Microsoft Bad, Switch to Linux

Patents in the US were created with the intention of fostering innovation. The idea was that inventors would be guaranteed a short period of exclusivity in exchange for publishing their invention for all to see. This was an idea that the founders of the US put in the constitution to encourage immigration to their new country.

In Article I, Section 8 it says...

The Congress shall have power to ... promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries

In today's world of patents, especially software patents, the model is more predatory. Claim as many patents as you can about anything you can, not to protect your business but rather to be able to sue someone else when they implement your idea or an idea that is similar to yours.

Most businesses and lawyers naturally focus on the bit about securing exclusive rights. I think it is time to start focusing on the bit about promoting the progress of science and useful arts. A utility patent provides for 20 years of exclusivity. In the world of software, that is a lifetime.

Companies like Microsoft have enormous budgets for research and development that they use to come up with ideas, patent them and then lock them in a box. When someone else comes up with a similar idea, Microsoft threatens to sue them. Most of the time these other companies don't want to face the legal bills that a company as big as Microsoft can easily absorb so they settle with Microsoft. Usually that settlement involves a Patent Licensing Agreement where the company pays for the right to use Microsoft's patent. This is cheaper than the court costs that the company would incur by fighting the lawsuit. As a result, the validity of many of Microsoft's patents has not been tested in court, meaning that Microsoft is extorting money from these companies using patents that may or may not be legitimate.

Two recent stories illustrate this process. Most recently "Microsoft has filed a suit against TomTom, 'alleging that the in-car navigation company's devices violate eight of its patents — including three that relate to TomTom's implementation of the Linux kernel." MS does not make in car navigation devices nor do any of it's products use the Linux kernel, nor do they intend to do either one.

Another case pitted MS against printer manufacturer Brother. Brother settled out of court with MS. Microsoft does not make printers, they do not make printer drivers and I don't believe they have any intention of starting to make either one. This kind of behavior does not promote the progress and science and useful arts, it stifles that progress.

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/leader/0,1000002982,39612309,00.htm

So what can you do about it? The answer is quite simple, stop using Microsoft products. Your computer at home most likely does not run any software that cannot be replaced by an open source alternative. In fact there are several Linux distributions that will have everything you need right out of the box.

Microsoft Windows ==> Ubuntu Linux, Mandriva Linux, openSUSE Linux
Microsoft Office ==> OpenOffice.org, AbiWord, Gnumeric
Internet Explorer ==> Firefox, Chrome, Opera
MS Money ==> GNUcash, Moneydance, Grisbi
Photoshop ==> GIMP
Outlook ==> Thunderbird, Evolution

Many other programs have Linux versions. I have not run into any task I couldn't do in Linux except enterprise software packages like Pro-E or AutoCAD.

Subscribing using RSS

RSS is a great way to simplify your life, especially if you use the internet to get your news from more that one site. RSS delivers new content from your favorite websites to the inbox of your reader. That inbox can be web based (Google Reader) if you are into cloud computing or it can be a piece of software running on your home computer (Thunderbird). If you don't know RSS take a minute to wrap your head around it and your life will never be the same again.

GOOGLE READER

To follow these directions you will need an existing Google account. If you don't have a Google account and don't want to create one, you don't have to. That is the beauty of RSS. You can use one of many other feed readers. I would recommend the feed reader in Thunderbird (see below) or another I have used called RSS Bandit (windows only).

Click on the Posts button with the RSS icon ().



Click on the Add to Google icon. (note the list of other popular feed readers)

You will get a screen that looks like this. Click the button that says Add to Google Reader



Congratulations, you are now "subscribed" to a "feed" from my blog. Now whenever I add something new it will show up in your reader.



If you look on other websites for the icon or for a section called RSS feeds you may discover that there are a lot of websites you can subscribe to.

There is another kind of syndication called Atom. Most readers can handle either Atom or RSS and subscribing works the same way for either one. From an RSS consumer point of view, as long as your reader understands both systems, you don't have to worry about it.

THUNDERBIRD

For Thunderbird you have to create an RSS account. Click File|New|Account and you will get this screen.



Click Next and your account will show up in the folder panel on the left



Click Manage Subscriptions and then Add and enter the URL of the subscription. In most cases you can get the URL by right clicking on the RSS link and copying the URL of the link. In Firefox this is called Copy Link Location.



Then the articles from the feed you have added will show up like this.

Water Rationing in LA

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power recently announced the implementation of water rationing for it's customers. This is not unprecedented as Los Angeles has a long history of water scarcity, but it did spark my interest in where our water comes from.

ORANGE COUNTY

In Orange County, about half of our water comes from Northern California through the State Water Project and from the Colorado River. The other half comes from a groundwater basin in northern Orange County and from processed waste water (NY Times article about OC water recycling). Orange County Water District (OCWD) manages the groundwater basin. The Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) manages our imported water supply.

http://www.mwdoc.com/Water_Supplies.htm

The groundwater basin is fed by local rainfall. Here is a map of local rainfall and historical rainfall records.

http://www.ocwatershed.com/envres/Rainfall/rainfalldata.asp

This is a water supply schematic for Orange County

http://www.mwdoc.com/documents/WaterSupplySchematic07-08.pdf

Pie chart of water usage in OC.

http://www.mwdoc.com/documents/HowWaterisUsedinO.C..pdf

The Huntington Beach city council recently approved the construction of a desalinization plant. It needs more approvals before it is a done deal and in a state like California, it may be a tough battle.
http://www.hbfreshwater.com/
http://www.surfermag.com/features/oneworld/desalination/
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1020891.php
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1022325.php


LOS ANGELES

Los Angeles' water is managed by the LA Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the largest public utility in the united states. LA also splits it's water supply between local and imported water, but in Los Angeles imported sources make up 85 percent of the water supply. These supplies are delivered by the Los Angeles Aqueduct, the California Aqueduct, and the Colorado River Aqueduct.

Local water supplies are from ground water and stormwater capture. Los Angeles is not currently recycling waste water into the general water supply like OC is, but they do have some irrigation and commercial recycling programs.

Los Angeles is also considering a desalinization plant.

Los Angeles County has a very colorful water history as examined in these articles

http://www.ladpw.org/wrd/precip/alert_rain/index.cfm?cont=season.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Department_of_Water_and_Power
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Water_Wars
http://wsoweb.ladwp.com/Aqueduct/historyoflaa/index.htm
http://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/homepage.jsp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owens_Lake

http://www.inyowater.org/Annual_Reports/Default.htm
http://www.inyowater.org/Water_Resources/water_agreement/default.html