LIBEL AND SLANDER - SLANDER OF TITLE AS A PROTECTION AGAINST UNFAIR INTERFERENCE WITH SALE OF LITERARY WORK

In a slander of title action, the complaint alleged that defendant requested plaintiffs to write a motion picture scenario based on historical events, but after plaintiffs submitted the scenario, defendant rejected it. Thereafter defendant announced its intention, by filing a statement with a voluntary association of motion picture producers, to produce a picture based on the same plot as that contained in plaintiffs\u27 scenario. As a result, plaintiffs were unable to sell their scenario to any other producer. Held, that the complaint was insufficient in the absence of an allegation of special damages. Carrol v. Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc., (D. C. N. Y. 1937) 20 F. Supp. 405

MORTGAGES - FORECLOSURE SALE - POSSIBILITY OF SETTING ASIDE SALE BECAUSE OF PROBABLE HIGHER BID

A trust deed secured a loan of $85,000. The mortgage was foreclosed, the trustee authorized to bid at the sale, and an upset price of$12,500 fixed. A stranger made a higher bid than the trustee, and the property was sold to him for $40,100. The trustee now seeks a resale, offering evidence to show that the property could bring$50,000 to $60,000 if the trustee bought it, remodeled the building, and had time to find a suitable purchaser. There was no question of a deficiency decree. Held, that the lower court erred in refusing to confirm the original sale. A. J. Straus Paying Agency, Inc. v. Jensen, (Wis. 1938) 277 N. W. 105

Urban Form and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The research reported in this dissertation contains three complementary and overlapping parts: One, “findings”: It assesses the factors of urban morphology that contribute to increased rates of greenhouse gas emissions per capita, and the ways they interact. It finds a significant but underrepresented set of factors, distinct from but relating the factors at the individual building scale and the scale of regional transportation systems. Two, “strategies”: It assesses the methodologies by which such findings might be put to use in identifying and achieving reductions through changes in urban design, and proposes new strategies to do so using innovative forms of design decision support tools. Three, “design decision support tools”: It then proposes a specific new technology, namely a new class of open-source scenario-modelling tool, embodied in new prototype software. The tool utilizes a new kind of “federated” web-based wiki technology incorporating design pattern languages, which was developed in collaboration with the software engineer and wiki inventor Ward Cunningham. As part of this research, it has been necessary to examine fundamental methodological questions, and to account for limitations of current data as well as current significant gaps in research. In the process, this research has made a modest contribution to the state of knowledge about additional research needed. For me, this work has also highlighted the need for urgent and effective reforms to current “business as usual” practices. The need is all the more urgent given unprecedented rates of urbanisation – much of it sprawling and resource-inefficient – taking place in many parts of the world today

TORTS - UNAUTHORIZED PUBLICATION OF PHOTOGRAPH - INVASION OF RIGHT OF PRIVACY

Defendant newspaper published an advertisement containing a picture of plaintiff, a radio artist, in a bathing suit, under the mistaken belief that it was a picture of a member of a vaudeville troupe whose name appeared in the advertisement, and who was described as an exotic red-haired Venus who endorsed a certain brand of whole-wheat bread as a means of keeping that sylph-like figure. Plaintiff alleged that the vaudeville act was a sensual performance or sex parade and was composed of the cheapest class of chorus girls. Held, that the advertisement was an invasion of plaintiff\u27s right of privacy but was not ground for an action for libel. In the absence of proof of special damages however, only nominal damages could be recovered on the first cause of action. Flake v. Greensboro News Co., 212 N. C. 780, 195 S. E. 55 (1938)

TRUSTS - POWER OF TRUSTEE TO INVEST BY SAVINGS DEPOSIT

The guardian of an incompetent veteran placed trust funds in his hands in the savings department of a trust company. The trust company was closed by order of the state bank commissioner on March 4, 1933, and failed to reopen. Held, the guardian is not chargeable with the loss, this being a proper investment of the funds. Hines v. Ayotte, (Me. 1937) 189 A. 835

WILLS - ATTESTATION - ORDER OF SIGNING IN EXECUTION OF WILLS

Testator procured A and B to witness his will. Both signed in the blank spaces provided for that purpose, but the testator had not yet signed. Four days later testator again brought the will to A and B, stating that he wished to sign it in their presence. Both witnesses recognized the paper as the one to which they had previously affixed their signatures, and recognized their signatures thereon. Testator signed in their presence, and nothing further was done. Held, the will was validly executed. Bloechle v. Davis, 132 Ohio St. 415, 8 N. E. (2d) 247 (1937)

Patterns of Growth: Operationalizing Alexander's "Web Way of Thinking"

Christopher Alexander was often characterized - and sometimes seemed to characterize himself - as "sui generis," a radical and perhaps even eccentric thinker on architecture, technology, culture, and nature. That perception in turn has led many to dismiss Alexander's work as too idiosyncratic to be operationalized in the pragmatic world of planning and building. Here we show, however, that Alexander's core ideas have strong parallels in contemporary network science, mathematics, physics, and philosophy, and in the pragmatic world of technological design (including computer software). We highlight a remaining gap in translating Alexander's work into practical tools and strategies for implementation - a gap that is tantalizingly near to being bridged

Urban Form and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The research reported in this dissertation contains three complementary and overlapping parts: One, “findings”: It assesses the factors of urban morphology that contribute to increased rates of greenhouse gas emissions per capita, and the ways they interact. It finds a significant but underrepresented set of factors, distinct from but relating the factors at the individual building scale and the scale of regional transportation systems. Two, “strategies”: It assesses the methodologies by which such findings might be put to use in identifying and achieving reductions through changes in urban design, and proposes new strategies to do so using innovative forms of design decision support tools. Three, “design decision support tools”: It then proposes a specific new technology, namely a new class of open-source scenario-modelling tool, embodied in new prototype software. The tool utilizes a new kind of “federated” web-based wiki technology incorporating design pattern languages, which was developed in collaboration with the software engineer and wiki inventor Ward Cunningham. As part of this research, it has been necessary to examine fundamental methodological questions, and to account for limitations of current data as well as current significant gaps in research. In the process, this research has made a modest contribution to the state of knowledge about additional research needed. For me, this work has also highlighted the need for urgent and effective reforms to current “business as usual” practices. The need is all the more urgent given unprecedented rates of urbanisation – much of it sprawling and resource-inefficient – taking place in many parts of the world today