Is this a good week to attempt to upgrade SLP from old Blogger to new Blogger? I hope so (yikes...), meanwhile, a few goodies... (and with some luck, I won't blow up the blog before Monday).
2006 Top 10 Court Website Awards: The list is in. After reviewing over 3,500 websites of courts around the world, for the 8th consecutive year, Justice Served presents its annual list of courts with the best offerings on the Internet. Criteria include site functionality such as court tasks, self-help and other features; as well as links, aesthetics and more.
And the winners are . . . Dreamgirls! -- no, wait. Wrong list. Um - oh yes:
- Supreme Court of Singapore
- Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County
- Federal Court of Australia
- Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court
- Iowa Judicial Branch
- U.S. District Court, District of Nevada
- Connecticut Judicial Branch Law Libraries
- Superior Court of California, County of Napa
- District of Columbia Courts
- Brevard County Clerk of the Court, Florida
And for SLP glory, which of these 10 world-beating, award winning courts served as the venue for a famous space law case concerning a claim of property rights to asteroid 433, Eros? Hint Judge Howard McKibben dismissed the case for failure to state a claim. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed. (Another hint.) That's right. And congratulations to all these winners.
Congratulations also to Prof. Glenn Reynolds, our favorite space law professor and space law text author on making the Forbes list of The Web Celeb 25 --"the biggest, brightest and most influential people on the Internet." The professor is of course as influential as all that. And yes, he is "creating the digital world from the bottom up." But it's a shame really, because his new space law book is long overdue. Oh sure, as everyone knows, he does manage to find time to occasionally sneak over and write a post or two on a blog called -- and I'll have to fact check this -- Instapundit -- mainly to procrastinate. But never mind that; his long-anticipated new textbook may or may not be coming out this year. Tell Forbes. And stay tuned for announcements.
On a more somber note, help FAA/AST plan for disaster: Respond to a Space Frontier Foundation five question survey and offer your ideas on how FAA should react in the event of a commercial spaceflight accident. The survey is open until January 30th, 2007. (And please, no space lawyer jokes.)
And there's no need to help FAA debunk reports of a UFO over O'Hare Airport on November 7, 2006. (From a long list of reasons to disbelieve the claims, here's this: the second busiest airport in the U.S. is allegedly visited by an alien craft which hovered in plain sight for up to 20 minutes at midday and not a single traveler or visitor -- most of whom have digital cameras, cell phones with built-in digital cameras, or both, has a photo. Right.)
In his interesting TSC Daily column, as well as on his top blog this week, Rand Simberg has bravely come out, saying "I am not a space lawyer." This is commendable. Here on SLP we support all who want to come out as not space lawyers. Others may follow Rand's lead by proclaiming other things they are not, and disclaiming for example, even more obscure non-alliances, such as, "I am not a member of the Flat Earth Society." Or, "I am not a fruitarian." After all, respected members of hard-working American majority groups sometimes need to speak out too. ;) (Happy birthday, Rand. ;)
A note to all participants around the planet in Free Space Shot: I must apologize for the weather recently in Central Park. Speaking as a native NYC'er I have never seen hometown weather as ridiculously unseasonable and beguilingly unpredictable as it's been these past few months. In December, the dead of winter, it's been in the upper 60's and we were rollerblading in tee shirts, for weeks. All January so far, almost perfectly snowless skies and mostly mid-40's. Then suddenly, last night it hit like 9 degrees. A frozen tundra. What next? All this means Sam Dinkin's game of skill to predict the weather in the world's most famous park and win free rocketship rides to space may prove harder than expected. But no worries. The newly upgraded game's price is right for everyone to tackle any climate problem, with even more prizes, and the rules are simpler than ever. Here are current weather conditions in the Park. Good luck. Sam says lawyers kids can play, too. Although my super-smart eight-year old niece is going to win first.
Uh-oh. Stephen King wants to fly to space. (I can imagine the bestseller now. Be very afraid. (I just hope he doesn't answer that survey for FAA.) (Via HobbySpace.)
Stay warm. Have a fearless weekend.
// posted by Jesse Londin @
3:51 PM 
