The Blawgel Fish

Kevin A. Thompson hosts the forty-second edition of Blawg Review at his Cyberlaw Central site. This week's issue is dedicated to the works of Douglas Adams, of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame. Despite being a science fiction afficianado, a fan of British comedy, and a moderately well-read individual generally, I've never managed to get around to reading this much-beloved series; BR42 has certainly whetted my appetite, though. From the AltaVista Babel Fish translator to the Trillian universal IM client, the books' impact on those who have built the modern internet is palpable; it seems that there's been some effect on web-connected lawyers as well.

Next week, the Mediation News Online site will enjoy hosting honors (although I'm not certain where you go from "the Restaurant at the End of the Universe"). Review the Blawg Review submission guidelines, keep an eye peeled for the best legal writing in the Blogosphere this week, and we'll find out together next Monday.

Google's Peek Over the Great Wall

At the official Google blog, Andrew McLaughlin, Senior Policy Counsel at Google, eloquently responds to the storm of criticism leveled at the company for its decision to enter the Chinese market, subject to restrictions imposed by the Chinese government:

Launching a Google domain that restricts information in any way isn't a step we took lightly. For several years, we've debated whether entering the Chinese market at this point in history could be consistent with our mission and values. Our executives have spent a lot of time in recent months talking with many people, ranging from those who applaud the Chinese government for its embrace of a market economy and its lifting of 400 million people out of poverty to those who disagree with many of the Chinese government's policies, but who wish the best for China and its people. We ultimately reached our decision by asking ourselves which course would most effectively further Google's mission to organize the world's information and make it universally useful and accessible. Or, put simply: how can we provide the greatest access to information to the greatest number of people?

Filtering our search results clearly compromises our mission. Failing to offer Google search at all to a fifth of the world's population, however, does so far more severely.

It's a measured response calculated, I believe, to explain an inherently problematic decision rather than to attempt to justify it to the many who have called for a boycott of Google's services to protest its decision.

Ultimately, the conditions imposed upon Google will be be relaxed in response to pressure felt by the Chinese authorities not from Google but from their own increasingly tech-savvy and affluent populace. Even in the most controlled political environments, it is difficult to retract freedoms once they are extended to the people; instead, freedoms tend to expand over time. The restrictions China places upon its people's access to Google and other internet-based information may exist in some fashion for an extended time, but limited access, while it may satisfy most for now, will not forever.

TGIS: Thank God It's Schadenfreude (49)

This week's joy in the misfortune of others comes courtesy of the Associated Press (from Tuesday, January 24; link good at time of posting):

Nearly 300 people who were awarded more than $450,000 in a class action lawsuit over jailhouse strip searches handed the money back to the state to pay child support and related debts.

. . . .

Of the total, $240,000 went to the children's families, and the rest went to state and federal governments to help repay the cost of public assistance during the time that support payments were not available, state officials said.

[Previous TGIS]

The Best Thing to Happen to the News Since Huey Lewis

Last April, I noted Google's tendency to provide significant product functionality in a semi-permanent beta status; the two notables I highlighted most prominently were Gmail and Google News. It's worth noting now that Google News has finally shed its beta designation, nearly four years after its launch (March 15, 2002 according to SearchEngineShowdown.com, although Google's own announcement lists a September, 2002 release date).

As mentioned in my earlier post, Wired has speculated that the lengthy beta period was due in considerable part to copyright concerns associated with commercializing the Google News product:

The minute Google News runs paid advertising of any sort it could face a torrent of cease-and-desist letters from the legal departments of newspapers, which would argue that "fair use" doesn't cover lifting headlines and lead paragraphs verbatim from their articles. Other publishers might simply block users originating from Google News, effectively snuffing it out.

It will be worth watching the reactions of those news outlets spidered by Google News to see whether Wired's speculation was on-target. For now, Google News still carries no overt advertising, but it's difficult to know whether this represents an accord between Google and the MSM, an assessment by Google's counsel that a non-beta but non-commercial Google News constitutes fair use, or just a defferal of day of reckoning predicted by Wired.

Forget Butter -- Now It's Guns Versus Computers

At least one district in Mexico City is offering computers to anyone willing to trade in their guns:

Shootings are a daily occurrence in Mexico City, a sprawling megalopolis of 18 million people where muggings, carjackings and kidnappings are common.

The computers-for-guns program, which echoes past schemes in other city districts that offered groceries for guns, will target some of the district's most crime-hit areas, although collectors' items are also turning up.

Although the groceries-for-guns and computers-for-guns schemes may prove to be somewhat successful, a proposed follow-on campaign to exchange badges for guns has been scrapped; it seems that no one needs any stinking badges.

Personally, I'm curious to see how this thing is working a few months hence -- will those who held onto their guns simply use them to take computers from those who didn't? Is there a Spanish word for Darwinism?

Holy Fatwa, Meccaman!

Ann Althouse linked to a New York Times report about a Kuwaiti businessman who is developing a comic book series for Muslim children. "The 99" is based upon Islamic teachings that God comprises 99 distinct qualities. The article features a few of the comic characters, including Jabbar, who exemplifies "expandable"; initially, I misread that as "expendable", which seemed quite plausible as a Muslim value in light of some recent events. There's as yet no word whether these comics will compete head-to-head with the Catholic Incredible Popeman and secular Nelson Mandela comics noted here some time ago. I haven't reviewed all 99 qualities, but unless one of them is "great sense of humor", I suspect this series may not be long for this world.

Mr. Wilson Tames the Blawg Review Menace

Jonathan B. Wilson hosts the forty-first edition of Blawg Review at his eponymous blog. As I enjoyed a self-imposed news blackout last week (Disneyland wouldn't be the happiest place on Earth otherwise, would it?), I'll read this issue with even more interest than usual. Next week's issue will be hosted by Kevin A. Thompson at the Cyberlaw Central blog; review the submission guidelines and join the fun!

Well This'll Be the Day

I never thought I'd see the day the Seahawks would be headed for the Super Bowl. If there is any justice in the universe, Seattle's long-suffering fans will enjoy two weeks of happy anticipation, a day of blissful Super Bowl dominance, and several months of smug gloating before the Sports Illustrated cover jinx, the Madden curse, and the Chunky Soup curse inevitably coalesce to herald the team's descent into several seasons of salary cap and personality-driven infighting hell.

Tomorrow I return to the office after more than two weeks away. After a week and a half traveling on business and another week on vacation to Disneyland, I may not be able to recall where my desk is located; I'll give it at least a few minutes before I give up and head back home. Actually, it's not a bad job at all, if for no other reason than the fact that it doesn't prompt people to toss rocks through my windows. Pete Morelli, a gentleman who resides in nearby Stockton, California, isn't so fortunate. It seems he's so unpopular that the local police can't determine whether the rock-tosser who smashed his window recently was angered by his vocation or his avocation; from Saturday's Tracy Press:

A rock was thrown through the front window of the home of Pete Morelli, an NFL official, and police said Friday they have no suspects in the case.

Morelli, a ninth-year official, made a controversial call last Sunday during the Pittsburgh Steelers’ divisional playoff win over the Colts. He incorrectly overturned a tumbling, fourth-quarter interception by Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu, according to Mike Pereira, the league’s vice president of officiating.

Morelli also is the principal at Stockton’s St. Mary’s high school, and it’s unclear whether the rock-throwing incident was related to his school job or his NFL affiliation.

TGIS: Thank God It's Schadenfreude! (48)

This week's joy in the misfortune of others comes courtesy of the Associated Press (from Wednesday, January 4; link good at time of posting):

Sally Erickson and David Renzie thought they had the secret to marital bliss. But the eccentric list of demands outlined in their prenuptial agreement, which included mandatory backrubs and a $5 fee for nagging, still couldn't save their marriage.

Now Erickson, 61, is suing Renzie, 62, for allegedly divorcing her in secret more than two years ago, according to Seminole County court records.

. . . .

Despite their carefully laid plans, Renzie decided to call it quits 3½ months into the marriage. Erickson was served notice of the divorce suit six days later, which she acknowledges, but she says in court pleadings that Davidson then intentionally misled her, saying he had dropped the whole thing.

Renzie apparently had a change of heart for a while and the case stalled for 1½ years. Then, in February 2003, he asked for a default judgment in his favor and got it.

Court documents show Erickson was absent. She claims she never even knew about the divorce.

Renzie has not contested Erickson's claim. Last month, serving as his own attorney, he filed paperwork asking the judge to throw out the divorce.

[Previous TGIS]

This Epiphania is All Greek to Me

Bruce MacEwen of the Adam Smith, Esq. blog hosts the thirty-ninth edition of Blawg Review this morning. As MacEwen relates, during this week is the Christian celebration of the Epiphany, an event which provides the theme for this week's issue; in addition to its religious significance, the word has a connotation in literature, denoting the realization of a fundamental truth about oneself, "a truth which is grasped in an ordinary rather than a melodramatic moment". Blawg Review #39 is neither melodramatic nor ordinary, but is enlightening nonetheless. Building on this week's epiphany next week will be Anita Campbell of the Small Business Trends blog; review the Blawg Review submission guidelines and join the trend.

Ain't Life Unkind?

I'm on the road this week, enjoying life lived from a suitcase and sampling the offerings of America's finer chain eateries. Today found me at Ruby Tuesday, a Red Robin-like gourmet burger restaurant. That was (as Space Ghost would say) a super-unsatisfying meal, although the chocolate pudding at the salad bar deserves props.

The chain has taken a page from the Applebee's decor guide and gone the "cover every square inch of the walls with bric-a-crap" route. It's an eyesore and no aid to proper digestion, but occasionally one sees something which piques one's interest. And causes one to refer to oneself as "one", apparently. This time, that special something was an antique-looking print of an anonymous early-20th century football player; it was a truly unique piece of Americana and so was the identical print on the next wall over.

Only in America would someone manufacture random faux-antique junk when there's no shortage of random real-antique junk to be had. Only in America would someone else buy multiple copies of that random faux-antique junk to ugly-up his strip-mall restaurant. When you get right down to it, the original antique football print is probably less authentically American than the random faux-antique copy. The copy of the random faux-antique copy is even more distinctly American, but that's where it ends; a third copy would just be tacky.

TGIS: Thank God It's Schadenfreude! (47)

This week's joy in the misfortune of others comes courtesy of the Associated Press (from Tuesday, January 3; link good at time of posting):

Some teenage soccer players and their parents saw more sights than they wanted when they stayed at a hotel where about 200 swingers were having a New Year's Party.

The families, some who traveled from as far away as South Carolina, said the sexually adventurous partygoers sashayed through the hotel atrium, sometimes flashing breasts and bare buttocks in front of the children. The parents described the dress at the Crowne Plaza Hotel-Airport in Orlando as "raunchy, despicable and worse than prostitutes."

"We thought we were coming to Orlando, not the Las Vegas Strip," said Mark Gilbert, the father of a boy who plays on the Clearwater Chargers, a group of 13-and-under players from Florida.

. . . .

Paul Camporini brought his wife, seventh-grade daughter and eighth-grade son from Safety Harbor and said he had to "delicately explain to my Catholic school children that swingers change partners during the evening."

Camporini, 49, said his son initially did not want to travel to watch his sister play soccer but "thought it (the swingers' party) was downright hilarious."

[Previous TGIS]

Stop Teasing!

Every so often, I read an article where a passing detail is so intriguing that I cease to care about the rest of the piece. A Wall Street Journal article (subscription required) this morning is an excellent case-in-point:

Like a few other adventurous foreign investors in the early 1990s, American businessman Larry Hillblom believed Vietnam was on the cusp of becoming Asia's next big economic story. As the co-founder and the "H" of express-delivery company DHL, he spent $40 million of his fortune to restore the run-down, French-built Dalat Palace Hotel in Vietnam's chilly central highlands. His idea: transform the 85-year-old building into an exotic gem recalling the country's colonial past.

. . . .

Mr. Hillblom made his bet on Vietnam too early. Like many businesses stalled by the reluctance of Communist leaders to open up the country, the Dalat Palace languished, employing as many as 170 crisply uniformed staff to attend to just 43 rooms. As late as 2002, the hotel -- with period details like rotary-dial telephones and faux paintings in the style of Renoir and Lautrec -- had anemic occupancy rates of 25%.

In recent years, however, much has changed in Vietnam, and in Dalat, to help realize Mr. Hillblom's vision. A longstanding American economic embargo was replaced by a bilateral trade deal concluded in 2001. The pact has helped make the U.S. Vietnam's top trading partner, and has also prompted local entrepreneurs to cash in on export opportunities. The country's economy is now growing at a rate surpassed only by China in Asia.

It's an interesting article -- a visionary man devotes himself to building something which is ahead of its time and, thus, commercially unsuccessful; it might make a good movie, just as similar stories have, at least twice in the last twenty years or so, in Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) and Bugsy (1991). Did I care? Not a bit, because amongst those introductory paragraphs was this:

But the famously enigmatic Mr. Hillblom died at the age of 52 in 1995, when his World War II-era seaplane disappeared into the Pacific Ocean off Saipan. He left behind a trail of teenage lovers, several children and complex estate claims. As for his beloved hotel, open for just one week at the time of his death, it failed to attract the swarms of wealthy foreign patrons he'd envisioned.

Yes, yes, he built a hotel; now what were you saying about those teenaged lovers?

Granted, a full-length motion picture provides a somewhat greater opportunity to explore side issues and character details than does a newspaper article; if you're going to write a short article about the less colorful side of a subject's character, however, why allude to the more salacious details at all? Supposing that Bugsy Siegel's personal life were as obscure as Mr. Hillblom's, if a 1950's-era reporter had wanted to write a business-focused article about the development of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, wouldn't it have been better to stick to that and avoid dropping in a paragraph like this:

But the famously sociopathic Mr. Siegel died at the age of 41 in 1947, when he was shot multiple times by a mafia hitman. He left behind a trail of Hollywood mistresses, several murders and extensive organized crime connections. As for his beloved hotel, open for just six months at the time of his death, it failed to attract the swarms of wealthy patrons he'd envisioned.

There are details which enhance and details which distract; I'm not saying that a journalist has to write only about the five Ws and exclude all else, but a bit of focus is always welcome.

Now, what about those teenaged lovers?

I Resolve to be More Like Evan Schaeffer

I'd call Blawg Review one of the great undiscovered treasures of the blogosphere, but as I learned when I hosted the carnival a few weeks back, it's been discovered by a great many people. The success of Blawg Review week after week is due in considerable part to the skill and attention of its editors; one of those editors pulls double-duty this week as Evan Schaeffer hosts the thirty-eighth issue of Blawg Review at his Legal Underground blog. He gets the year started right by highlighting the best of the past week's legal blogging and offering up ten blogging resolutions to better your blogs in the coming year. Looking through these, I see a great deal of value to be had; adding these ten to the two resolutions I made last week, I now have a resolution per month to keep me busy this year. Bruce MacEwen hosts the carnival next week at his Adam Smith, Esq. blog; review the submission guidelines and resolve to be a part of Blawg Review number thrity-nine.