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The Pirate Party
by Dave McClure, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Thursday May 10, 2012When it comes to copyright laws in the United States, we’ve made two enormous blunders. The first was when we allowed unfettered corporate greed to change the laws to a state so ridiculous that virtually no work will ever again enter the public domain; the second was when we casually allowed the emerging Internet to respond to the first blunder by simply ignoring copyrights and declaring all content to be free when downloaded from the Internet. We may pay for these blunders by seeing the emergence of a third US political party that will not only shake up our traditional two-party system but bring a broad swath of disenfranchised citizens back to the polling booths. We’re talking Pirates here. First things first. When the... -
Why Tech Patent Lawsuits Are Flying
by Dave McClure, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Sunday April 29, 2012
This week, after two years of secret negotiations and wrangling, the mega companies of Google and Oracle went to court to decide whether it is possible to patent a computer language. If the thought of this confuses you, be grateful you are not the judge or the new members of the jury. It’s the tech equivalent of me patenting the English language, and then suing this blog for $6.1 billion dollars for using or printing this column in my patented language. [Memo to my editor: my attorneys will be in touch in the morning!] [ Memo in return... "Funny joke, Dave. Our lawyers are on speed-dial. "] All of this might be just a curious phase in the life cycle of the tech industry, except that it really does affect accountants and how they... -
Technology and Airplanes
by Dave McClure, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Tuesday March 27, 2012
About half of the time when I fly, I forget to turn off my cell phone during taxi and takeoff. For that indiscretion, I am an international terrorist responsible for… for… Well, for nothing. Because as the Federal Aviation Administration well knows from its own tests, there is absolutely no reason to turn off your electronic devices during taxi, takeoff and landing. There are no airplanes that have fallen from the sky. No accidents attributable to Alec Baldwin, busted for playing a video game with friends while sitting on the taxiway. No instruments going haywire. In fact, reports are that pilots use tablets and other electronics in the cockpit throughout their flights. This entire ban was a bit of politically correct nonsense... -
I'm Going To Hate Windows 8
by Dave McClure, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Saturday March 17, 2012
In my years in the tech industries, I have tested just about every kind of software and hardware there is. Usually so I can write about them, or help to make sense of their underlying concepts. When you live with software and hardware that is not ready for public release, you get a lot of problems and paper cuts. Which is why my column for the magazine is entitled The Bleeding Edge. Working with stuff that can lock up your system, delete your data or cause burn spots on your monitor has led me (and others who do this for a living) to develop three basic rules: Backup your files and your system. Every day. Seriously. Read the manual, if there is one, for every single thing you hook to your computer. Never, ever, ever run a public... -
The Tyranny of a Tiny Minority
by Dave McClure, Contributing Writer/Columnist - Tuesday March 6, 2012It began with a petition to stop members of Congress from passing a set of flawed copyright bills. By the time the bills were withdrawn from consideration a few weeks later, untold thousands of signatures had been collected and presented in opposition to the bills – a fact that may in future consideration of copyright protection keep things in a more stable and measured tone. But in the back rooms of the political parties, people paid attention. Stirring up the Internet masses and getting them to sign a petition – regardless of whether they understood the issues – was seen as a powerful force that could be exploited. And so we are now awash with petition pleas. They splash across FaceBook, clutter our email, are...
