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I work in the Chrysler building, across from Grand Central. I was packing to go home when I heard what I thought was thunder but the grumble didn’t subside. The lights dimmed for a second. The noise continued, grew louder even, and I thought that it was perhaps a piece of HVAC equipment on the roof of the building next door. I looked out my window and saw maybe 100 people running along 42nd St towards Third Avenue, looking over their shoulders, as if chased by something. I lived downtown that day. I had that feeling again.
I ran out of my office (not grabbing my cell phone) and shouted ‘does anyone know what’s happening? The head of the firm ran by and said “the building next door blew up, evacuate the building.” I decided not to go back for my cellphone.
How long do you think it takes to run down twelve flights? 100 seconds? 120 seconds? When the building is shaking and there is a sound you associate with a building collapsing, it takes forever. Women were kicking off their shoes. They opened the loading dock onto 43rd St. We expected to see clouds of dust, but there weren’t any. We ran to Third Avenue, and I could see an enormous cloud, larger than a building. But the cloud was white. People were taking photos with their cellphones. Some people were covered with specks of mud.
I got home an hour and a half late, that’s all.

Not really trademark law but may be of interest to those in communications or those who drink water and eat fish.
I read an AP report reprinted in Forbes on the Japanese earthquake and came across the following:
“Tokyo Electric Power Co. also said about 400 barrels containing low-level radioactive waste at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant were knocked over, and the lids had come off 40 of them, as a result of Monday’s deadly 6.8-magnitude quake. The announcement revised the company’s earlier estimate of 100 tipped barrels.
“We made a mistake in calculating the amount that leaked into the ocean. We apologize and make correction,” Tokyo Electric said in a statement. Spokesman Jun Oshima said the amount of radioactive water that leaked into the Sea of Japan was still “one-billionth of Japan’s legal limit.””
Ok, tell me if I’m off-base here.
Sometimes immediate analysis is ‘begged’ by the information being reported. Without it you’re a steno service for information that doesn’t make sense.
So would we assume that barrels of radioactive waste, especially barrels stored near flowing water, would be constructed in a such a way that the lids don’t come off if the barrels are knocked over.
If so, then the report that 40 barrels of radioactive wastes were knocked over and the lids came off BEGS for a follow up sentence as in:
1. the lids were built to withstand X force and this was 2X; or
2. it is unclear at this time why the lids came off.
So to not have either sort of sentence is to put out a faulty product on the part of AP and Forbes.

ConnectU alleges that the founder of Facebook worked for it when he when he was an undergraduate. It has sued, alleging copyright infringement, breach of contract, theft of trade secret and other causes. It had sued several years ago, and re-filed the complaint this past March. There has been some coverage of this lawsuit in the past however it has been mostly under the radar. There’s a burst of coverage now due to an upcoming hearing on Facebook’s motion to dismiss.
Email me and I’ll send you the complaint, Facebook’s Motion to Dismiss and ConnectU’s response to the MTD.
Coverage from Slashdot, TechCrunch, and Portfolio.
ConnectU, Inc. v Facebook, Inc., Mark Zuckerberg, et. al., 1:07-CV-10593-DPW (D. Mass)

Dealing with potential infirngements by fans is tricky. In this discussion by EFF, this is identified as bad:
“On behalf of the artist’s label, we do appreciate that – of course – you are a fan of / are promoting The New Pornographers but, by the same token, you must also appreciate that, by posting a pirate copy of the album or tracks from the album – or, as in this case, a special ‘bonus’ track – pre-release (or linking to pirate copies), you are potentially causing considerable inconvenience and we are sure that you would not want to be personally responsible (or liable) for all of the resulting damage and disruption.”
and this is good:
“hi
this is Colin from the Decemberists. Please please please pretty
please don’t post those new songs on your blog. We’d really love to
see the record come out in its own time. I realize it’s kind of
pointless to try to fight leaking, but for what it’s worth. . .
I recognize that you’re doing it because you like the band and are
being supportive, but you know how these things are: eventually, they
fall into the hands of less respectful people and it spreads like
wildfire from there.
thanks!
colin meloy”