There’s no doubt that Pinterest has exploded in popularity in recent months. But with that boom has come concerns for some users about copyright law. Pinterest allows its users to create virtual bulletin boards by pinning content from across the web, including photos and recipes. Some lawyers say that could potentially leave Pinterest users vulnerable to lawsuits — if they don’t have permission to use the content. Some lawyers say that could potentially leave Pinterest users vulnerable to lawsuits — if they don’t have permission to use the content. “The best and easiest way to avoid trouble is to put up your own content, the content you created,” Jonathan Pink, a California-based intellectual property lawyer with Bryan Cave LLP told the Law Blog. For example, Mr. Pink said that if a Pinterest user sees a piece of furniture that he or she likes, or a tasty-looking cookie, they’ll be safe taking out their smart phone, snapping a photo, and pinning it. “Own the content you are publishing,” Mr. Pink said. On the flip side, Mr. Pink said, “if you are going to play it conservative and safe, you should never pin an image on Pinterest for which you don’t own the copyright interest or for which you have not obtained a license from the copyright owner.” There are some exceptions: Old photos that pre-date 1923 can be “safely posted” under copyright law, he said. One area that might be somewhat less risky is recipes.
“You can post a recipe as long as you are creating the text of the recipe yourself," according to Mr. Pink. http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/03/13/dont-get-stuck-by-pinterest-lawyers-warn/

LG Electronics was originally established in 1958 as GoldStar, producing radios, TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioner. The LG Group was a merger of two Korean companies, Lucky and GoldStar, from which the abbreviation of LG was derived. The current "Life's Good" slogan is a backronym. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_Electronics

Spring cleaning is the process of thoroughly cleaning a house from top to bottom once the weather has lost its winter chill. In the past, inadequate heating in homes and small living spaces often meant that certain types of cleaning had to wait for spring. For example, pioneers who used straw tick mattresses, tended to wait till spring to refill these, so that they could use fresh dry hay for filling. Before modern dryers, washing drapes or comforters was complicated by cold weather and tight living quarters. Those in cold climates and had no other choice but to wait for warm weather to hang laundry outdoors to dry. Read about spring cleaning based on other practices and celebrations at:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-origins-of-spring-cleaning.htm

Women in the White City, Lessons from the Woman’s Building Library at the Chicago World’s Fair by Susan E. Searing Next year will be the 120th anniversary of the World’s Columbian Exposition, more commonly known as the Chicago World’s Fair—a grand event that lasted six months, attracted 27 million visitors, and introduced attendees to the Ferris Wheel, shredded wheat, and belly dancing. Although you won’t learn it from Erik Larson’s bestseller The Devil in the White City, librarians participated in many aspects of the 1893 fair. A library of literature for youth was a key attraction in the Children’s Building, and elsewhere on the grounds a committee of American Library Association members established a model library that demonstrated innovative practices in our still-new profession. Now Sarah Wadsworth and Wayne Wiegand have brought to light another forgotten aspect of library history connected with the fair. In Right Here I See My Own Books: The Woman’s Building Library at the World’s Columbian Exposition (University of Massachusetts Press, 2012), the coauthors chronicle the unprecedented collection of works by “women in all ages and all countries” that was housed in the fair’s famed Woman’s Building. The library filled a large and beautifully furnished room on the second story of the temporary structure. Wadsworth, a scholar of 19th-century literature, and Wiegand, a library historian, recount the energetic planning and diligent work that went into gathering, cataloging, and exhibiting the impressive collection. It’s a surprisingly gripping tale of power struggles, budget crises, and last-minute machinations that will feel familiar to any reader who’s strived to meet impossible goals with inadequate resources. Never before had a library been assembled for the express purpose of showcasing women’s literary achievements. Committees of clubwomen in nearly every state of the Union identified female authors, living and deceased, and shipped copies of their works to Chicago. Many foreign women contributed books as well. The resulting collection topped 8,000 volumes and represented 24 nations.
http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/features/02292012/women-white-city

To celebrate Wordsmith's octodecennial (18th anniversary), here are a few 18-letter words: preantepenultimate (fourth from the last), hemidemisemiquaver (64th note in music--from Greek hemi- (half) + French demi- (half) + Latin semi- (half) + quaver (an eighth note), from Middle English quaveren (to shake or tremble), gedankenexperiment (an experiment carried out in imagination only), plurisignification (use of a word to convey multiple meanings at the same time).

In a survey completed in February 2012, the Pew Internet Project found that 80% of adults use the internet and 66% of those online Americans use social networking sites. Some 75% of SNS users say their friends post at least some content related to politics and 37% of SNS users post political material at least occasionally. The survey found that a portion of SNS users have assessed some relationships based on political material that is posted on the sites. Some 18% of social networking site users have blocked, unfriended, or hidden someone due to political disagreements. http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2012/PIP_SNS_and_politics.pdf

#26104 MONDAY, MARCH 19, 2012 – NO. 1 Detmers v. Costner
In the early 1990s, Kevin Costner envisioned building a luxury resort called “The Dunbar” on property he owned near Deadwood, South Dakota. After discussions, Costner commissioned Peggy Detmers to design 17 buffalo and Lakota warrior sculptures, intending to display them at The Dunbar’s entrance. Detmers and Costner orally agreed that she would be paid $250,000, and would receive royalty rights in the sculptures’ reproductions that were to be marketed and sold at The Dunbar’s gift shop. When The Dunbar had not been built in the late 1990s, Detmers stopped working on the sculptures. In 2008, Detmers and Detmers Studios, Inc. brought suit against Costner, and The Dunbar, Inc. seeking a declaratory judgment that she did not agree to the placement of the sculptures as required by paragraph three of their May 2000 contract. For relief, Detmers sought an order requiring Costner to sell the sculptures with the proceeds dispersed consistent with paragraph three. Detmers claimed that because The Dunbar was not built within ten years and the sculptures were not “agreeably displayed elsewhere,” she was entitled to 50% of the proceeds from the sale of the sculptures, which would be specific performance. Before trial, Costner made a motion to use parol evidence. Detmers objected, requesting summary judgment that the May 2000 contract was not ambiguous and parol evidence was therefore inadmissible. The circuit court concluded that the May 2000 contract was not ambiguous. The court denied Costner’s motion to admit parol evidence. The sole issue at the bench trial was whether the sculptures were “agreeably displayed elsewhere.” Costner, Detmers, and Wyss testified at trial. After post-trial briefing, the court granted judgment in favor of Costner. The court maintained its earlier conclusion that the May 2000 contract was unambiguous. The court concluded that “‘[e]lsewhere,’ as used in the contract, clearly means at a site other than The Dunbar.” Additionally, “[b]ecause The Dunbar has not been built, any site is elsewhere, i.e., somewhere other than The Dunbar. The placement of the sculptures at Tatanka is elsewhere.” The court also concluded: “Detmers actions following the decision to place the sculptures at Tatanka indicate that she agreed to display them at that location. Detmers was notified of the plan to place the sculptures at Tatanka in January 2002 . . . .”
On appeal, the issues presented are:
1. Whether the circuit court erred in determining that the sculptures were agreeably displayed “elsewhere” as required under the contract.
2. Whether Detmers agreeably displayed the sculptures elsewhere in the absence of a promise or guarantee from Costner that The Dunbar would be built by 2010.
3. Whether the circuit court erred in concluding that construing the agreement literally would lead to an absurd result.
Read much more at: http://www.usd.edu/law/upload/Monday-9am.pdf

The parol evidence rule is a Legal rule that once a written agreement has been duly executed (signed by all concerned parties) then it cannot be altered or annulled by any oral evidence that may contradict the terms of the agreement, except in case of a fraud or mistake.
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/parol-evidence-rule.html