Out with the Old; In with the New

Not surprisingly, music distributing corporations have developed over time a business model that maximizes their own profits. Lawsuits over free file-sharing provide a great opportunity to revisit that model. I believe that music diversity and individual artistic freedom would be best served by revising copyright law so that an artist’s work is licensed to the artist and not the sponsoring corporation. Technology means change for everything, including outdated business models.

Read a deeper analysis from The Ornery American.

Help Launch the Internet Safety Wiki

In the same vein as wikipedia, the Internet Safety Wiki is set up for us to share what we already know with others. Over time, this will become a valuable resource. This is your invite to come aboard and bring your friends.

http://www.wiki.internetsafetypodcast.com/

Universal Truths in a Flat World

Friedman ultimately concludes that the underpinning of the “flat” platform for global collaboration is trust. America is currently ahead of the game because of the environment of trust that has been fostered over the years (see p.334). However, all players could lose the flat platform if enough people turn their creativity to evil purpose. “Nuclear terrorism … would unflatten the world permanently,” writes Friedman (p. 603).

What should we do about it? First, we should make a concerted, determined effort to stamp out nuclear proliferation. Second, we should make a concerted, determined effort to “influence the imagination and intentions” that cause terrorism and nuclear proliferation.

Will capitalist arguments be strong enough to win potential terrorists over? While certainly part of the answer, money is not the complete solution. The key message to instill and proclaim is the same message given to Moses, thousands of years ago: “Love the Lord thy God with all thine heart” and “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18).

If our god is money or world dominance, we will never achieve lasting benefits for ourselves or our children, on any platform. The true key to America’s success is loyalty to our founding virtues, and to the God of this land. We should use the global platform to help make life better for people here and everywhere; but we should also remember that we will lose all if we drift from our foundations.

Read a summary of the book: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_is_Flat

Connecting the World

Is it possible to connect the world? Genealogists think so. With new free software for merging family trees, Famillion provides a way for all the computing world to get it on the action. Everyone with access to a computer will have to answer the question: is our past our own property, or should we leap into the “global family forest?” For me and for most, I believe the costs are far outweighed by the benefits of belonging to a larger social network today and a larger family tree. And you?

Famillion in the news

Society matters

I feel that most women avoid computer science for the same reason that most men avoid the humanities. It is tough to be a minority. You have to believe in what you do more strongly than the majority does. Women who pursue computer science must have a passion for computer science strong enough to overcome the social pressures that come with entering a male-dominated field. However, if enough women decide to nurture their talents in computer science, there’s no reason that the social landscape and accompanying pressures couldn’t change for the next generation.