The Best Software Writing

Computer science literature is often uninteresting, un-animated, and unreadable. The Best Software Writing goes to show that a technical author can be creative and informative at the same time. Is there any reason why a definition of a concept cannot be humorous? Is there a set of rules that do not allow a manual to have a personality? Who wants to read an 800 page book made of drowning terms, and absolutely no hint of imagination? If you're going to write something of a technical nature, at least do your audience a favor and make your work readable.

The Internet is a melting pot of both good and bad. Users determine what content is online. It is up to each user to make the internet a worthwhile place. There's enough trashy-slizy content on the Internet. Word's have the ability to motivate; so, when posting, choose meaningful words, preferably the profane-free kind. Art and music can touch the heart and sole. Share art and music that inspires hope, and a positive life. Make the internet as positive as possible takes the effort of every user.

internet Safety Council

Carpal texting

NBC news recently reported on a teen who contracted carpal tunnel from excessive texting. The teen averaged 3,146 text messages a month. Her diagnosis resulted in the need to wear un-average arm braces and other treatments for the shooting pains in her wrists. In hindsight, the girl regrets her texting habits. But who wouldn't, after the fact of being diagnosed. Texting requires balance. It needs limits. There's no need for anyone to experience physical pain, in the form of a side affect, due to texting.

Open source

The open source development structure is a stable and cost effective way to create software. Software companies create software in a closed proprietary environment so that the company can make a profit. Open source's free-labor free-results makeup does not allow for profit–if anything profit from open source comes in the form of pyramid scheme, where those on top reap the benefits. Companies need to design a development structure that takes advantage of open source development tactics, but allows contributors to be compensated. If companies cannot design such a structure, then open source saturation will ensue. Saturation will happen when a piece of open source software becomes an industry leader, which causes real businesses to close their doors. An example of such saturation is Wikipedia and the ever-diminishing Encyclopedia Britannica.

The World is Flat

As an American, I've been raised to believe that America is the best nation. The greatest inventions with their intelligent inventors reside here. The worlds leading companies are headquartered in one of the fifty states. The cluster of creation and innovation that is America has created an upward spiral of progress and prosperity that absorbs and includes any willing citizen. It's easy to be proud of America. It's easy to be an American. I do realize; however, my pride in America comes with a downfall. The downfall is located in the heart of my American pride. My pride is selfish. It wants for America and for myself, and does not want for others. I'm involved in a self-serving struggling to become successful. I want to experience prosperity. I want to be swept up in American opulence. To me, the flattened world is spreading the American "good life" over the surface of the planet, causing American abundance and plenty to become thin and less concentrated. I've always been told about the American dream, and now that dream exists for the innovative where ever they may be. "So, be creative and compete." I tell myself "Be better than the best." But, I wonder if there's enough prosperity to go around. I have to be capable of being successful not on the American stage, but on the world stage. As an American on the world stage, where do I fall?

Copyright

I'm imagining a world without copyright laws. I've completed my magnum opus–a rock n' roll album. I released the album to several distributors and I am waiting for revenue to start rolling in. But the big bucks will never come. After a few thousand purchases, the sales of my album drop despite its number-one spot on music charts. Instead of purchasing the album, fans are downloading and sharing my work for free on the Internet. In the end I hardly cover the production cost of the album. In the real world, a world with copyright laws, my album would be able to make a profit. Extremists are motioning there is no need to copyright anymore, and copyrighting itself stifles creativity. However, copyrights create money. Part of the fuel behind creativity is compensation for a job well done. Without the income that copyrighting creates, I would be less motivated to produce a high quality version of my album.

Electronic donations

The recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile have started a wave of electronic-donation resources. These resources enable people to make donations to relief organizations and allow people to keep tabs on relief efforts. Such resources are a new avenue for people who, after witnessing such catastrophes, feel helpless to offer aid, but want to help. Electronic donations have also made it a lot easier to contribute. Now there is the opportunity to contribute anytime, anywhere. For example, many phone companies are allowing subscribers to use their cellphone accounts to pledge support by sending a text message to a specified number. Faster and more accessible ways to donate are allowing support to get to those in need in an expedient manner–resulting in a greater number of saved lives.

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Embracing Change

What does it take for a society to embrace a different way of doing something? Our current system of consuming electricity starts at a central power plant. The energy produced is then directed to homes through an extensive network of substations and power lines. Large costs go into each foot of the electrical infrastructure. Conversely, a new model for energy consumption has been created by Bloom Energy. This week, Bloom Energy released plans for the new electrical infrastructure that would put a micro power plant in every backyard. The company's plans outline a greener and more cost efficient way to produce and consume energy with a device called the Bloombox. But the current energy model is very invested into landlines and large power production companies. With a better model that saves money and stamps a green footprint in every yard, is there a obligation to convert society? I'm not talking about a single product, but the entire way that we think about energy consumption. A way that we've unanimously followed sense Tesla created the energy framework.

The Cuckoo's egg

In medieval times, castles with thick walls were constructed to protect persons and their possessions. Sadly, there have always been offenders who plunder for a profit. At first, arrows and rocks were used to attack. Then black powder and cannons changed the battle field. Today, the networked world first defended itself with passwords. Only the exact combination of characters could open the door. Then holes in operating systems and communication networks allowed modern pillagers to hack there way into sensitive information. The story of Cliff Stoll is evidence of a computer hacker's genesis cannon shot. The days of simple password protection crumbled after Cliff found out how far Markus Hess penetrated into government websites. Warfare requires rules and the prosecution of rule breakers. WWII produced the Geneva convention. The convention rules cross boundaries and allow the prosecution of war criminals. At the end of The Cuckoo's Egg, Markus Hess still walked free from his crime. There's no need for a cyber world war before standardized laws are created, allowing the prosecution of cyber criminals in other nations. With a law comes the ability to prosecute offenders. The cyber history of the networked world is still young. But the lessons learned from past warfare can be applied to the fresh battle field of computers. Governments need to plan, prepare, and protect now for future nuclear cyber attacks. Learning from the past lends to a safer and better prepared future.

Total Genealogy

One use of computers is to connect lives through genealogy. Relative's records, both of the living and of the dead, are linked together online. Personal lineages have been combined to form vast online databases of the human family. Though the information transition from personal pedigree to the online community happened seamlessly, there now needs to be a union of all the different online repositories of genealogical information. That is, there is a need if the end goal is to create a single bank of connected names for all humanity to reference. There is, however, a problem. The issue lies with online-pedigree databases that focus on profiting from the names collected. How do you combine information when segments are held under lock and key? I feel that, if money is to be made from genealogy, let it be made by creating applications that access a database of all gathered names, and not from the slice of the names to which someone has the rights.

Lazy Computing

Today, Apple announced its new product, the iPad. It's a product focussed on putting a computer in your hands when you want to relax. The iPad exists for lazy computing. Computers save time, and now, more than ever, computers are used to waste time. As technology continues to ease into every facet of my life, I expect two things. First, I want to be able to block salacious Internet material. I do not need statistical data to prove that a person is more likely to come across such material while lazily browsing the internet. Second, I expect myself to be able to step away from technology and do other things with my free time. No programmer can instill that characteristic in me; however, I realize how easy it is to sit down and pass the time with a computer instead of using that time to plan and engage myself in hobbies and other real life-exploring activities.

Women and Computer Science

I have noticed that computer science is mostly looked down upon in the minds of college students. In general, computer science is held in high regard as being a "difficult degree", but at the same time there is the regard of "See ya, wouldn't want to be ya. Nerd!" I think it is computer science's stereotype that keeps women away from the field. Men, in general, brand computer scientists as nerds. So, why would a woman label herself as such, and run the risk of being judged negatively by men? I would venture that if the trademark "nerd" was removed from the minds of both men and women, when referring to computer scientists, and replaced with a term that is smiled upon, then more women would enter the field. It is not that women are incapable of perusing computer science, because there are a lot of really intelligent women that would do just fine in the degree, but there is a mold that needs to be broken. Women who are willing to face the clichés of computer science need to break the mold before women, in general, accept computer science as a viable field of study.

PDA - Personality Detachment Assistant

I am currently an uncle eight and a half times over. The half is a niece on the way! The eight that have been born rage in age from the oldest, who is eight, to the youngest, who is only six months old. Each niece and nephew expands the joyfulness of my nuclear family. With each new addition, I realize what I never knew was missing and I never want my family to be without the newcomer again. It's their fun personalities that I appreciate the most, and each personality is so unique. Now, what does any of this have to do with a new survey about child media consumption? Well, a lot. The survey shows that children's daily media consumption is now, on average, 7 hours and 38 minutes. I want to make it clear that I'm not a child development expert, but I am capable of making observations. One related observation involves my nieces and nephews. I've noticed that the more time they spend by themselves in front of a screen, whether big or small, the more closed off they become. The more time that one of them spends consuming media, the greater the need to always be entertained. I've watch as one of my nephews has become remote to the rest of the family. His sentences have become shorter. He asks fewer questions. A growing desire to be in front of a screen has consumed parts of his life, leaving behind bits and fragments. Most affected is his personality. At times his personality seems turned off, though it's often replaced with fits about not being able to play a game. It's hard for me to watch the change. That part of his life that adds so much to the family is being replaced by alone time–looking into a windowed world. He's one out of 8 and a half and I want him back. I want him with his complete personality back. Daily media consumption, you'd better look out, because your 7 hours and 38 minutes are going down.

Not friends until Facebook friends

I recently became aquatinted with Kate. She and I met through the usual social functions of church meetings, dessert nights, and apartment marshmallow wars that surround student life at BYU. Our friendship has developed steadily over the past few weeks and I always look forward to our small talk. The other evening Kate and I were discussing odds and ends of current events. During the conversation our topic shifted to Facebook. We realized that neither of us knew if we had declared ourselves as friends on Facebook. Personally, whether or not our Facebook pages had declared reciprocating friendship was of little interest to me, but Kate seemed taken back. She promised me that once she arrived home, later that evening, she would check and make sure we were friends! I remember feeling an awkward void in that moment, that kind of distant feeling you get when you're talking with someone you know, but you cannot remember their name. Kate and I had come to the realization that our relationship had connected on a personal level but there was doubt where we stood on a technological level. I could not believe it. I was experiencing a sense of uncertainty due to a fictitious means of connecting with somebody electronically! To make a long matter short, Kate went home, made sure we were Facebook friends, and neither of us have discussed the issue further. I definitely do not remember reading in Facebook's "Terms of Use" about no longer being able to create full and meaningful relationships on my own once I signed up, but if there is such wording next time, I'm going to click "cancel" instead of "I agree."