Since that action was possible under existing criminal laws, why is legislation that layers obscuring civil penalties against entities not engaged in criminal activities needed to protect intellectual property?

One might be forgiven for wondering if the push for such legislation stems from something other than the desire to prevent theft of intellectual property. Maybe these Harvard Business Review bloggers have it right: it’s a legislative attempt by big companies with vested interests to protect their downside.

On the surface, SOPA and PIPA aim to make it difficult to steal intellectual property by making it difficult to use legal tools like the internet to “fence” their loot. I’ve got no problem with that idea.

I’ve not read SOPA, but I did read PIPA yesterday and cannot find where it makes it more difficult for the criminals. It makes it more difficult only on those producing the tools by shifting the burden of law enforcement to businesses.

It makes just about as much sense to charge International Paper with the responsibility of making sure that none of the paper it produces is ever used in a ransom note. Or regulating the sale of paper to only registered users.

UPDATE: Another reason why SOPA and PIPA are not needed is that the purveyors of intellectual property most often stolen — music and movies — are not hurting economically from piracy as much as you’d think from the publicity.

…bleeding revenue to piracy is going to be a problem to the extent that your product is a hit… (rtwt)

In short, piracy is certainly one problem in a world filled with problems. But politicians and journalists seem to have been persuaded to take it largely on faith that it’s a uniquely dire and pressing problem that demands dramatic remedies with little time for deliberation.  On the data available so far, though, reports of the death of the industry seem much exaggerated.

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Reading a decent freebie Kindle murder mystery, I’m annoyed at the carelessness of the author. One night it’s moonless after a storm clears intimating a certain time of the month. The next night it’s a 3/4 moon. I feel mislead by the first description of the weather and lack of clarification of whether it was cloudy.

This one is better than some of the other free novels. At least the author manages to keep his characters’ names straight. I would have been happier with some waxing accuracy instead of waning. I would have been impressed had the author described it as a gibbous moon.

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Via DrX, Buying the Body of Christ. In that excellent essay about how the communion wafer entered the capitalist marketplace, there’s a mention of a “Chasid Cup” which I didn’t find a link to but I did find the “Celecup” which also packages the grape juice and wafer together in easy single servings:

• No Special Preparation Required
• No Refrigeration Necessary
• Three – Six Month extended shelf life
• Time Saved During Church Services
• Strict Hygienic Packaging Standards
• Allows For Communion In a Variety of Settings
• Can Be Transported Without Spillage
• Sized For Standard Communion Trays

I think it’s “Time Saved During Church Services” that is really strange. “Andale, andale… we haven’t got all morning ya know!” Followed by an admonishment not to litter and maybe a reminder to help the arthritics who may not get theirs opened quickly enough.

Nothing above is meant to disparage Christianity, but I cannot imagine ever being comfortable or feeling worshipful in a church that used this product on a regular basis, especially one that used it to save time.

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I’m not sure why my husband decided to buy a bottle of Glenfiddich 15 year old Scotch for me, but I’m grateful. It is very nice. And it follows the Christmas gift of Samalens XO Armagnac from my sister. Y’all keep this up and I’m not going to be satisfied with box wines.

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“So we let him sleep it off…”

Goodnight!

What makes each gift special is that so much thought and planning (conspiracy!) goes into each one. Though an overseas trip is always a good gift, the one to Scotland was awesome because it was a trip to see my sister. Plus, they checked with my boss first to make sure I could get the time off AND announced the trip with a surprise party at my workplace on my birthday.

After the Scotland trip, I was informed that was “it” and that they would be starting over the next year with handprints on paper plates. I must confess I’m a tad bit disappointed that they didn’t actually do that.  

Yesterday, I got an out-of-the-blue gift from one of them. We’d discussed our tastes in music earlier this year when we drove to S Carolina together. (Not an entirely uneventful trip.) Our tastes overlap somewhat, but we both love types of music that the other just doesn’t quite “get”.

She had already sent me the cable I needed to hook my new smart phone to my car’s audio system merely because I mentioned I’d like to have it.

But… back to yesterday’s gift. Two music CDs. One of them is filled with songs we both like; music I’m quite sure she already had on her hard drive. It’s the other that is special because, with the possible exception of one song, I’m pretty sure she had to search, buy, and download them.

She made me my dream “Music To Drive By” CD.

Now while I’d like to believe she reads my blog daily and remembers posts from over a year ago, even my daughters aren’t THAT good. I’d sent her a link to that post this past August prior to traveling to S Carolina together to… shall we say… emphasize our differing tastes in music.

Thank you, my dear daughter, for paying attention.

I’m sure that I will never be writing a post like this one, though I submit that buying a gift for an old woman is easier than buying one for an old man every day of the week. Oh, it wouldn’t hurt to remember I like scotch (and wine, of course) as much as that old fart does but I’m not quite as particular about the age. 

*Disclaimer: I did nothing as a parent to deserve this kind of treatment. I’m just very, very fortunate.

I feel so young, so connected, so… clumsy. It’s not that I’m all thumbs, but apparently I have big thumbs and my aim is poor. Plus I’m rethinking the wisdom of all my strong passwords of great length with upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols. I also don’t have a clue what the password is for my wireless network.

Off to waste time at the Android Market now.

He was 19 days early and there’s no doubt that his due date was calculated correctly. Though there was some careful watching for jaundice due to ABO incompatibility issues, Henry did not require treatment. 

Henry’s father says his son takes after his mother — aces all the tests and finishes early. 

These photos were taken when he was 13 days old. Since then, his arms and legs have filled out a lot. He’s got a good appetite and has had very few nursing issues.

His Mom & Dad are pretty awesome also. They were so calm and laid back that some of the hospital staff thought this was their 2nd baby.

Not only that, but my daughter simply never had the appearance of just having had a baby. I won’t say her labor was easy. It wasn’t. But most women don’t look as good as she did after having been up for 24 hours even when they didn’t give birth during that time. Makeup or no makeup.  

Dad looked much worse in the day of birth photos, prompting many jokes. But that was just beard stubble. And his refusal to even consider makeup.

Now I understand that most of you are going to say that I’m just a besotted grandmother when I tell you how exceptional Henry is. That’s OK. I know better. Even his pediatrician noted at his 2 week check up that he’s focusing and tracking movement.  

Henry has his parents’ laid back attitude. The only time I heard him cry the first few days I was there was when his diaper was being changed… and I think that’s entirely attributable to temperature and expertise of the diaper changer. He didn’t like the cold wipes. And he didn’t cry as hard when I changed him. (Probably because I held the wipe in my hand long enough to take the chill off it, but I’m still chalking this up to he just loves his grandma.)

 By the time I left, Henry was expressing himself through crying a bit more forcefully. Though he’s easily pleased (food, warmth, cuddles) he is already teaching his caretakers how to know which one he wants.

My daughter jokes that his expressions in the last two photos are variations of him thinking “do you really know what you’re doing” and “so, there’s really no returns or refunds on parents?”

I’m impressed by how often he folds his hands together as he’s doing in the first photo. He expresses himself with his hands and let’s you know he doesn’t want them confined even if they do feel cold. (The old “I’m cold, you need to put on a sweater” maternal reflex.) Unlike the other newborns I’ve held and loved as a grandmother, he doesn’t often clench his hands into a fist though he does love to grasp a finger or toy.

Though I insist I’m not simply besotted, I concede that I’m easily impressed.

Of course, I’ve heard that babies this young appear to be smiling when they have gas. Henry is (of course!) different. He smiles when he’s drifting off to sleep. I know this isn’t a smile in response to any outside stimulus but I do think it’s a harbinger of his personality – it’s going to be easy for him to smile and be happy. Twice, he’s made a sound that sounds like laughter… or a chuckle.

OKAY! Maybe I am besotted. I’m fine with that. It’s not the first time, you know.

UPDATE: How could I forget to give kudos to the photographer. These photos were taken by Henry’s aunt — my oldest daughter… I mean “older”. And just a tad bit older. Not much.

She’s been working on her skills this past year and these were taken without the use of autofocus, autowhatever, etc. The most amazing photos aren’t posted here because… well… I don’t know why, but I don’t post (recognizable) photos of my grown children. It’s a privacy thing, I suppose.

I get the soup one. After all, I’m the person who thinks the grid on a waffle is there for a reason.

The parking lot rearrangement also makes sense though I think two of the cars should have had a category of their own. What’s really nice is to see them all neatly within the lines. Most of them anyway.

Really, he could have done better with the cars now that look more closely.

via Marginal Revolution