Fair Use

The Computer and Communications Industry Association has completed a report finding that finds fair use exceptions add more than $4.5 trillion in revenue to the U.S. economy and add more value than do copyrighted industries.

http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/12/2252239&from=rss

Things Break

Things do break - especially when there are poorly built in the first place.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/technology/techspecial/12threat.html?ex=1347249600&en=c34a797aa78e24aa&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

"We don't need hackers to break the systems because they.re falling apart by themselves," said Peter G. Neumann, an expert in computing risks and principal scientist at SRI International, a research institute in Menlo Park, Calif.

"Steven M. Bellovin, a professor of computer science at Columbia University, said: "Most of the problems we have day to day have nothing to do with malice. Things break. Complex systems break in complex ways."

While it is true that we are building increasingly complex systems, it's wrong to blame the complexity for their failures. How many times do we hear about a significant technology failure, only to find out that the root of it was, for example a Windows box? Or a password that was "password"? Or a data path that any experienced engineer would have installed a hot fail-over for? Or some other obvious lack due to saving money or time or so a vendor could offer some service or other that did not really exist?

The root of technological failure are nearly always completely human.

1) Most people working in technology are simply over their heads, way over their heads.

2) Business management does not actually care about the quality, service or safety of technical systems. These are a secondary consideration, even at technology companies.

3) Business lacks any means to evaluate the quality of technology solutions, large and small, created by its employees, even at technology companies.

Many "bad things" have happened because of this. But we will keep operating this way until something really, really, rally bad happens. An over-dose of radiation delivered to a cancer patient by a Windows computer, we just blow that off and accept it - oh those wacky computers! That's Windows for ya, ha ha ha! Yuck it up... Don't we all just love that office humor?

It'll take the loss of thousands of lives before people will wake up and think for moment. Then they will act, and do all the wrong things.

Myths

Groklaw has posted an excellent piece on the myths about open source software (Free/Libre/Open-Source Software or FLOSS). If you're a technology worker, show this to your boss. If you're a boss, read it and take it to heart, because if you don't, your competitor will, and your lunch will be eaten. The world has changed. Those that do not understand this, are already falling far behind without realizing it.

Here's the myths. Read the piece itself for a clear and level-headed discussion of each.

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070828132340846

Myth #1: It's a Linux-vs-Windows thing.
Myth #2: FLOSS is not reliable or supported.
Myth #3: Big companies don't use Open Source software.
Myth #4: Open Source software is hostile to intellectual property.
Myth #5: Open source software is all about licenses.
Myth #6: If I give away my software to the Open Source community, thousands of developers will suddenly start working for me for nothing.
Myth #7: Open source software only matters to programmers, since most users never look under the hood anyway.
Myth #8: There is no money to be made on Free Software.
Myth #9: The Open Source movement isn't sustainable, since people will stop developing free software once they see others making lots of money from their efforts.
Myth #10: Open Source is playing catch-up to Microsoft and the commercial world.

New Gore, Not

Vanity Fair features this interesting piece on Al Gore.

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/10/gore200710

This is my favorite angle on the Gore story.

"What happened to Gore? The story promoted by much of the media today is that we're looking at a "new Gore," who has undergone a radical transformation since 2000.he is now passionate and honest and devoted to issues he actually cares about. If only the old Gore could have been the new Gore, the pundits say, history might have been different."

Of course nothing has happened to Al Gore. He is the same man that ran for President. From some reason people are fully able, prepared and willing to believe truly crazy things. Did they really think that Al Gore really thought he "invented the internet", or that he even *said* that? What sort of babbling, insane, delusional person did they think was second in line to the Presidency anyway?

News flash - the schizophrenic, rag-clad, homeless man, babbling to himself, that you pass on your way to work each day probably think he invented something or other. And he's not likely to become a US Senator, and the Vice President of the United States anytime soon. Engage brain people.

Of Al Gore is not a lunatic. Whether you agree with his politics or not, how about a little common sense. When you recount the tale of how Mr. Gore thought he invented the internet (and other ridiculous myths), you reveal yourself; a moron. Ya, great, thanks, now go vote. We haven't quite hit bottom yet.

Idiots.

PS. "Not" is not a postfix operator, K?

The Line

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119007893529930697.html

"It was a sunny, 70-degree day here in Awbrey Butte, an exclusive neighborhood of big, modern houses surrounded by native pines.

"To Susan Taylor, it was a perfect time to hang her laundry out to dry. The 55-year-old mother and part-time nurse strung a clothesline to a tree in her backyard, pinned up some freshly washed flannel sheets -- and, with that, became a renegade.

"The regulations of the subdivision in which Ms. Taylor lives effectively prohibit outdoor clotheslines. In a move that has torn apart this otherwise tranquil community, the development's managers have threatened legal action. To the developer and many residents, clotheslines evoke the urban blight they sought to avoid by settling in the Oregon mountains."

Neighborhood associations and the like are an extremely troubling trend. A fit over a clothes line in Bend, Oregon, well, for one thing it says a lot about what Bend has turned into. and it's not flattering.

But there an even bigger problem than the short sighted non-Oregonians that have unsustainably and irresponsibly ballooned the city of Bend. Neighborhood associations are frequently private governments created to support the "haves" and prevent them from having to pay taxes to support "have-nots". They are dangerous as a trend, and not just because they compromise property rights, but because of their potential for bigotry, elitism and the drawing off of resources that would otherwise be available for the greater good.

Private schools, private sewer systems, private street lights, private police, private fire protection, medical care available only to those that can pay, and an Iraq full of private armies even. What does this say about the future of "America"?

In the old, old days, people living together in an area might get together, have a meeting and decide to pool resources for something the community needs. One might call the pooled resources a "tax base". One might call those selected to oversee the process a "government". Since the 1980s when Reagon made "the government" an enemy, people want to opt out, so they don't have to pitch in to support "those people over there" who are poor, colored, different, whatever. And then the first thing they do is go off and form yet another government "just for us," the good people, the white people, the rich people, the Christian people...

Privatization is the enemy of American democracy. But there's no fighting it. It's really just yet another symptom of mass-stupidity.

Shocking Story

Yes, here's another great example. There seems to be one nearly everyday.

The methods used by this "hacker" are extremely trivial. He's not doing anything fancy, using any uncommon tools or any special knowledge. He's guessing. Places just leave their doors wide open. People are stupid. From their I/T workers and managers, to the executives, they do not know how to operate the technologies their businesses rely on. Shocking!? Not really...

http://www.securityfocus.com/news/595

"How did a mediagenic hacker like Adrian Lamo get himself bumped last week from a scheduled appearance on the NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw?

"Perhaps with his impromptu on-camera intrusion into the peacock network's own computers.

...

"Lamo says NBC was taping him at Kinko's while he demonstrated security holes in a telecommunications company's systems, when the interviewer asked him if he'd be successful hacking NBC. Adrian Lamo does most of his hacking with an ordinary Web browser.

"Five minutes and one guessed password later and Lamo was surfing the television network's private messaging system and an affiliate scheduling application that included internal memos and information on advertising rates. Screen shots of the hack provided by Lamo and reviewed by SecurityFocus Online include a page from an NBC vendor database with the network's trademark "living color" peacock and the warning, "All information contained on this Web site is to be held in the strictest confidence," in all capital letters. "It was a very full service system,"
recalls Lamo."

I/T Risk

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09/20/it_risk/

"IT systems have become so integral to businesses that their failure can have disastrous consequences for an organization, according to analysts Gartner.

"The run on UK bank Northern Rock, resulting from saver fears after the firm went to the Bank of England for finance after loans on the money markets became unobtainable, is an example of business risk. Historically, banks faced the majority of their business risks for money market issues and the like. But as IT becomes more important, between five and 10 of the total of 50 to 60 "show stopper" risks faced by a business involve information technology systems, according to Gartner group vice-president Richard Hunter."

I couldn't agree more. Business management has no way to measure nor manage the quality of their I/T infrastructure. And more of the I/T infrastructure we encounter - in all lines of industry - is extremely poor. Technology companies, even companies that create a software
product, are not immune to this. In fact, they may be among the worst cases.

The above article goes on to include:

""IT risk is too important to be left to IT departments," said Hunter, who has written a book on the subject, entitled IT Risk: Turning Business Threats into Competitive Advantage, which was launched at the Gartner IT security summit earlier this week."

Again, it's the I/T functionaries themselves that are most to blame. Most I/T workers do not know what they're doing. And their management within the I/T operations, are complete unaware. Who in the world can we expect executive management, at any organization, to make things work smoothly under these conditions? We can't. From government, to finance, to our personal lives, incompetence in I/T is a massive liability.

Shocking Story, FU FL CA

http://www.pbs.org/nbr/blog/2007/09/fannie_freddie_florida_and_cal.html

"85% of the loans in the mortgage backed securities market now come from two states -- Florida and California. Those are also two states with the largest number of jumbo loans. And they are two states with a rising number of foreclosures."

Shocking!

Reply

Six major Internet companies have been sued for using computers to process their e-mail.

AOL, Amazon, Borders, Google, IAC, and Yahoo stand accused of violating a patent on automatic message routing held by Texas-based Polaris IP.

Attorneys representing Polaris IP filed a claim of patent infringement on Monday in U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Texas in Marshall, Texas.

http://www.informationweek.com/management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201802746

There are several things wrong with this.

1) The patent has been granted for a non-invention. Software has been sending email for 25 years. This "invention" is a little like finding a newly built road and being granted a patent for the idea of driving a car on it.

2) The company holding the rights to this "idea", Polaris IP, creates no product. It exists solely for the purpose of filing, and profiting from, exactly these sorts of legal actions. Indeed as the piece above notes:

"Crouch pointed out that the message routing patent at issue has been involved in litigation many times. "There are no published opinions associated with these cases and they have all been settled," he said.

"Polaris IP, Crouch observed, "appears to be part of a web of IP-related companies associated with attorney David Pridham." These companies include Orion IP, Constellation IP, IP Navigation Group, Cushion Technologies, CT IP Holdings, Triton, Circinus IP, and Firepond."

Someone needs to fight this suit and get this (and many, many other) pointless patents invalidated. But this is not easy. It requires a judge with either some knowledge of technology, or the willingness to learn a little. And it would not require learning very much. By and large judges are intelligent people, and these issues are obvious. It could be done.

A third point is the harm these legal actions do to technological progress. The companies that exist to file such actions create no product. They do not use the "technologies" they claim to own as a business vehicle, aside from the legal action. At worst they may prevent technology from serving consumers. At best they drain off resources by increasing the cost, not just of actual innovation, but of the basic operation of genuine companies.

More worrisome yet are threats from companies like Microsoft to begin using these tactics in areas where its products can not compete on their merits. Fortunately, these patents are rediculous on the face of them and the technology community is fully aware of this. Reform should be just a matter of time.

More Bars

"Fewest Dropped Calls"

Not only is their "we suck less than other companies" slogan one of the worst ideas I've ever heard, it turns out that it was never even true (AT&T Wireless service in fact does not suck less than the other companies). AT&T is dropping the claim. Apparently they are switching to the claim "more bars in more places." Maybe they should switch to someone over the age of 15 to lead their marketing effort. Or, and I know this is a radical idea, maybe they should build a service and a business model that actually gives people what they want! No, never mind, that's a stupid idea... That's why I don't make the big bucks coming up with slogans for AT&T.

http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/08/att-ditches-few.html

"Following a Better Business Bureau investigation into Cingular's (now AT&T's) "fewest dropped calls" ad campaign and a protracted legal fight with Sprint over the issue, AT&T is reportedly dropping its claim, according to an employee.

...

"An AT&T spokesman says that dropping the "fewest dropped calls" language is just part of an overall shift to a new message: "More bars in more places.""

Oh but they're so cute!

They just want to be friends... Maybe they were scared? Oh all your dogs are so FRIENDLY. Memo to all dog owners - we don't all love your dogs. Please stop imposing your madness on everyone else.

http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_082207_news_pitbulls_attack_woman_bed_.5c7e4d68.html

In what deputies describe as the worst mauling they've ever seen, two pit bulls entered a Wauna-area home through an open patio door and attacked a woman in her bed.

...

The 59-year-old was in bed, in her room. Neighbors say she was sound asleep when the attack happened. She managed to get away, run to her car, lock herself in and call 911. Even after fighting off the dogs, she was in pretty bad shape.

...

"I can just say I'm sorry because I can't take it back," said Zack Martin, one of the dogs' owners. He says the other dog belongs to a friend. Martin says one of the dogs chewed on a rope holding up the fence to his backyard, and that's how the dogs escaped.

"I would never think my dog would do something like that," said Martin."

People are Stupid

America is doomed. There is no doubt about that what so ever.

http://www.ablogistan.com/archives/2007/08/the_idiocracy_m.html

one in four adults in the U.S. say they haven't read a book in the last year. Some interesting correlates:

* Democrats and liberals read more than Republicans and conservatives. The president of the American Association of Publishers says this is because "The Karl Roves of the world have built a generation that just wants a couple slogans. It's pretty hard to write a book saying, 'No new taxes, no new taxes, no new taxes' on every page."
* Nonreligious people read more than the religious. Those who said they never attend religious services read nearly twice as much as those who attend frequently. However, the Bible and other religious works were the most-read books.
* Women, Southerners read more. The median number of books read for women was nine, compared to five for men. People from the South read more than people in other regions, mostly religious books and romance novels.

VP

Cheney's office is refusing to recognize the Senate's subpoenas on the grounds that the Vice President is not part of the executive branch. Seriously.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/white-house-lets-leahys-deadline-pass-2007-08-20.html

"Cheney's lawyers first crafted the argument to bolster his lack of compliance with an executive order on the safeguarding of classified information, a tactic that backfired amid Democratic anger and derisive jokes on late-night talk shows. Yet Cheney counsel Shannen Coffin wrote to Leahy on Monday that "the issuance of the subpoena to this office was procedurally irregular" because the judiciary panel only authorized Leahy to issue summonses to the Executive Office of the President (EOP) and the Justice Department.

"Leahy dryly noted that the White House website currently lists the vice president as a part of the EOP, also distributing copies of a 1978 executive order that describes the vice president as part of the EOP.

"Telling Coffin to look at the White House website "may seem too glib an answer," Leahy told reporters. "My answer would be look at the law. But these are people that don't look at the law very often..""

MPG - The Lost Automotive Technology

Here's a perfectly good, mass produced, street legal and quite affordable car made for the US markets that gets 47 mile per gallon highway and 37 MPG in the city. This isn't an experimental car, nor is it a engineering student project. It's a real product and there's even a dealer network. Too bad you can't buy a new one. It's from 1978:

http://www.adclassix.com/images/78civic1024x768.jpg

Ben on Liberty

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

-- Ben Franklin

Words of wisdom, frequently repeated, and always worth repeating. You know, since 9/11 and all...

Throes

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/30/cheney.iraq/index.html

"The insurgency in Iraq is "in the last throes," Vice President Dick Cheney says, and he predicts that the fighting will end before the Bush administration leaves office."

June 20, 2005

He Was Not Vice President At The Time

http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_227234128.html

In the remarkable video from 13 years ago, which was posted on YouTube, Cheney defended the U.S. decision not to seize control of Iraq during the first Gulf War.

"How many additional dead Americans is Saddam worth? Our view was not very many, and I think we got it right," he said in the inteview with the American Enterprise Institute.

CBS 5 contacted the Vice President's press office Wednesday, where a spokesperson reacted to the video by saying: "He was not Vice President at the time, it was after he was Secretary of Defense. I don't have any comment."

WHAT AN ASSHOLE.

The New Dark Ages

Food for thought. "Modern" history is generally said the have begun with the Enlightenment, a time when it was discovered that there was great benefit to society as a whole in the use of the scientific method to separate myth and superstition from fact. This was a time of great optimism. And rightly so, for it led to the world we have today. Humans have thrived in a world where illnesses can be cured, food can be made safe, poisons can be identified and removed from our lives, and technologies never dreamed of by prior civilizations are common.

What to go back to the good old days? The days of plague, a 50% child mortality rate and a 45 year average life span? Lots of people do. In fact you have to hold them back from their own destruction. The fact is that "modern" history is only 3 or 4 hundred years long. We have lived through an aberration of times. The idiots will win. And our descendants will sit around their caves someday and tell tall tales of us.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/aug/15/endarkenment

"The past 30 years or so have been an age of endarkenment. It has been a period in which truth ceased to matter very much, and dogma and irrationality became once more respectable. This matters when people delude themselves into believing that we could be endangered at 45 minutes' notice by non-existent weapons of mass destruction.

"It matters when reputable accountants delude themselves into thinking that Enron-style accounting is acceptable. It matters when people are deluded into thinking that they will be rewarded in paradise for killing themselves and others. It matters when bishops attribute floods to a deity whose evident vengefulness and malevolence leave one reeling. And it matters when science teachers start to believe that the Earth was created 6,000 years ago.

"A minor aspect of the endarkenment has been a resurgence in magical and superstitious ideas about medicine. The existence of homeopaths on the high street won't usually do too much harm.

....

"Homeopaths are a manifestation of a society in which wishful thinking matters more than truth; a society where what I say three times is true and never mind the facts."

Terror

Well, I'm scared. Scared of the NY police commissioner that is....

http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN1524872020070815?feedType=RSS&feedName=internetNews

"The Internet is the new battleground against Islamist extremism"

...

"The report found that the challenge for Western authorities was to identify, pre-empt and prevent home-grown threats, which was difficult because many of those who might undertake an attack often commit no crimes along the path to extremism.

"The report identified the four stages to radicalization as pre-radicalization, self-identification, indoctrination, and jihadization, and said the Internet drove and enabled the process."

On Fox

Fox's not funny liberal news satire show has been quietly canceled. The show, "The Half Hour New Hour" was supposed to be Fox's answer to "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart. The motivation and design of this show was juvenile on many levels. But mostly, it just wasn't funny.

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fnc/half_hour_news_hour_shelved_65085.asp?c=rss

Not funny. Canceled. Another example of the liberal bias in the media. Er - that is, I mean the literal bias, at Fox.