Monthly Archives: June 2010

Justice Scalia’s Indecision a Victory for the Patent Bar

Bilski v. Kappos was the most-anticipated Supreme Court patent case in a generation. And when it was finally handed down on Monday, it turned out to be the most anticlimactic. There’s been a raging debate about software and “business method” … Continue reading

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Justice Stevens, Defender of High-Tech Freedom

Over at Ars Technica, I’ve got an article examining the tech policy record of Justice John Paul Stevens, who retired today: Stevens penned the 1978 decision that shielded the software industry from the patent system in its formative years. In … Continue reading

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Henley and Yglesias on Reporter Impartiality

A couple of follow-ups on my post about the decline of reporter impartiality. First, Jim Henley points out that the ethos of the opinionated blogger isn’t really new: I submit that this is just magazine-journalism ethos with the addition of … Continue reading

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Dave Weigel and the Decline of the Post

On Friday, the DC media world was abuzz with the news that Dave Weigel resigned from the Washington Post after intemperate comments he’d made on a private mailing list were made public. Dave’s a friend of mine, so unsurprisingly I … Continue reading

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Illegal Driving vs. Illegal Immigration

The more I think about it the more trouble I’m having understanding what people mean when they say they’re against [Edit: illegal] immigration. Analogies are never perfect, but consider driving. I speed on a semi-regular basis. And virtually everyone else … Continue reading

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Top-Down Management in Afghanistan

This Rolling Stone profile of General McChrystal has recently led to his downfall. But the really troubling thing about the article isn’t what McChrystal thinks of his civilian superiors (although that is troubling) but the picture it paints of the … Continue reading

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Immigration McBlogging

I’ve been blogging about immigration over at Megan’s blog. On Friday I called out Mint.com for posting an inflammatory info-graphic on its blog (which the company subsequently pulled). And today I consider the common argument that the rule of law … Continue reading

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McBlogging

My friends Megan McArdle and Peter Suderman got married in DC this weekend. For the next couple of weeks I’ll be guest-blogging for Megan while she’s on her honeymoon. Here is a post where I give my impressions of her … Continue reading

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Treacherous Data and Large Organizations

The point I made on Friday about the dangers of over-reliance on (possibly faulty) data seems obvious in hindsight. You might think that McNamara just happened to have an unusual blind spot, and that his problems could have been avoided … Continue reading

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The Bottom-up Future of PR

There’s very little that’s funny about the BP oil spill, but one of the few sources of genuine humor is the BPGlobalPR Twitter account, a satirical PR representative for the oil giant. The New York Times ponders the significance of … Continue reading

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