The Substantially Similar Weblog

Boston offers slim pickings for vegetarian fine-dining options in the financial district. Most nice places have some sort of pasta dish and not much else. I have forgotten several times, but now write this blog entry to permanently remember, that Radius at 8 High Street is an excellent choice for vegetarians. Although almost nothing vegetarian appears on the menu, you can just tell the waiter that you are vegetarian (along with any other restrictions), and the chef will prepare a plate of three unique fancy concoctions. I’ve had lunch with other vegetarians, and each of us got three entirely different creative and delicious dishes. They were complex enough that I won’t attempt to describe them here. I’m not sure how they chose who got what, but we were all pleased.

Of course, dessert is always vegetarian:

Excuse the quality; this is a low-light low-resolution image taken by cell phone. It was called “Butter Cake” but went well beyond the humble title. Those specks around the outside are dried grapefruit.

[Tags]Vegetarian, Boston, Restaurants, Radius[/Tags]

I reluctantly include Slashdot in my Google Reader subscriptions. I’ve yet to find another source with the same breadth of news coverage that approximately matches my personal and professional interests. The problem is that I’m increasingly annoyed by the editorial slant. The comments have always been hit-or-miss — mostly miss — but as I’ve gained expertise over the past six or seven years (particularly in legal topics), I’ve noticed that the article summaries themselves are invariably written by someone who has no idea what they are talking about.

So I ask the blogosphere: what’s a good Slashdot substitute? I’m looking for something with a good mix of breaking science, technology, Internet, law, and free-speech type stories, but without everything that makes Slashdot irritating.

[Tags]Slashdot[/Tags]

I do very little law-firm-life blogging here, although that life is where I spend the overwhelming majority of my time.  Consider Real Lawyers Have Blogs (something of a misnomer — they mean real firms have blogs). Counterpoint: Be Careful What You Post (motion to amend to assert defamation counterclaim against new defendant for comment on blog entry granted).

In any event, in case I have any law firm associate readers, I’ll send props to the ABA’s free Litigation Podcast. It has a high signal to noise ratio, and the episodes are usually short enough to complete in my walk to and from the train.

I’d like to draw attention to the latest post (“cast?”), The Secrets of Superstar Associates (21.1 MB MP3). Although on some level the advice should seem obvious, the “rules of the game” are seldom spelled out so clearly. I recommend it to any law students looking to join a firm and junior associates as well. In fact, even if you’re not a lawyer, much of the advice is transferable to surviving in any highly-skilled-professional organization.

[Tags]ABA, American Bar Association, Litigation Podcast, Law Firm[/Tags]

I received a glossy mass mailing today from “Axe Flix,” enclosing a DVD for a film supposedly entitled “A Diary.” (I haven’t loaded the DVD). The promotional copy:

AXE FLIX

Did the resounding climax merit a four-hottie rating?

Do the action scenes provoke a second go-around?

Or did the ending leave her wanting just a little bit more?

Be a critic. Rate this movie and you could WIN a year’s supply of Axe.

The whole thing seems suspicious. In my experience, most unsavory operations quickly come to light as such with a Google search. Oddly, there is only one result in a Google search for “Axe Flix”, and it’s not relevant. There is also no IMDB Entry for a movie called “A Diary,” nor do the named actors (Suzanne Knack, Patrick Kelly, Max Lenderman, Alexis Karsant, Jamie Butts, Chad Anderson) show up as real actors. It purports to be based on a best selling novel by “Robert Walker.” Also no dice.

Can something possibly be real in this era without significant confirmation of its existence in Google? I think not. Ontology recapitulates search engine optimization.

I’m writing this entry to create an anchor for future discussion. Does anyone have any idea what this is? The return address for “contest entries,” “Axe Spread the Love Sweepstakes, P.O. Box 511425, New Berlin, WI 53151,” also doesn’t provide many clues, other than possibly some relationship with toilet paper.

[Tags]Axe Flix, A Diary[/Tags]

Update: it took all of thirty seconds for this entry to appear as the first result for several related Google searches, and another thirty seconds for me to get my first comment from someone else with the same question.

Update 2: Based on discussion in the comments below, I seem to have unintentionally “fed the troll.” Maybe I wouldn’t have walked smack into this if I had heard of this product before. I guess this is my punishment for not having a cable or broadcast TV connection.