Fair use is an interesting topic within copyright law. During media law classes in college, it was always a conversation starter.

Copyright law protects our property and creations. Movies, books, poems, blog posts, music, blueprints, videos and everything else you can think of are covered.

But there’s a great loophole that lets others use part of your work (and not technically as a derivative work). Fair use. It lets news programs and people poking fun of your work use your work. Keep in mind that satire and parody are two very different things, and I can’t remember which one is protected speech when I’m this many beers deep already.

Anywho, here’s a very helpful (and fun) explanation of fair use using fair use.

Genius. Simply genius.

I’ve often talked about how much I like my Sprint aircard. I really do enjoy the convenience. Embedded in my laptop, EV-DO speeds and faster in some areas and absolute convenience.

I don’t have to pay for access in Starbucks or airports with their stupid pay-WiFi. I can get around restricted FTP access on the work network. And when the (now trashed) D-Link crap router goes out, I can still get online. (On a separate note, changed to a new Linksys router and confirmed it wasn’t a Bright House problem, but between the computers and the series of tubes).

On to the purpose of this post…

I’ve been sick of receiving a paper bill from Sprint for my aircard service, but every time I go online to sign up for a Sprint account I’m told that the activation code will be sent to my phone as a text message. Unfortunately, I don’t have a phone (and the Sony laptops with Sprint cards don’t have software like laptops with Verizon cards, which allow you to send and receive text messages).

So, I gave in and called customer service. I talked with a very nice agent for about 15 minutes while she tried to understand my problem. Finally we both came to agreement that I have an embedded card and not a phone. She told me she was going to put me on hold for a few minutes and come back with an answer. About 3 minutes later she rejoined our conversation to let me know that she could take my information and process the automatic payment request. The catch was that I would have to call back and sign up for automatic withdrawal again when my contract ends in July. No big deal.

This call was in the middle of April; I told her that I had already mailed in my payment due in April, so the automatic payments shouldn’t start until May. She understood and told me she’d set it all up. I gave her my credit card information, and thought it was done.

Not so fast.

I get my bill on Wednesday, and it says I haven’t paid my bill. I owe Sprint 2 months worth of payments. WTF? I’ve never missed a payment on anything in my life, now (because I didn’t check to see if May’s payment had been processed) I’m faced with a late fee and the mark that I’ve missed payments!

I called Sprint. Upset, but level headed and polite. I talked to a different customer service agent and explained the problem. She didn’t understand. At all. I told her that the original call (in April) was to set up an online account, but was told that their system wouldn’t allow them to set up an account for a number that can’t receive text messages. She verified that I called customer service, but had no record of a request for automatic payment registration. I told her that I spent 15 minutes talking to someone who took my credit card information to register for the service. She told me that I could enroll in automatic payments on the website.

WTF? I just spent 5 minutes explaining to her that I CAN’T REGISTER FOR AN ONLINE ACCOUNT BECAUSE SPRINT’S SYSTEM IS SCREWING ME. I was much more polite and did not talk in all caps.

She put me on hold for 5 minutes and talked to her supervisor. Then came back on and told me I could talk to their accounting department to pay my current bill and register for automatic payments. Forget that.

I’ll mail in my paper bill from now on. No matter what. The price of a stamp and a book of checks is well worth avoiding dealing with customer service, late fees and embarrassment.

Earlier this week, I was standing in line at Walgreen’s. While I was waiting, I took a few moments to admire the delicious looking candy, cough syrup and nail clippers that occupy the “impulse buy rack.” All I could think was, “Wow, for some reason I really feel the need to buy a 5-pack of 10 minute VHS tapes.”

That feeling soon passed. Why?

Because of the greatest impulse buy item. Ever.

The Walgreen’s brand One-Step Pregnancy Test.

And not just any pregnancy test. Apparently this one is so good (or bad) you should buy two! I mean, c’mon. Who wouldn’t want to buy more and save? You’re saving $2, hell buy four.

I look at my RSS feed fairly regularly, but I’ve become numb. Numb because every morning I mark my own blog as read, even though I have no idea what’s been posted.

When I started tweeting I began using Twitter Tools to keep track of my tweets and tweet my blog posts, but now I’m using Twitter a lot (read +30 tweets daily). It’s bogging down my recent posts and making it look like all I do is tweet (which is kind of true).

So, I’m turning off the updates.

If you’re seeing this, it means you’re reading my RSS feed, found the permalink in a tweet or are browsing the archives (as the category “Twitterings” isn’t shown on the front page). So, that’s all. A pretty worthless waste of your time. Thanks!

• Wow. I think I ate my dinner way too fast… *lays down on the couch in an empty office* #
• I guess I should probably start promoting the Nightcast… #
• Oh noes! I can’t get to Twitter… ahhhhh! #
• @dngrundy I’m so jealous of you! #
• @newspicture Win any money? #
• Trying to add Motion Blur to video… this should be sooo simple, but it’s ridiculously difficult. #
• Finishing a render, then it’s time for some decompression. Hopefully not explosive decompression (that sounds painful & I’m not in space). #
• Is it bad that I’ve been at work so long I forgot where I parked? #
• Wow… last night’s Daily Show was… interesting… Waiting to figure out what the cities above Jon’s head have in common tonight. #
• Give a larbage throw out your garbage. #
• I’m awake! We’ll see how much longer that lasts. #
• Patrick Stewart with a moustache? That’s kind of weird. Not that I’m watching "The View" or anything. #
• Woohoo! Indians/Reds game on Sunday with @mmagnolia22, DS and KS. #
• I’m not in Canada… silly computer. #
• Okay, who peed all over the floor outside the upstairs bathroom…. #
• Just because it’s the lead story, doesn’t mean it should be the lead tease. #
• Hurry coffee. Make yourself faster. #
• Waiting on talent… not my own though (my talent is awesome). #
• Time for dinner… and Farm Fresh delivery! #
• MY brain has turned to jelly, and I haven’t even started working on material for the 6am crew call tomorrow… ARGH! #

Don’t get me wrong, I love my Sprint Air Card. But sometimes it confuses me when I visit Google.

I never know where I am anymore, but I’m apparently now a world traveler. Today I was in Canada. Last week I was in Mexico. Oh, but in between I was in the most exotic place: Dayton, Ohio.

• Finally done, for now. Time for a drink… #
• That 11 hour day is over… time to decompess and prepare for a similar day tomorrow… #
• Drivers: I know it’s complicated, but please try to understand how a 4-way stop works when the light at Meridian and 16th is flashing red. #
• @drthomasho It’s the majority of #Indianapolis drivers that I worry about. At least I’ve waited to text until I’m at the drive thru #
• @danielle_i Your job sounds so much more interesting than mine… #
• My goodness… keeping up with everything happening on the Internetz takes a lot of time. #
• @danielle_i Wow. That does not sound like fun at all. Sorry about all that. At least it’s over for today. #
• @dngrundy I think the "Midnight Rule" should be in effect… #
• Time for some sleep… more promo fun tomorrow (sounds like we’ll be all over Comcast with 500 spots later this week). #
• Storms rolling in. Sleep tight, #Indianapolis. #
• Awake and sorting through e-mails in two accounts… I should probably head to work and check e-mail there, too #
• Silly Verizon and not working with BrightKite yet… #
• @seanokey I thought the only problem with troubleshooting was trying to explain to someone that the Internet is *NOT* a series of tubes. #
• @dpstud Wha?! #
• @mmagnolia22 Hope the dentist was fun… did you get a sticker that says not to eat or drink for at least an hour? #
• http://twitpic.com/126k <- #
• @newmediajim Is it even worth taking bets on what will be discussed? #
• @spazcer Great concept. I would have used it when looking for an internship. Hopefully it catches on and gets a bit more populated… #
• Heading to downtown to pick up @mmagnolia22 then a stop at O’Malia’s… #
• This will be the 5th revision to these spots… the media center is going to kill me. #
• IB down across the country? Guess TheIndyChannel won’t be updated today. Apparently Minneapolis broke the Internet. #
• Woohoo… co-worker battling cancer stopped by work to say "Hi" to all of us. His chemo’s going really well! #

I know that it may sound confusing: just because it’s the Internet and you want to be lazy, that doesn’t mean you should submit comments like this to the station blogs: (I will make fun of you)

i have heard that marissa is pregnant is she if so i think she can really move her body i such asexy way..

Wow. Really?

The only punctuation is a failed attempt at an ellipses, and apparently the “Shift” key was broken and the spacebar occasionally didn’t work.

I think I went to school with someone who wrote like that (granted I was in 2nd grade for the 4th time). I’m joking. Or am I? No, I am. Or not. This joke works much better when you see my face.