Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Monday, March 22, 2010

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.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

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.

Monday, March 15, 2010

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?

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

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.

Monday, March 1, 2010

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.