This is a pretty good article about how to code correctly, knowledge that few have and even fewer seem interested in.

Free Programming Tips are Worth Every Penny.

I aspire to be a code samurai.

So I decided that while I'm still looking for a job that I should get certified in Java. Once completed, this should make me more desirable to potential employers, and it will give me something productive to do whilst I continue to look. If I'm feeling adventurous, I may even go for higher certifications after getting my SCJP.

After what appears to have been mounting legal pressure applied by the RIAA, i2hub closed its doors today. This would seem to mark the end of the main P2P file sharing services that tens of millions have been leeching off of for years. This latest closure is hardly news save for the fact that it finally happened. The MGM v. Grokster ruling has essentially caused all of the major P2P services to temporarily shut their doors until they can concoct a legal version of their software. So it would seem that illegal file sharing has departed from the mainstream or is getting very close to doing so.

The final method of illegal file sharing widely known is BitTorrent. Currently, it's rather easy to search for whatever content you are looking for and finding a tracker website with torrent files for that content. I suspect that more and more of these sites will be shut down until even they are scarce and hard to find. The powers that be will ultimately be successful in getting rid of popular illegal file sharing. However, that won't stop the underground networks or darknets that have been popping up in the news as of late.

The RIAA will never be able to get rid of the underground means of illegal content sharing. IRC networks, which have been around since the P2P revolt began, are still live. The RIAA can't get their hands around the throat of IRC; it's too open, too unregulated, too unknown. So they live with the fact that the computer-elite will know how to share content, as long as the general population doesn't. Darknets are another means of exchange. Can small, private networks of friends sharing content illegally do a lot of damage? It's possible, but yet to be seen.

Despite all of the recent successes of the RIAA against file sharing, their numbers are still down. Fewer people are buying fewer products, and they tow the same old line that the pirates are to blame. The pirates are the only reason it took so long to start losing business. The pirates enabled people to listen to music that they would have never bought in a store had they not discovered it via a free, albeit illegal, download. The problem with the music industry is that the content is old, repetitive, derivative, and just not as good. Confess this, and you may be able to turn yourselves around. All the totalitarian legislation and scare tactics will not remedy the basic issue. The stuff you peddle sucks. Plain and simple.

In case you haven't heard about this in the past day or two, some Sony/BMG CDs that have DRM on them that installs a rootkit on your computer that is nearly impossible to get off. Details are here. Not only does the software install said rootkit, but one could very easily (we're talking script-kiddie easy) use the naming convention to design their own rootkit. And, of course, nowhere in the EULA does Sony/BMG mention that they are, in essence, compromising the security of your computer. They also do not mention that forcible removal of the software (deleting the files manually, since there is no uninstall option provided) will disable your optical drive unless you happen to know how to disable lower filters through the Windows registry. Speaking of Windows, there is no way that creation of such software does not violate the Windows EULA. Unless First 4 Internet, the company who wrote the software, is using all OSS software, they have agreed to Microsoft's EULA on Windows.

I hope Sony/BMG faces a shitstorm because of this. Intentionally misleading the consumer to install software that ties itself into your optical drives and exposes your computer to severe security vulnerabilities, which is nearly impossible to remove without a very high level of technical knowledge or a reformat of your system drive, is wrong and shouldn't be legal.

Dreamhost, my new awesome web hosting service on which my website will be soon, has links to give to two charities that change every two months. To quote, "They are Habitat for Humanity and the FreeBSD foundation… one builds free homes and the other free bsds."

If you happen to be in the giving mood, donate here and they will match your donation.

So we silly Californians are getting the opportunity to flex our democratic muscle once again in a special election to be held on 8 November. In said election, we will get the opportunity to vote on eight specific propositions. Four of them (74-77) are essentially straight from the governor's desk. One could argue (and many have) that these measures shouldn't be decided by the general voting populous and that the state shouldn't be spending approximately $60MM on the venture. Despite your opinion on the manuveur, we now have those and four other ballot items to vote on.

I shan't describe and summarize the propositions at hand. For a rundown, check out here(LA Times) or here (CA Secretary of State). Now on to some commentary on Props 73-76. Due to time constraints, commentary on Props 77-80 will be posted at a later date.

Prop 73: I'm a big privacy advocate, but, even if I weren't, I'd still be firmly against this proposition. Forcing doctors of teens to notify the teens' parents if their daughter is getting an abortion will just encourage kids to seek illegitimate abortions and put them at increased risk. But, more fundamentally, the government shouldn't be what Bill Maher would call "legislating opinion." Just because people think that teens should tell their parents about getting an abortion doesn't mean that they should. And it certainly doesn't mean they will.

Prop 74: One big issue I have with public jobs is that it's impossible to fire anyone, even in light of gross incompetence. Extending the time it takes teachers to become permanent and making it easier to fire them immediately with reported evidence of incompetence is EXACTLY what is needed to increase teacher quality, only one in a group of issues with California schools.

Prop 75: Labor members should be given the right to prevent their dues from going to political causes that they don't want to support. As members of a union, workers should have some say as to what their dues go towards. Also, isn't it suspicious that labor leadership is against this amendment whereas union members are staying very silent about it?

Prop 76: Honestly, I'm not sure how many people in the state of California possess the qualifications to comprehend everything in this proposition, but I'm nowhere close to one of them. This measure really shouldn't be on the ballot; hardly anyone who votes on it will really understanding what they are voting for or against. After reading detailed synopses and arguments as well as portions of the actual legislation, I'm just not going to vote on this one.

The Secret Service (USSS) is doing themselves a service in secret. Apparently, they enlisted the assistance of some printer companies to put tracking dots on every page their color laser printers spit out. Ostensibly, it’s to track counterfeiters, but who’s going to stop the USSS from passing on data they collect to, say, I don’t know, the Justice Department, State Department, Homeland Security, the White House, etc. etc. Most consumers obviously don’t have color laser printers yet since they’re still pretty expensive, but how far could this go?

Theoretically, the companies behind HD-DVD and Blu-ray could encode a unique serial number into each disc printed (actually, they probably will do that) and then, with your internet-enabled player, send usage data to a central U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) server where the Department of Commerce will automatically track every disc in circulation to make sure you aren’t illegally making copies and giving them to your friends or sharing them on the internet. Would you put it past the movie industry or the government? I wouldn’t.

Today’s development should remind everyone that with the ubiquity of technology and the push to impose DRM on everything and everyone, it becomes exponentially easier for corporations and the government to secretly and surreptitiously keep tabs on you. Excessively paranoid? Apparently not.

Depending on whether you patron Starbucks, you may be aware that the international caffeine mogul has started putting quotes from individuals on their cups under the heading “The Way I See It.” Surprisingly, many of the quotes I’ve read on these cups have been at least interesting, if not intelligent and/or thought-provoking.

My favorite quote comes from the pen (or pencil, or keyboard, or typewriter) of Jonah Goldberg, founding editor of National Review Online. Starbucks has a brief interview with him stemming from the quote as well. It reads as follows:

“Everywhere, unthinking mobs of “independent thinkers” wield tired clichés like cudgels, pummeling those who dare question “enlightened” dogma. If “violence never solved anything,” cops wouldn’t have guns and slaves may never have been freed. If it’s better that 10 guilty men go free to spare one innocent, why not free 100 or 1,000,000? Clichés begin arguments, they don’t settle them.”

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I have freshly acquired a web host with some domains. So, in the near future, my blog will get moved over. I also may change my primary email address, though my current GMail address will still work (even if it just becomes a forwarding address). I’d provide more details, but I haven’t ironed them out yet.

So today, Sharon and I went to the West Hollywood Book Fair. Sharon wanted to go so she could get some books signed by Neil Gaiman, specifically Anansi Boys and Neverwhere. Since I also like Neil Gaiman, I decided to get a copy of Anansi Boys and American Gods signed for me. So prior to going to the fair, Sharon and I stopped by the local Barnes & Noble to pick up nice, signature-worthy copies of the aforementioned books.

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