Ernie The Attorney

Media generalizations

Instapundit correctly observes: "pigeonholes used by the press include 'Republicans who hate civil liberties' and 'Democrats who are wasteful spenders,' but not the reverse."

Liability for running an unpatched PC?

Dennis Kennedy points to Fred Langa's column in Information Week entitled "Enough Already: Microsoft Must Change" which does a great job of explaining the recurring Microsoft security problems. He ends with this observation:

"I think running an unpatched, unprotected PC is a form of negligence analogous to driving a car with bad brakes or broken headlights: You're going to get yourself into trouble, and also make things worse for everyone around you. Just as drivers who share the road must also share responsibility for safety, we all now share the same global network, and thus must regard computer security as a necessary social responsibility. To me, anyone unwilling to take simple security precautions is a major, active part of the problem."

I agree that it would be good to impose this liability on someone. I favor Microsoft, since it is in the best position to make the greatest change. But that won't happen. And I know that we'd never tolerate making the individual user liable. Frankly, neither would Microsoft, because at that point the users would flock to other operating systems.

In fact, I'm here to tell anyone that has had problems with their PCs recently that Apple OS X is a great place to be. I switched my primary laptop to OS X about 4 months ago. I haven't had one pop-up ad. No viruses, and no spyware. My computer rarely needs to be rebooted and has crashed only 3 times. And, just like they say in the Apple commercials, 'things just work.' I'll always have PCs in my life and I'm glad I've learned how to care for them properly. But I'm also glad that I have a computer with low maintenance needs. I plan on buying more like it, and less of the PC flavor. As the Godfather said, "nothing personal, just business."

Oh, and this just in. Looks like more MS vulnerabilities loom on the horizon. Hi-ho, Hi-ho, it's off to patch I go...

October is Baseball Month

And if you want to follow baseball you should read Baseball Musings, which is a weblog by David Pinto, who for 10 years was the lead researcher for ESPN's Baseball Tonight. Has an RSS feed and everything.

Macs are for music lovers, which apparently there are a lot of

A friend of mine came by on Friday for a few cocktails. We were hanging out and playing guitar and he was telling me about some guys named Townes Van Zandt and Steve Earle. I'd heard of Steve Earle, but not Van Zandt.

I popped open my Apple Powerbook and fired up iTunes. He browsed around and introduced me to a bunch of new music. Whenever I heard a song I liked I clicked 'buy now' and downloaded it. He was blown away at how easily I could get music with my computer. At one point in the evening, he said "I'm definitely going to get one of those," referring to the Mac. I think it was when I used the laptop to record his guitar playing with track overdubs using my Mbox.

On Saturday I went to CompUSA and I noticed that they had moved the Apple stuff (which used to be in a remote corner) to the very middle of the store. A law student was eyeing the Powerbooks. I told her that she wouldn't regret getting a Powerbook. She said she liked the Powerbook, but she was tempted to get the iBook so she'd have enough money left over for an iPod.

Saints vs. Colts

The Colts came into this game undefeated. The 4th Quarter hasn't started yet and Peyton Manning already has the team record for TD passes in one game (6 TDs). Meanwhile, Aaron Brooks just had the ball spontaneously fly out of his hand as he went back to pass and a Colts defensive lineman ran it back for a touchdown. After that gaffe, with the score at 55 - 13, Brooks is out of the game on the sidelines. They just showed him smiling, and chatting with a fellow teammate. That's nice.

A lot of people would turn off the game. But not me. I'm pulling for Peyton to throw that 7th pass to tie the League record. I always root for hard-working, well-deserving athletes. And no doubt the Saints coaches will say that Aaron Brooks is hard-working. Maybe. But a guy who smiles after a blooper play like one that Brooks had doesn't deserve to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. He needs to work on fundamentals; so Haslett should give him a chance to work on his clip-board holding skills. See if he finds that entertaining.

Sept 21, 1939

What happened on that day? If you were listening to Arthur Godfrey, as Lileks did, you'd know.

Charles Dickens: "The Law is an ass"

'If the law supposes that', said Mr. Bumble, 'the law is an ass...'"

Passing legislation quickly

Instapundit points to Randy Barnett's examination of the swift passage of do-not-call legislation where he asks "what happened to 'gridlock?' Perhaps genuinely popular legislation is not so hard to pass after all? Perhaps the other stuff is harder to enact because significant segments of the population oppose them?"

I actually addressed the idea of fast track legislation in a post at my old website entitled Five Minute Legislation. I have another idea: make the members of Congress wear roller skates.

Louisiana Governor's race

California is not the only state shopping around for a new Governor. Louisiana is holding statewide elections on October 4th. If you are interested in finding out about the candidates for Governor I recommend the The Council for a Better Louisiana's webpage. They also provide information on all of the statewide offices. I'll be voting for Bobby Jindal if anyone cares.

Also, I'm going to vote for Mitch Landrieu for Lieutenant Governor and Suzie Terrell for Attorney General. I've known both of them since law school and I know first hand that they are both honest and committed people who want to improve the state. I'm not saying that their opponents are not honest or well-intentioned, but rather that I know that they would serve the State well. Susie's commitment to reform is clear from the fact that she eliminated her last job (Elections Commissioner) while she held it. That is not the sort of thing that we Louisianians are used to seeing in a politician.

Since I've got 2 Republican recommendations versus only 1 democrat let me add another democrat for an Orleans Parish office. Franz Ziblich would make a great criminal court judge. He's hard working, savvy, and fair-minded. And he likes people, which is a good trait for a judge to have.

For up to date information on politics (often including Louisiana Politics) I recommend PoliPundit.

Patent Litigation killed famous inventor Wilbur Wright

Dennis Kennedy has the scoop on the litigation-related demise of an aviation pioneer.