In Our World

  • ATM Fraud

    The other day I was coming back from Wilmington and heard the Clark Howard show on the radio. It wasn't the first time I'd heard this guy, but it was an interesting show. Apparently the latest scam is to purchase one of those private-label ATM machines that you…

  • My Hotel Ethics

    Generally speaking, I probably use most of the consumables found in the hotel room – the soap and the shampoo being the two most notable examples of this. There are certainly times where I'll stay for more than just a day, so I'll end up with an extra…

  • Charleston Links

    Have you seen the Outhouse Springs billboards? I've been seeing them in the Charlotte area for a while now. I also saw them in Charleston (SC) when we were there in July for the 4th. But I never could remember to look up the company. Surely these things…

  • Hotel Ethics

    Speaking of ethics – the Internet certainly isn't the only place we're faced with such decisions….

  • Internet Ethics III

    The last two days, I've talked about Internet Ethics. I don't know that there's much more that I can say on that side of the subject. However, today's technology does offer one more avenue to address, this time from the other side of the equation. That avenue is…

  • Internet Ethics II

    Yesterday, I wrote about the ethics of screen scraping, specifically as it relates to David Thomson's Tapestry. Speaking of which, David also spoke out on the same subject….

  • Internet Ethics

    I was having a conversation with Tony Sumrall about the ethics of publishing a feed of comic strips. Since the syndicates themselves have decided against sending comics by email (at least decided against doing it for free), do we have the right to grab the image URL from…

  • Licensing Purgatory

    Obviously there is a need for certain licenses. These are easy enough to spot. They typically make sense. Not just to you or me, but to darn near everyone. Things like a driver's license fit into this category. It's reasonably nice to think that the person headed down…

  • Lawyers, Guns and Money

    In Florida, members of a class action suit against Microsoft stand to gain vouchers (towards the purchase of Microsoft products, no less) valued at a whopping $5-12 per product. Gee, that was worth it. $12? If you can sign up online or elsewhere that doesn't require much effort…

  • Name Recognition

    Arnold Schwarzenegger will run for governor of California. Jerry Springer thought of a return to politics (he was already the mayor of Cincinnati in the 1970s). He has currently decided against it. Ronald Reagan was not only the governor of California, he was the 40th president of the…