Bring people together...

One of the things that brought the Internet, is the ability to create communities around common interests with people with who otherwise it would be next to impossible to do so. It has given the power to the people to have a greater control over the products and services they consume, to the sharing of whatever they want with the others.

The Internet empowers people, it's the tool that allows to take greater control not only of what we consume, how we consume and to share it with other to whom we think it would be relevant. It also allows us to generate content, and to share it with others in order to make them aware of our concerns and our hopes. In many ways we are becomes less of a passive audience, and more of active participants of what's going on beyond of what going on at our immediate surroundings.

More than ever, people can have an impact on what happens not only on their community, but on events that are ongoing on other parts of the world. We can actually share with people from distant places, and have a real chance to develop strong communities with lasting relationships among the members.

At the local level, it forces all players to be more transparent on their actions. It makes it harder to hide things, since people can easily spot and share with others what's going on. Local governments and businesses are having a harder time hiding from their communities wrong doings, while making it easier for people to organize actions to prevent or punish any wrong doing.

It's no longer inconceivable that people can actually regain power, it has become a question of when will enough people gain consciousnesses of this fact and start acting on it.

The time for the people to govern themselves is close at hand, it just requires us to make it happen as soon as we can.

20 years of World Wide Web...

Today the World Web marks its 20th anniversary, and there is no way to understate its importance to the world as we know it.

The main reason the World Wide Web has achieved such importance, is its free open nature. Everyone can build upon it since it's open to all, and use it freely according to their needs or interests. If wasn't free and open, we wouldn't have the Internet as we know it today.

This is why we should keep it like this, if we want to be able to keep using as we have been doing it so far. The World Wide Web has become the common forum where ideas can be discussed and information is shared among all the interested. It's where we come to find information just about anything, or to share what we love with others.

In many ways, the World Wide Web has allowed the world to become a smaller place by allowing people to connect with others in distant places in any way better fits them. It has become pivotal for many to be able to keep in touch with loved one who are far away.

We should reflect on the importance of keeping the World Wide Web free and open, since this way it's truly and most valuable to all of us. It's imperative to keep it as a common good of humanity, one where we all can use is equally.

Give users the power...

Users right to hack the devices, and the software that runs in them, shouldn't be questioned at an level. It should be a given than users have the right do any modification they want to any device they lawfully bought, and even to share how they did such hack.

If there should be a limit, is that users should not profit with those hacks without compensating the original vendor. Even though the people who do the hacking can expect some sort of compensation for the time they invested making a hack useful, there should be a clear limit on how that compensation is made. Yet, users should be allowed to share with others within some reasonable limits.

Those limits shouldn't make it impossible for users to actually hack their devices, just how they are allowed to share the information about how to do a hack and how they can expect to be compensated for the time and effort put into doing so.

The most important thing is that users must remain on what goes on their devices, not the companies that make the devices we buy. Even if some users never hack their devices, there is no reason why their right to so away. While is true that most people will not hack in any way or form their devices, but they need to be able to do so if the need makes it a necessary at any point in time.

Yes, some instances of hacking are illegal and should be prosecuted. It's important to keep in mind that most hacking is quite harmless, and done just for the fun of learning something new. This kind of hacking has the potential to be most beneficial, since it can discover problems or come with new and better ways to do things.

We need to have clear rules that keep all hacking beneficial and practical for society at large. It's a case where the interests of the majority must be uphold over what a minority wants.

BlackBerry vs Android vs Firefox OS...

As I keep using the BlackBerry Bold I got, the more I'm liking the experience, yet I'm still quite interested on an Android smartphone. When time comes to get a replacement, it will be decided by my ability to use an Android device for some time in order to directly compare it with the BlackBerry I'm using.

So far, the biggest issue I've with the BlackBerry Bold is the optical trackpad, I just don't seem to be able to get used to it. So, it seems that a touchscreen device seems a better option for me.

With this in mind, it seems that if I decide to stay with Blackberry it would be with the Z10, which is an touchscreen base smartphone.

Yet, I'd like to keep all my devices running open sourced software, as such Android is still a strong contender. And if the Firefox OS hits the market on time for consideration, it's also a strong contender.

The choice it's still some mounts away, so there is some time to do some testing.

Using the BlackBerry Bold...

I've been using a BlackBerry Bold for the four days, and even it's got the Blackberry 6 OS which is dated, I found that it's quite enjoyable to use. The only thing is that bothers me a bit, is that the software is closed source and I'd prefer to use FOSS.

Yet, I'm quite taken with both the software and the hardware. I just find that they work quite well, just with a bit of a lag because of the age of the device. I don't mind it much, since the lag is not that long and I see the device as something that I intend to use just while I save enough to get a new one.

With the experience, with what I've been reading about the new BlackBerry's OS and the Z10 I'm starting to considering them as a serious buy for me. I've enjoying the whole experience with both the software and the hardware, I'm just able to set the phone just as I want it with relative ease.

Now the only two serious contenders I've in mind for my next smartphone is the BlackBerry Z10, and a Nexus device. A distant 3rd would be a Firefox phone, but since I haven't seen one or had a serious experience with it I'm not quite sure about it.

The one thing that would make the BlackBerry 10 and the Z10 the winning combination for me, would be if BlackBerry would make the BlackBerry 10 open source.

The protection of data...

What needs to be protected should be data contained by software, not the software itself. After all, keeping data safe is important to keeping our privacy.

Accessing the internal working of software should be allowed, in a way such action should taken from granted. The study, modification, and redistribution of a piece of software should be something that can be done by any user who wished to do so.

On the other hand, such actions on data shouldn't be allowed. Software and data should be separate things, and data should be protected by default. All data belongs to the original user, as such only that user has the authority on how the data it produces can be used and by who it can be used in what manner.

Individuals have the right to legally own their data, and shouldn't lose that ownership under any circumstance at all. Only permissions are granted on certain parts of our data to a given party, and those permissions can be revoked at the time on which the individual chooses. There is no reason why a third party to use our data without our express permission to do so.

There is a need to have harsh punishments on people who use any data of an individual, for whatever purpose, without the consent of the owner of the data.

Also, data from public entities shouldn't be equated with that of private individuals. Public entities, like governments and companies, should be more readily available than that of private individuals. Even so, there should be clear guidelines on who, when and why a particular piece of data from these entities is shared or made public.

We need to make sure that our data is what the most protected valuable on our modern society.

Women in science and tech...

Like in every other area in human activity, we need women to active in every way on tech and science if we want them to be in good shape. Any woman that wants to come into these areas should be able to do so, on equal terms with her male counter parts.

The fact that women that have a talent for science or tech, are not actively encouraged is both sad and disturbing. We need them to come, actively contribute if we want to advance as a society. Their contributions are as valuable as any one a male can make, and not allowing them to do so has a negative impact not only on a personal level. It also negatively affects society at large, because at the very least we can suffer a minor set back.

Both science and tech need to be stop being viewed as men's turf. It's the turf of any one that wants to work in it, regardless of their gender. What should be taken into account, is the quality of their work and research.

Until both women and men can actually be equally respected on the world of science and tech, there will be a thorn on my side making be aware than we aren't doing enough to make this a better world. There is no reason why women that select to come to science and tech, can't expect to be treated with respect and have the same expectations to be taken into account like men do.

Women have great things to contribute, they have the right to be allowed to do so. Not allowing them to come freely, and do so, we risk the better future we all want to build.

Remain curious...

It's sad to see how curiosity is killed, and replaced with the inability to question the what happens around us. Some just do what they are told, never really thinking about what they are doing and why they are doing it.

Others don't even dare to do even that, they even see any kind of questioning as an act of disloyalty. The idea of an individual thinking by himself, or herself, it's an aberration and something that must be avoided at all costs. There is no higher need than to live a life where they are told what to think and do by those they view as superior to them, they are sheep.

Curiosity is a virtue, one that should be fostered and allowed to grow. There is no age in life where curiosity should be avoided, since it leads us to meet and surpass new challenges.

By doing so, it allows great discoveries that make our lives richer fuller. What's better, the benefits are not only for the individual that followed his curiosity to it's satisfaction. It benefits the community where the individual lives, because the results can be shared with others without losing any of the value they posses. Quite the contrary, sharing those results actually add to the value they already carry by allowing others to use them or to add more to the results.

Humans by nature are curious, and have the need to fulfill that curiosity. Instead of taking it out at young age, we need to hone and sharpen it so it can be a valuable tool for both the individual and society. What we need is to teach how to question all what we see, so we can get to the relevant parts while we leave out all the noise out.

There is no sin in asking, but only a great sadness of not fulfilling ourselves in learning something new.

Copyright and repairs...

It's both sad and enraging that copyright laws are used to prevent people to repair devices they own, and effectively enforce planned obsolescence since there is no way to actually keep any of your devices up and running.

Since service manuals can be copyrighted, it means that companies can deny access to them by independent repair shops or just users that want to have the information. Which means that people outside the company, can't make any repair at all. Thus, giving the companies the chance to enforce planned obsolescence by making their products unrepairable after a certain point in time.

This is unacceptable, since the products we buy are our owned by us. We should have unrestricted access to the information needed to service the products we own, either by ourselves or by independent repair shops if we choose to take them there.

Most importantly, by allowing to those products to have a longer life-cycle expectancy the impact they have on the environment will be a lot less. By allowing the service manuals available to the public, it would greatly help to make electronics more sustainable since their life will be higher and there will be less need to buy replacements more often.

There is a real need to reduce as much as possible our waste footprint on our environment as much as possible, and planned obsolescence doesn't help at all. By making companies release their service manuals, we are ensuring that human activity becomes more sustainable over time by allowing longer life cycles and reducing waste.

Not only that, we are empowered to choose when to change our devices for new ones and what to do with them other than throwing them away. Donation of electronics can be more viable, since they could be serviced and put back into action for people that can't afford to buy new ones. This is specially true with computers, refrigerators and the like, where the price of a new one and a second hand one can be quite significant.

So, making repair manuals available for everyone to use is of the up-most importance in order to make human activities more sustainable, and to give access to more modern devices to people that otherwise would be left out.

If companies don't make their service manuals available freely available to all, we have to make them do it. The common good is far more important that their private profits.

Endless possibilities...

As the world becomes smaller thanks to the Internet, and other communication technologies, it allows for a faster exchange of ideas and information directly among the people themselves.

We are becoming less depending on intermediaries to hand us information, or to share with others what we love. In many ways, people are coming together to form communities around their common interests or to share tips how to make whatever they need or want. Modern communications technologies are empowering the people, so that they can do more by themselves or receive the information they need on timely manner.

Now, more than ever before in history, humanity can build a fairer and equal society. A society in which where people can aspire more based on their personal merits, by allowing them to meet the people they need to in order to make their goals come to fruition.

By allowing the world to become smaller, people gets to know more about other cultures and becomes to exposed to new ideas in ways. Not only that, people get to give back to the world their perspective, allowing for a real interaction where one is influenced by what they see while they can influence others at the same time. It's a two way road, where all take something while giving something in return.

We need to keep building so that the Internet keeps being the platform where people can come to meet as equals, and where we all can build a better world for everyone.

Time to replace...

It seems that I'll have to change my current smartphone is going to quit sooner than I expected, so I'm going to have to select a new one before it dies.

So, it seems that an Android handset is going to be the one I'm going for since one running Firefox OS or Ubuntu Touch are not viable because they are still some time away.

I've been keeping an eye on Samsung and Motorola smartphones for quite some time, and a couple of Sony's, and I've made out my mind that the selection will come out of whichever offers the best deal for me.

What I'm looking for, is one of the more compact size since I mainly want it to check my social media accounts and email. If I compose anything at all on the phone, it would be some short status updates or texts. The only other app I use constantly other than the browser, it's WhatsApp.

At the end, I need it to be portable while it allows me to keep connected to with those I care about. For me, a small to medium size smartphone does the job for me.