You'll be glad you did

Married to the Sea

The Secret of George Mason

The Secret of George Mason.

Apple v. Apple

Email from my friend superfuzz:

I found this rather amusing...

I thought that Apple Corps folded along with the Beatles. And doesn't the little weasel MJ own the rights anyhow?

D


LONDON (AP) - Two legendary companies in the music industry are to meet Wednesday in a London courtroom to fight it out over what might be the world's most recognizable logo: A simple piece of fruit.

Apple Corps Ltd., the Beatles' record company and guardian of the band's musical heritage and business interests, is suing Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL), claiming the company violated a 1991 agreement by entering the music business with its iTunes online music store.

The case will be heard by Judge Martin Mann, who said during pretrial hearings that he was the owner of an iPod digital music player, which is used with the iTunes music store.

At issue is a 1991 pact that ended a long-running trademark fight between the two Apples in which each agreed not to tread on the other's toes by entering into a "field of use" agreement over the trademark.

Apple Computer said in a statement that "unfortunately, Apple and Apple Corps now have differing interpretations of this agreement and will need to ask a court to resolve this dispute."

Apple Corps - founded in 1968 and owned by surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the widow of John Lennon and the estate of George Harrison - is seeking both an injunction to enforce the 1991 agreement and monetary damages for the alleged contract breach.

The computer company's logo is a cartoonish apple with a neat bite out of the side; the record company is represented by a perfect, shiny green Granny Smith apple.

Apple Computer had asked to have the case heard in California, where it is based, but Mann rejected that application in 2004 and ordered the case be heard at the stately Royal Courts of Justice in central London.

Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple Computer was formed in 1976, when two college dropouts - Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak - filed partnership papers on April Fools' Day. Their goal was to build and sell personal computers, and their first product was a build-it-yourself computer kit. In 1984, the Apple Macintosh was introduced. Their ubiquitous iPods first came out in October 2001.

The iTunes music store first opened for business in the United States in April 2003; it is now available across Europe, in Australia, Japan, and Canada. About 3 million songs are downloaded every day from the service. In the United States, a song costs 99 cents; in the U.K, they fetch 79 pence ($1.38). Not available on the service are Beatles' songs, which haven't been licensed for downloading.

My comments:

Apple Corp is still a partnership among "the Beatles" and their heirs.

Michael Jackson owns publishing rights to some, if not all, songs. I think
that means he gets a share of royalties. But that stuff is separate from
the still existing Apple Corp.

Apparently Apple Corp allowed Apple to use the Apple logo and trademark as
long as it wasn't in the "music business." Now they are.

Here's what I think: the nature of Apple Computer's "music business" is
much different than Apple Corp's music business. Also, it is not
deterministic that Apple Corp would (have) develop(ed) such things as iPods
and iTunes. I think the court in whatever jurisdiction, will find in favor
of Apple Computer. Furthermore, Apple Computer is a much more well known
trademark and logo than Apple Corp. I think the court will find that Apple
Corp is a bit rotten and Apple Computer's success has NOT been on the backs
of Apple Corp. If both want to save some wasted court time, just negotiate
a tasty little settlement and get back to work.

My two cents.

JJ

wut?

Why are you looking here? Get back to work. Make something that I want to buy. Thanks.

Too true to be funny

Watch this.

(Thanks Northern and Ronny. These are two friends, you can find them on facebook. Hint: Not IUP.)

Ink

Today I taught a class in Keith 130. If you're not famiiar with the room, let me give you some background. (Skip down if necessary.) It is a pretty cool lecture hall. Pretty old school. I used to like it. Used to. They recently "rennovated" the room but I'm finding the improvements hard to value.

Added feature: carpet. Seems when you carpet a room, it tends to hold heat. Well the room does not have air conditioning. So when it is hot outside, it is hotter inside. Better have left it uncarpeted.

Shall I continue on that topic? Why even "renovate" it so half assed. The school could use that room in the summer. (There is a lot that goes on on campus over the summer.) So the investiment in the room still renders it an oven when it is warm out. Seems like the school could have sprung for a bit more.

So what pissed me off so bad today? Well, it's all about the white board. You know, those new fangled replacements for the so old school inferior chalk board. Yeah, chalk board. Who uses that? Well, I like the old chalk board. It worked so much better for me than overheads or powerpoint (ok, a late arrival to the scene, but nothing more than glorified transparencies for the overhead. don't oversell that technology people).

What is wrong with the white boards?

You have to depend on markers. Dry erase markers. And the school buys those that don't really erase well. "Oh, there are wipes you can use if the erasers don't work well." Hmm. Nice. I'll waste those 10 minutes we're going to lose anyway when we go to the 50-minute class hours now! I didn't have to deal with that with chalk boards. The whiteness of the chalk and the effectiveness of the erasers made the situation workable. Ok, there is some variation on chalk. At least then the powers that be were wiling to try stock some variety of chalk for the variety of chalkboards.

So today, I picked up the black marker. Dry. I realize it won't hold up over class. I pick up the blue marker. Tip is pushed in (something easy to do when you dot the "i"). Then I pick up the green marker. It too is dilatory. I toss it across the front of the room toward the trash can. I miss (as usual). I am seething. I tell the class "take a ten minute break, I'm going to the office to get some fresh markers."

I return with the same brand of markers. Expo2. Obviously not the optimal dry erase marker for the white board in Keith 130.

I make it through class. And I think it was a good class.

So

Should I just give up and use the document cam? I think it would reduce my animation. I think I can leave a lot more on the chalk board than on a document cam. But I could always have the pages from the notes I've written handy for reference.

I also find that overall ink is more messy than chalk. Overheads/document cam would either be messy or I wouldn't be able to erase effectively, meaning more scribble and scratching out.

This morning, I came back from my class (not in Keith 130) and had chalk all over my pants. Even my shoes. (I think I dropped the eraser on my shoe.) After some laughs in the office, I easily wiped it off. However, I still have ink on my hands from my later class. (I could have used the magic solvent. I have no fears about putting unknown chemicals on my skin.)

Furthermore...

Another sign of half-assed investments: Could they have at least put in a fancy white board that can have sliding (up or across) boards so that you can keep about 20 minutes of your lecture handy for reference? No, they put up single panel whiteboards.

Boo.

document cam?

well, boo to you too. It would force me to adjust my methodology. I'm old. I don't want to learn new tricks. (That's a joke. In many ways, I'm more immature and malleable than your 16 year old brother.)

Ok, if this rant is lame, I agree. But it is a real one. It is one that is preventing me from doing my job. It is like the capital I've been allocated has been reduced. You know what that does, Econ 121 students? It reduces my productivity. (Damn, always a lesson. So not like your 16 year old brother.)

But if this is lame, it is only because something bigger gripes my ass. But I can't talk about it right now without using even stronger language. But for now, I'll say, it's tough being a union man. I'm trying hard to defend the labor union of which I'm a member, but the past few months I've been holding it in contempt. Stay tuned.

Welcome

Welcome to my rants.

I go off on rants a lot. Just ask my friends, colleagues, and students. I plan to use this as an outlet. Sometimes it is edifying. More often, I'm probably wrong. Just like toothpaste for dinner.

Hold on. Please be a bit kind. I'll only swear at or about people who probably don't read this, and if they do, well, I guess deep down I'd want them to know how I feel.

CinciDood