Blog of Doom

Morgan loves electricity!

The Shrinkwrapification of Patented Goods.:
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ACRA, an association of cartridge remanufacturers, sued Lexmark to block this anti-consumer use of patent law. EFF filed an amicus brief on their behalf before the Ninth Circuit. Unfortunately, the Ninth Circuit this week ruled in favor of Lexmark, agreeing that the “single use only” restriction
contained in the “box-wrap license” on the package could create an enforceable contract between Lexmark and its customers, and that a violation of the contract could be a patent infringement.

The consequences for consumers, innovators, and competition are potentially dire. Will patent owners exploit this decision as an opportunity to impose over-reaching restrictions on formerly permitted
post-sale uses, repairs, modifications, and resale? Will consumers soon confront “single use only, not for resale” notices on more and more products? Will innovators stumble over labels announcing “modifications prohibited”?

Only time will tell.

[EFF: Deep Links]

(Via Privacy Digest.)

What will happen is easy to assess. People will ignore the restriction. How can this even be enforced? The printer cartridge division of the FBI?
Or, people will steer away from Lexmark printers (I will never buy one, for example).
Or, someone will come along with a printer that doesn’t have this restriction and people will buy it instead.
Or, people who don’t take the refill cost into account when they buy a printer will get burned. The next time they need to buy a printer, they’ll find another brand.

It’s a parasitic business model. Like a parasite that eventually kills its host and needs to find another host to survive, Lexmark will survive by preying on new customers who don’t check on the cost of refill cartridges and take it into account when they buy a printer. They damn sure will the next time they buy a printer, though.

Technorati Tags: Lexmark, refill, printer

Hurricane Relief Suggestion Box:

I’ve not blogged the Katrina aftermath much, partly because I’m so disgusted I don’t trust myself around a keyboard when I’m thinking about it, and partly because I have been assuming that most decent, clear-thinking people are thinking pretty much the same thing.

I guess I was wrong on the second count, at least, because The Paragraph Farmer has posted a list of Katrina-related suggestions by people who are, as far as I know, decent and clear-thinking, and I disagree with a far amount of these suggestions. So, I’m going to have a post with my running thoughts about Katrina, and if/as I update it, I may bump this post to the top.

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I have more but that’s enough for now. Probably more than I should have written, actually.

Addendum: Coyote Blog has a picture that is worth a thousand words.
(Via Amy Ridenour’s National Center Blog.)

This morning I mentioned a rant of epic proportions coming. I’ve decided to wait on that until this crisis is over. The main thing now is to get everyone rescued, then start asking questions.

What a horrible week! I’ve been just blown away mentally by the horrible events happening a few hours drive away in New Orleans. I’m just so sorry for the poor people whose lives have been ended or disrupted by Hurricane Katrina. Many from Louisiana are coming here to the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex seeking refuge. We have several Red Cross centers open as well as one of our big stadiums for refugees. We also have recruiters helping the refugees find jobs in the local area so they can start to get back on their feet. It looks like a lot of people who made it this far my decide to stay, since they’ve been wiped out back home. I say welcome to Dallas/Ft. Worth! I think it is one of the smartest things we could do, finding them jobs and I’m actually a little surprised that anyone thought of it.

My wife hates the mayor of Dallas, Laura Miller, not personally of course, but she always comes off to my wife as one of those snobby types. I’ve never seen it, and I have no problem with her. Of course, she’s not even my mayor, since we have our own mayor in Plano. Mrs. Miller was on the TV talking to the refugees and letting them know that everything was going to be alright. She was the one who mentioned that we needed to find jobs for these people so they can start getting back on their feet. I’m not sure if she came up with the idea or is just taking credit for someone else’s suggestion.

I’m still gathering my thoughts about the Federal Government’s response to this emergency (or lack thereof). Prepare for a rant of epic proportions, coming tomorrow, after I do some research.

Technorati Tags: hurricane, Katrina, New Orleans

This one is for my niece. Hello Ellen from Morgan.

A blog post without topic:

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There’s another word I’m gonna haul out to describe the world today: doldrums. You know, that feeling of being stuck, becalmed, stranded. The August heat weighs down like wet wool. The air is a tangible thing. Being outside is like being embedded in molten amber, viscous and yellow. The days go on for weeks and the weeks feel like years.

Basically August just sucks.

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(Via The Shape of Days.)

Embedded in molten amber. Love that phrase!

Just hits the nail right on the head about Texas summers. I remember the first double take I did when the weatherman said we would have a cold front moving through and the temperatures would only get into the high 90s. That’s the nature of a summer cold front around here.

Man, it’s hot.

Liberty Matters: Property Rights May Be a Major 2006 Election Issue:

The Liberty Matters News Service, writing August 5, had some good news for property rights advocates:

The Supremes’ decision in Kelo v. New London in June has had some unforeseen results; people in all walks of life have suddenly realized their homes are not secure from government seizure and are taking steps to correct the problem. ‘A property rights revolt is sweeping the nation, and Alabama is leading it,’ said Republican governor Bob Riley, as he signed the nation’s first bill to prohibit local governments from seizing private property to turn it over to other private interests. The Kelo decision has been a wake-up-call for those who have long considered property rights concerns to be ‘red state’ issues. ‘A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll found that Americans cite private property rights as the current legal issue they care most about.’ Donald Lambro, writing for the Washington Times said; ‘[T]he property rights movement, which had been somewhat moribund before the court acted, has spawned what many political strategists expect to be a major issue in the 2006 election cycle.’

(Via Amy Ridenour’s National Center Blog.)

Let’s remember folks, all rights are property rights. The root of property rights is the right to ownership of yourself. Everything flows from that, and it’s the reason taxation is theft and slavery.

Social Security’s Birthday:

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey says the Social Security program turns 70 this week.

It seems a lot older than that.

(Via Amy Ridenour’s National Center Blog.)

That’s right folks, step right up and see the oldest pyramid scheme in the USA. I would say I’m amazed it lasted this long, but I’m not amazed at things like that any more. Just sad and dispirited.

Morgan likes to look at pictures of me from the past when I had a buzz cut. He specifically asks for “Picture. Hair’s all gone?” I know he’s asking to see my driver’s license picture when he asks for this. I don’t have it any more, because I got a new driver’s license and my hair was longer at that time. For quite a while, though, it was one of his favorite pictures. If I’m lucky, I’ll have short hair again and can take a picture of it.

I got this haircut in 2001, before I even came to Texas. For the longest time, Ash has cut my hair at home. We have a little box with Wahl haircutters and the plastic colored guides that let you cut a certain length. We did this when we were broke to save on the cost of haircuts, and just kept doing it. Anyway, one day Ash decided to cut my hair while she was intoxicated. Bad idea. It was going along fairly well, until she cut too far with the shorter guide. She tried to fix it, but eventually gave up and cut it all down to a quarter or half inch all over.

I liked it, but I love short short hair. Ash doesn’t like it because she says I look like an axe murderer. The fun part was that I was going to a job interview in Seattle. I also got my driver’s license renewed right afterwards as well. I got the job, btw, and it was the best one I’ve ever had. My boss was in Seattle, but I was in Dallas (this is why I moved from Maine to Dallas).

Morgan still remembers the picture and asks for it from time to time. His hair is now cut the same length as mine was, so if you see one of his pictures, you can get an idea of how short my hair was. All I have to do now is get Ash intoxicated again and get her to cut my hair.