interesting

Archived Posts from this Category

Wed 26 Nov 2008

godzilla has some real tough lawyers

// category: business, interesting
1 Comment

 del.icio.us  Digg it  Furl  Netscape  RawSugar  reddit  Wink  Yahoo MyWeb  

Wired has a greatly informative piece on the litigious and protective nature of Toho Co. Ltd., the rightsholder to Godzilla, and quick they are to protect their piece of IP.


Hurling hundreds of lawsuits and takedown notices like so many fireballs, Godzilla’s owner — Toho Co. Ltd — has roasted Hollywood studios, automakers, toy manufacturers, rock bands, book publishers, national food chains, record labels, bloggers, wineries and just about anybody seen as capitalizing on the monster’s unique features, name or theme music. When it comes to policing trademarks and enforcing copyrights in the United States, intellectual property attorneys say Tokyo-based Toho is easily a match for Walt Disney, Fox and Lucasfilm in terms of courthouse zeal.

“I think they have got litigation in their reptilian DNA,” says Jonathan Handel, a Hollywood IP lawyer. “They’re afraid that their intellectual property rights will suffer the same fate that Tokyo has in many Godzilla movies.”


Sun 16 Nov 2008

now it’s bad, white truffle prices collapse

// category: business, food, interesting
No Comments

 del.icio.us  Digg it  Furl  Netscape  RawSugar  reddit  Wink  Yahoo MyWeb  

A true sign of these tricky economic times, Bloomberg reports on the collapse of the white truffle market.


Wed 29 Oct 2008

the polish are leaving ireland

// category: interesting
[2] Comments

 del.icio.us  Digg it  Furl  Netscape  RawSugar  reddit  Wink  Yahoo MyWeb  

During Ireland’s years of economic prosperity, the country opened its borders to Polish and other eastern European immigrants to fuel the good times. And they came in record numbers.

Poles have changed the face of Ireland. Bars sell Polish beer alongside Guinness; butchers advertise Polish sausages and pork cuts along with Irish beef.

In all, 1.2 million Poles may have moved to the U.K. and Ireland since 2004, according to Warsaw-based Centre for International Relations.

With the global economic crisis and ensuing downturn the Irish economy, hundreds of thousands of Poles are expected to be out of their jobs and many of those are expected to leave Ireland and look for work elsewhere.


Sat 25 Oct 2008

what’s like to be a nake sushi model

// category: food, interesting
No Comments

 del.icio.us  Digg it  Furl  Netscape  RawSugar  reddit  Wink  Yahoo MyWeb  

Here is an interesting diversionary read, Melanie Berliet writes in Vanity Fair about the experience of being a naked sushi model.

I managed to climb aboard, but not without flashing her and nearly taking a spill that could have killed me. I envisioned the paramedics arriving to collect me, perplexed by my get-up. The newspaper headline: “Wannabe Sushi Model Dies in the Raw.” I shook off these morbid thoughts and focused on getting into position. There was a long rectangular foam pad under the red table cloth, and I had to array myself on it without disturbing the place settings around me. Once I’d done so, I wiggled and shimmied, desperately seeking a quasi-comfortable position.