Tim Kevan, author of BabyBarista, the fictitious and amusing “worm’s eye view of the English bar,” has withdrawn the column from The Times where it ran for years, because of that paper’s decision to put its content behind a paywall. (See the piece on Slaw from last month.). BabyBarista is now a free-standing — and still free — blog.

The new main page sports a raft of cartoon illustrations by Alex Williams and potted biographies of the main players in BabyB’s life at the law, characters such as OldRuin, TheCreep, OldSmoothie, UpTights, and JudgeFetish.

[hat tip Charon QC] . . . [more]

I remember reading a few years back that a geek was someone who would record his daily mood in for years on end. If so, Nicholas Felton is geek extraordinaire. He’s a well-known designer who, to quote him himself, “spends much of his time thinking about data, charts and our daily routines.” He doesn’t just think about them, though. Each year he releases a work of art based on his own past twelve-month. These personal annual reports “collate countless measurements into a rich assortment of graphs and maps reflecting the year’s activities.”

Sounds icky, I know. But fear . . . [more]

If you haven’t used Google today, do it. The doodle right now is a PAC-MAN game, to celebrate the 30th birthday of that cultural event. And it works! Click on “insert coin” and use your arrow keys to eat your way to victory!

. . . [more]

Of all the world’s familiar objects few are as recognizable as the red, London double-decker bus. And the prince of these — for there have been variations on a theme here — is the Routemaster pictured below.

Recognizable by its distinctive half cab and by the hop-on-hop-off back door, the Routemaster served London from the mid fifties until December 9, 2005, when the very last of the scarlet behemoths was taken out of service.

London Mayor “Red” Ken Livingstone presided over the demise, but five years later Tory blue Mayor Boris Johnson decided that they were wanted again and so . . . [more]

Water law issues, public trust doctrine, virtual water, Maude Barlow, environmental issues, water use and management in Canada: Ted Tjaden

Consider this a post somehow related to the knuckle-dragging Weltanschauung  that produces conduct such as the federal troglodytes’ cancellation of the long-standing grant to the Gay Pride parade organization.

Once upon a time – or in current jargon “back in the day” – much of the social interaction portions of the Internet were a wilder place. “Flame wars” (aka “flames”) in the open-to-all-comers portions of USENET were legendary. All one needed was an ISP, a dialup modem, and suitable OLR (Off Line Reader) software.

There were some more moderated, usually more civilized, paid membership only, places . . . [more]

“Slow is the new fast.”

Maybe.

When it comes to cooking, slow is newly fashionable, it’s true. But when it comes to computer speeds, not so much. And so far as travel is concerned… it’s problematic.

Everyone knows that jet travel nowadays is an increasingly gruesome experience, certainly if you fly steerage as most of us do. And even if you’re a first or business class flier, the dreary ordeal of checking in, checking baggage, and being checked in one or more security lineups, is enough to take the edge off any interest in, let alone excitement at, going somewhere . . . [more]

As you might have expected, the Library of Congress has put together resources relevant to the nomination of Elena Kagan for the U.S. Supreme Court. There you’ll find articles and books she’s written, relevant congressional documents, a collection of material from the web, half a dozen transcripts of her oral arguments before the Supreme Court, and some videos of and about her.

For those unfamiliar with Ms Kagan, who is currently the Solicitor General of the United States, Wikipedia has a good potted biography.

Somewhat like baseball statistics — you know: “the longest game ever played during rain in . . . [more]

The Canadian government announced a consultation on the future of Canada’s digital economy at the Canada 3.0 conference this week. I encourage readers to add their thoughts to the consultation process – which is open for the next 60 days.

It is summarized as:

Digital technologies are critical to every aspect of our economy and society. That is why a strategy for the digital economy is needed to ensure that Canada is positioned to benefit from the opportunities that it presents.

All Canadians have a role to play in helping shape Canada’s digital future. Your perspectives, suggestions, ideas and submissions

. . . [more]

We are waiting for a 10 am press conference by U.S. President Obama to announce his Supreme Court judge selection. Elena Kagan, former dean of Harvard Law School and the current U.S. Solicitor General appointed by Obama, is being reported as his top pick according to Business Week and a number of other sources. The Washington Post has a nice timeline of Kagan’s career to date. . . . [more]

May 4, 2010, marked the 100th Anniversary of the Canadian Navy, a significant milestone all the more so in this part of the country. Tracing the legal roots, the Canadian Navy was created by the The Naval Service Act, S.C. 1910, c.43. (There are issues with the scan that I’ll fix at a later point), which came into force May 4th, 1910. The Nova Scotia Provincial Archives have posted an interesting gallery on the Canadian Navy posted to accompany the anniversary.

The reason I don’t have the necessary time to fix the scan is that I’m trying to . . . [more]

Some links on the result: CBC, BBC, ITN (in the news, a summary service), and The Times.

Here’s a good post from the Law Library of Congress on the fundamentals of the British general elections process, and a wikipedia page.

For news and interesting pre- and post-result commentary, see Vanity Fair Nate Silver, and Foreign Affairs.

And as a bonus, the BBC’s description of its projection of the results onto the side of Big Ben as they came in. . . . [more]