Open Source vs. Copyright

Google Scholar was such a success stirring conversation that I want to follow up, taking as a point of departure Dunce's passing mention of open-source vs. limited-access scientific research. I'll pose some questions to you, readers, at the end. First, I want to provide a very narrow, limited context for discussion -- limited because the subject is so immense, my knowledge is not extensive, and my time is about as limited as my knowledgebase.I've thought a lot about this subject lately. The idea of open source is not new, but I gained direct access to it via my interest in e-Learning, Web-based training, and Web development (for that purpose). I found online communities of instructional designers, IT/corporate trainers, courseware authors, Web developers, database programmers, etc. all sharing large blocks of PHP, Flash, and assorted other types of code/script. I also found open source e-Learning course management systems, such as Moodle. Open source communities and resources in IT and IT-related fields are really extraordinary in scope, I've since learned.Since anyone can conveniently select View>Page Source on your Web broswer to view and even "borrow" someone else's code/script, I never seriously considered code/script proprietary. Many Web developers use the built-in HTML "notes" tag to help other designers understand how a script or code works. Code and script can be proprietary, of course. In a way, it's analogous to writing a book. Both require creative manipulation of a standard language (complete with its own rules for semantics and syntax) to create, innovate, and communicate. In fact, I've seen freelance Web development jobs where companies stipulate they retain rights to code, just as magazines do for an exclusive article or cover design. I'd say the IT community operates under some of the most democratic professional practices I've seen, from open source and documentation projects to white papers and working papers related to things like Semantic Web, RSS/RFD, and special problems with XML development.Shift now to the arts, entertainment, media, and publishing industry, where virtually everything is governed by iron-clad copyright laws to protect proprietary and creative collateral. I've heard the complexities of getting permission to use pop songs in broadcast commercials can be more complex than navigating the most draconian government bureaucracies. Google came under fire recently for their project to scan and make searchable all the world's print-based documents via the Internet. Protests about copyright, intellectual property, and lost business revenue have temporarily halted the project (last I heard).In between these two worlds is education, partly governed in the U.S. by "Fair Use" laws (section 106) contained within the U.S. Copyright Act. Fair use laws provide a somewhat ambiguous guide for using materials in conferences, seminars, lectures, and even departmental meetings. I have no expertise or credibility on this subject, but many issues I’ve heard about often hinge on definitions of terms such as "distribution," "performance," "audience," and yes, even "education." For instance, is showing a single printed page converted into a Web-based presentation page in a closed seminar "distribution"? And if a janitor walks by during a "closed session" and sees information displayed on a screen, how does that change audience dynamics? (Silly question, but I heard of a case similar to this dealing with "closed" vs. "open" seminar audiences. I think there's even a limited number of people and percentage of a text you can use without getting in trouble.) Again, I'm not an expert on this, but with corporate, public, and private education embracing online and distance learning, I'm sure there will be many interesting Supreme Court cases in the future.Finally, on a somewhat related note, Monday marks the beginning of one of my favorite annual festivities: Banned Books Week, sponsored by the American Library Association. BBW is to English majors what Easter week is to Christians.The critical connection between BBW and earlier discussion is access. Free access and unlimited freedom to reproduce, distribute, and even use information in personal work makes open source a nice fit for democratic societies. It encourages self-education and free exchange of information to benefit us all. It encourages collaboration and networking, in turn fostering ideas and innovation. On the other hand, controlling the scope of access (e.g. reproduction, distribution, etc.) to artistic, enterprise, and proprietary information -- in turn protecting a person or company's "original" work or idea -- is what makes copyright necessary, some say. Profits from copyright drive entrepreneurial, artistic, and scientific/technological innovation.These two ideas -- open source and copyright -- stand directly opposed to one another, at least philosophically. Open source is also the financially altruistic antithesis of capitalism’s copyright opportunism. Yet, they can and do co-exist. So what do you, readers, see as the future? Do you think we will move toward more open source information, spurred by the Internet, Google, and the host of related geo-political, economic, cultural, and societal factors. Or do you think the future holds even more stringent attempts to exercise copyright laws? If the latter, how do you enforce it on the Internet and across different countries' citizens? What might the ramifications of either be? And which do you feel is better and why? Feel free to "reframe" the discussion; there are lots of entries, and I’ve only scratched the surface. I'm interested in hearing your responses, since I have a wide range of readers -- from IT professionals and researchers/educators to journalists and marketing professionals. For other readers, it may be interesting if you mention your industry in your responses.

I look forward to reading your thoughts.

Google Scholar

Now this... this is truly a great idea. Does any company in America have better, more useful ideas than Google? Does any company in America have better, more useful ideas than Google -- that are free?

If not for college

Last weekend, I watched an interview on CSPAN's BookTV with Charles Murray, a prominent libertarian most (in)famous for his book The Bell Curve. Murray talked extensively about the fact that far more people are attending traditional, four-year college these days than we really need and our economy can reasonably employ (without underemployment). While education is almost always a good thing, the appropriate type of education gauged to market demand as well as individual preferences, goals, and learning styles is important (so echoes the wise English major). The fact is there are a lot of people who have no business attending college. Some of them failed my course last fall. The root causes, problems, and fairly simple solutions to this phenomenon are posts in and of themselves.

In the context of that interview and the throng of college students arriving in town this week, I paused to ask myself: What would I have done if I had not attended college? If I had had the choice between 17-20, I would have attended one of the top radio broadcasting schools in the country -- conveniently located in Charlotte -- and then headed for the deserts of Arizona to work as a program manager/DJ. That would have been a huge mistake considering large-scale syndication has decimated program manager and on-air positions in radio. My accent, though very slight, may have forced me into a country music station.

When I was in college and trying to decide what to do outside of economics -- which I had studied for two years -- I took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test. Turns out I'm predominantly an Intuitive Thinking (NT) type, which according to experts means ideal careers include:

-News analyst
-Design engineer
-Biomedical researcher
-Network integration specialist
-Software developer
-Psychiatrist
-Cardiologist
-Inventor
-Media planner
-Chief Financial Officer
-Military leader
-Webmaster
-Architect
-Desktop publishing specialist

But this can be narrowed even further into the specific Introverted Intuitive Thinking Judging (INTJ) category -- which in a career context translates into the “Mastermind” personality type. Ideal INTJ careers include:

-Corporate strategist / organization builder
-Intellectual property attorney
-Professor
-Business administrator / manager
-Freelance writer

I, of course, chose English with the thought of professor and/or freelance writer. My INTJ penchant for "contingency planning" has in turn been very valuable. That choice may have been a mistake in context of market demands, but it demonstrates the typical "why not?" INTJ attitude. Considering I’ve come full circle and am now doing business planning and development with an English degree (i.e. "contingency planning" in action) reinforces the INTJ's love for the unconventional and paradoxical. The INTJ personality type, interestingly, represents less than 1 percent of the population.

With all this and Charles Murray’s interview in mind, I formulated a "Top 5" list of careers I would have chosen 10 years ago if four-year school had not been an option. These choices are in light of what I know and see now about my personality type and economic realities. This is what I (think) may have done if I had been limited to a two-year degree or less.

1. Independent book seller/storeowner – Would have taken in working experience the time my undergrad and graduate education took, but I’d be in a position to do it now having 10 years in the business along with the requisite networks.

2. Webmaster – This would depend on the position requiring more logic and administration than artistic talent. I’m much more the manager and usability specialist than the graphics/web designer.

3. Printing shop owner – Probably the most desirable trade for me.

4. Landscaper – As some of you (family and people I grew up with) pick yourself up off the floor, let me explain. I envision this more as a landscape planning/architecture position than as a ditch digger or grass mower, although some days I look outdoors and wish I smelled fresh-cut grass instead of ink. The challenge (i.e. enjoyment) of this position would be determining what to do with a given plot of land, from both scenic and logical (water drainage, soil science, climate, etc.) perspectives.

5. Database analyst/administrator – These positions require reporting, analyzing, and solving very complex problems using theoretical models and methodologies. This is really a big question because I’m not sure my background in math and my self discipline at 18 would have been strong enough for this to be feasible until much later – like now, when I find myself fascinated by math, its theories, and its powerful applications. (If I had had a stronger mathematical background and more patience, I may very well have majored in math – in particular, probability theory, game theory, and statistics – knowing what I know now about my personality.)

Ideal cities

I caved. Heather said we would find no mutually agreeable cities in which to live, but see sweetheart? All is not lost, just most of it. :)
1. Deland, Florida
2. Greenville, South Carolina
3. Gainesville, Florida
4. Gainesville, Georgia
5. Biloxi-Gulfport, Mississippi
6. Hickory, North Carolina
7. Tallahassee, Florida
8. Hattiesburg, Mississippi
9. Atlantic Beach-Morehead City, North Carolina
10. Athens, Georgia
11. Tuscaloosa, Alabama
12. Tulsa, Oklahoma
13. San Marcos, Texas
14. Clarksville, Tennessee
15. Crystal River, Florida
16. Chattanooga, Tennessee
17. Clearwater, Florida
18. Jackson, Mississippi
19. Mount Dora, Florida
20. Winterville, North Carolina
21. Daytona Beach, Florida
22. Fairhope, Alabama
23. Hampton, Virginia
24. Oxford, Mississippi

As you, gentle reader, scratch your head trying to make sense of this list, let me shed light. I dislike prolonged, brutal winters (e.g. more than two weeks below 73). I like water (especially the ocean). I dislike big government (somehow that played into this survey because they kept asking me about it). I like golf. I'll tolerate taxes for the arts and education. I won't tolerate long commutes in heavy traffic. I'm fine without an opera. I cannot live without a university library and the opportunity to teach courses here and there.

Which raises a question many of you have raised: How the hell did Tulsa, Okla., get on my list? Perhaps they run the site...

All that we are

Look daddy! Look! Look at me daddy! I'm dancing like a star!
- Abigail

I cannot wrap my mind around the joys I have been granted. Luckily, my arms will do.

The Libertine

Attentive readers will remember that the link John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (also at right), has been on my blog since its inception. Wilmot ranks up there with John Donne and Andrew Marvell as one of the most interesting British literary figures of the 17th Century (always overshadowed by Milton, Dryden, Bacon, Ben Jonson, and earlier 17th c. religious poets). I highly recommend following the link to learn more about Wilmot, if for nothing else a good laugh and rude shock. Although he eventually won critical acclaim for his mastery of poetic forms, wit, and metaphor, he was a libertine, and so discretion is advised for young/sensitive eyes.

I was secretly scheming to write a short piece on Wilmot and submit it to Exquisite Corpse in May (the plan is from February, and I've yet to start it, unfortunately). Well low and behold, I was pleasantly surprised to see a whole article about Wilmot in the April edition of The New Criterion. (April is the poetry edition, which includes notable criticism on Eliot's The Waste Land [with a reminder that April is the cruelest month, of course] and John Wilmot, what looks like interesting pieces on Richard Wilbur's metaphysics and a reconsideration of Chekhov/Tolstoy [which I haven't read yet], and reviews of Greenblatt's latest Shakespeare biography and the controversial Camille Paglia's latest book on English etymology.)

At any rate, reading the article in TNC, I learned about the movie The Libertine, which recounts the life of Wilmot and stars Johnny Depp and John Malkovich. The movie is based on the play by Stephen Jeffreys, and so perhaps this means the movie's subject matter and cinematic portrayal might actually be just. A release date has not been set in the U.S., but the writer in TNC actually thinks it has promise from what he's heard (seen? It wasn't clear). Like most period pieces, especially the ones on bizarre and controversial authors and historical figures, I'm anxiously awaiting its release.

I hope it is much better than Quills, a pathetic portrayal of the Marquis de Sade, and The Count of Monte Cristo, one of Dumas's masterpieces that in the novel had all the action our society would require to sit through a "literary" movie yet was hacked. We shall see how The Libertine does.

Descartes's Dream

[an old fave from undergrad days]

He felt a sudden weakness on his right side
And leaned over to his left to walk the street
But, sensing he made a foolish figure, straightened up
Only to be spun around by a violent wind
And, as he sought shelter in the college chapel,
Rushed by a man in black he thought he’d known.
Who learns to doubt everything can see
The world’s painted dropcloth drawn on strings
Past the grimy window of a train de vie.
I will my arm to move but the flesh abides.

Clockmaker, coolie, collaborator –
He will depend on nothing, not the servant
Girl with the small breasts, not the duke’s
Armies or the thrumming wheel of logic.
In the quadrangle the others all stood upright
Talking with the friend he’d slighted.
Friend? Whom to trust and whom to shun?
Sudden thunder. Fiery sparks are streaming
Through the room. They come from the friend’s mouth.
Truth is whatever darkness we choose to ignore.

He opened the book he found on the upper shelf.
Old tags he recognized but couldn’t name.
Someone called to him from the quadrangle.
If he wished to find his friend, here was a gift
To give him, he said, and held out a curious melon,
The seeded song of nature, its germs of light.
He wanted to show the book now to the man
But as he turned the pages the words slid
Into tiny portraits, copperplate engravings
Of the servant girl, the duke, his mother, himself.

Bodies, those false witnesses, serve the light,
Which would not shine unless it broke against them.
The weight of the falling planet presses into
His eyelids. Suddenly, both the man and the book
Disappeared. The weight lifted. Reason
Again held the reins of the bolting blood-horse.
How far must we get away from the earth to see it
Properly? How long must we go without knowing
Before we discover that everything leads back
To something as simple and dreadful as the night?

--J.D. McClatchy, 1998