onThought

Archive for July, 2005

Starboard

Wednesday, July 6th, 2005

Three top communication and media industry execs — Tom Freston (Co-President & Co-COO of Viacom), Jonathan Miller (Chairman & CEO of AOL), and Terry Semel (Chairman & CEO of Yahoo!) — have joined Emerson‘s Board of Trustees. I call this announcement education “validation”. Need any more evidence that Emerson is a powerhouse mass communication school? Now, if only the IT department wasn’t incompetent…

Best Anti-Virus Software

Friday, July 1st, 2005

Yesterday, a fellow sales associate told a customer that the best anti-virus software you can buy is Mac OS X. I actually laughed out loud. If Apple is listening, that is a brilliant marketing liner.

Meanwhile, security firm Sophos released a study concluding that half of Windows computers have their security compromised with 12-minutes of going onto a network.

Supremely Wrong

Friday, July 1st, 2005

I firmly believe that the judicial branch is the most flawed aspect of the American government. Three rulings this past week reinforced my sentiment. Being a Supreme Court Justice means that you are officially never wrong, even when the rest of the world knows that you are looney. In case you were living under a rock this week, three important and troubling rulings were announced.

• Eminent Domain: Yes, the government can officially seize your property to build a strip joint because it will generate tax revenue.
• Digital Domain: Peer-to-peer technology companies are now held liable for the use of their software. This is like car manufacturers being held liable for your drunk driving.
• Establishment Domain: Acknowledging a historical Christian foundation now deemed inappropriate in court houses, but okay on government property. Apparently the Establishment Clause now means that the government must crush all expression of religious belief, even when that expression is not the least oppressing to anyone.

But wait, there’s more! Tune in next week when rabid Senate democrats filibuster until the 2008 presidential election in attempt to block President Bush’s replacement for O’Connor.