Author: bjshucha

eBay and Amazon.com for Research? You Bet

Genie Tyburski has written a useful article which appears in the November issue of e-LOC. In Answers in Unusual Places, she offers tips on using non-traditional sources such as eBay and Amazon.com as research tools. Product descriptions in eBay, she advises, may contain information about manufacturers, citations for articles appearing in old magazines, text from …

Supreme Court Rules Pro Se Prisoner Not Entitled to Law Library Access

In Kane v. Espitia, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a California inmate was not entitled to a new trial due to lack of access to a jail law library despite his repeated requests and court orders to the contrary. The court did note that “Of course, he had declined, as was his right, to …

BlogShares, a Fantasy Stock Market for Blogs

Anyone playing BlogShares, the fantasy stock market for blogs? I haven’t dived in yet, but it looks like fun. Players get to invest a fictional $500, and blogs are valued by incoming links. I’ve been following WisBlawg’s BlogShares profile for the last few months. It’s now supposedly worth $18,062.72. Ah, if only it were real! …

Milwaukee Legal Resource Center Threatened by Court Budget Cuts

A Wisconsin Law Journal editorial by the Milwaukee Bar Association Board of Directors reveals that under the proposed 2006 budget, Milwaukee County Circuit Court budget would be slashed by almost 25 percent. Among the many cuts could be the elimination of the county law library, known as the Milwaukee Legal Resource Center. According to the …

Bypass Automated Phone Systems – Talk to a Real Person

Automated phone systems are fine when you have a routine customer service inquiry, but sometimes you just want to talk to a real person. Good look getting through to someone though. Next time, take a peek at the Find-A-Human — IVR Cheat Sheet (USA) before you dial. This handy guide offers instructions for bypassing automated …

Direct Legislation Effort in Jefferson

The JS Online reports that citizens in Jefferson have initiated a direct legislation effort to stop a proposed Wal-Mart SuperCenter. “The petitions call for a municipal ordinance that would require any developer seeking to annex more than 15 acres to the city to complete a series of costly steps before a project could be approved.” …

White House Sues The Onion

The New York Times reports that the White House has sued The Onion for unauthorized use of the presidential seal. Source: The University of Baltimore Law Library Weblog

Opt-out of Prescreened Credit Card Offers

How many credit card offers were in your mailbox today? If you are like me, the answer is probably too many. The ones with the magnets are the worst since you have to actually open and pull them out before sending through the shredder. These credit card offers are not only a pain to dispose, …

Podcasting 101

If you haven’t been bitten by the podcasting bug yet and are wondering what it’s all about, take a look at the article in today’s Wisconsin State Journal, “Podcasting: It’s More Than Just Tunes.” The article does a nice job of explaining the technology, why some people are tuning in, and why others (including businesses) …

Madison's Wi-Fi Project Back on Track

From the Wisconsin State Journal: The city of Madison’s long-stalled wireless Internet project is back online, with officials on Thursday promising a Wi-Fi network Downtown by March. Cellnet, an Atlanta firm, breathed new life into the initiative – originally promised by spring 2005 – when it agreed to finish the work that was started by …