Open Code and Free Speech

I use almost exclusively open source software. There are many reason for this, the most important being my intolerance of unjustified crapiness (if my computer is pissing me off I want an excuse and a solution).

Another major advantage of open code is the ability to audit the code. Now you can check that, for example, your computer is not CCing your emails to the FBI or your plan(s) for world domination to Bill Gates. Except that unless you’re a programmer, you won’t understand the code and therefore you can’t.

So where is the benefit for non-programmers? A slightly bizarre comparision I like is to a mute man choosing which country he should claim asylum in. He can’t speak so what use is freedom of speech to him? Others will speak for him, helping to ensure his liberty. Others will audit code for you, helping to ensure your security.

[/technology] posted at 14:41 #

The dragon and the crack screen

While wandering around other bloggers archives - in a vain (as in unsuccessful) attempt to find others struggling, as I am, to find their writing feet - I ran across the wonderful first article of Mark Pilgrim.

It contains the following beautiful and ironic observation:

Sonys and Broderbunds of the world, pay attention: the only long-term effect of copy protection is to ensure that those who defeat it are immortalized. Long after my Playstation console falls apart, long after all the original, legitimate, uncopyable Playstation discs have crumbled into dust, long after the no-doubt-teenager who cracked Spyro 3 has grown up and joined polite society and found better things to do with his time, Spyro the Dragon will be remembered. Unfortunately, it will also be associated with that damn ugly crack screen, because no other versions will exist. This is what the past will look like someday. And we’ll just shrug, skip intro, and get on with it.

[/technology] posted at 21:09 #

Stopping Gun Gangs in Britain

Gangs and guns are big news here in the UK after some recent high profile shootings. The argument is usually a dichotomy of “re-arm the innocents” vs “disarm everybody”, and personally I tend to side with the former.

However, this article shows a practical solution. Most of it makes sense, we’re not dealing with criminal geniuses.

It’s always worth remembering that the fuel behind the whole situation is drug prohibition, but I don’t have time to rant about that right now.

[/society] posted at 10:56 #

Annotation, the Bible and the public domain

The use of hypertext in centralised, non-intrusive annotation projects is a very valuable one. It is also something that clearly demonstrates the value of a large and digital public domain. Annotated hard-copy is, in comparison, slow, clumsy and limited in it’s uses.

The Skeptics Bible is a project that makes use of hypertext in exactly this way. Its focus on one specific document makes it different to most other annotation projects.

While writing this is has become obvious to me that weblogs are a decentralised citation system. What would a map of social software, with x-axis as citation-annotation and y-axis (de)centralisation look like?

[/technology] posted at 10:18 #

New Zealand Leads the Way

We all know farm subsidies are a disgrace, but how many knew that New Zealand has almost none.

The buycott idea espoused in the Spectator link above is also a good one. Although it possibly conflicts with my scheme to buy from poor EU countries, the plan being that it will reduce their subsidies in the long-term. Maybe I have been thinking backwards…

via samizdata

[/economics] posted at 10:17 #

US traditionalism

The map included in this article is fascinating. An animated version would be awesome.

via Z+Blog

[/society] posted at 10:01 #