Yesterday’s post concerning a “legal blog” which was publishing content of others as its own, without attribution, has been removed.  The owner stopped by with this comment:

Immediately addressed the issue.  Webmaster says he was linking to all original sources and just adding his own random thoughts prior to the link.  A Drudge Report model.  Defended himself by saying, [another blogger] hasn’t once given credit for ALL the Copyrighted Photographs on his site that he scrapes and then adds his cracks underneath”.  Nonetheless, I don’t like that it offended anyone.  Time to rethink having anyone do anything on your behalf.

I’m satisfied with this (after all, it wasn’t my writing that was stolen – I’m just an officious intermeddler), and have removed the post naming the scraper from public view.  It appears that the offending “blog” now redirects to the lawyer’s firm website.

Personal to EL:  I disagree, strongly, with the assertion that what was going on at your site was anything like what [another blogger] does.  Your site did not link to the source.  Your site did not provide attribution.  It simply lifted others’ posts, whole cloth, and made it appear as though they were written at your site.

When [another blogger] quotes others, he does provide links.  He does attribute.  He does provide valuable commentary beneath.  That isn’t plagiarism.

And you don’t owe an apology to me.  If anyone’s owed an apology, it’s Eric Turkewitz of the New York Personal Injury Law Blog.

I’ve written perviously about my love of Nethack, and how excited I was to be able to play it on my phone. Well, now I have a few other random Nethack updates for you to waste your Friday afternoon.

First off, in the everything old is new again department, you can now play Nethack over the internet. This is great for me, since I don’t have to install it on a work machine. It plays nicely right through a java app via the website alt.org.

Next up is something for those of us who can’t bring ourselves to attack a g or a p. You want some graphics with your hack? Well, I give you Falcon’s Eye. It converts my beloved Nethack into a nice isometric 3D graphics game. Definitely worth checking out. (note for you purists, Falcon’s Eye uses SLASH, a Nethack variant with lots of extra stuff added)

I still have never won a game of Nethack, so if you find the amulet and return it, please don’t rub it in. Maybe I should stop playing as tourists…

OK, I know that Apple and AT&T are very different companies, but still the irony of AT&T suing because a smug commerical skewers the lesser performance of an Apple product is delicious, isn’t that right P.C.?

I’ve always hated the insufferable Mac v. P.C. commercials, and I have a similar distaste for the Verizon one. Talk about what your product does, not what the other doesn’t.

We’d have covered the lawsuit filed by University of Miami law professor Donald Jones against the legal gossip site Above the Law yesterday, except that we were busy.  And everyone else got to it first.

Suffice it to say that the lawsuit was ridiculous.  It betrayed fundamental misunderstandings of law, and the nature of the internet on the part of its author. The best blogposts on the matter were written by Ben Sheffner, analyzing the demerits of the suit, and Eric Turkewitz, who played against type and provided wise, conciliatory counsel to the plaintiff, the sort of advice one might expect from, oh I dunno, a law professor.

(And by, “against type” I don’t mean Turkewitz isn’t wise.  I mean that his conciliatory advice doesn’t play into the stereotype of a plaintiff’s personal injury attorney, but I digress…)

The suit was dismissed, voluntarily and without prejudice, one day after news of it broke on the web.  We’re pleased to note that Above the Law was represented by longtime Popehat friend Marc Randazza, who blogs on the First Amendment among other things at the Legal Satyricon.  Randazza got the case dismissed with one letter.

Randazza, an “adjunct” professor himself (meaning he actually practices law) has long maintained that the legal academy does a poor job of educating its students.  Non-adjunct, “academic” professors, tenured or not, are often so removed from the practice of law (at least as it relates to litigation) that they have little of practical benefit to offer the eager young minds who pay their exorbitant salaries.

I think this case proves Randazza’s point.

Every time I have an appellate argument scheduled, I break out in a rash on my upper lip. The result: I look like a skanky rent-boy wearing cheap smeared lipstick. Is it stress? It shouldn’t be — appellate arguments are fun, and less stressful than the other stuff on my plate. Is it that I’ve tended to draw appellate arguments at this time of year, when some sort of allergy to the gunk blowing around in the autumnal winds does this to me? Perhaps. But I prefer to think it is Fate. I am fated to look ridiculous every time I appear before an appellate court. Query: what did I do to earn such bad karma?

I’ve been a fan of Stephen Fry since seeing his hilarious turns as Lord Melchett, the Duke of Wellington, and then General Melchett in Blackadder II, III, and IV, respectively. So I was happy to discovery, via John Scalzi, that he writes an entertaining blog. The occasion for this discovery was his well-written and heartfelt apology for a cheap and easy line featuring the phrase “let’s not forget which side of the border Auschwitz was on,” a turn of phrase that made me preemptively cringe before I even read the context. Fry aptly describes a human failing with which I am quite familiar: “If a joke or a neat phrase or an apparently convincing rhetorical trope or apt simile occur to me they will emerge from my mouth without passing Think.” It’s well worth reading.

Eric Turkewitz does a bang-up job on a spooky Blawg Review #236 over at his New York Personal Injury Law Blog. Enjoy.

You know, blawg reviews are hard. The one we did was exhausting. You have no idea how time-consuming it was for me to criticize all the work Patrick did on it.

So I’m astounded that Colin Samuels at Infamy or Praise has been doing what almost amounts to a weekly lawblawg review in his A Round Tuit series. And they’re good. Check out the latest.

Facebook just suggested that I “poke” a high school classmate.

This particular high school classmate died tragically young this summer of cancer.

Apparently I’m not the only one getting creeped out by this sort of thing.

Facebook is also suggesting, in so many words, that I make suggestions to help make certain friends’ profile pages less lame.

Facebook is kind of a dick, isn’t it?

I took the kids to brunch at our favorite local diner this morning. They usually have classic rock playing from a jukebox. Today they had a 40’s music CD going.

I had never previously heard “Bongo Bongo Bongo I don’t want to leave the Congo” played in a non-ironic fashion. (I know if from Fallout 3, where its use is definitely satirical.) Several people nearby were looking incredulously at the jukebox. Even the kids thought it was odd. “Daddy,” asked Evan, “Is he saying ‘bongo bongo bongo?”

I enjoyed a wonderful Halloween night of friends and boardgames. We got to play several games that I need to review here, including the better everytime I play it Le Havre and the new expansion for Dominion. Great games all (and I won 2 out of 4, which always helps.) For the evening, I put on the digital cable channel Sounds of the Season, which was playing some awesome Halloween songs.

We got “Nature Trail to Hell in 3D”, Marilyn Manson’s awesome cover of “This is Halloween”, some kitschy Elvira stuff and much more. It was a lot of fun. Until it wasn’t. At exactly 11:30, Halloween ended as far as Comcast was concerned, and the channel started to play Christmas music. Argh! Must we begin the ramp up already.

Look, for a Jew, I love Christmas. I celebrate everything about the season, but I refuse to do it until after Thanksgiving.

And the best dog I’ve ever owned.

We found out today that Daisy has a pancreatic tumor, which is as incurable in dogs as it is in humans.  We will probably have to say goodbye to her within a few weeks.  I’ve had to make the decision to put down dogs before, but not for many years.  Still, she’s had six good years that she wouldn’t have had if we’d left her in the shelter, and she’s going to have the best few weeks that we can give her.

I’ll miss you girl.

The website of the City of Detroit. Catch it now, because who knows when they will fix it. Then again, they might never…

This is not a timewaster at all. It won’t take but 30 seconds, but I guarantee your afternoon will be better for clicking here & watching the video. It’s the Thai lantern floating ceremony, and the image of hundreds of lanterns floating up into the sky is magic!