Author: linked

This Washington Post article has been getting a lot of play, and from a pretty diverse group of bloggers (like here, here, and here – not to mention every tech blog on the planet). (It also looks as though the suit in question is not over copying CDs, but rather downloading. Regardless, RIAA goes on record saying that copying CDs is illegal.)

None of this should be a surprise – the original drafts of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act tried to make it illegal to copy any digital content. Whether that made it into the final Act, I don’t know, but that was certainly the position of the content-provision industry all along.

And why not? This is an industry whose entire business model for the past quarter century has been based on selling you stuff you already own. In the 80s, they sold you CDs to replace the records you already bought. Every Christmas since, they repackage greatest hits compilations to sell you more stuff that you probably already own. Now they want us to pay to download music that we probably already own in two or three different formats and on two or three different albums. With a business model like that, suing your customers makes a hell of a lot more sense than trying to come up with a quality product worth buying.

Today’s Times, talking about commuting, has this:

Or look at the New York Water Taxi, which started a route from Red Hook to Wall Street last year. Five years ago that circuit wasn’t necessary. But the perpetual “next big neighborhood” has sprouted not only a gourmet grocery store but also a community that shops there.

“The stop has two things,” said Tom Fox, president of New York Water Taxi, who worked with Fairway and local developers to create the service. “It has a new population in Red Hook that is going to Wall Street, and second it’s got Fairway which draws people to Red Hook, so there’s a potential for travel to and from the location.”

What both the Times and Fox fail to point out is that New York Water Taxi suspended its Red Hook service last week. Even though they keep their boats in Red Hook, its still not worth picking up passengers there.

(The Red Hook service is different from the East River service, which is to be suspended this week.)

Bridge Vineyards on Long Island is opening a tasting room at 20 Broadway.

Via Brownstoner, comes this gem from BushwickBK – proof that the bubble is still inflated.

BBK is right, the developer has serious issues with reality if he is looking to get $725,000 for this “luxury” condo. But I don’t know where BBK gets off saying they did a “decent job” on this project – it looks as though the developer saved money by a) not hiring an architect; and b) shopping the return bins at Home Depot.

BBK says that the project was “previously rickety frame building”. Underneath all that stucco, I suspect that it still is. Caveat emptor.

I haven’t been to Luger’s in a year or two, so I can’t say whether or not there has been a slip in quality. But the idea that a chain steakhouse in downtown Brooklyn is going to cut into their business is pretty funny. Until Morton’s starts drawing crowds from Manhattan, its not a threat to Luger’s. (The corollary being that if Luger’s is losing business, it is to Manhattan steak houses.) Besides, as Bruni says, “no other steakhouse serves a porterhouse so breathtaking”.

This is old news by now, but there was closure to the Fortunato murder-for-hire trial a couple of weeks back. One defendant – Carmine Polito – was acquitted in a jury trial on the 14th of December. The following day, Mario Fortunato (of the bakery family) was convicted by the trial judge. Turns out Fortunato had waived his right to trial by jury, and put his fate in the judge’s hands. With the jury verdict in favor of his co-defendant, it would appear that Fortunato (or more accurately his attorney), chose poorly. Is that in itself grounds for a new trial on the basis of incompetent counsel?

Once upon a time, there were only three bars in all of the Northside (Greenpoint Tavern, Turkey Nest and Mugg’s (or before that, Ship’s Mast)). OK, five if you count Kokie’s, but no one went there for a drink or to socialize. Back then, Mona’s and Sophie’s were akin to a local. I haven’t been to either in years, but its still sad to know they won’t be there.

Not to mention the fact that Sophie’s spawned Sweetwater Tavern (at the time, the fourth bar in the nabe).

NYS has released its own list of failing schools, and there is some disagreement between what the State deems a failure and what the City deems a failure. Unfortunately, for PS 84 (Jose de Diego), it appears that there is a consensus: things are not good. 84 is the only school in 14 to be added to the list of failing schools, er, I mean “in need of improvement”.

Meanwhile, all six local Junior High Schools are either “restructuring” or “requiring academic progress” on the state list. Likewise, PS 19 (Roberto Clemente) is also “restructuring”. If I’m reading my euphemisms correctly, that means that all of those schools are on the failed list. The disagreement is evident in PS 19 (which the City graded as “B”) and JHS 50 (John Wells, which the City graded as “A”). A number of schools that the city gave low grades to did not appear on the state’s list of failing schools.

From the Times, we learn that the Health Department is just now figuring out that when the cat’s away, the mice will play.

Years ago, I worked in a bar in Manhattan (one that did not serve food). The Health Department cited us for having a cat – multiple times. So rather than keep racking up fines, we got rid of the cat (he wound up living a comfortable life in North Carolina).

Within a month, we had rats. Big rats. The kind of rats that would think nothing of running across a crowded barroom floor. We hired an exterminator, who did manage to kill some rats. Unfortunately, the rats crawled into the ceilings and other nooks to die. And decompose. And smell.

So eventually, we got another cat. Two kittens, in fact. Together, they were about half the size of our average rat, but within a matter of days, the rats were gone. Basically, on smell alone, the rats vacated.

So, yeah, I can pretty much back this up: “[the Health Department] did concede that some studies have shown that the smell of cats will keep mice away.”

(Side note – someone actually stole one of our kittens.)

If 311 isn’t getting results, your building is moving and cracks are developing, it might be wise to call 911. You might want to get your possessions in order first, though, as its quite possible that when the DOB engineers finally do show up, you’ll have about 5 minutes to vacate.

Yes, this is seriously f-d up. As, it seems, is everything that involves 311 and DOB these days.