I found this recent news item over on Computer World pretty amusing.

Excel error leaves Barclays with more Lehman assets than it bargained for

October 14, 2008 (Computerworld) A reformatting error in an Excel spreadsheet has cropped up in the largest bankruptcy case in U.S. history, prompting a legal motion by Barclays Capital Inc. to amend its deal to buy some of the assets of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

…

one of its first-year law associates had unknowingly added the contracts when reformatting a spreadsheet in Excel.

Going on to read the rest of the article, it seems the real error here was that someone was in a hurry and didn’t pay enough attention to what he was doing. He was trying to export contents of Excel to a PDF.

However, contracts that had been marked as “hidden” in the spreadsheet when it was received by the law firm were added to the purchase offer during the reformatting process, according to the motion. Those contracts weren’t supposed to be part of the deal; they also were marked with an “N” for “No” in the original version of the spreadsheet, Cleary Gottlieb said in the motion.

That doesn’t seem like a “reformatting” error to me. That seems like an ID1OT error. We all do dumb things when we’re rushing to complete a task. That’s why I try very hard NOT to be in a hurry. It just leads to screw-ups. In this poor guy’s case, though, his mistake was very costly to both him and his company.

I have made some mistakes when rushing that have taught me the extreme value of simply taking that extra time to proof-read, and to breathe. I’ve used the wrong set of primary keys to update a database. I’ve forgotten a very crucial piece of a where clause. These mistakes have taught me to step back, take a little extra time, and don’t stress, or I might be spending a lot MORE time cleaning up my mess.

What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made when you’re trying to rush to complete a task? What did it teach you? Did you take responsibility, or try to blame the tools you used? How did it work out for you?

AP has posted an article, A new day for dogs: Pa. law targets puppy mills, detailing the new law meant to stop the horrors of unscrupulous commercial dog breeding (puppy mills).

From the article:

“The new law imposes strict standards on commercial kennels, including at least twice-a-year veterinary exams, larger cages and exercise requirements.”

I applaud their efforts, and I hope Iowa and the other puppy mill states follow suit with similar laws.

My worry is that despite the laws, unscrupulous commercial kennels will not change their ways. Let’s face it, it costs a lot more money to provide veterinary care, space, good food, exercise, and a clean environment for a large number of dogs. You have to pay more vet bills, and you have to pay more employees. You have to pay for lighting, air conditioning, and heating for the kennels. It’s going to cost a kennel money to bring up their care standard. Will the cost of violating the law be higher than the cost of complying with it?

Fines only punish a business if the amount they have to pay is greater than the amount they would pay for complying. A true punishment would be a 3 strikes variety — after 3 violations, they lose their license. PERMANENTLY. The article didn’t mention what the punishment is for violations, but if it’s the usual fines, it’s not going to be harsh enough.

Also, where will they get the people to enforce the law? Will they have twice yearly inspections of every licensed kennel in the state? All (according to the article) 2600 of them? There are around 260 working days in the year for a typical Monday-Friday job. How could they possibly manage that many inspections? On whose tax dollar? No, I’m betting they will rely heavily on complaints and required paperwork submissions. Any idiot can hire an unethical veterinarian who is short on cash to that for them.

Having the law is certainly a step forward, but puppy mills will never cease to exist until people stop buying their puppies. Please support your local ethical breeder. Don’t buy a dog from a pet store. Your dog will live for 8, 10, even 15 years or more. You don’t want a ton of health and behavioral problems to have to contend with. Choose your breeder carefully.

What do you think? Will the new law make any difference? Is it worth taxpayer cash to stop puppymills, or should we concentrate on educating the public and let the free market put an end to it?  Share your thoughts in the comments.

MSNBC posted this story today (originally from AP, I believe).

From the article:

“SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge has kept in place a temporary prohibition on RealNetworks Inc.’s distribution of software that lets consumers copy and store DVD movies on their personal computers and portable hard drives.”

Apparently, the judge must not surf the internet very often, or he or she would know that there is ALREADY software available that copies movies from DVDs to your hard drive. Xilisoft DVD Ripper, DVD Rip, and AOA DVD Ripper come to mind. There are more, of course.

I’m pretty peeved that I have to resort to “illegal” software to rip my OWN DVDS to my computer.

“The movie studios contend that the software allows pirating. RealNetwork argues it is legal.”

Dear studios,

Newsflash!!! - if I wanted to pirate your videos, I already have software to do so. Stop being morons so I can get software that works better to copy movies I legally own so I can watch them anywhere I wish on my laptop without having to tote 16 DVDs with me on vacation. Welcome to the year 2008. Please join us. Thanks.

A good news tidbit: Angel the pit bull saves a litter of kittens

Linked article has darling pictures of the kitties and the pittie that saved them. Yay for Angel!

A story has been making the rounds about a man who hit and killed a dog that bolted into the road. The man is proceeding to sue the family for damages. The family, of course, is counter-suing.

I believe events such as animals and children doing unpredictable things that cause damage are called accidents. I also believe there is this lovely new invention called “insurance“. You pay a company money, and when an accident happens, they pay for damages. Amazing!

We as pet owners can try to control and contain our animals to the best of our abilities, but accidents DO happen. Compassion means not suing people over accidents. If you disagree, perhaps you need to reacquaint yourself with the term, as you seem to have it mixed up with greedy bastard. Compassion means wanting to help. Suing, well, just not that helpful, I’m afraid.
I am sickened by the notion of a grieving family being sued by the very man who killed their pet. Troglodytes with the compassion of a wild hyena might agree with him, but I’m afraid I’ll have to beg to disagree.

This lawsuit needs thrown out of court, and this guy’s insurance company should pony up for a new heart and soul for the man while they’re repairing his car.

Think I’m right on? Think I’m an complete idiot? Tell me in the comments.