Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Dan Froomkin Watch

Posted on December 17, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

Dana Milbank, one of the Post’s very best reporters, was pretty funny yesterday in his online chat. He started out with this comment,

Dana Milbank: Good morning. Many of you out there in what my colleague John F. Harris affectionately dubs “the crankosphere” are evidently of the impression that the Washington Post political staff is distracted by internal battles with washingtonpost.com. Nothing could be further from the truth. We have focused this week on the Iraqi elections, in which the Froomkin turnout was much higher than expected. We have closely monitored the White House’s about face on the Froomkin torture amendment. And today, I write from the Senate press gallery, where Froomkins are attempting to filibuster the Patriot Act.

With that, I will be happy to take your Froomkins.

Continue reading →

Posted in Dan Froomkin | 4 Comments

Kudos to the Miami-Dade Public Library

Posted on December 17, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

I have to praise the Miami-Dade Public Library system. Once I escalated my complaints about their new wireless service they have done almost (but not quite) everything I asked for.

They unblocked digicrime.com from the PC network. They are going to put into place procedures which allow on-the-spot blocking overrides for the laptops they lend out in the library (!). They regret that they don’t see a secure means of providing a similar on-the-spot override for users who bring their own laptops, as they think that would ‘compromise security’.

But most importantly, they’ve unblocked port 22 so I can use ssh! And they were very nice about it, too. (Please, nobody mention some of the things you can do with ssh tunnels, ok?)

I’m impressed.

Posted in Miami | 2 Comments

There Goes Particle Physics

Posted on December 16, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

Laura Quilter writes,

derivative work – Nintendo Threatens Cancer Researchers: Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has apparently received a trademark cease & desist from the Pokémon company (Nintendo) after cancer-related research on the Pokemon gene — which Pandolfi’s lab named four years ago, in 2001 — received headlines like “Pokemon Causes Cancer”. Sloan-Kettering has knuckled under, now calling the gene Zbtb7.

Lots more on this if you follow the link…

I understand why Nintendo were mad, but like Ms. Quilter, I can’t understand why the doctors caved in. If their use was non-commercial it is not banned by the the Lanham Act. Even if it was commercial the claim for confusion is nil. The claim for tarnishment under a dilution theory would I think fail under federal law; unlike Ms. Quilter I do think it’s possible that some state law claim might have had a little more juice…if the court could keep a straight face…although I agree Nintendo would have to be complete idiots to bring the case and face the bad publicity.

What’s next, the estate of James Joyce suing everyone who writes about quarks?

Posted in Law: Trademark Law | 2 Comments

Unsolicited Endorsement

Posted on December 16, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

If you are looking for wood furniture in Miami, I recommend WoodWorks Home Furnishings. There are days when it feels like we got half our furniture there. Possibly because we just about did. Nice, honest people who know their stuff, stand behind it, and charge reasonable prices given it’s solid wood.

Posted in Shopping | Comments Off on Unsolicited Endorsement

’bout Time

Posted on December 15, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

Redressing a 15-year-old error, the University of Michigan Law School has given Jessica Litman a tenured offer. And she’s accepted. The only down side here is that it reduces the number of faculty couples employed at the same law school. (At least temporarily.)

Posted in Law School | Comments Off on ’bout Time

The Latest Wacked Bush Theory

Posted on December 15, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

I would never post this had it not come from that paragon of right-of-center respectability, UCLA Law Prof. Stephen Bainbridge. But since it does, I cannot resist:

Bush: Commie Dupe? Here at ProfessorBainbridge.com, we dote on conspiracy theories. So we were amused by science fiction writer Charles Stross argument “that George W. Bush is a communist dupe.” Or, more precisely, a dupe of a conspiracy of a cabal that has combined “the Shachtmanite version of Trotskyism” and “right-wing crypto-Nieztchian philosopher Leo Strauss.” It would seem to explain a lot.

Of course, Prof. Bainbridge also mentions in the comments to that item that “here at ProfessorBainbridge.com we were very taken with Cthulhu’s slogan in the 2004 Presidential race: ‘Why settle for the lesser of two evils?'” … so be forewarned….

Posted in Politics: Tinfoil | 2 Comments