Eric P. Robinson, writing for the Digital Media Law Project:

A British judge’s decision that a tweet by Sally Bercow (wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow) libeled Lord Robert Alistair McAlpine (former Deputy Chairman and Party Treasurer of the Conservative Party and an aide to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher) shows – if anyone still had doubts – that tweets can indeed be libelous. In doing so, the ruling provides a good model for analyzing Twitter posts to determine whether they are defamatory.

This is an interesting case - one that shows great responsibility can fit into 140 characters.

Gene Sperling, Director of the National Economic Council, writing on The White House Blog:

Our patent system — as enshrined in our Constitution — is meant to encourage innovation and invention. It was designed to reward Americans for their hard work, risk-taking and genius. It has spurred progress that has driven economic growth and transformed the way we live, work, communicate, and stay healthy. But in recent years, there has been an explosion of abusive patent litigation designed not to reward innovation and enforce intellectual property, but to threaten companies in order to extract settlements based on questionable claims.

There are a growing number of companies, commonly called “patent trolls,” who employ these litigation tactics as a business model — costing the economy billions of dollars and undermining American innovation.

[…]

It’s clear that the abuse of the patent system is stifling innovation and putting a drag on our economy. The trolling has gotten out of control, and it’s time to act.

We are excited to announce these steps to give innovators a fair fight in the legal battle against patent trolls, bring clarity to the high-tech patent space, and protect the everyday citizen against their abusive tactics. We look forward to, with your support and the input of everyone affected by this issue, helping make America an even better place to innovate.

This is good news, though the underlying patent system is still a mess. The accompanying study and proposed actions can be found here and here.

Also, how cool is it that The White House used the term “troll”?

Russell Brandom, The Verge, writes about real-world use of Google Glass:

I like the woods. I like the quiet, the green — especially as the summer tunes up and Manhattan starts dripping. And even in New York, the woods are closer than you think. Beacon Mountain is about 60 miles north of the city, only a little over an hour on the Hudson line from Grand Central. That means I can leave my apartment at nine and, even after missing a train or two, be in the woods by noon. I try to make the trek each summer, usually early and usually with enough food to last the whole day. And this time, I brought Google Glass.

Brandom is generally pleased with the experience. Picture and video are okay and he claims the glasses are mostly unobtrusive. While this case represents a great use of Glass, it doesn’t address the creepy factor associated with using the device in crowded, social situations. I think it will take a bit of time for society to decide the acceptable use of wearable computing devices.

Mikael Cho explores which drink is ideal for creativity:

I didn’t know what I was going to write about today.

When this happens, normally I grab a coffee to help get the ideas flowing, but for the last few days in Montreal, no one’s been allowed to drink the water due to a bacteria leakage, which also means, no coffee.

So instead, I grabbed the next best thing to help me get going - a beer.

This got me wondering about coffee and beer and which one would actually help me be more creative and get work done. Hopefully, this will help you decide when it’s best to have that triple shot espresso or ice cold brew.

I need coffee in the morning. This goes well with Cho’s findings - coffee is best suited for repetitive tasks that require little creative thinking. I prefer to spend the morning completing these type of tasks. Conversely, my most productive and creative period of the day is late evening - perfect for a beer.

David Mdzinarishvili, Reuters, tells the story of Bacho Tsiklauri - the only student at his school:

[he] is a normal nine-year-old boy, no different from any other child his age, and he wouldn’t stand out in a schoolyard among other third-grade students. But in his school he does stick out because there are no others: Bacho is the only child at elementary school in the Georgian village of Makarta.

M. Scott Carter, The Journal Record, on Oklahoma state Rep. Joe Dorman:

This week, Dorman – frustrated because he watched yet another tornado destroy lives – again called for action. He asked the Legislature’s Republican leadership to consider a $500 million statewide bond issue to fund construction of safe rooms in public schools. A handful of people applauded, but others complained that Dorman has exploited the tragic deaths of several children for his own gain.

Dorman’s critics are wrong.

Tony Hanadarko, The Lost Ogle, discusses The Oklahoman’s interview of the three lead television meteorologists following the recent tornadoes. He points out that one is not like the others - Mike Morgan of KFOR:

“I’m a basket case.”

“I’m definitely post-traumatic stress.”

“I can see the future, I can.”

In the real world, if a man wearing a bedazzled tie utters those three sentences to you, it’s probably time to run like hell. In the world of Oklahoma meteorologists, however… well, you still might want to run away, but at least you’ll know if it’s gonna be sunny outside. I mean, the people at the Discovery Channel think Reed Timmer was good tv? If they want a real reality tv star, they’ve got the wrong Channel 4 personality.

As a research meteorologist, I’m always asked what station I watch during severe weather. My answer is usually KFOR, but not for reasons that they might infer. As I recently told KWTV’s always-calm Matt Mahler, KFOR is like a train wreck - I can’t stop watching even though I know it’s wrong.

John D. Sutter writes for CNN about his walk along the 17-mile tornado path in Moore, Oklahoma:

There’s something about walking that submerges a person in a place. The ambling speed is geared for making observations and conversations. Writers from Bill Bryson to Henry David Thoreau have long observed this. “You must walk like a camel,” Thoreau wrote in an 1862 essay, “which is said to be the only beast which ruminates when walking.” By walking the storm, I wanted to process it – to chew it up, camel-style, and spit out something that made sense.

The piece is worth a read, both for the content and the layout. I’m loving that news sites are increasingly making use of the web’s interactive nature.

An interesting site that is described as a “visual study of computer GUI in cinema.”

(via: sidebar.io)

One of my former professors, Dr. Kevin Kloesel, was a guest on the Tavis Smiley Show following the recent tornadoes in Oklahoma. Dr. Kloesel is Director of the Oklahoma Climatological Survey and Associate Dean for Public Service and Outreach in the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences at the University of Oklahoma. It’s worth a listen.