The New* Big Blue

Hind sight is 20/20. So often it seems that events that occurred decades ago were inevitable, and the current state of things is accepted as obvious. Those who make the future are those that realize that there is no such thing as inevitability.

Not that long ago IBM, Big Blue, was the all-powerful behemoth that ruled the realm of technology. It was a scary world for new companies like Apple, Microsoft, and those countless unfortunates who are no longer in existence. For the last couple of decades or so, Microsoft has been the Undisputed World Technology Champion, and it has seemed like an inevitability.

Those of us in the industry have sensed a shift lately, and Microsoft is no longer "the place to be". If Microsoft was the "New Big Blue", then Google may be considered the "New New Big Blue". And, just as sure as Google is becoming the industry giant now, some company will replace Google, likely one that has not even been formed yet.

Dr. Charles Knutson of BYU stressed to me the importance of the individual. There will likely come a point in each of our lives where we'll have an opportunity to say something, to make some decision or point out some insight, that will change the shape of whatever industry we may be in and, potentially, the world. And children who are born after that change is effected will count it as an inevitability. The sad, scary, and unfortunate flip side to that coin is the fact that many of us will not realize the opportunity. We won't make the decision, realize the insight, say the right thing at the right time, and we won't change the world. The important thing to realize is that it is up to us - it hasn't happened yet, and it is most certainly not an inevitability.

Free Like Speech

Those who are familiar with the realm of Open Source have probably heard the phrase "Free like speech, not free like beer". The underlying concept here is that intellectual property should be easily and widely distributed, but still protected from abuse or profiteering by those who get their hands on it. I believe this concept relates to the music piracy issues of today, but it's hard for me to say - I'm not a huge music person. So I'll try to relate it to something I am passionate about - improvisational comedy.

In the spring of 2007 I started getting into improv. I came to absolutely love it, and I wanted to learn more about it. That fall a friend of mine lent me "Truth in Comedy", which can arguably be considered the Bible of improv. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and for Christmas my wife bought my the follow-up "Art by Committee". However, that was supposed to be used as a companion book and not strictly a sequel. So, I went online and bought "Truth in Comedy", along with another book or two about improv. I already have a small and growing list of improv books I intend to buy sometime this year.

The point I'm trying to make is the power of word-of-mouth. I was introduced to improv by word of mouth, and I was lent a book that I ended up buying. If I were to lend my copy to a friend who has no interest in improv then he might find it amusing or even enjoyable, but he won't buy it - unless, by my lending him the book, he becomes interested in improv and wants to become active in it. Either way, by my lending him the book I did not detract from the book sales, but I may have contributed to it. I believe this applies to most or all creative works, and the music industry needs to realize this before they end up shooting themselves in the foot.

Internet == Time Vacuum

I'm a huge Friends fan, and one of my favorite lines comes from an episode where Ross's girlfriend is looking at his old family pictures. When asked about the one with him and the albino kids, he replied, "Those weren't albino kids! That was Computer Camp!" I laughed harder than my wife because I know all too well about the albino geeks out there. To people like me, computers are fascinating machines that empower and gratify. Of course, the Internet just makes things worse! Knowledge and entertainment are readily available to fulfill our every whim. With such wonderful devices at our disposal, what motivation have we to ever leave them? I have the motivation of outside sports, improv comedy, religion, and, most importantly, my family to knock me off-line and into the real world. Every geek (and I use that term affectionately) needs to set limits that will get them out into the sun and interacting with real people. Do it for your physical health, your social life, and your pigmentation.

Making the Internet a Safer Place

An amazing effort is being made right now by individuals who care about how safe, or unsafe, the internet is - especially for families. A new website has emerged, the Internet Safety Wiki, and, along with it, the Internet Safety Podcast. But this is a new resource with open-source mentality, so they're looking for help. If you care about safety on the Internet and you want to help, please check these sites out and find out how to contribute. The knowledge is out there, we're just trying to make it more accessible so that everyone who wants to be safe can be.

Better Education and the Flattening World

Hundreds of years ago education was scarce, and the best education was an apprenticeship. As the opportunity to become educated has become more available it has also become more necessary. For decades now a high school diploma has been required for anything career beyond manual labor.

We are now entering an era where a University degree is becoming the new high school diploma. In other words, if you don't get a University degree then there's a good chance you'll end up doing work that is not personally fulfilling. Fulfilling jobs that used to be attainable with a high school degree are now being digitized, automated, or outsourced. And to get a job on the "cutting edge" will likely require a Graduate degree.

The expectation that people educate themselves is not a bad thing. Education should be a lifetime pursuit for all people. The problems that arise with requiring more education deal with the opportunity to attain such education. This is a huge problem in the U.S., where higher education is not paid for by the government and most Universities put their students so far into debt that their graduates jump at the first job offered them instead of the one they really want or deserve. There are even more who are unable to amass the debt education imposes and are therefore unable to even qualify for those jobs that they are ultimately capable of doing.

As the world flattens we should be more aware of those around us. Instead we seem to be distancing ourselves from anyone who is not like us with respect to education and social status. We need to recognize the fundamental social changes imposed by a flattening world and adjust accordingly to prevent the elimination of the middle class and revert to the Dark Age caste system of educated nobility and the ignorant masses.

Vocal Cords: Next on the Obsolete List

Ambient Corp. recently unveiled the next big breakthrough in speech recognition - recognizing words you don't even vocalize! A sophisticated neckband detects signals intended for the vocal cords and sends them wirelessly to a computer that then vocalizes them for you. This, of course, has astonishing potential for those who have lost the ability to use their vocal cords, whether through injury or illness. My only concern is for those people who have already substituted dating for chat rooms and outside activity and socializing for online RPG's. Physicality and sociality are already out the window, and it looks like speech in general is next!

Women in Computing:Nature vs Nurture

Just over a year ago my wife graduated with a degree in Early Childhood Education. Men in her field are about as prevalent as women in my field, Computer Science. Did my wife choose to work with children because she wasn’t given the opportunity to study any of the hard sciences? Is it because she is not capable as a woman to comprehend the hard sciences? No, she simply prefers working with children. I’m not saying that the field is perfect – we’re still getting used to women who prefer to study computers – but the rampant sexism just isn’t there.

Imitation – Flattery, or just good sense?

I’ve always heard that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. But in business that imitation isn’t usually intended to flatter the imitated – it’s intended to make money! The mantra “Good artists create, great artists steal” is still alive and well, as evidenced by LinkedIn’s recent updates.

Facebook is currently king of the social networking hill, and LinkedIn has recognized that, if they’re going to be taken seriously as a networking utility, they need to take a few leaves from Facebook’s, er, book. Of course, they’re still taking the business aspect very seriously, so I wouldn’t expect a “Hot or Not” module any time soon, but it’s only a matter of time before people find their work relationship status on LinkedIn.

Education vs Expertise:A lesson from "Cuckoo's Egg"

Education does not equal expertise. Only experience can produce expertise, especially in fields in which there are not yet experts. So much of technology has been invented and researched that many of us don’t think we will ever end up doing something that we didn’t study, much less something that has not yet been created! And more than that, to become the expert! Yet that’s exactly what happened to Cliff Stoll, and that’s what I got out of his book “The Cukoo’s Egg.”

In case you’re not familiar, Cliff Stoll is an astronomer by education, but through an interesting turn of events became one of the early leaders of Internet security. He was inventive in his tactics and methodical in his tracking. He was everything that a Microsoft or Google or Amazon would want in a security tester. That’s because he was the prototype, the version 1.0, of security testing!

I’m about to graduate from university, and I’m going to start off my career in a fairly typical IT department. I have the option to only learn what my job requires of me and do my job precisely how I’m expected to. I’d probably make a decent living doing it, too. But I may get the opportunity to solve a problem that no one’s solved before, in a manner that I’ll have to devise. I could become the expert of a field that I help to create! That would be more than fulfilling – that would be cool!

Cyber Bullying

The pen is mightier than the sword, and the keyboard is the pen of this generation. According to a recent article by the Associated Press, a new website, JuicyCampus.com, promotes anonymous gossip that is literally destroying students’ lives. In previous generations you knew who was bullying you, and gossip was relatively contained. Today cyber bullying is so easy and powerful that it has resulted in lowering self-esteems, soiling reputations, and even the suicide of a young teenage girl. I’m not typically in favor of censorship, but when there’s malicious intent someone needs to intervene.