Feh. I could not post last night as our DSL crapped out for a little bit.

The robot that parks cars at the Garden Street Garage in Hoboken, New Jersey, trapped hundreds of its wards last week for several days. But it wasn't the technology car owners had to curse, it was the terms of a software license.

The garage is owned by the city; the software, by Robotic Parking of Clearwater, Florida.

In the course of a contract dispute, the city of Hoboken had police escort the Robotic employees from the premises just a few days before the contract between both parties was set to expire. What the city didn't understand or perhaps concern itself with, is that they sent the company packing with its manuals and the intellectual property rights to the software that made the giant robotic parking structure work.

The Hoboken garage is one of a handful of fully automated parking structures that make more efficient use of space by eliminating ramps and driving lanes, lifting and sliding automobiles into slots and shuffling them as needed. If the robot shuts down, there is no practical way to manually remove parked vehicles.

In the days that followed, both sides dragged each other into court. Robotic accused Hoboken of violating its copyright. "This case is about them using software without a license," said Dennis Clarke, chief operating officer of Robotic Parking, in a telephone interview last week.

At the same time, Hoboken accused Robotic of setting booby traps in the code, causing the garage to malfunction. Then Robotic accused Hoboken of endangering its business by allowing a competitor into the garage.

In the meantime, many of the garage's customers simply couldn't get their cars out.

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Happy Birthday, Katie B!!!

Happy Birthday, Mrs. Havisham!!!

Gronk. I was a good girl and cooked a lot of food last night, so I won't be so tempted to buy lunch here. I also stayed in and I'm still exhausted! What's up with that?

I got the most delicious fresh ricotta the other day and I have tossed it with pasta (with fresh tomatoes, basil, & hot Italian chicken sausage) but I'm wondering what else I can do with it. I know I could make lasagna with it but even though it's cooled off considerably this week I'm not really wanting to bake anything.

Anybody have any idea? (Aside from just eat it with a spoon which is what I really want to do.)

Jesse, I've never heard of so much baking as what goes on in your office.

Dude. There is no baking in my office! These cookies were the kind that come in the red tin. Everything else is catered and/or delivered.

Polgara in the LA Times

[link]

I am starving. I got up early to schlep to the doctor's (for the second time, the doctor yesterday had an emergency). And then, my doctor FORGOT ABOUT ME IN THE EXAMINING ROOM FOR 30 MINUTES. Basically, he forgot to put the chart outside the door, so no one realized that I was in there.

But, good news is that he thinks its folliculitis, which is basically ingrown hair. He did a culture anyway. I pointed out that I haven't has sex in a really long time but he wanted to be safe.

That's annoying, Vortex, but yay for good news!

Allyson, that's so cool! Of course, I was like, "That's not a picture of Polgara...."

I totally want to eat lunch now.

Random formatting question:

on stationary, should it be "1st Floor" or "First Floor"? Generally, you spell out the number from one to ten, but I'm not sure if that applies here.

Any Buffistas in New Jersey?

Giant Squid Attacks Jersey Shore!