LawLawLaw #45: Technology, Law, Baseball, Rock ‘n’ Roll.
About LawLawLaw
Since 2001, LawLawLawTM has documented trends in technology, law (mostly patents and trademarks), baseball (mostly Red Sox), and music (mostly rock). Today’s disclaimer du jour of the day: Action figures sold separately. Thanks for reading!
Clocktower Client Stuff
* Brightleaf Solutions Named Company Of The Year By CIOReview (2018-02-07)
https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/430763398/brightleaf-solutions-named-as-company-of-the-year-by-cioreview
* Layer3 TV Acquisition By T-Mobile Worth $325M (2018-02-08)
https://www.techrockies.com/layer3-tv-acquisition-by-t-mobile-worth-3–m/s-0073686.html
* GSG Rebrands As Sakon, Delivers Key Capabilities To Help Fortune 500 Companies ‘Know Their Networks’ (2018-03-05)
https://www.marketscreener.com/news/GSG-Rebrands-as-Sakon-Delivers-Key-Capabilities-to-Help-Fortune-500-Companies-ldquo-Know-Their-Ne–26107585/
* Tamr Closes $18 Million Investment To Accelerate Growth & Secure Leadership Of The Enterprise Data Unification Market (2018-07-11)
https://www.tamr.com/tamr-closes-18-million-investment-to-accelerate-growth-secure-leadership-of-the-enterprise-data-unification-market/
* AT&T Completes Acquisition Of AppNexus (2018-08-15)
“AT&T Advertising & Analytics Lays Foundation of a Premium TV and Video Ad Marketplace Fueled By Data, Technology, Premium Content and Distribution”
http://about.att.com/story/2018/att_appnexus.html
* Most Entrepreneurs (Including Myself) Are Not In Their 20s (2018-08-28)
Nice post about who starts startups from Tamr founder Andy Palmer.
https://koablog.wordpress.com/2018/08/28/most-entrepreneurs-including-myself-are-not-in-their-20s/
Technology Stuff
In this era of fake news, it’s important to know that dinosaurs and humans never walked the Earth at the same time:
There is some good technology news from my alma mater:
* MIT Scientists Delight in Solving Culinary Quandary: How to Break Spaghetti Noodles Without Making a Mess (2018-08-21)
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/scientists-delight-in-solving-culinary-quandary-how-to-break-spaghetti-noodles-without-making-a-mess/
But I have a much simpler solution: break the spaghetti in the closed box over the edge of the counter to get perfectly halved spaghetti without the mess! I should patent that.
Law Stuff
I was in Spain for vacation this summer, and while there, I was pummeled with GDPR popup messages on my laptop. (Does the GDPR apply to US citizens while in Europe? What about dual citizens? Who knows? Who cares?!) Of course I repeatedly clicked “OK” and “accept” so I could get on with my work (or play, as the case may be). So my opinion of the GDPR, Europe’s new privacy law, is that it is privacy theatre. My experience reminded me of this article, inspired by my kids:
* The ‘Duh’ Of Shrinkwrap Licenses (2004-04-03)
Kids have figured out the problem with shrinkwrap licenses. So why can’t judges?
https://www.giantpeople.com/282.html
And this, for comic relief (HT to my CEHS classmate Peter):
* Nihilistic Password Security Questions By Soheil Rezayazdi (2015-10-02)
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/nihilistic-password-security-questions
You know that the GDPR is a joke when humor sites chime in:
* ClickHole Is Updating Its Privacy Policy (2018-05-28)
https://www.clickhole.com/clickhole-is-updating-its-privacy-policy-1826303565
* XKCD: GDPR (2018-05-28)
https://xkcd.com/1998/
And on the law front, Clocktower’s win-or-tie rate remains pretty darn good:
* XTAB Stats = PTAB Stats + TTAB Stats (2018-05-17)
For patent and trademark disputes, Clocktower clients win or tie over 80% of the time.
http://www.clocktowerlaw.com/5331.html
And maybe, just maybe, the patent law pendulum is swinging back in the direction of reality:
* Patent Office Shows New Respect for Software (2018-09-26)
https://patentlyo.com/patent/2018/08/patent-respect-software.html
Baseball Stuff
The 2018 Red Sox season is an embarrassment of riches. Color me embarrassed. But I’m going to say that we who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s deserve this! No matter how it ends, this has been a great season. Here are some of my favorite headlines/highlights of the season:
* The Red Sox Will Probably Never Lose Again, Unless It’s Out Of Sympathy (2018-08-08)
http://www.survivinggrady.com/2018/04/red-sox-will-probably-never-lose-unless-sympathy.html
* Betts Hits Slam, Red Sox Rout Yanks 14-1 For 9th Win In Row (2018-04-11)
https://sports.yahoo.com/betts-hits-slam-red-sox-rout-yanks-14-025011981–mlb.html
* Don’t Want To Overstate This, But The Boston Red Sox Are Currently The Greatest Thing In The History Of Things (2018-04-21)
http://www.survivinggrady.com/2018/04/dont-want-overstate-boston-red-sox-currently-greatest-thing-history-things.html
* Martinez HR Helps Red Sox Rally From 5 Down, Top M’s 14-10 (2018-06-23)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/martinez-hr-helps-red-sox-rally-5-down-032126433–spt.html
* Porcello Stuns Buddy Scherzer With 3-Run 2B (2018-07-03)
https://www.mlb.com/news/rick-porcello-hits-3-run-double-off-scherzer/c-283958920
* Bogaerts Hits Walk-Off Grand Slam To Deliver Red Sox Win Over Blue Jays (2018-08-15)
https://sports.yahoo.com/bogaerts-hits-walk-off-grand-054414566.html
* Betts Launches First Career Walk-Off Homer (2018-07-28)
https://www.mlb.com/news/mookie-betts-hits-walk-off-homer-vs-twins/c-287601544
* Pearce Smacks 3 HRs As Sox Crush Rival Yanks (2018-08-03)
https://www.mlb.com/news/steve-pearce-hits-3-homers-as-sox-beat-yanks/c-288601426
* Enjoy The Hell Out Of This 2018 Red Sox Team (2018-08-08)
https://www.overthemonster.com/2018/8/8/17663516/red-sox-2018-record-best-season-of-all-time
* 11-Run Seventh Lift Red Sox Over Marlins 14-6 (2018-08-30)
I got to attend this 99-degree game with (my wife) Rebecca!
https://sports.yahoo.com/11-run-seventh-lift-red-022529341.html
* Red Sox Erase 6-Run Deficit, Win On Phillips’ HR (2018-09-05)
https://www.mlb.com/news/red-sox-win-on-brandon-phillips-hr-in-9th/c-293428504
* Red Sox 1, Blue Jays 0: 100 Wins Thanks To Another Great Start From David Price (2018-09-12)
And I got to attend this game with (my stepson) Freddy, who finally saw his first win as a Red Sox fan!
https://www.overthemonster.com/2018/9/12/17853286/red-sox-blue-jays-david-price-aaron-sanchez-craig-kimbrel-steven-wright
But it’s not all about baseball. Some people prefer cricket! Here’s an oldie – but a goodie – on that topic.
* How Cricket Looks For Most People (2012-02-11)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYrue4oXCbo
Music Stuff
R.I.P. Queen of Soul…
* Watch Stevie Wonder Perform Heartfelt Farewell Tribute at Aretha Franklin’s Funeral (2018-09-05)
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/watch-stevie-wonder-perform-heartfelt-farewell-tribute-at-aretha-franklins-funeral/
Random Stuff
* MIT 30th Reunion (2018-05-27)
Thanks to those who helped me graduate 30 years ago.
https://www.giantpeople.com/15615.html
* 25% Of A Group Can Change Everyone’s Behavior (2018-08-24)
I watched the 1957 movie “12 Angry Men” for the first time this summer (with my daughter).
https://lifehacker.com/25-of-a-group-can-change-everyones-behavior-1828589265
* The Web Design Museum (2018-09-06)
“Ok, if you started using the web 15-25 years ago, prepare yourself for the nostalgic blast of the Web Design Museum.”
https://kottke.org/18/09/the-web-design-museum
* Suicide Is Not Funny, NAMI Can Help (2018-09-10)
World Suicide Prevention Day
https://www.giantpeople.com/15689.html
* The First Episode of ‘Late Night With Conan O’Brien’ (2018-09-13)
“To mark the 25th anniversary of its airing, the very first episode of Late Night With Conan O’Brien has been made available online in its entirety.”
https://kottke.org/18/09/now-online-in-its-entirety-the-first-episode-of-late-night-with-conan-obrien
LawLawLaw is a publication written by Clocktower Law founder Erik Heels and published by GiantPeople. The opinions in LawLawLaw do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Clocktower Law, GiantPeople, their employees, or the author. If you don’t share this with friends and family, then who will? Thanks!
