* One Year Ago Yesterday

LawLawLaw #49 – Technology, Law, Baseball, Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Today is day one of year two of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. I’ve been pretty busy. Too busy to write this newsletter. So here are the headlines that I would have written about had I more time to write. OK, I might write a little.

* One Year Ago Today (2021-03-11)
“Several things happened on 3/11 that made Americans and their government finally realize that our lives were about to significantly change: the stock market plunged, the NBA suspended its season after a player tested positive, the WHO called it a ‘pandemic’ for the first time, Trump addressed the nation and announced a ban on travel from Europe, and Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson announced that they had tested positive for the virus.”
https://kottke.org/21/03/one-year-ago-today

Technology Stuff

We landed on an asteroid and a planet. So yeah.

* NASA Mars landing: Celebrations as Perseverance rover touchdown is confirmed (2021-02-18)
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-56119347
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56119931
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56158928
https://theoatmeal.com/comics/perseverance
https://kottke.org/21/02/onboard-camera-views-from-perseverance-rovers-descent-touchdown-on-mars
https://kottke.org/21/02/the-secret-message-encoded-in-the-parachute-of-the-mars-perseverance-rover

* NASA Probe Osiris Rex Lands On Asteroid (2020-10-23)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cszh11

* Admit When You’re Not Self-Made (2021-02-16)
https://lifehacker.com/admit-when-youre-not-self-made-1846261559

Law Stuff

* Yale Law School To Hold Panel On Supreme Court Reform Proposals (2021-03-11)
https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/03/yale-law-school-to-hold-panel-on-supreme-court-reform-proposals/
https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/03/the-urgent-need-for-court-expansion/

* Representation And Warranty Insurance (2020-07-29)
“According to the 2019 ABA Private Target Mergers and Acquisitions Deal Points Study, fifty-two percent of transactions from 2018 and Q12019 included recourse to a rep and warranty insurance policy (up from twenty-nine percent in 2016/2017).”
https://galawpartners.com/2020/07/29/r_w_insurance/

AI PATENTS

I’m going to weigh in on the AI patents issue. I think you have to look beyond the caselaw and the patent statute. You have to look at the patent language in the Constitution, where it came from, and why it got there. You have to look at the purpose of patent law, which all dates back to the 1474 Venetian Patent Statute, which I’ve written about previously. In short, patent law is designed to bring smart people to a particular place: the smart people tell the government how to make/use their inventions in exchange for a limited monopoly over those inventions. Smart people make AI and can be compensated (with patents) for those inventions. Smart AI? There is no quid pro quo. The smart people are already here, so there is no need (i.e. policy reason) to allow patents with non-human inventors.

* Dear USPTO: Patents for Inventions by AI Must Be Allowed (2020-05-21)
https://www.ipwatchdog.com/2020/05/21/dear-uspto-patents-inventions-ai-must-allowed/

* USPTO Rejects AI-Invention For Lack Of A Human Inventor (2020-04-27)
https://patentlyo.com/patent/2020/04/rejects-invention-inventor.html

* Men Of Great Genius: Venetian Senate, Patent Act of 1474 (2011-04-11)
All modern patent statutes are derived from the Venetian Patent Act of 1474.
http://www.clocktowerlaw.com/3093.html

Baseball Stuff

* Dan Kelly Breaks Silence On Throwing Pizza At Fan During Red Sox Game In 2007 (2021-03-11)
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2935636-dan-kelly-breaks-silence-on-throwing-pizza-at-fan-during-red-sox-game-in-2007

* Jackie Bradley Jr. (JBJ) Agrees To $24M, 2-Year Deal With Brewers (2021-03-04)
The best center-fielder I’ve ever seen.
https://www.nhregister.com/sports/article/AP-source-Bradley-agrees-to-24M-2-year-deal-16000331.php

* New Year, Same Vibes (2021-02-18)
“I’m not super excited about the coming season.”
https://www.overthemonster.com/2021/2/18/22289026/boston-red-sox-2021-bridge-year

* Red Sox Announce Addition Of Righthanded Pitcher Hirokazu Sawamura (2021-02-16)
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/02/16/sports/red-sox-announce-addition-righthanded-pitcher-hirokazu-sawamura/

* Red Sox Sign Marwin González To A One-Year Deal (2021-02-11)
https://www.overthemonster.com/2021/2/11/22279292/boston-red-sox-marwin-gonzalez-free-agent-contract

* Red Sox Trade Andrew Benintendi To Royals In 3-Team Deal With Mets (2021-02-10)
https://sports.yahoo.com/red-sox-trade-andrew-benintendi-mets-royals-mlb-022205902.html
https://www.overthemonster.com/2021/2/11/22277897/boston-red-sox-andrew-benintendi-trade-franchy-cordero-josh-winckowski-royals-mets

* Hating Tom Brady Must Be Exhausting (P.S. He Won The Super Bowl Again) (2021-02-02)
https://www.patspulpit.com/2021/2/2/22251447/hating-tom-brady-must-be-exhausting-super-bowl-belichick-overrated-defense
https://www.patspulpit.com/2021/2/7/22271836/super-bowl-2021-reaction-tom-brady-buccaneers-patriots
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/american-football/55975394
https://www.patspulpit.com/2021/2/7/22271799/tom-brady-nfl-most-successful-franchise-seventh-super-bowl-win-buccaneers-chiefs
https://www.patspulpit.com/2021/2/8/22272025/tom-brady-super-bowl-records-patriots-buccaneers
https://www.patspulpit.com/2021/2/8/22271678/new-england-patriots-links-2-08-21-brady-gronk-put-the-kibosh-on-chiefs-dynastic-dream
https://www.patspulpit.com/2021/2/9/22274043/super-bowl-ratings-popular-tom-brady-boston-patriots

* Dustin Pedroia Retires After 14 Years (2021-02-01)
https://www.mlb.com/redsox/news/dustin-pedroia-retires
https://www.overthemonster.com/2021/2/1/22260320/boston-red-sox-dustin-pedroia-retirement
https://sports.yahoo.com/dustin-pedroia-peace-dirty-manny-204319759.html
https://sports.yahoo.com/dustin-pedroia-doesnt-hold-back-225152071.html

* Yankees Trade Adam Ottavino To Red Sox In First Trade Between Rivals Since 2014 (2021-01-25)
https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/sports/mlb/2021/01/25/new-york-yankees-trade-reliever-adam-ottavino-boston-red-sox/4247498001/

* Red Sox Sign Kiké Hernández (INF-OF) And Garrett Richards (RHP) (2021-01-23)
http://joyofsox.blogspot.com/2021/01/red-sox-sign-kike-hernandez-inf-of-and.html

* R.I.P. Henry Louis ‘Hank’ Aaron (1934-2021) (2021-01-22)
https://joyofsox.blogspot.com/2021/01/henry-louis-aaron-1934-2021.html

* Red Sox Hiring Bianca Smith As First Black Female Pro Baseball Coach (2020-12-31)
https://nypost.com/2020/12/31/red-sox-hiring-bianca-smith-as-first-black-female-pro-baseball-coach/

* Official Major League Records Will Include 29 Seasons Of Negro League Stats (1920-1948) (2020-12-29)
https://joyofsox.blogspot.com/2020/12/official-major-league-records-will.html

* Red Sox Bringing Back Alex Cora As Manager (2020-11-06)
https://www.overthemonster.com/2020/11/6/21552579/boston-red-sox-manager-alex-cora

Music Stuff

* Chick Corea: Tributes Paid To Jazz ‘Genius’ (2021-02-12)
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-56035168

* Eddie Van Halen: Tributes Paid To Rock Guitarist Following Death At 65 (2020-10-07)
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-54443394

* Johnny Nash: ‘I Can See Clearly Now’ Singer Dies Aged 80 (2020-10-07)
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-54444297

* Miles Davis’s Famous Chili Recipe (2020-08-06)
https://kottke.org/20/08/miles-daviss-famous-chili-recipe

* Nirvana Performing Smells Like Teen Spirit In A Music Store A Week Before Its Release (2020-07-13)
https://kottke.org/20/07/nirvana-performing-smells-like-teen-spirit-in-a-music-store-a-week-before-its-release

* Charlie Daniels: Country And Southern Rock Legend Dies At Age 83 (2020-07-06)
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53315098

* Little Richard: Rock ‘n’ Roll Pioneer Dies (2020-05-09)
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-52601228
https://joyofsox.blogspot.com/2020/05/rip-richard-wayne-penniman-1932-2020.html

* ‘Lean On Me’ Singer Bill Withers Dies At 81 (2020-04-03)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52155227

Random Stuff

FREE VIRTUAL STUFF

* Take Advantage of Carnegie Hall’s Free Music Education Programs for Kids (2021-01-31)
https://lifehacker.com/take-advantage-of-carnegie-halls-free-music-education-p-1846163742

* How to Virtually Attend Sundance This Year (2021-01-25)
https://lifehacker.com/how-to-virtually-attend-sundance-this-year-1846125555

* NPR’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts (2020-08-28)
https://kottke.org/20/08/nprs-tiny-desk-home-concerts

* Virtually Visit the International Space Station (2020-06-07)
https://lifehacker.com/virtually-visit-the-international-space-station-1843943438
https://kottke.org/20/08/interior-space-a-visual-exploration-of-the-international-space-station

* Take a Virtual Trip to NYC with These Free Tours (2020-05-08)
https://lifehacker.com/take-a-virtual-trip-to-nyc-with-these-free-tours-1843320097

* The British Museum Puts 1.9 Million Images Online For Public Use (2020-04-29)
https://kottke.org/20/04/the-british-museum-puts-19-million-images-online-for-public-use

* Take A Virtual Tour Of Acton’s Hosmer House (2020-04-27)
https://acton.wickedlocal.com/news/20200427/take-virtual-tour-of-actons-hosmer-house

* A Virtual Tour Of The Van Gogh Museum (2020-04-27)
https://kottke.org/20/04/a-virtual-tour-of-the-van-gogh-museum

* Boston Public Library Offering Free Online Services (2020-04-20)
https://acton.wickedlocal.com/news/20200420/boston-public-library-offering-free-online-services

* MoMA Now Offers Free Art Classes Online (2020-04-18)
https://lifehacker.com/moma-now-offers-free-art-classes-online-1842928864

* You Can Now Attend Ivy League Classes Online For Free (2020-04-16)
https://lifehacker.com/you-can-now-attend-ivy-league-classes-online-for-free-1842907160

* How To Take A Virtual Vacation (2020-04-08)
https://lifehacker.com/how-to-take-a-virtual-vacation-1842706306

* Massachusetts Museums Open Up To Virtual Visitors (2020-04-05)
https://acton.wickedlocal.com/entertainmentlife/20200405/museums-open-up-to-virtual-visitors

* Visit Puerto Rico From Your Couch With Lin-Manuel Miranda (2020-04-04)
https://lifehacker.com/visit-puerto-rico-from-your-couch-with-lin-manuel-miran-1842648163

* You Can Virtually Visit These Vacation Destinations From Your Couch (2020-03-29)
https://lifehacker.com/you-can-virtually-visit-these-vacation-destinations-fro-1842547431

* You Can Virtually Tour These 500+ Museums and Galleries From Your Couch (2020-03-15)
https://lifehacker.com/you-can-virtually-tour-these-500-museums-and-galleries-1842343589

* Smithsonian Releases 2.8 Million High-Res Images Into The Public Domain (2020-02-26)
https://kottke.org/20/02/smithsonian-open-access-public-domain
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/smithsonian-releases-28-million-images-public-domain-180974263/

* Paris Museums Put 100,000 Images Online For Unrestricted Public Use (2020-01-13)
https://kottke.org/20/01/paris-museums-put-100000-images-online-for-unrestricted-public-use
https://lifehacker.com/paris-museums-have-released-more-than-150-000-images-of-1841016692

SCALE WORLDS

* 1/1,000th Scale World (2021-01-27)
https://xkcd.com/2417/

* 1/100,000th Scale World (2021-01-15)
https://xkcd.com/2412/

* 1/10,000th Scale World (2021-01-14)
https://xkcd.com/2411/

OTHER STUFF

* Bill Murray’s Face Inserted Into Famous Paintings (2020-08-18)
https://kottke.org/20/08/bill-murrays-face-inserted-into-famous-paintings

* Nirmal Purja Summits All 14 Of The World’s 8,000-Meter Peaks In Just Six Months (2019-11-05)
Scaling worlds, as it were.
https://kottke.org/19/11/nirmal-purja-summits-all-14-of-the-worlds-8000-meter-peaks-in-just-six-months

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Since 2001, LawLawLaw^TM has documented trends in technology, law (mostly patents and trademarks), baseball (mostly Red Sox), and music (mostly rock). Click here to subscribe to LawLawLaw.