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Patent and Piracy

"Well did you bring enough to share?"

I read about you. At least, I could have read about you. After reading your bio on Facebook, I wandered to Wikipedia to read about everything you said you were interested in. I checked your friends, I looked at their pictures, viewed their links, read their resumes, met their family too. I didn’t pay for that information, you told me what to look up. I didn’t pay for the encyclopedia I used either. Some massive community joined in league and decided to create a repository of all things. I’m not even paying for the software I’m using. It’s “people’s software” and if everyone made it, who owns it? No one. Who owns the information? The list of friends? Everyone does. Mass collaboration changes everything. Humanity loves to connect with itself and technology gives it power to extend beyond any barrier that has kept it unconnected in the past. This changes how we act, who we’re friends with, everything changes. Since technology has allowed us to interact on such a broad scale, so many people have joined the conversation—and project.Wikinomics, a book about mass collaboration, describes in fantastic detail the benefits and potential harms of having a conversation this big.

Generations today are MUCH different than the generations in the near past. We grew up with video games and computers—they are a way of life. We are the Net-Generation. We have made the world flat. Many of us don’t know how we got here. It’s just always been how things are. Children are more likely to recognize the red-angry-bird than Jesus. This is because everyone has helped to make information available. The Apache server, SQL data base, Linux, PHP (sometimes referred to as “LAMP”) dropped so many barriers that kept people from join conversations and projects and set a new precedence for collaboration. And the result? Google, Facebook, AOL, eBay, MySpace, LinkedIn, pretty much, everything that connects people to people or people to information, is a result of humanity wanting to connect and share. This new lifestyle has positives and negatives—security sacrificed for connectivity, everyone is now more transparent and exposed than ever—the progress that came; however far outweighed the bad.

"Well did you bring enough to share?"

I read about you. At least, I could have read about you. After reading your bio on Facebook, I wandered to Wikipedia to read about everything you said you were interested in. I checked your friends, I looked at their pictures, viewed their links, read their resumes, met their family too. I didn’t pay for that information, you told me what to look up. I didn’t pay for the encyclopedia I used either. Some massive community joined in league and decided to create a repository of all things. I’m not even paying for the software I’m using. It’s “people’s software” and if everyone made it, who owns it? No one. Who owns the information? The list of friends? Everyone does. Mass collaboration changes everything. Humanity loves to connect with itself and technology gives it power to extend beyond any barrier that has kept it unconnected in the past. This changes how we act, who we’re friends with, everything changes. Since technology has allowed us to interact on such a broad scale, so many people have joined the conversation—and project.Wikinomics, a book about mass collaboration, describes in fantastic detail the benefits and potential harms of having a conversation this big.

Generations today are MUCH different than the generations in the near past. We grew up with video games and computers—they are a way of life. We are the Net-Generation. We have made the world flat. Many of us don’t know how we got here. It’s just always been how things are. Children are more likely to recognize the red-angry-bird than Jesus. This is because everyone has helped to make information available. The Apache server, SQL data base, Linux, PHP (sometimes referred to as “LAMP”) dropped so many barriers that kept people from join conversations and projects and set a new precedence for collaboration. And the result? Google, Facebook, AOL, eBay, MySpace, LinkedIn, pretty much, everything that connects people to people or people to information, is a result of humanity wanting to connect and share. This new lifestyle has positives and negatives—security sacrificed for connectivity, everyone is now more transparent and exposed than ever—the progress that came; however far outweighed the bad.

Follow up on last post

If you like short stories and agree with my last post, here is an awesome piece by Ray Bradbury, an American writer, written in 1952. READ IT!

Let me stop you right there...you spent MONEY on that?

People spend real money to buy fake money! Not only that, but they waste time that they could have spent making money, to use whatever they bought with the fake money! As much as I love technology, I hate it when technology tries to get the best of me. Game theory is a great example. There are a lot of aspects to it, but essentially, game theory is used to get users to feel a need to either remain somewhere or do something. Prime examples are second life, Farmville, mafia wars, the Sims, etc. Zynga is the biggest company out there that creates apps for Facebook, and it blows my mind that the majority of its revenue comes from an online economy. As in people buy gold (or whatever) within a game using real money. I just find it so sad (borderline pathetic) when people turn their potential off and start investing in unproductivity. To reference and earlier post, I feel that unproductivity is the greatest threat that the internet has to offer. If we are not willing to take a step back and see technology (particularly the internet) for what it really is, as a tool to help us accomplish, then we are doomed as a society. As the wise man tells us: “do not spend money on that which is of no worth.”

Wait, where are all the chicks?

Every so often, my wife visits me on campus. She usually tracks me down in a lab and proceeds to tell me about some weirdo she saw on her way in. In each class I have taken, there has never been less than a five-to-one ratio of guys to girls. As I've thought about causes, my explanations are either the girls just don’t like being around such weird guys; or, the guys are weird because there’s such little feminine presence. After more study, I was introduced to some more practical, better thought out ideas. So I conclude that there is a stigma of ‘nerdiness’ attached to the Computer Science major. After telling people my major, girls will sometimes politely attempt to explain their mental image that may look something like this. Granted, it's largely speculation, but I believe that current culture plays a huge part in why girls will more often choose nursing, biology, or even math, rather than Computer Science, and it will take even more time (and a few more issues of GQ) before society welcomes Computer Science as a smart major, socially .

The more they force me to do, the less I care to do it.

The founding fathers had great ideas, and it’s maddening to see those wholesome ideas abused. Granted, the founding fathers weren’t directly behind some things like copyright and patent laws, but the same idea holds that good, virtuous principles were made into helpful laws and now we see them benefit mostly the behemoths , and hurt the common-folk. The fact that someone can file for a patent, with no intention of ever actually creating anything makes me crazy. I knew someone who (true story) owned a failing tech business and out of desperation, rallied his employees together to brainstorm inventions or ideas that he could patent, then get money from lawsuits for infringement. I hate to follow the typical cliché of Robin Hood, if there is an apparent abuse of power by leadership, I have no qualms disregarding their expectations. The more I hear about the abuse of power by large companies, especially in the media industry, the less inclined I am to watch/listen to their content by paying for it myself. Patent law and copy right were designed to protect the innovator; however, those same laws have turned around to damn inventors, and line the pockets of the already rich. Something needs to change.

Don't bar the windows and pass around the keys

It’s amazing how after decades of the internet being around, there is still no one grand way to keep information safe. People are the single greatest threat to information security. Because of this, no one can ever guarantee with 100% certainty that information is safe. I bring up past decades because after reading The Cuckoo’s Egg by Clifford Stoll, a book based on hacking in the late 80’s and early 90’s, I saw that even back then, it was people that allowed information leaks. When you think of a stereo typical hacker, you might envision the cast from Sneakers, Hugh Jackman, or a much younger, more innocent Angelina Jolie. You might think of the people who seem to flawlessly navigate their way past firewalls, systems networks, and encryption. Based on the true account of Cliff Stoll—a Systems Manager from Berkley in 1989—and even up to news on current events, this was rarely the case. I’ve heard it called the “sticky note” problem. People use, or are assigned, strange passwords and usernames and in order to remember them, they put a sticky note next to the computer. In the case of Cliff Stoll, he witnessed people in his system saving their passwords in their files or sending them in emails. In other words, the key to a secure place was being stored in a relatively public place. Finding these keys is by far the easiest and most common way for hackers to access protected.

We are all caught in the balance between security and convenience. I hate, for example, that Chase makes me type in my password every time I want to check my account balance on my phone. However, that keeps my information safe from anyone stealing my phone and transferring money to their account. Human nature has changed a whole lot slower than technology has since 1989. We can use all the firewalls and extra security measures we want, but ultimately, it will be human error that will likely overthrow efforts to protect data. Using common passwords, storing passwords, sharing passwords, or using the same password for banking as you do for your shared wireless, are just some of the examples of through thoughtlessness, malicious people gain access to places they shouldn’t. Before you invest in new software or systems to protect data, make sure that you and whoever you want to have access are as careful about behavior and practices as they are with their homes; i.e., don’t lock the door and leave the keys on the porch.

The Master Crowd Sourcer

I have to say it: I have little to no interest in my heritage. I think in my lines I have some Scottish and British kings, and I’m pretty sure that Shakespeare is in there somewhere. Undoubtedly there are also some rapists and murderers too. Both of these define who I am less than what I ate for breakfast. Were it not for the eternal perspective that family history has, I personally would have no incentive to be a part of it except for one thing. Crowd sourcing. Crowd sourcing fascinates me. In relation to family history, God has dropped the spirit of Elijah on the earth and hoards of people have joined the entirely voluntary effort of researching their family history. God himself sees the value of crowd sourcing and was doing it before it was cool. (Before even the discovery of electricity, believe it or not). Crowd sourcing is the only way to tackle massive projects like linking all of humanity together. It’s just so interesting how something so seemingly a part of human nature is actually a seed that has been placed there by God.

Honey Crisps are the only Apple worth Buying

Shortly after the beginning of the smart phone, Apple and Google have become strong opposing forces. Recently however, in an un-technological, yet important way, Apple pulled ahead. A recent study shows that Apple is now the US’s most likeable company, surpassing Google. The irony is mind-blowing because though everyone admired Jobs, few people close to him would call him a “nice guy”. Though I never knew him, the first few chapters of his biography give me a similar perspective. Apple’s vision and leadership has put itself in the forefront of the mobile device market. My question is, if everyone is jumping on the apple bandwagon, doesn’t that undo their whole idea of being the underdog, or the “anti-mainstream”? What will all those hipsters do when everyone else has an iPhone? It may have emotional appeal, social responsibility, a great environment, but I just don’t believe in it enough to join the exodus. It has catchy slogans, and is a crowd pleaser, but I for one, will never be found a mactavist.

Source:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/apple/study-apple-beats-google-as-best-liked-company-in-the-us/

Stop Overboard Power Acts

A new bill is in the stages of becoming a law. Here are some hints about what it is. The acronym is SOPA, and it deals with the internet and censorship. No, it does not stand for “Stop Online Porn Act”. SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) are new bills that have been pressed largely by the entertainment industry in effort to censor the internet with strict regulation and harsh punishment for copyright infringement. When I hear that the government is actually allowing these proposals to be debated, I think “oh great, turns our George Orwell was right … only 28 years off”, but I quickly get encouraged by the vast number of people who were willing to take action and do what they could to keep these bills from passing. Reddit was the first to go on strike and their actions created a social EMP. Soon after, hundreds if not thousands of websites went dark out of protest.

The web started out as a way to connect people to information. Around the turn of the century, it really became a way to connect people. Now, it’s almost not even a connection, but rather a venue that hosts a community. I am so happy to hear about members of this community taking their social responsibility so seriously! Granted, every community appreciates a police force, but NO community likes a curfew under martial law with without due process. Granted, Hollywood is losing hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars a year because of piracy, but a bill like this would create losses in the billions for internet companies. The bad FAR outweighs the good. The internet must be able to steer its own course. Censorship is a slippery slope and we must keep it out of our community.

Sources:

Fight For the Future

Cool and creative anti-SOPA blackout messages – Internet protest in action

Growing Technology: helpful and harmful

Seeing growth in technology is thrilling, but it has to be watched closely –I said “it”, referring to technology, but that wouldn’t be quite right because we more so need to watch ourselves. At the same time that technology makes possible the exchange of busy work for free time, it also has a nefarious side. I could spend this time talking about the evils of internet content, with pornography, stalkers, hackers, etc…. but I see the greatest threat that technology (particularly the internet) poses to modern society as its ability to pirate productivity, replacing it with idleness.

Charles Wheelan, in his book Naked Economics uses the term “human capital” to describe “the sum total of the skills embodied within an individual: education, intelligence, charisma, creativity, work experience, entrepreneurial vigor, even the ability to throw a baseball fast.” Just as a paint job makes a car more valuable, learning a new skill increases one’s “human capital”. With that in mind, I created a list that lays out sites that I have found emulate the best of what the internet has to offer. These are sites that help to increase “human capital” and exchange back idleness for productivity.
In contrast, there are types of websites that invest exorbitant amounts of money to find out how to keep you on their website longer, and more often. Don’t give in!
Technology can be an accelerator of good or poor behavior. It has advantages and disadvantages and it is our responsibility to treat it with respect and unleash only its positive aspects.

Positive websites:

• The Kahn Academy
watch tutorials on just about any subject academia has to offer

• Lynda.com
watch tutorials on how to use software, languages, etc

• Instructables
the “how-to” repository of the internet

• WolfRamAlpha
the best online calculator, and a great teacher of math and science topics

• Mint
a great, easy and FREE way to keep track of your money

• Wikipedia
Formally a joke of an encyclopedia for its “openness” but now the most accurate and comprehensive encyclopedia in the world, ever

• iFixIt
the do-it-yourself repair manual (a wiki)

• Open Course Ware
Started by MIT, take FREE MIT classes from anywhere on a variety of topics from Engineering to Management.

Sites that quickly suck any sort of productivity include (but not limited to):
• Gaming sites
• Video Sites
• RSS Feeds
• Social media/networking sites
• Pornography
• Shopping Sites