As a parent, my actions have the effect of modeling behavior for my 3 year old son. For example, my son requests his own section of the newspaper to read during breakfast because that’s what Daddy does. I’m cognizant of…

Mike Madison has undertaken the public service of providing a one-stop central repository for upcoming conferences and presentations by IP academics. The desperate need for this calendar was demonstrated by the multiple mid-air collisions of this weekend, when there were…

I previously blogged about how airlines fail to consider the attention consumption consequences of their repeated communications with passengers. I had a great example of this on a flight this weekend. The flight left at 6:20 am, so all of…

I’ve lost track of most state initiatives to outlaw Internet hunting, but this article from Michael Gormley at the Associated Press caught my attention because of all of the rhetorical posturing/intellectual dishonesty. Consider the following quotes: NY Gov. George Pataki:…

The Wisconsin legislature continues to work hard to address the key social issues of the day. Earlier this year the legislature banned Internet hunting and flirted with legalizing cat hunting. Now, Phil Montgomery, a Wisconsin state legislator, wants to ban…

Mark Matthews of Stateline.org has written a good (and pointed) update on the efforts to ban Internet hunting. He contacted me based on my San Jose Mercury News editorial on the topic.

I’m giving a talk next week to lawyers about participating in the blogosphere, and this has been a good opportunity for me to think about how I choose blogs to read. In looking over my blogroll, I realized that I…

Academic reputation is a big component of US News rankings, but it’s hard to influence. The academic rankings are partially self-reinforcing–our perceptions of other schools are influenced in large part by what prior rankings said. To overcome this, many schools…

It’s always interesting to see reactions when a cherished institution changes its business practices (recall the furor over Coke changing its recipe). Today’s example: the Wall Street Journal is now publishing a Saturday edition. Perhaps this is the most reliable…

We went to the grocery store today, and the store was having an outdoor “Taste of Southwest” event to celebrate food from the Southwest. The grills were smoking and the music was blaring. So, what constitutes a taste of the…