Dave Heal

Dave Heal

15p

9 comments posted · 0 followers · following 0

13 years ago @ Mendelson's Musings - The Worst Song Ever (o... · 0 replies · +1 points

This is probably the 4th or 5th time I've seen that ND video and it's still funny enough that I want to roll around on the ground to fully express my enjoyment. I can't believe the idea was commissioned and then posted online, presumably with the approval of multiple sentient beings. It really boggles the mind. So long as we (Michigan) don't tank this year, it'll be some nice ammunition in the fall.

14 years ago @ Mendelson's Musings - Welcome to the New Men... · 0 replies · +1 points

Agreed that the new site looks great. Love the little Twitter widget above your photo, too. That's very cool.

14 years ago @ Mendelson's Musings - Why Copyright Law is S... · 1 reply · +3 points

Hey Jason,

In bullet #2 are you talking about the copying for the purposes of providing snippets (the basis of the two lawsuits) or for the so-called non-display uses that Google is getting a license to as part of the Settlement? Not that it matters especially, but the non-display uses were not the basis for the lawsuit, in part because the case is weaker (by which I mean the fair use case was stronger) but also because Google was originally pretty coy about the many non-display uses they had in mind. Strange that it now turns out that those might end up being one of the most important aspects of the Settlement (although at this point there's no way the Settlement is getting approved as is).

And for as broken as copyright law is, I think Google's fair use argument under the current doctrine was pretty strong here. And I was really hoping they'd stick around to fight on that angle. That being said, the only reason they had the luxury of making that argument is b/c they have endless amounts of money to defend against a lawsuit and keep plugging away in court for years to protect an activity that maybe you think should be presumptively legal.

Bullet #2 also reminded me of a case you may have heard of. There's not a whole lot of post-DMCA law on the liability of search engines for caching copyrighted material, but the case that comes to mind immediately is Field v. Google (412 F.Supp.2d 1106), which granted Google's motion for summary judgment and held Google fell within the DMCA safe harbor & was making fair use of the guy's stuff in any event. Essentially there were 4 or 5 independent justifications for considering Google's caching legal behavior.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to reading and commenting on your upcoming series.

14 years ago @ Feld Thoughts - Startup Visa OpEd in t... · 1 reply · +1 points

I think you're fine posting the op-ed here. I'm guessing that because this is an op-ed and not a commissioned work, you probably didn't sign anything, right? If there wasn't a contract, §201 of the Copyright Act says you retain the copyright and they basically just get the right to publish the thing the once and in any subsequent revisions.

14 years ago @ Feld Thoughts - Wi-Fi on Airplanes Fin... · 0 replies · +1 points

Ha, well, it should have been clear that I was kidding. My likely response is going to be to turn on my noise-canceling headphones and crank up the Jayhawks. Staging a sit-in in an uncomfortable and likely-to-not-recline airplane seat would certainly make a statement, though.

14 years ago @ Feld Thoughts - Wi-Fi on Airplanes Fin... · 2 replies · +1 points

If people start talking on Skype on flights I'm going to have do something drastic. By which I mean start a Facebook group. And if we've learned anything from social networking, it's that no socially abhorrent behavior has survived the creation of a Facebook group.

14 years ago @ Mendelson's Musings - Beer, Beer and More Beer · 1 reply · +1 points

I'm from Upstate NY and there's a great brewery in Cooperstown called Brewery Ommegang. I'm fairly certain I was able to get some of their beers when I was out in Denver this past summer. I'm a big fan of the Three Philosophers, and I believe the Hennepin's quite good too.

http://www.ommegang.com/

14 years ago @ Feld Thoughts - The Boulder Snow Myth · 0 replies · +1 points

At least you still have the other seasonal story to hold on to: Colorado's famously "dry heat." As a native of Western NY I was dreading the high temps of Colorado in the summer and called bullshit on all my friends telling me about how dry the heat was, etc., etc., blah blah blah. Turns out that after living in Denver last summer for the first time I had to admit that I was wrong and that 98 in Colorado is way more comfortable than 85 in Rochester, NY.

I do still have this image of January in Colorado as sunny and warm, though. And I'm afraid I'm going to continue to force myself to think of Colorado winters as a sub-tropical snow globe until I have personal experience of something different.

14 years ago @ Feld Thoughts - What I Read On My Q409... · 2 replies · +1 points

Have you ever read any of David Foster Wallace's tennis essays? Both his autobiographical one and his profile of Michael Joyce are really fantastic. He also wrote a piece on Roger Federer for the NY Times a few years ago that's more hagiography than profile but is still quite good.

I know Wallace's style is a bit polarizing, but I think he's written some of the best, most thoughtful essays on tennis out there.

Links, in case you're interested:

DFW on Federer: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/sports/playmaga...

The Michael Joyce essay (which I've only read in its Author's Cut form in his collection A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, so I can't speak for how this holds together):
http://www.esquire.com/features/sports/the-string...

Derivative Sport in Tornado Alley
http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/w/wallace-fun....