Badgering for Open Source

This country is going to the dogs… figuratively. Bringing my December post back to the top in time for 2009: 

That Dog Just Won’t Hunt
Ms. Singleton back at Bishop State Community College would tell chemistry students, “That Dog Won’t Hunt!” when they’d emote an incorrect answer to her Socratic line of questioning. Knee jerk responses not ground in the laws of science or mathematics were not acceptable.

Similarly, Open Office may not be an ideal replacement at Big Company due to MS Office “lock-in” and the various realities created by existing patents, proprietary trade secrets or corporate thug life (had to toss in an urban contemporary plug). The Open Source dog may not be capable of seamless and costless integration into Big Company’s zeitgeist but does that mean that like America before the light bulb, that we ignore Thomas Alva Edison?

Go ahead and say it: I evangelize Open Source because I’m an advocate for the underdog, period. Absolutely! I stand so accused, believing that even if a lowly canine suddenly decides that he wants better than Alpo and rolling frolicks on the front lawn with his paws raised high to the sky, that he’s fully entitled to do so. If Rex wants to read The Canterbury Tales and adopt the life of an English gentleman, then we should let him lest we also risk becoming flea-ridden.

The Dachshund: Hot Dog Long On Purpose
America advanced rapidly because of her diverse workforce that consisted of bondsmen as well as immigrants that implemented tremendous ideas that advanced the industrial era and mass production  beyond anything that was possible elsewhere. She became a beacon that the rest of the world sought by any means at their disposal and left behind were the twin dinosaurs of bureaucracy and big  brother immersed in post feudalism.

Supporting this thought train, there was a dog in Germany with a pointed snout, tubular body and short, stubby legs. A peculiar site, he was no threat to the turf of the Greyhounds, Saint Bernard or Dalmatian. However, he could breach a hole, seize prey and be retrieved by his hunter due to his long tail. That’s no wiener schnitzel! Dachshunds survive today as a respected breed but were bred for a specific purpose: Badger Hunting

Like the zeitgeist propelling the American Experiment, Open Source is diversity in action; it’s not encumbered by CALs (Client Access Licenses) since the availability of zero-cost distribution frees the maximum number of minds to accomplish the one thing that large businesses laying off hundreds of thousands while soliciting corporate welfare from a government in need of infrastructure revitalization cannot: Productivity

If you’ve ever used an Open Source application, OS or web-authoring system like Open Office, Linux/Ubuntu, Acquia perhaps, you know about ease of download and usability and also that feedback is strongly encouraged. Small business is the backbone of our nation and nimbleness in quickly addressing market needs is the backbone of small business. Open Source applications free up resources for small businesses to better serve clients. In this downturn,  isn’t it worth having a new breed of dachshund retrieving badgers from the holes of lost profit?

Three Open Source Tricks For Old Media Dogs

Whurley is again spot on, old newspaper dachshunds must adopt new tricks if they’re going to remain center stage in the Open Source dog and pony show:

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Popular print media outlets are dying.  It doesn’t matter if you’re a small town rag or the world’s best-known brand, progress doesn’t discriminate.  How bad is it?  The New York Times (which owns the Boston Globe and many regional papers) owes $400 million more than it has on hand.  Both the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press are limiting home delivery to 3 days a week in what they’re trying to spin as a “bold transformation” (read going out of business).  Newspapers are leaving the Associated Press.  The 137-year old Columbus Dispatch is cutting cost by cutting content.

So is this the end of the paper route?  In 10 years will news papers only be available in museums and Aunt Agnes’ basement?  What Superman will swoop in to save the Daily Planet?

None.

If newspapers want to survive the next five years, they’re going to have to adapt, period.  Here are three things those old media dogs can learn from open source.

Free your content and revenue will follow.

Newspapers should adopt the Creative Commons license.  It’s a proven model that works, and it’s available.  Creative commons would allow anyone to use the paper’s content for non-commercial purposes, while the paper retains copyright and gets proper attribution.  It also allows people to modify the content as long as they share the changes they make with the paper and anyone else under the same license.

Think of the new opportunities for monetization and the boost to online content sharing.  We’re talking about a new syndication model to drive direct licensing and ad revenues.  Here’s a copy of the license, and the code to include it on your website:

<a rel=”license” href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/”><img alt=”Creative Commons License” style=”border-width:0″ src=”http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-sa/3.0/88×31.png” /></a><br />This <span xmlns:dc=”http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/” href=”http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text” rel=”dc:type”>work</span> is licensed under a <a rel=”license” href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/”>Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License</a>.

Dear Editor,

You should tailor this license for your jurisdiction and preferences.  If you have questions, I’m sure the fine folks at Creative Commons would be happy to help you with all of your licensing needs.  I’d ask you to donate to them, but you should wait until you pay your bills.

whurley

It’s not about content; it’s about community.

When I’m sounding the benefits of open source, one of my favorite lines is, “It’s not about the code; it’s about the community.”  Newspapers should embrace their customers and start making content with them.  They can reduce the cost of acquiring new content while producing content that’s more relevant to their readers.  Readers will show the paper what they’d like to see covered, how they’d like to see it covered, and how they’ like it delivered if given the opportunity.

CNN seems to get this at a high level.  They’ve created iReport.com, a site where user-generated stories are posted in a very open source format.  I predict people will eventually appreciate getting something back for more valuable content.  Note to the editor: build a graduated reward system for your top content producers.

Influence rather than control.

Just like the recording industry, newspapers need to learn the difference between control and influence.  Opting for control at every chance is suicide.  Stop force feeding and start soliciting content from your independent, tech-savvy audience.  Create contributor communities.  Set yourselves up as a well organized group of air traffic controllers, continually mentoring content contributors and pointing them in the direction of outlets that suit their content.

Newspapers influence is waning right alongside their revenues.  No time for “wait and see.”  It’s time to make a fundamental, evolutionary change to a business model that’s literally hundreds of years old.  So all you editors, board members, and media-outlet owners out there, give me or any of the other members of the open source community a call. I’m sure plenty of us are willing to help you survive the next five years.

I’ve only offered three suggestions.  Please use your comment to share your thoughts on what the print media might (or might not) learn from open source and social media.  Hopefully your comments will spark some open innovation.  Otherwise, we start telling stories about the paper boy riding his bike “five miles, uphill, in the snow, both ways.”

Harvard Seeking Scholars from Low-Income Households

 

Harvard is reaching out to achieving high school scholars from families making below $60,000 annually!

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Harvard University announced over the weekend that from now on undergraduate students from low-income families will pay no tuition.  In making the announcement, Harvard’s president Lawrence H. Summers said, “When only ten percent of the students in elite higher education come from families in the lower half of the income distribution, we are not doing enough.  We are not doing enough in bringing elite higher education to the lower half of the income distribution.” 

If you know of a family earning less than $60,000 a year with an honor student graduating from high school soon, Harvard University wants to pay the tuition.  The prestigious university recently announced that from now on undergraduate students from low-income families can go to Harvard for free… no tuition and no student loans!

To find out more about Harvard offering free tuition for families making less than $60,000 a year, visit Harvard’s financial aid website at http://www.fao.fas.harvard.edu/ or call the school’s financial aid office at 617.495.1581

16 Orphaned By Christmas Massacre

My prayers are for the sixteen orphans killed by a macabre Santa Claus who decided to play judge, jury and executioner this Christmas: 

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j48C9Nk8MX7IeaKiT2U8dv6a4jpA

While not implying that money, joblessness or hoplessness drives people to commit heinous crimes, it certainly is a contributing factor if not a major precipitent to these events.

Christmas Wish

Sitting by the fireplace tonight, I wish everyone peace on earth and goodwill to all people. Merry Christmas!

Slavery to Money

The cause of all suffering is desire – The Buddha
Devotion to acquiring fantastic ends without the development of corresponding means of arrival at same has been the undoing of many a person. Like the Osirian ritual, this drama unfolds around the globe eternally. Same story, different faces:

1. Desire to obtain something immediately.
2. Inability to get it NOW.
3. Perception that society owes something to the desire-laden.
4. Reckless determination to pursue the object outside of societal bounds.
5. Death of innocent people trying to live by society’s rules.

The righteous man would stop this train and say enough but the untrained one living for the id doesn’t grasp the saliency, which like Edgar Allan Poe’s purloined letter, is right before his eyes. Where’s Booker T. Washingon to lift the veil of ignorance when you need him?

Slaves to Money
In relationship to the previous post, two individuals have been arrested for not only heeding the siren songs of fast money (there’s no such thing) and ill-gotten gain (which doesn’t stay around long) but moreso for acting maliciously against society by committing murder (a forever condition) in a foiled attempt to cover their tracks. 

Yes, lurking behind these disgusting heroics was the eternal love of money, a dream which again has unfolded to nightmare proportions for these two who saw a “better way” in Wagarville. Visions of sugarplums danced in their heads about a big pot of gold at Harris Cash Grocery. Well, they may’ve made away with a couple of hundred dollars at most. One unimaginative fellow allegedly tried to buy a Greyhound ticket to get away. Mama can’t help these posterboys of arrested development now nor should she even bother trying except to pray for their souls.

Armchair Quarterbacking
I’m going to wager that these individuals loved easy money so much because of too many BET videos, too many Philly blunts, and too few of these things: 

1. Marketable skillsets that would’ve attracted real paychecks instead of unreal paybacks. 
2. Associations with people who work (sometimes, they know people who hire).
3. Memberships in church, hunting clubs and/or fight clubs to channel their aggressive impulsives.

Granted, the county of my origin does not provide ample opportunity for self-improvement for the masses relative to the rest of the state but guess what? Many of us for generations untold have chosen to pack our bags and leave. We find a niche in the world for ourselves and although the task of living isn’t easy in this day and age, establish homes and enjoy this transient thing called life without harming others.

Prayers for the Righteous
Lest I sound haughty and disconnected like those fleeing their roots by sole virtue of their pricey educations, I’d like to share that I have suffered fatherlessness, job loss and other current lamentations. However, being clothed in my right mind, I’ve retained the values taught to me by folks long gone on Fields Road, a dirt road in Lower Alabama. These American values didn’t stop with us, they are still shared by people too numerous to name from hill and vale to ward and borough. We are the citizens of a great nation who’ve decided that since we value freedom, do not, could not and will not allow ourselves to… become slaves to money this Christmas.

A Murder Too Close To Home

 

One of my best friends from high school, Byron called me at work Friday and delivered bad news, a good man was murdered down home:

http://download.wkrg.com/12-19-2008_petri.mp4

On Highway 43 near my hometown, Ray ran a legacy general store he’d inherited from his uncle, Mr. Bobby.  Of distinctive silvery hair and trimmed beard, he was an icon in our small local community and a genuinely nice man.

I last saw Ray when home in early November and shared with my girlfriend how this store was an institution for us country folks. Ray shared credit with many people who had no other rallying place so many without transportation walked there to buy their essentials and to network informally.

Sure, I understand some sociological factors contributing to lawlessness and campaign against them: 

• zero opportunity
• hunger
• social inequity 
• hopelessness

However, there’s no excuse for those who’ve committed this morally depraved act because they violated two of God’s major commandments that should’ve been learned in Sunday School or gained from home training:

• Thou Shalt Not Kill.
• Thou Shalt Not Steal.

Knowing Ray personally and also knowing that these simpletons not only killed his body but also took their best shot at an entire community’s spirit, hope that the punishments meted out equal the heinousness of  the crime. My heart goes out to his family and the folks at home whose lives are suddenly a lot colder this holiday season.

Randy Gage on Changing Lack to Prosperity

I picked up Why You’re DUMB, SICK & BROKE at Borders and couldn’t put it down. In it, Randy Gage identified how memes (unconscious mantras) keep us locked into specific patterns of non-productive thinking which leads to inaction and mediocre results. In the spirit of the season, I’m sharing one of his recent blogs which amongst other things, stresses the benefits of giving real joy this Christmas:

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Changing Lack to Prosperity

By Randy Gage
December 6th, 2008

So how do you reconfigure something in your mind, and change it from a negative to a positive?  The ability to do this is very important for being able to manifest prosperity and abundance.  But first before we talk about that, a confession…

I have always hated holidays.  Found the Thanksgiving and Christmas time of the year to be very depressing.  And still have to check myself from falling back into that.  But now I can appreciate this time of year as a very joyous period.  But to do that, I had to change my associations.

Here’s another example:

My mother had a deathly fear of snakes.  So I grew up with the same fear.  Even a simple garter snake make me sweat.  If a snake came on television, I watched with my feet on the sofa.

Then an interesting thing happened…

Dodge came out with the Viper.  I lusted after that car until I had one.  (Or actually five, to be precise.)  Now the logo for the car is a fierce looking snakehead, which is emblazoned on everything.

And once you buy a Viper, you join the Viper club, get the Viper magazine, visit the Viper website and talk about all things Viper.  You outfit your snake with special Viper floor mats, gear shifters, seat embroidering and lots of other things.

You get Viper key chains, Viper jackets, replica Viper models, hats, shirts and everything but underwear.  (Although I’m sure someone is selling that too.)  And like all fanatical Viper owners, I bought all these gadgets and trinkets.

And a different association took place in my mind…

I started to see snakes as cool, and my fear of them went away.  Now I still have a healthy respect for poisonous snakes and don’t exactly keep them as pets.  But the ungrounded fears I had went away.

There’s a very important lesson in personal development in this.  You really can change your association to things, and thus change your outcomes in life.

So go back to the holidays…

I hated them for a few reasons, but mostly because I grew up poor and hated it.  (Don’t you just love those people that say, “We were poor, but we never knew it.”  When I hear that, I always think, “What a freaking moron!”)

Now my mother worked tirelessly to raise three kids by herself, and did an amazing job.  She made do with the income she could put together and did everything she could to make our birthdays and other holidays happy.  That didn’t change the fact that we often got socks, sweaters and gloves for many presents, while some kids got new bicycles, go-carts and mini bikes.

And of course when I went shopping, I didn’t have much money to buy anything of value for the people I loved.  And this stayed that way into my 30’s.  Every year I was depressed because I wasn’t able to provide better for the people I cared about.   And since I’m so introverted, I hated shopping in malls, fighting the traffic and crowds.  I also associated Christmas with cold and snow, and most of you know how I feel about them.

For a long time now, I’ve lived in Florida where it is usually gorgeous at Christmas.  And when it did get cold, I hopped on a plane to Hawaii.  So that kind of took care of the cold, but in my mind, I still associated the holidays with cool weather.

For the last 15 years, I’ve been manifesting great prosperity and able to give nice gifts, which I usually did with catalog or Internet shopping, to avoid the people.  As well I’ve been able to contribute to some charities.  Which leads me to why I had such a wonderful day today…

Today I willingly drove to the mega mall.  And another.  And another.  Went in a bunch of stores.  Bought more than 50 stuffed animals.  About 10 Wii and PlayStation games, more than 25 sets of clothes, about ten pairs of shoes, and another 30 or 40 toys.  And had fun!

Why?

Because I was buying all this stuff for Kids in Distress, a facility that takes care of abused children.   A couple years ago my friend Billy Looper had an idea to start a campaign to buy bikes for kids that had never had one before.  We and some other friends took about 50 bikes to the agency along with Santa, and the look in those kids’ eyes was the greatest Christmas gift I have ever received.  (I was helping a two-year-old black girl, pushing her around, because she was so malnourished she didn’t have enough weight and strength to pedal the little bike with training wheels we got her.  I had to stay behind her the whole time, so she didn’t see the tears in my eyes.)

I bought all this stuff this year, because that’s what was on their wish list of things they need for the kids.  And you know what?  I’m feeling positively joyous about the holidays!

So why am I telling you all this?

Two reasons really.  One to teach you that you can change the association of just about anything in your life.   And second, to remind you of another law of prosperity; the law of giving.

We spend a lot of time talking about flying First Class, buying $10,000 shoes and other elements in the material side of prosperity.  That’s to help you open a larger window, and accept the abundance you are meant to have.

But remember the spiritual and giving side of prosperity as well.  And you don’t need millions of dollars to demonstrate it – as I discovered many years too late.

You can brighten someone’s holiday (and your own) with a note, taking them a meal, or a flower.  Letting them know you love them, or giving them a hug.  You can visit someone in the AIDS ward at the hospital, volunteer at a soup kitchen, or give someone a parking space.  If you just buy a toy or two and give them to Toys for Tots, you’ll make a real difference in someone’s life.  The real spirit of the season – and a big part of prosperity – is the giving we can each do.  I hope you will find some ways to share some prosperity, knowing that is blessing you all the while.

P.S.  I was just about to close up this note, when an email from Billy came in.  While he was promoting the bike campaign, he heard from Terry DeCarlo, who played Santa for us two years ago and was an elf at our first bike assembly party.  He is now with Broward House, another organization that works with people living with or at risk for HIV and other health issues.

Terry wrote, “Because of the economy our client base has almost doubled and they all seem to have kids.  We are so lost to put smiles on their faces, we don’t know where to turn or how we are going to manage to do it.  Anyone that you know of that might not know where to send the bikes or the toys, please have them think of us here at Broward House.  It would be a godsend.”

Looks like I’m going back to the mall tomorrow.  And if you’re looking for a place to share some prosperity – you just found it!

-RG

Open Source and Badger Hunting

That Dog Just Won’t Hunt
Ms. Singleton back at Bishop State Community College would tell chemistry students, “That Dog Won’t Hunt!” when they’d emote an incorrect answer to her Socratic line of questioning. Knee jerk responses not ground in the laws of science or mathematics were not acceptable.

Similarly, Open Office may not be an ideal replacement at Big Company to MS Office “lock-in” at many companies due to the various realities created by existing patents, proprietary trade secrets or corporate thug life (had to toss in an urban contemporary plug). The Open Source dog may not be capable of seamless and costless integration into Big Company’s zeitgeist but does that mean that like America before the light bulb, that we ignore Thomas Alva Edison?

Go ahead and say it: I evangelize Open Source because I’m an advocate for the underdog, period. Absolutely! I stand so accused, believing that even if a lowly canine suddenly decides that he wants better than Alpo and rolling frolicks on the front lawn with his paws raised high to the sky, that he’s fully entitled to do so. If Rex wants to read The Canterbury Tales and adopt the life of an English gentleman, then we should let him lest we also risk becoming flea-ridden.

The Dachshund: Hot Dog Long On Purpose
America advanced rapidly because of her diverse workforce that consisted of bondsmen as well as immigrants that implemented tremendous ideas that advanced the industrial era and mass production  beyond anything that was possible elsewhere. She became a beacon that the rest of the world sought by any means at their disposal and left behind were the twin dinosaurs of bureaucracy and big  brother immersed in post feudalism.

Supporting this thought train, there was a dog in Germany with a pointed snout, tubular body and short, stubby legs. A peculiar site, he was no threat to the turf of the Greyhounds, Saint Bernard or Dalmatian. However, he could breach a hole, seize prey and be retrieved by his hunter due to his long tail. That’s no wiener schnitzel! Dachshunds survive today as a respected breed but were bred for a specific purpose: Badger Hunting

Like the zeitgeist propelling the American Experiment, Open Source is diversity in action; it’s not encumbered by CALs (Client Access Licenses) since the availability of zero-cost distribution frees the maximum number of minds to accomplish the one thing that large businesses laying off hundreds of thousands while soliciting corporate welfare from a government in need of infrastructure revitalization cannot: Productivity

If you’ve ever used an Open Source application, OS or web-authoring system like Open Office, Linux/Ubuntu, Acquia perhaps, you know about ease of download and usability and also that feedback is strongly encouraged. Small business is the backbone of our nation and nimbleness in quickly addressing market needs is the backbone of small business. Open Source applications free up resources for small businesses to better serve clients. In this downturn,  isn’t it worth having a new breed of dachshund retrieving badgers from the holes of lost profit?

Why Open Source Will Save The Economy

From whurley.com, the author proselytizes simply and succinctly on the great potential for Open Source during lean times.

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Three Reasons Open Source Will Save The Economy

Hey, is your economy down?

All right, bad joke, but it is the country’s current collective bellyache. 760,000 jobs lost already this year according to the Bureau of Labor. Businesses are frantically jettisoning people-weight just to stay afloat. Times are tougher than Chuck Liddell. I think I saw my old CEO in line at the soup kitchen last Tuesday.

My friends, I’m here to tell you that in the face of grim economic turmoil there are opportunities. The fundamentals of open source are strong. Open source software is going to save the global economy.

Sir Isaac’s Third Law: spending trends in the marketplace are reversing course as companies search for faster, cheaper solutions to everyday business problems. Open source anyone?

Open source software is freely available, easily downloadable, and deployed and modified without any licensing cost. Though not strictly free-in-house administration and support costs money — open source software can provide a tremendous boost to struggling small and medium businesses. Three reasons open source is going to save us — watch out while I lay ‘em on ya.

You always make time when there’s less money.

You got two resources with which to do business: time, and money. Build vs. buy arguments die out when the economy softens because enterprise software is expensive. Take databases. MySQL, PostGres, and Ingres can be downloaded, installed, and up and running for little if any cost. Businesses will trade support time for fiscal cost.

Free software removes previous barriers to entry.

It’s cheaper and easier to start a business on open source. Microsoft SQL Server starts at $1,500. MySQL is free. Photoshop costs $699. GIMP is free. Microsoft Office costs between $149 and $499 depending on the version you purchase. Open Office is free. With only 20 employees, using Open Office can save you $3,000 to $10,000.

You buy the shovel, but you want the hole.

It’s amazing how easy it is to forget that software is just a tool. Companies purchase software so their employees can execute specific tasks. You don’t need a laser-guided shovel with built-in GPS navigation to dig your hole. A plain ol’ shovel will get the job done just fine.

So buck up, little campers, open source software even comes with a free pack of weenies and a bag of marshmallows. Seriously, folks, go take the money you save by going open source and invest it in keeping the people around who really run your business. They need those jobs now more than ever.