I’m a little ambivalent about the first Harry Potter movie. On one hand, I’m a little terrified that the movie will do terrible injustices to the books, which I loved; on the other hand, I’m a little kid inside, and can’t wait to sit and see all the people come to life on a movie screen (check out teaser B). November 16th isn’t that far away…

Awesome: Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson’s incredible anti-Microsoft bias has now been officially recognized by the U.S. justice system. Among many other things, the Appeals Court ruling (warning: PDF) states that Jackson screwed up in not allowing Microsoft an evidentiary hearing during the phase of the trial which resulted in the breakup decree, and it explicitly states that his breakup ruling can be vacated solely based on the fact that Jackson provides no relevant explanation as to why the breakup would serve its purported legal purpose. Of course, my two favorite quotes from the ruling is are in section VI, “Judicial Misconduct” (which is a must-read for people who defended Jackson’s conduct during the trial):

All indications are that the District Judge violated each of these [four] ethical precepts by talking about the case with reporters. The violations were deliberate, repeated, egregious, and flagrant. The only serious question is what consequences should follow.

Rather than manifesting neutrality and impartiality, the reports of the interviews with the District Judge convey the impression of a judge posturing for posterity, trying to please the reporters with colorful analogies and observations bound to wind up in the stories they write. Members of the public may reasonably question whether the District Judge ’s desire for press coverage influenced his judgments, indeed whether a publicity-seeking judge might consciously or subconsciously seek the publicity-maximizing outcome.

And now, for more Memento stuff: it appears to have been the movie’s official day on the online mags yesterday, with both Salon and Slate weighing in on the matter. (Warning: the Salon link is one giant spoiler; the Slate one is less so, but still gives a lot away. Thanks to Nic for sending me the links to both.)