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Google unveils high Sky
Venture Business News |
2007/08/23 02:07
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| Google Earth users will be able to look zoom far beyond planet Earth. At its Pittsburgh office, Mountain View, Calif.-based Google Inc. on Wednesday unveiled Sky, a new component of Google Earth that allows users to browse and view what's in the sky. With Sky, users can zoom in on the moon, planets, stars, constellations and galaxies. Some include image photos and information bars. With a click, someone zooming in on Pittsburgh could reverse the image and see what stars can currently be seen from Pittsburgh. Users can also advance in time to see where planets will be located on a given date or when a meteor shower will occur. "(We've taken) terabytes of data and made it easily accessible to anyone," said Andrew Connolly, an associate professor in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Washington and a visiting faculty member. "We are hoping astronomers around the world will share it (information) with everybody." Sky was developed by Google's Pittsburgh office, which was opened in 2006 and now has more than 50 engineers, according to Andrew Moore, director of Google's Pittsburgh Engineering Office. The idea stemmed from a Google visiting faculty program with the University of Washington. "Google Pittsburgh engineers made it possible," Connolly said. According to Moore, Google's Pittsburgh office is primarily focused on Google infrastructure, computer understanding of text, developing systems for detecting fraud and advertising quality. Engineers worked on the Sky project during so-called 20 percent time, where employees can spend 20 percent of their time working on a project of their choice. "Today is an example of 20 percent time," Moore said in reference to the Sky project unveiling. "(They do) cool, fun, interesting things on the side." |
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PETA's call in wake of Vick plea plan has merit
Practice Focuses |
2007/08/23 01:24
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No matter how you feel about Michael Vick or the folks at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), only a drooling, spiral-eyed sadist would insist that drowning, hanging or electrocuting innocent dogs should be an unpunishable offense, let alone allowing them to rip each other to shreds for fun and profit. Guilty dogs should be included in that statement, too. Now that Vick will cop a guilty plea in a federal dogfighting case loaded with allegations of such hideous, heartless behavior, PETA is calling for the public's assistance in demanding that the NFL add cruelty to animals "in all its forms" to the list of offenses in the league's code of personal conduct. The organization's Web site cites three prior cases -- Falcon tackle Jonathan Babineaux accused in February of beating his girlfriend's pit bull, which later died; ex-Packers/Cardinals/Giants running back LeShon Johnson found guilty in 2004 of involvement in a dogfighting ring; and former Eagles running back Thomas Hamner charged in 2001 with beating his dog. If there's any cosmic justice for all of those poor pooches, Commissioner Roger Goodell will listen to PETA's minions. Of course, if he acts according to PETA's standards, he'll have to suspend a big chunk of the league. PETA is steadfastly against using animals for food, clothing, experimentation, entertainment or "any other purpose" and the NFL is home to more than a few players who avidly "enjoy" hunting. Yep, hunting. Don't think that widely-accepted recreational activity is cruel? That deer or rabbit that just had a shell or arrow put into it and crawled off to bleed to death in the brush will beg to differ, as will the buffalo, boar, elk and more that are sitting ducks in enclosed areas on so-called "canned hunt" farms. And if you go by PETA's standards, fishing is a no-go, too. Think that bass enjoys that hook in the roof of its mouth while it's hauled gasping out of the drink? I know. Get a grip, Rolfe. Personally, I've never understood what's so enjoyable about killing things. The chance to spend time in the great outdoors? Take a hike, son. For food and clothing? Unless you live in the wild, God invented supermarkets, falafel stands and fabrics just for you, Jack. Before we go any further, I plead guilty to sitting at the groaning board each night, belching contentedly as I toss bones over my shoulder. I know that the animals I consume are raised and killed in hellish conditions. It's amazing what a little barbecue sauce can do to a man's conscience. I pass a sheep farm every day and when I think about chasing one of those cute, wooly critters around with a big ol' fork, I realize I'm just a goldplated candy ass who would be slaughtering and butchering fruits and vegetables -- exclusively -- if I had to slaughter and butcher my own meat. I've heard the arguments that hunting helps control certain populations, such as deer, that would otherwise take a big nasty hit from disease and starvation. But whether it comes at the hands of Mother Nature or mankind, cruelty is cruelty. Is cruelty merely defined by the manner and circumstance in which pain and death are inflicted on animals? You bet. So, the NFL's avid hunters and fishers can rest easy, not that the league would ever bow to PETA's standards. After all, this is the ultimate meat-eater league in a sport where tales of coaches strangling a bulldog (Harvard's Percy Haughton in 1908) or having a bull castrated in front of players (Mississippi State's Jackie Sherrill in 1992) to inspire their ferocity are legendary if not always true, as in the case of Haughton. But, in the wake of the Vick case, PETA's plea deserves a sincere nod in the form of stern warnings and penalties from the NFL. The general legal definition of cruelty used by the Humane Society and state chapters of the Society For Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a reasonable place to start: "Any act of violence or neglect against an animal, causing unnecessary and extreme pain or suffering and death." At the very least, exactly what those acts are should be food for thought. |
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Mattel sues porn website over use of Barbie name
Intellectual Property |
2007/08/22 08:38
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| Mattel Inc. (MAT) is once again pursuing a lawsuit to prevent a pornographic Web site from using the name of its trademarked Barbie doll as part of its name. The El Segundo, Calif., toy maker sued Global China Networks LLC in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday over its Web site, www.chinabarbie.com. Global is a limited liability company organized in Florida and maintains a post-office box in New York, according to the complaint. In its lawsuit, Mattel claims the Web site is pornographic and Global sold memberships to persons around the world. The company, which has principal address in Hollywood, Fla., is listed as inactive on the Florida Department of State Division of Corporations Web site. No phone number could be located late Tuesday for Global or its registered agent in Hollywood, Fla. Mattel has aggressively pursued actions against a variety of Web sites that use the Barbie name in the past. In 1999, Mattel pursued a lawsuit in New York against a Las Vegas company that operated an adult Web site registered as barbiesplaypen.com. A federal judge ultimately ordered the domain
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Law firm retained despite 'illegal' meeting
Legal Business |
2007/08/22 08:27
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Although its actions were called illegal and one of its members walked out in agreement with that charge, the Common Council voted Tuesday night to retain a law firm to represent the council in arbitration over the police contracts. The council also voted to recommend to the mayor that Vincent Leffredo and Gerald Daley, members of the council, serve as witnesses during the arbitration.
The language of both resolutions was softened from the original after questions of legality under collective bargaining laws and the city charter were raised. Instead of "appointing" council members as witnesses for the arbitration, they were "recommended" to the mayor. And instead of representing the city, the lawyer approved to be retained by the council will simply advise the council members that were recommended to serve as witnesses.
As soon as the night's special council meeting was called to order, it was declared illegal by Deputy Mayor Joseph Bibisi. Bibisi was acting as chairman of the meeting because Mayor Sebastian N. Giuliano was absent in protest.
On Monday, Giuliano declared that everything on the agenda of the meeting was improper. The council does not have the power to appoint witnesses to the arbitration or retain a lawyer, Giuliano said.
Bibisi tried to block the meeting from going forward, citing that the mayor was not properly given notice, or served, making the meeting illegal.
If the meeting was illegal, anything decided in the meeting could be challenged by any member or the public or the police union, said Corporation Counsel William Howard.
Majority Leader Thomas Serra vehemently objected to this assertion and said the mayor had full knowledge of the meeting - that he, in fact, had told Giuliano of the meeting in person. Serra also cited an e-mail from the mayor's office to members of the council, about the meeting, sent on Aug. 10.
That Giuliano knew about that meeting wasn't enough to make it legal, Howard said.
"Notice has to be proper to make the meeting legal," Howard said. "This notice does not conform. The first thing anyone attacks is if the meeting was held legally."
Declaring the meeting illegal was called "pure and utter nonsense to circumvent the political process" by Councilman Vincent Loffredo. Thomas Serra called the actions of Giuliano and Bibisi attempts to shut the council out from negotiations and take away their fiduciary powers.
Despite Republican's protests, the meeting was declared legal by a vote and proceeded, although Councilman David Bauer, agreeing the meeting was illegal, walked out.
The proposed police contracts were voted down by the council in June in a 9-3 vote. The council called this meeting because its members wanted to have the voice of the nine that voted it down heard at the arbitration table, Serra said. |
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Ex-Gov. Ryan will remain free during second appeal
Law Center |
2007/08/22 08:22
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Former Gov. George Ryan will remain free while he pursues a second appeal of his sweeping fraud and corruption convictions, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled late this afternoon. In a crushing legal blow to the former governor earlier today, a three-judge panel from the appeals court denied Ryan's initial appeal 2-1. The judges found that Ryan received a fair trial last year despite a series of juror controversies.
Though Ryan had been allowed to remain free pending that appeal, the court had warned that Ryan and co-defendant Lawrence Warner would have to report to prison within 72 hours if they lost it. Ryan faces a 6 1/2 -year prison sentence.
This afternoon, however, the court stayed that order, finding that Ryan could remain free while a second appeal plays out. Under this afternoon's ruling, Ryan will remain free until the full 7th Circuit—a group of 11 judges—refuses to hear his case or until the full court hears his case and makes a ruling.
A decision on whether the full court would hear Ryan's case could take about six to eight weeks, and a ruling on the case could take until December or January, according to Joel Bertocchi, an attorney who specializes in appellate law.
In pledging to appeal the three-judge panel's decision, Former Gov. James Thompson, a Ryan attorney, noted this afternoon that Judge Michael Kanne issued "a powerful dissent" in which he concluded that the convictions should be overturned and a new trial held.
"No court anywhere has ever deprived a defendant of his life and liberty under these circumstances," Thompson said, alleging that the verdict was unfair because two jurors were replaced during deliberations.
"We believe they reached the wrong result," Thompson said. Ryan, he said, would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.
In its decision this morning, the three-judge panel found that U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer acted within her authority when she replaced the jurors after the Tribune revealed they had failed to disclose information about their criminal backgrounds.
"We conclude that the district court handled most problems that arose in an acceptable manner, and that whatever error remained was harmless," Judge Diane Wood wrote for the panel. "We therefore affirm the convictions."
Ryan was convicted in April 2006 on charges that as secretary of state and governor, he doled out sweetheart deals to co-defendant Warner and other friends and used state resources and employees for political gain.
Warner's conviction also was affirmed today. He was sentenced to almost 3 1/2 years in prison.
Thompson said Ryan was disappointed by the three-judge panel's decision but said he is a "strong guy."
"He's been through a lot," Thompson said. "I worry about him and Mrs. Ryan. But he has faith in the judicial system. He's always had that. He has a very supportive family. . . . He'll take it as it comes day by day."
At the Kankakee home of Ryan and his wife, Lura Lynn, their son Homer Ryan answered the door only to say that the family would not discuss the day's events.
Marie Spalding, 69, who has been Ryan's neighbor for 37 years, said the former governor has "always been there for anybody who ever needed help."
"It's the saddest thing that ever could have happened," she said of the appellate court's decision. "He's a wonderful, wonderful man. He's helped out people in this whole neighborhood."
Another neighbor, Denyell Finch, 27, who lives just a few blocks north of Ryan, said she didn't think he should go to jail. "I don't think it's all his fault," she said. |
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Ga. Sheriff Pleads Guilty to Coverup
Court Watch |
2007/08/22 08:20
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| A sheriff accused of lying to investigators and hiding evidence to protect two deputies charged with a drive-by shooting pleaded guilty Tuesday to four criminal charges and resigned. "I knew what happened ... and I didn't tell them what happened," Towns County Sheriff Rudy Eller said. "I made a serious mistake, there's no doubt about it." Eller, 63, pleaded guilty to making false statements in a matter within a political subdivision, tampering with evidence, hindering apprehension or punishment of a criminal and violation of oath by a public official or officer. The two deputies, Jessie Gibson, 56, and Chief Deputy Eddie Osborn, 41, faced aggravated assault and obstruction charges in connection with a July 9 shooting at the home of Gary Dean of Hiawassee. Dean, who was not injured, was "involved in an ongoing intimate relationship" with Osborn's wife, according to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation affidavit. Gibson was found dead on Aug. 8 of a self-inflicted gunshot in what authorities called an apparent suicide. Outside the courthouse Tuesday, Eller apologized to the residents of Towns County. He wore an oxygen tube in his nose as he walked from the courtroom. Mike Weaver, his attorney, said Eller was suffering from diabetes and other health problems and could not answer other questions. He said Eller's sentencing is pending. |
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Lawsuit Filed Over California Teachers Qualifications
Breaking Legal News |
2007/08/22 07:31
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 A number of parents in Los Angeles are also taking part of this lawsuit and what we have seen in California is that many serving African-Americans and Latinos have a disproportionate number of under qualified teachers. We are not saying that they are bad, just that they are inexpirienced. And California has gotten away with it. Like most parents, Maribel Heredia of Hayward wants highly qualified teachers for her kids. She says many Hayward schools are not delivering. "My son came home and said his teacher went to college today and I was kind surprised by that," said Maribel Heredia from Hayward. Surprised because she thought her son's teacher was already fully credentialed and not a teacher-in-training. So when the teacher would to leave to go to college, a substitute would fill in. Heredia is suing the U.S. Department of Education. "It's very important for the parents to have this information. Who is teaching your child at school," said Heredia. While schools report the number of fully credentialed teachers, they don't specify which teacher is or is not. Under the "No Child Left Behind" Act, Congress said all teachers must be fully credentialed; only then are they considered highly qualified. But the U.S. Department of Education allows some states including California to also count their teachers in training as highly qualified. Why? Because California has a teacher shortage. "You know we have those big districts that are going begging. They are not being filled," said Merrill Vargo from Springboard schools. Fully credentialed teachers have taken more tests, and have had more on-the-job training. The suit also argues that quite often these teachers-in-training are more concentrated at low-income and high-minority schools. The State Superintendent of Schools, Jack O'Connell said today: "this is a factor in why we have an achievement gap in our state between students who are African American or Latino and their peers who are white or Asian." "Does it mean that all the teachers in Walnut Creek are better than all the teachers in Oakland? Of course not. But on average, you are going to see more highly qualified, more top-notch, experienced teachers in a suburban district that in an urban district," said Derecka Mehrens, from the Association of Community Organizations For Reform Now. The activist group acorn has also put its name on the lawsuit. "This lawsuit is being made in hopes that we can raise for what the Department of Education right now considers highly qualified," said Mehrens. The law firm Public Advocates is another plaintiff in this case. They say more than 10,000 teachers-in-training are labeled as highly qualified by the state. The case will be heard at the U.S. District Court in San Francisco. |
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Class action or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued. This form of collective lawsuit originated in the United States and is still predominantly a U.S. phenomenon, at least the U.S. variant of it. In the United States federal courts, class actions are governed by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule. Since 1938, many states have adopted rules similar to the FRCP. However, some states like California have civil procedure systems which deviate significantly from the federal rules; the California Codes provide for four separate types of class actions. As a result, there are two separate treatises devoted solely to the complex topic of California class actions. Some states, such as Virginia, do not provide for any class actions, while others, such as New York, limit the types of claims that may be brought as class actions. They can construct your law firm a brand new website, lawyer website templates and help you redesign your existing law firm site to secure your place in the internet. |
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