Music Vaults

Lao-Tzu once said, “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”  This may be one of Audioclef’s mantra in creating the Audioclef Vault.  

The Audioclef Vault is a download site that allows artists to sell personalized prepaid cards called the Vault Access Cards (VACs) that allow temporary access to the artists’ personal online Vault.  While inside the personal Vault, the purchaser can download practically everything- songs, lyrics, videos, wallpapers.  The system does away with compact discs.

The program is very simple yet very ingenious.  The vault is just a simple download site where people can download everything they want for a small price.  It is just like purchasing from itunes Store, bargain style.   A music song on itunes Store is $0.99, that’s around P42 per song.  An album on a music vault costs only P99.

The Vault can be very helpful to aspiring artists. Making money out of their music can be easier.  All they have to do is coordinate with Audioclef, create their personal vaults, upload their music, and sell very affordable VACs.  That way, they can distribute quality copies of their songs and earn. 

The music vault is a viable solution to piracy.  Most people buy pirated copies and download torrent copies of songs and movies because the originals are just so beyond their means.  However, with the option of getting best quality copies for very affordable prices, I think people will patronize this new concept over the poor quality pirated copies. 

Plus, I also think the concept is very eco-friendly.  The system does away with CDs.  That means less plastic for the CD itself, and lesser plastic for the CD case.  I just hope the VACs are biodegradable and eco-friendly as well.

All things considered, I think this music Vault is highly commendable and very promising.  I hope it makes its way to more record labels.  It’s high time that people think of more practical solutions to piracy and global warming.  Shutting down torrent sites and confiscating pirated CDs and DVDs will not do.  It has not worked in the past and will never work.  New sites will just be born, and more CDs will just be burned.   Making a good competition might just do the trick.   

Maricor Estrella, Entry # 7

Next-gen Xbox threatens to kill used-games market

It was reported last week that Microsoft's next generation gaming console, tentatively called Xbox 720, is due out late 2013. Initial reports say that the new system will boast up to six times the processing speed of the current system. But what I'd like to focus on is the speculation that the next-gen console would outright reject used-games--effectively killing the second-hand games market. Taking its queue from the Microsoft Windows model, it is rumored that the upcoming console would require online product validation for games; sans the validation, users cannot play.

This limitation on resale-ability poses legal questions regarding the rights of buyer-owners to resell their games. In the US, there is such a thing as the "first-sale doctrine," which basically gives the initial purchaser wide-ranging rights to the use of the product they've bought, including the right to sell it to a new owner. While we don't have the same doctrine in the Philippines, we nevertheless adhere to the bundle of rights theory inherent to property ownership, including, among others, jus disponendi (right to dispose). Therefore, at first glance, such limitation appears to contravene prevailing rules.

However, software developers have been exploiting the End User License Agreement (EULA) as a legal loophole. Most software these days, including video games, comes with such a EULA, saying the initial purchaser is just a licensee and isn't allowed to resell that license to a new owner. Their position is that they are just selling the right to use the software but not the software per se. Pretty jesuitical argument, if you ask me.

My view on the matter is pretty simple: a person who buys something for value has the right to dispose of it for value as well. I really don't see any reason to treat video games (and software, in general) differently from books and music CDs/vinyls--both of which have thriving secondary markets. I would even say that having a secondary market limits monopoly power in the market. For example, a record label has the exclusive right to control copies of a new album and no one can get that album from any other source. Of course, there are retailers but all of them have to ultimately buy from the record label. The existence of used music CD stores means that record labels can't raise prices for hot titles arbitrarily high. Just check out used CDs from Amazon.com and see how competitive the prices can get. While this sounds great for consumers, Microsoft is sure to disagree.


SOURCES: IGN, Ars Technica



Francis Paolo Tiopianco, Entry #7

ROBOT*

Noong bata pa ako, isa lang hinahanap ko sa palengke o sa mall. Robot.

Tanungin mo kahit ang sinumang lalaki kung ano ang paboritong laruan niya sa pagkabata, iikot lang ang sagot niya sa kotse, baril o robot. Ang saya maglaro ng robot talaga. Ang saya galawin ng braso at binti niyang gawa sa metal habang pinalilipad sa ere at pinapapaputok ang ilang armas na nakadikit sa katawan niya. Ang saya kumalikot ng iba’t ibang parteng bumubuo sa kanyang katawan at pagpalit-palitin upang baguhin ang kayang gawin ng robot. Parang bata pa rin ako hanggang ngayon na wala pa ring palya ang pagkamangha sa kahit anong uri ng robot.

Kaya naman sobrang lupit talaga ng mga sumasali sa paligsahan ng robotics.

Kamakailan lamang ay idinaos ang 2012 National Robotics Competition sa siyudad ng San Juan sa Maynila na nilahukan ng iba’t ibang paaralan at estudyante. Gagawa ang bawat kalahok ng programa para sa kanilang mga sari-sariling robot kits at iaakma sa iba’t ibang kategorya ng paligsahan. Tatlo ang kategorya sa paligsahan: Sumobot, Line Tracing, at Prison Break. Basahin mo pa lang ang mga ito hindi mo mapigilan ang panggigigil sa kung ano ang makikita mong gagawin ng mga robot ng mga kasali. At hindi biro ang papremyo. Bukod sa salapi, ang mga mananalong grupo ay itatayo ang bandila ng Pilipinas sa 2012 International Robot Olympiad sa South Korea.

Naiisip ko, isang paraan ang robot para magtakda ng malalim na pagbabago sa pag-aaral ng Pilipinong mag-aaral.

Paano? Iabot mo ang isang robot kit sa isang musmos na paslit na naninirahan sa liblib na lugar sa malayong probinsya sa Pilipinas. Iniaabot mo sa kanya ang isang bagay na magbubukas ng walang katapusang posibilidad sa kanyang hinaharap. Isa itong libro na magtuturo sa kanya ng mga problema sa siyensya o matematika. Isa itong ID na nagpapakilala sa kanya sa iba’t ibang tao at magbibigay daan sa pagbubuo ng mga bagong relasyon at pagkakaibigan. Higit sa lahat, isa itong susi upang siya ay makalaya mula sa kapaligiran niyang hinahadlangan ang kanyang pag-usad sa pait ng buhay. Sapagkat ang edukasyon ay dapat ikinakabit sa isang bagay na walang hirap na pumupukaw sa isip at puso ng mag-aaral magpatuloy at magpursige.

Sino bang aayaw mag-aral habang nagpapagalaw ng robot?

*Iniaalay ko ito sa aking mga kaibigan sa hayskul sa UP Integrated School (UPIS) na binigyan ako ng pagkakataon tunghayan ang mundo ng robotics. Sana isinama nila ako sa International Robot Olympiad noon.

Aldan S. Avila, Entry No. 7

Lola Techie, ikaw na!

I always envied my nephews.  They have my parents, their grandparents, who, without a doubt, spoil them.  Toys, trips, favors, anything they want that their parents won’t get them, the grandparents definitely will.  I never had a grandparent.  They all left before I was even in my parents’ plans. Anyway, I often imagined what my grandparents were, what they could have been, and what I want them to be if they were still alive.  Then I see this ISP advertisement of Lola Techie pulling off a gaming strategy with a “Huli ka boy!” and at that moment I knew I want a lola like her.

Who’s this Lola Techie? I know she’s just a made-up advertisement character, but I really don’t care, I like her.  So, I Googled her up and found her Facebook page.  On the self-description panel of her page, it says she’s a mother of six and a grandmother of sixteen.  She likes chatting, playing on-line games, surfing, blogging, and going to Youtube.  Cool right.  Then I remember this whole-page newspaper advertisement of her, years ago, it was a message for her grandchildren, giving them advises on everything- career, school, love life.  I remember this advertisement quite vividly because it was written in chat-speak.  Back then, I really am chat-speak illiterate.  My friends and I usually type the normal way, spelling out everything, thus my “illiteracy”.   I did not understand the message. I had to consult the net to decrypt the message.  It was fun, actually. 

I think it would be really cool to have a granny like her.  Someone to troubleshoot my internet connection, send me links to hilarious videos, help me with my research, or even play RPG games with me, but without the “Huli ka boy!” stunt please. I’m a gaming noob as I am.  Anyway, getting back to reality, I see my parents, aunts and uncles, my nephews’ grandparents on Facebook playing all those Facebook Applications.  And I realize, wait, Lola Techie is real!  And if I were asked to submit an entry for the new tourism campaign, I’d say “Gaming is more fun in the Philippines” with a hashtag Lola Techie.  

BTW, I also found this.  FYI. 

What comes after terabyte?

  8 Bits = 1 Byte
  1024 Bytes = 1 Kilobyte

  1024 Kilobytes = 1 Megabyte

  1024 Megabytes = 1 Gigabyte

  1024 Gigabytes = 1 Terabyte

  1024 Terabytes = 1 Petabyte

  1024 Petabytes = 1 Exabyte

  1024 Exabytes = 1 Zettabyte

  1024 Zettabyte = 1 Zottabyte

  1024 Zottabyte = 1 Brontobyte - that is a 1 followed by 27 zeroes

Maricor Estrella, Blog Entry #6

Meralco Prepaid

While watching the news, one of the banner stories I saw was that Meralco is set to launch its prepaid services soon. I did some Googling and found that the Meralco prepaid-electricity scheme works like the mobile-phone loading system. A consumer provides a sari-sari store or any prepaid outlet his subscriber information number and the amount is loaded to that number via text message.

Meralco conducted a study and found that most of customers showed their preference for prepaid electricity, saying the managed appliance use matched their household expense with their income.

The said research also showed that the prepaid system, which is like buying tingi, is ingrained in the Filipino lifestyle. The study noted that, since many wage earners receive daily or weekly pay, they prefer their expenses—from mobile phones to Internet and electricity —to be also on a tingi basis. It was also revealed that consumers were interested in the prepaid system because it serves as a budget tool that teaches household members to save and share expenses.

I personally think it’s a great mechanism in order to make electricity more widely available (since Meralco will be rolling out around 4,000 new meters for this project); affordable for most people, since a prepaid system can really help in budgeting the household income; and, easily accessible because anytime one needs electricity, all she/he needs to do is go to the suking tindahan and say “Pa-load nga po ng kuryente!”

Agnes M. Santiago, Entry #6

One Laptop Per Child

I recently came across an advertisement on TV about free laptop computers being given to young Filipino students. The laptops looked quite different and appear to have been custom-built for children. I was curious so I searched the net, hoping to find more information. It turns out that the ad is about a global project called One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). The project is an initiative of a US-based non-profit organization, having the same name as the project, created by MIT faculty members. OLPC aims to provide children in different parts of the world with rugged, low-cost, low-power, and ecological laptops to make learning more interactive and fun.

Called “XO,” the laptops were designed with children in mind. XO laptops are small, light, and capable of withstanding extreme weather conditions. They’re energy-efficient and have sun-light readable display screens. Other hardware specifications include: 1 GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of flash storage, video camera, water -proof keyboard, 5-cell battery which lasts for about 16 hours, and WiFi connectivity. There is no hard disk, but the flash storage is upgradable to 32GB. XO laptops operate on a Linux-based operating system, which come with a collection of educational tools and software for kids, such as: calculator, games, puzzles, chat, journal, measuring tools, paint and drawing, e-book, recorder, music, word processing, and even a Wiki-Browser. Particularly interesting is the capability of the XO laptop to directly connect to another XO, using wireless peer-to-peer technology. This is possible even without routers or the internet.

The laptop is priced at around $200 per laptop (around Php 6,800). OLPC sells the XO laptops to different governments around the world. In the Philippines, the first recipients of the XO are grade 4 students in Lubang, Mindoro. The laptops were secured through the efforts of their mayor, an NGO, and numerous private donors.

OLPC goes a step further than just providing the hardware and software; under the project, it is the child, and not the school, who gets to own the laptop itself. This is commendable and I fully support the project. I once taught high school students and I know how excited they are and eager to learn whenever computers are used to aid in the discussion of the subject matter. However, I believe that computers are just that – they are tools to facilitate learning. They shouldn’t be considered as substitutes for discussing ideas in class, hitting the books, or interacting with schoolmates outside the classroom or the home. I hope that the students who got XO laptops realize this. I hope they truly learn and have fun learning.

C M Prado, Entry # 6

Will you eat the marshmallow?

Last Sunday, during Victory service, I saw this funny video of kids trying their very best to resist eating a marshmallow:

The “marshmallow experiment” involved kids who were given a marshmallow but were told that if they wait for a few more minutes and not eat that marshmallow, they will be given another. This is what American psychologist Dr. Walter Mischel did more than 40 years ago to test the willpower of children and understand the development of deferred gratification, or the ability to wait before obtaining something that one wants, among children. Some children were able to control themselves and not eat the marshmallow, while others did not.

I found out that after 40 years, a follow-up study was conducted among the same children, who were now adults. The adults were divided in two groups: high-delayers (those who resisted eating the marshmallow then) and the low-delayers (those who did not). Then, the groups were exposed to two tests. In the first test, the participants were shown a series of faces and were asked to press a button only when a face of one gender was shown. This test revealed no significant differences between the two groups. In the second test, the participants were shown a happy or frightened face and were asked to push a button when they saw one but not the other. The happy faces took the place of the marshmallow as the “reward” in the experiment. The researchers expected that the low delayers will have trouble in refraining to push the button if they see happy faces, even when they were not supposed to.

What is interesting about the experiment is that the researchers found out that the same differences in the ability to defer gratification remained in the participants now that they are adults. In other words, the children who ate the marshmallow are the ones likely to have trouble in “pressing the button” as adults. The study is important in understanding self-control and responding to temptations, especially when they see something they think is rewarding for them.

Now, what does this all mean to us?

We all have been in situations wherein we acted based on impulse especially when we are enticed to something extraordinary or unexpected: we go on a sudden shopping spree when we see the red and white SALE sign on or we overeat when food choices are always mouth-watering, among other things. But I think, whenever these situations arise, I will be reminded of this experiment. To resist the temptations, I will always remind myself, “I will not eat the marshmallow!”

Angeli I. Serapio, Entry #6

Made in China

An article came out yesterday (Putting a Human Cost on the iPad by Steven Musil) about the death of four employees due to the explosion of a factory in China that makes parts for the many Apple devices such as the iPad. Apparently, this isn’t the first explosion of this kind, and dozens have already been injured in the past year alone. It also tells the story of Lai Xiaodong, a 22 year old degree holder who moved to China and ended up working for one of these manufacturing hubs as a repairman with a salary of only $22 a day—far less than minimum wage. And although Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct states that plant workers are not to work for more than 60 hours a week, it wasn’t long before Lai was working 12 hours a day, six days a week. To make matters worse, housing arrangements weren’t exactly standard. At the end of the day, Lai would come home to a room that was just big enough to house his bed. But even then, he is considered fortunate since most others had to be crammed in company dorm rooms where there was hardly enough room to sleep.

Taking into consideration that Apple reported $13 Billion in profits earlier this year, it makes you wonder what that amount is truly worth. And although I cant say that I don’t own an Apple computer and that I don’t love how it has made my life so much easier, nothing should ever be worth anybody else’s liberty, and even more so, his life.

Joni R. Gomez, Entry # 6

Applied Gadgetry Series: 11" MacBook Air

If I had to choose one among my gadgets I would keep, I would say it's the 11" MacBook Air.

Best feature: It's literally lightweight but is powerful and durable, weighing only 2.38 lbs., but has the power of the new Intel Core i5 processor (which can be upgraded to i7) and DDR3 graphics memory.

I also like the glass Multi-Touch trackpad, which supports the many features of the OS X Lion. For example, one can 'swipe to navigate' like flipping pages in a notebook, 'swipe between full page applications,' expose all applications through 'mission control,' by just swiping of a certain number of fingers in a certain direction, depending on your set-up.

What I don't like about it is that while the display is quite impressive with the 384MB Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor in Air, but is nothing compared to the stunning high-definition of the MacBook Pro. This meant that Photoshop is a no-no. And, it's $1199, which means digging deep into one's pockets.

It's still my favorite though because it's perfect for general office and web applications and digital photos. And it's so easy to carry around with law books and case files.

Verdict: Power portable.

Photo from: Apple.com

Mary Rhauline Lambino, Entry No. 6

Bourne Legacy Mania

I am just proud that Bourne Legacy is shooting some of its scenes in the Philippines. Or do I need to be proud? The reason why they chose Philippines might not be because the places are beautiful here but because they need a filthy place which the story requires. In any event, people around the selected places are happy because they see beautiful Hollywood faces. Some of the people will even play extra in the movie and get paid for it. Everybody just talks about the movie because everybody is so proud.
This is the reason why a lot of people would want to take a picture of the set especially a picture of the Hollywood stars. But taking pictures is being prohibited by the movie management because it is now so easy to disseminate such thru the internet and it might prejudice their movie. They don’t want to expose even a bit of the scenes.
Where is the marketing person of this movie? I want to give him one crucial fact. The movie will gain more interest from the people if some scenes will be exposed. Yes. It’s quite ironic. But people will love it especially Filipinos. They want to have a glimpse of the movie and their curiousness will set in. They would want to check out in the movie what they have seen in shooting. That is how a Filipino thinks. And more pictures from the shooting will bring more buzz to the public. That is publicity.
I am sure that Bourne Legacy will be supported by the Filipinos. Not only because some of the scenes were shot in the Philippines but also because of the publicity that people brought about.

Adrian Francis S. Bustos, Entry #6

Pondering Twitter

Late last month, I needed to print a coupon from my young cousin’s computer. He forgot to sign out from his e-mail account and I was able to see (before I opened a new tab) that his latest batch of new e-mails were notifications from Twitter—he was being followed by x person, y person, z person, etc. You see my young cousin is a freshman in high school, meaning he is fourteen years old. And at the ripe old age of fourteen, while sheltered in a private school, he tweets about his “life” experiences. Things were just different when I was in high school. However, young or old, and sometimes even pets, have joined the world of tweeting, sharing to the world the nuggets of wisdom (we could only hope) or plain random thoughts in their daily lives.

Celebrities have obviously taken advantage of the ease of connecting with fans in 140 characters; though this doesn’t mean they are the most responsible in launching their opinions to society. To quote Joel Stein’s article published in Time: “So when celebrities got on Twitter, it was great. After years of publicist-vetted blandness, we got to read stars' unfiltered thoughts. Many of their personalities were just as big as we'd hoped. Alec Baldwin feuded with everyone; Ashton Kutcher befriended everyone; Gilbert Gottfried made fun of everyone; Kim Kardashian sold everyone.” Time also released a list of their top ten best tweets and top ten 10 worst tweets for the year 2011. Below is a sampling from each list. You be the judge under which one it falls.

First Lady Michelle Obama is one of the latest people that have joined the ranks of Twitter users. Last January 12, 2012, an account was created in her name, managed by a campaign staffer but personal tweets are signed with “mo.” Her tweets span various topics from promoting her advocacy (fighting child obesity) to her appearance in the Nickelodeon show, iCarly, to showing support for his husband’s address to the nation. In talking about Twitter, we mustn’t forget former Congressman Anthony Weiner, who managed to single-handedly ruin his political career buy tweeting a picture of his “weiner” to all his followers. He initially tried to explain that the release of the picture was the act of a hacker but the truth was revealed.

Twitter. It has its positive impact but it has its destructive effects. Some people go crazy about it, some dismiss it as a fad and some even create accounts for their pet dogs. A lot join the bandwagon, while some, like me, remain to be tweet-less. While it is true that there are quite a few that abuse the forum (tweeting almost every waking moment of their lives), my friend will forever be thanking Twitter for one waking moment of her life. Last Friday evening, she had a flat tire along EDSA. Her parents were out of coverage area and she didn’t know whom else to call. She decided to tweet, sending this general message of distress to the world that her car had ran a flat, and hope that at least 1 of her 218 followers will heed her call. And just for good measure, she tweeted @MMDA too. Luckily, a friend near her area responded and soon was on his way to help. Shortly before that MMDA’s Twitter account replied to her too asking for her whereabouts. She would’ve been stuck on a major thoroughfare at night, if not for this social media behemoth called Twitter. And while I still am currently out of Twitter, I just might change my mind, eventually.

Source: Time.com

Candice See

Entry # 6

Chronicles of the Anonymous: The SOPA episode

…and piss off those hackers they did. These U.S. congressmen didn’t seriously think that Anonymous would let this one by so easily, did they?

SOPA or the Stop Online Piracy Act, and its Senate counterpart PIPA or the Protect Intellectual Property Act, have been the trending topic among netizens of late. Labeled by an overwhelming majority of net users as the “kill-the-internet” bill, its popularity or more appropriately-infamy- have driven the erstwhile politically apathetic global internet community to action. As succinctly put by this graph:

This would have been funny. Except that it wasn’t the least bit amusing for our hacktivists, the Anonymous. Of course, the non-hacktivists staged their own protests to the Bill. Wikipedia (to the chagrin of students worldwide) conducted a blackout-calling on the world to imagine a future without free knowledge. An estimated 7,000 other smaller websites followed suit- either through blackouts or posting protest messages on their pages.

How did Anonymous protest?

As one website puts it “Federal agents executed a crackdown on the files sharing website Megaupload on Thursday. The response, you could say, was not minor.” The entire article can be read here.

Almost immediately after feds shut down the immensely popular website, the biggest internet attack by the hacktivist collective was launched. First to fall was the U.S. Justice Department’s website. Others soon followed like the FBI, SOPA supporters such as the Universal Music Group, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and Broadcast Music, Inc.

What exactly was it about SOPA that drove Anonymous, and the entire internet community, up in arms?

to be continued..

Nathan J. Marasigan, Entry No. 6

In Google We Trust, Part 2

Note: This is Part 2 of a two-part series.

An update. Megaupload.com is dead. The Federal Government of the United States did not even need SOPA/PIPA. It killed the file sharing site in one fell swoop, and brought down similar sites with it. The chilling effect is in full force and effect. I feel stifled...and I miss watching my favorite television series. Sigh...


Anyway, as I was saying, I am not suprised content producers reacted the way they did when SOPA/PIPA died. To repeat, I bet what irks them the most is the fact that tech firms are beating them at their own game, a veritable old rich versus new rich situation. The former despises the latter for taking its privileged status away from it. In this fight, I count myself as being on the side of Google and company. It is more representative of the sentiments of my generation. But then, a thought came to mind. Is my decision to side with Google et al. a product of blind faith? Perhaps I have been on the wrong side all this time? Is my disdain for old corporate America preventing me from seeing that Google and the others are nothing but "old corporate America 2.0"?

These questions were brought about, ironically, by content from Murdock and gang, specifically, by a Simpsons episode entitled "Holidays of Future Passed." Here, we find grown-up Lisa looking for her daughter Zia in the "ultranet." As she was exploring the virtual landscape, the thought of using Google to find Zia occurred to her. She then proceeded to Google's domain. Upon coming, literally, face-to-face, with the search engine, she exclaimed: "Google, you have enslaved half the world, but you are still a damn fine search engine!"

Remembering Ondoy and Facebook bashing of MMDA. :)

After Bashing DPWH, let me take a shot at the MMDA. I have a lot of hate to spread. Haha. Marcos Highway, where I unwillingly spend a good number of hours per day, is not only covered with potholes and uneven asphalt with the traffic severely mismanaged, but did you (meaning MMDA) notice the incessant flooding? Hello RA 7924 Section 3! Please introduce yourselves to the officers of this prestigious organization. You might have been forgotten amidst the politicking and the printing of tarps with their faces on with people’s money.

After a few hours of rain, our area already gets inches of rainwater. This is an ACTUAL picture of the severity of the flooding problem:

Can you see the brown area? That is actual water. This is not photoshopped. I would really die early of a high blood pressure if I go through this day in and day out. NAG MODE ON.

There have been conspiracy theories that the Ondoy problem was not a result of force majeure but rather a result of a number of bad choices made in a panic at the same time. I think it was a little bit of both. We were Ondoy victims. I had to physically wade through chest deep water to get to my house which was already flooded and a couple of hours of rain after, it was already more than halfway through the first floor of the house.

I went home very tired during a nonrushhour hour and was smacked in the face with a flooded pothole-ridden road with jeeps stopping everywhere and MMDAs smoking on the corner of the malls talking to their kumpares. The sad thing is, nobody is honking their horns. Nobody cares anymore. People who live there are jaded since they are used to a 45-minute wait for 300 meter distances. Not me. I’ll be grinding my teeth till I get old. Call me a sap. Maybe I trust too much in people, I expect more from them and when they fail me, I really am floored.

MMDA, in a nutshell, you suck. Please fix the problem of the messy U-Turns, stop WAITING for people to mess up before you collect their drivers licenses or worse, kotong money. Assist them, don’t wait, for the drivers to mess up. Also, don’t let your jeepney driver friends stop wherever they want. Millions of tax money is spent on these commuter sheds for a reason.    

By Trisha Isabelle F. Fernandez Entry #06

NICE ONE, WIKIPEDIA. . .

This is in connection with my last blog where I questioned the ghost protocols of online commerce and the lack of clear rules governing the Internet.

It looks like we’re seeing movement on various fronts in this regard.

First, the US Congress’ SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) were put on hold. The bills sought to end online piracy by restricting access and payment of those sites which purportedly violate intellectual property rights (read: torrents, streaming movies, downloading music, software etc.)

Both bills, which were filed last year, used to enjoy bipartisan support and were quietly debated in both houses. They were about to be voted on when many of the legislations' backers ‘changed their minds’ amidst public outcry, online and offline.

To my delight, last January 18, information (boring) giant Wikipedia and Reddit went on blackouts to protest the bills. If passed, they said the bills would strike at the very heart of the free and open Internet. Fever pitch protesters took to the streets of New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington. Google gathered 7 million anti-SOPA and PIPA through a link on their homepage. Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, lashed against SOPA and PIPA and described them as ‘poorly thought out’.

http://www.qrcodepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Wikipedia-SOPA-2012-Blackout.jpg

http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/content/2012/0118-sopa-pipa-protests.jpg/11493274-1-eng-US/0118-SOPA-PIPA-protests.jpg_full_380.jpg

What we have is a long due clash of titans of the old guard and the values of a generation who grew up streaming everything online. For free!

The shelving of SOPA and PIPA may have hurt their legislative viability, but it doesn’t mean the warriors of IP rights would take things sitting down. Last Friday, authorities arrested ‘Kim Dotcom’ the founder of Megaupload and shut down his website. Megaupload is a file-sharing site that is said to have cost copyright holders $620 million in lost revenues due to pirated material. A few days ago, Kim was denied bail.

(Considering the lack of public outcry on this arrest, maybe it would be better for authorities to invoke existing laws and run after individual founders instead of crafting new and grand legislation susceptible to the ‘Occupy Wallstreet’ crowd.)

In a new twist to the series, there has been buzz as of late that another website is set to replace the defunct Megaupload. Registered in Russian, AnonyUpload, is set to debut Friday and authorities are interested how it will catch on.

Let’s see what will happen next. Things could only be starting to heat up. This high drama and action could rival my afternoon Coronavelas.

Diana Lutgarda P. Bonilla, Entry #6

And she's back..

After being absent in the first week of the impeachment trial of the beleaguered Chief Justice Corona of the Supreme Court, the feisty Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago is back on again to give more drama and excitement to the tedious trial.

On her first day, Sen. Santiago with her usual professor like manner lashed back at Ilo-ilo representative and chief public prosecutor Neil Tupas for coming unprepared. The scene will remind any law student of a professor cornering a student winging his way out of a recitation that he has not prepared on. It is almost like watching a classmate being put on a scalding hot seat, naturally bringing back worst (even disturbing) law school memories of bad recitations.

The patience of Sen. Santiago started to run low when she asked both the defence and the prosecution to submit the lists of their witnesses and documentary evidence to determine the length of the trial. Apparently, Rep.Tupas had said that he had to consult first with the rest of the House Panel while Justice Cuevas easily gave a straight answer that they will be presenting 15 witnesses and 23 marked documentary evidence, marking the obvious difference as to the level of preparedness between the two opposing parties. The Senator told Tupas “You have to come to court prepared. You do not waste the time of this court!”

In an interview before the trial started, Sen. Santiago said that she suffered from a terminal boredom from watching the trial proceedings. She even said jokingly that she already said her act of contrition, got down on her knees and almost shot her head because of the pain the impeachment proceedings has been bringing her. She further said that should she had her way, she would rather go scuba diving in the Bermuda triangle than participate in the trial prompting the media to a fit of laughter and amusement to the Senator.

She also said that “It has been a display of legal ignorance that’s why the trial has been taking so long. It was unstructured”. According to her, had the impeachment not include the participation of the Media, the trial would have been over after a week. She said that the prosecution and the defence are feeling the need to give drama since the people are watching. Quoting her exact words, Santiago announced that “Everybody has a tendency to go overboard because they think they have to do a dramatic stance in front of the TV. Without the TV, the proceedings could have been finished in a week”.

Despite the innuendos and boredom statements of the good Senator, she however promised that she will participate nevertheless in the trial. She finally said that “This is my Duty. I have no choice”.

Danjun Lucas

Blog Entry No. 6

The other side of software piracy

http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/imprisoned-megaupload-founder-loses-call-duty-crown-205144239.html

As Francis has already blogged, Megaupload owner Kim Schmitz aka Kim Dotcom was arrested recently for criminal copyright infringement charges. Many members of the online community have rallied to his defense. Copyright infringement is of course, a malum prohibitum, and not a mala in se. There have been comparisons made as to how his liability for his crimes will yield prison sentences much longer than that of a rapist or murderer.

However, based on the above article, it is clear that software pirates such as Schmitz do not have the oh-so-benevolent intention of democratizing software, music, videos and other forms of media and making it available to the masses for free, or for a low price of membership in their website.

The fact is, online file-sharing moguls such as Schmitz have their own agenda in mind. It was found, according to the article, that he had assets amounting to $175 million, luxury cars such as a Rolls-Royce Phantom, expensive artworks, and supposedly a swimming pool filled with imported spring water and a wall of high definition TVs in his house.

It's easy to see that the motivation behind Schmitz's actions was money. And according to the article, it was the very extravagance of his lifestyle that led the authorities to crack down on him. In the end, whether one is pro-SOPA, pro-IP or whatnot, the fact remains that while the public may benefit from the free sharing of files online, there are still people at the top of the chain who will profit the most, not just because they were able to acquire media for free or for a lower price, but because they are profiting from those people who do.

Daniel Luis Convocar
Entry No. 5.

Previous Entries: #1, #2, #3, #4

AKO O LARO?

Isipin mo nasa Araneta Coliseum ka ngayon, pinanonood ang umaatikabong labanan sa Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) sa pagitan ng Petron Blaze Boosters at Talk n’ Text Tropang Texters. Walang lumalamang ng higit sa tatlong puntos. Makapigil-hininga hindi ba?

Pero sa hinaharap, maaaring may mas nakakapigil-hininga pang karanasan diyan.

Halimbawa, may tiket ka para manood ng labanan ng dalawang kuponan. Pagpasok mo, o kaya habang inaayos mo ang sasakyang iyong minamaneho sa parking lot, sa tulong ng isang computer, malalaman ng mga taga Araneta kung ano ang huli mong ginawa noong nanood ka ng nakaraang laban ng PBA o kaya naman ang huli mong kinain habang nanonood sa Araneta. Habang ikaw ay hinahatid patungo sa tama mong upuan, makakatanggap ka ng mga text message sa dala mong Blackberry o kaya naman mensahe sa iyong iPad ng mga pagkaing puwede mong kainin o kaya mga produktong pwede mo bilhin. Sisiguraduhin ng Araneta na ang mga pagkain o produkto ay akma sa iyong panlasa at hilig. Gusto mong makita paulit-ulit ang isang maaksyong kaganapan sa larong pinanonood mo? Walang problema. Agad darating ang isang video sa iyong Blackberry o iPad ng hinihingi mong pangyayari.

Heto ang larawan ng panonood ng basketball na tinatawag sa Ingles na ultimate fan experience.*

Kung iisipin, maraming masisiyahan sa ganitong makabagong paraan ng panonood. Isipin mo, talo pa ng Araneta ang iyong ina sa pagaalaga sa iyo. Lahat ng gusto mo, ibibigay lang ng ganun-ganun na lamang, basta siyempre may pambayad ka. Sa pamamagitan ng teknolohiya, nagkakaroon ka ng impluwensiya sa kung paano mo gusto manood ng laro ng basketball. Kulang na lang ipaghele ka kung sakaling dumating ang antok habang nanonood. Pero sa isang banda, may mga aayaw sa ganitong sistema. Simple lang ang dahilan. Nanonood ka ng isang laro ng PBA sapagkat mahal mo ang laro ng basketball, at hindi dahil para punan ang mga materyal mong pangangailangan. Sa panonood ng laro, ang kasiyahan ay ang mismong laro, hindi ang mga kaakibat nitong luho. Ang purong saya na dala ng pagkapanalo ng iyong paboritong kuponan, o kaya ang walang kapantay na lungkot sa kamalasang dinanas ng pambato mo ̶ walang teknolohiya ang makakapantay sa ganitong mga emosyon.

Ako o laro?

*Sumangguni sa http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/nba-games-could-lot-more technological-personalized-fans-010634117.html;_ylt=AjUl0i25buxYRywWd7rmmya8vLYF para sa iba pang detalye.

Aldan S. Avila, Entry No. 6