. I am not interested in it, I just wanted to say well done - your hard slog finally paid dividends. Not just monetary, but you have increased the R&D in Australian industry, which is a feat in itself. Shame to hear about your friend, good luck for the future.

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  7. As this weeks Australian Story comes to a close I am inspired by your passion Ric.

    I teach people how to build businesses online and along the way, like you it hasn't been easy... I was totally inspired by your perseverance!

    Hats off to you and your "give first" attitude!

    Happy Easter to you and your family Ric.

    Sandy Moore
    WhoIsSandyMoore.com

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  8. Hi Ric

    I just watched the show and found it interesting. Congratulations for winning in the end.

    Now you are not an easy bloke to find so here i am writing to you in public. And you can please delete this post afterwards. (I will keep a copy of it for my own purposes). My phone number is 07 4098 5358

    For a number of years I have had an idea for a computer product that i want someone to develop. I am not an IT person. I have no interest in learning it in order to get this product. I just want someone else to make it for me so that i can have it.

    I am giving you the idea. I will give the idea to anyone to please hurry up and make it. There is a need. all i want is a cheap product and if you invent my idea, then you can give me a free copy please, for life. That's all i need and want.

    I need a thing to put in my computer to control the amount of time i can access the internet. I am one of those unfortunate people who is addicted to the internet. I am not a gambler and while i play computer games it is mainly forums i am addicted to. But the program i want would probably be appropriate for gamblers and other types of internet addict.

    continued

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  9. continued from last post

    The downside of this addiction is that i don't get much else done in my life. In fact i waste a great deal of time and regret it. When my addiction began i had a business which although very small had earned me a living. One of the main factors for my business failing, if not THE main factor was my internet addiction.

    People who have never had any sort of internet addiction do not seem to appreciate the potential of this proposed product it seems to me. Not that i have spoken of it to many people. Not all addicts want to remain addicts. This product would be for those of us who want to regain some productivity in our lives. Now and again i get the upper hand but i am always slipping back. Of course this product would not cure the addiction but not being able to play it out is as good as being cured.

    This is how i think it should work more or less. Once the software is installed, accessing the internet will only be available for predetermined time periods. The user gets to choose how much time and when and how often access is enabled. They should also get to determine how long the rules are set for. Eg i might say just to test out the program that the first time i set it will be for one month and i would like to be able to only access the computer on Sundays but for as many hours as i would like. Someone else might want to be able to access the internet every day for 30 minutes.

    Once the month is up, you get to reset the rules. Seeing how well it worked the first time, i would reset the program for 6 months and allow myself 30 minutes every day at any time, except which will remain all day access. Another person might change their settings to 1 hour a day between 5-6pm only .

    Further to all that, there are of course ways to get around the program but these do not allow the user to do it on that computer. They would have to go and find another. I doubt whether i would be so desperate as to go to town and sit in the library. I do not have the funds to by another computer and would not want to anyway. in my case, i actually do have access to someone else's computer but because it is owned by someone else, it can't have free reign. So all those other options aren't really enough to render the program ineffective.

    What do you think? Would you like to have a go at this? If not, do you know anyone who might like to do it. If you or anyone else goes ahead with it, i would like to be consulted so tthat i can get the product that i would be willing to buy. There's no point in a different sort of thing being made if it doesn't solve my problem.

    The applications for this are quite wide i think. It could be used in workplaces as well as in private homes. Parents could set limits on their kids usage so that they don't need to supervise them. Becuase it only locks up internet access, it doesn't mean the kids can't continue doing their homework.

    Maybe if you found this an easy thing to produce you could make it inexpensive i mean really quite inexpensive - eg about $30 because a lot of people who have my problem would surely not be very well off. My concerns are mental and i had a lots of money to splash around, i'd be spending a lot of it in mental health. So perhaps you could consider doing this for mental health in some way. But that i will leave up to you. Or maybe you could keep the patent for a short period so that there would be lots of people making a similar product to keep it cheap for everyone.

    btw i liked the look of that gadget for peeing in a sample bottle that was featured on aust story but i thought that hood thing looked like it wouldn't work if its to keep the sun off. Actually i was not sure what it was for but do not believe if one was running it would stay fixed in the right position. Maybe it is for some other reason anyway.

    Thanks
    Andrea

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  10. Hi Ric,

    I saw you on 'Australian Story' recently and you have inspired me! I would like to let you know of an invention I have and prototype i have made. Looking on your blog i cannot find any other way of contacting you other than this?. If you can let me know how I best contact you I would like to send you a quick email, it would be greatly appreciated. My email address is markcbrookes@gmail.com.
    Kind regards
    Mark Brookes

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