2.27.2004

I've been reading a LOT about patents and copyright issues lately. There is a very long but very good article about it here http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20040226003735733 I've also been reading about the media and distribution channels. Comcast is trying to buy Disney because the distribution of video and other data is becoming free. You can now send video over the internet without needing an antenna or even a cable line in your house. They are trying to buy Disney because content is why people pay the $40 cable bill every month. There is a reason that your cell provider is trying to make the camera-phone a part of the package. They know that they are simply providing a method for people to communicate. If something else comes along and dramatically decreases the cost of voice communication (wireless VOIP) they will die off.

The thing that disturbs me is that huge corporations that used to only control the distribution are now buying up the creative part of the Entertainment industry. That's bad because it inflates prices and limits competition. It also stifles creativity because of political pressure from executives.

So you have Distribution Monopolies realizing that they will die if they don't change. Then you have Media/Culture monopolies created by de-regulation that have their own political agendas which aren't going to die because they have the money created by advertising that is used to buy politicians which = deregulation. Those who currently profit by the distribution of digital content will die. The music industry is the first real example. Televison will be next when DVD burners get better and cheaper and easier to use and the Internet gets faster.

It's interesting that people who are so pro cencorship seem to have common goals as myself. They interpret Janet's breast as a failure created by massive media conglomerates inability to pander to anything but profit. The have the right goal for the wrong reason. Profit is a result of capitalism. It works. Regulation is necessary to prevent monopolies, nobody disagrees with that. The magnitude of this situation is what's being overlooked. A monopoly in the keyboard industry is bad because prices are high and innovation stifled. A monopoly in the Media industry is bad for the same reasons but you also have Millions of people now having their perceptions of the world around them being shaped by a corporation. The wealthy people that fund and profit from the corporation don't want people to know that their news isn't fair and balanced. The news therefore can't report about the problem and on and on.

Market pressures will kill off the inefficient distribution system and lower prices for all of us. Market pressures won't kill of tainted content unless people become educated. I'm not sure that's in the cards considering the Republican tax cuts and the Democrat's insistence on keeping a bloated Social Security system funded.






2.14.2004

Valentines day, no date this year but it's a good day none the less. In fact I'm happy because I don't have to worry about a gift. If you're single take heart. There may be a pill for us on the way :) THIS article confirms my suspicions..
The scientific tale of love begins innocently enough, with voles. The prairie vole is a sociable creature, one of the only 3% of mammal species that appear to form monogamous relationships. Mating between prairie voles is a tremendous 24-hour effort. After this, they bond for life. They prefer to spend time with each other, groom each other for hours on end and nest together. They avoid meeting other potential mates. The male becomes an aggressive guard of the female. And when their pups are born, they become affectionate and attentive parents. However, another vole, a close relative called the montane vole, has no interest in partnership beyond one-night-stand sex....
They argue that prairie voles become addicted to each other through a process of sexual imprinting mediated by odour. Furthermore, they suggest that the reward mechanism involved in this addiction has probably evolved in a similar way in other monogamous animals, humans included, to regulate pair-bonding in them as well.

I think it's legit. I remember when I broke up with my first girlfriend in High School. I was in my bed staring at the roof and rolled over. I got a whiff of the shampoo she used that was still on my pillow and BAM! It was something I'll never forget. Last year I fell for a girl I'd been friends with for a long time. I don't really remember smelling her much so there has got to be more to it than just odor.

The article explains that we have three emotions that evolved for specific purposes. Lust - Procreation Romantic Love - Pair Bonding and Long Term Attachment - Raising Kids. Romantic Love has got to be the most painful by far. The quote that sums it all up "We were not built to be happy but to reproduce." I've harbored that belief for most of my life because I had a strange habit of reading science books as a kid. I was so in love once that I remember driving to the Jack in the Box drive through in a complete haze with a big grin on my face. Completely irrational but I think it gave me perspective, an alternative view of the world outside of my cynical norm.

2.13.2004

I used to blindly believe that nationalized healthcare was a good idea. I've recently realized that it's simply not going to work with our aging population. Unemployment in Europe is 10% because of the high taxes needed to support welfare and health care.

Health care quality is going down because people want to pay the same amount for healthcare that they did when they were younger and healthy. Healthcare spending is going up because we're living to 90 instead of 75. That's 15 more years of life that usually involve retirement that somehow need to be supported. What I really like is that our leaders are being held accountable now that our budged deficit is so massive. I used to think I was a liberal because I hate things like censorship, ten commandments in courthouses, politicians that bend to the will of the short sighted population. How incredible is it that the leaders that promise increased health benefits for the elderly cut education to pay for it when it's the kids that will be paying for it in the long run. Why is it that conservatives who want small government are in favour of the FCC launching invesitigations into a breast which is of course paid for by taxpayers. I don't understand the connection between religious zealotry and fiscal prudence. What on earth does god have to do with fiscal prudence? What do small budgets have to do with massive DEA spending to crack down on pot smokers? Why do poor people vote for conservatives who tend to favor tax breaks for the rich?

Progressive Taxation - It makes sense to some degree because the rich are more able to pay. They aren't going to starve if their taxes increase a little. Just how progressive is what defines a society. Let's say someone in America makes $30,000,000 a year as the CEO of a big corporation and they earn every penny of it. We decide that we want Nationalized health care. After tax, the CEO suddenly makes $10,000,000 less a year. The CEO moves to another country with lower taxes. The corporation misses the talent and follows. The new home taxes less than us but something is better than nothing. Europe is facing this problem right now. Globalism is punching Europe in the gut. Germany is one of the first to take positive steps even though the majority of the population there is opposed to change. We wouldn't need stong leadership if we had informed populations that voted. As it stands now we need leadership but we don't get it because our leaders have to worry about getting re-elected and that's expensive so they charge for "access". The saying "the market always wins" also applies when laws can bought by the highest bidder.

Next time, prohibition.

2.03.2004

The FCC is launching an investigation into a breast. Yes people should be able to shield their children from things they don't like. What if the parents think that sunshine is a bad influence? If their religion says so then it's protected. Sucks for the kid of course. Well I'm not saying Janet's boob is the equivalent of sunlight. The point is that our government has no problem allowing gratuitous violence during daytime hours but a breast! Oh my, that's just crazy!!! We need to spend millions on an investigation! Heads will roll! I've been thinking of moving out of this country.

I want to live somewhere where faith doesn't affect government but is still around. Where Telletubbies can live without fear of persecution. My god it's frustrating. I've never ever wanted to vote for someone more than I now want to vote for Kerry. I think the world is a better place without Saddam. I think Bush's hamfisted method of removal has left America in a very weak place just as the global economy is taking off. Talk about bad timing. When Bush was first elected, I thought "well, at least he's going to make an ass of himself and we'll see a democrat back in '04" I had no idea just how bad it was going to be.