The Curmudgeon Speaks

I do not intend this to be an amusing post. The issue is quite serious.

Tech Crunch writer John Biggs generated a post complaining about a situation in which someone from Norway had their Kindle account blocked (it was later restored) because it appears the individual was suspected of having illegal content. Biggs used this situation to argue that ebook owners should learn to remove DRM in order to protect their rights. I guess the logic is – if they can block you from using your content (legal or not), you should protect yourself by storing your content in a format you can use in other ways. There are several assumptions here, but I will let you figure out how he got from A to B yourself.

OK – so far we have one example that turned out not be an example, but suggestions for taking potentially illegal action to combat potentially illegal action are provided anyway.

This used to be a common argument made regarding DVDs. What if the DVD you purchased is damaged and you cannot view the content you own (even if the odds of viewing Revenge of the Nerds more than twice is about 0)? Hence, we learned to “back up” our content. However, since Amazon both allows you to download your books and keeps a copy online you can download again to the same or difference device, the argument you need to back up your content is a pretty weak to take. You pretty much must assume Amazon or other providers are evil.

Here is why I care. My wife and I have recently taken a textbook we have had published for years with a major publisher and self published it with Amazon. Advocating the removal of DRM from a book that costs less than $10 is not what I wanted to hear. This is not a high income enterprise.

Biggs argues:

However, the problem is in the publishers. Rights management is such a mess – especially in Europe – that it is no wonder these issues come mostly from cross-border rights disputes.

Rights management is a significant issue with publishers. This was the primary reason we finally broke from our publisher. However, our situation was different. Our intent was to repurpose our book into a Primer and online content and in the process reduce the price (our 5th edition still is selling for $120+). We intended to increase the total amount of content offering continuous upgrades of the online material and tutorials which we could provide as videos. This seemed like a reasonable strategy.

A sticking point ended up being the “permissions”. Publishing companies worry about permissions. There are countless tutorials on YouTube that were created without bothering to contact the software companies selling the software demonstrated, but a publishing company cannot move forward offering a similar tutorial without a signed permission. Plan to offer a dozen or so tutorials and some examples of classroom projects and you have a permissions nightmare. Not enough revenue in project we wanted to offer for $29. Too many lawyers involved in company to company disputes (see Send lawyers, guns, and money). It appears you cannot generate an inexpensive textbook when you must secure permissions from multiple companies. Perhaps I should have gone to law school.

Just for the record. One of the things we decided to do was to remove pretty much anything that would require a permission (even when we had previously acquired the permission) from our Kindle book and offer such content online (for free). So, if anyone removes DRM so they can read a $9 book in some other way, they are taking this action for some other reason.

I happened to notice today that I have used LastFM for 6 years. Two things about this are interesting. First, it is unusual that an online social service has lasted this long. Second, it is strange a person has stuck with a social service for this long.

LastFM does several interesting things with the intent of encouraging users to discover and purchase new music (I am guessing this is the official justification). A confession – I purchase a lot of digital music, but none through links from this site. I also pay LastFM $4 a month for a pro account. Lets see – 4 x 12 x 6 = ???? – it is probably good I cannot do advanced math in my head. This is likely a lot of money for an online service.

What I personally value LastFM for is that it provides data on my listening habits. I am guessing it has a record of well over 95% of the songs I have listened to during the last 6 years. If you care or wonder what the musical interests of a 60+ guy might be, you can examine the public record. You will find no Guy Lombardo or Lawrence Welk (this is funny but you probably do not know who these musicians are so you may not appreciate the humor).

Just for the record, Miles Davis has been my favorite (3155 listens) and Sweet Child O Mine (Guns and Roses – 122 plays) the most frequent song. I wonder how long it would take to listen to one song 122 times.

LastFM identifies other users who share common interests. For some reason, I share a certain taste with 20 somethings from Russia and several individuals in their 40s from Germany. I find it reassuring that those my age do not friend me.

She’s got a smile it seems to me – Reminds me of childhood memories (Sweet child of mine)

My vocation and personal interests concern the potential of changing lives through information. This is what educators do. We provide access to information and we encourage learners to process this input to develop personal understanding. We know we do not always have the answers to all issues and we do speculate, but we are cautious when doing so. We suggest here are perspectives that some take attributing positions to those who propose them and thus exploring options. We do make decisions not to present some positions, but this is typically when science tells us that some perspectives simply do not deserve serious consideration

This is a book report of a sort. Most comments are based on “The information diet” authored by Clay Johnson. The book explores parallels between our overconsumption of food and information. Sometimes when you get caught up in an interesting analogy you can push the comparison further than is useful. It is true that most of us now have access to inexpensive food and cannot handle this temptation. It is also true that most of us now have access to many television channels and the Internet. We have access to plenty of information. Interesting. So – this is the way the book is organized. I am really only interested in the way the author explores the tendency toward an unwise consumption of information.

My interpretation of the author’s main poins is that we are the source of the failure to benefit from the great information resources available to us. With multiple information sources at our disposal, we select those sources that feed our existing biases rather than those that would challenge and inform. The providers, attending to a profit motive and recognizing that a loyal audience can be identified and fed (sorry – the food analogy works here), offer information from a dependable perspective. The no spin zone actually guarantees that all stories will be spun in the same direction.

The most interesting chapter (perhaps because it plays so well to some of my own observations) examines the history of CNN, Fox, and MSNBC. The story begins in the mid-1990s with the Fox News hiring of Roger Ailes. Ailes moves Fox to the top in the ratings battle. The key Ailes decison seemed to be that the competition among the providers was not about “news” in the way I grew up interpreting the word, but in identifying a core audience and delivering the content as valued by that audience. As MSNBC and CNN began to fade, MSNBC adopted a similar strategy leaving CNN with a declining audience. What Fox and MSNBC recognized, according to Johnson, is that the news is not really about the news. It is about entertainment based on a combination of fear and affirmation. It is about playing to the fears of a given group and offering a spin on information that affirms the perspective of this group in addressing these fears. Of course, Fox and MSNBC are spinning the same stories in opposite directions. The author provides some persuasive examples demonstrating the contrasting titles offered for the same story.

Follow the money. A particularly interesting analysis concerned the budget allocations of the various networks. CNN invests the most in “reporters”. Fox and MSNBC have discovered it is more economical and effective to invest in a few million dollar a year “personalities” than many 40 thousand a year reports (do reporters really make this little money) (the source cited if you really are interested). The strategy seems to be to take a story from the wire service, spin the title in a predictable direction, and have the personalities play off each other saying cute things.

Johnson concludes his analysis with an interesting point. He asks which station we all tend to watch when we really want news. When there is an important event, everyone here and elsewhere in the world tunes to CNN. We seem to know when we need to know and when we want our existing views to be supported.

In a way, it is a depressing situation. How do you get the attention of someone content with feeding a skewed view of the world? How do you argue with someone not willing to engage in a discussion? I have no solutions. As is the situation in this election season, I am mostly interested in the undecided – those who can identify the limitations of an uncritical acceptance of an information source with a perspective. I would suggest that these individuals purposefully consider multiple perspectives on key issues. I am a fan of News360.

I have long valued the Internet as a solution to a wide variety of societal problems. It seems a way for most of us to have a voice and make a difference. Especially in this election season as we are besigned by the hundreds of television ads often funded by those of means, the opportunity to give voice to our own perspective seems of great importance. I guess you just keep making the effort to argue your point of view.

I have noticed something about myself and I am concerned.

I think it is possible I am a Fox News junkie. Now, in public I constantly complain about Fox News. How can this organization seriously use the phrase “the no spin zone” as a self reference. I can’t help bringing up Fox News, even though I am to remain neutral and not bring my political views into my instruction, when I talk about the importance of  developing better critical thinking skills so young people are prepared to deal with the information sources they now encounter.

Yet, when I am one particular setting, even with options available, I am strongly drawn to the Fox pundits. This contradiction in my behavior is scary.

The aerobic machines at “the club” are lined up with a view of multiple television screens. I don’t know who has the remote controls, but the options when I show up in the late afternoon are Fox News, Dr. Phil, and the cooking channel. One might think with my psychologist background I would focus on Dr. Phil. For some reason, this show reminds me of Jerry Springer. An unfair comparison perhaps. I guess the audience is not encouraged to break into the chant – Phil, Phil, Phil – so perhaps I should be less critical. I just don’t understand the purpose of doing therapy in public.

I do watch cooking shows at home. I am not sure why. I don’t cook much and when I do I am limited to things that come in a can, things I can cut up, put in a bowl and dowse with dressing, or pizza. Anyway, thinking about food while exercising seems like a form of self torment.

I guess that does leave Fox News.

I derive a certain energy from watching Fox. I become invigorated and I peddle faster or crank up the elevation on the stair master. Yesterday, the Fox guys were talking about the teacher strike in Chicago. The talking point seemed to be – How could anyone making that much money object to being evaluated on the performance of their students? Just to drive home their point, the Fox guys indicated that even they had to be evaluated. Why, if their ratings should fall, they would be gone in quick order. I started thinking about Fox news guys as educators of the general public having to be evaluated on the quality of the knowledge developed in their viewers. I immediately began to imagine a test we might give to viewers of Fox News. I couldn’t come up the second item. Anyway, I haven’t been able to hit “6” on the elliptical for ten years. Fox News has made me young again.

Maybe I should turn up the volume on my iPod and throw a towel over my head. I don’t know. This woman beside me does that and periodically she breaks into song. Usually, the hook from 60s rock songs.

silence, then mumble, mumble, mumble, you can’t always get what you want!

I generally agree, but these random utterances still unnerve me. Better to focus on “News at the speed of live”. Now what – the President is encouraging terrorists. Who would have guessed?

Weeks go by when there is nothing interesting to blog about and then there is a day like today.

I was headed across campus at 1 to have lunch with my wife. The emergency alert system suddenly activates:

Evacuate Grand Forks, Evacuate Grand Forks, you will be given further instructions.

Strange I thought. I have actually evacuated once, but that happened in the middle of the night because of a flood. What could this be? We seem an unlikely target for some kind of military action. Not exactly a high value target.

Two possibilities seemed most likely; 1) students from a rival institution had hacked the system possibly related to the potato bowl this weekend (yes, we have a potato bowl), 2) an ammonia tanker in the rail yard had ruptured.

It occurred to me that we were playing a team from the west coast with which we have little history so hacking the system reserved for emergencies seemed something you would save for a rival. The ammonia thing seemed a possibility so I searched for the instructions that were promised. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

I decided to have lunch.

The explanation came 40 minutes later.

The emergency message asking people to evacuate Grand Forks should was intended to be a siren tone test only. A siren-only test is sounded the first Wednesday of each month at 1 p.m.  The Emergency Management Office apologizes for any inconvenience.

You can tell the person writing this announcement was excited. Now, aside from thinking too many people had to be consulted before someone bothered to explain, I am fascinated by this image I now have of the preprogrammed emergency box.

What do you think?

Button one – this is a test

Button two – evacuate Grand Forks

Button three – head for the basement

Button four – head for higher ground

Do you think that in an emergency someone might issue a confusing message or not know what to say? Hence, all emergency messages had to be carefully worded and preprogrammed.

I now think they need a button with the message “Whoops – my bad. Never mind!”

Do you know the expression “once in a blue moon” is all about the low frequency of the event and not the color (Google it)?

Shot looked a little different through the eye piece – I could see features of the moon, but I still like the result. Photography is like that.

The decision of the jury in the Apple/Samsung patent dispute was pretty clear. The jury determined that Samsung violated multiple Apple patents and deserved approximately 1 billion in compensation. In addition, Apple is now attempting to block the sale of devices with attributes covered by these patents.

I want to be clear that I support sanctions against those who steal the creative products generated by others. I have no experience with patents, but I understand copyright as it applies to intellectual property I have created. What I do not understand is what qualifies   for a patent. I own both Apple and Samsung products and I understand they  appear to work in the same way. The shape is similar. There are buttons that launch apps. It is not clear to me what practical options would be available. I suppose we could go back to the days of the Apple II and the pre Windows days and use the command line. In general the UI now depends on object based methods.

I have a concern that is shared by many and was part of the argument advanced by Samsung. I am concerned that a lack of competition will influence the cost of devices and whether or not new advances make it to market when possible. Was there no smaller iPad or was there no reason to release one until the Nexus 7 was released and attracted considerable attention (one of the devices in my image is my Nexus).

I have been searching for a summary of the patents that were the target of this suit and warranted a billion dollar penalty. Here are some sources that offer information.

Business Insider (second article)
Wall Street Journal (the count by count insert indicates the patents in question)

My motivation to search for the specific patents involved was to satisfy my own motivation to understand just what can be patented and reach a personal conclusion regarding how significant such developments actually are. My reaction, with the exception of the “bounce back feature’ and “multitouch” is that features in question are trivial. Rounded square icons as a problem? Really!

I think a lot about expertise. This is an important topic in education and hence an interest of most educational psychologists. There are many types of expertise. These thoughts concern the form of expertise involved in helping others accomplish their goals. This can be somewhat different than what most educators do – we help others understand what we want them to understand.

My wife has supported teachers and professors most of her career. She helps others help their students do meaningful things with technology. She has this very interesting capacity to accept a request regarding a specific curriculum goal and then offer options involving various combinations of activity and software/hardware. It is the variety I find impressive. Not a one trick pony way of viewing the world or a dependence on abstract suggestions that leave the details to the educators. Options with the capacity to demonstrate each idea.

Expertise is different than knowledge and most have heard of the 10,000 hour principle. It takes a lot of time and a lot of examples to acquire expertise. I have watched this happen over the last 15 years or so. It is hard to explain just what this takes. Here are a couple of attempts.

Cindy has two iPads. This is not because she always needs the newest and greatest. It is because her first iPad was full of apps and she needed a second one to expand her collection. There is this constant process of exploring – download and experiment. Night after night.

A few weeks ago my daughter asked Cindy to help her prepare some “crafts” that could be sold to support a collaboration with a  cancer treatment center for young people in a South American (I can’t recall the country so you can see how well I follow these “projects’). Anyway, the “hummingbird” is the symbol used by this organization and so the idea was to collect crafts focused on a hummingbird theme. These situations are an opportunity for Cindy to explore. Our daughter made some cards with a hummingbird picture (I did contribute by taking the pics). One design – one option. That is what she had time to do. Cindy purchased a new printer, a laminator, 4 cartridges for our color laser (these are not cheap) and began making things. When things do not work like she expects, there is the chance to figure things out. Sometimes you can print to the edge of a document and sometimes not (this is called bleed – as in full bleed). Half a day trying to get a nonresponsive app to generate a full bleed product.

Now she has some new ideas for projects. Now she understands more about the processes involved in generating and printing in unusual formats. This is what it takes.

We had a bit of a wind event here last night and when we went down to the lake this morning we found that someone had lost their paddleboat and it had drifted up on our beach. Trying to do the right thing, I decide that I should move this boat to the end of the dock so that the owner might see and reclaim it.

The rope that secured the boat before the storm had evidently broken and I was having difficulty moving the water filled boat. I decided the logical thing to do would be to leap into the boat from the dock and paddle it. I remember telling my wife – be decisive. You transfer your weight quickly when boarding an unsecured boat or it will move away from you before you are aboard and you end up in the water. I moved  without hesitation and the boat immediately began to sink. Evidently, the plug was gone and the hollow boat was already filled with water. Not enough buoyancy for my weight. The boat began to flip so I had to jump to prevent the boat from landing on top of me.

Now when I went down to the shore I did not intend to go in the water. I had my phone and the other things I normally carry in my pockets. I hope the Galaxy Nexus survives – I really like that phone. It took me a few seconds to rescue it from my pocket and it is now sunning on the deck.

Oh – come and get your boat. Once I was soaked, I decided to drag it to shore.