Enamored as I am with anti-copyright arguments, here’s an interesting discussion on public domain Puritan works over at the Baylyblog. While it is true that many errant publishers seek to copyright their republished public domain works without any legal ability to do so, in the case of digital works there is often a little agreement known as the “Terms of Use.” Now, you and I both skim over these tedious documents every time we install a piece of software, but, if you ever read one carefully, you notice that you are usually only licensing said software. So, if you buy a digital version of the Everyman’s Puritan Library or Ray’s Arithmetic, then even if the publisher’s copyright is null and void, you’ve still given your word that you will only use that version in accordance with it’s license as defined in the “Terms of Use.” Question is, are you going to keep your word? And if you don’t keep your word, Dear and Gentle Scoundrel, will you be able to prevail against the “Terms of Use” in court?

Note: I respect Lawrence Lessig’s Powerpoint skills more, but the work he does on copyright law is also notable. See Save Orphan Works, as well.

WHITES are motivated by PEACE, seek independence and require kindness. They resist confrontation at all costs. (Feeling good is more important than being good.) They are typically quiet by nature, they process things very deeply and objectively, and they are by far the best listeners of all the colors. They respect people who are kind, but recoil from perceived hostility or verbal battle.

WHITES need their quiet independence and refuse to be controlled by others. WHITES want to do things their own way, in their own time. They ask little of others, and resent others demanding much of them. WHITES are much stronger than people think because they dont reveal their feelings. WHITES are kind, non-discriminate, patient and can be indecisive, timid, and silently stubborn. When you deal with a WHITE, be kind, accept (and support) their individuality, and look for nonverbal clues to their feelings.

What Color Are You?
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If you thought that our commitment to write had been slack of late, you just wait. My inlaws arrive tonight for five or six days (depends on how you count it - heh, J., remember that Depends joke at the Clems? You should log into the comments and tell it. You know, they say that all true leaders have a self-degradating sense of humour.), and I doubt that S. or I will be online much. However, I promise this: we will upload gigabytes of pictures next week.

Well, the wife and d. are off to Murfeesboro for a couple of days or five, leaving me to lounge about and dread the list of chores I’ve drawn up for myself. I saw them off at the airport a couple of hours ago. Now that there are more persons in the employ of the TSA at the terminal than those whose pay comes from the airlines, a fellow has to watch his poor wife manage a stroller, diaper bag, purse, shoes, bouncing baby, and conveyor belt all on her own, while he shoves his hands in his pockets on the other side of the security zone and watches as her hairpins set off the metal detector! Not to say that she didn’t have a little assistance from some friendly X-ray operators, but, really! I might have to moonlight as a porter at the old Okaloosa Regional so that I may see her safely to the gate next time she wants to visit the old college pals. What’s the point of all this security clearance rot to work on warplanes if I can’t get near those of the transportative variety?

Ah well, time to ransack the filing cabinet and get rid of all the church bulletins and pay stubs I’ve been hanging on to - I’d like to keep them around so that I could point out, when appropriate, which psalm was the responsive reading on the second Sunday of March, 1999, or how many coin the US Gov. appropriated from my earnings when I worked as a pool boy in Seaside, oh these many years ago. Nevertheless, the wife says they must go. And our dear little filing cabinet, bedecked with band stickers, must find a new home, as the guest bedroom’s closet must now become the d.’s wardrobe and have room to spare for whatever clothes our guests see fit to bring with. Then it’s off to move the patio and hoe out a kitchen garden. What ho!

I wish we had enough money to afford one of these wooden high chairs. I, II. Plastic is the bane of my existence.

Evelyn is getting pretty good at sitting up.