bit-tech.net | A conversation with Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow is something of an online legend. He’s famous for a number of things: for being a great Sci-Fi writer, for his work as a copyright activist, and for being co-editor of what Technorati has suggested is the Most Linked-to Blog in the World, Boing Boing. Now resident in London, we took a trip down to the capital to talk to Cory about his blogs, his writing and his opinions on the world of content and DRM.

Geek Pick Up Lines

I found these on the bbspot website. Some are quite good.

• Tell me of this thing you humans call *dramatic pause* love.
• If you turn me down now, I will become more drunk than you can possibly imagine.
• They don’t call me Bones because I’m a doctor.
• Your name is Leslie? Look, I can spell your name on my calculator!
• What’s a nice girl like you doing in a wretched hive of scum and villany like this?
• You must be Windows 95 because you gots me so unstable.
• My ‘up-time’ is better than BSD.
• I can tell by your emoticons that you’re looking for some company.
• Is that an iPod mini in your pocket or are you just happy to see me.
• Want to see my Red Hat?
• If you won’t let me buy you a drink, at least let me fix your laptop.
• You had me at “Hello World.”
• Mind if I run a sniffer to see if your ports are open?
• You make me want to upgrade my Tivo.
• By looking at you I can tell you’re 36-25-36, which by the way are all perfect squares.
• Jedi Mind Trick: “This is the geek you’re looking for.” *waves hand*
• You can put a Trojan on my Hard Drive anytime.
• Have you ever googled yourself?
• How about we do a little peer-to-peer saliva swapping?
• With my IQ and your body we could begin a race of genetic superchildren to conquer the earth.
• What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this when there’s a Farscape marathon on right now on the Sci Fi channel.
• I’m attracted to you so strongly, scientists will have to develop a fifth fundamental force.

These I made up myself, maybe I will think of some more.

• Have you seen those ipod nano’s? They are so small, it is amazing the places they will fit!
• So how fast a slot do you have?
• Have you ever tried to stick a three prong into a two prong adapter?
• I don’t have any dollars, will you take a iTune?
• I want to frag you all night long.

Security Fixes Come Faster With Mozilla
It is good to hear of proof that the Mozilla Foundation is doing a better job at bugs in Firefox than Microsoft is fixing bugs in IE. I remember one serious bug in IE that was only fixed recently that took Microsoft 6 months to find a solution.

Over the past year, Mozilla averaged about 21 days before it issued fixes for flaws in Firefox, compared with the 135 days it took for Microsoft to address problems.

This makes me think that the same thing is going to happen with IE 7. There is no reason to think that this behavior will change with their new browser. Internetweek has a article that compares IE 7 with the other browsers, but ultimately concludes that Maxathon is the best choice. I don’t agree with that assessment, but the article seems pretty thorough.

The are a couple of reasons why I think Firefox is better than IE and Opera.

1. Runs on multiple platforms (Linux/OS X)
2. Extensible: Has hundreds of extensions that allow you to choose what features are most important to you
3. Open Source: Any free software should be required to provide their source code so that programmers are able to spot potential problems as well as use the code to build better applications.
4. Open Bug Reporting/Tracking: The known bug’s are available to anyone who is interested via a web based tracking tool. The tracking mechanism assures people that the company knows about the bug and is working on a fix. This translates into a higher level of confidence in the product.
5. Community promoted: I don’t know about you but I would rather use something that my neighbor or coworker or my friend recommends rather than something that you are forced to use, so much so that it is practically shoved down your throat if you are using Windows.
6. Community supported: If there is a problem with the software than there are a number of different online forums to discuss concerns that may not necessarily be considered a bug.

7. Not apart of a mega corporation: I don’t want to use something that is closed source and which is developed by a “browser group” that is apart of 50x other “groups”.

   It is better if the company is small/medium sized or if the entire progect is open source, so that future improvements into the product are guaranteed as long as their is community interest.

   IE 6 became the dominant browser through nefarious integration into the operating system and lack of any real competition and as a result all development stopped as people were reassigned to other “groups” where the company needed help reestablishing their dominance. Who is to say that same thing won’t happen with IE7.

Google’s new feature of it’s desktop search program will upload it’s indexed information onto google’s servers if you enable it. It is not turned on by default. Furthermore they do a really good job of warning you of what you are doing. Here I will show you exactly what the preferences look like for those of you who might not have installed google desktop search yet.

Google today announced a new “feature” of its Google Desktop software that greatly increases the risk to consumer privacy. If a consumer chooses to use it, the new “Search Across Computers” feature will store copies of the user’s Word documents, PDFs, spreadsheets and other text-based documents on Google’s own servers, to enable searching from any one of the user’s computers. EFF urges consumers not to use this feature, because it will make their personal data more vulnerable to subpoenas from the government and possibly private litigants, while providing a convenient one-stop-shop for hackers who’ve obtained a user’s Google password.

EFF: Breaking News

I don’t think people have very much to worry about even if you do have illegal content on your computer. The people who do probably will either not have google search installed or are smart enough enough to take precautions to protect themselves. Let me show you some images from the google desktop search preferences.

Here are the screen shots from the goolge preferences. screen. The one on the right shows clearly that you can de-select “Media files” under the “Search Types” section. This will prevent google from indexing all those MP3’s or AVI’s you downloaded illegally.

You can even encrypt the index files so that if your computer does get hacked by the RIAA cops and they make you turn over your google desktop search index than you will be further protected.

Although it does not say what type of encryption you got to assume that it is something realtively strong since the guys at google aren’t morons! For your computers at home I would recommend checking encryption and unchecking media files.

In the image on the right you can see the 2nd preferences window. This is what the EFF is warning people about. The “Search Across Comptuers” section is unchecked by default as you can see for yourself. If you do check it you will have to login with your google account and I google gives you two prominatly displayed links for you to learn more about the feature and to read about their Privacy Policy. I wouldn’t recommed that you check this if you have anything to hide.

I wouldn’t be too worried about financial documents as the government can already search those records without a warrent thanks to the Patriot Act. In fact I wouldn’t be worried much about the government. It is the RIAA/MPAA lawyers that most people I know have to watch out for.

I want better service, now! I am sick of paying $60 for DSL when we should have Fiber Optic service in every home by now. This comes at a time when SBC/AT&T merged into a mega corporation that is taking money from both ends, the government and its customers, and doing nothing about upgrading the sub-par infrastructure.

Let There Be Wi-Fi

American residents and businesses now pay two to three times as much for slower and poorer quality service than countries like South Korea or Japan. Since 2001, according to the International Telecommunications Union, the United States has fallen from fourth to 16th in the world in broadband penetration. Thomas Bleha recently argued in Foreign Affairs that what passes for broadband in the United States is “the slowest, most expensive and least reliable in the developed world.” While about 60 percent of U.S. households do not subscribe to broadband because it is either unavailable where they live or they cannot afford it, most Japanese citizens can access a high-speed connection that’s more than 10 times faster than what’s available here for just $22 a month. (Japan is now rolling out ultra-high speed access at more than 500 times what the Federal Communications Commission considers to be “broadband” in this country.)

President Bush has been quoted as saying “universal, affordable access for broadband technology by the year 2007″ and FCC Chairman Kevin Martin says it is the most important thing he is working on. 2006 should be the year when SBC and the other telecommunication companies upgrade their infrastructure bringing the good ole USA inline with the rest of the developing world, but I doubt that this will happen. Bush is too much in the pocket of companies and cares little for the American people. Even if he did care a minuscule amount he is incapable of doing anything about it because he is incompetent at his job.

$200 Billion Broadband Scandal.

# The promised networks couldn�t be built in 1993 and state laws were changed based on �deceptive speech�. The technology today still has problems delivering 500 channels.
# The phone companies pulled a bait and switch. In order to offer DSL over copper, it was not necessary to have state regulation changed. Their plan was to get rid of regulations and enter long distance.

I shouldn’t be forced to pay higher rates for DSL when the local capable companies are offering more than 2x speed cable connections for $10 less. Yet this is exactly what is happening because I am stuck in a crappy apartment complex who has signed agreements with this small cable company who supposedly “owns” the wires in the complex. Their service is even more of a rip off than SBC DSL alternative.

Ignition broadband is based out of Seattle and when I called setup service for my apartment in Texas they informed me that I must pay for “community television service” which included to channels “2-13″. I complained several times and could not get these extra charges dropped, as all I wanted was broadband. I was not thrilled to be forced to pay television stations that came in FOR FREE via a UHF antenna that I already owned; so I decided I would rather go with the, take-it-up-the-ass, AT&T/SBC DSL service.

AT&T sees benefits to tiered Internet service

AT&T, not to be confused with the original AT&T, is talking about a “tiered Internet” experience again. Back when they were still known as SBC, CEO Edward Whitacre dropped a bomb when he proclaimed his dissatisfaction with the fact that Internet service companies can “use [his] pipes for free”�referencing the fact that their broadband users are currently free to use their connection for more or less any legitimate activity, including downloading large videos and placing phone calls. Whitacre’s rhetoric, which is by no means unique to him, slyly references the company’s Internet infrastructure as “his pipes,” ignoring the fact that it is his customers who are both paying for those pipes and expecting uninhibited use for any legitimate activity. Why?

The freepress has a good article on what is actually happening with the telecommunication companies. AT&T is trying to charge companies like Google and Yahoo to allow for their content to get to customers who sign up for higher bandwidth connections to be guaranteed that they will get the content that they should be getting ALREADY. I mean how greedy can you get AT&T you are already charging your customers outrageous prices for long distance when you consider what you get for a VoIP connection. This does not mention the outrageous prices for a high speed service that should be 2-10x as fast as it is currently and roughly 1/2 the price of what everyone is paying now.

A new telecommunications bill comes before The House this month will address these issues. I suggest that you do not delay in contacting Rep. Joe Barton from Texas and Dem. John Dingle from Michigan who are on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Not that it is going to do much good because Republicans usually side with the corporations who hand them big campaign donations for their decisions. Politicians think of campaign donations as “perks” of the job when in actuality they are nothing less than bribes. America needs major political reform. It is sad that the rich corporations can control government policy to the degree that they do.

I ask you Joe Barton where is my cheap affordable high-speed that I was promised back in the ’90s because it certainly isn’t here today.

I think if any courses on religion are to be taught in schools it shouldn’t be in science class. They should stick to the facts as much as possible. If religion were to be taught it should be more like a history class and shouldn’t be limited to the predominant (76%) religion in the United States, Christianity. If we want a more individualistic system than we must educate the kids and give them the choice of their beliefs while not pushing one belief system over another.

Organized prayer in the public school setting, whether in the classroom or at a school-sponsored event, is unconstitutional. The only type of prayer that is constitutionally permissible is private, voluntary student prayer that does not interfere with the school’s educational mission.

ADL.org

I think that we have prayer in public school nailed down well, but the topic of Intelligent Design and whether to teach religion in schools we have a ways to go. The response in the public has been mixed on this topic. On one hand we have the Dover school board overturning their ruling on teaching intelligent design, but let us not forget Kansas school board’s decision.

I think most students in high school would greatly benefit from a course that covers Ontological arguments. Doing this is far from standing up in front of the class and telling them they should goto their local “flavor” of Christian church every week and make sure they remind their parents to bring their checkbook because Jesus says so, which is how the public education system would end up if the Christan right had their way.

The tougher questions on supernatural forces and how each religion defines god is better left to the kids in their late teens after they have had a chance to figure out for themselves some of what their beliefs are. Ideally a more simplistic version could also be taught at a younger age before they can be exposed to their parents belief system. What I am suggesting is a course(s) whose material is similar to how wikipedia defines Religion to be but also combines elements of the History of Religions.

Like misplaced stigmata wounds, intelligent design is misplaced in science and biology classes, although it — and the stigmata — would be appropriate topics in religious studies, American Studies, pop culture, and a number of other elective courses, including science fiction classes where other forms of “intervention theories” could be discussed. Those theories use much of — if not all — the same “evidence” cited by religion-based intelligent design theory: the so-called “Cambrian Explosion,” the rapid evolution of homo sapiens from earlier prototypes, and the biotech advances that come with “irreducible complexity.” Would Discovery Institute and ID backers support teaching the “scientific theories” that extraterrestrials were the intelligent designers of life on earth?

Online Journal

I am for equitable means of education. I am against the idea of adding little quips about Christianity into our current classes like science, chemistry and physics that would just confuse some students and whose only purpose would be to unjustly perpetrate the spreading of our predominate belief system without equally representing all faiths that should be available to students if they choose. If your going to teach religion in schools, do it right and do it fairly; teach it how it should be taught.

Science class shouldn’t come with disclaimers. It should be nationally mandated to teach evolutionary theory and genetics but we should also teach students the difference between what is a theory and what is a known fact. Evolution isn’t ever going to become solidfied and understood part of science if Christianity is there at every step of the way beating it down. What it needs is hundreds of years of careful observation of numerous different species. What Evolution needs today is Darwin part Deux.

1. He shouldn’t have been elected the first time and only reason he won the 2nd time was because we were in the middle of Iraq war he contrived probably just to get reelected.
2. He’s stupid. He can’t talk and is not a good leader. He’s not a role model anyone can look up to. He does not inspire confidence that he is doing a good job or the right thing. Morons and idiots should be barred from public office because they are not able to handle complex tasks such as running the most powerful nation in the world.
3. He has strong ties to Oil and Gas companies, who think the best solution for becoming less dependant on Foriegn Oil is to invade other countries, spend hundreds of billions of dollars and thousands of American lives in a foolhardy task, rather than make a serious investment in next generation fuels.
4. His enviromental policy sucks. He thinks drilling in Alaska Artic preserve is ok. He thinks less restrictions on pollution is ok. He has made no effort to address the Kyoto treaty.
5. He vacations alot, which means he is lazy. He expects other people to the job for him. He always looks to blame other people for his mistakes. (Hurricane Katrina)
6. He is openly Christian and ties his religion too much to his politics. The USA is about equal representation and diversity. We need to work VERY hard on making people other religions feel like they are welcome in our culture. 9/11 and the backlash by anti-western fundamentalists is proof of this. Occupying another nation is NOT the best way to do this.
7. DMCA and the Patriot Act were responsible for the loss of personal freedoms resulting in corporate America and the federal government perscuting the American people unjustly.
8. Very, very bad economic policy resulting in a drastic rise of national debt. Privatizing Social Security is a really bad idea. http://zfacts.com/p/318.html
9. Other countries do not respect him. He is a poor representation of the quality of people who should be leading this nation.
10. Finially, I think he is a horrible president because he starts things but doesn’t finish them (Afganistan/Bin Laden) and also he makes bad decisions and doesn’t admit to them (Iraq).

Bush Maps Out Iraq Strategy
“As the Iraqi forces grow more capable, they are increasingly taking the lead in the fight against the terrorists,” the president told a supportive audience at the U.S. Naval Academy. “Our goal is to train enough Iraqi forces so they can carry the fight against the terrorists.”

Iraq isn’t going to turn into another Israel you F-in idiot without American troops stationed there and we ALL know that is a bad idea, so just annonce victory and GTFO cause we ALL know u F-up.

And besides I thought your strategy was that you didn’t have one, because you sure didn’t share it with us during your reelection. Maybe the strategy was shoot first ask questions later or do whatever the hell you want and deal with the consequences.

Bush: Iraq Withdrawal Would Be a Mistake
President Bush said Tuesday that “it would be a terrible mistake” to pull U.S. forces out of Iraq and that politics should not play any part in a decision about withdrawal.

No no no stupid, your supposed to say that invading Iraq was a terrible mistake. Then I’ll be happy.

Texas Sues Sony Under Anti-Spyware Law - Yahoo! News
Some 4.7 million had been made and 2.1 million sold. CDs that had XCP included releases by Van Zant, The Bad Plus, Neil Diamond and Celine Dion.

The Texas spyware law allows the state to recover damages of up to $100,000 in damages for each violation.

That is 29.4 million dollars that the greedy corporations who take advantage of the artists have, that can be better in other places. There are a couple highways I can think of really should be widened! I hope the state of Texas gets 100 million, that would be a sufficient penalty to show those RIAA loving jerks.