Copyrighted MP3's

I recently read an article which I found to be one of the best articles that I have read on copyrighted items. It was entitled MP3’s Are Not the Devil. He really hits the nail on the head and talks about the different things that are going on with copyrighted items such as CD’s and DVD’s. The thing that I liked about the article is the fact that he does not deny the fact that there is a moral issue with copying CD’s and DVD’s, but he talks about who is really hurt by the issue. The people that are really hurt by copying CD’s and DVD’s are not the people who actually wrote them, but rather the big corporations that produce them, such as record companies. Artists are the ones that should be making all the money anyway, but because of record companies most artists don’t even get 20% of the record sales profits.

My thoughts are immediately turned to a band that I have recently become introduced to by my wife, The Format. The Format is an amazing inspiration as to how the music industry is going. After being introduced to The Format I went and saw one of their shows, it was an amazing show and I gained a whole bunch of appreciation for their music after seeing it live. Anyway, while at the show the lead singer had mentioned that their record label had recently dropped them because they apparently were not making enough money. The band decided to continue on and recorded a CD on their own label and then after a few months of selling it, put it up on their website so anyone could download it for free. The funny thing about it is that this record company who did not think that they were making enough money apparently did not realize that regardless of record sales, they were still producing quality work that their fans wanted to hear night after night in sell out shows, such as the one that I went to.

Bringing it back to the article that I read, I found, and completely agree with the fact that artists should be the ones who are being rewarded for their work, not the big companies who don’t really do anything. As with The Format, we can see that an artist can and will eventually still be able to make big money without the record companies, because fans will still pay to go see their shows and buy their merchandise.

Internet Safety

Internet Safety is something that is very important to talk about. The internet can be a very valuable tool. I use the internet daily in my school work, to communicate with people via e-mail, and to do research on items I am looking at purchasing. However, when using the internet it is very important that you know about ways to prevent bad things from happening to yourself. Every year more people are becoming victims of crime online such as identity theft, people are being stalked by others and finding out personal information. These things can all be prevented. One of the most important things about internet safety is making sure that you are aware of the different things that can harm you on the internet itself. Some of the dangers of the internet are talked about almost daily but some are still unknown by computer users. While many people have heard of viruses not many people know how easy it is to catch one and therefore don’t know how to prevent them.

One of the best ways to prevent catching a virus from happening is just simply by being careful where you go on the web. Often times, people will visit unsecure websites and get a virus just from visiting them. People are sometimes redirected to sites when they click on a link of a page that is secure and it takes them to an unsecure website. So, being careful where you go can save your computer from catching a virus. Another good way to prevent bad things from happening is by making sure you are not downloading anything that could potentially carry a virus. Often these come through e-mail and people open them up thinking that they are harmless. I think the best way to avoid this is by not opening anything unless you know who it is from. These are just a few of the things that have helped me as I have been using the internet. For more information you can always visit the internet safety wiki created by my school, which has lots of great information.

http://wiki.internetsafetypodcast.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

Open Source Programming

As a computer programmer I am always looking for new ways to help better the programming world and the way that my programs are developed. While reading the essay, “The Cathedral and the Bazaar” by Eric Raymond, his idea of letting others view a project before it is finished to help in debugging really opened my eyes to open source programming. I am not really a big Linux fan myself, but I do think that having an open source program that allows the whole world to contribute to the debugging process really speeds up the process of fixing problems in the code. Thousands of eyes looking at the code are much better than just having a couple of eyes looking at it.

The only real downside, and probably the reason that most programs are not done as open source projects, is that not as much money can be made. This, as a programmer, is kind of a problem as I am going to be trying to make a living creating projects. With that all aside, I still see that there is a huge benefit to having an open source project, and that the benefits outweigh the money issue for users, because there will be less bugs in the programs that they use. Overall, I think that open source programming definitely serves its purpose and benefits a lot of people.

The World is Flat

After reading through the book The World is Flat I have gained an interest as well as a better understanding of how much technology has really changed the business world today. I always thought of technology as mostly something that affected people in America, or people in other developed parts of the world like Europe, but I can see that it has really changed the whole world. We are all connected now in a very large network making business very easy to do all over the world, not just in your local neighborhood. Computers and the internet have made it very easy to get a product to the rest of the world. In fact most people will do research on products through the internet first before going to a store to buy it, or they will even purchase straight through the internet. It is pretty amazing to see the growth of internet businesses.

Another thing that was really brought up and talked about in the book was outsourcing and how that affects people in the United States. I have to say that I used to think that outsourcing our jobs was a really bad thing for workers in America, but I now have a more educated look at it. I have realized that most companies that outsource actually are just expanding there company, they are not really losing many employees by doing that. Also, it is interesting to think that because these jobs are going over seas it helps out the economy in these other countries making it possible for other people to buy more American products. By doing this it actually creates more jobs for Americans. I have a sister who works for Microsoft who actually travels over to China about every three months to train a team of programmers over there. While talking to her, she has nothing bad to say about the project over there and does not ever feel like there are too many jobs going overseas.

Overall, reading this book has really changed the way that I look at globalization and how much technology is changing the world we live in. Our world has definitely become smaller through technology and it is neat to see so many different countries doing business together so easily.

Robots

What an interesting society we live in today. Technology is changing the world, but how much? I discovered an article about robots being released in Japan to do various jobs. I found it very interesting to read about the different things that these robots do, they even have some already working as receptionists. Granted most of these robots are just like machines doing a simple task over and over again, but they are developing robots in Japan now that are going to work and act just like a human. These robots are even going to be able to react to different feelings as well. I think it is just amazing to see the different things going on with technology and when I read this article it really made me realize how far we have actually come already. So, next time you watch I-Robot or some other futuristic movie you might want to ask yourself, is it really that far off from where we are now?

Computer Science

What keeps people away from computer science? As a computer science major myself, this is a question that I have actually had for a long time, but I have not really taken the time to think it all out. First of all, I think that most men in general have an interest in technology and the latest and greatest in electronics, women on the other hand do not so much have that interest. This I suppose is one reason that women in general are not that interested in computer science. If you don’t have an interest in technology then you are probably not going to want to learn what goes on in the background of a computer program, or why the hardware does what it does. I do feel that a lot of women would enjoy the programming side of computer science quite a bit, as my wife has done some html code on her blog and really likes trying to figure out how she can make things look better on her page, but I don’t think that many women have that desire to get to the point to want to expand past something like that. This still does not cover the men though. Men on the other hand I believe really enjoy playing around with computers and trying to make them do different things. I feel however that society has turned the computer world into a world where only geeks and nerds can dwell. I feel that a lot of people are turned away from computer science and programming as careers because of this. Also, men feel like they have to be providers and make lots of money, thus they choose careers such as doctors and lawyers where they are certain that they will be able to do that. Even though recently computer scientists have started to make a lot of money, there is no certainty that you will do so. Also, programming is hard and time consuming, so it is pretty understandable that someone would steer away from that a little. So the question why people do not choose to take up a career in computer science? This I guess is still mostly a mystery to me, but at least now I have thought it through a little and can see that desire, time, and money can all play a role in deterring men or women from the field.

New Bank Technology

While reading over the current events on CNN.com I came across an interesting article. The article explains how some banks are going to be allowing customers to deposit checks from home using a scan of the check. This was very interesting to me, and my first thought, especially after reading The Cuckoo’s Egg (see previous post), was about the security of it. I would imagine that it will be very difficult to distinguish a bad check from a good one when you are looking at a scan. The article does mention that each bank will put in their own fraud protection for the service, as to what that entails, they are not clear. I think that it will be very interesting to see where and when this becomes available to everyone, and I hope that it works to benefit customers, and not screw up bank accounts.

The Cuckoo's Egg

I read the book The Cuckoo’s Egg, by Cliff Stoll. I had never read anything like this book before but it caught my attention right away. I think that one of the neat things about the book was the style in which the book was written. This is a true story about Cliff Stoll and the experience he had of tracking a hacker through a whole country and eventually around the world, but the characters are developed so well that they seem fictional. The book is written just like a story, but all the events that take place in it are true. While reading the book, I kept thinking about how amazing it is that we have come so far in our networking technology and the internet, however, we still use a lot of the same things that were used at the time of the events in the book. These events took place in 1986 when the internet was still new to the world, but things like dial up modems that were used to connect then are still used in some houses today. I also really got the understanding of how much can be done, good and bad, because of the internet. This hacker was able to use many different phone lines around the world to connect to a main computer at Berkley University which made him very difficult to trace. He was traced eventually back to Germany where he was caught and arrested. As I thought of all the different computers that he was able to access it made me realize what a great resource we really have in the internet and networking. If used properly, and not like this hacker, we really can connect and enjoy the whole world right at our finger tips. In the book we watch the hacker connect to hundreds of different computers, and access their information. It is amazing to think that anyone now can do the same thing. So, overall I guess what I am trying to say is, the computer and the internet are amazing things, but amazing things can be used in bad ways, but when used for good we can gain a great deal of insight to the world. I really enjoyed the book and I recommend it if you are interested in the computer world.

New Mexico and Video Games

I recently heard about a tax in New Mexico that is being put on people who play video games. I decided to look it up and found that it was true. New Mexico has decided to put a tax on video game equipment and televisions of 1% to help fund outdoor activities because they view the excessive use of this equipment as harmful. I cannot believe that people actually think this is fair to the people of the video game world. Although I am someone who does not play video games that often, I can even see that this is unfair. I understand if the state of New Mexico thinks that they need more money in their outdoor activities account and they need to find a way to do it, but singling out a select group who probably do not want anything to do with outdoor activities is wrong. You would never see a tax put on someone who buys a basketball that goes to support video game production, so why would it even be considered to go the other way. I feel that the issue with kids playing too many video games stems from the home and the government does not need to get involved. If a child has no interest in sports or outdoor life, then the parent is responsible to provide another way for the child to get exercise. It seems like the solution the government is proposing isn’t solving the supposed problem. They generalized a stereotype of the typical video-gamer to the whole state and are now making every citizen of the state pay even though they may be active, healthy, contributing members of society who happen to play games.

Data Collection

I can recall some of the many different ways we stored data in past. The first way data was stored was in books. Even hundreds of years ago they stored information in books, for example the Bible. It is more amazing to see how far we have come in the last little while. I can remember books but it is hard for me to remember back to the time when we would store typed up documents on a floppy disk, whether it was an 8, 5 ¼, or a 3 ½ inch disk. They were smaller than books, but either way, they didn’t store much information. Then the CD came into the picture where we could store thousands of pages of information on one tiny little disk. After the CD came DVDs and we’ve moved even further to Blu-ray disks and HD-DVDs which can store more information on one disk than could fit in millions of books. I just think it is incredible what a difference technology has made in the way and the amount of information we can store.

Communication Now!

Again, I am choosing to talk about technology and the way it has impacted our world. I recently read some articles produced by my church explaining the different ways technology has changed our church. The thing that really caught my attention was just the way that communication has changed so drastically. We went from a world where everyone would get information by word of mouth, to the printed word, to radio, to television, and now to the internet. It is amazing to see the changes in communication and how great it is that we can have information in front of us at any moment. Whether it is just the weather, or a late breaking story that Heath Ledger died, the thing is that we can get this information quickly and easily. As for my church, this way of communication has become a great resource and makes it easy for people in different corners of the world to know what the leaders of the church are saying. Sometimes, especially when I think back to how things were before, I think that we just take for granted that we are able to know anything quickly because we have had such great technology for most of our recent lives. It really has had an impact on every aspect of our communication.

Style In Writing

In writing this blog I feel it is very important that the thoughts that I put into it are clear. I recently read the book The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. This book has really helped me to understand more fully the importance of having clear and well organized thoughts before you begin to write. I do not believe that you can produce a well written piece of work if you do not think about it first and know what you are going to say. Also through reading the book I have gained a better understanding of the importance of style as you write. Style, in my opinion, is something that comes naturally and expresses your feelings and moods in a way that the reader can see throughout your writing. I hope that as I continue this blog I will be able to express my opinions and views on things well enough that everyone can enjoy reading as well as understand how I feel.

Technology: A World of Money?

As someone who enjoys technology and playing with all the new gadgets that come on the market, I am fascinated with any advances to the field. We live in a world filled with people who are always looking to the future, asking what will come next? How can we make electronics smaller and faster? Well, for the people who figure it out first, there is a lot of money to be made. I recently read an article about one of these men who has figured it out. Most people know him as Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple Computers. Steve is still trying to make things smaller and faster and Apple has just announced one of their newest products the MacBook Air. Now, I do not want to ramble about how great the MacBook Air is, but rather note that in this article it states that Steve Jobs, who continues to make huge technological advances, has only been taking an annual salary of $1.00 since 1997, thus making it possible to give the rest of the people in his company big bonuses. I know he is still a billionaire so it might seem like a small loss but think about the money he could have been making if he was taking a full cut. I think that it is really amazing to see that there are still people in this world of technology who realize that it is not all about the money. So, what I am trying to say is, way to go Steve for being a great person, even if most of that extra money just went to the other top people in the company.

Blogging

Today I read an article that discussed the many changes technology has had on the world. It talked about great technological advances from the printing press up to the modern day printing press, the World Wide Web. This fascinates me to see how much technology has advanced, especially in the last 30 years. I feel it is important that people have the opportunity to research, learn, and express any information they want to. Through websites such as Google, we now have the opportunity to do that. In my opinion, this makes for a more learned and understanding society. Even after the printing press was invented printing was still only limited to scholars and those with money. We have obviously expanded from that elitist circle (hopefully we continue to expand) and now even the littlest, most unimportant people, such as me, can write and have stuff read by the whole world because of technology, even if it is just a blog.