Popular Open Source Software

Open source software in most consumers' eyes is the equivalent of free software. In class we discussed the concept of open source in detail and concluded the following: “Nearly all open source is free software,” which means that not all open source software is free software. We view open source as a way of licensing and free software with the focus on freedom of “speech” rather than free “beer.”

But “speech” can be a very useful tool, and here are some of the best free open source programs that (potentially) replace commercial software from http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-free-open-source-programs-replace-commercial-windows-software/ :

LibreOffice:

This is a branch of OpenOffice, and it replaces what most Windows users use: Microsoft Office. Granted that Microsoft Office has been around for a while and has been very useful to us in many ways, it is still pretty pricey for most of us. LibreOffice has basic features that Microsoft Office offers and, since it is open source, newer versions will come out and more features will be available for LibreOffice lovers.

Mozilla Thunderbird and Mozilla Firefox:

Thunderbird, the desktop mail client, replaces Windows Live mail while Firefox replaces Internet Explorer. These are just by preference, but personally, I like to use Thunderbird over Windows Live mail. The open source mail client and the web browser are very handy tools to have free of charge. But it's mostly preference for both of these softwares.

GIMP:

GNU Image Manupulation Program (GIMP) is a graphics editor and it has the features that match up to those of Adobe Photoshop. It is cross-platform and useful for those who love editing photos.

VLC:

VLC is a media player that comes with most audio/video codecs – no more looking for missing codecs online (yay!). I do, however like the graphical interface from Windows Media Player, but VLC is simple and useful.

7-zip:

Having a hard time decompressing/compressing a file? 7-zip supports most formats that are given by WinZip or Winrar. If you do a lot of compressing/decompressing stuff with file, then I'd definitely recommend it.

These are some of the popular open source software that I found to be useful in my “everyday software needs.” These “speeches” are great tool that are helpful in very basic every day uses for computer users.

For more check out

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-free-open-source-programs-replace-commercial-windows-software/

http://www.tripwiremagazine.com/2010/03/20-most-popular-open-source-software-ever-2.html

Privacy and Concequences

Privacy and Concequences

Privacy is essential to each and every individual in the world. The need to seclude personal information, whether sensitive or not, is something that we instinctively have and is a main form of primitive protection to predators. Growing up, I learned not to speak with strangers from my parents. The implication behind these teachings more so on privacy of personal information than on the actual act of speaking to strangers. While speaking to strangers is perfectly fine, speaking about yourself isn't and it's rather a risk. So much of the information about ourselves can be used by predators against us, yet today, there are so many traps and new ways to expose our information. From the words of a the Steve Rambam, “Privacy is dead, – get over it”.

When we consider the concept of Internet privacy, we decrease the size of the scope to the focus to data leakage to third-parties via Internet. There are certain risks that, as an Internet user, we all need to consider. These can range from data mining to malicious spyware. The Internet, although mostly used in civilized ways today, can be considered as a wild jungle, especially to children. This is what it is like for the unlearned Internet user while browsing the web pages. A single click could mean a simple ad, or the infection of an internet bug or virus. With the development of IT and better internet browsers, most of these risks have lowered in general. To further protect the children from exposure to third-parties with malicious acts the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act was created. Further information on http://www.coppa.org/.

One of the things that come with concerning risks come up when we speak of privacy within social networking sites. Facebook, for example, has terms of use agreements that states that all data uploaded into their network is theirs until the user decides to delete them (https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/) the potential consequence comes up when we consider the scenario of data leakage. If Facebook has data of personal information of others leaked out, these people will be vulnerable. Maybe the data leaked will be used for advertisements (still a breach of privacy) or maybe a predator will use it in his/her next crime. What we do know is that the range of risk is very wide.

 

Even though we are protected by privacy laws, but what if the individual exposes his/her information to the Internet that is potentially harmful to her. One example is the UCLA's Alexandra Wallace YouTube video upload which has been taken down to for her protection (part of it for privacy). But the fact is that this incidence will stay on the web forever because of so many responses and links to her video. This is one of the responses (the best one in my opinion) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zulEMWj3sVA, and it was the least offensive as well. This ultimately resulted in her forfeit of her studies at UCLA and hate mails directed towards her after the video upload. People don't seem to realize how risky it is to upload personal information or personal thoughts, or at least that's my impression after taking notice of this case. This is not the only case on YouTube of people posting personal information/thoughts and sharing it with others without realizing the dangers. These videos may be taken down directly, but once it is uploaded to the Internet, it lives forever...

Even now I can find the video link on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNuyDZevKrU&feature=related (This is a copy of the original video; her YouTube channel and original video were already taken down).

This is why privacy is important, and it just shows why the Internet is wild wild jungle. Internet users need to beware of the consequences of exposing potentially harmful information – not just information that may be harmful to themselves but also to others.

Trademarking: DOTA

Are there any gamers out there?

For those of you that have experienced the joy of computer games, you can probably skip the description of what I'm about to describe to you about Defense of the Ancients (DOTA).

For fans or people who know RTS (Real-time Strategy), a big name that comes in mind is Warcraft 3. Now, Warcraft 3 is a RTS that bases itself on it's predecessors Warcraft 1 and 2. As the game developed, graphic designs became better, and newer features became were released for the public audience to enjoy. On of those features was the “World Editor.” The “World Editor” is a program that allows the audience to create/edit maps. With this came the concept of “modding,” which is slang for modifying. People were free to create maps that would have different set of rules to win the game. This was a new way of entertainment for people who've bought these RTS games. To find out more about World Editor, you can see this link http://classic.battle.net/war3/faq/worldeditor.shtml or go to blizzard's web page.

It is from Warcraft 3's World Editor where the mod known as DOTA was made. This mod offered a different play style than the general norm. Instead of controlling a lot of units and building armies to destroy your opponent's base, you would, in fact, focus on one unit, the hero, and base your strategies on what your abilities were and on what your allies and their abilities. In short, it became really popular. DOTA was so popular that other games were made based on it, such as Heroes of Newerth(Hon) and League of Legends(LoL) to name a few.

Although this mod was created by someone known as Eul (Steve "Guinsoo" Feak), IceFrog joined and took over the development of the mod. Guinsoo went to develop the game LoL which is based on DOTA, while IceFrog continued developing DOTA and was hired by Valve. Valve's acquisition ultimately led to the development of DOTA's legacy: DOTA 2. The new game will involve the exact same heroes, and newer ones later on, and similar mechanics to DOTA.

Now today, the main issue is the matter of trademark. While the developers of DOTA 2 filed the trademark for the game DOTA, two other contenders filed the counter to this application: Guinsoo along with the director of Riot Games and, the creator of dota-allstars.com, the leading community of DOTA fans, Steve "Pendragon" Mescon. Guinsoo opposed against the idea of Valve acquiring this trademark, and expressed that he “DOTA is owned by the community” (Steve "Guinsoo" Feak). He did not think of trademarking DOTA because he's original intention was to make it free for the DOTA community to enjoy. More on their thoughts on http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/08/17/riot-games-dev-counter-files-dota-trademark/.

We can all see the good intentions of Guinsoo in sharing this game and keeping it free for others; however, the fact remains that he has not fully claimed his intellectual property, DOTA, completely therefore making it easier to steal. Today, Blizzard has acquired DOTA and is not opposing against the application of trademarking DOTA by Valve. More on this on http://kotaku.com/5883938/blizzard-is-suing-valve.

It is sad to see two of my favorite game developers' struggle to gain trademarking for one of my favorite games. But nevertheless, there are always sides to take when intellectual property is not protected.