Kevin Matthew Dames Blog

CopyCense

Google Privacy Case Is Inside Baseball
"The Justice Department went to court last week to try to force Google, by far the world's largest Internet search engine, to turn over an entire week's worth of searches. The move, which Google is fighting, has alarmed its users, enraged privacy advocates, changed some people's Internet search habits and set off a debate about how much privacy one can expect on the Web.

"But the case itself, according to people involved in it and scholars who are following it, has almost nothing to do with privacy. It will turn, instead, on serious but relatively routine questions about trade secrets and civil procedure."

Adam Liptak. In Case About Google's Secrets, Yours Are Safe. The New York Times. Jan. 26, 2006.

(Editor’s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archive.)

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.

Posted by K. Matthew Dames at 08:54:00 AM in Cases & Litigation , Privacy & Security , Web & Online | Permalink

Rule 49: Make Safe and Sane Left Turns

here

Left turns at controlled intersections are one of the most dangerous driving maneuvers. They don't have to be -- the dangers can be controlled. The most important thing is to be knowledgeable -- and then MINDFUL -- of what they are.

When you enter an intersection, the immediate danger is the traffic coming from your LEFT on the cross-street. Look left first, to make sure all traffic is stopping before you enter the intersection. Look left first, then right, then left AGAIN before you roll into the intersection. A red light runner is going to arrive, on average, within four seconds of the light change. You don't want to be there if he does.

Pull into the intersection (unless the law in your state dictates otherwise), but leave room for left turners coming the opposite direction to do the same. Modernized intersections have off-set opposing left turn lanes, so that both directions have a good view of the oncoming traffic. Some driving instructors will tell you NOT to enter the intersection until it is clear to turn. I disagree. The greatest danger in entering the intersection is the red light runner -- and after the first four seconds that danger largely evaporates. Sitting behind the crosswalk prevents others from making their left turns on that light cycle. This is unnecessary and holds up traffic flow.

Once you're out there, yield to all oncoming traffic. In my state, the left-turner must yield to ALL oncoming traffic, even if they run the red light. This is because the left-turner is almost always the last person with the opportunity to avoid collision -- since he is typically sitting still, waiting for the traffic to clear. If you do not have a clear view of the oncoming traffic, in all the lanes, then don't begin your turn. When you see that all traffic has stopped, then you can go. I am amazed at the number of drivers who gamble everything they have by making BLIND left turns. I've watched some of them die. If you think about how most people view yellow signal lights ("time to hit the gas"), you understand the dangers!

Don't turn your wheels in the direction you are turning until it is clear to go. If you are rear-ended while you are waiting, your already-turned wheels will guide your vehicle into the oncoming traffic -- so keep them straight until the way is clear to complete your turn. Then, complete the turn into the correct lane.

One last hint -- if the traffic is heavy, the left-turn lane is crowded, and it looks like it will take more than one light cycle to be able to make a left turn, consider continuing through the intersection and make three right turns instead. If you do this on side streets (not private property) it's legal and often quicker (when traffic is congested).

Keep it between the fence posts!

Fair use checklists

http://www.copyright.iupui.edu/checklist.htm

http://www.masters.edu/DeptPageNew.asp?PageID=1757

http://www.copyrightoncampus.com/basics/fairuse_list.asp

To all our Law-Lib colleagues:

The Boston College Law Library has entered the blogging world with its Reference Question of the Week blog. Each week, Legal Information Librarian Joan Shear will post a question recently answered by the Law Library's reference staff with our accompanying answer. The blog is keyword searchable. We hope that it will help your patrons with legal research questions and we look forward to hearing from you with comments about a different research approach or a better source for the answer.

To view and comment on the blog, go to here.

Mary Ann Neary
Legal Information Librarian and Lecturer in Law
Boston College Law Library
885 Centre Street
Newton, MA 02459

stumpers

Try here: http://domin.dom.edu/depts/gslis/stumpers/

It also includes the archive - which is very useful!

Maggie Mills
Manager, West Valley Library

SUSAN HANSEN
Jan 27, 1:01 pm

From: "SUSAN HANSEN" - Find messages by this author
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2006 12:01:24 -0600
Local: Fri, Jan 27 2006 1:01 pm
Subject: RE: Stumpers

Stumpers just switched to a new host and are now called Project Wombat. You can access them at:

http://www.project-wombat.org/

Susan Hansen, MA, CIRS,
Librarian
Rochester Public Library
101 2nd Street SE
Rochester MN 55904-3776

@rochester.lib.mn.us
www.rochesterpubliclibrary.org

Corporate Blogs

NYTimes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

January 7, 2006
What's Online
A Blog That Blogs Corporate Blogs
By DAN MITCHELL
THE Fortune 500 Blogging Wiki (socialtext.net/bizblogs) amasses blogs maintained by employees of the biggest American corporations.

The goal, according to the Wiki's creators, is to collect "active public blogs by company employees about the company and/or its products."

But that can quickly become complicated. As Stephen Baker points out in Business Week's

Blogspotting, "blogging is about niches."

"Big companies have lots of them," Mr. Baker says, "and can spawn lots of blogs."

For instance, Mr. Baker notes that Jason Calacanis's blog, which focuses on technology, blogging and media in general, as well as personal stuff, is counted on the wiki as a Time Warner blog. (Mr. Calacanis created Weblogs Inc., which was bought by Time Warner.) But, Mr. Baker says, Mr. Calacanis "writes about his niche - not much about Dick Parsons or the layoffs at Time magazine."

Still, the nature of a wiki, which can be edited or updated . . .

Google

Forbes

Google Ad Network, Google Base Show Significant Promise
Maya Roney, 01.03.06, 2:49 PM ET

Piper Jaffray research analyst Safa Rashtchy maintained an "outperform" rating on Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) and raised his price target to $600 from $445, expecting the company to continue to gain market share, strengthen its brand and generate revenue with new initiatives in 2006.

"2006 should be another banner year for Google," wrote the analyst in a recent research note. "It is singularly well positioned to benefit from the growth of online advertisement and search."

Google is Piper Jaffray's "Top Pick 2006" in the large-cap category. Rashtchy expects the global search market to grow by 41% in 2006, with Google continuing to gain market share. The company gained an additional 5% market share in 2005 and strengthened its brand over the past year with the release of new and innovative products such as Google Maps and Gmail.

Furthermore, the research analyst believes Google's "culture of innovation" has enabled the company to go beyond online search marketing with innovative new products that have "redefined the consumer Internet experience."

Rashtchy believes two of Google's newer products in particular, Google Ad Network and Google Base, show significant promise to fuel Google's string of earnings upside surprises into 2006 and beyond.

Has Your Grief Turned to Depression?

Every person who experiences a loss must complete a four-step grieving process:

1. Accept the loss;
2. Work through and feel the physical and emotional pain of grief;
3. Adjust to living in a world without the person or item lost; and
4. Move on with life.
Depression is more than a feeling of grief after losing someone or something you love; it's a whole body disorder. It can take over the way you think and feel.
Symptoms include:

A sad, anxious, or "empty" mood that won't go away;
Loss of interest in what you used to enjoy;
Low energy, fatigue, feeling "slowed down;"
Changes in sleep patterns;
Loss of appetite, weight loss, or weight gain;
Trouble concentrating, remembering, or making decisions;
Feeling hopeless or gloomy;
Feeling guilty, worthless, or helpless;
Thoughts of death or suicide or a suicide attempt; and
Recurring aches and pains that don't respond to treatment.
If you recently experienced a death or other loss, these feelings may be part of a normal grief reaction. But if these feelings persist with no lifting mood, it's time to ask for help.

Little Dogs

This Profit Track looks for stocks that are paying dividend
yields of greater than 8% along with other attractive
fundamental attributes. Although this screen is based on a
long-term and lower risk approach to investing, it has
consistently beaten the S&P 500 for with returns such as +19.5%
in 2004 and +10.7% in 2005.

Here are four stocks that make the grade for the Growth and
Income Profit Track:

American Capital Strategies Ltd (NASDAQ: ACAS), which has a
current yield of 8.64%, recently declared an additional 2005
dividend of three cents per share. ACAS noted that total
dividends declared for 2005 equal $3.08 per share, an increase
of 6% over 2004. In early November, the company reported
third-quarter earnings of 82 cents per share. The result topped
the consensus estimate by about 5% and outpaced the year prior
total. Continue your research on ACAS at
http://at.zacks.com/?id=2389

Diana Shipping, Inc. (NYSE: DSX) meets the criteria of this
profit track with a favorable yield of 15.16%. The company
recently reaffirmed its fourth-quarter dividend guidance,
stating that it expects the dividend to exceed 36 cents per
share. DSX expects to declare the dividend in early February
2006. In late October, the global provider of shipping
transportation services announced third-quarter earnings per
share that were almost 8% ahead of the consensus estimate.
Continue your research on DSX at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2390.

New Century Financial Corporation (NYSE: NEW), a real estate
investment trust (REIT) and parent company of one of the
nation's premier full-service mortgage finance companies, is
yielding an impressive 18.43%. NEW recently declared a dividend
of $1.70 per share for the fourth quarter. The company mentioned
that this is the fourth consecutive increase in the dividend
since electing to become a REIT in the fourth quarter of 2004.
Continue your research on NEW at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2391.

RAIT Investment Trust (NYSE: RAS), a real estate investment
trust, satisfies the criteria of this Profit Track with a yield
of 9.38%. The company recently declared a fourth-quarter
dividend of 61 cents per share. In early November, RAIT
Investment Trust posted third-quarter earnings of 65 cents per
share, outperforming the previous year's earnings of 63 cents
per share. Continue your research on ACAS at
http://at.zacks.com/?id=2392.

To see the full list of stocks that currently pass this
winning screen, go to http://at.zacks.com/?id=2393

Suit Accuses Google of Infringing Patents

By BLOOMBERG NEWS
Published: December 31, 2005
Google, the Internet search engine, has been accused in a lawsuit of infringing a patent-licensing company's patents with its free Internet telephone system.

The plaintiff, Rates Technology, contends that Google Talk, a voice-over-Internet service, infringes patents issued in 1995 and 1996. One is for a device for routing telephone calls along "a least-cost route," and the other is for a system to update a database that stores billing rates so cheaper calls can be made.

The complaint says Google has been infringing the patent "within the past six years."

Rates Technology filed the suit in Federal District Court in Central Islip, N.Y., on Oct. 5. The suit was reported yesterday by The New York Post.

"R.T.I. has discussed with and given Google notice of its infringement, and has tried to resolve this matter without litigation, but Google has refused to do so," the complaint says. "Thus, Google has forced R.T.I. to file this lawsuit."

A conference on the case is set for Feb. 3, according to court records.

Lynn Fox, a spokeswoman for Google, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.