Thursday Bill Gates announced his plans for transitioning out of his current hands-on role at Microsoft . From TheStreet.com (June 15, 2006):

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates announced Thursday that he will move out of a day-to-day role at the company to spend more time with his charitable foundation.

The giant software company announced a two-year transition process to ensure that there is a “smooth and orderly transfer” of Gates’ daily responsibilities. After July 2008, Gates will continue to serve as the company’s chairman and as an adviser on key development projects.

The 2006 Lifestyle & Media survey by Student Monitor shows that iPods are now considered the most popular thing on campus, outweighing beer. USA Today reported on the findings on June 6th. Following beer was Facebook.com, then drinking other types of alcohol, and in fifth place was text messaging. Most of us by now realize the generation coming up through school have a different focus on technology, but I don’t know that we realize just how pervasive this is. How this will affect the learning and working styles of a new generation of lawyers and librarians remains . . . [more]

1. Historic Tale Construction Kit
2. Ulysses
3. Ohio State University, Department of English: James Joyce: Copyright, Fair Use, and Permission FAQ
4. Finnegan’s Web
5. Ulysses for Dummies
6. funferal: Stephen Joyce
7. The Post.ie: Joyce vs. Joyce
8. Aftenposten:
   Record meteorite hit Norway
9. The Volokh Conspiracy: Meteorite Hits With Energy Comparable to That of the Hiroshima Bomb
10. Aftenposten:
    Astronomer apologizes for meteorite fuss
11. Leonid MAC ’99 – facts on meteors and meteor showers/a
12. 3L Epiphany: A Taxonomy of Legal Blogs
13. 3L Epiphany: Cases Citing Legal Blogs
14. Altman Weil Pensa
15. The American Lawyer: Growing Pains
16. The Lawyer: Fuller figures
17. HM Revenue & Customs: BIM31050 – Tax and

Finally: after a week of furious posting at Slaw (probably a record number of entries for a week) not a few of which entries were clearly affected by the anti-gravity effect of the nearby summer (five days off, at 7:26 a.m. EST), this is the thing itself, which may not be as dramatic as the Norwegian meteor or as funny as the American emigrés or as edifying as Google’s Shakespeare, but has a charm all of its own, I think.

click on this line to see the full picture

The Historic Tale Construction Kit lets you build your own Bayeaux . . . [more]

Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed. A yellow dressinggown, ungirdled, was sustained gently behind him by the mild morning air…

This is definitely not the Friday Fillip. It is, however, a reminder that today is Bloomsday, the day when we celebrate the fact that Leopold Bloom meandered through Dublin on June 16, 1904, James Joyce at his heels recording it all for posterity in Ulysses.

We’re lucky in Canada that works published during Joyce’s lifetime, as was Ulysses, are now in the public . . . [more]

I’m leaving for vacation in about 20 minutes and I don’t want to say I’ve mentally checked out buuuuuutttt…… I may pop up with a post or two over the next couple of weeks or I may save my collected info for a return but before I leave I wanted to make a post detailing some of Canada’s recent Immigration issues (apologies to anyone who may have already seen this).

The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop illegal immigration. The actions of President . . . [more]

How could we have missed this? A meteorite hit Norway last Wednesday. According to this Norwegian news report, it had the force of an atomic bomb. A discussion has ensued in The Volokh Conspiracy blog as to what exactly this type of impact could mean. Yesterday a clarification in the newspaper was made, explaining that the force of the impact was exaggerated; however:

The original reactions to the witness reports of the meteor, also reported on forskning.no, are attributed to popular astronomer Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard, and were slightly guarded and very excited. Røed Ødegaard wrote the original

Thanks to Jon Smithen. Very nice list (though slawless) of legal blogs at
http://3lepiphany.typepad.com/3l_epiphany/2006/03/a_taxonomy_of_l.html

Also on the same blog is http://3lepiphany.typepad.com/3l_epiphany/2006/04/cases_citing_le.html which lists all US Cases citing blogs. Sentencing Law and Policy http ://www.sentencing.typepad.com/ has been cited 21 times in 17 cases. . . . [more]

One learns quickly to be sceptical, if not cynical, about the revenue and profitability figures floated by the legal press and picked up in the main stream media.

I was told years ago by the managing partner of Altman Weil Pensa that the audited financials of the top American firms bore scant resemblance to the AmLaw 100 figures.

Now The Lawyer has come out and admitted that yes, figures might be fudged or even at times overstated.

The article ends with some practical advice for managing partners wishing to number-fudge:

Top tips for making your figures look better or . . . [more]

In a 5-4 split decision today, the Court affirmed the Michigan State Court of Appeals in refusing to exclude evidence gathered in legally questionable circumstancesFor main stream media reaction see the Trib, the Monitor, and excerpts from the opinions on Forbes and the Post.

The Detroit police executing a search warrant for narcotics and weapons entered Booker Hudson’s home in violation of the Fourth Amendment’s “knock-and-announce” rule. The trial court granted Hudson’s motion to suppress the evidence seized, but the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed on interlocutory appeal. Hudson was convicted of drug possession. Affirming, the State Court

Danny Sullivan and Chris Sherman at Search Engine Watch write …

“Online newspapers have often ignored search engines, or viewed them with mistrust, relying on the power of their brands to drive traffic. That attitude is changing dramatically at the New York Times, and with powerful effect … “

Read the whole article at Search Engine Watch.

I’ve encouraged the lawyers at my firm to read this article. I think it’s a well-written, easy to follow (for non-geeks) article that explains concepts that I prefer them to understand. The authors explain how most newspaper websites work and why you . . . [more]

Thomas Quine, Manager of Electronic Access at the Legal Services Society of British Columbia wrote to send me a copy of a taxonomy and the working document surrounding it developed by the Public Legal Education and Information Working Group, of which the Legal Services Society is one of eleven members.
The eleven organizations that make up the PLEI Working Group are the British Columbia Courthouse Library Society, the BC Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, The Law Centre, Law Courts Education Society, The Law Foundation of BC, Legal Services Society, Ministry of Attorney General, Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor . . . [more]