The Voice of Groklaw

Random BedHead Ed writes "LinuxPlanet has an interesting interview with Pamela Jones, the paralegal and blogger who created Groklaw. Groklaw has become an indespensible site for geeks who need even more SCO updates than even /. provides - and if the site's inclusion in the footnotes of one of IBM's court documents is any indication, it's been handy for people involved in the case as well. No wonder the site won Best News Site in O'Reilly's OSDir.com Editor's Choice Awards for 2003. It shows how useful and influental a well-run collaborative website can be."

Re:Pictures?

[GrievousAngel]

Here ya go. [umn.edu]

Re:Grokking McDonalds Coffee Lawsuit

[Darth_Foo]

Do more reasearch before you start trolling. Mickey D's was serving coffee within 10 degrees F of the temperature at which meat packing plants boil the skin off pigs. McDonalds was doing this for the express purpose of saving a few bucks a week on coffee, as they knew that hotter coffee obscures the bitter flavor from the hours-old pot of coffee left over from the last meal rush in the store. Further, the woman in question required multiple skin grafts and was hospitalized for ten days. Trial evidence demonstrated that most fast food places did NOT serve coffee that hot and that had she spilled coffee from such a place, she would not have been burned nearly as severely (no skin grafts or hospitalization would have been necessary). The damages awarded by the jury were ONE DAYS' profits (not gross receipts) from McDonalds' world-wide coffee sales alone. The trial judge suggested a remittiture of half that (that means he told the plaintiff that if she didn't accept his suggestion, he'd order a new trial), which is what I understand was actually paid. Now, knowing the facts, flame away.

A minor correction

[Anonymous Coward]

Fact one the coffee is no where near the boiling point, it was at 130 F almost hundred degrees cooler than boiling.

The coffee in the lawsuit was 180 degrees, not 130 degrees. That is still well short of the boiling point, however (and within or below recommended serving temperature for coffee)

For some odd reason someone in the Appeals court thought it was dumb to stick a cup of known hot liquid in your crotch and blame someone else when it spilled.

And, for some odd reason, people here try to get us to forget this most important fact by trying to snow the issue with lies from ambulance-chaser web sites like Vanfirm.com

Re:Do more research before your start trolling

[MuParadigm]

"The coffee was perfectly safe..."

As long as you didn't accidentally spill it on yourself, in which case you required skin grafts and 10 days hospitalization.

Sorry, dude, but you must be using a different dictionary for the phrase "perfectly safe" than the one I use.

"She spilled the coffee, McDonald's did not."

McDonald's heated it to over 180 degrees, possibly much higher, given the pressure it was kept under. Not the customer.

And I'm not sure what universe you live in where 180 degrees is "well short of the boiling point", maybe one where Vonnegut's Ice-9 is commonplace, but here on Planet Earth the boiling point is 212 degrees at sea level, and lower at higher altitudes, so I'd say 180 degrees is pretty close to boiling.

Re:Coffee temperature reality

[MuParadigm]

"Optimum coffee serving temperature: 185 to 200 degrees F (source. Coast Coffee)"

That's bonkers. 185-200 might be a good temperature to *prepare* the coffee, so it doesn't get scalded, but that's *way* too hot for drinking.

I urge you to test this for yourself. Please take photographs, so we can all fall off our chairs laughing at your self-inflicted third degree mouth burns.

140 degrees, give or take 10 according to taste and tolerance, is about the best temperature to serve coffee.

"grok" is from "Stranger in a Strange Land"

[kclittle]

...by R.A. Heinlein. It's Martian for "understand deeply". I also personally believe that "geek" is Martian for "terribly attractive".

Re:Pictures?

[MuParadigm]

It's not right. Pamela lives somewhere in the Northeast, not in Minnesota.

There are no pictures of PJ on the Internet, as far as I know. She likes to guard her privacy as much as is possible under the circumstances.

Re:I think you overrate this SCO thing.

[lunenburg]

And yes, a really good one wants to be your next president. I for one think he'd be an awesome president.

Unless you care about copyright abuse. I'm a North Carolinian and have had several discussions with John Edwards staffers in Raleigh, and he's completely in the pocket of the MPAA/RIAA.

Take it from a tarheel - pass on Edwards.

Re:Coffee temperature reality

[MuParadigm]

Sure.

212 F = 100 C

180 F = 82.2 C

140 F = 57.67 C

In other words, "Tort Reformer AC" is arguing that 85 - 95 C is the proper temperature at which to serve coffee (185-200F), whereas everyone with common sense is telling him that's nuts, and that 50 - 60 C is probably a better temperature at which to serve coffee, although even that's a little too hot to drink. But we all prefer it a little on the hot side, cince it will cool down before you finish it.

Actually, once you put it all into degrees Celsius, it becomes even more obvious how clueless "Tort Reformer AC"'s arguement is.

Re:"grok" is from "Stranger in a Strange Land"

[Idarubicin]

I also personally believe that "geek" is Martian for "terribly attractive".

Main Entry:

geek
Pronunciation: 'gEk
Function: noun
Etymology: probably from English dialect geek, geck fool, from Low German geck, from Middle Low German
Date: 1914
1 : a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake
...

Actually, it's English for someone who bites the heads off live chickens. I suppose some people might find that terribly attractive. Or at least attractively terrible. Or something.

Cheers to Merriam-Webster [m-w.com].

I would prefer to be a nerd [candy4u.com]--at least they make better eating.