MaisonBisson

Krispy Kream, the donut folks, are itching to get Krispy Kream Drive In on Route 422 in Belsano to change their name. I’ve no idea where Belsano is, but ower Christina Hoover says “we’re an ice cream fast food stand. It’s a drive in.” It’s been the Hoover’s bread and butter since 1968.

What Krispy Kreme is really arguing is dilution of their “famous” brand. Since going IPO a few years ago, Krispy Kremes have popped up everywhere across the county, from SBC Park in SF to the Excaliber in Las Vegas. So yes, within the last few years, one could argue that they are a “famous” tradermark like McDonalds or Kodak and should be protected from dilution (e.g. someone selling McDonalds backpacks or Kodak bicycles). The problem with this argument is that you can only sue someone for diluting a famous mark after its become famous. Since the Hoovers’ ice cream stand has had the name “Krispy Kream” since 1968, they are quite safe from a dilution attack. (emphasis added)

iPodLounge has posted a lengthy buyers guide for the iPod and accessories. It’s a whopping PDF — they call it retro because it’s in magazine format. Whatever, it’s packed with details and includes comparison reviews.

Mac360 is offering up a chatty review of the iPod Photo. Tera poked around and found an odd “Photo Import” command lurking in the menus. Could this be the feature that allows camera users to import memory card contents directly? Tera couldn’t make it work, but couldn’t find any other answer either.

Finally Engadget posted a how-to about extracting audio files from iPods. “once you put your tunes on an iPod […] it’s a one-way sync unless you know the tricks for getting them off.” The guide has instructions for Mac and Windows users.

As postscript, I’ll mention that the In Car iPod stories are some of the most popular at MaisonBisson.

Picoserver:

Japanese firm Package Technology is coming out with a 42 x 23.5 x 61 mm box called the PicoServer that’s essentially a web/mail server with an Ethernet port and three sockets for sensors (one out, two in).

This could be a packaged implementation of the iButton TINI ICs from Dallas Semiconductor. Then again, it might not be. Either way, it’s interesting and convenient. I just wish they were cheaper than the $375 or so Engadget claims they’ll cost.

iVideo:

iVideo is the equivalent of iPhoto or iTunes for your video files. Items are organized using playlists and thumbnails, and can be double-clicked to watch.

I’ve wanted iPhoto to organize the short video files that I make with my Clie or Olympus digital camera, but it’s not happenening. This looks like it might work.

FleshBot pointed to a story in The Guardian that reports on a study by Prima Magazine that suggests married women of today have less sex than married women of the 1950s.

women in the 1950s had sex an average of twice a week. But a survey found two-thirds of today’s women said they were too tired to manage that much.

When I mentioned this to Sandee, she echoed what Prima says about it:

Since then we have started working and often still have to run the home and look after the kids. It’s hard to find the time for sex, and when we go to bed we are too tired to do anything but sleep.

Kids aren’t an issue at MaisonBisson, of course, but Sandee’s perfect world is one in which she can be a full-time home-maker. She would gladly greet me at the door with a drink and a smile when I return from work, she says.

Of course, the problem there is that wages haven’t kept up with inflation, and most households require two or more breadwinners.

On the heels of “<a href="/post/10260" title=“There _were no international terrorists in Iraq until we went in“>There were no international terrorists in Iraq until we went in” comes a story from Alternet: “Bush has failed the military on almost every level — marking the difference between being militaristic and pro-military.”

Discounting that he sent American troops into Iraq on false pretenses, a real commander would fight for the welfare of his troops. But Bush has demonstrated a consistent unwillingness to do so, and as a result many high-ranking officers have endorsed Kerry, including retired Navy Adm. William Crowe and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. John Shalikashvili.

Further, that the Bush administration has somehow linked our security with music piracy is even less comforting to me. Like “oh, terrorists might steal music, we better get them!” Sorry for the digression, but efforts like that cost money that could be spent on, say, body armor while doing little to actually make us safer.

Can our military afford four more years?

The story focuses on the brain as an organ, in this case, an organ donated for medical research after the death of the host.

What has prompted the lawsuits, protests and threats just over one year after the

procedure is not the facts of the initial donation, but the university’s decision to terminate the experiments, and therefore the care, of the brain.

What the [right to life groups] and their supporters claim is that Brian Schultz, the nine-year-old organ donor who legally passed away one year ago, is actually alive and well in the research lab.

The full story, as a PDF, is availble here: Right to Life, After Death?

Let this be clear, this story is fiction. Any resemblance of the events, names,

personalities, places, or organizations in this story to actual names or events is

coincidence.

Alexander Rudzinski is the pen-name du jour of Roderick Russell, a magician, illusionist,

and sword swallower with a professional and personal interest in understanding

consciousness and cognition. “I wrote it as a personal exercise [] to potentially spark

some thought and interesting discussion.”

Mr. Russell can be found at < http://www.roderickrussell.com/ > .

Ericka Jacobs at Copyfutures found my Fear the Takedown story about Bits of Freedom’s takedown study. She over-stated my effort; all I really did was quote text from Copyfight, which they quoted from Doom9, but that’s how blogs and the web work. More importantly, Erika explained a lot more than I did, including detailing takedown proceedures and safe harbor provisions under US and European copyright law. Finally, she ends by quoting a report by Chilling Effects, a copyright resource center maintained by the “Electronic Frontier Foundation and six law school clinical programs.”

…cease and desist letters sometimes — but not always — have chilling effects on speech that might qualify as fair use.

Copyfutures appears to be the class blog for Professor Solum’s Intellectual Property Seminar: The Future of Copyright at the University of San Diego, and those posting appear to be students in the class. I’ll have to carve out some time to view the PowerPoints, as it looks like an interesting class.

bookofjoe reports on a October 5 Washington Post story titled: Lead Levels in Water Misrepresented Across US. What the headline really means, however, is that lead levels are under-reported accross the US.

“The problems we know about are just the tip of the iceberg,” said Erik D. Olson of the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council, “because utilities are gaming the system, states have often been willing to ignore long-standing violations and the EPA sits on the sidelines and refuses to crack down.”

I won’t be holding my breath waiting for the Bush administration to kick the EPA into action on this, considering he ordered the EPA to raise acceptable contaminant thresholds (a hand-out to mineral extraction industries that hurts water-drinkers everywhere) shortly after taking office in 2001.

Turn up your speakers to enjoy the serene music and pastoral scenes in this relaxing video of a car ad.

[update:] the original link is broken; look for current links to the video in the text and comments of this newer story.

“I really don’t know what he did for us.”

— said recently about me by my old manager to a former co-worker.