NBC Spends More Time on Commercials Than On Actual Sports Action

See this article from the Wall Street Journal.

Abbey Road Studio is Up For Sale

According to this article, the Abbey Road studio is up for sale, but people are trying to save it.  Maybe they can turn it into a museum? 
I do sympathize with drivers who complain about it, though.  Tourists posing in the crosswalk must be annoying.

On What Constitutes Fair Use

In keeping with the intellectual property theme, I heard this discussion of fair use on NPR yesterday.

Olympics and Trademarks

Yesterday (but not today), Google had the Olympic rings on its home page.  Unfortunately for Google, the Olympic rings are protected by law.  The law provides that no one but the United States Olympic Committee has the right to use the Olympic rings for "for the purpose of trade [or] to induce the sale of any goods or services..."  Even if Google is not selling anything, I think that they are definitely using it for the purpose of trade.  If you put aside the commercialization of the Olympics, keep in mind that corporations like Visa probably pay lots of money to use the Olympic rings in their logos.  It's not right for Google to use the Olympic rings on its page without paying.
As an aside, I like the logos that Google is using, because of all the blue and the nice artistic syling.  It's different from what they did for Beijing and Torino.

Snowed In? You can watch National Parks: America's Best Idea

If you're snowed in, PBS' The National Parks: America's Best Idea are posted online. Some have full episodes available.

Blizzard in Washington, D.C.

Today I went out in the blizzard in Silver Spring, Maryland.  I could see, by going outside, how pioneers on the prairies could get lost in the blizzard and not be able to find the town.  Without roads and buildings to frame my reference, I could have gotten disoriented, because I could not see more than a block (and a short block at that).  I had a warm building to retreat to, and didn't have to try to pitch a tent in this weather, or try to start a campfire (which would have probably been impossible).
National Public Radio apparently had the same idea I did.  NPR read some quotes from literature, including one by Laura Ingalls Wilder (best known for Little House on the Prairie/Little House in the Big Woods) from her book The Long Winter.
In searching NPR, I also came across this article which talks about Laura Ingalls Wilder and her life after the events portrayed in the Little House books.  If you read her books, it is an interesting read.