I’ll be spending next week at Ohio Wesleyan University to help out with Philo High School’s band camp. Luckily, I’ll miss the hectic period when new computers arrive at CNS and also make the same amount of money. I may get a chance to update but I’m not sure how they have their computer systems set up.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation decided to file a lawsuit yesterday again the Universal Music Publishing Group in an attempt to protect the fair use and free speech rights of a 29 second home video featuring a toddler dancing to a Prince song.

The video was posted for family and friends to watch and enjoy; however, Stephanie Lenz, the mother who posted the video, received notice from YouTube that Universal had complained about copyright infringement.

“Universal should not be using legal threats to try to prevent people from sharing home videos of their kids with family and friends,” Lenz said.

Universal’s claim is pathetic. How can they view a 29 second clip as being infringement? Not only is the song being played in the background in the video, it is barely understandable. There is no need for groundless accusations in an attempt to scare people from posting videos with music. At least if the full song was dubbed into the video after being recorded I could see a reason. But this short clip easily fits into the fair use category.

The lawsuit demands judgement that Lenz’s video is not an infringement of copyright and that Universal drop all claims against the video.

Here is the video. You be the judge.

I’ve been incredibly busy since I got back so sorry for the lack of updates. I worked with the new video system at church for Vacation Bible School all of last week which left little time to be at home. After working 9-5 at CNS, I would head home for a minute before making it to church to work from 6-9ish. It was a lot of fun so I’m not complaining.

The new video system is amazing. We have 3 projectors with two in the front and one displaying an image in the back to allow whomever is up front to see. VBS mostly used it to play a DVD with songs and dances on it, although I put together a small PowerPoint slide show for them. For Sunday I set up a full schedule in EasyWorship which is a program for churches with songs and scriptures built in. Everyone seemed impressed and happy with it which was a big relief. Plus there were no major problems for the first day. As long as it continues to go smoothly, I think all of the skeptics will be proven wrong.

This weekend was just as busy. Tera and I watched The Matrix Saturday before going to Zanesville for the night to hang out at Andy’s. Joey, one of my friends that I grew up with while he still lived in Cambridge, stopped by on his way home and stayed for the day on Sunday. I gave him a tour of Muskingum and we went to Salt Fork to hang out.

As fate would have it, all of Muskingum’s new computers and monitors are set to come in today. Fan-freakin-tastic. I really need another vacation.

My vacation went by way too fast. Tera and I left Sunday morning around 8:30 and got back in around 5pm last night. I had a great time and it was a good break. We didn’t get lost too much and traffic wasn’t that terrible.

Soon after I got home I went down to church to work with the new video projection equipment we had installed. It was actually much easier than even I had imagined and I did a lot of quick work for Vacation Bible School that was going on. Everyone there seemed impressed which was good to see. I’m going back down tonight to work on it more so hopefully that goes as well as last night.

The Columbus Destroyers shocked the world yet again last weekend when they defeated the Georgia Force in Atlanta 66-56 to win the AFL National Conference and advance to Arena Bowl XXI. The Destroyers led 41-21 early in the second half and looked to make the game a blowout. But the Force seemed to recover from a shaky first half and rallied to pull within 6 late in the 3rd quarter. After losing their lead in the 4th quarter, it appeared that the clock was about to strike midnight for the Destroyers. But keeping their poise, Columbus didn’t give up and now has a ticket to the Arena Bowl July 29 in New Orleans.

Falcons Quarterback Michael Vick will need to shift his focus away from football and more on what seems to be the new favorite past time for NFL players: legal troubles. After a thorough three month investigation, Vick has been indicted by federal authorities in connection with dog fighting in a home Vick owned in Virginia. While the indictment isn’t proof of Vick’s guilt, it certainly is a tough blow to one the NFL’s most exciting players. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has taken no prisoners when it comes to suspensions and player conduct. Cincinnati Bengal’s wide receiver Chris Henry and former Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson are each facing an eight game suspension for off the field incidents. Tennessee Titan’s running back Pacman Jones faces a one year suspension for his seemingly constant altercations with authorities. Regardless of what the final outcome is, Michael Vick may be facing a suspension sooner than later.

Just wanted to write a quick note that I will be gone for the next few days on vacation in Maumee Bay.  I’ll be sure to have a report on the Columbus Destroyers winning today and heading to the ArenaBowl when I return.

It’s been a busy week and it’s only going to get busier. I spent most of the week at work and with Tera since she had a few days off. We watched a couple movies, “Candy” and “The Last Mimsy,” which were each really good. A friend had asked me to look at her computer since it had been acting slow lately. I booted it up last night and it took forever just to get into Windows. The problem wasn’t spyware or a virus as I had originally suspected. It appears to have a dying hard drive. I was going to back up the files to my flash drive but noticed that her My Documents folder was nearly 4GB, so I didn’t exactly have the room. Besides all of that I’ve been getting ready to go to Maumee Bay with Tera Sunday-Tuesday. It should be fun as long as we don’t get lost.

David Beckham and his family arrived in Los Angeles last night to move in to their new $22 million, 13,000-square foot villa in Beverly Hills. Beckham will make his debut with the Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer. Many people are hoping that Beckham’s star power will attract more of a fan base for MLS and soccer in America. While I enjoy European soccer, I still don’t think I will be able to pay much attention to MLS, mostly because it’s still hardly on television. As far as attracting more fans, with teams in only 13 cities, it may still be hard to reach the masses.

I just saw a trailer for the new “Get Smart” movie starring Steve Carell. I can’t wait to see this movie when it comes out. The original 1960’s show with Don Adams was hilarious and I think that Carell will play the part great. With all of the lackluster movies based off prior movies or old television shows, I think this one will be worth it. If you want to check out the trailer, head over to the Media page.

Dan Patrick announced yesterday on his ESPN Radio show that he will be leaving the ESPN network after 18 years. Patrick made Sportscenter into the show it is today during his time as an anchor. For the past 8 years he has been featured primarily on his radio show.

Patrick said “I want to stay in radio and maybe also do TV in some way, shape or form. This is the first time in my life that I’ve been a free agent.”

Although the announcement comes as a surprise to many, Patrick claims there is no animosity. He stated if that was the case, he wouldn’t be doing the rest of the shows until his final show on August 17. The 2000 sportscaster of the year is sure to have a bright future wherever he ends up.

Angels slugger Vladimir Guerrero edged the Blue Jays’ Alex Rios last night in San Francisco to win the 2007 Home Run Derby with 17 home runs. The final round featured only 5 home runs between Guerrero and Rios. This year’s derby wasn’t as spectacular as derby’s in the past, yet it still served it’s purpose of tradition. Guerrero earned his spot in history.

“I was just trying to swing the bat hard, like I always do,” he said. “There was nothing in the ballpark I was aiming for.”

It’s been a very slow weekend. Yesterday I went to Andy’s in Zanesville to hang out. Watched some TV, played some video games and poker, etc. Today my parents and I went to Caldwell to eat lunch with the family. We went to Lori’s Restaurant which I had never heard of. It wasn’t too bad though.

The Columbus Destroyers shocked the world (or at least those who care about the AFL) by defeating the top seeded Dallas Desperados 66-59 at the American Airlines Center Saturday night. The Desperados finished the regular season with an AFL record 15 wins and looked to be unstoppable; however, the Destroyers proved that anything can happen. The Destroyers slipped their way into the playoffs finishing just 7-9 and after picking up a surprise victory in the Wild Card round last week against Tampa Bay, the Destroyers rode on the arm of Quarterback Matt Nagy to advance to the National Conference Finals.

Roger Federer won his fifth straight Wimbledon title today after defeating Rafael Nadal in five sets. With the win, Federer becomes the first person since 1976-1980 to win five in a row at Wimbledon. I don’t think the finals were really a surprise to anyone. I don’t ever watch tennis, but usually when I do it’s always these two. This was Federer’s fifth win in thirteen meetings against Nadal as well as his second in a row at Wimbledon.

Greg Oden made his summer league NBA debut over the weekend in typical Greg Oden style. After picking up three fouls in the first three minutes of playing time, Oden ended up fouling out with 10 fouls. He played 20 minutes and finished with only six points and two rebounds. Hopefully he can make some adjustments and fit into the NBA.

Kevin Durant on the other hand came out with a much better showing in some aspects. Durant managed a game high 18 points but finished only 5-17 from the field. Still, Durant showed that he has much more potential early than Greg Oden.

The mood at Microsoft just seems to go from bad to worse. After having to deal with the many hardware failures of the Xbox 360, the company announced that their goal of 12 million consoles by June 30 had not been reached. Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell stated that shipments came up just shy at 11.6 million. Although the goal was not met, Liddell claimed “we’re happy with that number.” I can name four friends off the top of my head that have had hardware problems with the Xbox 360. After seeing what they had to go through to fix their problems, it was an easy decision for me in figuring out that I don’t even want an Xbox 360. I can find much better (and reliable) ways to spend $400. There also aren’t that many games out that are worth the $60 price tag. A few good games have been released so far, but if Halo 3 doesn’t perform up to standards upon release, Microsoft might be in trouble.

Last night, Kobe Bryant stated that he has apologized to Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak for his comments regarding a trade from the organization. Bryant made the apology face-to-face instead of over the phone because he felt it was important. Still, Bryant still did not appear to be comfortable with staying with the Lakers. When asked about whether he still wants to be traded, he shifted the focus to his time with Team USA and noted that he hasn’t thought about a trade for a “long, long time.”

Tank Johnson will not face DUI charges in Arizona after his blood-alcohol level came back below the legal limit. I’ve heard a few people in an uproar about how the Chicago Bears should now let him back on the team. I don’t see how anyone could come to that conclusion simply because charges will not be filed. Johnson still was caught drinking and driving. He still put himself in danger and the lives of those around him at risk. The Chicago Bears stated when they released him that they wanted to help him but he didn’t seem to want to help himself. If Johnson really wanted to turn his life around, he wouldn’t have been out drinking and driving like that in the first place. I feel bad for him, but it is still him who is bringing the problems upon himself.

Happy Independence Day everyone. I’m not sure whether or not I’ll go to the fireworks here in Cambridge tonight. The weather does not look promising. Some nasty thunderstorms have blown through Columbus and are heading this way. Maybe they will blow over and the fireworks show can go on.

In additional iPhone rambling, the process of replacing the iPhone battery is laughable. Not only must you pay $6.95 for shipping, but you must also waste $79 on the new battery itself. Apple claims that it will only take 3 days, but that may not always be the case. To make the process even more of a headache, you must back up all of your data because it will be cleared when the battery is replaced. Why must the data be cleared? That makes no sense to me.

Tera and I watched “The Messengers” a few nights ago. It was the standard PG-13 horror movie. Nothing special about it. Many traditional plot lines were used, making it somewhat predictable. Add on to that a few obvious movie errors, and you have a average movie. I wouldn’t recommend it.

Rafael Nadal finally picked up the win against Robin Soderling after a few long days at Wimbledon. Rain was determined to interrupt the match and make it hard on the players. Originally scheduled for Saturday, Nadal and Soderling managed to pick up the victory in 5 sets. After problems such as this, I have to wonder why they don’t have some type of retractable dome. Forcing games to be played over days just isn’t fair.

The rain has begun. Again, everyone have a safe and happy 4th of July!