Link roundup

1. Panasonic lost $10.2 billion for the year. Via.

2. How (and why) to set up Google Cloud Print.

3. A lawyer has the url rapesq.com. Via.

4. Bacon-flavored shake at Jack in the Box. Via.

Link roundup

1. Now here's a lawyer who knows how to specialize - - he's sued Allen Iverson three times.

2. How to keep a blog anonymous. Via.

3. "Everything You Need to Know About Using iTunes Match."

4. It's that time of year where USC and UCLA have to hide their school mascots - - "the Bruin Bear is enclosed by an approximately $5,000 box engineered like a jigsaw puzzle."

Link roundup

1. Vexin Classics: classic books like Huck Finn and Frankenstein, but with naked women on their covers? Via.

2. A look at The Pie Hole, a new restaurant in downtown LA.

3. A new law in Louisiana makes buying used goods with cash (at certain locations) illegal.

4. Brothers.

Link roundup

1. Lord of the Flies book cover design competition.

2. NY Times:

For some 15 years, Mr. Weston has been providing the New York Police Department with “fillers” — the five decoys who accompany the suspect in police lineups.

Detectives often find fillers on their own, combing homeless shelters and street corners for willing participants. In a pinch, police officers can shed their uniforms and fill in. But in the Bronx, detectives often pay Mr. Weston $10 to find fillers for them.

Via.

3. Frankenstein/Dracula/Mummy paper toys.

New law in Japan criminalizes paying blackmail to the Yakuza

A new law criminalizes paying blackmail to the Yakuza. You can read all about it here (and it's explained in the comic above).

Link roundup

1. Hooters is suing rival breastaurant Twin Peaks for theft of trade secrets.

2. Destructoid:

X-Men: Destiny is an ugly, boring, lazy little game. Even if it were free, it would be insulting to have one's time wasted in this way

3. Megan McArdle:

Gina Kolata's Rethinking Thin makes a pretty compelling case that almost everyone's weight fluctuates within a band of 20-30 pounds. Some peoples' band is higher than others, (and perhaps, slowly increasing over time). When you get nearer to the bottom of your body's weight tolerance, your hunger increases; drop below it, and your body reacts as if you're starving, slowing your metabolism and focusing more and more of your mental attention on food. I'm near the top of my weight band right now, and am nearly revolted by the idea of eating much besides vegetables and clear liquids. If Chris Christie was at a similar BMI, he'd probably be continually, distractingly ravenous.

Almost no one manages to stay outside of that band for very long, and those who do need to devote almost their entire energy to doing so, because the hunger is a biological signal on par with pain or the urge to drink. As Paul Campos notes in his excellent book, the idea that we can permanently reduce our weight through diet and/or exercise is one that has been experimentally tested about 500 million times over the last several decades, and fairly resoundingly refuted.

Link roundup

1. I love these sketches based on the original Conan movie.



2. Part of a good article about a successful NFL agent:

Like many agents, Segal went to law school, but never intended to find his fortune in the sports world. He was hired by a large "white-shoe" firm out of college, but says he quickly lost interest in the day-to-day grind of life in a big law office.



So he quit and moved back to his parents house. He had followed the careers of legendary sports agents like Leigh Steinberg and Bob Woolf and decided that was where he wanted to try his hand.



He printed up some business cards with his mother's phone number on them and began cold calling football players. It's not easy for an unknown lawyer with no office and no experience to convince professional athletes to trust him with their financial future. "A lot of guys hung up on me," he says.



Eventually, Segal landed his first client in Brad "Mr. Smooth" Baxter, a little-known running back for the New York Jets. Once he got that first client, however, the doors were opened and it wouldn't take long for other players to come through it.

3. This is actually a pretty interesting legal question (NSFW). Via.



*Buy sketch cards at eBay.

Link roundup

1. Here's a riddle:

“Why would a tiny woman with no criminal record, who worked 10 years on Wall Street, randomly hold up people at gunpoint at night dressed as a policewoman?”

Absolutely bizarre answer.

2. There's a new Humble Indie Bundle.

3. A claim that China is disassembling and burying the crashed bullet trains to hide evidence. Via.

Two sides of the video game violence debate

First, Penn and Teller speak against video game violence. They certainly have a point, but I think it might be more about the wisdom of banning football (via):



Jon Stewart had the better view several weeks ago:

The Daily Show - Moral Kombat
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

(When I saw the new Mortal Kombat fatalities, I called them snuff films.)

Link roundup

1. A few weeks ago Andy Baio mentioned that he'd reluctantly settled for $30,000 a lawsuit in which he was accused of using a photographer's intellectual property. I mentioned at the time, without explaining my reasoning, that I thought he'd indeed stolen the photographer's intellectual property. Well, this post does an excellent job explaining why.

But that's really only half the story. Predictably, internet users angered by the photographer's attempt to protect his intellectual property attacked the photographer both in cyberspace and in the real world. This is a fascinating summary of what occurred. There's a bit of commentary on that post here (make sure to read the "featured comments"). (And from that same site, here's some great photographs). Via.

2. "Hypoallergenic dogs don't actually produce fewer allergy-provoking proteins than other dogs, say researchers who put the claims to the test." Via.

3. Some snails not only survive being eaten and digested by birds, but actually use the experience as a means of travel. Via.

Link roundup

1. Some useful commentary about the current federal budget negotiations. (I tend to discount any commentary that presumes that Obama and his aides are stupid.)

2. It's going to be so hot in Qatar during the World Cup that they might play three 30 minute periods instead of two 45 minute halves. That's right, the games were awarded to a country where playing the game by the established rules will likely be impossible.

3. There's no self service gas stations in New Jersey? All gas has to be pumped by an attendant? In Los Angeles you almost never see full service advertised.

Link roundup

1. Some interesting predictions about the future of the legal profession. Via.

2. Apple not only censors emails sent by Me.com users, but doesn't even tell the users that their emails have been blocked?

3. The keys to finding a job in Hollywood.

The Law of Gotham City

A few panels from Detective Comics #233 circa 1956, featuring the origin of Kathy Kane/Batwoman and her cosmetic-themed arsenal.

*Buy Batwoman toys at eBay.

Link roundup

1. A good reminder that you should read every article critically because the author probably has all sorts of biases you don't know about.

2. The stories about Mark Zuckerberg are going to get weirder and weirder, right?

3. Lawyer complains that his opponent is using a large-breasted woman to distract the jury.

Link roundup

1. I'm not saying I agree with her assertions, but it's fascinating to read how a defense attorney would go about defending Dominique Strass-Kahn.

2. A football player drafted in the seventh round by the Bills has lost 75 pounds:

The Tennessean has a story today about [Michael] Jasper’s journey from Bethel to the NFL and from a high of 448 pounds to a svelte 375, and it includes details like the fact that Bethel didn’t have a scale that would register higher than 400 pounds, so when Jasper needed to monitor his progress in trying to lose weight, he’d go to the McKenzie Feed & Grain Store.

3. Sounds like the start of a thriller:

An outbreak of smallpox was the farthest thing from Paul Levengood's mind when his staff at the Virginia Historical Society put together an exhibit of "bizarre bits" in the society's collection since its founding in 1831.

There was Confederate President Jefferson Davis's cigar, confiscated by Union troops. There was a fungus carving of Robert E. Lee on his horse Traveller and a wreath made of human hair.

Then someone mentioned a letter, handwritten and dated 1876, with what appeared to be a smallpox scab pinned inside—light brown, about the size of a pencil eraser, and crumbling.

Via.

Link roundup

1. Sad, sad article about the crooked tricks colleges use to comply with Title IX:

At the University of South Florida, more than half of the 71 women on the cross-country roster failed to run a race in 2009. Asked about it, a few laughed and said they did not know they were on the team.

At Marshall University, the women’s tennis coach recently invited three freshmen onto the team even though he knew they were not good enough to practice against his scholarship athletes, let alone compete. They could come to practice whenever they liked, he told them, and would not have to travel with the team.

At Cornell, only when the 34 fencers on the women’s team take off their protective masks at practice does it become clear that 15 of them are men. Texas A&M and Duke are among the elite women’s basketball teams that also take advantage of a federal loophole that allows them to report male practice players as female participants.

2. From an interview about Portal 2:

At one point two years ago some Cave Johnson dialogue got leaked – so I can now tell you, two years ago Cave was the bad guy in Portal 2 and GLaDOS wasn’t in the game. It was a prequel. We liked the character enough that we snuck him into this.

3. Great article about the balancing act bloggers must perform. (I typically crank out posts before bedtime or before I leave for work in the morning, and schedule posts to appear throughout the day. I also try to post items I hope you haven't seen elsewhere.)

Link roundup

1. George Mason University School of Law invented a new grade - - the A+*.

2. You can watch a live stream from Coachella at Youtube.

3. Jeaux Janovsky is looking for commissions.

4. Josh Howard, too.

Link roundup

1. How to make a battery out of pennies. Via.

2. MSNBC:

The Los Angeles City Attorney's office is trying a new legal maneuver to try to stamp out graffiti — it's charging 10 graffiti writers with violating unfair competition laws because they're selling works on the strength of reputations built on vandalism.
Assistant City Attorney Anne Tremblay says these graffiti writers — all associated with the MTA tagging crew — have an unfair advantage over legitimate artists because they gained notoriety through crime.

Via.

3. WebMD:

Electronic faucets may be touch-free, but they are far from germ-free. In a new study, researchers at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine report finding higher levels of disease-carrying bacteria on hands-free faucets compared to conventional, manually operated faucets.

Via these sites.

*Buy chemistry sets at Amazon.

The Pillars of the Earth: A Tribute to the Masters

A few highlights from The Pillars of the Earth: A Tribute to the Masters at Distinction Gallery:


Sean Chappell, "Unsung Villains: The Master from Dr. Who Circa, 1980"



Pamela Wilson, "The Absinthe Drinker and the Hostile Silence"



Nathaniel Clark, "I approach the Cavern"



Dan Lydersen, "Mary"



Ivan Unwin, "The Den of Thieves"

Link roundup

1. Warren Ellis describes the origin of Valentine's Day (it involves werewolves). (I'm sure his site is NSFW.)

2. Especially with the nonsense this week about how video games cause rape, this is a particularly interesting observation:

For years we've been told that violence on TV creates imitation in real life. What, are police exempt from this theory? If a TV network makes felonies committed by a cop under color of authority entertainment, network standards and practices is complicit in fostering an atmosphere of lawlessness and disrespect for the Bill of Rights that can only encourage more official lawlessness.

3. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso have deals with Nike. ESPN claims that it didn't know. (Herbstreit called the national championship, if I remember correctly. It'd be interesting to listen to the broadcast and see if he praised Oregon's uniform.) Via.