I cannot tolerate television news. A few minutes viewing makes me sputter “that’s not newsworthy!” at the screen, after which Judy kicks me out of the room. My students roll their eyes at these rants; this is the only television news they have known. The latest twist in the “balloon boy” story is the allegation that [...]
Thursday, October 15, 2009
I disagree with mandatory sentences in criminal law–and school punishments. Zachary Christie’s suspension from school for possession of a folding combination knife, fork, and spoon shows why. Zachary is six years old, in first grade, and was proud to use his new cub scout utensil at lunch. For violating its no-weapons policy the school [...]
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Here’s an interesting story by Eric Torbenson from the New York Post: ”The monster that ate the recovery–Why the rise of Internet shopping could destroy jobs and the economy.” [It's alternate subheadline is "could filling your iPod destroy the economic recovery?"] The premise is “online sales mean fewer employees and fewer physical storefronts. That means [...]
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Over the last few days I’ve heard from two former students who are now in the first year of law school. The first relayed two “things I wish I knew at SMG about law:” The first is the fact that jurisdictions have different standards and different tests to apply to the same concept. It seems [...]
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Say you purchase a brand-new $3 million house adjacent to a golf course in a luxury country-club development. The developer requires all house purchasers to buy country club memberships for $175,000. You comply, relying on a clause of the club membership agreement that obligates the club to reimburse the membership acquisition fee in full, in [...]
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Metadata is “data about data” or “information about other information.” Web pages contain metadata–click on “view page source” or the equivalent command in your browser to see all of the behind-the-scenes code that goes into this seemingly plain, boringly-white page. The typewritten papers and memos of my college and law school careers contained no metadata [...]
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
A gray and wet day. Yesterday, however, was gorgeous. Clear blue sky, bright sun, 55 degrees, low humidity, local trees beginning to turn. We went hiking with the dogs in Middlesex Fells Reservation, about 2,600 acres of woodland, ponds, hills, and fields a few miles north of Boston. In 2.5 hours on the Rock Circuit [...]