garbles

Just out of curiosity, how important is it for someone with an idea for an online business to patent that idea? If you neglect to patent and the business gains some traction, how quickly are other companies to copy it? I've been wondering this for a while since someone without a lot of money probably wouldn't be able to afford the fees.

Recently I've found that working on projects from home on my desktop is just killing my productivity.

I'm looking for a laptop competent enough to do Rails, but not much past that - I don't need to be able to watch HD video or anything. Something that will be compatible with Ubuntu.

I've read that you can request a refund from Microsoft if you buy a laptop with Windows 7 and decide not to use it. Is that true?

I'm looking at spending under $400. Any recommendations?

I'm a student in Vancouver, Canada. I hold a BS in Physics and currently a candidate for a BEd in Secondary Education. Over the 8-ish months, I've taught myself Ruby, Rails, HTML, CSS, and a bit of HA.

I'm a student in Vancouver, Canada. I hold a BS in Physics and currently a candidate for a BEd in Secondary Education. Over the 8-ish months, I've taught myself Ruby, Rails, HTML, CSS, and a bit of HA.