Learning from Children, the Way They Learn from Us

Most of us have seen children growing up. Their first word, their first kiss, the first picture they draw and so on. Especially parents and elder siblings know better about how children learn from us. It is pretty simple, yet overlooked fact. They imitate! That is one of the most beautiful gifts mother nature has given us apart from the basic animal instincts. A child doesn't learn crying or smiling or sleeping or sucking milk by imitation. So does a kitten learns climbing walls or a fish learns to swim. These things come naturally. But the complex human wisdom and progress relies upon the knowledge passed down to the next generation through imitation. Without imitation, we will be just a bunch of apes hunting and stealing food, breeding and killing others or getting killed by others.

Some people confuse copying and imitating and end up saying imitation is wrong, at least in some areas. For example, a child doing exactly what its mother or brother is doing is considered perfectly normal and encouraged, while a student writing(copying by looking in to his paper) exactly what the person sitting next to him is morally evil. So, imitating is allowed and good in one area and morally evil and bad in another. Their argument goes like this. A person can use language, established tools like wheel, fire, knife etc without worrying about patents, but when it is something new, that should be patent protected and only the "owner" of the "idea" should be able to use it (at least for some period of time, may be in years or decades). But they conveniently forget that without all other "existing" ideas, the new idea couldn't be there in the first place!

This is where they get things completely wrong. Most of the people concerned about freedom of knowledge are not against copyrights or trade secrets or trademarks (there are some who oppose copyrights too, and it is out of scope here). We oppose patents alone. Let us see how the student copying from the person next to him is different from a child imitating to learn. First, it is not a process of learning which the student is imitating the other one doing. He is just copying the exact text of his answer sheet. This is to falsely make it appear that he too had studied or memorized the same things as the other student. In legal terms these are forgeries and copyright violations. But consider this, a student finds and uses a method to quickly balance a chemical equation while in the class. His friend asks him how but he turns down to reveal him the trick. So the friend, tries hard and comes up with his own method to balance chemical equations faster. It may or may not be the same method. Does anyone have a problem here?

Now imagine, that the first student goes to his teacher and complains that the other student has "stolen" his "idea" and asks the teacher to look in to it. The teacher forces the other student to reveal his method and finds some similarities between the two methods. Finally, the teacher tells that nobody should use the shortcut methods except the first student in next 5 examinations and only the first student is allowed to skip certain steps in conventional way of balancing the equation, while all others should write every step. Is this fair? Who is at wrong here? This is exactly what is happening in the fields of science and technology as well as manufacturing and service industries.

By these patents, they are not protecting a certain unique order or pattern of procedures or words or sounds or pixels of creative works. The above mentioned things come under copyrights and trade secrets, which if invented/discovered/guessed independently, is not liable to legal threats as in case of patents. But patents lock ideas. For example, it may be acceptable to keep secret how a vaccine is manufactured (though anyone who has slightest moral responsibility won't lock down an important development like vaccines), but it is totally unacceptable to patent the idea of making a vaccine itself. It will take someone to put the vaccine under analysis and figure out a similar or different way to arrive at an idea to produce the vaccine. Nobody can just "copy" a vaccine sold on market. Also, if it is all about quality and standards, it need not be necessary that the first to make it is the best. These aspects of the vaccine can be regulated by government organizations like FDA.

Let me give you another imaginary case. Dr. Anand is working on an HIV vaccine. He finds that nano-capsules can hold deactivated HIV RNA and can give protection against HIV without any ill effects. He applies for a patent, not for the HIV vaccine but for the "idea" of "making a drugs by injecting genetic materials in nano-particles" (Yes, this is how patent names sound). Later Dr. Abdul who is working on cure for cancer finds that healthy DNA from normal cells contained in nano-crystals can trigger apoptosis (cell-death) in cancerous cells. But due to existing patents, this new drug couldn't be produced or distributed, unless Dr. Abdul enters in to an agreement with Dr. Anand to share profits or pay royalties or to sell his "idea" or even Dr. Anand can deny him permission without options. Else it will result in a lawsuit in patent courts taking years to prove that nano-capsules are different from nano-crystals or both are same and Dr. Abdul should pay huge sum of money in damages. As a last resort, Dr. Abdul can wait till the patents of Dr. Anand expire. In all cases, Dr. Abdul didn't get the due credit for his research efforts. Dr. Anand who never had anything to do with Dr. Abdul can possibly get a good share of his profits. The progress in field of nano-medicine by other researchers is delayed. Millions of people will suffer and die during these lengthy processes.

One relief, if you consider this blog worthy and if at all in future someone patents a nano-particle based vaccine or medicine, you can possibly quote this as a "prior-art" to evade that patent.I know for sure that this line of thought could have already come to millions of people around the world from school children to scientists. And I am sure that once nano-particles are common, it will not be long to have nano-medicines on the shelves. And this line of argument can be extended to any of the so called patents. Before anyone filed a particular patent, it could have come in the mind of at least one another person before. It should involve one or more existing ideas. It is all about mixing or improving ideas. Nothing exists on its own and no idea is Ex Nihilo! If that is the for ideas, there are patents on genetic materials, plants and chemicals. I really wonder how materials can be patented! And that is totally another area to dig in, I think.

Give two colours and ask people to mix, then they will end up with millions of shades. Yet no one owns any right over any particular shade. And they all have imitated the "idea" of mixing colours! The same goes with ideas. They are countless and not bound by any laws that explain how they should be mixed. Ideas are free. They can't be assigned to someone. The mere assignment of an idea to someone through patent won't make one its owner. Others still can imagine or improve the idea in their minds. Ideas can start and end in minds or can be communicated to others. You can't claim that you own an idea or you are the first to have it only because you are the first to communicate it to patent office or a corporate. If you want to lock down an idea, don't tell anyone and let it die in your mind. The moment you tell it or make it tangible in any other form, you can't lock it anymore. Ideas are same like sun. You don't burn sun faster by absorbing its heat using a solar panel or you can't save sun by reflecting back its lights using mirror.

Some may ask "Where is the advantage of being the first? What is the benefit for all the research and development involved in the process of arriving at the idea?" Here it is. Monthly salary or research grants, fame and sense of achievement and satisfaction are the rewards one gets for an idea. Apart from that nobody deserve anything. It is not like "invent once and live rich rest of your life" through royalties by patenting it. As long as we wants money we need to do actual work and work involved arriving at an idea is completed once the idea is reached. Nobody deserves a paycheck for the work done last year right? And also remember any "new idea" comes from the constant evolution of the existing ones back from the dawn of human beings or from the dawn of life or from the big bang itself! Even though your genome is unique, it can be traced back to the first life, so is your idea.

So, there is no harm in imitating anything. That is how we learned everything. That is how we teach everything. That is how we survive as a race of sentient beings. That is how even our cells multiply. If someone wants to restrict that, that is the utmost restriction against progress of knowledge. That is the most severe form of crime. That is the genocide of all our ancestors and their minds. That is the worst human right violation. People can go without food for weeks, water for days, air for minutes. But you can't force anyone from stop thinking. As Descartes put it "We think! Therefore we are!" As we have received the accumulated human wisdom of millennia with little or no cost, we are obliged to give back to humanity in the same note as we have to take care of our parents.


Freely you have received; freely give. -Matthew 10:8 (The Bible)

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. -Ecclesiastes 1:9 (The Bible)

Control over the use of one's ideas really constitutes control over other people's lives; and it is usually used to make their lives more difficult. -Dr. Richard Stallman, Father of Free Software Movement
 

iPhone Six or iPhone Sucks?

Every time a new iPhone or shiny iCrap is released, some or other Crapple fanboys will come to me saying now they are the best in the world and everyone else will copy them. When I reply that it is not so great and everything they claim new are age old features in other phones, they will say as the phone is selling well, there need not to be any argument and continue arguing anyway! At last, they will say, with the next version, I will buy an iPhone!

There may be any number of future iPhones. They may change in shape, size and features. But one thing will never change. My opposition to iPhone and other iBads unless and until they repent and make everything free as in freedom. Cost is the last problem I have with iProducts(still they are over priced and I think a phone or audio player or workstation doesn't worth your monthly or yearly income). But their lack of respect for user freedom is what bothers me the most.

Even in this version, they have copied features already available in many phones for years and are claiming that they are the first and best. But yes, what they claim is partly true. They are the first to implement these features with flaws and unacceptable restrictions. When we have Bluetooth in our phones, it is a feature. But Crapple users can't send or receive files, yet they too claim it as security "feature"! Similarly, they claim lack of USB charging as a "feature" and boast that they have bought a new genuine charger to replace the broken one for the same money I would spend on a new phone.

The problem is two fold. They lack knowledge about technologies and they don't want to accept the fact that they have lost lot of money for nothing. Most of the Crapple users, even though they are rich and elites, lack basic knowledge in technology. All the "facts" they "know" are from their rich ass counterparts or through advertisements and media hypes. Ask them a bit more about anything technical, they just resort to say, "I am an average user. Apple products just works!" and the next moment they again start boasting about technical details they got from review sites or word of mouth. It is kind of a social disease, you know, they can't stop talking about Crapple.

Next thing, people usually get excited when they buy new phones/PCs or other gadgets. That is quiet normal. But when they get maniac about each and every upgrade and couldn't control spending a huge sum of money for same thing you can get for less than half of the money, it means only one thing. They think the product is great as the cost is so high. Yes, there are some exclusive and limited products that costs so high because of their quality or rarity. But Crapple products are manufactured in Chinese sweatshops like any other cheap phone yet these people are believing that they are superior only because they cost more.

I remember an incident from my childhood. When I was around 12 years, my friend came to me showing a new electronic watch he just bought. It was a simple one with plain time display. He said it was 100 rupees. He got it from a carnival happening in nearby town. As the shops in carnivals sell over priced goods and his uncle who just returned from Dubai didn't mind the price, he got the 60 rupees worth watch for 100 rupees. I showed him mine which my dad bought me for 80 rupees from a local shop. Two things made him upset. My watch had light and it had some cartoon printed on the strap. That's it. He ran to his home and cried to his parents. They said something to pacify him. He came back that evening claiming that his watch is made in Japan and its light (which is not there) will work only during night, the battery will last for 15 years and so on. Also he had tried to draw some pictures on the strap with sketch pen as the marks said. I felt pity form him.

The above incident is the same that happens with Crapple users. They even attempt  to imitate others by jailbreaking, installing apps etc like my friend attempted to draw on his watch strap. But the difference is he was an innocent child who deserves sympathy but Crapple users are cunning selfish idiots who don't deserve sympathy.

You may think I am another guy who couldn't afford to buy an iPhone and just venting my anger on everyone who can buy one. But In reality, if I have that much money I will invest it on something worthwhile like books or music instruments and settle with a sub 10K phone. If you are a person who got infected by Crapple users and not yet able to take a decision, then just open your eyes and think twice before you act. For Crapple users, my advice is "Baahhh.... Meeehh..." Forget it... They are just a herd of sheep!

Unethical Behaviours of Some Apps

There are many stupid apps. But there are some apps that do more than just being stupid. They are totally unethical and evil. In this post, I will share few of such cases and provide some tips to avoid such apps.

1. They steal your data

There are some apps that snoop in to your data. They read what you type, they find where you are and lot other activities you do. Some apps (at least in theory) can even turn your microphone without your notice and send the sounds to their servers.

To prevent such apps from infringing your privacy, you need to double check the permissions of the app. If they have unjustified permissions, then NEVER install them. Nobody is born with a smartphone and surely everyone can live without a stupid app, especially when it does more harm than good.

2. They violate others' privacy

One (or more) of my stupid friend(s)/relative(s) had an app called "True caller". The evil privacy violators behind that app shamelessly steal the phone numbers in the user's contact book along with names. I was shocked to find my name and some of my friends' name in their servers. Some people claim that it only uploads after asking the users' permission. But to make MY phone number with MY name available to public, they need to get MY permission and it is not enough to get their stupid user's permission. Recently the morons at "True Caller" allowed their system to be hacked and exposed millions of user data!

The worst part is, if someone saves our number with pet names, then that too is visible to public. One day, when I was travelling in train, two college students were chatting about girls. What they said shocked me! One of the boy told his friend that he just randomly search numbers and collect numbers that have female names. Then he will make calls, calling them by name and other details. He said, some names also have the name of office/college of the person and hence he can easily trick them believing that he is their friend.

There are many such apps (WhatsApp is one) that not only endangers you but people in your contact list. Also there are lot of people who save credit/debit card numbers, PIN numbers etc in contacts. Everything is going to the app's server! Beware! To avoid such apps, my advice is to check the permission. Also report such apps to Google. If they are not listening, then take it up to other proper forums. If you have such apps, then it is time to remove them right now!

3. Fake Apps

These are apps that pose like genuine apps with all the logo, name and description, but a fake app. The following incident too happened just 3 weeks ago. One person who was sitting near me in a bus was talking through phone to his friend. He was telling that their company's (I guess it may be 4 to 5 person strong) business model is to create fake apps and post them in Google Play Store. He was telling he had created a fake app for a popular Tamil website and getting around 300 to 400 rupees per day (through ads).

To avoid this problem, check the developer of the app. If you are in doubt, check the email id of the developer too. If you find the app suspicious, report it immediately. Also write it clearly in the review too.

4. Stolen Apps

Some apps just lift the code of open source apps, rename it, change the logo and re-release them as closed source. This is violation of some free software licenses like GPL.

To avoid such apps, first check if there is a free software alternate for the app you want in F-Droid repo and if available, use it! If you strongly suspect code theft in any apps, inform the original developer about the same.

5. Bloatwares

Some phone manufactures bundle some apps with their phone itself. These apps range from mostly harmless to full fledged spywares. There is no way to uninstall them unless you flash your phone with a different ROM. Some of these apps are hardwired so that some phones need them to work properly.

To mute such apps, go to settings and try to disable them. If you are worried about disabling the app preventing other functionalities, check before buying. Also write feedbacks to the manufacturer that you have opted not to buy their phone due to bundled bloatware!

The Green Pet

Most of us love to have pets. But in this fast moving world, we find no time to keep one and maintain properly. Also today's small families can't handle responsibilities like bathing the pets, feeding them, taking them for walking, mating etc. Even fish demand changing water and proper feeding and maintenance. And for most people, the toughest part is going on vacation. It is impossible to take the pets along and it is equally impossible to convince a neighbor or relative to take care of the pet during vacations. So what can we do?

Here is a perfect solution for all of us. We keep wide varieties of green pets according to our space and economic constraints. Yes. I am talking about plants/trees. These are the pets you can keep without sparing much time and money. You can leave for vacations up to a week. And usually it is easier for you to convince your neighbor or relative to water the plant/tree once in a while rather than taking your doberman a walk.

Gooseberries grow well in Tamil Nadu climate!

I know most of the people living in concrete jungles (metros) can't afford space for trees. But still, they can easily find place for small pots growing table rose or sun rose. These small pots. If you are lucky to have a backyard (even with concrete flooring), you can grow small plants like tomato, bitter melon, rose, curry leaves etc. If you have even bigger space, with soil, then you can go for larger plants like hibiscus, jasmine etc and small trees like gooseberries, papaya etc. Seriously I am no expert in gardening. But with a small strip of land (4 x 30 feet), I managed to grow many of vegetables and trees (not at the same time though!)

If you are lucky, you will be visited by surprise guests!

These plants provide you a calm and polite company. They won't demand you to for biscuits or walking yet, they will be there quietly standing for you at the energetic early morning or after a tiring day's work. Their aroma, their colors, their shades and the gentle filtered air... Those are priceless compared to smelly dog poops or allergic cat hairs (no offense dog and cat lovers!). By growing these plants or trees, you will be surprised by pleasant visits of honey bees, sparrows, squirrels, butterflies and of course some unwanted insects and reptiles. But hey! That is not that big thing to address. In my entire 15+ years experience, I have encountered few centipedes and lizards apart from harmless insects like ants, grasshoppers and spiders (non-poisonous).

Are you feeling guilty about eating your pet's fetus? ;-)

My tips for a small backyard garden:

Spend few minutes daily to water the plants/trees.

Every weekend spend an hour to address the soil and cleaning.

Don't use pesticides and fertilizers. As you are growing them as pets, don't worry much about their yield.

Change the type of plants often. Experiment with different varieties of flowers, veggies and fruits.

Don't attach too much emotions. Plant's don't understand much and you should not be crying if that papaya tree is infected with some pest!

Conclusion:

By growing plants, you are doing more good than harm to the nature. Most of the pets are really not that good in terms of nature. They are also not an economic choice too. But plants on the other hand are both eco-friendly and economic. So enjoy the fruits of nature and cherish its beauty!

Animal Farm - Book Review

Do you want to know why Russia and West are fighting over Ukraine? Do you think communism can save the world? Do you like children's fantasy? If you answer 'yes' to any of the above questions, then ”Animal Farm” by George Orwell is a good choice for you. Counting just less than 100 pages, the book tells the story of a farm in England. But wait! Are you wondering how a farm in England can explain current political mayhem surrounding Ukraine? Written in early1940s, the book is much of a prophecy that can even belittle blabbering of Nostradamus.

Most of us would have read or at least heard about ”Gulliver's Travel”. The story about Lilliput's! You got it? But many of us are not aware that Jonathan Swift wrote the story not only as children's fantasy, but also as a political and philosophical satire. Swift ridiculed the Imperial French and British as well as the struggle between fading archaism and emerging modernity in Gulliver's Travel. Orwell on the other hand encapsulates the raise, progress and fall of USSR (Soviet Russia) inside children's fantasy, with clever parodies. The wow factor is, Orwell wrote about events happening today 70 years before.

The story opens with a farm run by one Mr. Jones in England. The animals of the farm, fed up with the mistreatment at the hands of human masters, plot and execute a rebellion successfully and take over the farm after expelling Jones. Soon, they create certain rules and orders for themselves and start running the farm all by themselves. But as time passes, the power at the hands of pigs start to corrupt them. Soon the farm is attacked by neighboring humans but the attack is successfully thwarted but with great losses too. But the pigs start changing the laws to suit their desires and gradually collaborate with humans and start imitating them in everything. They go so far that even the animals can't identify pigs from humans. At last all other animals go back to the state which they were when humans ran the farm.

The story narrates how power corrupts people who rule(pigs), how religion is used to keep people under ignorance(raven), how army and police forces are used to suppress free thought and speech(dogs), how media is used to promote personality cult(Minimus and the black cockerel) and at the same time brainwash people and spread false news(Squealer), how even after all these things some people blindly support ruling class(sheep) and finally how bad the sufferings of people can go unchanged whatever way they choose(other animals, especially horses and hens)!

In the last chapter, there is a scene when the pigs fight with humans. But this time, it is not about the ownership of the farm or welfare of animals but about the card game they are playing. This is what happening now between West and Russia. As Orwell predicted 47 years before fall of USSR, they even renamed the nation! Communism in theory is good. It can be practical in short run too. But sooner or later power will corrupt the rulers and thing will end no better or even worse than before. George Orwell, came to this conclusion long back. I still admire USSR, their rational culture and their radically new political and economic structure, their raise from a poor nation of peasants to first nation to put a man in space within few decades, their books, their bold stance against capitalist West etc. But alas... It all fell apart for just one reason. It too was run by humans.

So read the book, not only as a fantasy. The power is all yours to corrupt your mind with truth :-)

Must Have Tools for All "Free" Musicians!

In an earlier post, I have mentioned that practicing with a metronome can do improve your skills. But there are some downsides with the metronome. It can produce one or two type of tones. It needs battery (in case of mechanical metronomes, they need proper maintenance). And it costs you money.

What about having a drum machine? They cost even more than metronome. What to do? Here comes two good Free Software (free as in freedom) tools that can help you improve your timing skills without any of the before said limitations and for free of cost!

GNU GTick

GNU GTick is for people who like the conventional metronome. It is fully configurable metronome with a neat and simple GUI. You can configure the tempo (speed or beats per minute) or you can pick it from the preset values. It comes with a visual tick. You can also select the beats in which the accent beat should sound. It is such a small tool that you don't need anyone to teach you how to use!

GNU GTick in action

Hydrogen

Hydrogen is also a Free Software. It is a full blown drum machine. It comes with a default set of drum samples. You can also download more samples and include your own. You can compose individual patterns and club them together to create a song. Each and every aspect like velocity, pitch, volume, pan etc are controllable and you will feel that you are practicing with a real drummer by your side!

Hydrogen in action

Conclusion:

With right set of tools and good practice, anyone can improve their music skills. Surely GNU GTick and Hydrogen are must have in those right set of tools! As a "Free" Musician (Free as in Freedom) let us make sure we use free software, codecs and licenses for all our works. Also we should say no to restrictive technologies like DRM. May the power be with us!

DRM in Firefox?

In yet another bad move, Firefox has decided to include DRM in coming versions. First, DRM is not Digital Rights Management as claimed by its proponents but it is Digital Restriction Management used to impose restrictions on end user. So Firefox has decided to allow an option so that third parties can restrict its user. The entire Free Software community is fighting against DRM while Firefox is saying that they will include DRM to have a better voice in the forum.

How This Will Impact Firefox?

Most people using IE are using it just because it came bundled with the operating system. The same goes to Safari. Others who want a different browser install Google Chrome due to better rendering, faster loading, apps and last but not least, marketing by Google. Already Firefox's market share is falling. But still Firefox is having a good user base compared to other lesser known browsers. Who are those users? Most of Firefox's users are people who care more about freedom. They use Firefox against all odds because they feel it respects their freedom (but recent moves by Firefox paints a different picture). So the move to include DRM will repel most of the Firefox users to switch to some other browser they feel that respects their freedom.

We can Just Disable DRM?

The point that anyone who doesn't like DRM can just disable is not valid. The reason not to support DRM is not a choice but a moral obligation. So, if Mozilla stands firm and says no to DRM, then surely there will be some backlash among users against DRM. Remeber, what Wikipedia did with SOPA? Can't we do it again?

Conclusion:

Dear Firefox, stop implementing DRM before everyone abandons you. You are respected for the values that you stood by. Once people find that you have lost those values, you will be forsaken for ever!