Month: June 2003

In kind of bizzaro-world tech news, Palm has agreed to buy Handspring. For those who aren't up on the history of these two companies, the founders of Handspring are also the founders of Palm. They founded Palm, sold it to US Robotics, made money, got sold to 3Com, left because they didn't like 3Com, founded Handspring, made money, and are now selling the company they founded back to the company they left. Not only that, but Jeff Dawkins (one of the two founders along with Donna Dubinsky) has taken a job with 3Com, the company that he left to found Handspring.

Gah.

Just about to get off work…just have time to blog for a moment about a book that's really making me think: Bobo's in Paradise by David Brooks, an incredibly sharp witted look at the newest ruling class in the US, the bourgeois bohemians (Bobo for short). The book takes a historical look at the class structure of the US, from roughly the turn of the century on, and comments on the differences in intellectual and power classes through time. From the “refined and connected” class of the 30's and 40's through the bohemian uprising into the 60's, and the historical ties both had to European cultures…it's really eye opening to read an expose on a culture that you are a part of, but didn't even realize existed. Fascinating, and it's causing me to rethink a lot of things in both my studies and my life. Can't ask for more than that from a book, I suppose.

A new blog that I'm taking part in as an interesting experiment…

mediagroup.blogspot.com

A group of SILS kids, banging on keyboards about the media.

Awwwww…my sister just got a puppy.

Well, Happy Day. It looks like I found out what was going on with my blog software….I had a relative link instead of an absolute link for my FTP path. So, maybe things will get updated properly from now on…AND, my archives seem to be working.

Interesting court case today….the US Supreme Court ruled against 20th Century Fox in a trademark suit. Essentially, the suit says that users of material under public domain do not have to worry about tracking down trademark information for the original creator of the material. Fox sued a company called Dastar after Dastar used material created by Fox, but allowed to fall out of copyright. Fox argued that repackaging it diluted the Fox trademark, which SCOTUS rejected. From CNN:

“Scalia said that if creative producers were required under the trademark law to attribute the origin of any uncopyrighted materials they used, it would be difficult.

“We do not think the Lanham Act requires this search for the source of the Nile and all its tributaries,” he wrote.

The Bush administration and other groups including the American Library Association had supported Dastar. “

So, good news for the public domain…now if we could just managed to GET a public domain again, we'd be in good shape.

Hmm. Upload still not entirely cooperating. Lots of reports over at radio.userland.com, so hopefully something will get changed soon. If not, I guess I'll do ANOTHER blog migration…check out moveable type or something.

Speaking of eating habits, Abe and I had an interesting experience at Southpoint Mall yesterday…after seeing The Italian Job with Trish, she headed out and Abe and I tried to grab some grub. Unfortunately, every quick eatery at the mall evidently closes at 6pm on Sundays….all of them. Don't understand that, since the movie theatre shows movies all through the evening. The only things that stayed open were the sit down places that would take like 2 hours to get in and eat.

So: Boooooooo on the Food Court at Southpoint. Booooooooooooo.

Without Bets around, my sleep/wake schedule is soooooo fucked up. I'm sliding into the 2-3am bed/10-11am wake schedule, which is normal for me, but weird after the regimentation of school. So this is a weird few days. And don't get me started on my eating habits….gah.