Get Software

Is It Legal To Be This Good

Yupe, thats one of the comments targeted to macpulenta, a user in YouTube.

Check this out:


This guy is really awesome, not to mention that its not his only work published at YouTube. I guess it is worthed as the first video in my blog. Nice work... I mean amazing!!

Btw, whos the guy he painted anyway? Not really that important though.

For those of you whos expecting something thats programming-related, sorry to disappoint you this time...

Available link for download

Judge Posner Questions Whether Owner of Patent on Heart Healthy Cookies Would Be Entitled To Nontrivial Damages

Last year I reported that Brandeis University had joined its exclusive licensee GFA Brands in suing a number of cookie companies for infringing its patents directed towards methods of "Increasing the HDL Level in the HDL/LDL Ratio in Human Serum by Balancing Saturated and Polyunsaturated Dietary Fatty Acids." The case is being heard by Judge Richard Posner in the Northern District of Illinois. On March 16, Judge Posner issued an interesting order in the case, ordering the parties to brief the issue of whether plaintiffs, if successful, would be entitled to nontrivial damage awards. Here is the order:

“I am concerned whether the plaintiffs if successful in establishing liability will be entitled to nontrivial damages awards. Suppose the defendants infringed the asserted patents but that none of the defendants marketed its products as low in bad cholesterol (LDL) or high in HDL, or as having a high ratio of HDL to LDL; and suppose further that the defendants obtained no cost savings by infringing the patents rather than using some non?infringing recipe and that neither Brandeis nor its licensee GFA Brands lost any business as a result of the infringement. On those assumptions, would the plaintiffs have any claim for damages, whether compensatory or punitive, or restitution? I would like the parties to address this question in briefs filed simultaneously by close of business on April 2.”

In other words, if the cookie manufacturers are not profiting from the healthy cookie recipe by using it to market their cookies, and the recipe does not cut their costs, then how has the patent owner been harmed, and what does Brandeis want the court to do? Perhaps the answer is that customers do pay a premium for healthier cookies, even if the cookie manufacturer does not use that information in marketing its products. And in any event, Brandeis/BFA would presumably like to get an injunction against the cookie manufacturers, as leverage to demand royalty payments, or to keep them off the market, thus reducing competition in the market for healthy cookies. But if the defendant cookie manufacturers do not profit from the technology, perhaps they will simply change their recipe, perhaps rendering their cookies less healthy but no less profitable.

Thanks to Docket Navigator for making me aware of this order.

Available link for download

It Might Be Worth Going Back to High School for the KFC Chicken Drumstick Corsage

KFC is a contentious topic in my house. My boyfriends mom gave up on frying chicken when she spent four hours making the perfect drumsticks for an event, only to be told by attendees that it was "almost as good as KFC". Now, my boyfriend resents the brand as a symbol of the end of homemade fried chicken in his childhood home.

Still, if any of yall are in high school, you have my blessing in supporting the chicken behemoth because they brilliantly decided to PUT THEIR CHICKEN ON CORSAGES.

Really. Actually. In real life.

Image Source: http://www.kfc.com/corsage/

Purchasers can spend $20 on a corsage kit from a Kentucky-based florist, which comes complete with $5 gift card for a drumstick of their choice. According to the site, choices include "Original Recipe, Extra Crispy or Kentucky Grilled Chicken. Whichever best matches her dress."

Image Source: http://www.nanzandkraft.com/gifts/kfc-chicken-corsage

This is both deeply hilarious and brilliant marketing by KFC, as their measly 100 limited edition corsages have captured media attention and made me want delicious chicken.

Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJdUSxFbJbw

The only downside? Its often suggested (note: very unsourced) that corsages were originally intended to ward off evil spirits. If I were an evil spirit, I would definitely follow around the lady with a wrist covered in greasy food.

The full commercial is available here:



Also, just for fun, heres me getting my way less memorable corsage at my junior prom:


Happy prom season, younguns! Now get off my lawn.

Available link for download