Top Five Free (as in Freedom) Music Sites

Recently a silly old man from Tamil Nadu was crying foul that he is not getting royalties for his music. Whenever they play his songs on TV or radio or perform it on stage, he expects a share of profit or at least he wants them to seek his permission. While the tyrannical copyright laws facilitate such inhuman extortion, where is the Free Software equivalent of Music? Software industry itself has its origin after the advent of copyright laws. But music is older than Homo sapiens species itself! Greatest works of music known to us were already centuries old when the crude copyrights laws were made. Except few hegemonic and anti-human societies, where advances in science and creativeness in arts were reserved to few group of people (and far worse in cases where it is locked down to people born in to particular family/community), world, at large, always shared knowledge and publicized creativity to the masses. So in this post-human world, are there real humans still left to share their knowledge and creativity to others? May be! They may be very few. But such people are for real. Here are some great sites which allow you access as well as to share music with lesser restrictive licenses.

1. opsound.org

Opsound is a site by Sal Randolph. inspired by free software and applies its philosophy to music. Musicians and sound artists can add their work to the Opsound repository using any of the copyleft licenses developed by Creative Commons. Everyone can download, share, remix, and reimagine music available in their site.

2. freemusicarchive.org

This site hosts lot of MP3 files and they also have apps for iOS and Android devices to access their content. Instead of modeling themselves purely after a later idea like Free Software, they also draw inspiration from Radio! They want to continue what radio did in previous generations, i.e. provide people with free music. Artists can upload their music in whole or part (and hence can attract more customers) and people can enjoy the music without any registration.

3. openmusicarchive.org

Artists Ben White & Eileen Simpson have started this project so that music works whose copyright term has expired and in public domain can be made available to a wider audience through internet. Music with no economic value which are usually forgotten by mainstream record companies are given a second life after their copyright term. Also the site encourages more people to collaborate and make their music publicly accessible.

4. cpdl.org

Is there a Wikipeida of music? Yes, it is cpdl.org. They have a large number of sheet music and music files (MIDI and other formats) in their archive. They host only "free" music without any restrictions even under the funny Mickey Mouse Law of USA. Since its inception in 2005, it has grown to a colossal collection of more than 25,000 scores by more than 2,800 composers.

5. musopen.org

A non-profit organization that aims to provide free sheet music, lessons and books for teaching music. Not only serving as a platform to share music, musopen.org aims to make music education reachable to more people.

What will happen if humans have no civilization or government? Do you think we will be killing each other for food and other needs? Do you think that survival of the fittest means "do whatever to survive"? The answer is "NO!". All communities of humans, be it from so called civilized cities to hunter-gatherers of dense forest, evolved to live a social and community life. Even our non-human ancestors lived in groups and not as "individuals with a will to survive at any cost". Our evolution has shaped us to be co-operative, collaborative and altruistic to some extant. The cut-throat competition and "survival-of-the-fittest" mantra we hear again and again are just modern and unnatural inventions which are making our way of life less and less sustainable. We shared everything before from land to food. Then slowly everything was taken out of the common ownership. The last thing remained in collective ownership was knowledge and creativity as they are inexhaustible resources. But human greed knows no limit and it has even snatched these inexhaustible resources from collective ownership. So to reverse the whole set of damage we have brought on our species and on the planet, we have to start from reversing the latest mistake. By liberating knowledge and setting it free, we can start the process of setting the entire humanity free!

லினக்ஸுக்கு வயசு 25!

1991-ஆம் ஆண்டு லினஸ் பெனடிக்ட் டோர்வால்ட் (Linus Benedict Torvalds) என்னும் ஃபின்லாந்து நாட்டுக் கணினியியல் மாணவரால் ஒரு பொழுதுபோக்காக ஆரம்பிக்கப் பட்டதே இந்த லினக்ஸ். லினக்ஸ் என்பது முழுமையான இயங்குதளம் (OS) இல்லை. அது இயங்குதளத்தின் கெர்னல் (Kernel) எனப்படும் உட்கருவாகும். லினக்ஸ் கெர்னல் கிணு-வுடன் (GNU) சேர்ந்து கிணு/லினக்ஸ் (GNU/Linux) இயங்குதளத்தை சாத்தியப்படுத்தியது. இருபத்தைந்து ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன் லினக்ஸின் ஆரம்ப நாட்கள் குறித்து லினஸ் டோர்வால்ட் கூறுகையில், "அது முழுவதும் ஒரு தனிநபர் செயல்பாடாகவே இருந்தது" என்கிறார். மேலும் 1991-ஆம் ஆண்டு அவர் லினக்ஸ் குறித்து எழுதிய முதல் பதிவில், "இது கிணு போன்று திட்டவட்டமானதாக இல்லாமல் ஒரு பொழுதுபோக்குக்கான ஒன்று" என்று குறிப்பிட்டிருந்தார்.

கிணு இயங்குதளத்திற்கான வேலைகள்  அமெரிக்கரான ரிச்சர்டு ஸ்டால்மன் (Richard Stallman) தலைமையில் வழிநடத்தப்பட்டு வந்த நேரம் அது. ஏறத்தாழ முழு இயங்குதளமும் முடியும் தருவாயில் இருந்த நிலையில் அதற்குத்தேவையான ஹர்ட் (Hurd) உட்கரு (கெர்னல்) மட்டும் தேக்கநிலையில் இருந்தது (இன்றும் அப்படியே உள்ளது!). மினிக்ஸ் (Minix) என்னும் மாற்று இருந்த போதிலும் அது கட்டற மென்பொருளாக (Free Software) அப்போது இல்லை.  அந்த நேரத்தில் யாரும் எதிர்பாராத வண்ணம் ஃபின்லாந்திலிருந்து உதவி வந்தது.

ஃபின்லாந்து நாட்டின் ஹெல்ஸின்கி பல்கலையில் கணினியியல் துறையில் பயின்று வந்த லினஸ் இணையத்தின் மூலம் தன்னுடைய கெர்னலை வெளியிட்டார். மேலும் அதை கிணு பொது உரிமத்தின் (GPL - GNU General Public License) கீழ் வெளியிட்டார். அப்போது மினிக்ஸ் கெர்னலை எழுதிக்கொண்டு இருந்த ஆண்ட்ரு டனேன்பௌம் (Andrew Tanenbaum) லினக்ஸின் கட்டமைப்பு மோசமானது என்றும் தன்னுடைய மைக்ரோ-கெர்னல் கட்டமைப்பே சீரியதென்றும் விவாதித்தார். அதற்க்கு லினஸ் தன்னுடைய கெர்னல் ஒரு சிறிய அளவிலான ஆதாயமற்ற மென்பொருள். மேலும் அது இன்டெல் 80386 சிப்பிற்கு மட்டுமே எழுதப்படுவது என்று கூறினார்.

ஆனால் இன்றோ இந்த லினக்ஸ் கெர்னல் நீக்கமற எங்கும் நிறைந்துள்ளது. உங்கள் கைப்பேசியில் உள்ள ஆண்ட்ராய்டு இயங்குதளம் முதல் பங்குச்சந்தைகள், நீர்மூழ்கிக்கப்பல்கள், குளிர்சாதனப்பெட்டிகள், தொலைக்காட்சிகள், விண்வெளியில் சுற்றும் செயற்கைக்கோள்கள் வரை பல இடங்களில் லினக்ஸ் ஊடுருவியுள்ளது. உலகில் உள்ள மிக வேகமான 500 சூப்பர் கம்ப்யூட்டர்களில் ஒருசிலவற்றைத் தவிர அனைத்தும் லினக்ஸ் கெர்னல் மூலமே இயங்குகின்றன.

கைப்பேசிச் சந்தையில் ஆண்ட்ரைடுக்குப் போட்டியாக இருக்கும் ஒரே இயங்குதளம் ஆப்பிள் நிறுவனத்தின் ஐ-ஓ.எஸ். ஆனால் ஆப்பிள் நிறுவனத்தால் கணினிகளில் (மேசைமேல் மற்றும் மடிமேல்) ஒன்றும் சாதிக்க முடியவில்லை. மேலும் ஃபயர் ஃபாக்ஸ், டைசன் இயங்குதளங்களும் லினக்ஸ் உட்கருவையே பயன்படுத்துகின்றன. இதற்க்கு நேர்மாறாக கணினிகளில் மேலாதிக்கம் செலுத்தும் மைக்ரோசாஃப்ட் விண்டோஸ் இயங்குதளம் கைப்பேசிகளில் சொற்ப அளவிலேயே பயன்படுகிறது. ஆனால் கைபேசி மற்றும் கணினிகள் என்று மொத்தமாகப் பார்த்தல் லினக்ஸ் உட்காருவே அதிகமாக பயன்பாட்டில் இருக்கிறது. இணையத்தை இயக்கும் சர்வர்கள் (server) பெரும்பாலும் கிணு/லினக்ஸிலே இயங்குகின்றன. இந்த அடிப்படையில் இன்று உலகிலேயே அதிகமாகப் பயன்பாட்டில் உள்ள இயங்குதள உட்கரு லினக்ஸே!

இதன் வெற்றிக்கு முழுக்காரணமும் யாருக்கும் சேராது. இது ஒரு கூட்டு முயற்சியே! இன்றைய நிலையில் லினக்ஸ் நிரலில் வெறும் 0.2% பங்களிப்பே லினஸ் டோர்வால்டிடம் இருந்து வருகிறது. இணையமும் தொழில்நுட்ப முன்னேற்றமும் பல புதிய வழிகளைத் திறந்துள்ளன. 25 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன் இருந்த இணையமும் கணினியும் சாதிக்க முடிந்த ஒன்றை இன்றைய நிலையில் 4ஜி-யும் ஸ்மார்ட்போனும் கொண்டு நாம் செய்ய முடியாதா? கூட்டு முயற்சியும், ஒத்துழைப்பும், ஆர்வமும், தேடலும் இருந்தால் லினக்ஸ் போன்ற எண்ணற்ற புதிய படைப்புகள் தோன்றும். அது கணினித்துறையில் மட்டுமே இருக்கவேண்டும் என்று அவசியம் இல்லை. மருத்துவம், வேளாண்மை, வாணியல் என்று எந்தத் துறையிலும் இருக்கலாம்! வாருங்கள் அறிவைப் பகிர்ந்து ஆற்றலைப் பெருக்குவோம்!

Why eBooks Are Evil?

• You don't own the book.
• You can't gift the book.
• None can inherit your books.
• You can't donate it to local library.
• You can't sell it.
• You can't buy it for second-hand price.
• There is no way to have special editions.
• Rare books which are no more of interest and out of print (say for example Soviet era books) can't be found in eBook stores.
• Your books can be censored by or deleted by anyone sitting in a remote location.
• Photos, diagrams, tables and maps look better on physical books.
• You can't have any number of books open in front of you and cross-refer as with the physical books.
• You need to recharge your batteries.
• Your guests won't have an opportunity to peek in to your collection and find a common interest.
• You can't show off your collection to others.
• Your children will not be drawn to books if you always stare at a tablet. But a colorful cover is enough to hook in someone to read the book.
• Your reading choices can be used to predict your political or religious or any other demographic information with data mining.
• You won't get the physically connected feeling with your book. Unlike the physical books, with eBooks, all books feel the same in your hand.
• You need to stay with a particular service provider to access your books.
• You need any third-party software or hardware to read your book.
• You can't tear away pages, paste extra pages, combine and bind a customized book as per your wish. (My dad had compiled entire novels from published series in some magazines.)
• Paper may be considered polluting. But the impact can be mixed. But with tablets, the impact is always negative. Paper wastes are far less damaging than e-wastes and pollution from manufacturing process of tablets. Also eBook readers need constant power supply throughout their life! Hence eBook readers are far more damaging to the environment.
• Can't be used to cover your face, hold your ticket or letter, swat flies, as pillows or to adjust the height of your monitor!
• Can't be burnt to show your opposition to an ideology.

These are very few of the many reasons why eBooks suck and its advocates are dumb.

கட்டற்ற மென்பொருள் என்றால் என்ன?

கட்டற்ற மென்பொருள் (சுதந்திர மென்பொருள், Free Software) பயனர்களுக்குப் பின்வரும் உரிமைகளை அளிக்கிறது: பயன்படுத்துதல், நகல் எடுத்தல், பகிர்தல், ஆராய்தல், மாற்றம் செய்தல் மற்றும் மேம்படுத்துதல்.

கட்டற்ற மென்பொருள் என்பது அதன் கட்டற்ற தன்மை மற்றும் பயனரின் உரிமைகள் குறித்தது. இது மென்பொருளின் விலையைக் குறித்தது அல்ல. குறிப்பாக இலவசம் என்று இதனைப் பொருள்கொள்ளக் கூடாது!
 

கூண்டு இலவசம் என்பதால் அது சுதந்திரம் ஆகாது!

மேலும் தெளிவாகச் சொல்லவேண்டும் என்றால், கட்டற்ற மென்பொருள் 4 அடிப்படை உரிமைகளைப் பயனர்களுக்கு வழங்குவதாகும். அவை:

• பயனர் விரும்பும்படி, எந்த பயன்பாட்டிற்கும் மென்பொருளை இயக்கலாம். (உரிமை 0)
• மென்பொருளை ஆராயவும், தேவைக்கேற்ப மாற்றம் செய்யவும் உள்ள உரிமை. (உரிமை 1)  இதற்க்கு மூல நிரல் (source  code) வெளிப்படையாக இருப்பது அவசியம்.
• உங்களிடம் உள்ள மென்பொருளின் பிரதி/நகல்களை அயலாருக்கு விநியோகிக்கும் உரிமை. (உரிமை 2)
• மென்பொருளை மேம்படுத்துவதற்கான உரிமை மற்றும் பிறருக்கும் பயன்படும் வகையில் அதை வெளியிடும் உரிமை. (உரிமை 3) இதற்க்கும் மூல நிரல் வெளிப்படையாக இருப்பது அவசியம்.

தொழில்நுட்பம் மற்றும் இணையம் அதீத வளர்ச்சிபெற்றுள்ள இந்திய சூழலில், கட்டற்ற மென்பொருள் இயக்கம் அது ஆரம்பிக்கப்பட்ட 1983-ஆம் ஆண்டைவிட இன்று பெருமுக்கியத்துவம் பெறுகிறது!

மேலும் விவரங்களுக்கு கட்டற்ற மென்பொருள் அறக்கட்டளை தளத்தைப் பார்க்கவும்.

நன்றி: http://www.gnu.org/

Why Patenting Genes Is Wrong?

When we talk about "gene patents" there are two broad categories. 1. Patents granted for naturally occurring genes. For example, patents can be obtained for gene sequence of virus, bacteria, certain gene mutation in human or other genes. Once patented, anyone who does research or uses the gene sequence containing organism in their product have to pay royalties to the patent holder. 2. Patents granted for artificially modified genes. Here it can be genetically modified cattle, crops or any other organism or even human genome. It is usually done to tone down unfavorable traits and to enhance or introduce favorable traits. Again, once patented, the company is granted an intellectual monopoly over the gene. Let us see how both cases are absurd and stupid. Only ruthless cut-throat capitalists can favor such unethical and immoral system at the cost of millions of lives.

First let me clear my opinion on genetic engineering. We need genetic engineering to survive as a species in this world.  Let me list out few of the critically important advancements in this field.

1. Human population is growing. To meet the growing demand for food, we cannot go on increasing land usage for agriculture. Land usage for agriculture is the major cause of deforestation and species extinction. Agriculture destroys entire ecosystems for growing food or other crops for us humans alone! So it is high time that we reduce and reverse land utilization. How can we do that? Genetically modified crops with better yield can help us. We can feed the growing population with lesser land if we rightly hit the genes that result in high yields.

2. Water is also a very scarce resource today. With GMO, we can have drought resistant crops which consume less water and hence better usage of water.

3. Reduction of pesticide is also a benefit of GMO crops. Crops designed to resist insects or infections need lesser pesticides and chemicals to grow and hence more eco-friendly.

4. Drug resistance of existing bacterial diseases and new infectious disease like Ebola, Zika are causing lot of deaths and disabilities around the world. Genetic Engineering can provide us with new anti-biotics and vaccines that can cure or prevent these diseases.

5. Diseases like diabetes, obesity, cancer, birth defects and lot more can be caused due to gene mutations. By identifying the specific genetic causes and working on a cure can save lot of lives.

These are few uses I can think now. But the list can be never ending. Organic farming or herbal remedies are no match to these advancements of science and hence we should support scientific advancements instead of pseudoscience mumbo-jumbos. Now let us see how patent system spoils this field with its unrealistic powers!

1. Patents on Naturally Occurring Genes

Did Isaac Newton invent gravity? Did Galileo invent heliocentricity? Did Robert Hooke invent cells? What about Vasco da Gama? Did he invent India? No! They all discovered. Discovery is finding or observing something already in existence. And nobody can claim a patent for a discovery. Genes of naturally occurring virus, bacteria and mutation that cause cancer or other diseases are not invented in any sense. They are just observed, may be for the first time. But how can people claim patents for things like SARS virus genome or mutation that causes breast cancer? Capitalist bots just repeat the same old blabber that "the company has invested money and effort to "find" the gene and anyone else who "uses" should pay them. Else without monetary benefits the system won't work!". Even Newton spent lot of time, effort and money to discover theory of gravity. Can he own a patent? Without any monetary benefit protected by patent system how people like Einstein worked further on Newtonian equations to arrive at more complicated theories like relativity? Things like getting soil from moon or catching a species from deep ocean require lot of money too. If none of them can be patented how can a naturally existing gene can be patented? We can't patent the pattern of seeds in a fruit. We can't patent the sequence of event in embryo development. Similarly no one should be allowed to patent a sequence of genetic material just because they have observed it first or filed for a patent first!

These type of patents cripple research and invention of drugs or solutions to common problems like eradication of mosquito, conservation of endangered species etc. A rich person can setup an R&D lab and mine for genomes of disease causing microbes and mutation, file for patents and act like a patent troll suing everyone who attempts to research on any of them. It is already happening today. We should not let this stay this way until a major epidemic like Ebola becomes pandemic and a corporate holding patent for the gene keeps the entire humanity for ransom!

2. Patents on Modified Genes

Genes are just sequence of organic molecules arranged in a particular pattern, just like an essay is a sequence of letter and a piece of music is a sequence of notes. So even if anyone "creates" a gene, it should not be allowed to be patented but it may be copyrighted (still it is wrong, I will come to that shortly). So if somebody claims that they have "created" a gene "from the scratch" then they can ONLY claim copyright not patent.

Now let us see why copyrighting is also not valid in case of GMOs. All the GMOs in the market today are not original works but derivative works. So, the existing genes are just like songs or literature in public domain. Anyone can create a derivative work over it. But cannot restrict others from doing a similar derivative work. When Monsanto say that they created a particular type of corn, they have worked on existing corn. The corn which Native Americans already genetically modified through selective breeding. Without Native Americans shaping the genes of corn with the chisel of selective breeding, corn, in its current form, will not be here! The wild corn would be of no use for us. Not only corn. All food crops and cattle are product of genetic engineering through selective breeding and co-evolution. Lot of money, time and effort of people for generations are involved in genetically modifying these organisms. Monsanto or any other company cannot just take these organisms and edit a gene here and there to claim that it is their own "intellectual property". What percentage of original genes have been modified, how original is the modification? Is the work is mere compilation of two existing genes? Does it involve only a trivial change like removing a bad mutation? These are some of the questions need to be answered. Also if someone can build on the collective work of people for centuries, then why not others can do the same?

These type of patents prevent high yielding, drought resistant, pest resistant and more nutritious variants of crops from reaching everyone. Even if someone tries to arrive at organisms with similar traits they are threatened with lawsuits. This also applies to researches on new anti-biotics, gene therapies and vaccines.

Not Only Genes!

As we have seen, there is no logic in granting patent to genes. The US government refused to offer patents on gene for a long time. But due to corporate lobbies and coercion, US government surrendered to their demands. But later, US Supreme Court declared that naturally occurring genes cannot be patented. But Europe allows patenting naturally occurring genes, provided they are isolated! All capitalist-run governments accept patent on modified genes (irrespective of the size, nature, triviality of the modification). Now the same is forced on smaller nations through treaties and agreements and in some cases, even through war!

Patents are awarded even for chemicals and molecules. Patent as a system itself favors monopoly. Monopoly always result in accumulation of wealth in the hands of few at the cost of hardship of many. It is high time that governments stop helping these cut-throat corporates and stop appeasing them with unethical patent laws. Instead governments can fund universities, state sponsored labs and organizations to take up the research. Just by spending less on war and weapons, each nation can contribute towards a collective research fund and required technologies can be prioritized based on impact and outcome. By this we can also have some sanity in prioritizing researches. For example, in a capitalistic free market economy, a gel used in cosmetic surgery will be "voted up with wallet" than a search for new anti-biotic. So some level of state planning and state regulation is needed. We cannot allow blind and uncontrolled competition to decide things for us. Let us stand against patent and pseudoscience as both result in crippling of intellectual progress!

இ-நூல்களால் வரும் இன்னல்கள்

எழுதியவர்:  ரிச்சர்டு ஸ்டால்மேன் (Richard Stallman)

வணிகமயம் நம் அரசாங்கத்தின் மீது ஆதிக்கம் செலுத்தி நாட்டின் சட்டங்களை எழுதும் இந்தக் காலத்தில், ஒவ்வொரு தொழில்நுட்ப வளர்ச்சியும் வணிக நிறுவனங்கள் பொது மக்கள் மீது புதிய கட்டுப்பாடுகளை விதிக்க வாய்ப்பாக அமைகின்றன. நமக்கு அதிக ஆற்றல் அளித்திருக்க வேண்டிய தொழில்நுட்பங்கள், நம்மை அடிமைப்படுத்தப் பயன்படுகின்றன.

அச்சிடப்பட்ட நூல்களை வாங்கும்போது,

• நீங்கள் பணம் கொடுத்து "முகம் தெரியாமல்"(anonymous) வாங்க இயலும். [சில புத்தகங்கள் தங்கள் மன உணர்வைப் புண்படுத்துவதாகக் கூறி, அவற்றை எழுதியவர்கள், மொழிபெயர்த்தவர்கள் மற்றும் வெளியிடுபவர்கள் மீது தாக்குதல்களும், மிரட்டல்களும் பெருகியுள்ள இந்தக்காலத்தில், கடன்-அட்டை, இணைய வணிகம் போன்ற வழிகளில் நீங்கள் ஒரு புத்தகத்தை வாங்கினால், உங்களை அடையாளம் காண்பது எளிதாகிவிடும். மேலும், நீங்கள் என்னென்ன புத்தகங்காளை எவ்வெப்போது வாங்கினீர்கள் என்று  சிறிது முயற்சித்தால் அறிந்துகொள்ளலாம். இது விளம்பரம் செய்வது முதல், தணிக்கை செய்வதுவரை எல்லாவற்றுக்கும் பயன்படும்!]
• அது உங்கள் உடைமையாகிறது.
• அதை எவ்வாறு பயன்படுத்த வேண்டும் என்று உங்களை நிர்பந்திக்கும் எந்த ஒரு ஒப்பந்தத்திலும் கையெழுத்திட வேண்டியதில்லை.
• அதன் வடிவம் அனைவர்க்கும் புரியும்படியானது. அதை வாசிக்க எந்த ஒரு காப்புரிமை பெறப்பட்ட தொழில்நுட்பமும் தேவையில்லை.
• இரவல் கொடுக்கவோ, வேறு ஒருவருக்கு விற்கவோ உங்களுக்கு உரிமை உண்டு.
• நீங்கள் அந்த நூலை திடப் பிரதி(physical copy) எடுக்க முடியும். சிலநேரங்களில் அது பதிப்புரிமைச் சட்டப்படி செல்லும்.
• உங்கள் புத்தகத்தை யாராலும் தொலைவில் இருந்துகொண்டே அளிக்க முடியாது.

அமேசான் இ-நூல்களுடன்(பொதுவான எடுத்துக்காட்டாக) ஒப்பிடல்

• ஒரு இ-நூலை வாங்க நீங்கள் உங்கள் முழு அடையாளத்தை அமேசானுக்குக் கொடுக்கவேண்டும்.
• அமெரிக்க ஐக்கியம் உட்பட சில நாடுகளில் நீங்கள் இ-நூல்களை உடைமையாக்கிக்கொள்ள முடியாது.
• பயனர்கள் கட்டுப்பாடுகள் நிறைந்த ஒப்பந்தத்தை ஏற்க அமேசான் நிர்பந்திக்கிறது.
• அதன் வடிவம் வெளிப்படைத்தன்மையற்றது. காப்புரிமைக்குட்பட்ட பயனர்களைக் கட்டுப்படுத்தும் மென்பொருள்களால் மட்டுமே அவற்றை சட்டப்பூர்வமாக வாசிக்க முடியும். [வேறு மென்பொருள்கள் கொண்டு இ-நூல்களை வாசிப்பது சட்டவிரோதம்]
• பயனர் எந்தப் பக்கத்தை வாசிக்கிறார், அதில் என்ன குறிப்பு எழுதுகிறார் என்று கிண்டில்(Kindle) அமேசானுக்குத் தெரிவித்துக்கொண்டே இருக்கும்.
• இரவல் கொடுப்பதை ஒத்த முறை மூலம் நீங்கள் இ-நூல்களை இரவல் கொடுக்கலாம். ஆனால் ஒரு குறிப்பிட்ட காலத்துக்கு மட்டுமே. அதுவும் அந்த நபரும் அதே நிறுவனத்தின் வாடிக்கையாளராக இருக்கவேண்டும் அவருடைய பெயரை அந்நிறுவனத்திடம் தெரிவிக்க வேண்டும்.[நீங்கள் யாருக்கு எப்போது என்னென்ன புத்தகங்களை இரவல் தருகிறீர்கள் என்று அந்நிறுவனத்தால் அறிய முடியும்] நிரந்தரமாகக் கொடுப்பதோ விற்பதோ முடியாது.
• அமேசானால் தொலைவிலிருந்தே உங்கள் கருவியில் உள்ள புத்தகங்களை அழிக்க முடியும். 2009-ல் ஜார்ஜ் ஆர்வெல் எழுதிய "1984" நூலின் ஆயிரக்கணக்கான பிரதிகளை அமேசான் இப்படி அழித்தது.
• அமேசான் கிண்டிலில் உள்ள ஒரு தொழில்நுட்ப ஓட்டை வழியாக அந்நிறுவனம் என்ன வேண்டுமானாலும் செய்யலாம்.

இந்த ஒவ்வொரு உரிமைமீறல்களும் இ-நூல்களை அச்சு நூல்களைக்காட்டிலும் கீழானவைகளாக்குகின்றன. இ-நூல்கள் அச்சு நூல்கள் வழங்கும் ஒவ்வொரு உரிமையையும் இம்மி அளவுகூடக் குறையாமல் வழங்க நாம் நிர்பந்திக்க வேண்டும்.

இந்தக் கட்டுப்பாடுகளும் [உரிமைகள் மீதான] தாக்குதல்களும் எழுத்தாளர்களுக்குப் பலனளிக்கத் தேவை என்று இ-நூல் நிறுவனங்கள் கூறுகின்றன. அனால் தற்போதைய பதிப்புரிமைச் முறை இந்நிறுவனங்களுக்குக் கணிசமான ஆதரவு அளிப்பதாகவும் எழுத்தாளர்களுக்கு உதவாததாகவும் உள்ளது. நம் உரிமைகள் பறிபோகாமல் இதைவிட அதிகமாக எழுத்தாளர்களைத் தாங்க வழிகள் உள்ளன. பகிர்வதைக்கூடச் சட்டப்பூர்வமாக்கலாம். நான்(ரிச்சர்டு ஸ்டால்மேன்) பரிந்துரைக்கும் இரு முறைகள்:

• ஒவ்வொரு எழுத்தாளருக்கு இருக்கும் வரவேர்ப்பின் கனமூலத்தின் அடிப்படையில் வரி நிதியைப் பகிர்ந்தளிக்கலாம். (மேலும் படிக்க: http://stallman.org/articles/internet-sharing-license.en.html)
• இ-நூல் கருவிகளின் மூலம் எழுத்தாளர்களுக்கு வாசகர்கள் தாமாக முன்வந்து  "முகம் தெரியாமல்"(anonymous) பண-அன்பளிப்பு செலுத்தும் முறையைக் கொண்டுவரலாம்.

இ-நூல்கள் நம் உரிமைகளைப் பறிப்பதாகத்தான் இருக்கவேண்டும் என்று அவசியம் இல்லை (ப்ராஜெக்ட் குட்டென்பெர்க் இ-நூல்கள் அப்படிப் பறிப்பதில்லை). ஆனால் நிறுவனங்களின் முடிவுகளால் இ-நூல்கள் நம் உரிமைகளைப் பறிக்கின்றன. அதைத் தடுப்பது நம் வேலை.

இந்த இயக்கத்தில் எங்களுடன் இணையுங்கள்: http://DefectiveByDesign.org/ebooks.html
இந்தக் கட்டுரையின் ஆங்கில மூலம்: http://stallman.org/articles/ebooks.pdf

பதிப்புரிமை: 2011, 12, 14, 15 ரிச்சர்டு ஸ்டால்மேன், க்ரியேடிவ் காமன்ஸ் அட்ரிப்யுஷன் 3.0 உரிமம் (Creative Commons  Attribution 3.0 License).
ஆங்கிலத்தில் இருந்து தமிழில் மொழிபெயர்ப்பு: 2016 டேவிட். எஸ். (க்ரியேடிவ் காமன்ஸ் அட்ரிப்யுஷன் 3.0 உரிமம்)
*சதுர அடைப்புக்குறிகளுக்குள் [ ] இருப்பவை என் சொந்தக் கருத்துக்கள்.

A Story of Innovations

Image Credit: WikiMedia

FloraPiss is a large corporate that manufactures and sells fruit juice in United Fates of Antarctica(UFA). One day while researching a method to preserve juices, one of their employer finds a way to carbonate water. Now from here let us see how our FloraPiss becomes the number one innovator using the fair and just patent system. As the great patent system is designed to provide incentive to innovator, to protect their financial interests and to encourage competition to innovate more, we can see how deep the altruistic and progressive system goes to save humanity!

FloraPiss files patent for "dissolving carbon-dioxide in water". So for next 20 years no other company can manufacture soda. FloraPiss starts to sell plain soda water (no sugar or flavor). A soda bottle costs 20 paise to produce but is sold for 20 rupees. It is completely legal and as there is no competition, FloraPiss gets its fair share of profit for the innovation.

There was a problem with packaging as the new drink blew up the existing cans and tetra packs, FloraPiss team innovated a tightly sealed bottle. Though they are already in use in paints and solvent industry, FloraPiss' unique innovation lies in the application of packaging soda. So another patent has been files for "using an air tight bottle with sealable caps to package edible items". WOW! Now nobody can use this innovation for another 20 years.

The employment agreement clearly says that "all inventions, improvements, innovations, discoveries etc during the tenure with the company, during or after office hours, inside or outside the office premises, belongs to the company". So in no way FloraPiss is supposed to give anything to the employee who accidentally carbonated water. But he was given a promotion, a bonus of one years salary and an appreciation mail from the VP and CEO with everyone in CC.

As the packaging patent was a team work, everyone in the team was given a salary increment and an appreciation mail from VP(that's all!).

The company demonstrated its love for the employees by this and there is no need to do anything further. Because it is the company that actually funded their recruitment, training, chairs they sat while inventing, table they placed the carbon-dioxide cylinder, the water, electricity etc. Without all these they would be beggars in the street or pizza delivery boys. So as the rightful owner of the "research" and investor of the "project" FloraPiss has no guilt attached to it like robbing them of their "inventions".

After 3 years, RedSquirt, a middle sized ketchup company uses air tight bottles to package their ketchup! How dare they are to infringe FloraPiss' patent? FloraPiss sues RedSquirt and the case drags for 4 years. RedSquirt goes bankrupt and FloraPiss gives it life by acquisition. A merger, "RedPiss" is born! FloraPiss acquires a new patent in this merger, "Twist to open". This innovation by an employee who worked for RedSquirt allowed sealable caps to be reused. FloraPiss forces him to sign an NDA and fires him after merger! They are the rightful owner of the IP now. How can a third-class employee claim ownership for it?

After 15 years, FloraPiss research team stumbles upon a way to add sugar to the soda. "Lot of R&D efforts and investments" were involved in the process as addition of sugar sometimes made the soda solution unstable and blew away the caps of the bottles. So FloraPiss also invest a lot in designing a good bottle design. They find a lighter, cheaper and more stronger alternate for the glass bottles. They use the plastic bottles which are already used in chemical industries with their acquired "twist to open" cap design. With this new innovative design, FloraPiss stars producing larger bottles. the cap can be reused and customers can pour some sweet soda, seal back the bottle air tight and keep it in their fridge! What an innovation. FloraPiss files a patent for "adding sweetener to soda water".

5 more years later, patent for soda water expires. DewyDrool, a competition adds aspartame to the soda water and starts to sell. As it infringes "adding sweetener to soda water" patent, FloraPiss sues them. But DewyDrool is also a large player like FloraPiss. They settle the case outside the court by cross-licensing. Now, FloraPiss can also produce "diet" soda and market them as "healthy" alternate to the sugary drinks. While DewyDrool can sell sugary soda as "energy drink". What a great leap!

FloraPiss and DewyDrool setup a non-profit independent body in to which other companies can join and get licenses. But there is a catch. They have to give some money to FloraPiss and DewyDrool, or give some of their patents to them in exchange. The patent will be evaluated for its worthiness by the "independent" body and any extra payment is settled. By this way, FloraPiss and DewyDrool has opened up their technology to fasten the progress in cool drink revolution!


Due to all the licensing fee, increase in shares due to near monopoly, law suits and greater profit margin, FloraPiss becomes a market leader and buys lot of companies. It even sets up some small proxy companies which hold patents acquired in due course and sue competitions without backlash. It is perfectly legal and within the limits of law! MBA students are inspired by FloraPiss CEO's BED-Talks and biography. FloraPiss becomes a ready-made theme for lot of inspirational stories and self-help books.

Meanwhile FloraPiss sues Floor-a-Piss, a chain of paid urinals where people pee directly on the floor, for trademark violation. Floor-a-Piss changes its name and settles the case outside the court.

Freemanistan is a nearby third world country where there are no patent laws to protect the "intellectual property rights". So FloraPiss is reluctant to start its business there! But new government in Freemanistan tries to establish trade contact with UFA. The problem is, there is already a market of soda water, sugary soda water, colored soda water, flavored soda water etc in Freemanistan. Actually soda water was in use in Freemanistan for last 200 years! So FloraPiss is afraid that once the trade opens, cheap import from Freemanistan will spoil its market share.

So FloraPiss and other such companies in UFA lobby their government to press Freemanistan government to sign trade treaties which enforces IP laws so that none of the UFA's corporates suffer due to the inhuman stone age laws of Freemanistan. UFA tries to do that but Freemanistan government refuses. So UFA enforces economic sanctions and trade embargo towards Freemanistan, which forces the Freemanistan government to involve in black market. Soon UFA backed "liberation army" start a "pro-democratic" revolution in Freemanistan and the government falls. The new "pro-democracy government" signs all treaties and agreements which opens room for patent laws in Freemanistan. FloraPiss buys most of the existing companies in Freemanistan and automates production, resulting in lot of job cuts. FloraPiss also acquires patents for sparkling wine, fizzy fruit juices etc in the process.

Later in Freemanistan, a new breed of companies headed by natives surface. Their tactics are no different than FloraPiss, yet the people worship them as their own innovators and an answer to UFA's aggression. Facebook posts and Tweets supporting domestic businesses and exposing foreign conspiracies are setup. Freemanistan companies also amass lot of wealth and goes exactly the same way as UFA companies from buying out smaller companies to lobbying the government to amend labor laws. Those who oppose Freemanistan businessmen are labeled anti-nationals.

There is really no way to tell the difference between the following:

• Pages by FloraPiss like companies that claim their products and activities are safe and legal
• Pages by NGOs like BlueCheese that claim soda causes cancer and autism and their factories caused tsunamis. (Soon FloraPiss will be certified as non-polluter by BlueCheese, while locals are labeled harmful)
• Pages by very few university professors, claiming FloraPiss factories discharge untreated water to rivers and their economic model resulted in unemployment and stagnation in cool-drinks industry.
• Pages by Freemanistan nationalists claiming that FloraPiss is backed by religious groups of UFA and they in turn fund conversion activities in Freemanistan. They also claim that soda causes fertility problems.
• Pages advocating the cholesterol-free organic soda, produced as per ancient sacred texts and that has unicorn amniotic fluid. They claim that it can cure all known diseases.

FloraPiss' production methods vary a lot in Freemanistan compared to UFA and causes lot of environmental problems. Some "pro-science accounts" in Facebook and Twitter expose the "stupidity" behind opposition to FloraPiss practices. They sacrifice some straw-men like BlueCheese and ultra organic soda movement on the altar of rationalism to silence these anti-science retards.

Whenever FloraPiss' tactics of forcing countries to sign trade treaties and deals using bribes, coercion and lobby is exposed, "notable economists" and "concerned citizens" bash anti-patent and anti-corporate voices, accusing them of copying and violation of intellectual property rights! How stupid and greedy these bastards trying to steal ideas and hard work of years!

People from UFA and Freemanistan like and share every post they "feel" true through their "personal experience" while enjoying a can of FloraPiss or PolarPee (Freemanistan's National Soda!). FloraPiss announces that Chandra Bai, Freemanistan woman (but UFA citizen!) as their new CEO. Freemanistan Social media celebrates it with posts narrating the greatness of Freemanistani people.

Meanwhile FloraPiss and PolarPee patent "organic soda" formulas and sue each other. Share prices fluctuate for both companies during every trail and judgement after which it will be taken to the next level of courts. Wolves of Ceiling Street make lot of money by speculating the market. Patent lawyers buy private islands.

A leak from Banana (a small nation in Indian ocean) reveals that many of the UFA and Freemanistan businessmen have hidden money in tax havens. Yet the governments come for their rescue saying that taking action against them will result in economic crash. As everything from savings to pension fund are linked to market, people "forget" the incident and move ahead with new movies and football matches.

Innovation continues not only in cool-drinks industry but also in every other industry from medicine to agriculture.

Confessions of a Cauliflower Cultivator

I knew that from day one. The guys at neighboring farm were up to something. They were doing something with cabbage. Something odd, that every season, the cabbages of their field became whiter and whiter. Was that the leaf or the flower? I didn't know back then. I am not that silly to jump over the fence and have a look at it. But they harvested it, loaded in carts and sent it to some unknown place every season. It happened by accident. I was in the town to sell my cabbages. There was a new shop in the market. They sold some fried food. People were all around the shop, shouting and pushing each other. It made me curious. I went near the shop.They were selling some red stuff deep fried in oil. When I was waiting for my plate of the fries, I saw the cart.

The same cart of my neighbor, which he used to carry the white stuff. The cart was parked behind the shop and his men were unloading the white stuff from the cart. Before I could get a better view, I was given my plate of the fries and asked to move on. The stuff was hot. It was nothing but the regular batter they used for other such fries. But inside it, it was the white stuff. Crunchy and juicy, with a taste that was similar to cabbage stem. But the upper part of the stuff was somewhat rough and grainy in texture. So this is the stuff they are harvesting and selling secretly! I waited in the market till evening. When the crowd had gone and the shopkeeper was counting his money, I went to him.

I asked him, what was that stuff he was selling. He gave me an odd look and continued counting his money. I told him that I am from the same village as the other farmer who supplied him the stuff. He gave me a stare and asked what I wanted. I said, I will pay you twice the money, just give me the white stuff without frying. He refused. I raised the money up to 10 times the cost of fries. But he refused and asked me to leave. I stayed that night in the market. Before the dawn, some boys rushed from the back of the shop and dumped a sac in the garbage pit. I ensured that they were back in the shop and jumped in to the pit. I loaded some of the leftovers in my bag and rushed back to home.

It was clear from the leaves. It was a cabbage plant. But something had happened. Like what happened 100 years ago, when a great demand for turnip got started, they made cabbage plant to grow turnip like stem. How they did that? I remember my grandfather explaining that to my father. First they selected the wild cabbage with somewhat stouter stem, then every generation, they replanted plants with stems that were even stouter than the previous generations, while the other plants were carefully uprooted and fed to cows. After 60 cycles, they got it! A turnip like stem, green in color and crunchy to eat. It was an instant hit! People added it to their soups and salads. Almost half of the farmers switched to this new product! So my neighbor had done something similar with the flower this time. And he kept that secret unlike how they shared the idea 100 years ago.

3 months later, it was my youngest son who went to play with my neighbor's children, brought home those pods. They were like cabbage pods. But I understood that they are of the new large-flower breed. I managed to get 8 to 10 seeds from that and planted them on a patch of land behind my cottage so that my neighbor couldn't see it easily. It grew. Exactly like how it grew in his farm. I didn't know how my neighbor will react towards this. But I was curious to show him the plants and get more information on it. I was even ready to exchange some of the new breed chicken I got from a friend abroad.

So I gave him a shout and called him to the patch of land where those white buds were smiling at the sun. He didn't expect the surprise awaited for him. He was angry and shouted that I had stolen his hard work of 15 years! I was speechless. He almost made me cry. I promised him that I will destroy the plants and will never plant them again. But that was not enough for him. He revealed that he had an agreement with the fries shop. Moreover a share of the profit, he sent to the duke as tribute in exchange for protection in case of any problem. According to him, I have stolen his work of body and mind and deserved punishment. He called his men and tied me up and took me to the duke. The duke ordered me that I should give him an years yield and I should be imprisoned for twenty years! I was on my knees and I was crying for mercy. Neither the duke nor my neighbor considered my plea.

At last, I asked for a chance to meet my eldest son to settle things before I went to the dungeons. It was granted. Apart from advices on money dealings and other stuffs, I asked him to go to hill side and get some wild cabbage. I instructed him that he should plant them and replant them selecting the ones with larger and larger flower cluster, cycle after cycle. This he had to do it in my brother's farm in the next village. It may be a hard task for a 13 year old. But still, he had to do it for the honor of his father. 20 year passed and I came out half the man I used to be. Instead of taking me to my home, my son took me to my brother's farm. It was almost the same! White mounds of flower clusters! It almost looked like those clouds in the Heaven! He did it! He did it on his own. Now nobody can come and tell that we have stolen their work. It is our own work! Our entry in to our village was almost a carnival! A cart full of the harvested flowers followed us. My wife and other children came running to me cheering and yelling.

It was almost the same! White mounds of flower clusters!

That evening was almost like a dream. We were all reunited. My youngest son was already planning what to buy with the money we get when we sell those flowers in the market. Someone knocked on the door. Then there was a bang and the door flung open. Men of the duke marched in to my house. They kept a knife on my throat and my son's throat and pulled us away to the court. My neighbor and his son were standing there, filled with anger. The duke, now a ripe old man, looked at me and wondered was it the same man he released that morning. Now my neighbor's charge against us was "copying his idea". The duke heard for some time and declared that we both had violated the law by copying his idea and stealing his wisdom. We were clueless. If selectively planting the seeds with the desired traits is the "wisdom", then it was not their wisdom. This, everyone knows. If making a cabbage plant with larger flower is the work, my son had done it on his own. What had we copied? What had we stolen? But nobody listened to us.

At last they sentenced me to death for repeated offense and my son to 20 years in prison. I begged them to give me a chance to confess my sins to you, the public, before the sword takes my life. These are the crimes I have committed. I did to the flower exactly what they did with the green turnip. I wanted to share the fruits of my work like how they shared the new breed of cow that gave more milk. I wanted to sell more cabbage flowers so that the fries will be cheaper and made at everyone's kitchen. But I stand before you awaiting the sword. For his profit, you are going to pay with that extra money every time you eat the fries. I am paying with my flesh and blood. Good bye!

Reliable Source

Introduction

What is a reliable source for any information? Anybody with an Internet connection can write anything they want. Even this blog is one such thing. I have no qualification to write on any subject with authority save for some "public static void main". But still I am writing. So if a thousand blogs say that something is correct and only few "unknown" sites say the opposite, democratically, is it not correct, because that is majority? Is truth is what we feel and experience or something that is proven beyond doubt? Is truth is what works for me and may not for you? Is there no ultimate truth that is objective instead of subjective "feelings" or "experiences"? Is that coffee is hot for me and cold for you? But is there not a thermometer that says the coffee is 67C? What if someone sounds like a genuine skeptic while questioning the caliberation of the thermometer itself? I have seen people questioning moon landing and vaccines like true skeptics. Does questioning something makes you a skeptic while questioning something else makes you an idiot?

People who believe Coco-Cola and Mentos can produce cyanide without a question suddenly start to ask millions of question if you say that it won't. People who don't even have a doubt that solar eclipse causes birth defects become "Doubting Thomases" when you say that mercury in shark is harmful for lactating mother and label you as a foreign agent who questions their native wisdom! The source for the Coke-Mentos story may be a blog written from Brazil and the source for mercury in shark is FDA's own website. It doesn't matter. Both are websites. And some even argue that it is better to trust the Brazillian blogger as he has no financial interest than the FDA site which is influenced by corporate lobby! So whom can we trust?

History of Writing

Back in the old days, people who were educated alone could read and write. And only a minority of the educated minority wrote books. Majority of the population never had a chance to read something or express their ideas to a wider audience. Hand written copies of books were costly to produce, hard to maintain and almost out of reach for the public. Some countries allowed only the rich elites to possess books. Even worse, in some other countries only those people who were born in to particular castes were allowed to read and write.

Then came the printing press which allowed mass production of books. Books became cheaper and were within the reach of public. At the same time, industrial revolution and political changes allowed majority to get education. As literacy rate grew along with the increase in number of books, we saw a boom in creativity, inventions, discoveries and critical thinking. But there was a problem. Even though almost anyone could read a book, not everyone was able to publish a book. You can have your own manuscripts on your desk. Else you can even print a copy for yourself. But hitting market was out of question.

Even today, to reach a good number of audiences, you need a publisher. And the publishers lay out certain rules and restrictions to the buyers as well as to the writers! Writers are asked to surrender the copyright to publishers. Readers are restricted from creating derivative works. Even reselling of books and photocopying are becoming "offences" in the eyes of corporate publishers. On one side, quality books are becoming costlier and costlier. Also on the other side, whoever has money can publish anything they want. The books cover, paper quality and print, everything will look exactly like an encyclopedia from a renowned university, yet the content will be no better than "Weekly World News". On the third side, rise of Internet provides costless (apart from what you pay for data) information. Again in Internet, most of the serious researches and information are pay-walled, and anyone with a connection can write anything (they don't even need the power of money!) the picture is becoming very complex.

Let me categorize them vaguely.

1. Really Good Books

These are books that are product of serious research or study or skill. They are genuine works and they can be verified scientifically. They are written by scientists and researchers who invest their time, money and effort on their fields. These books are meant to be consumed by public and increase the awareness, ignite discussions and pave way for improvements or rectification of existing ideas. But the sad facts about the books are as follows. They cost more. They are "dry" and uninteresting for general public and most people seldom know the titles of these books! Add to this the threats and violent opposition to such books which dare to question existing beliefs or status quo!

2. Bad Books that Resembles Good Books

Majority of books sold in railway stations or book fairs etc. are of this category. They have polished covers, colorful photographs, shiny paper, good quality print, cost you a fortune and authored by a famous writer/activist you often see on TV or in movie credits. They resemble the "good books" in every aspect from ISBN to Best Seller endorsements. But they are nothing more than self-help crap, new-age rap, astrology bullshit, biased history batshit or mumbo-jumbo on any subject. Go to any book shop. You can find at least a dozen of books on Homeopathy but you can't get a book that explains Homeopathy is fake! As the free market neutrality and voting-with-your-wallet democracy "naturally selects" the "fittest for survival", you have books that endorse Homeopathy, Crystal Therapy, Astrology etc. widely and cheaply available, while a good book on astro-physics or bio-chemistry is out of stock (never been in stock) or out of budget!

3. Good Sites

Enter the Internet! There are some sites which are actually continuation of international science journals and serious magazines with genuine journalism from the printing era. They have made their way in to the Internet. But most of them are pay-walled. Even some of them are not pay-walled but they are unpopular among masses. Again, these sites serve articles that are not so "interesting" to read. Even though serious efforts (like this) are taken to make books that are already in public domain freely available to people in digital format, relatively new and fresh information is blocked by subscriptions, pay per view etc. Also attempts like Facebook's Internet.org (FreeBasics) will add another layer in between people and these sites. If you have to pay Rs. 200 every month for a full-fledged Internet connection while FreeBasics comes for Rs. 0 (I won't say it is free of cost! It costs your privacy and freedom of choice), most people will choose to stick with the few sites provided by Facebook. As far as Whatsapp is working, who cares to do a data recharge?

4. The Other Sites

The rest of the Internet is nothing but the noise you hear in the market. Absolute democracy! Everyone has their say! From flat-earthers to neo-Nazi racists. All are given equal opportunity to write and spread their "message" to the world. Whatsapp messages, Youtube videos, Facebook updates and retweeted blog links can enlighten us on GM diet, while nobody cares to check what it is actually. Even some widely read news sites publish unethical articles (see example below) and distance themselves from questioning by a lame disclaimer that the opinion expressed is the writer's and not of the publisher's. Again the genuine idiocracy democracy of the Internet wins! abchomeopathy.com has Alexa rank of 72,613 and quackwatch.org has a rank of 193,968. You know what it means right? People at abchomeopathy.com are 267% correct than people at quackwatch.org. If 100 blogs say that vaccines contain poisonous chemicals and cause autism and 3 or 4 sites say vaccines are needed to prevent diseases like polio or mumps, then surely those 3 or 4 sites are run by corporate funded doctors who have no idea about vaccines while those blogs are run by highly concerned citizens who are rightly qualified in UFOlogy or Tarot reading.



This article from The Hindu (Tamil version) claims that a single Siddha medicine can cure diseases cold, diabetes, cancer and AIDS. How can a Newspaper like The Hindu publish an article like this without moral responsibility?

Screen grab from the The Hindu's article titled "தொற்றுநோய்களை விரட்டும் மகா சுதர்சன மாத்திரை"

What’s My Problem?

People are choosing what they want to believe and it is their choice and their life. How can you say what you believe is correct and what I believe is wrong? What is your problem? Do you know whatever you say is 100% correct? Nobody is 100% correct. Unless you experience it yourself, you won't believe.

These are the usual response people give when confronted that what they believe is pseudoscience or hoax.

An engineering graduate believes that a pulse check by a naturopath is equally valid as an ECG and a glass of coriander juice is equally good as angioplasty. He even said that former is better than later as it is fully natural, safe and without side-effects. You don't see a problem?

A person with pain due to gall stones ignores it and goes for acupuncture to treat the pain. He is rushed to ICU with severe jaundice. No problem yet?

A project manager enrolls his son in mid-brain activation class for a hefty sum of money against his son's wish to join Karate or Swimming. Still no problem?

An MBA gold-medalist spending Rs. 8,000 a month on red-mushroom powder and Spirulina capsules and genuinely believes that it can cure any sort of disease.  Not a problem at all!

Magnetic necklace, pyramid schemes, water therapy, energy treatment, de-tox diet, positive vibrations, vaasthu fish, snake oil, faith healing all are real. Thousands of people are saying it worked for them. So I am just trying it out. Nothing is wrong in trying that. If it fails, I may lose some money or time. But what if it works? And we should fight the "leftist conspiracy" to infect our children with evil ideas like evolution, germ theory of disease, astronomy, physics, chemistry, history, biology and English grammar (their r grammer Nazis r8? Dey cn’t evn tolrite ma Whatsapp msg!). Also we should fight the right wing corporates who are trying to kill the people by vaccination, anti-biotics, fertilizers, cellphone radiation, chem-trails, GM food etc. We should rely on our UFO masters, spirits of nature, kundalini energy, water memory, cosmic waves and organic foods to save us!

Absolutely no problem! Go ahead!

Solution?

What is the solution? Am I the expert to ask? Not so. But here is my opinion. Researches, studies and serious work of science, history and politics should be made cheap or free of cost for the public. Government and rational intellects should encourage people to read and share that information. Sharing, derivative works, collaboration etc. should be encouraged rather than being met with lawsuits in patent courts. On the other hand, people who knowingly circulate unscientific and unethical ideas, misinformation, rumors etc. should be banned and punished. Yes. I hear you crying that I am for censorship and against freedom of speech. But for your kind information, spreading misinformation about vaccine or endorsing a home-made cure for cancer is harmful. It is not freedom of speech. It has direct impact on people who are foolish enough to fall for it. Lives are lost. Damages done in irreversible ways. Yet these people are walking free on pretext of free speech! Scientific community with the help of volunteers should set up a universal review panel to review and rate sites based on the content. Again, these may result in censorship. But we should think a way to make it impartial and honest system rather than giving every retarded view an equal opportunity to corrupt the minds of public. If there are sources with 95% truth and 20% truth, both are logically partial truth. But practically they are not equally valid. It is our duty to ensure the 95% truth grows to 99.999% and 20% truth (80% false) obscured from the public. Long live democracy! Long live freedom of speech!

Book Review: Net Force - CyberNation

Written by Tom Clancy around 2001, the book is set in early 2010s. The book is not worth a review per se, but I am writing this because it confuses free as in freedom with free as in free lunch. Even 10 years after the dissolution of USSR, the author was still afraid of Communism and Socialism. This book is nothing but a knee-jerk reaction towards the presumed threat of deprived "intellectual property rights" or "intellectual communism"!

Long, Boring Story Short: 

CyberNation is a group or a corporate, you can say, consisting of management, hackers, PROs, lobbyists, lawyers etc. Their aim is to replace all the ISPs and fill their space with their own version of Internet, where there is no "Intellectual Property" i.e. people only need to subscribe to the CyberNation to get all their music, movies, books, porn, scientific journals and whatever else that can be downloaded. CyberNation will make money by advertising. So to press the people to make the switch from their regular ISPs to CyberNation, they do all the dirty tricks from DDoS attacks to blowing up hardware using bombs! A special task force called Net Force, tries to identify and stop CyberNation. There are lots of useless diversions like too much of description about martial arts training on both sides (but no martial art fight in the climax!), virtual reality, bashing Russians and commies, New Age bullshit and incorrect futuristic predictions. At last, the "good" guys win.

A Look into CyberNation:

Have you heard about Free Basics by Facebook? CyberNation sounds more like this. It runs ads and campaigns to entice people to support them, just like what Facebook did with Internet.org/Free Basics. It has lobbyists placed in many countries to convince politicians and authorities to make changes in laws exactly like what Facebook did by asking us to send support letters to TRAI. CyberNation has all the money and means to do it exactly like Facebook. Their aim is to loop in more people so that they can earn more by advertising to their user base, again exactly like Facebook. I can feel the ennui here. But I couldn't help.

But CyberNation is against "Intellectual property", the meaningless umbrella term that clubs together various different and uncorrelated concepts like copyright, trademark, patents etc. Instead of me struggling with my half-baked knowledge to explain it, you can hear from Dr. Stallman himself (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.en.html). People who really care for freedom of knowledge and information won't accept invasion of privacy and anything that disturbs net-neutrality. That is why FSF and other like-minded people are vehemently against Facebook's Free Basics and other such schemes that can disturb the net-neutrality. But CyberNation is pro-freedom and anti-freedom at the same time. Like a typical Right-wing person who fights against abortion in public life and forces his daughter to undergo one on her teenage pregnancy to save the "family honor", Tom Clancy can envision such organization without a problem!

CyberNation is much like Mark Zuckerberg running the Pirate Bay. One thing the book got correct is the character of Jasmine Chance. What a person will become when educated in management and shaped by the corporates, a ruthless, self-worshiping person who cares the least about others in achieving their selfish goals. She is much like the so called role models of this generation namely Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Bill Gates, Ambanis, Tatas etc. Bribing, killing, cheating all are fine provided you get what you want. This is what today's "business" has boiled down to. Everyone else is labelled as losers or considered running charities.

The book says that the "Intellectual Property Rights" is very important for innovation and without the motivation of monetary benefits it is impossible for new inventions and researches happening. Yeah! We have seen that in the case of Daraprim! Who invented that drug? But the novel idea of "Intellectual Property Rights" allowed a retard like Martin Shkreli to exploit people using a drug that was invented decades before he was born! Similarly the book confuses resale of used book and making unauthorized copies of a book and selling it in market. Coming back to the drugs, what type of drug will get more funds today? Is it the one that will prevent millions of deaths or the one that can amass trillions of Dollars? We all know the answer.

 The greedy, cut-throat completion of the laissez faire economy won't address the "needs" of the people more than the "wants" of the rich any day! For Tom Clancy, putting needs of the general public before wants of the rich is communism. He can call it whatever he wants, but for me this is the very definition of human nature. A monkey never feels guilty for snatching a banana from another monkey. And a group of monkey watching this won't condemn it. But we humans do. If we sit back and allow corporates to exploit labor and resources of the poor for the luxury of the rich, we will be no better than monkeys!

Conclusion:

So sad that Tom Clancy is no more. I am pretty much sure that he will use the exact same arguments like "private property", "individual freedom and rights", "free market" etc. to support whatever Facebook is doing. He will be with the people who are arguing for paid fast-lanes in Internet. All that mattered to him is the rich to win over the poor. He wants the strong to trample the weak with the help of governments holding the poor down with their laws and regulations. That is what democracy is in Clancy's view. But surely a true CyberNation will rise. It will be rule of people. It will fight for freedom of and freedom for ideas, arts, science and knowledge. It will fight for the people's privacy, freedoms and rights. It will shatter the evil monopolies built with the backing of inhuman laws. On that day, NSA or Clancy's Net Force will be silent spectators who will watch the giant force of people marching towards true equality!

Testing The Waters

There are two things currently trending in social media. Beep song and Sagayam for CM. Thanks for our short-term memories that we have already moved away from recent floods, let alone protest against liquor. In my understanding, these two incidents seems to be testing the waters before a full fledged public "coming out". It is safer for the parties involved.

The song was written, sung, recorded with music and vulgar words beeped-out. Perfectly ready for posting in Youtube or Soundcloud. Then suddenly someone "leaked" it. If the public reaction was positive, then we might have seen people claiming that "Simbu alone didn't do the song." "It is my music." "My recording theater!" etc. But as the reaction is negative everyone else had forsaken Simbu to fight the legal battles alone and face the angry crowd of people. But as the song is not "published" in proper sense, Simbu can claim that the song is "leaked" without his knowledge and it is none of his fault. Perfect example for the benefit of "testing the water"!

Now take the another case: Sagayam for CM. He may be a good IAS officer. And the idea of Sagaym for CM is not that bad. But the way this idea is brought to public is what strikes a nerve for me. Sagayam can resign his post and start a political party or join any existing party if he wants to run for CM. Else he can just openly give a statement that he is not interested in politics and no one should use his name in that way in social media or public gatherings. But his "silence" is deafening as he just sits like it is somebody else's problem. If there is enough support, he may come out as a candidate in coming elections. Else he may just downplay this entire episode as a social media sensation created by some over enthusiastic fans. A Goundamani comedy scene comes to mind!

Even Dr. Kalam tried his hand at this trick, when he said that he was willing to be the president for second term if there is "certainty".  (http://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/kalam-surprises-third-front/story-YxWB2XRUrveu8aCHigxvBJ.html)

So the lesson for us is, if this method works even for public figures, why not we utilize the same? You can tell your wife that there is a good offer on pizzas in nearby shop. If she shows some interest, you can go ahead and order pizzas and escape from upma. Else you can silently glue your mouth shut with upma without further "consequences". Practical isn't it?

Beep Song

"Yes... I am a Simbu fan and I am going to support him blindly..."

"I respect women and such songs should be banned."

"They are spoiling our culture and Simbu should be hanged."

"Simbu should shut the f*** up."

"Clearly this is a government conspiracy to divert people from Chennai floods!"

These are some of the opinions I heard from my friends on the so called "Beep song". I feel almost all of these arguments are outright stupid and harmful. To start with the ritual disclaimer, I am no fan of Simbu and I am considered feminists by some and male chauvinist by others while my own "self-respect" says that I am a neutral person. So please don't take my opinions so seriously!

Now let us discuss some hard facts.  You know that a single Google search can land you in a hardcore porn movie right? If not, just don't tell me that I am the one who spoiled your innocence and made you to "sin".  Ok, now let us assume that all online porn is banned, and you couldn't circumvent it with proxy servers or VPNs. You know that you can get a porn DVD for 30 bucks right? Again, don't tell me that you never heard of it! Leave it. You know where they show adult movies? If we ban all these things, we can only expect an increase in number of headlines like "Youth beaten for peeping in to bathroom", "Juvenile arrested in brothel", "Massage parlor sealed for mischievous activities" etc. Again it is a public secret that at some or other point of time everyone of us seek such vices in our life. People who deny this are those who live in outright denial (and themselves doing everything secretly) or those who are psychologically abnormal.

So, saying that what Simbu has sung is going to cause problem is society is outright stupid. All the people who are protesting on this issue are getting political mileage or publicity through this. Nothing more. They all know existence of above said vices and they themselves would (must) have consumed such materials in their lives. This applies to Communist Party Comrades fighting Simbu here to ISIS retards who are raping minor girls. We all know how moral you (we) are. Why you people like to preach others on things which you yourselves indulge in secret?

Let us discuss some points:

1. The song beeps out the offensive word. Many such songs are out there. Many such movie dialogs are also there. If they just guess the beeped out words and take it to streets, sorry, you have to go to Pakistan or Nepal, as Indian streets will be overflowing.

2. The song blames women for love failure. This is factually wrong. There are many men who cheat women too. But this song is not supposed to be a documentary poem highlighting the statistics of men/women affected by love failure and the root causes. This is just an emotional outburst of a spoiled youth. That's it. If songs with such meaning are to be taken seriously, banned and the writer punished, then we can even interpret Thirukural in such ways and demand for Thiruvalluvar's arrest.

3. The song, as per their claim, was not released to public and was "leaked". It may be a way to test the waters before going public. But even if they have released it, who is forcing you to hear it? I remember a song from the movie "Mahalir Mattum". In that there are lyrics like "Men's genital should be cut". Where were the people protesting against the lyricist against this? What about this "progressive" magazine publishing an explicit poem about male genital by a transgender? http://www.unmaionline.com/new/1754-kalki-subramaniam.html

4. In most movies, men are shown as villains, drug dealers, human traffickers, smugglers, rapist etc. So can we take it as attack against men?

5. How may of you heard the colorful language women use when they fight each other in water pumps? What about drivers who are frustrated with traffic? We all freely use such words daily. In an average, by the age of 10, most of us start to use filthy language.

6. Is the problem is only with usage of the word for female genital? What would happen if he release an uncut version with the word replaced with a word for male genital?

7. If the problem is only about talking bad about women, will they accept such explicit words in songs in any other context?

8. How different are you from the Pakistanis who are demanding capital punishment for people whom they accuse of insulting their holy scripture or their prophet? If it is holy for you don't force it down my throat!

9. Usually the conservatives do these type of protests in developed nations. Here, the left-leaning parties are also doing this. This clearly shows that we don't have a "true left" in India!

10. You all are not fighting for dowry or honor killing or marital rape or female infanticide with the same vigor. These all caused and are causing real deaths and physical harm to thousands. But your problem is with a song and to censor it. This itself shows how bad you are than how bad the song is!

So my suggestion to such people is not to listen to what they feel offensive. Just don't visit the song link. If you accidentally click the link, click back button or close the browser tab or close the browser itself. You can even shutdown your PC or disconnect your Internet to keep your mind safe.

In between YG Mahendra's holy anger against this song can really be taken serious if he has voiced the same about "Why this Kolaveri" or "Adi daa avala" songs.

What is the advantage an English speaking yuppie has over a person who only knows Tamil? He can enjoy 50 Cents and Eminem without a problem while the Tamil only guy need to wait for such songs another 500 centuries. And do you think that, those who rape children and murder for inter-caste marriages are all from this tiny minority of people who are fans of rap music? It is exactly the opposite. More women are dying in the hands of  so called "morally superior people" than in the hands of people who listen to "beep songs".

Long Live Freedom of Speech!

Media Players for GNU/Linux

People often think that GNU/Linux lack support for video/audio playback. With Distros like Linux Mint having out of the box support for most video/audio formats and almost all Android phones work seamlessly with almost all media types, it is still a common myth that GNU/Linux won't play MP3 or MP4. So I am just listing few media players that can do the job for you.

VLC

Surprisingly many people running Microsoft Windows use VLC doesn't know that it is part of Free Software. But VLC (Video LAN Client) is the most widely used media player among Windows users. It plays everything from FLV to FLAC told one of my friend who runs Windows and a Microsoft fanboy. He challenged me to show an equivalent or alternate for VLC in GNU/Linux. When he visited my house next time, I showed him my PC having the same VLC (latest version). So VLC is one of the most commonly used media player that GNU/Linux users can make use of.

Link: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Kaffeine

Kaffeine is a very good media player that has a whole set of features to give you a full fledged media center experience. It is a KDE based player (you can still run it in other DEs.) It has support for scrambled and copy protected DVDs (you may need libdvdcss) and it is easy to use too. It is the default player for most of my DVD viewings.

Link: http://sourceforge.net/projects/kaffeine/

SMPlayer

This humble yet powerful player is not known outside the GNU/Linux world much. But if someone tries SMPlayer, they will make it as their default player for sure. It has very nice sound output and it has lot of settings that will allow you to tweak every aspect of your audio/video. The excellent keyboard shortcuts will come handy while watching videos. I am so addicted to the shortcut configurations of this player as I wonder how other players got them so wrong.

Link: http://smplayer.sourceforge.net/

So, if you are running GNU/Linux, just search for these packages in your software repositories. Sometimes you may need to add some other sources or to build from source (that is not the case usually as all major distributions have these media players in their repositories). Please share about your favorite media players in GNU/Linux systems in the comment section.

Note: Personally I strongly suggest you to stay away from non-free media formats. For list of clean and free media formats check the below link.

Link: https://www.defectivebydesign.org/so_youve_got_some_questions_do_you#formats

Ubuntu 14.10 – Steps to Upgrade

As discussed earlier in a previous blog post, Ubuntu 14.10 is out! Finally the wait is over. Before you are going to upgrade your OS, keep in mind that 14.10 is a regular release and 14.04 is a Long Term Support release (meaning you will get security/critical updates for 5 years). So if you want the LTS to stay, don't bother updating your PC/laptop until 16.04, the next LTS version, which will be release around April, 2016. With that said, for those who always want the stability of Debian with cutting edge packages, can proceed with upgrading their OS.

Steps to Upgrade:

First update your machine. Open terminal, type the following command

sudo apt-get update

This laptop was bit outdated!

Type in the password. After completion, run

sudo apt-get upgrade

Depending upon the number of packages you have and the interval of update it can take few minutes to update your OS to latest available packages.

After this, go to “Software & Updates” click on the “Updates” tab and check the “Notify me of a new Ubuntu version:” option at the bottom. It should be set to “For any new version”.

Search for "update"

Check the last option in the "update" tab

Now go to “Software Updater” and it will notify you that a newer version of Ubuntu is available.

Search for "updater"

Wow! The wait is over!

 Click “Upgrade” and you will be presented with the release notes. Click “Upgrade” here too!

It will download the “release upgrade tool” which will take care of the remaining upgrade process.

The upgrade tool will do preliminary preparations for the upgrade and calculates the packages to update as well as size of download and approximate time to download. Ensure that you have enough time and stable Internet connection. If yours is a laptop, then don't forget to connect the charger! (But sadly, there was a power cut during my upgrade process and my modem went off. But thankfully the download started from where it was left in between!)

Click “Start Upgrade” and the packages will be downloaded. After that the required packages will be installed/upgraded and obsolete packages will be removed.

After everything is over, the upgrade tool will prompt you to restart your machine.

And after that!!!

The wallpaper looks awesome!