If people were asked to think twice about using the word “retard(ed)” in reference to something ridiculous or stupid, they might stop. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Ethics’ Category
Researching Food
I’m adding a new habit to improve my lifestyle every month this year.
So far, I’ve resolved to drink enough water and re-learn Spanish. I’m pretty consistent on the water thing, y puedo hablar Español mejor que el mes pasado.
I’m highly tempted to use my monthly resolutions to do something work-related, but I’m trying to keep them in the spirit of health and well-being. This month, I’m going to start paying more attention to the food that I buy, more in an ethical sense than a dietary microscope sense.
Sick week
I have the flu, and it’s my own fault.
We have a rule at FrogSlayer: Don’t come to work if you’re sick. We’re usually pretty good at following it, but we had a client going public last week with a product we were developing. The pressure was on, and our dev leads were coming down with fevers.
Here’s where we screwed up. Our client was urging us to rally our troops, so we called the sick ones to check their status. We told them that we needed them, but told them we’d manage if they couldn’t make it.
They came to work. The result? 4 strains of influenza chewed their way through the office last week. This week, no work is getting done. We’re not happy, our client isn’t happy, and our employees aren’t happy. Also, we’re not getting paid.
We should never have asked our employees to break the don’t-come-to-work-if-you’re-sick rule, and now we have to figure out if they came in because they’re a bunch of badass heroes, or if they felt like they had to because we asked. Either way, the outcome was horrific, and we will never repeat this mistake.
Don’t ever ask a sick employee to come to work. Trust me — you can’t afford it.
GoDaddy and I broke up.
Sometimes, sarcastic web developers and misogynistic hosting providers simply grow apart. I hope my readers understand that it’s not their fault.
I’ve been avoiding the drudgery of switching providers for awhile; but since most of my domains are expiring this month, it was time to either slog through it or give GoDaddy a bunch of money. Had I seen just how ridiculously sexist their commercials were before I’d originally signed up with them, I never would have done so in the first place.
(FYI, their admin interface sucks too. Not only was it impossible to find anything, they changed it every week.)
I’m much happier with BlueHost, not to mention richer. $6.95/month for unlimited hosting? I was paying that for one site with GoDaddy! Not a paid advertisement, by the way — just a satisfied customer.
I transitioned this site first just to get a feel for it, and it could not have been easier. Doing the rest of them this week.
Is your ISP blocking Google?
If you’re up to speed on the corporate greed side of the Net Neutrality argument, you’re aware that the major internet service providers (ISPs) would love to be able to charge us for access to Google’s services — namely YouTube, and namely because we download videos of kittens falling asleep at alarming rates, causing traffic on the ISPs’ networks.
For the last few years, tech forums have been sprinkled with people reporting that periodically, they can get to any website they want, unless it’s a Google-owned site (Gmail, YouTube, etc.). The problem usually resolves itself after a couple of hours.
What’s going on?
If my thoughts on the subject are to be believed, the ISPs are periodically blocking their DNS servers from redirecting to Google-owned sites. This reduces the amount of data flowing across their networks, saving them money.
ISPs provide service to their customers in the hopes that they will not utilize high amounts of bandwidth. Think in terms of an all-you-can-eat buffet: if you pay full price and eat one plate of food, you’ve given the restaurant a higher profit than the World-Hot-Dog-Eating-Champion who can skeletonize a bucket of fried chicken faster than I can come up with a metaphor.
What do I do?
First, set your router to use a Google Public DNS server. (Due to the variety of commercially available routers, I cannot give you instructions for this — apologies. Consult the manual that came with your router. You DO have the manual, don’t you?)
If you’re having trouble reaching Google because you’re presently a victim of this atrocity, they have two server addresses: 8.8.4.4 and 8.8.8.8. You can also use other public DNS servers, but I can guarantee that these will be able to find Google!
Once you’re back up and running, email your ISP and demand an explanation. You contracted with them to provide a service, and if they are unable or unwilling to provide the service that they promised, you should be entitled to a credit on your bill.
(Good luck with actually getting a credit, but you’ll be standing up for fair practices when you tell your ISP that you won’t sit idly by while they take your money for nothing!)
Technology Patents
I read a couple of news stories today that got the topic of technology patents re-stuck in my craw:
Amazon Ponies Up to Microsoft for Linux Rights (Click to read the story at TechNewsWorld.com)
In summary, Microsoft and Amazon are involved in some cross-patent action. They’re patenting the technology by which the Kindle grabs content from Linux-based servers, and Amazon pays Microsoft for the privilege. Microsoft has asserted in the past that Linux infringes on their patents, so this patent carries some troubling connotations.
Xerox sues Google, Yahoo over search patents (Click to read the story at CNET News)
So Xerox is seeking an injunction against Google, because they thought up the idea for a “System for Automatically Generating Queries” and a “Method and Apparatus for the Integration of Information and Knowledge.”
The article references the two patents that Xerox is waving around. I took a minute to scan them, and I’ll give the fine folks at Xerox credit for commiting to the creation of such a long document. I further praise their ability to wax rhetorical, at length, about not much at all.
In 2001, they came up with a theoretical framework for a search engine. Though it made references to the use of technologies like HTML and XML, neither mentioned the use of PHP, which is really the backbone of the Google search engine (which, for those counting at home, was launched in 1997).
The long-and-short of it, if you believe the assertions of all involved, is that Xerox came up with an idea and sat on it for 10 years, whereas Google delivered a product, from which the entire world has benefitted, that was fundamentally similar to Xerox’ idea.
My Two Cents
I’m going to propose a radical new concept, which I would characterize as both idealistic and pragmatic. In the name of the forward progress of technology, I call upon the technology community to unite and deliver this message unto the corporate mega-giants: Screw Your Patent.
By getting a rubber stamp on a vague idea, and then using your “ownership” of that idea to hinder the efforts of people who take action and create products, you become the wrench in the gears; and while everyone involved could be directing their efforts toward further innovation, you’d rather they all stop and pay atention to you, while you insist on receiving money that you’ve done nothing to earn.
I say we do away with patents. Having a good idea is fine and all, but if you produce nothing beneficial from that idea, it’s worthless in a practical sense. Open source is the way and the light — let’s all start announcing our ideas to the world, and see what happens. We can still take credit for the things that we produce, and make mad profits — but ideas are worthless without execution.
(My apologies to the person or entity who first thought of doing away with patents and rewarding actual progress — please don’t sue me, I promise it’s not worth your time.)
What is Net Neutrality?
I know a lot of people have heard the term Net Neutrality, but are still a bit in the dark regarding what it actually means. The best short answer to define Net Neutrality that I’ve seen comes from Save The Internet, one of the most forefront activist sites on the topic:
“Net Neutrality means that Internet service providers may not discriminate between different kinds of content and applications online. It guarantees a level playing field for all Web sites and Internet technologies.
Net Neutrality is the reason the Internet has driven economic innovation, democratic participation and free speech online. It protects the consumer’s right to use any equipment, content, application or service without interference from the network provider. With Net Neutrality, the network’s only job is to move data — not to choose which data to privilege with higher quality service.”
I could rant endlessly, but the essential aim of the Net Neutrality movement is to prevent the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from severely limiting our access to the internet, and making a bundle in the process. Another quote from Save The Internet:
“The nation’s largest telephone and cable companies — including AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner Cable — want to be Internet gatekeepers, deciding which Web sites go fast or slow and which won’t load at all.
They want to tax content providers to guarantee speedy delivery of their data. And they want to discriminate in favor of their own search engines, Internet phone services and streaming video — while slowing down or blocking services offered by their competitors.”
For more general information on the benefits of Net Neutrality, check out the FAQ on Save The Internet.
