First, a column that neatly sums up my reaction to the controversies on deep linking and such. My additional remarks: Get over it, schmucks. You can't make it illegal to stop fast-forwarding through commercials, or linking to pages within a site. That's just stupid, and it shows you have no understanding of (1) the medium, and (2) the user. Duh.

Second, my boss is exceedingly pregnant. Like, due-next-week pregnant. Which brought on the following discussion with Andy, who had asked how long the Boss would be in the office:

andydehnart: so she's going to keep working until the little bugger comes out?
sjerslix: Pretty much, yeah
sjerslix: Terrifying, isn't it?
andydehnart: mm hmm
andydehnart: I keep thinking noises coming from her office
andydehnart: mean a baby's a'comin'
sjerslix: Remember to bring your catcher's mitt to work -- we might need it.
andydehnart: shit
sjerslix: Boil water!
andydehnart: heh
sjerslix: Why do they always boil water? I think it's just to get people out of the way
andydehnart: maybe
andydehnart: or for some nice coffee or tea
andydehnart: once it's all over
sjerslix: Yeah, but then wouldn't you be saying "Brew vodka!" or something?
sjerslix: I mean really -- a nice cuppa tea just ain't gonna cut it

The Boss has not chosen any of us to be her Lamaze coach, and the hospital she's using is less than a mile away, so I'm thinking we shouldn't have to worry to much about being present at the birth. If nothing else, we could stick her in the Aeron chair and roll her to the hospital before she popped.

But wait! There's more:

sjerslix: I think I may borrow this for my blog tonight -- you mind?
andydehnart: not at all
andydehnart: but: you must also put in this part of the conversation
andydehnart: and then discuss the use of IM conversations in blog posts
andydehnart: and whether or not that constitutes cheating

So there it is.

This shows a couple of things: (1) Unlike some people, I make sure my quotes are on the record before publishing them, and (2) Andy thinks about the ethics of blogging much more than I do.

I mean, cheating? Hell, when I say something even halfway witty, I'm going to pounce on it. I don't care whether it was in an IM conversation, a phone conversation, whatever. If something I think is amusing happened, I'm blogging it. How much time do you people think I have to come up with witty bon mots anyway? Jeez.

I do ask for permission before publication of other's words, definitely, or stories, most of the time. Sometimes a story just has to be shared. But if it's something seriously personal, I'll change names or hold off on telling until the information is no longer embargoed. For instance, I've known Laura and Jorge were pregnant for weeks, and was dying to say something about it, but I didn't. Why? Because I protect my sources.

See? Some of the journalism-school ethics crap did stick. Who knew?