Some People Do Not Understand "Journalism"

When a blogger found one of her posts had been taken without permission and used in a print magazine, she was (rightly) upset and contacted the editor of the magazine. The blogger, Monica Gaudio, eventually asked for an internet and print apology from the magazine, along with a $130 donation to the Columbia School of Journalism. This is the response Cooks Source offered to the author it had apparently stolen the content from:

“Yes Monica, I have been doing this for 3 decades, having been an editor at The Voice, Housitonic Home and Connecticut Woman Magazine. I do know about copyright laws. It was “my bad” indeed, and, as the magazine is put together in long sessions, tired eyes and minds somethings forget to do these things.

But honestly Monica, the web is considered “public domain” and you should be happy we just didn't “lift” your whole article and put someone else's name on it! It happens a lot, clearly more than you are aware of, especially on college campuses, and the workplace. If you took offence and are unhappy, I am sorry, but you as a professional should know that the article we used written by you was in very bad need of editing, and is much better now than was originally. Now it will work well for your portfolio. For that reason, I have a bit of a difficult time with your requests for monetary gain, albeit for such a fine (and very wealthy!) institution. We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me! I never charge young writers for advice or rewriting poorly written pieces, and have many who write for me… ALWAYS for free!”

Just because something is easily accessible does not invalidate the protections of copyright law, nor should it.

HT: Gruber

What a Night

A fascinating night politically. My only major disappointment was the loss of Carly Fiorina. I am quite shocked at Ike Skelton's loss.

Feline Faith, or Kitties and the Ordo Salutis

While I find Anthony Hoekema's “facet” approach to the “order of salvation” more helpful in understanding God's saving work than the traditional Ordo, knowing the traditional linear order still has its merit. (And, I needed to know it for an exam.)

I came up with a little mnemonic to help myself memorize it and thought I'd post it here in case anyone else might have a need to keep the events in order.

Or, so my cat told me.

To Be Vunerable

Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one. To love is to be vulnerable.

C.S. Lewis always has a way of putting things just right.

In Defense of Cats

One phenomena I will never understand is why so many people have such negative views of cats. Most people are loathe to pick on dogs, while they are perfectly content to tell tales about this or that bad experience with felines. Never mind that for all the good pooches in the world, there are also plenty who do annoying things such as bark their heads off. Constantly. Even as I write this.

Sloane Crosley comments about this odd anti-cat attitude in a New York Times opinion piece. She hits a lot of good points most cat owners will surely be able to sympathize with. Crosley notes,

Even now, I am a bit hesitant to extol Mabel’s many virtues. And they are many. To wake up with her belly-up and demanding affection is to have your heart explode with the kind of joy that compels some people into a life of large-scale oil painting. Alas, I am loath to cheapen her existence and dignify the city’s anti-cat stance by creating a dog-like defense for her.

Maybe a good start would be for cat owners to start using terms such as “cat-like” as positive descriptors.

Hope Souffle

Edward Luce writes in the Financial Times:

Having been elected partly on the basis of hope, Mr Obama may have to put the accent on fear in 2012 if he wants to be re-elected – fear, that is, of what the other guy might do. As Bill Galston, the respected US political observer, points out: “Hope is a souffle that never rises twice.”

Astute.

Late Night Haiku XXXVI

C. The cat sleeps soundly.
My lap is his bed tonight.
My legs sleep under.

CI. Tomorrow's journey,
Takes me down old, well known roads,
For unknown stops.

CII. The crickets chirp now,
A last song before frost gives
A cold curtain call.

If a High Speed Train Leaves a Station...

Ronald Utt comments on a planned high speed train route connecting Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago:

For instance, one has to wonder what exactly motivated the review team to endorse the proposed $1.1 billion investment in the Kansas City-St. Louis-Chicago route, which would allow customers to reach their destinations 10 percent faster than they could by driving between Chicago and St. Louis.

He raises an interesting point in suggesting that pluggable hybrid cars promise a cheaper and cleaner alternative to such a plan. Nevertheless, the idea of reaching Chicago from STL in four hours without having to either bother with an airport or be actively driving a car is an intriguing.

Plenoptic is Plenty Intriguing

Mike Prospero reports on something intriguing from Adobe.

After giving a brief demonstration during the keynote address at Nvidia’s GPU Technology Conference, Adobe went into more detail about computational photography using plenoptic lenses, a method of taking pictures so that any part of a photo can be brought into focus after the fact.

My camera wants one.

Late Night Haiku XXXV

XCVII. How I wish time might
Flow back that too soon spent time
Could relive the day.

XCVIII. Softly, I watch it,
Soft focus, unfolding, yet
Still left too folded.

XCVIX. Indian summer —
The weary flowers' last dance
Before frost's sharp blade.