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... the installation of some software on various nodes of the Internet backbone? Because I have a patent for a piece of software that replies to any such request to install such software with a reference to the response given in Arkell v Pressdram.

Hilarious, for the full story, click here.

Here is a technical specification written by a schoolboy for further development by the engineering team. The genius is in the response from the developers.

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2...

Probably about the same as James Bailey did in response to Dale Cox on behalf of the Cleveland Browns:

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2...

âoeThe word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still purely primitive, legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation, no matter how subtle, can change this for me.â

Some Einstein guy said that about a year before he died, back in 1954.
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2...

What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? Iâ(TM)ll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and Iâ(TM)ve been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and I have over 300 confirmed kills....

The linked copypasta is actually germane to the case. Your grandmother who never used the Internet would likely perceive it as a threat. Those of us who live on the Internet recognize it for what it is.

To further illustrate the point:

What in the blue blazes did you just say about my client, you prevaricating bitch? I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in Harvard, and I've been involved in numerous cases before the Supreme Court, and I have over 300 cases settled with extreme prejudice. I am trained in litigation and I'm the top lawyer in the entire bar. You are nothing to me but just another defendant. I will wipe you the fuck out with decisions the likes of which has bever been seen before in this Court, mark my fucking words. You think you can defame my client over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we type I am subpoenaing NSA and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the deposition, maggot. The deposition that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You're in fucking contempt, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can drag this case out in over seven hundred ways, and that's just with this pen. Not only am I extensively trained in litigation, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the docket, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little "clever" comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn't, you didn't, and now you're paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will file suit all over you and you will drown in it. I refer you to the reply given in the case of Arkell v. Pressdram, kiddo!

It's the middle ground between threat and hyperbole (or in this post, the line between barratry and comedy) that things get hairy. And that is precisely what the Supreme Court is dealing with in this case.

Apple once famously code named new version "Sagan", but Carl Sagan objected. So they renamed it BHA, for "Butt head Astronomer". Sagan sued.

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/03/butt-head-astronomer.html

Scan it, post it!

Send it to LettersOfNote.com

While not considering himself an atheist, Einstein's views on the Judeo-Christian religion are pretty explicit:

The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still purely primitive, legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this. ... For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstition. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong ... have no different quality for me than all other people. As far as my experience goes, they are also no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything “chosen” about them.

Supposedly 30% of their households don't have electricity and the remainder suffer from regular blackouts, and they want to go to Mars?

Why explore space?

Granted, this was in 1970 and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center director - but he made many valid points and his letter is also true for India.

I hope when either President Obama or Romney start rounding-up Americans (anyone who speaks-out against the Iran War will be labeled a "terrorist") that you care one of the first to land in jail w/o right to trial. You deserve to get what you have voted for.

Please understand that I say this as someone whose politics lean fairly 'libertarian' on the whole. But:

Stop that. Seriously. Just stop it.

You're doing your cause no good by pretending it's even remotely likely that we're going to suddenly see Soviet-style gulags implemented by either Obama or Romney. You may not like their policies, but it's possible to disagree with them without needing them to be Joseph Stalin reincarnated. When you spout this stuff, you come across like a hapless conspiracy-theorist-slash-nutjob, which allows people to handily dismiss ANY valid points Ron Paul and his supporters make because you have included so many absolutely-fucking-crazy exaggerations and distortions along with the legitimate points.

CS Lewis offered some advice on writing that's relevant to everyone:

5. Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.

Stop turning "I don't agree with Romney's and Obama's policy proposals," into "therefore they're going to send me to a Siberian salt mine!" This is nothing but idiotic marketing sloganeering, and has NO BUSINESS in a political discussion, unless your goal is to perpetuate the issues already afflicting our political process. In other words: don't bemoan the bumper-sticker-ization of politics on a fucking bumper sticker.

I find it funny when people quote Einstein as if those statements indicated he believed in the quoter's God. Neither of those statements really have anything to do with intelligent design. Einstein also said this:

The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still purely primitive, legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this.

And there is this:

tl;dr version: Einstein said that "The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still purely primitive, legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this."

He was quoting Einstein...

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2009/10/word-god-is-product-of-human-weakness.html

Besides, he was raised (non-practicing) Jewish anyway, no idea where Christianity would even come into it...

What ever happened to being blunt and frank, like when the Cleveland Stadium Corp responded to a complaint with a reply on company letterhead that read:

I think it's only fair to point out that the example you're referring to is one smartass lawyer responding to another smartass lawyer. I sincerely doubt such a response would have been forthcoming if the letter had been from a schoolteacher, or the response from the team manager.

'Your account has been disabled. All of your adverts have been stopped and should not be run again on the site under any circumstances. Generally, we disable an account if too many of its adverts violate our Terms of Use or Advertising guidelines. Unfortunately we cannot provide you with the specific violations that have been deemed abusive. Please review our Terms of Use and Advertising guidelines if you have any further questions.'

In a nutshell: "Your account has been disabled, we won't do business with you anymore, and we can't tell you why." Did I miss something? Did Verizon buy out Facebook? Or are we simply seeing the beginning of a pattern in the way business is going to be conducted in the future to avoid the expense of having to pay a human being to deal with customers, and to avoid the possibility of writing anything specific that could be used in court or the media?

What ever happened to being blunt and frank, like when the Cleveland Stadium Corp responded to a complaint with a reply on company letterhead that read:

Attached is a letter that we received on November 19, 1974. I feel that you should be aware that some asshole is signing your name to stupid letters.

Very truly yours,

CLEVELAND STADIUM CORP.