iOwn

07-15-2008 | 12:01 AM EST | 0 Comments

In the last few days, the tech world has been buzzing about the latest release of Apple's iPhone (the 3G model). The headlines have been both good and bad for Apple — Apple Sells One Million 3G iPhones First Weekend, iPhone 3G poses barriers to business adoption, and Apple Cancels All iPhone 3G Orders, Releases iBrick 3G. And, while the zealots continue to paint the superiority of Apple genius and innovation against the detractors' background of connectivity problems and lack of enterprise adoption, a quieter revolution is going on behind the scenes that has as much to do with next gen thinking as with cutting-edge technology.

The FreeRunner mobile phone, created by Openmoko, is a Linux-based mobile phone with many of the same hardware capabilities as Apple's iPhone, including a touchscreen, GPS, and motion sensor. However, rather than locking the phone's underlying operating system and hardware design up in proprietary code and patented design blueprints, the operating system is free to be changed and revised at will and even the CAD files used to create the hardware itself are available for download and re-working under the terms of a Creative Commons Share-Alike license. What this means is that you're not only free to customize the software on the FreeRunner, but you're even free to re-design the physical phone itself!

This form of openness seems to be catching on in certain circles. VIA's OpenBook laptop computer, for example, also makes their device's CAD files available under a Creative Commons BY SA license. VIA even provides a video tutorial on their website to help would-be hardware designers learn more about ripping open their notebook. What's more, the world is taking notice. Just a few weeks ago at Taipei Computex, the OpenBook was honored with a Gold Award for Design and Innovation for 2008.

So, should you expect to see proprietary hardware models thrown out the window in the coming months? That's unlikely . . . for a lot of reasons. From a general consumer's perspective, something like the FreeRunner phone really doesn't compare out-of-the-box with Apple's iPhone. For all of the jokes about "iBricks," once you get beyond some initial problems, the iPhone is a fully-functioning mobile phone with a lot of bells and whistles that work without having to know much at all about technology. On the other hand, the FreeRunner's seemingly limitless number of customization options require a more-than-average amount of technical knowledge to get working in a lot of cases. For now, I think that companies like Apple, who base most of their income model on proprietary software, trade secrets, and patents, will be safe to continue making money through their traditional business plans. I do hope, however, that even if the companies like Openmoko and VIA, who are really pushing the bounds of innovative thinking, never become the market leaders, their efforts and philosophies will inspire other companies to be less restrictive with their licensing so that freedom and liberty are also considered essential design requirements for the-next-big-thing.

A Chance to Participate

06-24-2008 | 01:04 PM EST | 1 Comments

Sometimes, everybody's got to do a little self-promotion, and for me, that time is today.

For those of you who don't know, I have another website called dave.caretcake at http://dave.caretcake.com. dave.caretcake is more or less a personal website where I post lengthy technical HOWTOs, music I've created, and software I've developed outside of work. The music and software is all made available under various non-restrictive licenses (GPL, CC, etc.). In fact, there's even an entire section of the website that discusses how any developers, designers, writers, or anyone else with a skill and interest can contact me about participating in the creation of some of the projects on the site.

Currently, I'm in need of some beta-testing help on a desktop-based calculator I'm writing. The calculator, HMSCalculate, is a time-based calculation tool that should be great for freelancers (and their project managers), lawyers, and anyone else who makes their living billing by the hour. HMSCalculate is being developed for use on Linux, Mac, and Windows operating systems, and will be distributed under the GPL, so volunteering your time on this is contributing first-hand to a project that will be made available free of proprietary restrictions.

If you're interested in testing the beta version of the calculator when it becomes available, please just fill out the short form at http://dave.caretcake.com/software/hmscalculate_beta_registration.rhtml. If you'd just like to find out more about HMSCalculate and see an artist's rendition of what it'll basically look like, you can go to http://dave.caretcake.com/software/hmscalculate_overview.rhtml.

On a final note and in the interest of full-disclosure, I want to point out that while the final product will be made available under the terms of the GPL, I do intend on monetizing it in some way. I'm not sure if I'll do that through selling support and add-ons, access to an online community, pre-compiled versions for target platforms, distribution on CD, or something else altogether, but I want it to be very clear up front for anyone considering participating as a beta tester.

The Rebels Strike Back

06-12-2008 | 02:20 PM EST | 0 Comments

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the battle that was taking place on the international standardizations' stage related to Microsoft's OOXML (Office Open XML) data format. At that time, it was unclear whether Microsoft would be able to push their take on compliance and standardization through the IISO/IEC approval process or not. Well, sixteen days, four official appeals, and one letter of protest later and it still hasn't been approved.

It all started when SABS, the National Body member of ISO/IEC JTC1 for South Africa, filed a formal appeal with both ISO and IEC to challenge the Fast Track adoption of Microsoft's OOXML. Among other concerns, SABS explicitly stated that they had misgivings about the "JTC 1 processes to circumvent the consensus-building process that is the cornerstone to the success and international acceptance of ISO and IEC standards." They then went on to explain that "the ability of large multi-national organizations to influence many national bodies, with the resultant block-voting over-riding legitimate issues raised by other countries, is also of concern." And with that one appeal, the process had to be put on hold until the issues addressed by SABS were resolved, but the appeals didn't stop there.

Next up was Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas (ABNT), the National Body representing Brazil. In addition to concurring with many of South Africa's complaints, Andrew Upgrove of The ConsortiumInfo.org Standards Blog published this nine-item list exemplifying Brazil's own worries:

1. The fact that the Brazilian delegation was not permitted to present a proposal regarding legacy binary mapping
2. Repeated refusals to address requests and issues due to lack of time
3. Decisions were mandated by lack of time, lead, leading to decisions Brazil deems "to completely incompatible with the kind of decisions that should have be taken."
4. Decisions taken based upon an asserted "need to give answers to journalists"
5. Misuse of limited time for irrelevant purposes
6. Misapplication of the rules relating to who was entitled to vote in the BRM (a point also raised in the South African appeal)
7. Votes taken without prior discussion
8. Recourse to block voting not because it was an adequate approach, but only because it was "less bad"
9. An error relating to an objection in the official notes of the meeting

Consider this strike two for Microsoft.

Strikes three and four came from India and Venezuela, respectively, and fell in line with the concerns and problems first pointed out by South Africa and Brazil. If this were baseball, Microsoft and their OOXML format would be out. Fortunately for them, it's not and they're not.

At this point, the standard is in a limbo while another draft of the proposal is created to address the issues brought forth in the appeals. Upon re-submission, all of the problems expressed by South Africa, Brazil, India, and Venezuela may be resolved and OOXML will be awarded its ISO/IEC approval. Even that would still leave some people wondering why we need a second standard when ODF (OpenDocument Format) is already an approved international standard hard at work in the same space that Microsoft is hoping to occupy with OOXML. For the time being, though, you can at least rest assured that the fast-track award process has not been so quick that it's allowed any one company to pull a fast one on us all.

One Book, Two Bits

06-10-2008 | 02:55 PM EST | 0 Comments

Just a short announcement that I think will be of interest to everyone who follows this blog. Two Bits, The Cultural Significance of Free Software by Christopher M. Kelty is now available for purchase at http://twobits.net/buy/. The main premise of the book is that the practices that have informed Free Software for years have moved beyond the software development domain and into the greater realms of openness, copyright licenses, and collaboration among other things. According to the book's website, "Kelty shows how [Free Software] practices have reoriented the relations of power around the creation, dissemination, and authorization of all kinds of knowledge after the arrival of the Internet."

While I haven't personally read this book yet, I think it promises to be an extremely interesting and informative work that will probably put into detail and perspective many of the topics you read about here. On a side note, Two Bits is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution, Share Alike, Non-commercial License. So, get the book, read it, re-mix, and share it with your friends!

Fashionably Free

06-05-2008 | 10:28 AM EST | 0 Comments

I feel like I'm always saying that the ideas that started in the Free and Open Source Software communities and informed some of the Free Culture movement's ideologies are now spreading into many other facets of life. Unfortunately, I often don't have any specific examples to back that claim up. Well, today I do — and even I was surprised by these.

"If green is the new black Pamoyo is the new green," says Berlin-based fashion label, Pamoyo. As if their unique designs, drive for green and socially responsible production, and generally high ethical standards weren't already enough to separate this self-proclaimed "style collective" apart from the fashion pack, the decision to release their clothing designs under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license definitely seals the deal. What this ultimately means is that other people around the world are free to re-use and re-mix Pamoyo's designs at will so long as the new creations aren't used commercially. And, if people want to make their re-uses of Pamoyo's work public, that's fine so long as they release their version under the same CC BY-NC-SA license allowing the cycle of re-use and re-mix to continue. On a side note, vegetarians and vegans will be happy to read Pamoyo's stance on animal-friendly materials.

On the other side of the world (or at least a good distance from Germany), Japanese media company, Nota, combines fashion, innovative technology, and Creative Commons' licensing to put an entirely new spin on DIY clothing design. Labeled "C-Shirts" (where the "C" refers to "Creative Commons"), Nota is producing t-shirts with small QR (Quick Response) codes that can be scanned by QR-reading devices like mobile phones (which are nearly ubiquitous in Japan). The QR codes are tied to specific URLs on the Nota website where people can either download the image as-is or use technology right on the website to alter, edit, and personalize the design. At that point, the altered creation can be printed to a new C-Shirt (or even coffee mug, paper, or various other products).

In light of inspiring new organizations like Pamoyo and Nota, maybe the new definition of fashion forward has to include some notion of community spirit, non-restrictive licensing, and creative freedom in the truest sense. Personally, I think both of these groups are doing a great thing, and I'd urge you to check out what they have to offer and participate by either making a purchase or doing some re-mixing of their content on your own.

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