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Posted by Steve Wittich on Monday, September 5th 2022
Dixon Earns Podium in Portland, Enters Season Finale in Title Contention with Ericsson
Scott Dixon executed the most on-track passes (13) of any driver in the field today and registered a team high P3 finish at the Grand Prix of Portland. Dixon and the No. 9 PNC Bank team also gained more positions than anyone in the field from the start to finish of the race (+13 positions after starting in P16).
Dixon notched his 131st career podium finish, which ranks 2nd all-time across INDYCAR SERIES history (Mario Andretti: 144). This is also the 322nd all-time podium for Chip Ganassi Racing in the INDYCAR SERIES.
Chip Ganassi Racing will head to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season finale with both Scott Dixon and Marcus Ericsson in contention for the championship.
Scott Dixon enters the final race of the year with a chance to win the championship for the 12th time in his 22 career INDYCAR SERIES seasons.
Photo Courtesy of Chip Ganassi Racing
P1 – Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Chevy
P3 – Scott Dixon, No. 9 PNC Bank Honda
P11 – Marcus Ericsson, No. 8 PNC Bank Honda
P12 – Alex Palou, No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda
P24 – Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Carvana Honda
2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Points Leaderboard
P1 – No. 12 Will Power (523)
P3* – No. 9 Scott Dixon (503)
P4 – No. 8 Marcus Ericsson (484)
P6 – No. 10 Alex Palou (457)
P22 – Jimmie Johnson (200)
Scott Dixon – No. 9 PNC Bank Honda
"That was definitely a fun race. We've got to work on qualifying and stop making it so difficult on us. The PNC Bank No. 9 had pretty good pace throughout the race today. The fuel mileage was exceptionally easy, which was a huge positive. The drivability was fantastic, so kudos to Honda as it made my day a lot easier. We're still in the title hunt and we can definitely get this."
Marcus Ericsson – No. 8 PNC Bank Honda
"Starting from 18th, it was going to be a difficult task. On lap one, I unfortunately got off-track and lost a few spots which was not ideal. From there on, I think the No. 8 PNC Bank crew did a good job to get us back up there in the field. We tried a few things with the strategy to get off-sequence. When we were in free air, we were really strong. The pace was pretty good in the No. 8 car. We made some good calls and made our way back up. On the re-start, we started from 16th and made our way to 11th and really showed our potential. It's a bit disappointing result but it was a decent race."
Alex Palou – No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda
"Starting fourth, we were running okay in the beginning and then lost a bit of pace. We'll check on what went on today and recover next week in Laguna. We still have one race to go, and we will try to win it."
Jimmie Johnson – No. 48 Carvana Honda
"We were just unfortunate today. Didn't have the pace that I was looking for today. With the sun being out today, I don't think the set-up in the car correctly compared to yesterday's sessions. I was just trying to be polite and make my way around the track at the end, but unfortunately the No. 21 did a fade in the braking zone into Turn 1 after I gave him the position. We made some contact which put us in the wall and took us out."
category: Chip Ganassi Racing PR
« Rahal Finished Fifth in the GP of Portland; Lundgaard Ran in Podium Contention But Faced a Few Challenges & Finished 21st; Harvey Finished 15th
Callum Ilott Earns a Solid Ninth Place Finish in the Grand Prix of Portland »


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People who don't have much time or would like to get a Customer Support Software suggestion from our team might want to take a look at these top choices for this year: Salesforce Service Cloud, Salesforce Essentials, Freshdesk.
Almost as crucial as features and user support quality are pricing options given by simplyCT and JitBit HelpDesk. Although price should not be the only factor it's without a doubt an important thing to consider. You should expect a flexible pricing package that can be adjusted to your company size and easily scaled up when your team grows. You should be certain you don't choose packages that have advanced tools that you won't find a use for and always try to get in touch with the vendor directly as enterprises can usually benefit from discounts. You should also give a chance to a free trial or demo of every service to spend at least some time working with it. It's a useful experience that doesn't ask you to invest any money and gives you a reliable overview of what it's like to work with simplyCT and JitBit HelpDesk.


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Q: Given $f'(x)\leq 1-f(x)^2$, prove $|f(x)|\leq 1$
Let $f$ be $C^1$ function on $\mathbb{R}$. Suppose that $$f'(x)\leq
 1-f(x)^2$$ Prove that $|f(x)|\leq 1 \: \forall x$.

I suppose that such a function can be bounded by a solution to the ODE: $y'=1-y^2$
with the same initial value, but I don't know by which theorem, if at all.
Trying to solve this ODE gives:
$$\frac{dy}{1-y^2}=dx \Rightarrow \int\frac{dy}{1-y^2}=\int dx=x+c$$
but now another problem arises: $\frac{1}{y^2-1}=\frac{1}{2}\left ( \frac{1}{y-1}-\frac{1}{y+1} \right )$
 and so taking anti-derviative depends whether $|y|\leq 1$ or not, which makes me even more confused.
Can someone please make me some sense of all this mess?

A: It is sufficient to prove that
$$|f(0)|=:c>1\tag{1}$$
is impossible.
If $(1)$ holds with $f(0)=c$ define $g(x):=f(-x)$, and if $(1)$ holds with$f(0)=-c$ define $g(x):=-f(x)$. In both cases we obtain
$$g(0)=c>1,\qquad g'(x)\geq g^2(x)-1\quad(x\geq0)\ .$$
It is then obvious that $g$ increases on ${\mathbb R}_{\geq0}$; hence $g(x)>1$ for all $x\geq0$. Now
$$g'\geq g^2-1=(g-1)^2+2(g-1)> (g-1)^2$$
implies
$${g'(t)\over \bigl(g(t)-1\bigr)^2}>1\qquad(t\geq0)\ .$$ We integrate this from $t=0$ to $t=x>0$ and obtain
$$-{1\over g(t)-1}\biggr|_0^x> x\ ,$$
and this expands to
$$g(x)>1+{1\over C-x}\quad (0<x<C)\ ,$$
where we have put ${1\over c-1}=:C$. This shows that $g$, hence $f$, cannot live over all of ${\mathbb R}$.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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How to wear a kilt casually. Really.
February 2, 2012 By Joe | Heads up: Buying via our links may result in us getting a commission. Also, we take your privacy rights seriously. Head here to learn more.
Ask A Woman: He's wearing a kilt. But how can he do so casually?
If you've got a question that needs the female treatment, chances are you're not the only one who wants to ask it. Beth is our source for the answers. From opinions on men's style to decoding the sometimes mysterious ways of women, she'll take on a different question every Thursday. And don't worry, your identity will be protected too. Click here to get to know Beth, then get in touch with her by sending your question to: askawoman@dappered.com
I've been reading the articles on Dappered for several weeks now and I've even picked up a few ideas about things I may go out and look for. But there's one thing about my usual choice of clothing that defies a lot of the advice I've read.
I wear kilts.
Now, I'm perfectly willing to grant that kilts are a very unusual fashion choice, and it may be completely impossible, in your opinion, to look "dapper" while wearing one. Be that as it may, I wear kilts, I like wearing kilts, and I am going to go on wearing kilts.
The advice I'm looking for here is not necessarily how to "dress up" a kilt. I can do that fairly well, I think. In fact that's one of the easiest things to do, because they have become fairly formal sorts of garments, at least when you're talking about the traditional, Scottish kilt (eight years of wool tartan). What I'm really looking more for are ideas about a casual, but nice, kilt look. What kind of shirts do I wear? What kind of footwear? Socks?
I should note that most of the kilts I wear, on a daily basis, are Utilikilts. I own six of them, wear them nearly every day for 75% of the year. I'm pretty serious about my Utilikilts, but that doesn't mean that I always want to dress in the "accepted" style (e.g. funky tops, combat boots, etc.).
So what kind of advice can you provide?
– Aaron
Dear Aaron,
I've been avoiding your email for months. Every week, I see it peeking at me from my amassed collection, and I think, here's a guy with the guts to wear what he likes, social sanctions be damned, and he needs my counsel, and I put him off time and time again. I open your email, re-read your message, and then slowly back away from the computer screen. Then I get up and eat a cookie, check Facebook, coo at my dog, watch my neighbor apply grease to his fence so the squirrels fall off it…and finally sit back down and pick a different email. Here's why: I have ZERO expertise in what you're asking me about. I don't know anyone who ever wears kilts, so I hardly know where to start. I didn't even realize you could dress up or dress down kilts. It's a kilt for God's sake! The only thing I can really contribute here is that fact that I know about other types of men's clothing, and you're writing in for a woman's opinion, and I am, in fact, a woman…so bear with me.
I'll apply what I know about normal clothing to this scenario, and perhaps all the pieces will come together. If they don't, boo-hoo, I'll never be employed by the kilt industry. To dress down a kilt, I'd think you'd want to stay away from shirts that have a lot of bells and whistles–pockets, buttons, snaps, zippers, epaulets, etc. So plain tees like this crew neck, and this v-neck would work. A polo shirt would also fit the bill. The kilts you link to see to have higher waists than the typical pair of men's pants, so I'd definitely recommend tucking in the shirts so that it looks nice and neat.
A rugby shirt might also be a good play.There also seems to be opportunity for some interesting belts, since the Utilikilts have belt loops. To use the loops as is, you'll need to pick wider belts. But if you wanted to change it up, you might consider taking your kilt to a tailor and asking him/her to shorten the loops so that you could wear a sleek, narrow belt instead.
During the colder months, again, pick simpler sweaters, like this cashmere-blend v-neck. This sweater does have some of those details I advised staying away from, but somehow it looks very laid-back here. For a little texture, try this cableknit sweater. When wearing bulkier items like sweaters, don't tuck in, of course–it will just add thickness to your mid-section.
Kilt worthy? The Original Utilikilt, Custom-Fit Polo by RL, V-Neck by J. Crew, Cable Crew by Bonobos
Footwear. Footwear with a kilt. I'm going to reference Joe's post, "2012 = The Year of the Loafer" for this one. Laceless shoes, I bet, would look good with a kilt. This would also be a sharp departure from the combat boots you referenced, which are all laces. I especially like these two pairs. You might also try Boat Shoes for an even more casual look (and minimal laces). As for socks…that's a challenge. The photos I've looked through online of men wearing kilts and shoes (but not boots), show the shoes worn with a knee-high white sock. So…there's that…option. May I suggest veering from tradition and trying a colored sock? Perhaps in a dark, neutral tone like black, navy blue, or charcoal. The other option, I suppose, is to wear no sock at all. You'll wind up with some seriously funky smelling shoes pretty quickly that way, though. You could simply give the appearance of a bare foot by wearing no-show socks like the ones here or here.
Aaron, hope this helped. You definitely gave me a run for my money. Next week, I get back to the easy questions from the rest of you suckers.
-Beth
Got a question for Beth? Send them to: askawoman@dappered.com
Filed Under: Clothing, Women Tagged With: Ask A Woman, how to, how to wear a kilt casually, Kilt, utilikilts
There's always also the Polynesian option which I favour when in the tropics and a long way from home.
The lava-lava (Samoan) usually brightly coloured with hibiscus flowers, and white singlet or T-shirt and bare feet or flip-flops – certainly the ultimate in casual kilt-like clothing, but as i said – only for tropical climes, and by agreement within our family, not within 1,000 km (approx 620 miles) of home!
JRok says
The Utilikilt….lmao.
Bookman says
I'm not a fan of anything other than traditional kilts. Generally, folks dress down the traditional kilts with polo shirts and t-shirts (you'll see this a lot at highland games).
I think Beth did a great job with this…..
Definitely need to add a NSFW note about the "More photos" link on the Utilikilt website…
Obviously, I shouldn't click.
But it's like a car wreck; I…just…can't…look…away…
She just wanted to match Joe's "slim cargo pants" post today.
You can always try from your phone if you just HAVE to do it.
TW says
Nae to get werkin on me ole irish accent.
DavidN says
If you're going to wear a utilikilt, you should really just embrace it wholeheartedly and wear a black t-shirt with a glow in the dark dragon, maybe blowing firefalls on the grim reaper. Maybe.
And of course by firefalls, I mean fireballs
Joe Colucci says
As a fellow Utilikiltarian, I wear my Mocker and denim Workman to work at a think tank in DC, so my normal look might be dressier than what you're looking for, but I think it's possible to go a little more put-together than a t-shirt or polo without being "dressed-up." Knit ties and button-down collars are comfortable and solidly casual, but appropriate for nicer places and generally sharper than a t-shirt. I would stay far away from anything tartan in the rest of your outfit, though–no plaid shirts. Chambray is also a good casual fabric for button-down or work shirts. Beth kinda hit it already, but rugby shirts are good for slightly colder times of year.
I have to disagree with most of the footwear recommendations, though: Unless you're on a beach, a UK with boat shoes or loafers is gonna look odd. High-top Chucks are the most casual I ever go for footwear, and even that rarely. I think in general you'll be better off with boots, but it's still possible to avoid the Doc Martens look–just pick something with a lower top, like the Wolverine 1000 Mile Boot or the Alden Indy boot. Stay away from black, unless all of your kilts are black. In boots you're going to need socks, too–I think those are a fun place to play with color, so pick up some blue/grey/green/red/whatever hiking socks, and let a little show over the top of your boot. If you're going the Chucks route, I like argyll socks–puts a little Scottish throwback in the look without being obnoxious about it.
Hope this helps! Good luck.
First off, I am not the Aaron who asked this question. Let's make that clear from the start.
I hate kilts. I have fantastic legs, and I hate kilts. I am even Scottish, Animo non Astutia, and I hate kilts.
If cargo pockets are too 1998, kilts are too 1305.
bruschetta says
That was pretty much my reaction. It was hard to take anything seriously after I read "utilikilt". Utili…kilt…
That being said, Aaron deserves some respect for having the chutzpah to wear what he enjoys. Good for you, bud!
Totally agree with your observation about Aaron's chutzpah. Kilts are the ultimate go-to-hell pelvis covering. Kudos to him. There's a guy in our neighborhood who wears a utilikilt. He's a contractor type. Has his own business. And he is not someone I would tangle with. Ever.
Loki says
This was a hoot, mon.
Just browsed through the Utilikilt photos. They confirm my sneaking suspicion that the only way you can get away with wearing a Utilikilt is by being a ripped, shirtless construction worker who looks like he could beat the shit out of anyone who made fun of him for his kilt. On everyone else it just looks like a weird combination of sad and pretentious.
Dan Patrick Flores says
Does he have a doormat that says "Ring doorbell for free ass kicking"?
Adventurer627 says
Another option for no-show socks in black or white are Journeys footies
http://www.journeys.com/product4.aspx?id=80075
They are fairly low profile for boat shoes
I think you mean Scottish accent. Irish people don't wear kilts.
Nethwen says
I saw a man wearing a black button-front shirt, a black kilt, black shoes (styled like dress shoes), and white knee socks. All I could see of him was his socks. It looked like a pair of disembodied calves floating down the hall. Something to keep in mind when picking outfit and sock combinations.
The Deke says
Goodness. I waited until I got home to check the website. The whole photo sections is absolutely begging to become am internet meme.
Tergiversator_Maximus says
I'm actually kind of shocked no one mentioned wearing some brogues (my apologies if I just missed it). It seems to me that a sturdy pair of brogues would go perfectly with a Utilikilt. They were originally worn as country wear in Scotland and Ireland and had perforations to drain water (pretty boggy out there in the country). These days, you can dress them up or still wear them casually and they're sturdy enough to play well with the kilt, but not big and clunky like full on boots.
Jay Scott says
I like to wear the authentic Lederhose shorts in the summer and I think these same tips would apply. Kudos to Beth for taking on this topic!
No, the Irish did wear kilts traditionally. Kilts are more identified with Scotland now, especially tartan kilts, but both are correct historically.
Na Humma says
Kudos to Aaron on embracing the kilt. I wear a kilt casually every once and again and typically wear dark green hose (the knee socks) with a pair of suede bucks. Once in a while I'll wear my single monks, but they look a bit costumey with the buckle…
To dress it down, I usually wear a polo or a button down with a blazer or a vest. T-shirts will work too, in my opinion, but only if you're reaching for ultra-casual (skirt + t-shirt = way more casual than jeans + t-shirt, I think).
Nope. Irish people did not wear them traditionally. They wore a Léine which was kinda like a tunic. Kilts were brought into Ireland during the late 19th/early 20th century as a kind of fake celtic revival costume.
Nope says
There is never any excuse for wearing a utilikilt.
Last summer, while backpacking, I ran into some backpackers that were wearing kilts…maybe they were the utilikilts. Looked pretty ridiculous, but backpacking isn't really about fashion.
http://images.memegenerator.net/instances/500x/13981039.jpg
Dkmacleod says
First off, as someone of Scottish heritage, I always appreicate a man in a kilt. I bought a utilikilt about 5 years ago, and have never worn it in public. I think the problem is that it just doesn't feel like a real kilt and I feel wierd no matter what else I wear with it. I think the traditional wool tartan kilt would be more useful, as it's more acceptable in formal/semi-formal occasions. But a real wool kilt starts at around $700.
If I had a real kilt, I would wear it in semi-formal/formal situations perhaps with an oxford button down, a solid color wool tie, and some longwings with a double sole, knee high socks in a complimentary color or white and maybe a blazer or sportcoat. I agree that you should wear boots or knee-high socks. I think bare leg all the way down to the ankle would just look off. Also, a lot of guys wore penny loafers with their kilts at the highland games I attend regularly, but always with the traditional knee-high socks.Being 5'6″ 130lbs kind of makes it hard for me to pull off the utilikilt as well. But more power to you if you like it, then do it!
Soleful Strut says
To kilt or no; this was a fun read. Thank you Ms. Beth, & the Dappered community.
You can't wear a Utilikilt without being "that guy". Granted, some women dig them. Generally women who hang out at renaissance faires, but maybe that works for you. If you have some connection to Scotland, and it's a formal occasion or highland games, then go ahead and rock the tartan kilt, by all means. Otherwise, they're way too much of a statement garment.
JD says
A utilikilt is not a fucking kilt… It's favoured by gay guys. Before you go hurling abuse at me, I know many gay guys and they agree that it is not something straight guys wear. A kilt should not have pockets.
Oh and also, brown belt, boots and sporran are for casual day wear, black is for evening/semi-formal and formal. This is all easy to find. Match the kilt hose and shirt to the main colour of the kilt and the garter flashes to the main stripe on the kilt. Use a leather strap instead of a chain for daywear. If you're wearing it during the day, combat boots or hiking style boots/walking boots are fine and you can wear the kilt hose down rather than pulled up and lose the garter flashes. Wear it with a plain coloured t-shirt that doesn't look 'off' instead of a shirt if you're wanting real casual. There are three types of sporrans: daywear/casual wear, evening wear/sem-dress and full dress sporrans. In order they are plain leather, mainly leather with some hair/fur (plain leather with studs can pass for evening but not recommended) and then full hair/fur. If you were going to a casual gig or a friend's but it was in the evening, just switch the brown items for black but keeping the plain leather style sporran (in black though).
I don't see how the sexual preference of the wearer determines the category of clothing. Gay men wear kilts, business suits, jeans, and that doesn't suddently mean the clothes are no longer kilts, business suits and jeans. Also, I would bet that the "many gay guys" that you know have been messing with you. I've known several straight men who, against all reasonable judgement, wear utilikilts.
RickK says
well let Me say with a bit a Scot and Irish In Me blood, while I do not wear Utilikilt I DO wear Amerikilt. The point is I wear Kilts often during work and away from work. My experience with most who slam the kilt wearer is usually one of the following: 1 either they are jealous because they can't wear a kilt or 2, they don't have the blarney stones to do so…lighten up guys, Its our choice of clothing and doesn't reflect on you in any way..but I will tell you this..If a Man can go kilt and look right doing so, the Ladies love it… Regardless I find them comfortable and if you look around you will find they are becoming more popular each passing day.
CarlitoNegro says
I usually wear my Merrell light hiking shoes and a t-shirt when I'm out and about in my Utilikilt. If I go out to a pub or someplace a little less casual, I wear a pair of Doc Martin shoes and a polo/rugby shirt.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


By Mark Watson, Marketing Product Specialist, Cincinnati Inc.
Bottom bending, air bending,complementary angle, blank development, outside setbacks, neutral axis, K-factor – there's a lot more to bending metal than just, well, bending metal. On top of the multi-faceted aspects of running a press brake, operators wage ongoing battles with their machines to maintain tolerance levels throughout the course of any given day.
Needless to say, all of those tasks – setting up jobs, checking bend quality, machine adjusting and readjusting – take a toll on productivity and ultimate profitability. Fortunately, however, press brake manufacturers are providing an array of options to address the situation.
Today, two basic bending methods are used in metal forming: Bottom bending and air bending. The bottom bending process requires ample tonnage to force the metal into the exact angle of the punch and die. There is one punch and die combination for each desired angle. The process is very repeatable and it remains in use where large volumes of one part are made to exacting tolerances.
While this method has served the industry well for many years, it is not without its drawbacks. First, because the punch and die are limited to making a single angle, the process requires constant tooling changes and recalibration for each new part or job. Second, the tonnage required for bottom bending is significantly more, requiring larger press brakes. Finally, because of the increased tonnage requirement, the costs associated with tool damage and tool clamping damage are a more significant portion of the cost per part.
In recent years, air bending has become the more preferred method of press brake forming. Air bending requires only 20 to 40 percent of the required tonnage necessary for bottom bending. When air bending, the material is bent slightly beyond the desired angle and allowed to spring back to the desired angle.
Parts similar to those that were made with bottom bending can now be made with a press brake that has less than half of the tonnage rating. The smaller machines also cost less and often run faster. However, the greatest advantage of air bending is its impact on versatility and flexibility.
The process allows manufacturers to fabricate a wide range of parts without time-consuming tool changes. Because the tools used in the air bending process allow the operator to create a part with angles that are completely different, the reduction in tool changes and single bend work-in-process is significant.
Because of its many advantages, air bending is the metal forming method of choice for most of today's manufacturers. Air bending, however, can have its challenges. The varying properties of certain materials can result in inconsistent angularity. That is, the springback can vary significantly depending on changing chemical properties of the workpiece.
A comparison of bottom bending and air bending for press brakes. Bottom bending (left) yields an angle exactly matching the machined geometry found in the tools. Air bending (right) allows for various angles, depending upon the penetration of the punch, without a tool change.
well as part top versus bottom direction also affect angularity.
The LazerSafe Iris+ measures parts and makes corrections, if necessary. It's also used for protecting the point of operation on every part regardless of the use of angle measurement.
While it's true that air bending isn't as accurate as bottom bending, it does represent the best versatile option for manufacturers looking to maximize press brake production.
Because of these and other issues, press brake operators are forced to continually perform tolerance checks and make on-the-fly machine adjustments in order to maintain part quality throughout the production run. This repeated series of bending, measuring, adjusting, rebending, remeasuring and re-adjusting slows the process – negating much of the time-saving advantages of air bending.
Consequently, manufacturers who might otherwise try to avoid bottom bending are often forced to revert to that method for achieving the production run accuracy that some jobs require. To further complicate the situation for those that need to revert to bottom bending, a growing number of press brake manufacturers no longer support the bottom bending process in their control software.
While it's true that air bending isn't as accurate as bottom bending, it does represent the best versatile option for manufacturers looking to maximize press brake production. As a result, press brake manufacturers have taken steps to enhance air bending to address these issues. The most promising enhancement is in-process angle measurement and correction.
Control software allows the operator and management to easily calibrate the press brake operation, input the maximum bend tolerance for each bend in a part program and choose from a variety of measurment and correction modes.
One solution for this enhanced process attaches measurement instruments to the machine or tooling to physically measure angles by probing the part's flanges. On one type of machine, the data is gathered by probes near the front and back of the lower die. On another, the probes are found integrated with special punches in the upper tooling. In either case, the probe information gathered establishes a value for the angle that has formed. If the angle is not correct, a corrective re-hit is performed.
Today, press brake OEMs are taking steps to address the shortcomings of air bending by employing systems that maintain accurate part tolerance.
A second solution manages bend angles through the use of an external laser transmitter and receiver system. The laser beam casts a visible target on the bottom of the exposed flange. The receiver portion then evaluates the size and distance of the target's reflection. Similar to the mechanical probe system above, data is gathered by the laser receivers near the front and back of the lower die. The reflection information gathered establishes a value for the angle that has formed. If the angle is not correct, a corrective re-hit is performed.
A third method employed by Cincinnati Inc. (CI) was developed to leverage data from a Laser AOPD safety system. The LazerSafe Iris+ simultaneously creates a safety zone for operator protection while it also collects angle measurement data for the workpiece. The measurement information gathered establishes a value for the angle that has formed. If the angle is not correct, a corrective re-hit is performed.
Available on CI Maxform, Autoform and Goform press brake models, this optional feature allows fabricators to choose from many productive modes of measurement operation.
The technology driving each system depends on the ability of the sensor to adequately detect the part. As a result, if the portion of the workpiece under examination is resistant to sensing, smaller than necessary for adequate sensing or outside the sensing range, the measuring technology breaks down. Additionally, if the process of forming parts is more "rough and tumble," some angle measurement systems may not be right for that shop. Here are some questions to discuss with a press brake provider to determine the best solution.
What metal forming method will be employed and what machine size is needed?
What enhanced method does the machine employ to ensure angle accuracy?
Does the machine offer automated features to monitor and correct angle variations?
How durable is the sensing system for the type of production?
Are the flanges in the production long enough to be seen by the sensors?
Is material reflectivity consistent enough for good laser reflection sensing?
With the shop's standard tools, can the part and tool combination fit within the sensing zone?
transmitter/receiver units are clearly a step in the right direction, there may be a better way.
By using data from a Laser AOPD safety system to minimize air bending's drawbacks, CI's Angle Measurement System turbo-charges air bending operation— allowing fabricators to safely accelerate metal forming productivity and reap the full versatile and efficient benefits of their press brake's air bending capability.


How can I include 'get in-post-ads' tag in The Loop for homepage blog list?
I want the In-Post-Ad to show on the home page. Currently, it only shows if you click on the title and go to the single post view.
Do you think it could be accomplished by putting the get in-post-ad tag into The Loop? If so, how do I do this?
Hi Chris, I take it you have the front page set to posts rather than static content?
Hi Tom, yes I do. I tried publishing a page that contained short code 'display-posts' and then setting that static page as Home while setting In Post Ads to also show on Pages but this did not work either. And besides, this would only show the In Post Ad at the top of the list of posts, not in every post on the page (which is what I so desire).
The theory is that this is a quick and amazing strategy for displaying mobile ads when you have a responsive theme. Every post appears to be sponsored by an advertiser on the home page. The nature of my site is that my guests don't want to have to keep clicking to the single post view, so my sponsors may or may not get the full benefit of buying In Post Ads.
I had a theory (note, I am a non-coder) that perhaps if I included the 'get' tag for In Post Ads in The Loop, then it would display for each post?
Going to tag @Vladislav on this one to see if he has some feedback on this in thoery that should work but want to hear from him first, Will try n get round to testing it myself in the mean time. But there must be an easier way.
Unfortunately, the ads injection currently only works on the singular pages - meaning, it won't work on archive pages. There is an upcoming version that's currently in the works, and it will have an exception to this rule for Ads injected with shortcode that have a new "forced" attribute set. In this scenario, the Ads will also be able to be displayed on archive pages too.
Thank you, all. I do look forward to the new release, however, surely there is a hack that could be implemented meanwhile? I don't mean to be a broken record, but I sure do want to find a way to make this work. Again, I want an in-post ad to display in every post that loads on the archive page (home blog layout). So if I have 12 posts that load up, I want 12 ads to load up (I'm displaying full content on each post).
Until the new version is out you would need to customise the plugin yourself.


"We leased a 2019 Outback and Taylor was so great. We were undecided about which model and whether to lease or buy - Taylor was so helpful in helping us explore our options. We love patriot Subaru!"
"Dan the man, aka Dan Haughey was amazing! Trustworthy, above and beyond salesman. Adore my Impreza! It's amazing in the snow, far better than my Volvo S60. Omg so in love! Ty Patriot Subaru."


When it comes to finding an electronic Document Management Software comparing quotes is the key to getting a top product for the lowest price.
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Are you interested in buying a document management system? It's important to know what you're getting. Read on for a digital document management system review.
You're certain that you saved a file to your computer, but where did it go?
Saving documents to the wrong place could result in hours of sifting through files on your computer.
File management is crucial for your company to stay organized.
There are currently thousands of digital document management systems available to help manage your company's files. Finding the right one out there can be a daunting task, that's why we've done the work for you.
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The first question you need to consider when shopping for digital document management systems is, what do you intend to use it for?
Are you going to be converting your paper documents to electronic files? If so, you're going to want to make sure your software includes an imaging system. Most companies nowadays are transitioning into a paperless office. Document management systems can help you get rid of paper and manage files more efficiently.
If you plan on using the system specifically for electronic file management you'll be fine with just about any software.
Another aspect to consider when making a decision on the digital software management systems is deciding how much file space you need. Some digital software management systems will take up an enormous amount of space on your servers.
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An excellent digital management system that you should consider for your company is, Worldox.
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This program is great for companies who don't have the extra time to train employees on how to use the file management software.
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Another pro for using Worldox is that it doesn't take up much space on your file server. Worldox doesn't require you to purchase a server to use its product, which is why it's one of the least expensive options. This company has received excellent feedback from users and continues to be one of the favorites in the industry.
PinPoint is a system that gives you the option to host their product on the cloud or on your own servers. The thing we love the most about PinPoint is that they send you automatic update and provide support. This is an especially important feature for small businesses who don't have an IT department. This system can be run from either Mac or Pc.
The thing we love the most about PinPoint is that they send you automatic updates and provide support. This is an especially important feature for small businesses who don't have an IT department. This system can be run from either Mac or Pc.
Drive gives you full access to your files even if you're offline. The only con is that it takes a while longer to setup than other programs. The reason for the long setup is because Google Drive for Work requires you to purchase a domain for the service which could be a hassle for some businesses.
If server space is no issue and you're looking for power–look no further.
iManage is enhanced with AI based smart features that help you manage your files. In addition to helping you store your files, iManage has a sophisticated way of helping you search for documents. Its intuitive artificial intelligence adapts to the way you work and pulls out all of the relevant files for you.
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Trials can last from anywhere between 14 to 30 days, which is long enough to give you an idea if the product will work for you.
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The essential 14 muscle balance: This is the foundation of TFH. Using this tool you will experience positive change in your life and in the lives of the people that you touch.
4 fundamental pre-tests: Pre-tests assure you that the person you are balancing is responsive to manual muscle testing, and offer guidance as to how to lower their stress level so that they can be tested.
5 correction methods from Eastern and Western Manual Therapy: Once you know where to start balancing, these are the essential tools you use for positive change.
Challenging a correction: By challenging the correction you are discovering if it has done its job, of if needs more time or help from another correction method.
Circuit Locating: This is the way to find the quickest, most effective tool in your toolbox for balancing that specific person for that specific issue / goal. With Circuit Locating and One Point corrections you can swiftly parse the information you get from the muscle tests into a tightly focused assessment and correction protocol.
Auricular Exercise, Visual Inhibition, Cross Crawl for Fun: These are general, quick ways to restore energy and balance that you can do yourself, with your family or teach you kids. These are some of the TFH tools that have found their way into Brain Gym and many other modalities.
Emotional Stress Release: Introduction to this very easy, but extremely powerful correcting technique. Here is a blog post on ESR.
Metaphor: Introduction to the use of metaphor as a correction tool for specific muscular imbalances.
TFH 1 Required Reading: pages 1 – 85 of "Touch For Health, The Complete Edition" by John and Matthew Thie.
Meridian Wheel and Five Element Balancing, One Point Corrections: These two models provide a framework for assessing where an imbalance can be corrected using one specific point. This is the essential tool to master in TFH and most of the more advanced training is built on this skill.
Pre-Checks: Review and extension of the information in TFH I on Pre-Tests to enable you to feel confident that you are getting accurate information from your muscle tests.
More Balancing Methods: Spindle Cell / Golgi Tendon / Acupressure Holding Points.
Yin / Yang concept: Discussion of how it applies to energy balancing.
Alarm points: Using Circuit Locating, these points quickly indicate where excess energy is accumulating in the body – energy that can be directed to where it is needed.
Emotional Stress Release for Future Performance: Here we get into some of the richer applications for Emotional Stress Release (ESR) where we find we can help make profound changes in peoples lives with basic techniques. The discussion includes time spent on the nature of stress and application of ESR with trauma victims.
Cross Crawl Integration: Cross Crawl applications for correcting energetic imbalances.
On the afternoon of the last day you will have the opportunity to balance real clients from my practice, and will leave the class feeling capable and confident that you can successfully assess and correct energetic imbalances.
Required Reading: for this course is pages 232 – 272 of "Touch For Health, The Complete Edition" by John and Matthew Thie.
Enroll early, as class sizes are small, usually 8-10 participants and they often fill quickly.
California Manual Therapy License # 7866.


I know that she only came out in promo or something, but I can't find her on ebay or anywhere. Is she really hard to find? Was she even actually released?
Indeed, she was an International exclusive, meaning she was only available in a twin pack with Rainbow Dash in Europe and Australia (and Mexico it seems, why is a mystery). She is relatively elusive. I used to send many out in trades, but they're now all but gone from stores here.
In my city they are on 50% of the price !!!!
You know a pony is rare when ebay doesn't even have it.


Are you a human sponge? Do you thirst for facts, trivia and knowledge? If so, this is the book for you!
Based on the hugely popular Irelandopedia by John and Fatti Burke, this Irelandopedia Quiz Book compiled by Shauna Burke will test your Irelandopedic knowledge.
The book consists of ten quizzes each containing five rounds - perfect for classrooms, long journeys or simply swotting up to impress your friends and family!
Shauna Burke is a full-time secondary school teacher from Co. Waterford. She teaches English and Religion in St Angela's Secondary School, where she was also a student! She studied English and Religious Education in Mater Dei Institute of Education and graduated in 2014. She has a passion for table quizzes, trivia and telling stories. She is also the sister and daughter of illustrator and author duo Fatti and John Burke!


The 'D' programming language – in production at a big PHP and c++ shop. http://forum.dlang.org/thread/l37h5s$2gd8$1@digitalmars.com The creator of D, Andrei Alexandrescu, is brilliant, and has written a number of advanced c++ books. I just did not think I'd see the D programming language enter the mainstream.


text:
Your regularly scheduled inducement post
Create your own comic books from screen captures of video games or DVDs.
Labels: secondary liability
Consumer protection and pleading with particularity
Bacon v. American International Group, 2006 WL 305970 (N.D.Cal.)
What are the pleading requirements for consumer protection claims under California state law? As this case shows, fraud-based allegations must be pled with particularity, but not all consumer protection claims are fraud-based.
Plaintiff, a 91-year-old under a conservatorship, brought a purported class action on behalf of all people 65 and older who purchased a deferred annuity from or marketed by the defendants and who have suffered or could suffer a penalty/surrender charge, including those incurred because of death, for accessing their money before its maturity date. Allegedly, sales agents purporting to offer free financial advice exploited plaintiff's trust and manipulated her into buying deferred annuities that, though profitable for the defendants, are obviously unsuitable for seniors because they tie up money for many years, often beyond the seniors' life expectancy, and because they may have little return. Defendants' deceptive and obfuscatory sales tactics allegedly drive sales of deferred annuities to seniors.
Defendants argued that plaintiff hadn't pled her fraud allegations with particularity; the court agreed, and dismissed the fraud claim with leave to amend. Defendants argued that her other claims, including consumer protection claims, should likewise be dismissed. Along with fraudulent conduct, however, plaintiff also alleged conduct that was unlawful and unfair, including negligently misleading statements. Thus, some of her causes of action survived, but, to the extent the plaintiff sought to rely on averments of fraudulent conduct, she had to plead them with particularity. (Courts have divided on what to do in the Lanham Act context; if some of the plaintiff's allegations involve fraud but others don't, some courts allow the entire claim to proceed without satisfying Rule 9's heightened pleading requirements, which seems sensible since the plaintiff doesn't need to prove fraud to win.)
Plaintiff's Consumer Legal Remedies Act claim was dismissed because the CLRA covers only sales or leases of "goods or services," and annuities are neither goods nor services but some tertium quid.
Labels: california, false advertising
Epstein on Google, continued
My comments on Epstein on Google Book Search: Seeing fair use as being fundamentally about the necessity of quotation for critical purposes is a mistake; there are plenty of noncritical uses that are also important to a robust speech environment, including repetition of religious texts and positive reviews.
Epstein responded that fair use for positive reviews is also good because a positive review means more if the reader knows it didn't require the copyright owner's prior approval, and thus we can assume a kind of implied consent for fair use for any kind of review. But that is a just-so story; it relies on an awful lot of unevidenced assumptions about consumer knowledge and behavior. The justification should not be the implied consent of the copyright owner at all.
Epstein then turned the discussion to the situation in Texaco, where he argued that individual copying was okay because it provided an indirect benefit to the copyright holder (by increasing the value of a subscription), but when individual copying was aggregated, price discrimination became an issue. You don't want a uniform price for intensive and nonintensive users, so you license copying, at least once metering becomes possible. I'm not convinced this is an answer to my point about the purpose of fair use, but okay.
Now more from me: Epstein thinks that a market for a database of digitized books can develop. But right now, blanket licensing isn't possible. The publishers don't necessarily own the rights to books bearing their imprints, especially the older books. The fact that the Authors Guild has also filed suit is a harbinger of ownership disputes to come, just as the record companies and the recording artists started to fight about ownership in Napster. (C.E. Petit said a similar thing about rights ownership, from a very different perspective.)
This also affects Epstein's argument that Google's business model for net search is protected by implied consent even though it's not for Book Search: Google was sued for online copying despite the robots.txt opt-out, so not everyone has gotten the message that putting material on the web implies consent to copy. On the other side, if the publishers don't own most of the books in the University of Michigan library, as noted above, then their lawsuit isn't evidence that most owners reject digitization.
Epstein agreed that there were big ownership problems, though he thought that made Google's opt-out policy even less sensible. Someone will pop up claiming ownership in many cases, and Google will have to invest a lot to figure out who has the valid claim (or will just take a book out whenever a claim is asserted, valid or not). This is already occurring with the non-Library Project books in Book Search. Epstein's preferred solution was more radical. For low-revenue/old works, he'd have a fixed statutory royalty for use, paid into a fund: a weak compulsory license. For high-revenue/young works, you'd need the copyright owner's consent. (I didn't ask whether there'd be a payment for digitization, a payment for showing a snippet in a search result, or a payment when a searcher clicked on the result, or some combination, but that's only the first of the hard questions.) Given the huge problem of rights fragmentation, we need a voluntary or statutory blanket licensing scheme. With recent works, rights are clear enough that voluntary transactions can go forward.
As an aside, Epstein thought we should also have much shorter copyright terms, which would go a ways towards solving this problem. Too bad it's not going to happen!
On the air rights comparison: I said that this dispute reminds me of the (relatively) old saw "The Internet perceives censorship as damage and routes around it." Opt-outs are somewhat harmful to the completeness of the system, just as the result in Tasini was harmful to the completeness of the proprietary databases concerned, but they don't destroy the value of the system. Indeed, since the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, opt-outs (at least at a low level) are less harmful than their individual merits might suggest. Whether opt-outs can be allowed depends on the specifics of technology and social organization; it's not a defining feature of an anticommons problem. If the US had been settled at a uniform level of population density, airspace opt-outs wouldn't have been as problematic as they would be when there are obvious paths flights should take. In other words, disallowing opt-out may not be a necessary part of a commons-type scheme.
Some audience questions: What about collateral uses of works? By "collateral," the questioner meant cases like Bond v. Blum, 317 F.3d 385 (4th Cir. 2003), the Fourth Circuit case finding fair use where a work was copied as evidence in a court case (it was used to show that the author shouldn't have child custody because of the bad things he confessed to doing in his unpublished autobiography, Self-Portrait of a Patricide: How I Got Away with Murder). Epstein didn't say much about this, nor do I think that Bond offers a common enough scenario to help us analyze Google Book Search. Precedents allowing copying for reverse engineering, as another comment suggested, might be more helpful. Epstein says Book Search is very different from reverse engineering. He's highly sympathetic to contractual restrictions on reverse engineering because they enable price discrimination, though the majority of copyright scholars are on the other side.
Question: Will every book eventually be searchable/available in a digital database? Answer: Yes, but when? The usual rule is that information loses 25% of its value every year. In publishing, you get 6 months of glory and an eternity of oblivion. In the end, the obvious gains to everyone will lead to the universal database; the issues involve reducing transaction costs. The publishers want to be a little better off than "better off," though they concede they'd be "better off" under Google Book Search. That is, Google's best argument is that its scheme is already Pareto optimal. Again, the intensity of use is key to the publishers' agenda. Publishers, like many owners, would like to switch from sales to licenses.
At this point, I asked Epstein how he felt about that as a libertarian. He felt fine, since licensing is just a voluntary transaction, and if licenses are more efficient than sales, they should be allowed. (The reason I asked is that some versions of libertarianism suggest moral values in individual property ownership, and a world in which most of us don't own property, only rent it, might create a different kind of character and politics.)
Question: What about Kelly v. Arriba Soft? Answer: It's pretty much the same thing. If snippets are samples for which publishers should get paid, thumbnails are too. Shrinking size, like putting a Rubens painting on a postcard, isn't fair use. (At this point, I've got to assume that Epstein's consistent choice of out-of-copyright examples is a deliberate effort to show how he's not seduced by contemporary popular culture -- but I'd still think that Hemingway and Picasso would be better examples.) The really interesting issue, he thinks, is trespass to chattels. He helped litigate the eBay case, in order to establish the basic principle that if you own a site, you can exclude others from using it. If a use is fair use, can the site owner exclude others from entering to get the work? Or is it still a trespass? This is an important ongoing issue.
Labels: copyright, google
False advertising doesn't violate the Sherman Act
Briggs & Stratton Corp. v. Kohler Co., 405 F.Supp.2d 986 (W.D. Wis. 2005)
Plaintiff sued defendant for patent infringement relating to an internal combustion engine (are there external combustion engines?). Defendant counterclaimed for violations of the Sherman Act, state antitrust law, and common law unfair competition. Plaintiff moved to strike the portion of defendant's antitrust counterclaims that alleged false advertising of plaintiff's engines' horsepower. The court agreed that false advertising, in the absence of monopoly power, does not violate the antitrust laws. In the Microsoft case, false advertising about Java compatibility was part of Microsoft's strategy to exclude other operating systems from the market, and thus violated the Sherman Act. The false advertising here, however, didn't exclude the defendant from the market.
Question: Why not assert false advertising counterclaims? Possible answer, depending on the parties' market positions (also, of course, relevant to the antitrust issues): Lanham Act standing for false advertising requires a showing of likely harm, which means that the counterclaimant would have to provide reasons to think that sales were diverted from it in particular rather than from other competitors. Perhaps that would have been difficult to prove.
Labels: false advertising, patents
Epstein on the Google Print Library Project
On Wednesday I introduced and commented on a presentation by Professor Richard Epstein of the University of Chicago on Google Print and Copyright, cosponsored by the Georgetown Federalist Society and Student Intellectual Property Law Association. Professor Epstein is an impressive speaker who speaks apparently extemporaneously. He also speaks fast with few wasted words, so my notes are necessarily incomplete.
Epstein identified a bicoastal split on academic assessments of Google. By this he meant that Jane Ginsburg at Columbia is pro-copyright owner, whereas the Left Coast inclines towards Google. Where you come from determines how you think on IP; he comes from real and personal property. A large number of academics start with a preference for the commons, with exceptions as islands of property therein. Epstein isn't squarely on the other side, since his starting point is Roman law, which provides a framework for asking why some things are common and others privatized.
Land is relatively compact and permanent. To get development, the developers need a return on investment; thus, property. Reaping what you sow is the metaphor for a reason. Property allows internalization of costs/benefits. Water is more complicated; privatization destroys the going concern value of a river, so you get a mix of commons and private rights.
IP is more like water. With respect to land, use requires exclusion of others; not so with respect to ideas. So the explanation for any exclusion has to be instrumental, and it is: incentives to create. IP is a constant duet between the need for incentives and the waste generated by exclusions. Both are inescapable.
Law attempts approximation of a social ideal. With land, problems come up with exclusion: necessity (shelter from a storm) and eminent domain, and the law responds by allowing exceptions, with or without compensation. It's the same with IP – private rights should yield in some circumstances. Epstein sees fair use as analogous to defamation's fair comment privilege, necessary for open and robust debate. Fair use had the same narrow origins, protecting criticism by allowing quotation. We do, however, want to avoid surreptitious reproduction that undermines the core right – so we don't allow reproduction of A Tale of Two Cities with a negative preface (odd example, given that we allow reproduction of that work in every possible way, but substitute in the latest Harry Potter if you like).
The question of Google Print is whether you have to bypass a market to create a good thing. Shall transfers be accomplished by consent (licensing) or necessity (fair use)? Google's ambition is large, to make anything digital and easily searched, which allows extraction of value not replicable by traditional techniques. The really hot question is what Google will do with its copy. The publishers don't fear the snippets; what they fear is unknown uses of the database to extract value – to show what works consumers prefer, for example, so as to advise young authors what's hot. In Epstein's discussions with publishers, this was their main concern; they feared being preempted out of their market (emphasis mine, not his).
What about opt-out as a solution? Google is using "opt-out" as a term of art, since it dictates the terms and conditions. Harper & Row won't just be able to send a letter saying "take all our books out," since Google is requiring specific ISBN and other information. There's a deeper problem: If Google Print is fair use, Google's entitled to do this independent of the publishers' consent (I wrote about this before).
Google isn't the only one who wants to organize the world's information: Yahoo!, Amazon, etc. are looking for blanket licenses, suggesting that market transactions are possible. If they can work out ways to share advertising revenue with publishers, now that microtransactions are feasible, than no fair use will be necessary.
Epstein noted that his analysis hadn't mentioned the statutory fair use factors. Indeed, those factors are not key; the critical issue is whether a viable market on a voluntary basis is possible. In earlier discussions, Robert Merges had said that Google's project was no problem because there was no viable cash market, but later he qualified that claim – there may be a market in two years. It's fair use now, but maybe not in 2008. (My question: Does the same logic apply to Sony v. Universal? My guess is that the answer's yes, though we needn't wait for 2008 for the market.) Then the issue is how to organize the transition.
Epstein believes that a voluntary market is feasible. If MSN and Yahoo! can deal, so can Google.
What about implied consent? People argue that, if the Google Print for Libraries model is defective, then Google itself is defective with respect to the web as a whole. Opt-out works the same way online. How to distinguish the situations? Epstein's answer is both practical and theoretical. Practically, the publishers brought a class action rather than sending Google their ISBNs, showing that there is not really implied consent. We should imply consent when a formal consent requirement would debilitate the market too much, destroying the usefulness of the resource (here, the search engine); when there's a high probability of people wanting in, as there is online, we can presume consent in the absence of objection, but that's not so in print.
Ultimately, we have to balance the potential gain from the database versus transaction costs. All copyrighted works are not created equal (I'd say, they may be created equal, but they don't make it to the finish line equal, but that's either a quibble or a disagreement far too profound for this space). With a 1950 work, it's so great to have online access that a copyright owner would probably be happy to have it online. But with the latest Stephen King (short review: creepy premise plus competent execution produces decent midlevel King), precise management of the property is critical and thus a voluntary market should prevail. In the latter case, the value of price discrimination and other work-specific techniques dwarfs the transaction costs of consent. We need to separate low- from high-value works and make different rules for each, as we do with respect to allowing solicitors onto property.
The only wrong argument, in Epstein's opinion: We shouldn't think of Google Print like the overflight problem (see the exquisite William Empson poem reproduced in comments: fair use?). The ancient ad coelum doctrine said that property owners could exclude others all the way down and all the way up into the sky, but once airplanes appeared, that created huge problems: everyone could exclude and no one could use the skies (the anticommons, though Epstein didn't use that term), destroying the value of this new mode of transport. To avoid this, we forced the top slice of property into the commons, redesignating the upper air as a highway. There were no losers from this change (my comment: really?). For technical reasons, we can never allow any opt-out from the air rights cutoff; only 1-2% optout would destroy the system.
This isn't the case with Google. No library requires all the books in the world to operate. Thus there's no overflight problem.
Back to the beginning: if the evidence is unclear (as it always is in copyright), people stick with their initial presumptions. Shall it be property or commons?
Long post already; comments period next. Possibly with more articles!
Protect your skin from false claims
Kennedy Industries, Inc. v. Aparo, 2005 WL 3752270 (E.D.Pa.)
Plaintiff sells skin protection and skin cream for wrestlers; its product protects skin from chafing and the FDA has determined that its main ingredient is safe as a skin protectant. Defendant Driving Force (Aparo is its president) sells competing products under the brand "99."
Plaintiff sued defendant and several distributors for false advertising under the Lanham Act.
At various times, Driving Force has claimed, among other things, that 99 kills 99.99% of harmful bacteria on contact; kills 99.9% of disease-causing germs, including the scary VRE and MRSA; provides up to four hours of protection from the above; is more effective than alcohol-based products; exceeds the U.S. FDA protocols required for classification as a Health Care Personnel Hand Wash and as a First-Aid Antiseptic; rapidly sanitizes skin with a broad-spectrum kill that prevents the development of resistant germs; is safe to use in any environment; maintains skin integrity and cleanses more effectively; is fully FDA compliant; has a two year shelf life; and is specifically designed and developed for the wrestling community.
Driving Force attacked plaintiff directly in comparative advertising, stating "Kill or be Killed" and offering a graphic comparison:
Kennedy Skin Protectant
Kills Ringworm
Kills Impetigo
Kills Staph
Kills Strep
Kills E-Coli
Kills 99.9% of harmful bacteria
Kills Athlete's Foot
Kills Planter's [sic] warts
Hours of Kill Power
Plaintiff's experts, a dermatologist and an organic chemist, opined that all these claims (and more) were false and without scientific basis. The court credited their testimony. For example, there are many strains of bateria, and only a few had been tested with any product containing 99's active ingredient, benzethonium chloride. Driving Force doesn't manufacture 99 and never had it tested to determine its exact chemical composition (and doesn't even know what other ingredients it has!). Thus, it doesn't know how the other ingredients interact with the active ingredient. Moreover, the tests on which Driving Force relied were mostly in vitro, not in vivo. In sum, no evidence supports Driving Force's claims.
In addition, the FDA has not approved benzethonium chloride as a skin protectant, but rather lists it as a substance not shown to be safe and effective as a skin protectant and antifungal.
The court appears to be treating most of the claims as necessarily implied establishment claims, which makes sense, as consumers are likely to believe that tests support medical/percentage claims of this sort, and possibly that the FDA has approved such claims. (The "special formulation for wrestlers" claim is not like the others, but that was shown to be false, too, since it was just a general product relabeled for wrestlers.) Alternatively, the court invoked the doctrine of Novartis Consumer Health v. Johnson & Johnson-Merck Consumer Pharm. Co., 290 F.3d 578 (3d Cir.2002), that completely unsubstantiated claims are literally false.
Driving Force "recognized reality" and said that it would discontinue many of these claims, but the court found that it was still making them in its catalogs and other advertising. It sent out new ad materials to distributors but didn't recall old, falsely labeled product or tell its distributors to stop making the false claims, which many of them continued to do. Plaintiff, which had been driven out of the market by its inability to compete with the miracles promised by 99, convinced the court that it would reenter if guaranteed a "level mat." (The opinion has other wrestling references, but I'll omit them out of kindness.) Thus, a permanent injunction was warranted.
Comment: In recent years, "falsity by lack of any evidence" has joined "falsity by necessary implication" as a way of decreasing the burden on plaintiffs challenging shady ad claims. The reckless claims here – which implicate public health – illustrate why courts are attracted to such doctrines.
As of Feb. 14, 2006, at least one site was still advertising that Driving Force's 99 Antimicrobial Skin Sanitizer "is the only product specifically formulated for grapplers that actually kills harmful bacteria on contact." The claims Driving Force makes for its 99 line on its site are now substantially more limited:
- Non-greasy
- No Alcohol Formulation - no sting!
- Non-aerosol can; safe for travel
- Non-Flammable
- Dye and Fragrance Free
A far cry from preventing VRE!
As long as it's the good kind of hate
An opposition has been filed to the registration of DYKES ON BIKES as a trademark for various services. Marty Schwimmer comments pithily: "Opposer argues that registration of the mark DYKES ON BIKES would foster hatred of men, because, you know, lesbians hate men. Although not so much hate as in a tracking them down and killing them kind of hate, but more of sort of a not having sex with them hate."
As he points out, the registration is likely to succeed despite the opposition. With all the reports of various agencies' politicization under this administration, the PTO may yet be exempt -- though recently an examiner refused LIAR LIAR BUSH ON FIRE and KATRINA BLOWS, BUSH SUCKS on the grounds that they were disparaging.
Today's inducement questions
When I bought my newly-arrived "World War II Campaigns in Europe" video set from an Ebay shop, did I induce infringement of the distribution right? Does it matter that I live in the Fourth Circuit, with its definition of distribution that includes "making available to the public"? What if I'd seen it in a friend's home and offered to take it off his hands for $20? Should it matter that purchasing an unauthorized copy doesn't violate any right of the copyright owner?
(The picture of the box, along with a picture of the Crusade in Europe DVD, will be available on the IP Teaching Resources database as soon as I hook my camera up to my computer.)
A non-Katrina-caused problem in New Orleans
Chiarella v. Sprint Spectrum LP, 2005 WL 3704505 (La.App. 4 Cir.)
Class certification in this consumer fraud case was reversed because, among other things, the representative plaintiffs had suffered too much harm to be truly representative – not something you see every day.
Plaintiffs alleged that Sprint had made false representations about the consistency and quality of service available in the New Orleans area – essentially, Sprint expanded into the area before it had the necessary switches and towers to provide the advertised service, so calls were constantly being dropped or failing to go through. Sprint's statistics suggested that about 7% of calls were dropped or blocked in the relevant period. Plaintiffs, however, testified that 20-60% of their calls didn't go through.
Many of the plaintiffs' claims were preempted by federal law; when the FCC allowed Sprint to enter the New Orleans area, it necessarily determined that Sprint's capacity was sufficient to justify the entry, and the Federal Communications Act bars state or local government from regulating entry or rates charged by any commercial mobile service. Granting relief on most of plaintiffs' claims would necessarily be ruling that Sprint should have done more than was required by the FCC: providing more towers, clearer signals or lower rates. Breach of contract and false advertising claims, however, could be founded on the difference between what Sprint promised and what it delivered, which would not necessarily interfere with the FCC's jurisdiction.
Class certification on those remaining claims, however, was improperly granted for a variety of reasons. The court first held that it could not assume that all of the Sprint subscribers in the area during the relevant period – the class as certified – were unhappy with their service, since some consumers would have experienced fewer than average lost calls. (This is a misdescription of the relevant standard; unhappy and defrauded are separate issues, and deception used to sell a product is deception even if the consumer does not complain.)
More in line with other cases denying class certification, the court also reasoned that common issues did not predominate, as the nature of the representations made to each plaintiff, and that plaintiff's reliance, would have to be individually determined. Relatedly, appropriate damages would be difficult to determine, since each consumer suffered different blocked and dropped calls, and they would only have been charged extra if they'd been over their monthly minute plan and the system didn't recognize a call as a dropped call for which no charge should be made. (Some of Sprint's claims about difficulty of measuring harm seem disingenuous, including the idea that you'd have to add up the time of a dropped and a reconnected call to see if there was an extra minute charged – the conversation about the dropped call itself takes time and causes inconvenience – but apparently Sprint has no automated way of measuring who exceeds their monthly minute bundles, which seems a bit odd.)
Finally, as noted above, the court found that the class plaintiffs weren't typical because, during the relevant time period, the system overall was experiencing 2%-3% dropped calls and 5%-9% blocked calls, whereas the five proposed representative parties who testified at the certification hearing reported dropped and blocked calls an order of magnitude greater. Three of the class representatives admitted that their experience was not "typical," and all five had jobs that required a lot of travel around New Orleans.
Labels: class actions, false advertising, preemption
Orphan works (and Google Book Search)
I talked to a group of graduate students in history at George Mason yesterday about emerging copyright issues. We spent some time on orphan works, a subject of great interest to all the historians of my acquaintance. The anti-injunction provisions in the Copyright Office's proposal cover instances "where the infringer has prepared or commenced preparation of a derivative work that recasts, transforms or adapts the infringed work with a significant amount of the infringer's expression."
Especially for historians, who want to show you their evidence (or excerpts thereof), it's important to know whether direct quotation -- or, in the case of images particularly, complete reproduction -- can constitute recasting, transformation or adaptation. A fair number of cases suggest that the answer is yes, if the work in which the quote/copy is embedded has a different purpose than the original. What if a photo is used to illustrate a point, such as "Many Jewish immigrant families were proud of their involvement with socialist causes" (an actual example based on a photo of my husband's family holding up their favorite socialist paper, which was reprinted in a recently published book), but the photo is not otherwise analyzed or criticized in the text? I'd still say that falls within the definition of a transformative derivative work.
The proposed definition adds "with a significant amount of the infringer's expression" to the definition of a derivative work, which suggests a look at what the copier has added and not what s/he's copied, a rule that diverges from the test for infringement. What about a book like Wisconsin Death Trip, a compilation of death-related photos and news reports from the end of the nineteenth century -- does selection and arrangement count as the infringer's expression? I would think so, given that it does for purposes of the copyrightability of compilation works.
But this additional "significant amount" requirement appears to (deliberately?) exclude users like Google (who'd also be barred from using this new provision by the requirement of reasonable search for the copyright owner, since Google is relying on opt-out), who would not seem to be contributing original expression in assembling a searchable collection of documents. The Copyright Office report discusses large-scale users like libraries, but only contemplates them taking down a digitized work whose owner appears (thus avoiding any liability at all) or being able to continue distributing a book or movie that includes the work subject to the reasonable compensation requirement. The report does not consider the possibility that being part of a database is itself a type of transformation, which is obviously an important issue right now.
So, should copyright minimalists attempt to get "significant amount" taken out of the proposal? The idea that adding a short introduction shouldn't be enough to get someone into the reasonable-compensation-only category, which is the other obvious point of that requirement, is persuasive enough, but it might already be covered by the requirement that the orphan work be incorporated into a derivative work. Without sufficient transformation, maybe it's just a reproduction rather than a derivative work.
On the other hand, if the proposal is adopted with this wording, maybe it's more persuasive to say that database uses generally create derivative works (sometimes as fair use) since the implication will be that recasting, transforming and adapting can occur without the addition of significant new expression. Of course the Tasini and National Geographic cases have already gone into this problem in some detail, but I wonder if there are other similar database situations lurking out there.
Labels: copyright, google, presentations
Superiority claims: puffery or actionable?
Daugherty v. Sony Electronics, Inc., 2006 WL 197090 (Tenn.Ct.App.)
Plaintiff filed a putative class action alleging that Sony marketed its DVD players as high quality, even though Sony knew they were inherently defective. The dismissal of his claims for breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, unjust enrichment, and money had and received were dismissed. There was no breach of the express warranty and there was no additional implied warranty. Given the existence of a limited warranty, the other two claims, which only apply when there is no contract between the parties, also failed.
Plaintiff's Tennessee Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) claim, however, fared better on appeal. The complaint named several Sony ads touting Sony's product quality, including that "the company has earned a solid reputation for quality, reliability, innovation and stylish design." As to DVD players specifically, Sony's ads claimed that its DVD players "set[] the standard" and were "superior." Sony called itself "the groundbreaking technology innovator and market leader in DVD Video" and claimed to be responsive to "increasing consumer demands for high quality DVD performance." Plaintiff alleged that Sony's nondisclosures of defects and false and misleading statements induced plaintiff and other members of the class to buy Sony DVD players they wouldn't otherwise have bought.
The issue was whether the complaint stated a cause of action. Though the ad claims here seem like puffery, the court wanted to be cautious and leave the issue to the jury as long as the circumstances indicate that the buyer reasonably understood that he or she was getting some kind of assurance about specific facts. Although courts interpreting the Lanham Act have held "superiority" claims to be mere puffing, the court of appeals noted that the Lanham Act and the TCPA are distinct, and the law requires courts to construe the TCPA broadly.
The court refused to hold Sony's statements to be puffery as a matter of law. The rationale is bracing: the court rejected the legal conclusion that, "notwithstanding the amount of money that Sony spends on advertising its DVD players, Sony never intended for Plaintiff or any consumer actually to rely on so much as even one of these advertisements and, if there was such reliance by a consumer, it was altogether unjustified."
Some academics have argued against the puffery doctrine on precisely these grounds – the seller, as master of its ad, presumably chooses claims it thinks likely to influence consumers, and if so we should give consumers a chance to prove that they were influenced.
It may be the case that the claims were too vague to make any real factual representation, and yet consumers did rely on them; what then? The concurring opinion takes up this issue, suggesting that a claim of superiority is non-actionable puffery because it's nothing more than opinion. Superiority can't be measured, since superiority in one aspect may be offset by inferiority in another, for example in a tradeoff between sound quality and durability. Superiority, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Nonetheless, the concurring judge agreed that the facts needed further development before dismissal as a matter of law could be appropriate.
Labels: class actions, false advertising
In a wreck, get a check - and a consumer protection lawsuit
Crowe v. Tull, --- P.3d ----, 2006 WL 39248 (Colo.)
Crowe hired a lawyer to represent him in a personal injury case; he settled for a low amount, less than Crowe's existing losses and much less than his anticipated future losses. Crowe later brought a false advertising claim against the lawyer and his firm. He argued that, though he was induced to use the firm's services by an advertising campaign that portrayed the firm as skilled at extracting money from insurance companies and getting full redress for injury, in fact the firm was a mill that existed to settle claims as quickly as possible and he was pressured into settling for a minimal amount. (Among the slogans defendants used was "In a wreck, get a check," while another depicts the firm's president as a strongman who muscles insurance adjusters into paying claims.)
The Colorado Supreme Court held that a client may sue an attorney for violating the Colorado Consumer Protection Act (CCPA), rejecting claims that the statute implicitly excluded attorney advertising and that false advertising claims would impermissibly conflict with/overlap with malpractice liability and other regulations of attorney conduct. The CCPA requires (1) knowledge of a deceptive trade practice – negligence will not suffice -- and (2) conduct that significantly affects the public, and so the court believed that CCPA claims would not cover much attorney conduct. In particular, the CCPA's limitation to trade practices that significantly affect the public means that individualized statements and contracts cannot violate the law.
Nonetheless, the court believed that modern lawyer advertising – which does include a substantial amount of mass marketing – fit within the broad scope of the law:
Contemporary advertising and marketing practices for attorney services more closely reflect the commercial marketplace as a whole and do not reflect the traditional image of the small-town practitioner hanging up a shingle and relying on personal contacts to create business. Marketing consultants and branding advisors are common tools in legal circles now. Many law firms resemble mid-size corporations rather than the image of small groups of like-minded professionals that still retains some hold on the popular consciousness.
The court was concerned that the average consumer lacks much knowledge about how to distinguish between different legal service providers and may rely solely on the provider's own statements – often "under the added pressure of a fast-running statute of limitations." Lawyers (not "unscrupulous" lawyers, I note, just lawyers) may target unsophisticated and underprivileged clients because of their susceptibility to advertising. (The opinion displays just a bit of nostalgia for the pre-Bates days of limited attorney advertising.)
The defendants argued that Crowe's injury was not caused by the firm's ads but rather by the lawyer's advice. The court found that Crowe had alleged a sufficient nexus between the ads and Crowe's losses. Causation is a question of fact and can be found if the ads are a but-for cause of his damages. In other words, it is enough if an ad was the first link in a chain that led to the harm. This fairly broad statement makes sense, given the purpose of consumer protection statutes; a jury could accept or reject Crowe's contention that the ads led him to the firm.
Born in the USA, but not stamped here
Colgan v. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc., --- Cal.Rptr.3d ----, 2006 WL 45836 (Cal.App. 2 Dist.) (amended)
Leatherman labeled and advertised 22 multifunction tools as "Made in U.S.A.," when in fact parts were manufactured outside the US. The trial court granted summary judgment to the class plaintiffs under California's (say it with me) False Advertising Law, Unfair Competition Law, and Consumer Legal Remedies Act, awarding restitution, an injunction (which included a mandatory component requiring corrective advertising on Leatherman's website and in California newspapers), and attorneys' fees.
The California Business & Professions Code prohibits Made in the USA representations when the goods or any part thereof "has been entirely or substantially made, manufactured, or produced outside of the United States." Even though Leatherman's products were designed, processed, and assembled in the US, parts of the tools were still "substantially made, manufactured or produced" outside the United States" as a matter of law. Significant working parts were cast, stamped, formed, hardened, cut, forged, polished or machined in various foreign countries. Plier jaws cast in Mexico, which were used in 20 of the 22 products at issue, had "USA" stamped onto the jaws themselves. After the lawsuit was filed, Leatherman stopped stamping "USA" onto the plier jaws and changed its packaging to state "Made in U.S.A. of U.S. and foreign components," but didn't do anything about existing packaged inventory, and didn't change its unqualified "Made in U.S.A." advertising.
Leatherman offered a number of reasons why it didn't violate the law; the court rejected them all. As noted above, the court declined to rely on the fact that the tools were designed in the US; not only is design not manufacturing, but "made, manufactured or produced" is disjunctive, so all parts of the definition must be satisfied in order to make a Made in USA claim.
Leatherman also argued that "substantially" should be measured quantitatively rather than qualitatively, and that the comparison should involve an objective measure such as domestic and foreign production costs or relative worker hours. Domestic and foreign production costs … I wonder which of those is likely to be greater, and why, and whether that has any relationship at all to why a seller might want to make Made in USA claims without actually making the whole product in the US. In any event, the court declined to adopt such a standard. Its determination was bolstered by the FTC's 1997 inquiry into the meaning of Made in the USA claims, which found that consumers are likely to understand such claims as meaning "all or virtually all" US origin.
In an unusual move for a consumer lawsuit, Leatherman alleged that extrinsic evidence such as a consumer survey was required to prove its advertising deceptive. The court of appeals disagreed, holding that the evidence that components were manufactured abroad was sufficient to make Leatherman's claims deceptive without further evidence. Under California law, the primary evidence of whether an advertisement is misleading is the words of the ad itself, compared to the actual facts. Leatherman cited various federal cases that had applied Lanham Act standards, requiring a consumer survey, to misleading claims under the Unfair Competition Law. But the federal courts simply had not applied the proper standard under California law, as several California appellate courts have already held.
Given the rest of the holding – that the tools were not entirely or substantially made in the US – the same result could have occurred under the Lanham Act, as "Made in the U.S.A." is explicitly false. Ruling this way allowed the court to define "made" as a matter of law rather than trying to assess consumer understanding of the term. Generally, courts applying the Lanham Act are also willing to resolve the meaning of single words without a consumer survey; it's only when a claim requires putting several concepts together that implicit falsity comes into the picture. Explicit and implicit claims are really on a spectrum, as even the most explicit claim depends on consumer context as well as ad context. The growing importance of "falsity by necessary implication" and "falsity by absence of any susbtantiation" in Lanham Act cases indicates that courts are struggling to recognize the ways in which all advertising depends on consumer interpretation. Sometimes, as here, we can be pretty sure what that interpretation will be, in which case there's no good reason to put the plaintiff to the expense and risks of a survey, which itself is subject to the manipulations of the surveyor's black arts.
The court did reverse the restitution award because there was no evidence to support the trial court's computation of the amount awarded ($13 million, 25% of the average wholesale unit price per tool sold in California during the relevant period). Substantial evidence is required to support a restitution award, and, though it was plain that Leatherman could charge a higher price for Made in the USA-labeled tools, the exact amount of the price premium couldn't be determined with the available evidence. Remand was necessary to allow recomputation, and the resulting recomputation of attorneys' fees.
Question: Will federal courts in California stop applying Lanham Act standards to UCL claims in competitor lawsuits, or will they wait for the California Supreme Court to rule? It seems that there's little justification for waiting, since California case law points all in one pro-plaintiff direction.
Labels: california, class actions, false advertising
Consumer protection and pleading with particularit...
In a wreck, get a check - and a consumer protectio...


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Semiconductor intellectual properties (SIPs) are considered to be the building blocks or reusable design core components of chip design layout, logic for instances, transistor cells, which are either created by the users for its own use and/or licensed to other users.
Technavio's analysts forecast the global semiconductor IP market to grow at a CAGR of 9.79% during the period 2018-2022.
The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global semiconductor IP market for 2018-2022. To calculate the market size, the report presents a detailed picture of the market by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources.
Technavio's report, Global Semiconductor IP Market 2018-2022, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.