Monthly Archives: October 2012

Stormpocalypse

Also affecting sea creatures

Just more than a year after Hurricane Irene mangled the eastern seaboard, Hurricane Sandy has reared her ugly head threatening to repeat the devastation.  The entire east coast of the United States is scrambling for shelter as the monster hybrid storm moves it’s way north faster than expected.  This “Frankenstorm” is over 1,000 miles wide with maximum sustained winds of 90mph.  Millions of people have evacuated their homes to move farther inland. Even NYC is experiencing mandatory evacuations, leaving the city looking like a scene from I Am Legend.

Read more

Mardi Gras And Superbowl Put The Law On Hold

She will be at the Superbowl

The U.S. District Court Judge, Carl Barbier, has been appointed to a trial regarding BP’s 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  He has moved its start date from Jan. 14th to Feb. 25th in an effort to  decrease distraction from Mardi Gras and the Superbowl.  The trial’s main purpose is to uncover why the tragedy happened and to determine who is at fault.  New Orleans, which has taken the brunt of the BP spill’s effects, has been invested in restoring the average citizen’s quality of life since 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.  Though BP is expected to pay close to $8 billion in resolving the claims filed in this case, it is not hard to imagine that the tone of the trial itself could bring down the community. Read more

Murderer Resurfaced As Teacher’s Aide

Can’t trust anybody

As Halloween approaches children become frightened of urban legends and old murder stories.  Kids could never imagine that an old murder story could have involved their teacher’s aide, but in a school in Conrad, Iowa, that is exactly the case.  Paula Pace, formerly known as Paula Baniszewski, has been fired from her teacher’s aide position after the school discovered she was directly involved in the beating and killing of Sylvia Likens, 47 years ago.  The death of Sylvia Likens is recognized as, “the most terrible crime committed in the state of Indiana,” and her story was also made a movie in 2007, “An American Crime.” Paula, her mother, her brother, and neighborhood children had beaten and tortured Sylvia, taking turns burning her and throwing her down the stairs.  Even going so far as to stick Coke bottles in her privates.  She was found dead in the basement of the Baniszewski home.  Paula was arrested alongside her mother, brother, and neighbor.  She was sentenced to only 7 years in prison and was released in 1972.  She eventually moved to Iowa and changed her last name to Pace where she started a new life working in a school.

Read more

Apple Unveils iPad Mini

Newest products

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it; but you can always make it smaller.  Apple has officially unveiled the iPad Mini, the latest version of their revolutionary tablet.  Prices are starting with a $329 (the 64 GB will retail for $659).  The iPad Mini’s 7.9 inch display gives it a leg up over its competition such as the Google Nexus and Amazon’s Kindle.  The screen size puts it right between the iPad and the iPhone, catering quite nicely to loyal Apple owners who were looking for the middle ground.  iPad Mini pre-orders are already being taken through major outlets and the device will be officially released in the United States on November 2.  How excellent, just in time for the holiday shopping season.  Although, Apple shares took a 2% hit immediately following the announcement due to investor letdown. Read more

Who Owns Your LinkedIn Account?

Ownership?

A recent court case, Eagle v. Moran, raises new questions regarding employee LinkedIn accounts and opens the door to ownership issues across the accounts of all social media platforms. Linda Eagle, former President of Edcomm, had come across predicament when she left the company. She created an account on LinkedIn to promote her company like millions of people in this country do as well.  Edcomm’s SOP has its employees use LinkedIn accounts to increase professional connections.  If they left the company, it was Edcomm policy to ‘mine’ the data on the account.  When Ms. Eagle employment  was terminated, an Edcomm employee who knew her password changed it, thus barring her from accessing the account she created.

Ms. Eagle filed suit, claiming Edcomm had illegally accessed the account and the intrusion was a violation of the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act.

Read more