Ayah Bdeir: Building blocks that blink, beep and teach | Video on TED.com

Imagine a set of electronics as easy to play with as LegosTED Fellow Ayah Bdeirintroduces littleBits, a set of simple, interchangeable blocks that make programming as simple and important a part of creativity as snapping blocks together.

Ayah Bdeir is an engineer and artist, and is the founder of littleBits and karaj, an experimental art, architecture and technology lab in Beirut. Full bio »

Instead of having to program, to wire, to solder, littleBits allow you to program using very simple intuitive gestures.” (Ayah Bdeir)

Related articles

JP Rangaswami: Information is food

With a background in economics and journalism, JP Rangaswami has been a technology innovator and chief information officer for many leading financial firms. As an advocate for open source and disruptive technologies, Rangaswami has been a leading force in the success of multiple startups, including School of EverythingSalesforce.comand Ribbit. He blogs (unmissably) at Confused of Calcutta.

Trove of Unsealed Court Documents Capture Kelley Drye Partner’s Push to Get Paid After Age 70

Read entire article in AmLaw Daily

posted by
Sara Randazzo

(Editor’s Note:  These documents provide a fascinating glimpse at how the “other half” work.  I suppose these days, we’d have to call them “the 1%”.  Just something to think about while the rest of us ponder what type of cat food we’ll be able to enjoy in our “retirement” years.)

***

Chronologically, the 83 pages of filings–which the judge overseeing the EEOC litigation ordered Kelley Drye to make public on March 2 over the firm’s objections–begin with two letters from D’Ablemont clients expressing dismay that he will no longer be allowed to take the lead on their matters.

“While I understand your firm’s position on partner advancement, it creates a rather difficult situation for our company as we move forward,” says a letter (PDF) dated February 1, 2000, with the writer’s name redacted. “We have remained a Kelley Drye client largely in part to your personal involvement in the growth of our company from 1970 to the present day.”

 

***

 

How much did a Kelley Drye life partner earn? At the time the dispute was unfolding, according to excerpts of a Kelley Drye partnership agreement (PDF) made public Monday, attorneys who had achieved that status received a fixed annual income based on their average earnings in their three peak-earning years as equity partners. (The same agreement shows the firm protecting itself against becoming over committed to retired partners by capping life partner salaries at 4 percent of the firm’s partnership earnings in a given fiscal year and requiring that any individual life partner cannot be paid more than half the average partner earnings for the year.)

***

In a March 2000 letter (PDF), D’Ablemont asks that the firm increase the client development funds available to him from $10,000 to $20,000. He needs the money, he writes, to maintain his membership at theWestchester Country Club ($6,800 a year), The Metropolitan Club($1,900) and the club at Seabrook Island ($1,000).

***

Jumping ahead, the next letter (PDF) contained in the unsealed documents that management sent to D’Ablemont is dated July 2008. It involves a separate dispute between the two sides–whether or not legal services provided to D’Ablemont’s family should be paid for by the firm.

***

Related articles

Rob Reid: The $8 billion iPod

Comic author Rob Reid unveils Copyright Math (TM), a remarkable new field of study based on actual numbers from entertainment industry lawyers and lobbyists.

Related articles

Send a Personalized Phone Call from Santa – brought to you by Gmail

English: Photo of Jonathan G. Meath portraying...Image via Wikipedia

Last year, Santa got his very own Google Voice number, and people around the U.S. received a special personalized holiday phone call from Santa Claus.

This year, Santa wants you to reach out to him (after all, reindeer are only so-so conversationalists). If you or your family members have a special request for Santa, you can call him right from Gmail* and leave him a message at his Google Voice number: 855-34-SANTA. Santa won’t be able to return messages himself–it’s a busy time of year for him–but he’s promised to keep us up to date on happenings in the North Pole day by day.

You also can create and send a unique, customized phone call from Santa to anyone you know, from your nieces and nephews to old college friends, over the phone (to U.S. numbers only). Listen to a sample phone call, and send a message of your own from SendaCallFromSanta.com.

*Calls from Gmail are free for U.S. and Canadian users, but will cost people outside those areas $.01/minute (plus any applicable VATs).

Related articles

NYSBA | Join the Lawyer Referral Service In Aiding Flood Victims

FEMA

FEMA

Image via Wikipedia

The New York State Bar’s Lawyer Referral and Information Service is recruiting attorneys that can provide free telephone consultations to individuals affected by recent hurricane flooding. The need is for attorneys with insurance, landlord/tenant or FEMA appeals experience as well as those who can help with general practice matters.

Please respond as soon as possible if you can help flood victims in need.

Thank you for your help.

Eva Valentin-Espinal

Coordinator, Lawyer Referral and Information Service

NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION

ONE ELK STREET, ALBANY, NY 12207

518.487.5700 PHONE

518.487.5694 FAX

EVALENTIN@NYSBA.ORG

WWW.NYSBA.ORG

Related articles

New EV Profiler Tracks Your Driving and Tells You If Electric Vehicles are Right for You | Inhabitat

The EV Profiler is a Driving Data Recorder that tracks the rate of your acceleration, the terrain you encounter on a daily basis and how often you take the highway or local roads. It then feeds that data into an online report and puts it up against the real world statistics from current electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf, the Chevy Volt and the Tesla Model S. Test driving a conventional vehicle is easy — you just want to see how smooth the ride is, how quick it takes turns and how much punch it packs — but with an electric vehicle it is a lifestyle change that could prove difficult to get used to.

The EV profiler allows you to test drive your electric vehicle personality without ever hopping into an electric car. The EV profiler rents for $25 a week or $82 per month and can be ordered through their website.

Related articles

Justice Advisor Position

Justice Advisor Position

 

Burton Rands Associates is hiring lawyers, judges and court administrators to perform as rule of law advisors as part of the recently awarded contract described below.

 

The Program: Criminal Justice Program Support (CJPS)

A cornerstone of stable and democratic nations is a criminal justice system in which citizens broadly accept and voluntarily comply with the law. As part of the U.S. Government’s mission to support the emergence of stable democracies, especially in areas that have suffered from years of civil strife, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Office of Civilian Police and Rule of Law Programs (INL/CIV) supports programs to help institutionalize sustainable criminal justice sectors, instill public trust in the rule of law and protect human rights.

 

Burton Rands Associates has been contracted to provide Justice Advisors in support of CJPS  to promote the following institutions:

 

  • Public prosecutors to review evidence gathered in a case, make determinations regarding the appropriateness of initiating a criminal prosecution and presenting cases to the courts for adjudication;
  • Courts that administer cases, set initial adjudication of guilt or innocence, and conduct appellate review of cases for final determinations of guilt or innocence;

 

Term: This is a five year contract with individual projects lasting, on average, from six months to a year.

 

Place of Performance: Various locations, worldwide (Current program countries/areas include Afghanistan, Haiti, Iraq, Kosovo, Lebanon, LiberiaSudan, and the West Bank but the program is expected to expand)

 

Responsibilities:  Provide advice and technical assistance on matters related to criminal justice, including, but not limited to, drafting new legal codes and procedures, training local officials and providing guidance on managing and prosecuting complex criminal cases.  Senior level advisors serve as leaders, working closely with INL to set overall mission direction.

 

Requirements:  A minimum of three to five years of criminal trial experience as a criminal defense attorney, prosecutor, judge, or court administrator.  U.S. citizenship.  At least one year of international experience preferred, particularly work on international rule of law programs.  Senior advisors will exhibit additional criminal trial and supervisory experience.

 

Who We Are:  Burton Rands Associates LLC is a woman-owned small business.  We concentrate on rule of law, security sector transformation, training and development.  We hold prime contracts with the US Department of State as well as contracts in support of USAID, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), NGOs and the private sector.  Burton Rands has considerable expertise in program management, particularly in the deployment of personnel to work oversees in conflict and post-conflict states.

 

Interested parties please respond with resumes to info@burtonrands.com

 

Gizmodo: Can You Fall In Love with This Beautiful Girl?

Read entire article on Gizmodo.

 – This is Eguchi Aimi. She’s the latest member of Japanese pop band AKB48 and a very lovely girl. But Eguchi Aimi is not what she seems. This Sunday, she shocked all her fans revealing her dark secret. You must watch this.
 Eguchi Aimi is not a real person, she has been composed in a computer using parts from her fellow band members. Her fans, who are legion, just learned about it this week, when this shocking video demonstrating the process, was published in YouTube. The legal implications of this “creation” are going to be very interesting. I foresee a whole new area of law.

Related articles

JURIST – Paper Chase: Iceland drafting new constitution using website, social media

Julia Zebley at 3:27 PM ET

Photo source or description

[JURIST] The government of Iceland [BBC backgrounder] is letting its general population help shape its new constitution through a number of new media formats, including theConstitutional Council website [in Icelandic], where new parts of the working draft [text, in Icelandic] are put on the site and rewritten to include public consensus. There are alsoTwitter and Facebook pages for comments, as well as a YouTube channel [official websites, in Icelandic] dedicated to the drafting process.

Related articles

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,246 other followers