Scrabble-esque Game

If you're bored over Thanksgiving, there's a Scrabble-esque game to keep you busy.
See:
http://wordsquared.com/
Mozilla (the company that runs Firefox) runs the website, I think.

On Men in the Army

The New York Times had an article about what men in the Army (no women mentioned in the article) do in their spare time.  It sounds slightly cliche, but I admire what they do.  See: http://nyti.ms/gQmbiX.

Neat Song by Sara Bareilles

Thomas pointed me to this song (King of Anything) by Sara Bareilles.
The tune is catchy, the lyrics are creative, and the video is well done.
See:
http://bit.ly/cvRxBo

Vampire Killing Under Federal Contract

I wonder if this company (which I saw through Ryan's Facebook) is listed in the Central Contractor Registry.  And if it is, could I do a sole source justification under Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1?  There can't be that many companies that do vampire killing

A Unique Motion for a Continuance

My brother passed me this motion for a continuance, which, in part, states:

Since 1972, when Darrell was but a lad of thirteen, he has been a fan of the Texas Rangers Baseball Club (hereinafter referred to as "Rangers").

You should read the whole thing as well as the footnotes, which are also very funny.

Here's a link.

http://scr.bi/bknjDF

Story on NPR About Maglites and How They Are Still Made in the USA

There was a story on NPR this morning about Maglites and how they are still made in the United States.
Besides the fact that they are virtually indestructible, it's also nice that I can support American industry when I buy flashlights.
See:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130197557

On Not Lobstering on Yom Kippur

There was an article in yesterday's New York Times, here:
http://nyti.ms/bmWrSy
about a Jewish lobsterman and how he fits in with the culture of Deer Isle, Maine.  As you might guess, Deer Isle does not have many Jewish people.  He talks about that, but also talks about how lobstering, in it's own way, fits into the Jewish tradition.

On Dreams

There was an article in the Science section of the New York Times about how dreams appear two ways.  First, they might appear as the result of a day's emotional events.  Second, though, there is almost a "rerun" effect.  They'll "play," if that's the right word, a week or so later.   Here's a link to the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/07really.html?ref=science

Technology in the National Parks Leads People into Trouble

There was an article in the Times a few days ago about how people rely on technology too much in National Parks and get themselves into trouble.  Part of it, I think, is that when people use the technology, they discard common sense.
When I hike, even in a park with some mobile phone service (Shenandoah), I don't rely on it to get me out of trouble.  I don't hike alone and I expect that I should be prepared to not be able to get help immediately via cell phone if there is an accident.  Someone who hikes in a park out west and expects to have mobile phone service is asking for trouble.  Someone who decides to record himself as he gets close to a bison is asking for even more trouble. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/science/earth/22parks.html is the link.

Useful iPod Touch/iPhone App to Find Out When Trains are Coming

I've played around with an iPod Touch/iPhone App which lets you know when the next D.C. Metro train is coming.  It's free at:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dc-rider/id382298536?mt=8

Spinach and Parmesan Cheese Omelette

I've cooked an omelet using this recipe from the Times a couple of times over the past few week and it's come out well.  It's easy to make, and doesn't require ingredients that I don't already have in the kitchen.  I cheat and use frozen spinach.  I'll bet fresh spinach would taste better.

Dave Matthews Band on NPR

I was surprised this morning to hear Ants Marching on Weekend Edition.  Turns out, DMB recently came out with a new album.  You can see the story and listen to audio from it here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129182690

Law School Transfer Admissions - Sometimes an Applicant's Current School Holds the Applicant Hostage

This blog post talks about some subtle and not-so-subtle ways that law schools try to prevent students from transferring.  An example of a subtle way: the dean writing the no-disciplinary letter might delay performing the task.  An example of a less-subtle way: the dean tries to dissuade the student from transferring.  An even less-subtle way: students requesting to transfer are asked to waive their right to participate on law review to get information released.  And, if it's true, a pretty outrageous method: a school will not release a student's transcript until the student pays the next semester's tuition bill.  I wonder if the last two methods are even legal under FERPA (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), which provides a right of access to records.  
There are other techniques in the blog entry which I do not post here.  
I have a tag for Penn State Dickinson which I sometimes use on my blog entries, but I'm not going to here.  I hope they don't engage in any of these practices

Two Articles on the Census -- One Serious, One Funny

The police in Hawaii arrested a census worker for trespassing on someone's property to give a census form.  Admittedly, when asked to leave, he did not, but I think that he could remain on the property for at least a short while to explain about the Census.  He had the right -- under federal law -- to be there. Now, the Assistant United States Attorney is defending him -- as they should.

The other article is funny, it talks about a reporter who did the follow-up survey with people who did not return their forms for the Census and talked about some of the responses he got.

I liked reading both these articles.  In some ways, both people's experiences were not unlike my time working for the Census (well, except the getting arrested for trespassing part).  But what I like the most about working for the Census last year is that whenever I go running/walking around Silver Spring, practically no matter which direction I leave my apartment, I know that I helped to count the people that live around me.  And that, I think, is pretty cool.

Summer Reading from the University of Texas at Austin

Here's a list of suggested summer reading from the University of Texas at Austin.

A Loss for Oyster Bay/East Norwich - Severely Curtailed Summer Community Band Concerts

People who will understand this post the most are people who grew up with me in Oyster Bay/East Norwich, but for those of you who didn't, my school district has a tradition of over fifty years of having a community band. This provided students (including my brother and me) with the opportunity to play music at free summer evening concerts over the summer. It allowed students to play a variety of music, and to perform with other musicians from around Long Island. While the Oyster Bay East Norwich Central School District School Board sponsored the concerts in the past, although they increased the budget this year, this article says they were unable to find the money to sponsor the concerts. This is a disappointment and a true loss to Oyster Bay/East Norwich.

Artificially Raising Law School Grades

I read this article in the New York Times about how Loyola Law School Los Angeles has decided to add .333 points to each student's GPA to make each student more competitive on the job market.  This will be done retroactively.  While, to some extent, I sympathize with the law school and the students (the legal job market is not good right now), I do not think that this is the right way to go about doing it.  First, a grade is a measure of performance, and if one artificially raises it, that measure of performance is severely damaged if not destroyed.  Second, for Loyola Law School Los Angeles, after this New York Times article, I do not think that anyone will respect their students' transcripts ever again. 
I hope Dickinson doesn't do this.  The grade earned should be the one on the transcript.

Goodbye to Law & Order

My brother passed me this article, and I thought I'd post it to my blog.  It's nice that Law & Order was such a lifeblood to actors who otherwise might not have been able to make ends meet.  What the article doesn't mention, is that it also gave law students an excuse to watch television.  I used to rationalize watching Law & Order by saying it was "educational." 

What Baseball Is

Thomas pointed me to this blog entry which quotes a speech given by Ernie Harwell, who died today.
Update:  NPR also did a story on him.

Hitting Your Client with a Baseball Bat? Probably an Ethical Violation

See this blog entry, in which the author analyzes many of the applicable ethical rules that an attorney who tried to smite his client with a baseball bat violated. I think this may be the first blog entry in which I used the word "smite."

Miners in West Virginia

There is a good interview on NPR with an attorney about the miners in West Virginia.  There is a StoryCorps recording as well, which was good.

E-Acceptances for Colleges

There was a piece on NPR on how e-acceptances (or rejections) are now in vogue.  This is good, so long as schools don't mess up and display the wrong decision online (as Cornell did).  They've definitely come a long way from when I was applying to school, when they (gasp) sent out letters.

Getting the Precise Time

With daylight savings time coming into effect this weekend, I thought I would post two websites about getting the exact time.  This website will give you the precise time in every U.S. time zone.  This website, on the other hand, will give you a more visually attractive clock, but won't show you the time in the U.S.  It will show you Coordinated Universal Time (a/k/a Greenwich Mean Time), which is either five or four hours ahead of Eastern Time in the U.S., depending on whether you are on standard or daylight savings time.
Of course, if your computer is running Windows XP or above, or Mac OS X.4.x (Tiger) (and maybe even an earlier version of OS X, I'm not sure) or above, your computer is synced with a time server as well, so you can use your computer to set the exact time.

Washington Monument and Why the Color Changes

At this link, there is a detailed explanation of why the Washington Monument's color changes.  The story doesn't start out talking about that, but if you search on obelisk, you'll see where it starts talking about the Washington Monument.

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.

Helmets at Ski Resorts

Saw this article in the Times about how helmets are becoming more widespread at ski resorts.  When I was starting to ski in the boy scouts in the mid 1990s, no one even thought to wear a helmet.  Even when I went skiing a few years ago, I don't remember seeing that many people wearing helmets.  Now, I wonder how people think about helmets with skiing, and whether they are going to become more widespread.
At the same time, though, as one person in the article points out, if you're speeding down a ski slope and crash into a tree, the helmet is not going to do much good.

Poor Choice of Hold Music

Someone my brother knows was on hold with Delta trying to reschedule her flight this past weekend.  Her original flight was canceled because of the snow.  Delta's choice for hold music?  "Let it Snow."

Free Christmas Album on iTunes

iTunes has a free Christmas album available.  See this link.  The song that I like the best is Auld Lange Syne by The Lonesome Traveler Band.  It's a bluegrass version, but I think it is well done.  I'm not sure whether the link will expire on Tuesday, as sometimes Apple only posts free songs for one week.

If I Were Westlaw/LexisNexis, I would be very afraid

Google Scholar now has searchable legal opinions. They're not that comprehensive right now, but they have a primitive equivalent of Keyciting/Shephardizing.

Update:
Here's a link to Google's blog entry.

Free Admission to National Parks on Veterans Day

There is free admission to National Parks (and National Forests) on Veterans Day. See:
http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=8379

Cross Country Uniforms

As a former high school cross country runner (and I remember we were only allowed to wear white T-shirts in addition to our uniforms), I can relate to this article.  Someone in my high school wore a different colored hair band and was disqualified.  While on the one hand, rules are rules, I'm not entirely sure what the point of the rule is.  I mean, so long as one team isn't trying to disguise itself as another team, I don't see why there can't be a slight variation in uniforms.

A Hunch May Be Worth Listening To

According to this piece from the University of Florida, a hunch is worth listening to.  One of my professors at law school said that if you were talking to a client and something seemed off, it probably was.

Google Document Viewer

If you're on the Internet and don't want to wait to power up Acrobat reader, try Google Document Viewer on for size.
It can also create links for blogs.  For example, IRS Publication 17.

Sons of Bill: A Generous Band

Sons of Bill, whom I have mentioned before, is an incredibly generous band.  They posted a whole show of songs on their website to download.  Free.  This is aside from the fact that they are also good musically.

Time Dollar Youth Court

Here is a good video on Time Dollar Youth Court, which one of my friends works at.  See:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hqp8MzJzm4M

End of Reading Rainbow

I heard on NPR yesterday that Reading Rainbow is going off the air because no one wants to fund it.  That's unfortunate.  There's also an article on the Wall Street Journal's website.

Skyline Drive History

For anyone in the Maryland Outdoor Club reading this (or anyone else for that matter!), here's a link to a historical site on Skyline Drive.  For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, that's the road that traverses Shenandoah National Park.  There's a picture on the National Park Service's website of what looks like the same overlook that I stopped at last fall and took pictures at.  I'm looking forward to the fall.

Paying Attention on the Taconic Parkway

I read an article in the Times on the Taconic Parkway the other day and agreed with many of the points made.  The Taconic definitely requires attention when driving it.  The lanes are thin, and there is not much space between the shoulder and the center guard rail.  It's kind of like the section of the George Washington Memorial Parkway between I-395 and where it starts to climb up away from the Potomac.

Another thing to pay attention to on the Taconic Parkway is your speed.  The New York State Police love that road.

Still More on United Breaks Guitars

Here is an update to my two posts on United Breaking Guitars.  According to this blog post, the musician packed his guitar for transit in a soft case.  Also, to protect themselves against future mishaps, United now makes you sign a waiver before you ship your guitar with them.  While I agree it would have been nicer if they had been more careful with the guitar, Dave Carroll (the musician) did not help matters when he packed his guitar in a soft case.

Dickinson Law Library History

For those of you DSLers out there reading, Penn State's libraries posted an article by Mark Podvia about the history of Dickinson's library.  I liked, especially, the discussion of the tobacco chewers trying to aim for a hole in the floor.

A Drive-In Movie Theatre Near Carlisle That I Missed

There was a story on NPR about the Cumberland Drive-In in Newville.   I never made it there during law school.  There's also an MP3 download of the story available.

The Recording Industry and Its Future

There was an article in the Times (thanks Matt) about the future of the recording industry.  The statement by the article about the amount of music that people are streaming instead of listening to online surprised me.  I guess, with Myspace, and how it allows people to stream music, I should not find this that surprising.  But, on the other hand, you can't listen to streamed music on an iPod.

What did not surprise me as much was how people hardly bought CDs anymore.  I've bought a few CDs this year, but then, I think only from bands that I saw perform in person.  I did this partially to support the band, because I figured I was cutting out middle men.

There are very few CDs that I've purchased (even from bands) where I've liked a lot of the songs on them.  The two that I can think of right now are a promotional CD that was put out by a Newfoundland supermarket chain to celebrate the 500th anniversary of John Cabot discovering Newfoundland and Heroes by Paul Overstreet.

Update on United Breaking Guitars

United donated $3,000 to the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz on behalf of David Carroll, who said they broke his instrument in transit. This article has more details, and also talks about the power of the Internet in getting a response from a company.

Summer Reading Ideas

Here is a link to some summer reading ideas from the University of Texas at Austin.

An MTV Style Video about United Breaking Guitars

A musician produced this video after he tried and failed to get United to reimburse him for a broken guitar.

Metro and its Train Problems

As details continue to come out about Metro and its train problems, it's becoming clear to me that Metro is not careful enough with passenger safety.

This article says that Metro believes that the defect in the train circuitry would have been "impossible" to detect.  I beg to differ.  While perhaps someone staring at the screen might not notice something, one of the advantages of having a computer monitoring things is that you can use the computer to stare at the screen (or watch for strange things happening).  What the computer should have been programmed to notice is a train suddenly disappearing.  Even on Metro, trains don't mysteriously disappear.  They move into the next signal block further down the line.  If a train disappears without moving into the next signal block down the line, then that, to me, signifies a Problem.  The computer should have been programmed to notice disappearing trains and report them.

BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) had the same problem.  Rene posted to Twitter about this.

MLB.com Article by Thomas

My brother did an article on the Yankees for MLB.com

Chicken and Corn Fried Rice with Lemon Spinach

I saw this recipe awhile ago on NPR's website.  I've cooked it twice and it's tasted pretty good.  I've altered the recipe a bit, though.  I used lemon juice from a bottle, used frozen spinach, used garlic powder instead of minced garlic and omitted the ginger -- ginger is expensive.

Cracking Down on Downloading Music Illegally In France

I heard this piece on Marketplace the other day on downloading music illegally in France.  While I think it's important that artists' rights are protected, I'm not entirely sure that I agree with the method that France is using.  Summarily disconnecting someone from the Internet, without a court order, strikes me as a little bit draconian.  The idea of monitoring someone's Internet use without a court order also strikes me as a little bit creepy.  Comments?

Bank of America and the Ransom

I got a brochure from Bank of America about their pricing changes, and I learned that if you want to transfer an IRA to another financial institution, they will charge you $50 (!) to do so. They shouldn't hold someone's retirement savings for ransom. Here's a link (to a PDF) for it. You should probably transfer the funds out of a Bank of America IRA before 5 June, when the pricing changes go into effect.

Hiking Across Maryland

Last Saturday, I hiked forty-one miles across Maryland in the Hike Across Maryland.  We started at 5:20 a.m., when a school bus disgorged us at the start of the trail.  After a rock scramble at 6:30 a.m., I was at the second checkpoint (and had hiked 5 miles) by 6:57 a.m.  According to the statistics, of the people that finished this hike, I placed in the first quarter.  I was hoping to finish faster than I did (11 hours and 49 minutes), but I'm still pleased.
I've posted pictures to Flickr.  It's definitely an experience I won't forget.

Trademarks and March Madness

Although it is after March Madness, I wanted to post about this story on NPR the other day about how aggressively the NCAA and its attorneys pursue trademark infringement relating to March Madness.  Unfortunately, it looks like you'll have to listen to the audio to get the whole thing.  From my conversations with someone who knows a lot more about trademark law than I do, I can understand why they are so aggressive about it.

An April Fool's Joke on an Ant

This NPR story is funny, although I feel slightly bad for the ant.

A Public Service Announcement About Tornadoes

I was talking to a friend who was near a tornado, and when I advised him to get underneath an overpass, he told me that the radio had told him not to.  He was right, although the misperception is pretty widespread.  This website from NOAA has a lot of information on why an overpass is not the place to be in a tornado.

On User Notifications in Browsers

One of the designers of Firefox did an interesting post on just how well-designed software should interact with the user.  It's interesting to see how things that I really don't give much thought to in Firefox or Internet Explorer have quite a bit of thought put into them.  It helps explain why Clippy was not the success that Microsoft wanted him (it?) to be.  The discussion of their prototype for a new tab page is neat.  It's pretty neat to see how far Internet browsers have come in the last few years.

Harmonious Blacksmith

Yesterday I went to the National Gallery of Art's free concert series to see a performance by Harmonious Blacksmith, who played renaissance and baroque music. They were quite good. Afterwards, I discovered that they had free mp3s on their website.

Black Bean Soup

I made black bean soup following this recipe from the Times, and it came out quite well (even though I omitted the salt).  Cilantro was the only ingredient I was not familiar with, and it was found alongside the parsley and lettuce in the vegetable section.  It was $.99 for a bunch, so relatively inexpensive.  Just be careful not to let the beans scorch, you have to stir it somewhat often.

Funny Trial Techniques Article in the ABA Magazine

There's a funny article in this month's ABA magazine about trial techniques, and how an attorney has won cases by using some unorthodox methods.  There is not much legalese in it, so it should be funny even for a non-lawyer.  Be forwarned, the article does contain profanity.  Here is a link.

Quieting Title to a Copy of the Declaration of Independence

There was an interesting post on Boston 1775 (a blog I read) about a Virginia Supreme Court case that involved a copy of the Declaration of Independence that was stored in the attic of a house in Maine.  It looks like Maine's attorney, by not preserving issues for appeal, lost out on arguing a number of things before the Virginia Supreme Court.

Zealous Representation: What Does It Mean?

There was an interesting article in the Times today about a Manhattan assistant district attorney who intentionally lost a case where he did not believe in the conviction.  According to the Times article, the responsible court agency (which I presume is the First Department Disciplinary Committee) chose not to purse a case against Mr. Bibb.  The case raised the question of what zealous representation means when one is a district attorney.   

Country Music Song About the Economy

A country music singer, John Rich, who, according to Wikipedia, used to play in the country music band Lonestar, has come up with a song about the current economic situation. While I don't think it's ever going to gain the same historical traction as some of Woody Guthrie's songs, I do think the song is pretty good. His website has a streaming version of it.

Another country music song that discusses economics is Cafe Down on the Corner by Sawyer Brown. That's much older.

Handy Things the IRS Can Do For You

By calling one toll-free number:
800–829–1040, you can get answers to your tax questions, order free publications and order transcripts of information you entered on previous tax returns.  All of these services are free. 

With regard to publications, may I suggest Publication 17, both for its utility in answering tax questions and helping you fall asleep.

The automated system for getting transcripts will ask you for your address, so I'm not sure how it will react if you want things sent to a new address because you've moved.  In any case, though, the phone system is quite efficient, and you can order multiple transcripts with one phone call. 
See:
http://www.irs.gov/faqs/faq/0,,id=199557,00.html

Status Page for Google's Cloud Applications

Google has set up a status page for its applications (like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Talk, etc.)
See:
http://www.google.com/appsstatus
They really ought to have had such a status page since the beginning of Gmail, but I suppose late is better than never.

Poached Salmon

Yesterday and tonight I poached salmon fillets for dinner.  To make this, I did the following:
1.  Took a frying pan and put a little bit of water into the bottom of it.
2.  Brought this water to a boil.
3.  Put the salmon in the water and covered it with a lid.
4.  Waited until the salmon was done (flaked easily with a fork and was light pink).
I also made a side dish of pasta (small pasta works better, like orzo if you have it or elbow macaroni), and served it with lemon juice, which you can pour right over the fish and the pasta.
You could also, I suppose, use rice instead of pasta, although then I suppose the lemon juice wouldn't work so well.
It was quite easy to do and did not take long at all.

Sons of Bill: A Band to Watch

Last Thursday night a friend and I went to see Sons of Bill (music samples are on MySpace and Facebook).  They were quite good, and both of us thought that they were better than the main act, Reckless Kelly.  I'll definitely keep my eye open for them to see if they are in Metro DC again.

Copyright and Facebook Terms of Service

There's been an interesting discussion in both the mainstream media and Facebook's blog (there have been two entries) about Facebook and copyright law.  My three cents is that the only thing that Facebook needs a perpetual license to is an email that I send to a friend via Facebook.  I think it's weird that they'd even need this, given the fact that one normally doesn't think of email as copyrighteable.  If I send an email on Gmail to my friend on Yahoo!, am I really granting Gmail a license to copy my email and send it to my friend?  Ordinarily, I wouldn't have the need to claim copyright on an email I sent.  Even if I was sending my friend a manuscript for a book I was writing, could I then sue Gmail for copyright infringement?  I don't think I'd have a cause of action.   

Anything else that I post on Facebook, like a wall post or photo, can be deleted.  Therefore, any license I give Facebook for posting something like that should be revocable at my will.

I wonder whether someone who sued Facebook for copyright infringement for redistributing his or her pictures would even have a cause of action (so long as Facebook posted them in compliance with his or her privacy settings).  I guess Facebook is covering itself, but are they going over the top?  


Flickr's terms of service are pretty clear.  Once I remove my content from Flickr (which is owned by Yahoo!), Yahoo!'s license to display and/or distribute this information is instantly revoked.  Sometimes, as when I submit content to a Flickr-sponsored group, the license, by its terms (you'll need a Yahoo!/Flickr account to see these terms), expires at a certain time.

Google's answer to Flickr (Picasa Web), on the other hand, has much broader (and less favorable) terms for me as an end-user.  If I upload a photo to Picasa Web, under the terms of service (Section 11.1), I give Google what essentially amounts to an irrevocable royalty-free license to display my information.  As a result, I don't use Picasa much.

It's interesting to see what at tangled web is woven with all these license agreements.  It also shows the importance of reading license agreements.

Free Starbucks Instant Coffee

Go to this website for free coffee.  There's no strings attached.

Update:  They're out.

Gmail Outage Updates

If you use Gmail as your email provider, you might be interested to know about this Google group.  Only Googlers can post to it.  It will let you know if there is a problem with Gmail. There's also an RSS feed you can subscribe to if you are so inclined.

Peanut Butter Recall Information

This website from the FDA has information on the peanut recall and a comprehensive list of every product affected.

Steve Martin's Surprising Talent

The other day I was on Amazon MP3 and saw a free download (still free as of this writing) from Steve Martin.  At the time, I thought the name was just coincidence, but then I saw this article in the Times about how Steve Martin plays bluegrass.

Old Folk Music on NPR

Last Thursday, there was a piece on NPR's All Things Considered about people who are preserving "old-timey" music.  The CDs available for purchase on the group's website are pretty pricey, but the audio on the story's page on NPR is free.

Stats on Google

Google posted some interesting statistics about searches during the inauguration.  It's neat (although not surprising) to see the drop in U.S. queries during President Obama's swearing in/speech.
Google also posted some interesting stats awhile ago regarding the election.  I had meant to post them earlier, but here they are now.

Pasta with Olives, Cauliflower, and Tomato Sauce

I saw this recipe in the Times and thought it was worth a try.  I modified it slightly.  I used plain olives and frozen cauliflower which I prepared in the microwave.  I also omitted the thyme because I didn't have any.  It still worked out perfectly well.

Facebook in Pirate

If you're bored, you can try going to Settings|Language in Facebook and picking English (Pirate) as your language.  You'll have to scroll down through the languages, but it is there.  Facebook's developers apparently had a lot of time on their hands.  It looks like they rewrote the entire interface in Pirate.

Runners and Cars, as well as a Useful Link

There was an article in the New York Times a little while back about runners and cars.  When I can, I like to avoid running with cars, but, unfortunately, living in an urban area, that's sometimes difficult.  I usually try to defer to cars, but it can annoy me when cars don't yield to me when I am in a cross walk.  Right now, on weekends, I like running in Rock Creek Park on Beach Drive.  At least a portion of that road is closed to vehicular traffic.
I also discovered a useful link, that lets you see what your pace is based on mileage run and distance traveled.

A Musical Examination of Buddy Can You Spare A Dime

There was an interesting piece on NPR yesterday which was a musical analysis of Buddy Can You Spare A Dime -- a depression era song.  Even though my musical knowledge is pretty limited, I was able to get a lot of what the analyst was talking about.
I also didn't know that the lyricist for this song also wrote Over the Rainbow of Wizard of Oz fame.

Hobo Stew

A few weeks ago when I went camping, I made Hobo Stew over a campfire.  The meal is readily transferable to non-campfire cooking. 
What's nice about this recipe is that you can use pre-cooked items, so you don't have to worry about cooking things extra thoroughly.
So, without further adieu, here is the recipe:
In a non-stick frying pan (although you can use a regular frying pan if you want), combine:

• Random vegetables of your choice (I use broccoli, celery, mushrooms, and peppers).
• Some variety of pre-cooked sausage.  While camping, we used kielbasa sausage.  At home, I used Trader Joe's chicken sausage.
• A medium potato, sliced thinly.  (You can cook the potato with the rest of the food if you want).  Or, if you're like me, and are impatient, you can just cook the potato in the microwave and add it to the pot.
• Simmer this whole concoction for a little while.
• After simmering, put it on a plate, and season it to your taste.  I use Montreal Steak seasoning, but you could use pepper, or really anything.

You're done!

How To Lose A Customer By Suing Them

A customer went to his local Chevrolet dealership and, while his car was in for repairs, borrowed a loaner car from the dealer. The car was insured under the dealer's insurance policy. The customer was involved in an accident, and the dealer's insurer then turned around and sued the customer for the damage sustained to the vehicle.  As the customer was a permissive user of the dealer's loaner car, an appellate court in New York ruled against the insurer.  I would imagine, however, that this customer will not buy a GM car ever again.

Apple Is Sneaky

Apple is being sneaky, sneaking applications onto people's computers without their consent.   They say they're installing only iTunes, but then lots of other applications find their way onto the computer.

On Why People Didn't Evacuate During Hurricane Ike

NPR had a good commentary by someone on why people did not evacuate during Hurricane Ike.  While I don't really agree with their reasoning on not evacuating, the essay is, nonetheless, very good (in particular the last paragraph).  I think it's more powerful listening to it than reading it. 

Update on Virginia Spammer

In March, I wrote how the Virginia Supreme Court upheld a criminal sentence of a spammer from North Carolina who used AOL's servers.  The Virginia Supreme Court issued a new opinion on Friday, vacating the convictions based on the First Amendment and the spammers right to free speech.  Here is a link to the summary (search for Jaynes within the page if you don't see it at the top).  Here is a link to the opinion (a PDF).

Switching Easily Between Desktops on Windows

I found a utility, aptly named Desktops, which allows you to easily switch between desktops on Windows.  So, if you wanted to switch between one Desktop where you had Word set up and another desktop where you had Excel set up, you could do so easily.  It's published by Microsoft, and it looks like it will run on most versions of Windows.

The Yellowstone National Park Fires -- Ten Years Later

There was a piece on NPR about the Yellowstone National Park Fires, ten years later. This is the first part of a five part series.
I also found more than you ever wanted to know about how the National Park Service manages fires.

Useful Plugins for Firefox

I discovered a few plugins for Firefox, two of which are from Mozilla Labs. A disclaimer: These are all non-final versions, and therefore might be buggy. However, I have not had any real difficulty with any of them.
Ubiquity allows you to use the keyboard to quickly Google something, select text and email it to someone, or insert a map into an email and email it to someone, and more. But hitting -, you call Ubiquity, which then will do your bidding.
Second, a program called Auto Dial, which, based on your web history, builds a custom web page that opens each time you open a new tab, so that when you open a new tab, it will
Finally, a program called Ctrl-Tab allows you to switch between tabs easily, all the while seeing what tab you will be switching too.

Red Cross Has Problems Again

I've written regarding the Red Cross's blood donation problems before.  According to an article in the Times, they still continue to have problems.  The article discusses a specific procedure for disinfection prior to inserting the needle to donate blood (swabbing antiseptic and such).  I didn't know there was a separate procedure, but I'll bet that other blood donation services that I've given to have not followed that rule. 

Le Vent du Nord

I was listening to NPR recently and heard a Quebecois group called "Le Vent du Nord" or "The Wind from the North."  The band plays traditional Quebecois music.  The neat thing is that they play songs that date from the founding of Quebec and came across from France.  Meanwhile, these same French songs have become extinct in France.
There are songs to listen to both at NPR's website (where you can hear the report) and also at the band's MySpace page.  They're also on iTunes.

Metro Wasting Money

What's one million dollars to fund a mystery rider program on Metro???!!!
See:
http://www.wmata.com/about/met_news/story.cfm?ID=1813
What a waste of money. Especially because I can tell you about Metro for free, as can many other customers.

Front Pages from Around The World

I have been going to concerts at the National Gallery of Art recently and, on my way back to the Gallery Place China-town Metro, I've been stopping at the front of the Newseum to view the newspapers that they have on display from across the nation and world. But, you don't have to make the trek to see them, because you can see them online too. Hopefully they'll keep this up after they open on 11 April, but it looks like they may not.

Apple Forcefeeds Software to Users

On the Windows version of iTunes, Apple is, by default, disguising an installation of Safari (their browser) as an "update" to iTunes. It takes advantage of users who are told to install security updates religiously and forces an update on them. Microsoft does not take advantage of security updates to install new software onto people's computers.
See this blog entry for more information.

Blog by TSA on Airport Security

I don't fly that much, but I have had some experience with TSA, so I've found this blog interesting. One entry discusses the Macbook Air and an experience one traveler had when TSA was suspicious of his Macbook Air because it did not look like other laptops. Another entry discusses how, after implementing lanes for different types of travelers based on ski slopes (black diamond = expert, blue square = intermediate, green circle = inexperienced/family), they have seen a decrease in the amount of banned items that they see in the green circle lane at security checkpoints. I find this somewhat surprising, since I would have thought that by the time someone arrived at the checkpoint, they had already packed their bag with items they think are ok. I guess maybe someone who isn't feeling rushed by the people behind them may take the time to read the signs and realize "Oh, wait, I can't bring that shampoo on the plane with me!"

Mount Everest and the Olympic Torch

I heard about China asking Nepal to close Nepal's face of Mt. Everest from 1 May to 10 May last week on the radio. Nepal has acquiesced. They want to run the Olympic torch to the top of Everest. This article has more information.
I think Nepal shouldn't have acquiesced, as it will deprive all of the people who have planned their years around climbing Everest from climbing it.
As for China, I don't know much about climbing Everest, but one thing that I do know about it is that it is not easy and is not something that should be rushed. Yet, China seems to want to rush someone to the top of Everest and do it sometime between 1 May and 10 May. I understand that China may want to show the world that it can climb Everest, but, in reality, they're depriving people who have planned for years to attempt Everest of that chance so they can put on a show for the world.

Skittles Leads to a Suspension

In New Haven, although the school district eventually backed down, an eighth-grader was suspended from school for a day for buying Skittles from someone. He also was stripped of his eighth-grade vice president title, and was not permitted to attend an honors dinner.
I don't think the suspension was fair, and I also don't like the idea of the adults interfering in the political affairs of 8th graders, although I imagine sometimes it is necessary.
I've always wondered what purpose suspensions serve, particularly out-of-school suspensions. For the students who get them, it translates into a day off from school.
Apparently "dealing" Skittles also earns a suspension, although the story doesn't say whether that merits more days.
Here's the story.

Virginia Nabs a Spammer

If you're going to spam people, don't use Virginia ham in your spam. A North Carolina man who spammed people using AOL's servers had his sentence upheld recently. AOL is based in Virginia, which is how Virginia got jurisdiction over him. For those who don't want to read the opinion, there is a short summary here (search for Jaynes on the page if you don't see it at the top). Here's a link to the court's decision.

When to Call Animal Control

Don't read this if you've just had dinner, it's slightly gross.

Now, that being said, if a python starts sleeping in the same bed as your chihuahua, and other animals have been killed by snakes, it might, perhaps, be time to call animal control. This family apparently did not know that. Although the python was in the dogs bed and their cat had recently died under suspicious circumstances, the family did not call animal control.

Voting in Maryland

Last Tuesday I voted in Maryland. This was my first time voting there, and it was a different experience from voting in New York. Maryland uses touch screen voting machines, whilst New York uses huge lever-operated voting machines that have been in use for decades. Personally, I like the old voting machines better. There is something anticlimactic about pushing a button to finally cast my ballot and see a screen informing me that my vote had been cast. I liked New York's voting machines much better, with the huge lever that you had to pull. I actually felt like I was accomplishing something in New York. I also don't like a computer counting my vote to begin with.
I would also feel more comfortable if they asked questions about one's identity that could not be obtained from a Facebook profile and the phonebook. (like the date and month of one's birth and one's address). I'm not sure if they even checked my signature against something. While I don't think that they should be asking for ID to vote, I do think that they could at least compare signatures (since that's available from the voter registration form)