News & Media
Wi-Fi on Planes (yaaay) No cell calls on Planes (double yaaay)
Delta is rolling out wifi on planes… a novel concept since European carriers have offered this for years. And, it seems like the only way to get members of congress to pass an intelligent law is to annoy them! Congress is moving to make the ban on in-flight calls permanent. (HT on this to Quizlaw)
"Intelligent Design" PWNED
Richard Dawkins rocks. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx3XmlR7XKA] And the follow up [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mmskXXetcg] ALL YOUR SUPERSTITION ARE BELONG TO US!
There are still some flat-earthers
I mean that literally. In Do they really think the earth is flat?, a few nutbags who believe the Earth is a disc discuss their ideas. “People are definitely prejudiced against flat-earthers,” says John Davis, a flat earth theorist based in Tennessee. (source) I presume (but I haven’t researched it) that Mr. Davis is also a fan of “intelligent design.” The article contains an interview with scientific author Christine Garwood. She says that it is a “historical fallacy” that mankind once believed the earth to be flat, and only Christopher Columbus’ voyage changed that. In fact, people have known since
"Defamation of Religion"
The Wall Street Journal Law Blog gives us “Defamation of Religion” — The New International Legal Craze? Apparently, the United Nations is beginning to embrace the idea that there should be liability for calling bullshit on stupid stone age superstitions defaming religions. Angela Wu, the international law director for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a public-interest law firm seems to have her head screwed on straight. She said, The defamation of religions protects ideas rather than individuals, and makes the state the arbiter of which ideas are true. It requires the state to sort good and bad ideologies. (source)
250,000
When we hit 100,000 visitors, I saw it coming and held a little contest. It looks like the quarter million eyeballs mark just snuck up on me a bit. Now I have very large blogging chram. I’ll still take post-250,000 hit submissions for new contest. Prize TBA.
Lulz over "Lulz"
It is always funny to see kids get the better of a journalist. This Sunday’s New York Times article The Trolls Among Us has at least one hilarious example. “Lulz” is how trolls keep score. A corruption of “LOL” or “laugh out loud,” “lulz” means the joy of disrupting another’s emotional equilibrium. “Lulz is watching someone lose their mind at their computer 2,000 miles away while you chat with friends and laugh,” said one ex-troll who, like many people I contacted, refused to disclose his legal identity. Another troll explained the lulz as a quasi-thermodynamic exchange between the sensitive and
Laptop Detention
There is a reason why I don’t take my *good laptop* outside the country. We have turned into a nation of mewling cowards — prepared to sell our freedom for mere “security theater.” We pass rules to control the worst possible people committing the worst possible acts, regardless of the actual effectiveness of the rules or their side-effects. We have idiots write the rules. We hand the idiot-drafted rulebook to flunkies who aren’t qualified to work a frialator. We then call the result “security.” “The Department of Homeland Security now claims the right to seize your laptop ‘absent individualized suspicion’
"Intelligent Sexism"
No, not strippers reading Dante to you… although that would be hot… See Sexism “as it should be” by Tatiana von Tauber.
The Original Intent of the Earl of Sandwich
Ann Althouse goes medieval on modern-day perversions of the Earl of Sandwich’s dream. I heartily concur. See The Sandwich Manifesto
If you are going to lie in a UDRP case – at least be smart about it! Hydentra, LP. v. Xedoc Holding SA
The recent domain name decision, Hydentra, LP. v. Xedoc Holding SA, WIPO Case No. D2008-0454 is of interest for a few reasons: The Best Part – Cybersqatter Busted and PWNED The Complainant alleged that the domain in question, metart.com, was owned and controlled by a man by the name of Slavik Viner. The Complaint further alleged that given Viner’s standing in the adult entertainment community, he must have known about the Complainant’s trademark and website (www.met-art.com) when he registered the domain in question, www.metart.com. The Respondent claimed that Mr. Viner was not the owner of the domain name. In support
Video Leads to Voyeurism Charges & Civil Suit
What is it with Gainesville and surreptitious video? Back when I was at the University of Florida, some guy got arrested for putting a web-cam in the women’s toilet in a restaurant. No, not just in the bathroom, but in the toilet. The thought of installing it makes me want to barf, let alone the thought of firing up the computer and saying “hey man, come see what I can do!” That guy got arrested. Of course, the classic version of the Gainesville gander is this: Guy hooks up with Girl. Guy has his buddy hide in the room and
Welcome to the Roll, QuizLaw
I don’t know why QuizLawhasn’t made it to the roll earlier. But, now that QuizLaw announced that the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is Seth’s favorite charity — my hand is forced. Welcome, Seth et. al.
Talk about a bad day for a Pastor
The only thing funnier than the underlying story (pastor breaks into a woman’s house, steals her sex toy and lube, and breaks his leg while escaping) is the melodramatic news coverage. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2lenTxz8qw] The senior pastor at the church had this to say: I am deeply grieving for the victim in this terrible situation. That must have been some sex toy if its loss creates a need for deep grief. Good grief! Hat Tip and Props to: Quizlaw
The New Pledge
I do believe that a Pledge of Allegiance is an appropriate and positive exercise. However, when it is nothing more than reciting meaningless drivel about a piece of cloth, it is no pledge at all. Proposal — The New Pledge “I pledge allegiance to the Republic of the United States of America, and to the Constitution on which it stands. One nation, indivisible, With liberty and justice for all.” Now THAT is a patriotic, accurate, and Constitutional pledge. We should pledge to that which really matters. We should ritualize our loyalty in an accurate and constructive manner – to remember
Quote of the Day
“Quite a few people in the world have seen my penis” –Spencer Elden
Do I Really Need to Worry About my Trademark? Ask eBoost Consulting
I tell every business person I meet that their good name is worth more than any other asset they have and that they need to protect their brand by registering and enforcing their trademarks. Sometimes, they listen to me. Other times, I get that “ugh, another lawyer trying to tell me to spend money” reaction. A recent dust-up over at Nobody’s Business should serve as a cautionary tale to those who hold the latter perspective. An eBoost Media customer (Rogier van Bakel) had a negative experience with that company. It turned into such a bad situation that they wound up
Massachusetts Opens its Arms
Add this to the billion reasons I’m proud to be a Masshole. After the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that “equal protection” means… well, “equal protection,” and thus gays could marry (being entitled to equal rights under the law), then-governor Mitt Romney was apoplectic. Romney pushed for a state constitutional amendment. Losing that battle, he then invoked a long-forgotten 1913 Massachusetts law, which provided that if a union would not be legal in the couple’s home state, the couple could not be married in Massachusetts. That law was passed to prohibit out of state mixed-race couples from coming to Massachusetts to
Sam Brownback Can't Spell Irony
One of my favorite targets for the ass-hat award, the normally-uber-swine Sam Brownback is on the right side of an internet freedom issue. The Chinese government (enshrined with a permanent ass-hat award) monitors all internet service in the country, and has required foreign-owned hotels to install snooping equipment. Sam Brownback is outraged and held a press conference. No mention was made, during the grandstanding, of the Bush Administration’s monitoring of animal rights, environmental and poverty relief activists, as documented by files released in 2005 as a result of a series of Freedom of Information Act lawsuits by the American Civil
Bad faith registration sticks to a domain
A cybersquatter registered the domain name wwwups.org. Lots of typosquatters register the domain name corresponding to a legitimate website, but omit the period between the www and the domain name. Go ahead, pick any website that you visit on a regular basis, and take out the period. Chances are, you’ll find yourself on a pay-per-click page. (See What is a Pay-Per-Click Page? and Auto-generated websites equal bad faith under the UDRP). The cybersquatter then transferred the domain to another party. That party tried to claim that it had registered it in good faith, thus the UDRP did not apply. The
Gators Attack Juicy Campus
University of Florida Student Body President, Kevin Riley, and Chief Information Officer, Marc Hoit, recently issued this letter to the Florida Attorney General asking that the Florida Office of the Attorney General launch an investigation into Juicy Campus, the well-known gossip site. They did not elaborate on what kind of investigation they expect the state to launch. I agree that JuicyCampus.com contains terribly defamatory posts about many people. However, if you are gullible enough to believe anything you read on JuicyCampus.com, your opinion cannot be all that influential. I also think that asking the government to launch an investigation because