Link: Piercing the peer–to–peer myths: An examination of the Canadian experience.

I imagine virtually everyone has read or heard about the music and movie industries’ push to tighten copyright laws because of peer to peer file sharing. I’m not convinced that it’s really had a big effect on either industry — I’d argue that most people who copy songs or movies wouldn’t have bought them in any case, so there’s no real loss to the companies. Of course, the companies in question feel differently.

To me, the important question is how this will effect the book industry. How long before we can download an illegal copy of just about any book we want? Is that a real loss to the publisher and author? If I had no intention of buying the book, ever, then if I get an electronic copy for my PDA, how is that different than borrowing from a library or friend?

As a writer, I certainly want to be paid for my work. However, I also realize there’s value in being popular, even when that popularity comes as a result of people sharing my work illegally. Should I find a way to entice my readers to buy my books, or should I seek to punish them for reading them without first paying the price?

I don’t think it’s a good idea to treat your fans like criminals. The person who’s downloaded three of your novels without paying may tick you off, but remember, isn’t he more likely to buy your next one because he enjoys your work?

I believe that it’s only a matter of time before the publishing industry faces exactly what the music and movie industries have faced over the last years. Writers and publishers should take a good look at how they’ve handled it and not make those same mistakes.

Link: Slashdot | Women Leaving I.T..

This article (and comments) is rather interesting. As a woman in IT, I can relate to the discussion. Note that the article the discussion references is a bit simplistic, attributing women’s exodus, for the most part, to family responsibilities.

For those who aren’t slashdot fans, note that it’s a heavily male audience and very tech oriented. If you’re easily offended, maybe you ought to just skim the comments…

Link: CNN.com – Parents protest radio ID tags for students – Feb 10, 2005.

Spooky….

I don’t like the idea of sticking RF tags on children to keep track of them. I know the argument is pro-safety, but give me a break. First, if someone wants to take one of these kids, don’t you think they’d notice the badge and get rid of it?  The principal argues for tracking kids to reduce vandalism (and similar behavior), but what stops a child from leaving his badge behind before running off to get into trouble?

This is an over-simplified "solution" to the problems our schools are facing. It doesn’t take a genius to get around a RF badge, and these kids will quickly figure out the tricks. Why not spend the money on aides or (gasp!) recruit volunteers to help keep the school monitored?

Oh yeah, I forgot. The school gets a kickback from the RF manufacturer for each unit sold…. Who would have guessed? 

Link: Monkeys Pay to See Female Monkey Bottoms.

Okay, as interesting as it might be to learn that monkeys will pay for naughty pictures, just as lots of people do, I think there’s something else here that’s really intriguing.

What about the fact that monkeys can understand trading for something they want at all? They trade juice for the chance to view images of other monkeys. Don’t you think a creature that can understand that is a bit too intelligent to be kept in a zoo?

BBC NEWS | UK | ‘I don’t like Monday 24 January’.

Okay, maybe I should stay in bed today!

This is a little goofy, but it looks like that today is the most miserable day of the year. At least, according to at least one person.

Now that we’re over three weeks into the new year, how are those writing resolutions coming along? Yes, I’m still writing every day! I think this is the first resolution I’ve kept this long.

Human ancestors unearthed.

This is a subject I find interesting. You might have noticed the articles about hominid fossils being found in eastern Africa, and this is one of the many articles I’ve run across on the subject.

Note also the book recommendation in the sidebar. I enjoy reading — and speculating — about what everyday life might have been like for our early ancestors.

If anyone has any book recommendations, I’d be interested to hear them.

Yahoo! News – Harvard President Issues an Apology for Remarks.

I’ve been loosely following this story as well. Apparently the president of Harvard made some comments speculating that innate ability may be a partial explanation as to why women tend to not pursue (or not excel in) science and math careers.

From what I understand, he also speculated that many women are unwilling to work the long hours needed to rise to the top of their profession once they have children.

I don’t know what the statistics are, but this is what I see from my own experience. I’m a woman in a technical job (programmer), and it’s true that most of the technical people where I work (about 350 people total) are men.  Men do make up the vast majority of the upper-level developers as well.

Why?

I can’t answer that, but I can speculate. (I know, look where it got Harvard’s president!)

I suspect that he may be partially right, that many times women aren’t willing to wrok long hours because of family responsibility. However, I can say the same for many men. That may explain why any one individual doesn’t advance, but I don’t think it would make a significant difference when comparing the sexes.

I think part of it may be cultural. I wasn’t encouraged to do math and science in school, and I didn’t have a computer to experiment with until I was grown. I think more men tend to spend time just experimenting than women do, and that may explain part of the discrepancy. I hope that changes as more games are designed with girls and women in mind and as computers become more ever-present in our lives.

Here’s where I’ll get in trouble. I wouldn’t rul out innate tendencies as part of the explanation. Perhaps women tend to prefer careers that involve high levels of human interaction. That certainly isn’t something you get sitting behind a computer. That certainly doesn’t mean woman aren’t as bright or as capable.

When does having a different set of abilites make you less capable? As a writer, I’d argue that working with language is every bit as challenging as working with a computer. It certainly takes different skills, but that doesn’t mean that either skill set is inherently better.

Prospect – article_details.

Here’s an interesting article for the science fiction fans out there.

I’m no physicist, but the gyst is that an advanced civilization might be able to one day leave the universe (perhaps via a wormhole).