Every week I read of another video or music industry bigwig complaining about iTunes and its business model. There are constant rumblings of unhappy companies deciding against renewing contracts or deciding to terminate partnerships with Apple. Universal didn't renew their contract. Warner and Sony are rumored to do the same. The chief executive of NBC, another company not renewing an iTunes contract, recently flamed Apple saying "that Apple has destroyed the music business - in terms of pricing - and if we don't take control, they'll do the same thing on the video side."
iTunes, the supreme source for digital video and music, is losing industry support. The business model that was so successful the past 5 years is becoming unattractive to some and Apple has shown it is unwilling to budge. Companies are transitioning from offering paid downloads to ad funded online videos. Just this week one such download service backed by NBC, Universal and Fox was launched and is gaining praise. Apple is unwilling to change so the media guys are looking to cut out the middleman. Apple really needs to be careful. If they keep driving their content creators away, their library will dwindle and customers will look elsewhere. Online and on demand video is poised to do what digital music downloads have done in the past decade. Apple better figure it out or watch the market shift to the next guy.
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Monday, October 29, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Enforcing Title IX in Computer Science
A certain senator suggested using Title IX on math, science and technology fields to do what the law has done to collegiate sports. Let's explore what may happen if Title IX was enforced by legislation on these majors, seeing what has happened to collegiate sports since the 70s. Title IX found that the many universities were spending too much on mens sports and not enough on womens. Many were forced to cut back the funding of some mens sports while they had to pump money in to womens sports. Some results: over 100 mens gymnastics programs have been dropped as well as 170 wrestling teams.
How would this affect technology majors? Would the IT and ISYS majors be cut so that the university could even things out? Would CS be required to accept as many women as men? Would scholarships for women in tech majors be handed out like hot dogs at a BUYSA activity while men would be better off panning for gold in the Provo river? I'm not really sure but I don't think legislation is the answer to getting women in technology. People would find it absurd if you required the nursing program to accept as many men as women. Schools of technology simply need to do all they can to entice both men and women to study their disciplines and then accept the dice how they fall.
How would this affect technology majors? Would the IT and ISYS majors be cut so that the university could even things out? Would CS be required to accept as many women as men? Would scholarships for women in tech majors be handed out like hot dogs at a BUYSA activity while men would be better off panning for gold in the Provo river? I'm not really sure but I don't think legislation is the answer to getting women in technology. People would find it absurd if you required the nursing program to accept as many men as women. Schools of technology simply need to do all they can to entice both men and women to study their disciplines and then accept the dice how they fall.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
All I really need to know I learned from Cliff Stoll
Ok, so there is a lot more to learn that what I learned from Cliff Stoll, the author of The Cuckoo's Egg, but I did learn a lot of things while I was reading his book. Some of it is computer stuff and some is life stuff. There are a lot of personal insights that I gathered from the book so I am going to cover a few.
Paradigm Shifts Happen
In the beginning of The Cuckoo's Egg Cliff is a self proclaimed right wing, peace loving, long haired, uncommitted, secret government agency hating, bachelor of Berkeley California. As he tracked a hacker for over a year many of his paradigms began to shift. He saw that this hacker was evading privacy and trying to access sensitive information. Additionally the hacker could have easily destroyed the work of many people. Cliff would have originally thought of him as a harmless prankster, but he realized that this guy was breaking the trust that all these networks were built upon. He was exploiting the faith of the users.
When he first got in contact with the FBI, CIA, NSA and other government or military organizations he could hardly believe that he was fraternizing with those "spooks." But as he met and interacted with them he realized they were just people too. They had the same interests, skills, hobbies and hopes that he had. They were just like him, decent people trying to do the right thing.
On a more personal note, we saw the transformation from somewhat uncommitted boyfriend to committed happy husband. As I read Cliffs stories and saw how his ideas changed I realized that sometimes paradigm shifts happen. Maybe you begin to realize that you are not as liberal or conservative as you thought, your idea of commitment is not what it used to be, or maybe "those people" are not who you thought they were. This is also dependent on how much you are willing to learn. Are you open minded enough to accept things that are different than you believe?
Keeping a Record is Important
Throughout the pursuit of his hacker Cliff took extensive notes. Everything that the hacker typed was recorded. Every call cliff made was written down. He was meticulous. Finally, when he asked someone why his case was so important he was told that his was the first account that was so well documented. Additionally he was able to reconstruct all that happened during the chase. This was due to the fact that he kept great records.
This has made me realize how important it is to keep good records. There are a lot of experiences in my life that I don't want forgotten when I die (or even a few years down the road). Thus it is so important that I keep a detailed journal of the important things that happen in my life so that I, as well as others, can remember significant events of my life. This reminds me of a time I was reading my dad's journal and he wrote the following: "Today I had the most incredible experience of my life and I will never forget it." That was it. I asked him what the experience was and he couldn't remember.
You Are More Than You Think You Are
Cliff Stoll is first and foremost an astronomer. He often stated that throughout the book. But he was put in a situation where he had to track a computer hacker. His specialty was not computers, operating systems, networks or security. No, it was stars, galaxies, telescopes and other celestial things. But he found himself tracking this spy throughout systems and networks, staying a step ahead of the attacker, doing things that he never thought he would have to do. Doing much more than an astronomer should be able to do. But that is just life. Sometimes we are put in positions that require more than we think we have or can give. We each have experiences that are atypical for us but our abilities and skill sets are such that we may be the only one who can resolve the issues. Sometimes we are more than we think we are.
Information Needs to be Stored, Organized, Shared and Available
While tracking the hacker Cliff discovered some interesting and easily exposable computer security exploits. Many times he would share them with the authorities and would be shocked by the response that they knew about the problem, it was a common issue, and they had noted it. Why wasn't this information publicly available, why don't other people know about this? Then they could try to protect themselves.
There is so much information that could help people. So many people are falling in to the same old traps, doing the same dumb things that people before them did, all because of ignorance. Thank goodness for the internet as it is now and the wealth of information that we can gather from it. This needs to continue and improve. Let's continue to index and record information, share it and make it available. Additionally, we need to seek it out. When we do so, we will experience fewer problems because of our ignorance.
So as I reflect on the insights gathered and lessons learned from The Cuckoo's Nest I realize there is a lot to learn from Cliff Stoll. Fortunately for us he was an excellent record keeper an engaging story teller. Reading this book taught me that paradigm shifts happen, record keeping is important, I am more than I think I am and information should be stored, organized, shared and available.
Paradigm Shifts Happen
In the beginning of The Cuckoo's Egg Cliff is a self proclaimed right wing, peace loving, long haired, uncommitted, secret government agency hating, bachelor of Berkeley California. As he tracked a hacker for over a year many of his paradigms began to shift. He saw that this hacker was evading privacy and trying to access sensitive information. Additionally the hacker could have easily destroyed the work of many people. Cliff would have originally thought of him as a harmless prankster, but he realized that this guy was breaking the trust that all these networks were built upon. He was exploiting the faith of the users.
When he first got in contact with the FBI, CIA, NSA and other government or military organizations he could hardly believe that he was fraternizing with those "spooks." But as he met and interacted with them he realized they were just people too. They had the same interests, skills, hobbies and hopes that he had. They were just like him, decent people trying to do the right thing.
On a more personal note, we saw the transformation from somewhat uncommitted boyfriend to committed happy husband. As I read Cliffs stories and saw how his ideas changed I realized that sometimes paradigm shifts happen. Maybe you begin to realize that you are not as liberal or conservative as you thought, your idea of commitment is not what it used to be, or maybe "those people" are not who you thought they were. This is also dependent on how much you are willing to learn. Are you open minded enough to accept things that are different than you believe?
Keeping a Record is Important
Throughout the pursuit of his hacker Cliff took extensive notes. Everything that the hacker typed was recorded. Every call cliff made was written down. He was meticulous. Finally, when he asked someone why his case was so important he was told that his was the first account that was so well documented. Additionally he was able to reconstruct all that happened during the chase. This was due to the fact that he kept great records.
This has made me realize how important it is to keep good records. There are a lot of experiences in my life that I don't want forgotten when I die (or even a few years down the road). Thus it is so important that I keep a detailed journal of the important things that happen in my life so that I, as well as others, can remember significant events of my life. This reminds me of a time I was reading my dad's journal and he wrote the following: "Today I had the most incredible experience of my life and I will never forget it." That was it. I asked him what the experience was and he couldn't remember.
You Are More Than You Think You Are
Cliff Stoll is first and foremost an astronomer. He often stated that throughout the book. But he was put in a situation where he had to track a computer hacker. His specialty was not computers, operating systems, networks or security. No, it was stars, galaxies, telescopes and other celestial things. But he found himself tracking this spy throughout systems and networks, staying a step ahead of the attacker, doing things that he never thought he would have to do. Doing much more than an astronomer should be able to do. But that is just life. Sometimes we are put in positions that require more than we think we have or can give. We each have experiences that are atypical for us but our abilities and skill sets are such that we may be the only one who can resolve the issues. Sometimes we are more than we think we are.
Information Needs to be Stored, Organized, Shared and Available
While tracking the hacker Cliff discovered some interesting and easily exposable computer security exploits. Many times he would share them with the authorities and would be shocked by the response that they knew about the problem, it was a common issue, and they had noted it. Why wasn't this information publicly available, why don't other people know about this? Then they could try to protect themselves.
There is so much information that could help people. So many people are falling in to the same old traps, doing the same dumb things that people before them did, all because of ignorance. Thank goodness for the internet as it is now and the wealth of information that we can gather from it. This needs to continue and improve. Let's continue to index and record information, share it and make it available. Additionally, we need to seek it out. When we do so, we will experience fewer problems because of our ignorance.
So as I reflect on the insights gathered and lessons learned from The Cuckoo's Nest I realize there is a lot to learn from Cliff Stoll. Fortunately for us he was an excellent record keeper an engaging story teller. Reading this book taught me that paradigm shifts happen, record keeping is important, I am more than I think I am and information should be stored, organized, shared and available.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
1957: Sputnik Changes the World
Fifty years ago today Sputnik launched as the first man-made satellite. Americans noticed and most thought our enemies, the Soviets, were winning, were advancing at a rate that we could not match. In retrospect I offer this to the Soviets. Thank you. Thanks for jump starting the space race. Your satellite led the way. Because of what you began we now enjoy the benefits of GPS, satellite TV, cell phones, worldwide broadcasts, Google Earth, and so much more. Let's continue innovating. Thanks Soviet Union.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Digital Privacy in the US
I was reading a few articles today about Google and privacy rights. One article was about Google Street View, a technology that shows street level images of buildings, cars and even people, and the privacy issues of doing such a thing in Canada. Apparently the privacy laws in Canada restrict showing faces or license plates on the internet.
After reading this article I wondered why the US is lagging behind in the issue of digital privacy. Another point of view could say that others are overprotective. I don't know which is right but in a world of identity theft and crazy stalkers I would tend to lean towards the lagging behind camp. This article shows us that the US does not protect the right not to be identified online while Canadian laws purely protect that right. The US needs to learn from the Canadian laws of privacy and help protect the privacy and dignity of its citizens.
After reading this article I wondered why the US is lagging behind in the issue of digital privacy. Another point of view could say that others are overprotective. I don't know which is right but in a world of identity theft and crazy stalkers I would tend to lean towards the lagging behind camp. This article shows us that the US does not protect the right not to be identified online while Canadian laws purely protect that right. The US needs to learn from the Canadian laws of privacy and help protect the privacy and dignity of its citizens.
Embracing Technology: A Paradigm Shift
In this era of technology it is hard to imagine any significant group or organization that wouldn't embrace technology. We all see how technology improves our lives and makes things easier. Can you imagine engineers not using computer aided drafting software or accountants not using spreadsheets? It would be silly not to.
Although somewhat different I wondered why Galileo's ideas were so readily rejected by the religious leaders of the time. Many modern day scientists develop other radical ideas that are easily embraced by the masses. I think technology has helped people to accept new ideas. There has been a colossal paradigm shift that technology has introduced to us. In a world where changes in technology crawled along, people couldn't accept change as easily. Now you can spend hours a day learning about new technologies, and this where our paradigm shift has come from.
Although somewhat different I wondered why Galileo's ideas were so readily rejected by the religious leaders of the time. Many modern day scientists develop other radical ideas that are easily embraced by the masses. I think technology has helped people to accept new ideas. There has been a colossal paradigm shift that technology has introduced to us. In a world where changes in technology crawled along, people couldn't accept change as easily. Now you can spend hours a day learning about new technologies, and this where our paradigm shift has come from.
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