If you want public records from Chris Christie’s office, you’ll have to sue

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took office promising “a new era of accountability and transparency.” Yet after winning his second term, his administration stands accused of routinely stonewalling even the most basic requests for public records.

Jennifer Borg, the general counsel of the North Jersey Media Group, which has eight lawsuits pending against the state, said “they’re putting up any roadblock they can.”

“Their default position appears to be to withhold records from the public even though the law requires the exact opposite,” said ACLU executive director Udi Ofer. “It shouldn’t take a lawsuit for the public to access what are undeniably public records.”

“The quality of the denials are getting dumber,” said lawyer Walter Luers, who specializes in such cases. “They’re just kind of making reasons to not give us stuff.”

Is the Gov trying to Hide Something?

Adapted from Chris Christie Faces Mounting Suits Over Public Records.

Starbucks closed their stores in Israel but continues to support countries with awful human rights records.

Yeah, Starbucks got out of Israel but they’re still in Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Click the links to read about the peoples’ paradises that Starbucks condones.

via Starbucks: We Don’t Give Money To Israel.

Pennsylvania bridal shop won’t sell gowns to lesbian couple, sparking backlash

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/08/pennsylvania-bridal-shop-wont-sell-gowns-to-lesbian-couple-sparking-backlash/

1. The Bitemaster supports gay marriage
2. he wouldn’t shop at or recommend that store
3. But he doesn’t want the government to dictate to whom the store must or mustn’t sell.

Monkey’s selfie at center of copyright brouhaha

If the monkey snaps the photo, who owns the copyright?

David Slater claims ownership of the camera used by the monkey and therefore the copyright to the monkey’s photography. The Bitemaster begs to differ — and Wikimedia’s lawyers seem to agree with us.

And one more thing — we’re waiting to see proof that Slater even owned the damn camera.

(Monkey’s selfie at center of copyright brouhaha http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/08/monkeys-selfie-at-center-of-copyright-brouhaha/ via DuckDuckGo for Android)

Wait till the police hear about this: Scientists reconstruct speech through soundproof glass by watching a bag of potato chips

When you’re talking, things in the same room vibrate from the sound waves.  Film the vibrating object — e.g., a bag of chips — run it through some software and Bingo! you can turn it back into speech.

Both the police and your neighborhood peeping tom will love this.

[Scientists reconstruct speech through soundproof glass by watching a bag of potato chips http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/4/5968243/mit-turns-recorded-vibrations-back-into-speech-and-music via DuckDuckGo for Android]

Amid backlash, hotel rescinds $500 fines for “negative” online reviews

Yes, a hotel really had a policy (since removed from their website) of imposing fines on guests who posted negative reviews online.

This brings to mind one restaurant the Bitemaster saw on Yelp. A restaurant employee was a frequent poster, thanking folks for their compliments, and addressing any criticisms (e.g., “Sorry about the steak. Please come back. I think you’ll find that was one of our rare ‘off’ nights. Thanks, Rob, the Manager”).

It was an excellent example of social media done right.

[Amid backlash, hotel rescinds $500 fines for “negative” online reviews http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/08/amid-backlash-hotel-rescinds-500-fines-for-negative-online-reviews/ via DuckDuckGo for Android]