Catching up on things I meant to post a while ago, here’s a story I saw back home earlier this summer.

“Orlando lawyer is Web hero after defending blogger,” by Harry Wessel, Orlando Sentinel, May 12, 2006.

An Orlando lawyer stepped in to defend a Maine blogger sued for criticizing a state subcontractor. The blogger, Lance Dutson of mainewebreport.com, posted a copy of a Maine tourism advertisement; the ad agency sued for defamation and copyright infringement. The lawyer, Greg Herbert of Greenberg Traurig, acted as Dutson’s pro bono counsel after being recommended by a mutual friend; Herbert specializes in First Amendment and intellectual property law.

[Blogger Lance] Dutson received hundreds of supportive e-mails and posts from bloggers, as well as a strong Boston Globe editorial defending his First Amendment rights, after he was sued last month by the Maine Office of Tourism’s contracted ad agency — Warren Kremer Paino Advertising.

Dutson had criticized the New York ad firm as part of a larger campaign against Maine’s tourism office, which he thinks is incompetent and wasting taxpayers’ money.

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Free Culture, along with GatorLUG, will be organizing events in Gainesville to celebrate Software Freedom Day on September 16. Check out our page on the SFD wiki.

Join us as we celebrate free and open source software!

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I guess I should have posted this earlier, but better late than never…

The Office of IT has organized a presentation on Microsoft interoperability. Details follow:

Please join us from 3-5 PM on Tuesday, July 18 in room B74 of the Reitz Union for a special presentation on interoperability between open source and Microsoft products by Bill Hilf. Mr. Hilf is THE person to speak with if you have questions, concerns, or comments regarding interoperability. There will be a presentation, followed by time for questions and answers.

Bill Hilf is the Lead Program Manager for Microsoft’s Platform Strategy organization. Bill leads the Linux and Open Source Software technology group at Microsoft. Prior to joining Microsoft, Bill drove IBM’s Linux technical strategy at a world-wide level for the Emerging and Competitive markets organization, in addition to his direct customer interaction as a senior IT architect. Bill has been involved with Open Source Software (OSS) for over ten years, and is an IEEE Distinguished Visitor on the subject of OSS. Prior to joining IBM, Bill was the Sr. Director of Engineering for eToys, where he helped build one of the premier ecommerce businesses on the Web.

This should be interesting.

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(This is from a while back; I never got around to posting it at the time.)

“UF in Top 10 for patents,” by Justin Richards, Independent Florida Alligator, April 12, 2006.

UF patented 64 inventions last year, making it the university with the seventh highest number of patents issued in 2005.

…

Patents earn UF millions of dollars in royalties, which range from 5 percent to 20 percent of the revenue an invention generates.

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“Digital Downtown,” editorial, Gainesville Sun, July 12, 2006.

It would be a shame if this creative city were to lose its Digital Downtown. The world is going wireless, and Gainesville can’t afford to lose its virtual connection.

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“Digital Downtown funding fading fast,” by Lauren MacDonald, Gainesville Sun, July 11, 2006.

Digital Downtown, Alachua County’s free wireless Internet network that has been used by thousands of people in the past three years, may be broke soon.

Since its birth in 2003, the network’s construction and maintenance costs have been paid from a one-time $25,000 donation from Medical Manager Health Systems, but that fund will be finished “fairly soon” in the fall, said Chad Young, Alachua County network systems analyst.

To prevent the end of the wireless network, which stretches between the county’s civil courthouse and the library, the county will be looking for new sponsors to continue a program with an important mission, he said.

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Monday (7/10) evening, we'll be holding a meeting at
6:30PM in Reitz Union room 122, the Matthews Lounge.
This is our first meeting of Summer Semester B, and we
hope to see you all there! Check out the agenda at:
http://uf.freeculture.org/documents/agenda/july-10-2006/

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