Stunning political advocacy Flash. This is one of the most effective pieces of political advocacy I’ve ever seen. Ben Cohen, the Ben of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, narrates a short Flash movie for TrueMajority.org, in which he explains — using Oreo cookies — the way that the federal budget is currently apportioned, and how little rearrangement would be necessary to renew all of America’s social programs. The examples are vivid and charming, and the logic is compelling.
Why IDs Create a False Sense of Security
February 3, 2004 by
Bruce Schneier has written a really excellent piece in the San Francisco Chronicle, called “How We Are Fighting the War on Terrorism: IDs and the Illusion of Security“. He raises several excellent points about how merely having an ID these days is essentially meaningless, and why the ID of using IDs as a stalwart of national security is a dangerously flawed idea.
Scoble is Wrong
January 28, 2004 by
Protect your investment: buy open. Scoble has written a weblog entry about, among other things, iTunes DRM and Microsoft DRM, and whether you should get an iPod. Scoble works for Microsoft, as do a number of good, sharp, ethical people that I know, and I know him in passing, and he seems to be a good guy. With that disclaimer out of the way, let me say that I think that this blog entry of his epitomizes the sloppiest, worst thinking about digital-media in the field today. From [Boing Boing]
The above is snippet from a post Cory Doctorow has written in response to this post by Robert Scoble. Unlike Cory, I don’t know Scoble, even in passing. However, having worked for a company that was acquired by Microsoft, I can say that Cory is right about one thing: the vast majority of Microsoft employees are both highly intelligent and ethical folks. Cory is right about another thing: their intelligence and commitment doesn’t mean they are right, in fact, they are often incorrect as Scoble is in this case.
In his article, Scoble falls victim to Microsoft’s own internal marketing. The gist of which is this: Microsoft’s digital rights management protocol (WMA) will be adopted by more OEMs/vendors. Therefore, there will be more devices on the market (portable audio players, car stereos, rocket jet packs, etc.) that can play music which uses WMA vs. other technologies such as ACC (Apple’s DRM Solution).
The problem is that Scoble is missing the big picture here, which is what Cory pointed out. The true “choice” consumers should be able to take advantage of shouldn’t be linked to a company at all. Neither Apple nor Microsoft should win in this battle of DRM. What should be created is either a consortium of vendors (ala DVD standards) or better yet, and open standard that anyone could implement. In spite of what Scoble seems to believe, consumers do not win when any one company controls the methods by which they can use their media. Cory raises the example of Betamax vs. VHS. Just for a moment let’s forget all of Microsoft’s past business transgressions, and assume that they are the most consumer loving, benevolent company on earth. Even if that were true today, that does not mean that it will always be true. In fact, history has shown it’s not likely to be true as DRM becomes a more important part of our daily lives. If you need some examples of that, think back to Unisys and .gifs or take a look at SCO and Unix. Even though more companies might someday adopt the WMA DRM solution, that does not mean that it will always offer more choice for consumers.
There really is only one way to ensure true freedom of choice for consumers. Freedom to choose where and when they play the music they have rightfully purchased. That is to remove DRM from the hands of any one single company which could (reasonably be foreseen) to use a monopoly in DRM to their competitive advantage. Make it an open standard. Allow anyone to implement it. Period. Create an industry consortium of vendors committed to furthering and developing the standard and simply give away (or charge a nominal fee) for vendor licensing. That would allow a true, open playing field for device manufacturers and software developers, without being locked into any proprietary systems, and would, in the end, be the only way I can see to offer consumers real choice. But I don’t really think choice is what Microsoft wants to offer consumers anyway.
Howard Dean
January 26, 2004 by
First, I’m not a Dean supporter. I honestly haven’t made up my mind about the Democratic primary candidates yet. In my mind, I still want to know more about Kerry, Dean, Edwards and Clark before I make any decisions. And I honestly don’t give one rats ass what voters in Iowa and New Hampshire think. Apparently, the press believes that all voters are lemmings, and we’re not going to research the candidates and make up our own minds, instead blindly following two states which have little in common with our own, simply because their primaries come first.
However, I do think this whole Howard Dean anger thing has been blown way out of proportion. I saw the “angry” speech in question, and I have to say, what exactly about it wasn’t presidential?? That he raised his voice? That he “whooped”? The man was speaking to a rally. A rally of his own supporters. He hadn’t done as well as they’d hoped in Iowa, but they certainly did better than anyone would have expected three months ago. So in speaking to a crowd of 3500 supporters, Dean got excited?! And that is supposed to demonstrate that he’s not presidential? Please people… there are plenty of reasons not to support Howard Dean (like his stance on guns, for example). But blowing something as innocuous as a raucous campaign trail motivational speech this much out of proportion is just plain stupid. Of course, no one ever accused the American media of pandering to intelligence.
Creative Commons
December 30, 2003 by
If you are a creative individual (and most everyone bothering to read this blog is) then you need to know about the Creative Commons.The Creative Commons is the creation of Lawrence Lessig, the Stanford School of Law, Harvard Law School, and many others, that allows people to license their works in ways that actually make sense. You can create something, be it text, music, video, images, etc. and then pick out a Creative Commons license that makes sense for you; options for licensing include granting all rights, granting all non-commercial rights, or combinations thereof. It’s sort of the creative equivalent of the GPL/Open Source thing software developers have been using for their projects, and I think much good can come of it. Check it out.
The President of the United States of America
November 10, 2000 by
As an American, of course I have an opinion on the current election debacle currently raging in our country. I have one thing to say, given the behavior of both the Bush and Gore campaigns: thank god I’m a Libertarian.
I can’t imagine two parties acting with more shame and disgrace than the Democrats and the Republicans. The Republicans dancing around saying “Nah nah nah nah. The count is done, and we’ve won,” considering that there are several thousand absentee ballots yet to be counted. It’s smug. They are cheap shots. These people have no tact and are of dubious moral character. The only correct position for them to take at this point is to say, “We will patiently and respectfully wait until the State of Florida issues an Official, Certified result, based on 100% of all valid ballots counted.” Period. That’s all they should say, nothing more, nothing less.
And the Democrats. Oh, shame of shame. Look, I do think Gore is likely to lose this election, and unfairly so. If and only if after 100% of the entire country’s popular vote is counted, and Gore does win the popular vote while losing the Electoral College vote, it will be sad, and it will be tragic, but it will be within the guidelines of our current system. In my opinion, the veiled threats of legal action and the taunts to the Bush camp cast serious doubts on the moral character of the Gore camp. The only correct position for them to take at this point is to say, “We will patiently and respectfully wait until the State of Florida issues an Official, Certified result, based on 100% of all valid ballots counted.” Period. That’s all they should say, nothing more, nothing less.
So, like every American, I have an opinion on what we should do. Here it is:
Both the Democrats and Republicans should remain silent until the vote count is complete, nationwide, 100% all ballots counted, and Officially Certified by the appropriate State Officials.
The voters of Palm Beach who feel that they were cheated out of a fair vote should sue, on their own with no assistance from any political party, to ensure that this never happens again. They should win their suit, and the outcome should be that split ballots and butterfly ballots are not used again, and that all voters have the right to inspect their ballots in their states well before the election day. In the future then, if they fail to do so, it will be of their own doing. That should be the end of the debate in Florida.
Assuming that the outcome of this debacle is that Gore wins the popular vote, and that Bush wins the Electoral College vote, here’s what I think each camp should do:
The Gore Campaign should issue the following statement: “In the interests of what is the best course of action for the citizens of the United States, the Gore Campaign and the Democratic Party will seek absolutely no legal remedies for the outcome of this election. although we still feel that the people have spoken, as we received a majority of the popular vote, our Constitution provides that the popular vote does not elect the President of the United States. Therefore, we graciously concede the Presidency to George W. Bush. We hope that this historic election will give the citizens of the United States pause, and that the country now realizes the importance of each vote, and that we can now join forces to work for election and campaign finance reform. America is indeed a great democracy, and our ability to set aside our differences and come together to work towards a solution should now be how we prove that to the world.”
The Bush Campaign should then issue the following statement: “In the interests of what is the best course of action for the United States of America, we will seek no legal action in this election whatsoever, and we graciously accept the concession of Vice President Gore. although we have not won the popular vote, our system of election provides for the Electoral College to select the President of the United States, and we rightly won the Electoral votes. The Constitution provides that the President is selected by the Electoral College, not the popular vote, and we will do our best to fill the role of the Presidency with the levity and dignity that the job requires. We hope that this historic election will give the citizens of the United States pause, and that the country now realizes the importance of each vote, and that we can now join forces to work for election and campaign finance reform. America is indeed a great democracy, and our ability to set aside our differences and come together to work towards a solution should now be how we prove that to the world.”
We should all then get on with our lives until December, when the Electoral College meets. At which time, they should say the following:
“This has been a contentious and historic election, and it has placed the nature of our electoral process into the front of America’s thoughts. We have cast our votes, as determined by the laws of each of our individual states, and in doing so, we have exercised our Constitutional right to select the President of the United States. Ladies and Gentlemen, the next President of the United States: Albert Gore.
Several factors have influenced this decision: First, it is our Constitutional charge and right to select the President. Those of us who were legally bound by our respective states to vote one way, did so. Those of us who were free to vote our conscious did so as well, and the American people, regardless of their State elected Al Gore in the popular vote. Now, this might seem to circumvent “State’s rights” but nothing could be further from the case. We are selecting the leader of the entire United States, and for this purpose, there are no individual States, there is only the United States of America and as one, collective body, the majority of Americans selected Al Gore, and in our selection of him for the Presidency, we are simply echoing the wishes of the majority of the citizens of the United States.”
And that’s all the Electoral College should say. And then, Al Gore and the Democrats should graciously accept the role. And George Bush should graciously concede.
And I live in a fantasy land… sigh
Now, before you accuse me of some hidden agenda, keep in mind, not only am I a Libertarian, I cast my vote Libertarian as well. I don’t think either Al Gore or George Bush are of Presidential caliber, which is why they are both behaving so horribly in this current situation. But I also think that the people have spoken, and if a majority of them selected Al Gore in the popular vote, then that’s that. For Bush to win on a technicality is no more noble than Al Gore to win in a Court of Law.
There is no clear winner in this election; there is only a loser: the American People. Both candidates have shown that the Presidency of the United States is a role they don’t possess the dignity and intelligence to fill. They and their parties have both behaved as children, not as leaders, and in this time of crisis, neither has risen to the role of statesmen. It makes me shudder at the thought of either of them dealing with an international crisis. What name calling, derision, and underhanded legal tactics will we be subjected to then?
The only clear course of action, at this point, is for we, the people of the United States of America to reform our process. Now is the time for us to join together, reform our elections, design better ballots, update an antiquated electoral system, even if it means amending the United States Constitution.
It is clear from this tragedy that we need some electoral reform. And the best thing we can do for ourselves and our country is to pass campaign finance reform, take the big money out of politics and open the doors to dissenting points of view in our campaigns and our debates.
Right now, we are standing on a very steep, rocky, and dangerous precipice. The only thing we can do to save ourselves is to join together, and take a cautious step back from the edge.