Month: September 2003

I got my paycheck receipt today. Unfortunately, it was for just a day, rather than the month’s pay I was expecting. I called HR and was assured that it was for the last month, and I that was to get this month’s payment tomorrow. After remembering that I began my job on the first of this month, I decided not to pursue my complaint. Reminds me of the $100 Christmas bonus I got from HEB six months after I had quit. On the down side, I was rudely reminded of the State’s claim to my life in the form of an innocuous-looking line labeled “Federal Income Tax.”

The Internet has often been compared to America’s expanding western frontier during the 19th century. Like all frontiers, it has the potential to create enormous wealth through the exploitation of new technologies by the cowboys of the digital domain. The creation of a global communication network has attracted millions of entrepreneurs who are eager to make a name and a dollar for themselves by finding new opportunities and business models that take advantage of the unique nature of the Net.

The Internet is not just a source of wealth – it is also a source for the creation of new kinds of property rights. Domain names, broadband access, website designs, digital databases, digitized content, and quasi-public networks are all becoming new and valuable virtual property with little or no existing guidelines for the assignment of property rights to their owners. As governments worldwide struggle to catch up and resolve disputes by establishing property rights in these new areas, businesses must often act to secure their property when the Law is unable to provide adequate protection. This applies to intellectual property such as music and images as well as to virtual property such as domain names and private networks.
Continue reading Property Rights on the Net

My Internet connection has been mostly down the last four days, thanks to Cox Internet. I tried to do some off-line activities on my computer like finishing some unfinished essays and doing some coding, but even that seemed futile offline. After looking at a blank screen for a few hours, I resumed reading .NET Enterprise Design. It’s a neat book, even if it is ironic that I decided to read a book on designing effective networks while the internet was out.

Thanks to Google and M.S.N. for recognizing me as the 3rd highest “Greedy American.” If I could go choose to be known by any one moniker, it would be as a “greedy American.” But this got me to thinking: who are the real greedy Americans? (And how can I capitalize on my search engine hits?) What is the essence of being selfish, anyway?
Continue reading How to be a Greedy American

SMU shuts down race-based bake sale.
The Texas A&M chapter of the YCT is planning the same thing in November.

This year’s Open House didn’t yield any great photos, but here is a decent one:

For more, go here.

There is a new statue in the business school called “life rhythm.” I pity the poor bastard whose “life rhythm” is described by this junk heap. This is what they picked to represent business? I can think of some superior alternatives…

A few interesting stories: Jeff Jacoby says that The War On America Did Not Begin On Sept 11th, Victor Hanson writes that “These Are Historic Times,” and Arthur C Clarke’s dream of a space elevator may be becoming a reality, although the weight of government involvement may ground this project before this elevator goes anywhere.

This is getting ridiculous: The Beatles Sue Apple Computers Over iPod, iTunes
The purpose of trademark law is to prevent a business from mooching of another’s success by falsely representing it. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Apple Corps is using it for in this case.

Saudi Arabia’s religious police have declared Barbie dolls a threat to morality, complaining that the revealing clothes of the “Jewish” toy — already banned in the kingdom — are offensive to Islam.
For more on the story, see Cox and Forkum.