sharing | IceWolf's Ramblings

And I thought no one noticed

Posted by Alex on Mar 31, 2012 in Blogging, Books, Reviews |

So, it turns out that some people actually notice my blog that I have not been so faithful to this past year (along with some other things that I really should have been). I suppose that is neither here nor there though.

Anyway…. It turns out that last week I was contacted by a young author/blogger because her boyfriend has been by my blog to read about photography. Actually, I almost dismissed the email as SPAM because probably most of the email that I get in reference to my blog is SPAM. However, I took the time to actually look at this one ad reply to it.

The email was from Monica Leonelle from monicaleonelle.com and proseonfire.com, and it was asking if I would be interested in reading and reviewing her new book “Social Punk.” So, me being skeptical, wrote back a fairly skeptical response that was met with an almost immediate response. Made me feel better to know that there was a real person behind the emails.

So, I popped over to her blog, read some of the preview chapters and figured that it couldn’t hurt to sign up for the blog tour and write a real review. I am still waiting on the full copy of the book to read, but I am certainly looking forward to it. So, check back in the coming weeks for a real review of the book and possibly an interview with the author. In the mean time, you might enjoy the following snippet from the book:

After playing God for six years with the world he created, he couldn’t control any of his subjects, none at all. Over the years, he had watched them evolve and become the sum of their own choices rather than the sum of his; and for that, he regretted ever giving them life.

A small, blinking red light from just inside his eyelid reminded him of the news they sent him earlier that morning. The company had cancelled his funding and would shut down his project within three months. According to them, the project cost too much and took up too much space, and the inconclusive results couldn’t be published reputably, now or in the future.

Six years of his work, tens of thousands of lives at stake—and he could do nothing to save any of it. He bowed his head, letting his chin rest on the rim of his breakfast smoothie. The smoothie reeked of powder—crushed pills—but he supposed he had better get used to it. He wouldn’t be able to afford the luxury of real food after they canned him.

He closed his eyes and called up the camera view of one of his favorites, number 3281. She fascinated him; he couldn’t deny it. When he had designed her, her pre-teen rebelliousness lit fire in her eyes. A survivor, he’d thought. He’d meant for her to have it all—to grow up, to get married to the love of her life, and to have a beautiful family of her own someday.

But he had only given her sadness so far. Instead of creating a strict father, he had given her an abusive one. Instead of creating a loving boyfriend, he had given her a friend who could never love her. And instead of creating a strong, proud mother, he had given her a meek one, who watched the whole thing unfold and did nothing about it.

He looked at his last and final creation sitting in the chair across from him—his own son, not awakened yet. The law forbade him to have any children of his own, so this boy would substitute.

But he had done the unthinkable with this creation—he had bestowed on it his own thoughts, emotions, and decision-making processes. He’d given the boy his own mind, his own physical characteristics, his own wants and desires.

He had never done so with any of the others because of the dangers of investing too heavily in any one of his subjects. But who could he kid? He had not stayed objective thus far, watching some of his subjects more closely than others, wishing for the happiness of some at the expense of others. He had become an abomination, a monster of his own doing, who had created subjects only to watch them suffer.

He couldn’t forgive himself; not now, not ever. His eyes lingered on the vial that sat next to his breakfast smoothie, that he’d stowed away for the day when they destroyed all his work, his entire world. He would save it, tuck it away for now, for as long as he could protect them. When things spun out of his control, he would drink it and end himself the way he had ended them.

In the ancient stories, gods frequently gave their sons as gifts. Now, he would give his son as a gift to her, number 3281. So she could be happy in her last months on earth, before they destroyed her with the rest of them.

DRM, P2P, Sharing

Posted by Alex on Apr 13, 2010 in Uncategorized |

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Just a heads up, this post could turn into a bit of a rant.

Recently I noticed that I was having issues connecting with the wireless network that has been deployed where I work. For the sake of privacy I won’t name any of the organizations involved, just know that my direct employer operates under the umbrella of a larger entity who maintains the networks and all the IT stuff.

In any event, I sent the helpdesk an email to ask them what the story was with with my account. This of course is after I spent about a week trying to figure out what was wrong with my computer. I messed around with preferences and settings, re-ran the setup utility that the IT department provides, and nothing worked. I still could not connect on any of my devices. So, I emailed the helpdesk, and the response that I got was that my service was disconnected for downloading copyrighted material.

Well, first of all, according to the information that was sent to me from the helpdesk, the instance that they are talking about would have occurred at a time that I was not on the campus. The timestamp that they sent me was about 2 hours after I would have left work for the day. Not to mention the fact that the incident in question happened three months before they decided to do anything about it. Oh, and of course I was not notified of any issues.

Secondly, according to the document on the IT department’s website with regard to Peer-2-Peer file sharing, the only thing they prohibit is the sharing of files. The way the document is worded, it makes it sound like downloading is just fine, it is the serving and distribution of material that is a problem. Now, I don’t claim to know the actual laws, I am just saying that the way the document is worded makes it sound like the issue that I was made aware of, is not an issue.

As an artist I understand copyright issues. I understand that people are concerned with how and where their works get distributed. On the other hand, what is the difference between downloading a song, TV show or movie that I can record off the TV, digital cable music station or radio? Maybe if it weren’t so expensive to go to the movies or buy a CD or DVD people would be less likely to download content from sources they shouldn’t use.

Most of these industries are multi-million or multi-billion dollar industries and they are not making that money on the sales of CDs and DVDs. The television industry makes it’s money on commercials. Maybe the music industry should follow suit, subsidize their products with advertising. Maybe instead of pretty album covers they need to include an ad for toothpaste or motor oil. I think if the industries find a way to make the material they produce more appealing to the average joe (especially in terms of cost) they will suffer less.

Then there is the question, what are these people doing that makes it worth the millions or billions that they get paid? So, you can sing and you have a great band, I can sing too, but I don’t go out and make recordings. I know plenty of people who probably sing and perform better than many of the multi-million dollar artists out there but they are not making millions.

The problem with these industries is that it isn’t about the artist and the art anymore. It is all about money. Look at some of the recent movie releases, one made around $743M at the box office and it still playing. The actual cost of the movie was maybe around $300M so that means that a few people walked home with some pretty big paychecks. So even if they never sold a DVD, would it really be so bad? Oh, I suppose they might not be able to buy the new house in Cabo and the Ferrari to go with it, so sad.

Needless to say, can you tell that I am annoyed. Mostly because it is an inconvenience. Have a downloaded things that I shouldn’t have, yeah. Do I do it regularly, no. Do I still buy music, DVDs, concert tickets, and pay for cable? Yes, I do. Now I have to go find some people in some office and probably sign some form for something that can’t really have been my fault. Will I agree to whatever I need to so that I can get my service back, yes. I just think that the industries are the instigators of the problem and they need to figure out how to move into this digital age and get over their incessant love of money.