Up On the Roof…

I just read Google’s blog today and was surprised to learn that an Italian court convicted some Google employees that, according to the post, had nothing to do with an uploaded video and weren’t aware of its existence, until it was taken down.

The video depicted a bullying attack and the perpetrators we’re found and charged. So, if a person uploads anything that violates privacy law in Italy, the website that hosts the uploaded video, will face charges as well.

Its a ridiculous ruling by the Italian court. Why did they stop at Google? Why not take it further? Why not the camcorder manufacturer?
the tape company?
the battery that powered the thing?
the electric company that powered the PC that uploaded the video?
the ISP that allowed it to be uploaded in the first place?
the ISP that allowed it to be downloaded for replay? etc.

Another point, if Google hadn’t provided a platform for hosting the video, there’s the possibility that the authorities would not have found out about the original crime and the criminals would have gone unpunished?

I wonder what the thought process was behind the justice’s decision? Would it have been better to sweep negative events like this under the rug? Read more about it here.

Here’s a good article about the pitfalls of what look like helpful efforts to save money and help the environment, but on closer inspection are not even close to fulfilling either one. Eco-Bling are these items that may make you feel better and show yourself and others that your fighting the good fight.

I was seriously considering solar panels and even researched wind turbines, but doing more practical things such as installing energy efficient light bulbs, wearing an extra layer of clothing and turning off lights/appliances can do more.

I think the tax incentives tied to some of these things had mislead me to believe that there was more value than what could be recouped.

Hybrid cars are no better especially when your current vehicle is fairly efficient. I could replace my 10 year old Honda (~36 MPGs still) with a Prius or Insight, but it probably would not make economic sense since real-life mileage claims appear to be just over ~40 MPG.

Besides the value of the savings, consider the time you spend researching, planning. Will you have to hire contractors, etc? Doesn’t sound easy.

Putting on a sweater and turning the lights off could be the best answer after all.

We’ve had sporadic internet outages before. Gmail has been down for an hour or more, on occasion. Twitter has the famous “fail whale,” more often than we’d like, and certainly your ISP has been down too.

On these occasions there’s not much we can do about it. If its a connection problem and there’s an iPhone or Blackberry, we’re okay. If its a website or service, we have no choice but to wait. These are pretty isolated events that happen a few times during the year and in a few locations, but…

What if we had the Big One?

What if we had a large scale, full or multi-day, Internet blackout?
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Last night I read a story on WSJ.com (may require subscription?) about the company, Monster Cables, and their practice of suing anyone who uses the word “Monster” in their business name or product.

In general, I lean toward a company’s right to protect the value of their name. I agree that If the name causes confusion in the marketplace, then that use should be contested.

However it seems Monster’s take on this is We used it first, anyone who wants to be a monster, pay up.

They’ve sued the Red Sox over names related to the “the Green Monster,” the TV show “Monster Garage,” but the one that was featured in the WSJ piece, and shows that this may be more of a revenue generator for them, was their lawsuit over the Rhode Island company Monster Mini Golf.
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An article on Ars Technica today covered a new patent by Apple, that could tie its Nike+iPod device to particular pieces of clothing.

If they carry through with it and you have intentions to buy this pedometer on steriods, you could find yourself limited to the shoes you run, jog or walk in. Additionally, it could restrict your choice of any garments, such as head gear, jackets, sweatpants, etc…

There were plenty of comments on Ars, mostly negative, most on how evil Apple is becoming, but maybe not? This could be start of something big.
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