Been reading good things about it. I can’t wait to see if it’s really faster, and has better search capabilities on my HD! Have you ever tried to search thousands…
Month: <span>October 2009</span>
The LA Times had a very interesting article about how they decide to write an opinion piece. (This was far more fun than most opinions they actually run. And, hint, Meghan Daum is one of the worst.)
The Times editorial board meets three times a week to discuss what we’re going to say in our editorials, but sometimes news breaks between meetings and we scramble to reach a consensus through e-mail. The announcement that President Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize is a case in point.
Oddly enough, considering how rabidly liberal they are, the majority of them decided, like I did, that Obama didn’t exactly deserve this Nobel Peace Prize. Regardless of whether the Nobel committee decided this back in January, a couple weeks after he entered the office – which is what I read – or more recently, he just hasn’t had time to do anything to deserve this. And I’m not so sure that he will anyway. Promises, promises.
Google steals books. It has also broken the DMCA and copyright law, which was already shaky. Hey, everything online is free, right? Why not pictures, photos, cartoons, articles, and books? Google is the new Establishment, killing content with unlawful competition.
I was trying to decide what to do for my Slate cartoon today, and found that once again Google was in the news for lifting not just orphan books, but every book ever written. I did my first Slate cartoon about Google a few weeks ago, and the news then was that FINALLY the Justice Department was investigating Google for anti-trust violations and being an obvious monopoly and stealing all books for itself. Today, however, the New York Times reports:
The Justice Department, which submitted a 32-page filing to the court on Sept. 18, said it was concerned the agreement could violate antitrust law by giving Google “de facto exclusive rights for the digital distribution of orphan works.” Orphan works are books whose authors are unknown or cannot be found. The Justice Department also said it wanted the settlement to comply with procedures for class-action lawsuits.
But the department also said it hoped the agreement could be saved because of its many benefits to readers and scholars.
So the Justice Department has been bought. What benefits to readers are more important than benefits to the authors??? Scholars? Hello, if a writer wanted her work to be given away for free she’d start a frigging blog, or post research on a forum. And the f -ing readers can go BUY THE DAMN BOOK. Does the Justice Department understand anything at all about intellectual property? How about merchandise? Merchandise is not DONATED, it is SOLD.
Christopher S. Danielsen, a spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind, said the settlement would bring benefits for the visually impaired because the more than seven million books scanned by Google would be made available in audio editions.
Did you notice that part? SEVEN MILLION BOOKS STOLEN BY GOOGLE? Oh, and guess who else decided they wanted all these books for themselves, besides the blind? The League of United Latin American Citizens. Apparently this group forgot to go to school, or go to the library, and don’t know what a bookstore is.
Oh, David. First Sarah Palin, and now this. I used to think you were cool beans. Then I stopped watching you, but I still respected you. Now…
Well, what you said to Sarah was not appropriate, especially about her kid, but comedians say far worse at times. And it’s not like you’re as vulgar as Jimmy Kimmel is, at times.
But this confessing to your audience is GROSS! Don’t you know it’s wrong to hang your dirty laundry out in public?! No one cares! Tell it to your lawyer or your shrink or your manager!
And now, tonight, you even talk about how you have to make it up to your wife. OMG!!! This is not a self-help group, so just keep quiet, and STOP TALKING ABOUT YOURSELF.