Bovine Bliss

The California Milk Advisory Board can't be sued for falsely touting the happiness of California cows, said a Superior Court judge in San Francisco on Tuesday. [Court Throws Out "Happy Cows" Ad Suit] This is not because the cows necessarily are happy, as portrayed in ads like "Sprinkler," Adweek's September '02 Best Spot, but, according to the Chronicle, because "[T]he government is exempt from the false advertisement laws that apply to private individuals." The California Milk Advisory Board stands by its ad claims, (e.g., Cows on Waterbeds), PETA has other ideas (Unhappy Cows), and Sean Carter had a column last May (Happy Cows Make PETA Sad).

Co(n)vert Operations

Something is topsy-turvy when Reuters can report that "The U.S. military has adopted an open stance towards blogging, and to soldiers' access to electronic communications in general," and Kevin Sites and Joshua Kucera are taking hiatuses (—hiati?). Advantage: military. More discussion and links from JD Lasica (who passes along word of CNN's preference for a "more structured" approach), Dan Gillmor (who observes today that "The future of news is becoming more and more obvious during this war," and wonders "how well we in the business of news will respond") and Jeff Jarvis ("CNN proves it is out-of-date").

Summer Registration

The FTC: "Online registration [for the national do-not-call list] will be available nation-wide in July."

(Loving the graphics.)

Slick Blawg Headline Aggregator

Nice: Daily Rotation's customizable Quick Loading Headlines From Legal News And Information Sites (a pithy idea in need of a pithier title—"Please Don't Squeeze The Blawgs?"). A great many blawgs already, and you can submit your own.

[Update]: Ah, I get it. They're Daily Rotation, and this is the Daily Whirl. Pith reigns.

iPod Update, Quick Hi

About 9 hours down. 2 bars still left!

Still swimming through cases, records and arguments here at B&B. It's going to be that kind of few weeks. This does not, of course, slow down my Dad, who has all my direct numbers and as of today ... switched. It's been a breeze for him, and he already sounds like an old hand at OS X. (This has not been without its bittersweet moments for me, however: "I see, the 20 gig iPod. And what else?") Between my real papa, my blog papa, what feels like a sizeable chunk of Orange County, and Ernie—who's bound to crumble any day—I'm wishing with some fervency that Apple had an Associates program.

Here's a tip for anyone tempted to follow my paters familias down the rosy (and yet not thorn free) Mac path. I guess it would work with XP too. First thing when you get your new baby out of the box, set up a dummy user account you don't intend to use. Call it "Stupid." As time goes on, "Stupid" retains only the factory settings (plus Software Updates? not sure), just in case something should go awry. I forget where I read/heard this suggestion or I'd credit it. It has come in handy on a couple of occasions.

And before leaving behind the subject of father-daughter technobonding, I must note RB has another blogdaughter, this time for real: Mirage's Blog. Can't tell? "don't question me...."