Gratuitous Cuteness

High time for a puppy pic. (This is Wallace, a friend's uncannily fluffy pooch.)

Bearding The DRM In Its Lair

If you haven't yet read Cory Doctorow's notes from his talk this week at Microsoft on "why Microsoft should get out of the DRM business and what they could do instead," there's no time like the present. (Or soon, anyway. That's the beauty of the Web, isn't it? If time waits for no one, the Web, hosting permitted, waits for all.) I love how Cory can and does provide the historical context for the current technological moment ("In DRM, the attacker is *also the recipient*"). I love how he can and does travel to places like MSFT and Digital ID World (here's the the MP3 of our DRM panel) to share his knowledge and perspective on this subject. I love how he can and does play shuffleboard with Peter Biddle. I love his description of the potential hazards for unsophisticated users, sophisticated users, artists, and DRM makers themselves. While some might say it's tilting at windmills, I'm convinced the conversation is worthwhile and potentially transformative.

Of course, what's not to love about his fiction, blog, and eye for signage as well?

DotSpotted At The Car Wash

Stock of the day: Clorox (CLX). Why? It owns Armor All. Ahhh...

DotSpot Wireless will begin targeting automotive industry businesses, so that people waiting for their cars to be serviced or cleaned can be online and productive during a time that was normally wasted. The next wave of installations planned by DotSpot Wireless will include the medical industry: doctors' offices, dialysis centers and medical labs, another market segment where people often have to wait for long periods and where free Wi-Fi access is sure to be welcomed.

That's free (ad supported) WiFi these folks are talking about. From DotSpot: "[O]ur research shows that consumers are more than willing to view advertising while surfing, working or chatting for free at locations where they previously were only able to thumb through old magazines." Okay, but how obnoxious are the ads? The answer could radically raise or lower my tolerance for windshield buggage.

Spare Change

I'm participating in Matt Homann's second Five By Five installment, which he'll post on Monday. He's asked five lawyers to comment on what five things they'd change about the practice of law. Since I'm bringing up the rear in submitting our responses to Matt, I've gotten to see what the other participants have had to say. What's interesting is there's no overlap. There are some recurring themes, but each of us has had little trouble coming up with five unique things we would change, and the same goes for David Giacalone, who dropped by as a bonus participant. I think this says a lot about room for improvement in the business end of the legal field (frequently and understandably confused with the business end of a bat ray). Anyway, watch Matt's page Monday for the piece.

Matt's first Five By Five was excellent, by the way. He asked "five seriously cool women" (links to their blogs here) "What are the five worst mistakes a lawyer can make when marketing to a female potential client? Alternatively, what are the five best things a lawyer can do to secure a female's business?" They served up some great insights, many of which apply to marketing to people of any gender (all genders?), including, I think, this one from Yvonne DiVita: "Trying too hard to appeal to us using the color pink will backfire every time." (Emphasis mine.)

If you're not into scrolling, here are the permalinks to Matt's first Five:

• Kirstin Osolind


• Michele Miller


• Anita Campbell


• Yvonne DiVita


• Jennifer Rice

Kudos to Matt for proving once again that one of the most powerful things about blogs is the aggregation and distribution of good ideas.

How Cool Would It Be...

...to be a Skateboard Mom?