Open Module Software

Software development typically comes in two flavors. First, the classic style of development is to have a dedicated team of developers slave over the code until it congeals into your product. Second, the open source approach, in which anyone and everyone can scrutinize the code and provide fixes or new functionality. Businesses tend to prefer the first approach because it keeps their code hidden and therefore users must pay for the code in order to use it. The second approach, on the other hand, allows for quick debugging on a wide range of platforms and usage situations. Can a business have the best of both worlds?

Game development in particular must have a closed source, or the game will quickly be distributed and its value to the developer lost. In such a situation, I think a modular approach would be ideal. Certain key pieces of the code can be open sourced to users who can help with blackbox testing. In fact, almost all code could be open sourced, but the artwork withheld. The engine of the game could be supplied, but with a very simple level, and filler artwork. Testers can help debug the engine code, but the same testers would still be interested in buying the game, essentially paying for content. The license for the code could contain a non-compete agreement for anyone who wishes to use the code. This same model could be extrapolated to other types of software, providing the basic engine for testing, but withholding key content.

Open Source, Open World

Open source software has been important in creating a level playing field for people around the world. Software is now part of almost every business, so providing free software and access to source code allows businesses an equal chance to move their product. However, software is only part of the equation in any business.

Recently, my wife showed me a sewing pattern she had found on a website called Burdastyle: Open Source Sewing. Suddenly, a light came on in my mind. Open sourcing software is extremely important, but each industry has its own specialized set of data that could be open sourced. If the foundational dataset from each industry is open sourced, then small businesses will have an easier time launching new ideas. What would set companies apart and allow some to be successful would be the ability to innovate, specialize, or have some good ol' creativity. A new home builder could start making homes from blueprints that are freely available, then specialize their homes to a specific clientèle. An auto maker could start with a vehicle spec they found online, then innovate the design in some way to get a leg up on the competition.

Unfortunately, most industry players won't be interested in giving up even the smallest amount of data to their competition. Creating an open source movement in non-software industries will require a dedicated set of industry geeks to gather online in their own pseudo companies to share ideas. Why would they bother? For the prestige, for the fun, for the greater good. That's how the software geeks were motivated.

Privacy in Thought

This post is written in response to this article on New Scientist.com

Yesterday, Michael Callahan, co-founder of Ambient Corporation, demonstrated a neckband that allows for "telepathic" chat. The neckband can sense signals being sent from the brain to the vocal cords and translate them into computerized text or speech, even if no words are actually spoken. While this is still much different from actual mind reading, in that the sub-vocalization must be intentional on the user's part, it demonstrates the potential for tapping into the brain's signals. This brings up an ethical dilemma. Certainly, tapping into brain signals can be very useful in aiding the disabled. In theory, sight could be restored to the blind, hearing to the deaf, mobility to the disabled. On the other hand, there is the potential that technology could be developed to tap into your inner most thoughts. Even taking the current technology a step further to read audio signals that were never intended to leave the mind would present a serious privacy issue. In a world where panopticon is becoming reality, our thoughts may become our last refuge from peering eyes. We should protect our privacy of thought and never take the step into true mind reading.

Women in Computing

Why are there so few women compared with men in Computer Science? My wife has no interest in Computer Science whatsoever, nor does she have interest in any of the hard sciences. In order to learn more about the nature versus nurture aspects of why women often avoid the sciences, I asked her questions about her personal experiences. What I found is that she never felt pressured to avoid the sciences. She understands that the opportunity is there if she wishes to take it. She feels innately drawn to other subjects like history, art, and health. She is clearly not unhappy about the lack of science in her life, but is this due to her nature as a woman, or the culture she was brought up in?

What I saw in the family I grew up in was that my sisters were introduced to computers at the same time as my brother and I. They also enjoyed using them, but my brother and I were obsessive about them. I believe the culture in my home gave my sisters equal incentive to learn about computers. The difference was the ability to tinker obsessively. I would spend hours to figure out new things that the computer could do; to my sisters that was boring. In my opinion it is the male tinkering obsession that creates the gender gap in Computer Science. Is the obsession caused by nurture or nature? It is most certainly both.

Ultra High Speed Communication

Written in response to this article.

Recently researchers at Alcatel-Lucent were able to transmit data at 16.4 Tbps over an optical connection. As another reader of the article pointed out, that's fast enough to transmit the entire contents of the library of congress (20 TB) in under ten seconds. The applications have not yet been written and the hardware not yet created that can take advantage of such speeds. Possible applications would be telepresence, streaming video in its original format, massively multiplayer action games, and remote robotics. Unfortunately the dark side of the Internet would also be taking advantage of the new speeds to distribute spam and launch attacks. Like all good tools, the better our Internet connection is, the more of both good and evil it can accomplish.

Public Secrets

If the door is ajar, do I have the right to enter? In the 13 years that I have been using the Internet, and especially in the earlier years, there have been many opportunities to take advantage of back doors that were left wide open. It has been my personal ethic to always pass up the back door and enter through the front, but did I in fact have the right to enter through the back if I chose to do so?

One school of thought says that any data that has not been secured is automatically free to everyone. This thinking is flawed. If I leave my laptop alone in the library while I search for a book, is it free to the first person who comes along? They might take it, but they can expect penalties. A peeping Tom also takes information that is publicly available, but they can expect punishment as well.

There is an ethical right to take information that was intended to be given. If the intention was for the information to remain private, then ethically the public has no right to it. In most cases the intent will be obvious, but where it is not, the tie should go to privacy.

The Future of Genealogy

Will the work of genealogy ever be completed? There are an estimated 100 billion people who have ever lived on the Earth. In 1998 there were 13 billion names in the largest genealogical database. Supposing, perhaps optimistically, that by 2008 this has increased to 20 billion names, 1 in every 5 people who have ever lived on the Earth are accounted for. How much farther can computers and existing records take us? Where will future data emerge to help us track down the other 4/5ths of the Earths inhabitants? How can we ever hope to track down those who lived in societies without records, or societies of which we have no knowledge? Perhaps the answer is in our genes. Is it possible to study genetics and infer ancestors that must have existed? For this, I have no answer, merely conjecture.