The following stories were the biggest news events of the preceding week, according to the users of the Drudge Retort.

Many readers, I'm sure, are aware of the use of RFID tags in such diverse applications as inventory control, as replacements for product bar codes, and as part of payment and identification credentials. I've written here before about some of the security issues connected to the use of these devices. Many of these issues arise because typical RFID tags are, in fact, more or less a functional substitute for a bar code or magnetic strip label.

Contagion is the name of a new action-thriller movie about a global outbreak of a deadly viral disease. Slated to be released in 2011, it is directed by Steven Soderbergh and stars Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Lawrence Fishburne. That's certainly an outstanding crew, but will they get the science right?

The reform that is only a few decades overdue is still being fought against by some, for reasons mostly to do with the coming election and lobbying money. The legislators care deeply about those two things, and when they are in a giving mood, they care about their non-wealthy constituents. With a House Bill passed, and a Bill in the Senate passed as well, you might have the crazy idea that some sort of progress was being made. How little you understand how special interests can kill the best ideas in committee.

Linus' Law explains a lot. It explains why bugs in proprietary software products can languish for years (too few eyeballs!). It provides a reason to believe that, over time, entries on Wikipedia can converge toward accuracy. And, apparently, it's going to help Harvard Law prof (and cyberlaw giant) Jonathan Zittrain go home from the hospital faster.

Alice in Wonderland is not really a film adaptation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Nor would I really call it a sequel to the events of the original adventures in Wonderland. Combining elements, characters, and material from both Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, this film adaptation of Alice's enchanting adventure takes place years after she fell down the rabbit hole.

What is your present circumstance? Are you ready to admit to the one who brought all these elements into play so that you could experience yourself in this situation? This is the powerful first step to experiencing yourself as the powerful creator that you are.

I've been involved with a few initiatives seeking to promote wide access to scholarly articles, but have not spent as much time thinking about what open access means when applied to the raw materials of law: judicial briefs, caselaw, statutes, Congressional reports and hearings, executive regulations, grants, audits, and so on. This all changed on Wednesday, when Carl Malamud and Tom Bruce came up to the Yale Information Society Project during the afternoon to discuss the law.gov movement, and I joined Carl and Helen Nissenbaum of NYU for a panel on law.gov that same evening at New York Law School.

Today, March 14, is one of the days that is sometimes celebrated as "Pi Day", in honor of the best-known irrational and transcendental number, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, usually written as the Greek letter pi.

Editor's Note: The following column by former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura was removed by Huffington Post after it was published March 9 and replaced with a note that states the site "prohibits the promotion and promulgation of conspiracy theories -- including those about 9/11."

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