Microsoft Xbox Live censors "the GAYERgamer"

Bigotry is never acceptable, whether it is against some ones gender, sexual orientation, race, religion or ethnicity. Tech fields have been predominately male for decades. Luckily, that is changing. Unfortunately, homophobia seems to be OK.

Xbox Live banned the name "the GAYERgamer". When the player tried to log on to his account, he was told that he would need a new moniker since his had been banned. Pursuing the matter further, the player found that the supervisor a Xbox Live didn't find the name offensive but apparently enough other gamers found it offensive for Xbox to ban it.

Gaming on line is a world in which people adopt different characters and in some sense personalities to play. Men adopt women avatars, women adopt male avatars, and no one knows or cares. Apparently, adopting a player name that implies or states this players sexual orientation is a no no.

Even in fantasy worlds where warriors, sorcerers, amazons, witches, warlocks, cartoon men, and demons exist, a "gay" character even if only by name, is not allowed. Even in fantasy land some forms of reality are still considered too extreme to be acceptable.

The fact that Microsoft bought into this homophobic pressure is outrageous. To let a vocal cabal of homophobes control the game is absurd. Unfortunately, that is what Microsoft bought into.

Who's next.

Easy Volunteering

One way of turning any unused computer resources in your office into productive volunteerism is by joining World Community Grid(WCG) and signing on to one of their projects. WCG uses distributive or grid computing. They spread research project analysis across the internet to volunteer computers. The computers process the "work units" whenever the computers are on and idle, say lunch time. Should your computers stay on 24 hours, the hours that the computers are not being used by staff are then turned over to processing the projects. WCG has close oversight of the software used and the work units downloaded so that volunteer computers are never open to viruses through the program. They keep statistics of the amount of time your computers were used for various projects, the number of results returned and "points" accumulated. You can even create law firm teams. Grid computing through WCG adds new meaning to Office Volunteer....

COLLABORATIVE LAW BY ANY OTHER NAME.....

Collaborative law is becoming the "new innovation" in the legal profession. Many attorneys are taking the training and then advertising as collaborative attorneys but they are leaving out one of the crucial elements of the process - The Four Way Agreement. This agreement is signed at the initial meeting of the parties and their attorneys. The parties and the attorneys sign the agreement stating that all information necessary to the process will be put on the table. The parties and attorneys will all be working towards a "win-win" agreement between the parties and should the process fail, the parties will need to find new attorneys for litigation. The final piece is very important because without it, attorneys remain in the same old mindset. All of us have been trained to be adversarial and competitive. Collaboration is not something that we learned in law school. We also have learned to look as information as a commodity to be hidden away or used sparingly depending on the requirements of the case. We like to keep an "ace up the sleeve" in case our client needs it for negotiation purposes.
The obligation to withdraw from a case if the parties litigate is anathema to many attorneys. However, without this agreement, the process won't work. This one piece commits the attorneys to the process as thoroughly as the clients. It is in every one's best interest to work hard toward solutions even during the most difficult of sessions. Attorneys become partners in the process and not adversaries creating more animosity between the parties. This is not to say that the attorneys do not zealously represent their respective clients. No this means that zealously representing your client means putting all the information in the open and working with the other side as well as your client to arrive at a great solution for both parties. This is stated in the agreement as the goal of both parties and so is not a conflict.
Attorneys who want to do true collaborative law, have to be willing to give up the courtroom option. They have to be willing to walk away if necessary in order to truly create the type of mindset and environment that is required for collaboration to really work. Saying that you are doing "collaborative law" while keeping the door open for litigation, is the same as claiming to be a dress designer without the ability to draw or sew. Something major is missing.

WHY I DECIDED TO GO INTO COLLABORATIVE LAW

I was told once that the opposing party in one of my cases wasn't afraid of the sheriff or the judge, but he was sure afraid of me. As the attorney who prosecuted child support enforcement cases every week for nine years, there was a time when I would have taken that as a compliment. However, the constant negativity and conflict eventually wore me out. It seemed that the Child Support clients were rarely happy, the other side was never happy. There were faces that I saw in court month after month and year after year. I prosecuted fathers and mothers for nonpayment of child support and before I left that job, I was putting their children under orders and prosecuting them for nonpayment. It appeared that the system was not working. what I saw happening, were people on both sides caught in a fight over money as a form of ongoing vengeance. The court battle over child support ignored the fact that the "fight" was destroying their lives and teaching all the wrong lessons to their children.
I left that job five years ago to enter private practice. I hoped that I could affect the outcomes of my clients more positively. What I found was that once we engaged in litigation, the anger and animosity between the parties only increased. If there were children involved, they were forgotten in battle to get "even". Winning and hurting the other person became the central focus. The damage that their fighting was doing to the children was, of course, blamed on the other parent.
I was introduced to Collaborative Law two years ago. I loved the idea from the very beginning. The main premise behind collaborative law is that you will create a "win-win" agreement for all parties involved. Each party has their own attorney, and all parties (including attorneys) sign a four-way agreement. This agreement is the key to the entire process. Essentially, all parties agree to share all information, split the cost of all necessary experts and avoid litigation. Should the case not settle, and the parties decide to litigate, then they will have to get new attorneys. This is the crucial part of the agreement. This means that the attorneys involved are as committed to the process as their clients.
The attorneys are not able to pull out the old, "I'll see you in court!" response when the situation appears to reach impasse. Instead the attorneys are as eager to break the impasse and move forward as the clients. Various techniques are employed by the attorneys to help the parties arrive at creative solutions. The parties are the ones who will be living with the final agreement and they are the ones who are most important in creating it. The attorneys help move the process along by providing legal counsel and documents as needed. This differs from mediation because the attorneys are able to provide the legal components that are often missing in the mediation process.
I have quit litigation to work full time in collaborative law and mediation. Win-win solutions for my clients are much better than the old battles in court where one side seemed to be the winner and the other side the loser. What I found was that both sides were frequently the losers because of the ongoing court appearances and costs. Their children were the losers because their parents animosity towards each other was spilling over onto them. I was a loser because the negativity and fighting was creating physical, mental, and emotional stress that I would prefer to live without. Collaborative law is the only way to go if you prefer happy clients, happier children in the cases, and a happier you.