December 2006 Archives

*NOTE: Fridays are for fun! Every Friday, we'll post something that is not as serious as other posts. Enjoy!

The Countdown has started!

Trying to find a New Year's Eve party? Check out newyears.com's list!

Brush up on Auld Lang Syne before the stroke of midnight.

Staying in? Watch Times Square via webcam!

View the top New Year's resolutions.

The Legal Year in Review

A cool search engine for kids

Review of the year's discoveries/inventions

The world's number 1 shows that the most popular car color in the US is silver, while the most popular dog breed is the Labrador retriever. Click the link to view more.

Didgeridoo as Cure for Snoring

Question: If both the U.S. national anthem and the national anthem of a foreign country were being played at an event (in the United States), which one would be played first? Find the answer at the Protocol FAQ page.

Since the time of the Egyptian pharaohs, there have been government officials in charge of diplomatic conduct. Today, more than 3,000 years later, it is the Office of the Chief of Protocol that advises, assists, and supports the President of the United States, the Vice President, and the Secretary of State on official matters of national and international protocol, ensuring that the accepted rules of conduct in every capital of the world are implemented. All of the pages at the Office of the Chief of Protocol include a scrolling feed of world news and information from the State Department.

More resources are at:
Specific duties of the Office of the Chief of Protocol
Facts and History
Photo Gallery

Check out books on diplomatic etiquette available through the University Libraries.

Source: Gov't Publications Library, U of CO Boulder

*NOTE: Fridays are for fun! Every Friday, we'll post something that is not as serious as other posts. Enjoy!

Legal Tech Expert E-Mails His Wish List to Santa

CPSC Warns of Fire, Other Hazards Related to Holiday Decorating

Corporate Scrooge Contest

Vintage Holiday Recipes...Boar's Head, anyone?

The Year in Pictures from:
MSNBC
Time Magazine
American Photo magazine
Reuters

Odd name aside, Voice of the Shuttle (VoS) from UC-Santa Barbara is quite a handy tool for links to legal resources...and several other humanities disciplines. From "About VoS":
"Its mission has been to provide a structured and briefly annotated guide to online resources that at once respects the established humanities disciplines in their professional organization and points toward the transformation of those disciplines as they interact with the sciences and social sciences and with new digital media."

Check it out for yourself! http://vos.ucsb.edu/

The UK Statute Law Database (SLD) is the official revised edition of the primary legislation of the United Kingdom. Previously accessible only to a limited number of users in government, SLD is now publicly available online for free.

Source: WisBlawg

Does reading the 911 Commission Report sound exciting? Not so much. To make the study come to life, take a look at the graphic adaptation. It's available for sale on Amazon (where you can "look inside") and you can see more sample pages at the source below.

Source: Cool Tools

Made available FREE at nationalatlas.gov, these sets of printable maps include:

Congressional Districts for the 109th Congress
Federal Lands and Indian Reservations
Precipitation of the Individual States and of the Conterminous States
Presidential Elections 1789 to 2000
Reference and Outline Maps of the United States
Territorial Acquisitions of the United States
West Nile Virus 2000
and more!

Source: Minitex Reference Services

There are several U of MN Law School students and faculty in the blogosphere. Here are the ones we know about. If you are affiliated with the U of MN Law School and want to add your blog to our directory, just drop us a line at lawlib@umn.edu.

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/infolaw/ Prof. William McGeveran (and colleagues) blog on Information Law

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/lawcso/vocare/ Vocare: Law School Career and Professional Development Center (CPDC)

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/contractsprof_blog/ Official Blog of the AALS Section on Contracts (Prof. Carol Chomsky is one of the editors)

http://volokh.com/ The Volokh Conspiracy (Prof Dale Carpenter and colleagues)

http://fritzfeds.blogspot.com/ Student members of the Federalist Society (they also list several other MN blogs on their page)

http://heretic.squarespace.com/journal Generic Heretic, law student Nicholas Rogers

http://jointstrikeweasel.blogspot.com/ Joint Strike Weasel, law students Sal Bezos, Jeffrey Bergman, Ivan Ludmer, and Jeff Bartlett

http://theunreasonableman.blogspot.com/ The Unreasonable Man, an anonymous law student

http://steve-says.blogspot.com/ Blog of Steven Marchese, from the Career & Professional Development Center

http://susan-cooks.blogspot.com/ A fun blog from Susan Gainen of the Career & Professional Development Center

*NOTE: Fridays are for fun! Every Friday, we'll post something that is not as serious as other posts. Enjoy!

With no snow or very cold temps in the forecast, here are some tidbits for you to dream of a deep-freeze:

How many times a year does the sun set and rise in the Arctic? Once

A "hoar" is a type of frost formed by flat frozen crystals

One in four people buried in avalanches survive the ordeal

Icicles most often form on the south side of buildings

What is a "toque"? The word Canadians use for winter hat

80% of fresh snow is composed of air

What was the world record for the most snowfall in a 24-hour period? 76 inches in Silver Lake, Colorado

Joseph-Armand Bombardier of Quebec invented the snowmobile

Try this on for size:

Staff members at the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library are pleased to announce the public availability of a biographical database covering all Minnesota legislators back to territorial times, Legislators Past & Present.

Records have been added for more than 5000 legislators, with added information about each term served by legislators for the most recent 45 years. For more information, click on the source below.

Source: Reference Services

Looking for a constitution? Now there's an easy reference tool to help your task: Constitution Finder!

The site contains: over 200 countries' constitutions; other documents from the official government web sites;
English translations; and an easy alphabetical drop-down list.

This free site is kept up to date by faculty and students of the University of Richmond School of Law. The United States page features the current federal Constitution as well as state, historical, and Native American tribal constitutions.

Source: Ernster

Did you lose something this semester? A sweater, book, or bike helmet?

We have set up a lost and found claim area at the circ desk. If you lost something, please claim it by Monday Dec. 18. All unclaimed items will be recycled after Dec. 18.

Here is the list of new titles the law library acquired in November 2006. The list is also on the library's home page.

November Acquisitions

Here are the hours of the library Dec. 21 to Jan. 16. The hours are also online at: http://www.law.umn.edu/library/libinfo.html#HOURS

Dec. 21-22: 8 - 4:30
Dec. 23-26 CLOSED
Dec. 27-29: 8 - 4:30
Dec. 30-Jan. 1 CLOSED
Jan. 2-5: 8 - 4:30
Jan. 6-7 CLOSED
Jan. 8-12: 8 - 4:30
Jan. 13: 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Jan. 14: Noon - 6 p.m.
Jan. 15 CLOSED
Jan. 16 Start weekday regular semester hours 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

*NOTE: Fridays are for fun! Every Friday, we'll post something that is not as serious as other posts. Enjoy!

Think your computer is too slow? It's probably a descendant of this ancient 72-gear analog device.

Feed on this Lawsagna, the blog for tips, tools, and useful advice for law students.

Hungry for a Muppet-related news fix? Get your fill on the Muppet Newsflash!

Make your fast-food drive-through window clerk's day! Rap your order!

Devoted to "scholarship, news and new ideas in legal history," the Legal History Blog is for legal history enthusiasts. Run by Prof. Mary Dudziak from the USC School of Law, recent topics include originalism, supreme court nominations, and women in the law.

Source: Balkinization

From the website:
"GlobaLex is an electronic legal publication dedicated to international and foreign law research. Published by the Hauser Global Law School Program at NYU School of Law, GlobaLex is committed to the dissemination of high-level international, foreign, and comparative law research tools in order to accommodate the needs of an increasingly global educational and practicing legal world."

Newly added articles include research guides to Kenya law, Swiss legal system, Sierra Leone legal system, and Tanzania legal research and system. Tools include teaching materials, syllabi, book reviews, and useful international and foreign law databases.

ATTENTION STUDENTS:
During the exam period (December 9 - 21), part of the first floor of the Law Library is designated as a QUIET ZONE.

We have posted signs near the area and would appreciate your cooperation in keeping this part of the library as quiet as possible.

When studying in this area please be sure to:
• turn-off the sound on your laptop,
• turn-off or silence your cell phone,
• and refrain from talking.

Please avoid walking through this area, unless you plan to study there, and please keep your voices low in nearby areas as well.

If you are looking for a place to study in a group, please check at the circulation desk for an available study room.

Thank you.

*NOTE: Fridays are for fun! Every Friday, we'll post something that is not as serious as other posts. Enjoy!

As students prepare for finals and the stress of the holidays starts to bear down on us, please be kind to yourself and to others. Here are some tips to help.

Mayo Clinic's Stress Center has useful information and tips to beat the stress and blues that occur this time of year.

Ditto for Medline Plus' topic on stress, which compiles the latest news on the topic and provides tips for teen and childhood stress as well.

Boynton Health Service offers helpful tips for stress management, including exercises.

How about trying some Laughter Yoga? Might take the edge off.