Oregon is set to become the first state to use Apple’s iPad in the voting process.
Tomorrow, election workers are taking iPads to disabled voters who might otherwise have difficulties marking their ballots. These voters are able to pull up the ballot on the iPad and tap the screen to mark the candidate of their choice before printing out their completed ballot and send it in by mail.
Apple donated five iPads to Oregon for the program, and Oregon spent about $75,000 to create the necessary software. Oregon election officials say they are hoping the iPad will totally replace the old handicapped accessible equipment program, which is outdated and difficult to use. Approximately 800 people used that service in 2010.
Read more at Politico.
Michael Jackson was more than a great singer and dancer. He was also an inventor and U.S. Patent owner. Granted in 1993 to Jackson and two partners, U.S. Patent No. 5,255,452, “Method and Means for Creating Anti-Gravity Illusion” covers a “system for allowing a shoe wearer to lean forwardly beyond his center of gravity by virtue of wearing a specially designed pair of shoes.” The shoes help create the anti-gravity illusion by hitching a heel slot in the shoes to a peg in the stage floor. The patent ended early, on Oct. 26, 2005, after failure to pay a final maintenance fee. Michael’s other legal fees may have taken precedence, or perhaps he felt there was no longer any competitive advantage to doing a “Smooth” lean. The full patent is available through the 
Oregon Intellectual Property Blog 