Send Medianews mailing list submissions to
medianews@twiar.org
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
http://twiar.org/mailman/listinfo/medianews_twiar.org
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
You can reach the person managing the list at
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of Medianews digest..."
Today's Topics:
1. Blogger unmasked, court case upended (Monty Solomon)
2. Where's the Other Half of Your Music File? (Monty Solomon)
3. Comedy Business Turns to the Web (Monty Solomon)
4. Life Online (Monty Solomon)
5. For Pornographers, Internet's Virtues Turn to Vices
(Monty Solomon)
6. Feds arrest 3 in alleged JFK airport terror plot (Rob)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2007 00:17:19 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Blogger unmasked, court case upended
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/05/31/blogger_unmasked_court_case_upended/
Blogger unmasked, court case upended
By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff | May 31, 2007
It was a Perry Mason moment updated for the Internet age.
As Ivy League-educated pediatrician Robert P. Lindeman sat on the stand in
Suffolk Superior Court this month, defending himself in a malpractice suit
involving the death of a 12-year-old patient, the opposing counsel startled him
with a question.
Was Lindeman Flea?
Flea, jurors in the case didn't know, was the screen name for a blogger who had
written often and at length about a trial remarkably similar to the one that
was going on in the courtroom that day.
In his blog, Flea had ridiculed the plaintiff's case and the plaintiff's
lawyer. He had revealed the defense strategy. He had accused members of the
jury of dozing.
With the jury looking on in puzzlement, Lindeman admitted that he was, in fact,
Flea.
The next morning, on May 15, he agreed to pay what members of Boston's
tight-knit legal community describe as a substantial settlement -- case closed.
The case is a startling illustration of how blogging, already implicated in
destroying friendships and ruining job prospects, could interfere in other
important arenas. Lawyers in Massachusetts and elsewhere, some of whom
downloaded Flea's observations and posted them on their websites, said the case
has also prompted them to warn clients that blogs can come back to haunt them.
Still, Andrew C. Meyer Jr., a well known Boston personal injury lawyer who
followed the case, said he had never heard of a defendant blogging during a
trial.
"Most of us investigate whatever prior writings our clients might have had, so
they are not exposed to their inconsistencies in their testimony," said Meyer,
who has begun warning clients against the practice. "But it's impossible to do
if you don't know that your client is blogging under an assumed name."
Neither Lindeman nor his lawyer, Paul R. Greenberg, would comment. Vinroy
Binns, the father of Jaymes Binns, of Dorchester, who died of complications
from diabetes in 2002, also declined to comment.
Elizabeth N. Mulvey, the lawyer who represented Vinroy and Deborah Binns and
unmasked Lindeman as Flea, said she laughed when she read a posting at the
start of the trial in which Lindeman nicknamed her Carissa Lunt, noticed that
she bit her fingernails and mused, "Wonder if she's a pillow biter, too?"
But she was appalled that readers in the blogosphere who knew little or nothing
about the case rallied to his defense.
The wrongful death suit alleged that Lindeman, who works at Natick Pediatrics,
failed to diagnose that Jaymes Binns had diabetes on March 11, 2002, Mulvey
said in a court document. Less than six weeks later, the boy died of diabetic
ketoacidosis, said Mulvey, who described the condition as "diabetes gone
haywire."
Lindeman, a graduate of Yale University and Columbia University's College of
Physicians and Surgeons, is board-certified in general pediatrics and pediatric
pulmonary medicine, according to the Natick Pediatrics website.
In recent years, he has shared his medical views on local television news
programs, on the "Manic Mommies" podcast produced by two Ashland mothers, and
in magazines.
He is also the author of drfleablog, in which he calls himself Flea and
identifies himself only as a pediatrician in the Northeast. A flea, he told the
Globe this year, is what surgeons called pediatricians in training. The Globe's
medical blog, White Coat Notes, has occasionally included links to Lindeman's
blog, which he has recently taken down.
Mulvey, who said she only learned of the blog a couple weeks before the trial,
said after reading scores of back postings that it was controversial yet
intellectually stimulating.
Over the past year, Lindeman increasingly used it to rail against the
malpractice suit.
In April, before the trial began, he wrote about meeting with an expert on
juries who advised him how to act when he was cross- examined. Flea was
instructed to angle his chair slightly toward the jury, keep his hands folded
in his lap, and face the jury when answering questions, slowly. "Answers should
be kept to no more than three sentences," he wrote.
The consultant told him juries in medical malpractice cases base verdicts
almost entirely on their view of a doctor's character.
"We've said it before, and we'll say it again: If the basis of this case is
that Flea is an arrogant, uncaring jerk who maliciously neglected a patient,
resulting in his death, the plaintiff will not win, period," Flea wrote. "As
much of a cocky bastard that Flea may appear in the blogosphere, the readers
who have a personal acquaintance with the real 3-D doctor understand how such
an approach cannot succeed."
Shortly before the end of his second day on the witness stand, while focusing
on Lindeman's views of a pediatric textbook, Mulvey asked him whether he had a
medical blog, she recalled. He said he did. Then she asked him if he was Flea.
He said he was.
The exchange may have been lost on jurors, but Meyer said Mulvey had
telegraphed that she was ready to share Lindeman's blog -- containing his
unvarnished views of lawyers, jurors, and the legal process -- with the jury.
The next day, the case was settled.
Jonathan Saltzman can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
? Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2007 01:06:43 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Where's the Other Half of Your Music File?
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Basics
Where's the Other Half of Your Music File?
By WILSON ROTHMAN
The New York Times
May 31, 2007
CHANCES are that even if you have taken the plunge and started
building a digital music collection, you have never had to tangle
with the word "bitrate." That may be about to change.
The Apple iTunes store, the largest seller of music downloads, began
selling tracks from EMI Music yesterday without any restrictions on
copying, for a slightly higher price than usual, $1.29 instead of 99
cents. To sweeten the deal, those tracks have better sound, with a
bitrate of 256 kilobits per second (kbps), up from the standard 128
kbps. Apple has gone so far as to say that this results "in audio
quality indistinguishable from the original recording."
So what exactly is a bitrate? Simply put, it is a measure of the
amount of data used to represent each second of music. A higher
number means that more sonic information can be used to recreate the
sound. To careful listeners, or those with good audio equipment, more
data can make a big difference.
Last fall, Dr. Naresh Patel, a physician in Fort Wayne, Ind., moved
into a home he designed with his wife, Valerie. It has a home
theater, complete with projector, surround-sound speakers and a
high-end amplification system. The sonic centerpiece is two Bowers &
Wilkins loudspeakers that cost Dr. Patel $12,000 "with a discount."
It was all working beautifully until Dr. Patel connected his iPod to
the system. Sitting down in the theater's sweet spot to enjoy his
music, he was instead appalled.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/31/technology/31basics.html?ex=1338264000&en=c0875610b0d85817&ei=5090
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2007 01:08:58 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Comedy Business Turns to the Web
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Comedy Business Turns to the Web
By LAURA M. HOLSON
The New York Times
May 31, 2007
LOS ANGELES - For Will Ferrell, who commands up to $20 million for
movies like "Anchorman" and "Blades of Glory," starring in a short
Web video may not seem like the best use of time.
But one afternoon in early March, Mr. Ferrell walked to a guest
cottage at his Los Angeles home with a small crew that included Adam
McKay, who is his production partner and the director of "Anchorman."
With a camcorder rolling, Mr. Ferrell improvised a sketch as a
down-on-his-luck tenant being harassed by a foul-mouthed,
booze-sodden landlord. The actor playing the landlord was Mr. McKay's
2-year-old daughter, Pearl.
"The Landlord," which took 45 minutes to shoot and cost next to
nothing to produce, was posted on the new Web site FunnyOrDie.com on
April 12.
As of yesterday, the sketch had been viewed about 30 million times,
and the newly posted outtakes have been watched more than 1.6 million
times. (This being Hollywood, Mr. Ferrell and Pearl have already shot
a sequel: "Good Cop, Baby Cop.")
Another punch line of the story, though, is that Mr. Ferrell and Mr.
McKay started the site with the financial backing of Sequoia Capital,
the Silicon Valley venture capital firm that made a name for itself,
not to mention billions of dollars, by investing early in YouTube and
Google.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/31/technology/31funny.html?ex=1338264000&en=13ebcf122242a057&ei=5090
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2007 01:19:58 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Life Online
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Here and Now : Life Online
Story aired: Friday, June 01, 2007
http://www.here-now.org/shows/2007/06/20070601_17.asp
Hasan Elahi is an assistant professor of art at Rutgers University
whose entire life is available at his web site: Tracking Transience.
He says he was inspired by his own experience post 9-11 when his Palm
Pilot helped prove his whereabouts to the FBI who considered him a
person of interest.
Guests:
Hasan Elahi
Related Links:
http://elahi.org
http://trackingtransience.net
http://realserver.bu.edu:8080/ramgen/w/b/wbur/herenow/2007/06/hn_0601.rm?start=34:40
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2007 13:43:11 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] For Pornographers, Internet's Virtues Turn to
Vices
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
For Pornographers, Internet's Virtues Turn to Vices
By MATT RICHTEL
June 2, 2007
The Internet was supposed to be a tremendous boon for the pornography
industry, creating a global market of images and videos accessible
from the privacy of a home computer. For a time it worked, with wider
distribution and social acceptance driving a steady increase in sales.
But now the established pornography business is in decline - and the
Internet is being held responsible.
The online availability of free or low-cost photos and videos has
begun to take a fierce toll on sales of X-rated DVDs. Inexpensive
digital technology has paved the way for aspiring amateur
pornographers, who are flooding the market, while everyone in the
industry is giving away more material to lure paying customers.
And unlike consumers looking for music and other media, viewers of
pornography do not seem to mind giving up brand-name producers and
performers for anonymous ones, or a well-lighted movie set for a
ratty couch at an amateur videographer's house.
After years of essentially steady increases, sales and rentals of
pornographic videos were $3.62 billion in 2006, down from $4.28
billion in 2005, according to estimates by AVN, an industry trade
publication. If the situation does not change, the overall $13
billion sex-related entertainment market may shrink this year, said
Paul Fishbein, president of AVN Media Network, the magazine's
publisher. The industry's online revenue is substantial but is not
growing quickly enough to make up for the drop in video income.
Older companies in the industry are responding with better production
values and more sophisticated Web offerings. But to their chagrin,
making and distributing pornography have become a lot easier.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/02/technology/02porn.html?ex=1338436800&en=be6f7a83f149ccbd&ei=5090
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Sat, 02 Jun 2007 13:53:09 -0500
From: Rob <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Feds arrest 3 in alleged JFK airport terror plot
To: Tom and Darryl <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Media-News
<medianews@twiar.org>, News-4-US <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
Feds arrest 3 in alleged JFK airport terror plot
BREAKING NEWS
WNBC-TV
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18999503/
NEW YORK - Three men were arrested and one was being sought in
connection to a plan to set off explosives in a fuel line that feeds
John F. Kennedy International Airport and runs through residential
neighborhoods, according to an indictment released Saturday.
U.S. Attorney Roslynn R. Mauskopf called it ?one of the most chilling
plots imaginable.?
?The devastation that would be caused had this plot succeeded is just
unthinkable,? she said at a news conference.
Authorities arrested Russell Defreitas, a U.S. citizen native to Guyana
and former JFK employee. He was in custody in Brooklyn and was expected
to be arraigned Saturday afternoon.
Two other men, Abdul Kadir of Guyana and Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad, are
in custody in Trinidad. A fourth man, Abdel Nur, of Guyana, was still
being sought.
All four men have been charged with conspiring to attack the airport,
one of the nation?s busiest, by blowing up major fuel supply tanks and
the pipeline, according to the indictment. The plot involved a pipeline
that takes fuel from a facility in Linden, N.J., to the airport,
according to WNBC-TV NewsChannel4?s Jonathan Dienst, who first reported
the story.
Kadir, a former member of Parliament in Guyana, was arrested in Trinidad
for attempting to secure money for ?terrorist operations,? according to
a Guyanese police commander who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Kadir, a Muslim, left his position in Parliament last year. Muslims make
up about 9 percent of the former Dutch and British colony?s 770,000
population, mostly from the Sunni sect.
The plot never got past the planning stages. It posed no threat to air
safety or the public, the FBI said Saturday.
?This was the ultimate hand-and-glove operation between NYPD and FBI,?
said U.S. Rep. Peter King, a Republican from Long Island.
The arrests mark the latest in a series of alleged homegrown terrorism
plots targeting high-profile American landmarks.
Click for related content
Vote: How much does this concern you?
A year ago, seven men were arrested in what officials called the early
stages of a plot to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago and destroy FBI
offices and other buildings.
A month later, authorities broke up a plot to bomb underwater New York
City train tunnels to flood lower Manhattan.
And six people were arrested a month ago in an alleged plot to unleash a
bloody rampage on Fort Dix in New Jersey.
------------------------------
_______________________________________________
Medianews mailing list
Medianews@twiar.org
http://twiar.org/mailman/listinfo/medianews_twiar.org
End of Medianews Digest, Vol 282, Issue 1
*****************************************
