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Social Network sites like LinkedIn, Plaxo and Facebook need to figure this out quick! It's late and I'm pissed. Without explicitly throwing up a dialog in my face and asking me what I want, the default setting for blasting whatever the hell I'm doing  to the world should be Opt-out! Microsoft figured this out years ago. It is really annoying, but no one can claim they didn't ask if I'm really really sure I want to nuke a particular file! If I select all the defaults you provide me, whatever I'm doing should Opt-out of whatever magic updates you want to provide to the world.  It's a cop-out to have the Opt-in checkbox  checked by default and assume that I actually saw it! You will find most times I'm OK with the known universe knowing what I'm doing! I'm willing to Opt-in every freakin time I want said universe to know my actions.

What brought on this rant.....I'm sending an e-card to someone. WHY THE HELL DOES A SOCIAL NETWORK SITE THINK I WANT THE CONTENTS OF A CARD THAT I EXPLICITLY ADDRESSED TO A SINGLE FREAKIN PERSON BE BROADCAST TO THE ENTIRE FRAPPIN WORLD? It gets better...... This is a new behavior since the site in question decided it was a social networking site instead of being a contact aggregation site.

I was working on a document today where I wanted to include Trademarks (what can I say?) but didn't understand the difference between using the TM symbol and the R within a circle. So after some research:

A trademark includes any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination used, or intended to be used, in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods.  In short, a trademark is a brand name.

The federal registration symbol, the R enclosed within a circle, may be used once the mark is actually registered in the USPTO. Even though an application is pending, the registration symbol may not be used before the mark has actually become registered.

When you want to figure out if something has actually become registered try using the
Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS). (Don't government search engines get cute names?)

Other sites of interest while doing my research:

• Adobe Systems Incorporated Permissions and Trademark Guidelines

• General Microsoft Trademark Guidelines