Only together can we build a better world...

One of the things that Donald Trumps actions as the US president have shown, is how interconnected the world has become. All countries, and their citizens, are connected to each other in some way.

Directly, or indirectly, all what one country does affects all others. The world has really become smaller, and we all can feel the impact of what happens in any other place in some way or another. We all have to face the fact that no country can so things all on its own, and that it's on everyone best interest to continue the integration to be able to improve every person quality of life.

The question isn't if global integration is good, its how to do so in a way that it benefits as many people as possible and how to reduce the negative effects.

Instead of building walls, we should be building bridges and trust. Only through cooperation can we hope to build a better future. Only by bringing people in, and giving them a stake on the future we want to build, there is a real chance that we can actually build such a future.

Dividing people, or trying to keep them divided, will only mean that we won't have the better world we all want and work hard to build. Only by working together, in concert with each other, there is a chance to build that world we want to live in.

The focus should be on making any one country great, but to help humanity as a whole achieve greatness together. Divided we'll fall, together we'll reach far beyond our wildest dreams.

Our data, our property...

The data we produce everyday, can turn out to be much more valuable than we imagine on our hyper connected world. Data is at the core of who we are, and could be used in our favor or against us.

Everything we do on daily basis, generates data that defines us in some way or another. In way, data can be seen as a way that could be used as a lens
through which others can build an impression of who we are.

It shows who we are, what motivates us to act a certain way, what are our philias and phobias. When put in context, that data can be used to reveal things that otherwise we wouldn't share. That's why is of upmost importance to protect it, since it can be used in ways that we don't intend to or are against our interests.

We should be able to decide what data we share, with who, and for what purposes. So it goes with who the data we shared can be forwarded to third parties, and for what purpose.

Even though our data is not something tangible, it should be considered as private property and treated as such. It has to be our right to choose to who we share data, what data we share and for what purpose. Any use of our data without our consent has to be prevented, and it's misused punished.

It should be a given that our data should be dealt with privately, only shared with third parties with our permission. Even how that data is shared should be in a way that we feel comfortable with, and for uses that we agree with.

At the end of the day, that data is an integral part of our identity. Because of this, it should be treated with utmost confidentiality.

A era comes to a close...

The first week of 2017, and Yahoo! decline seems to finally coming to it's end. Verizon is closing Yahoo as we know it, transforming it into an investment company called Altaba.

Yahoo! was acquired by Verizon last year, and it kind of makes sense for Verizon to make such a move. While in the 90's and some fo the 00's Yahoo was a force to be recon with the Internet, it has become rather irrelevant now.

People has moved on to other places, like Google, Facebook, or Twitter. Even the way people interact with the Internet has changed drastically, with many using a smartphone as their main, if not only, way to access it. We even use TV's and tablets to access some of the content on the Internet.

While Yahoo will become Altaba, it does mark an end of an era for some of us who have been around for a while. My second e-mail account was a Yahoo! one, which became my primary one since I didn't wanted to keep using my hotmail one.

I've mixed feeling about Yahoo's demise, since I've some fond memories of my experience using it's services. Yet, I've moved on to other services that better suit my need, like Gmail for my e-mail.

So, it seems time to bid farewell to Yahoo! and move to other things.

Spotify, DRM, and other musings...

This year my music listening habits have changed to listening to my music library and to Spotify.

I found that I really like Spotify, since it gives me the right balance of the music I like while letting me discover new music based on my tastes. It also has the plus that the artist get paid for their work.

There is only one thing that I don't like about Spotify, and it's use of digital rights management(DRM). I can't agree on the use of DRM, since it restricts users right to control the software that runs on their devices.

DRM is not the way to help artists make a living, since efforts should be concentrated on making it easier for user to support their favorites artists. Adding artificial restrictions like DRM doesn't do much for help artists, and harm the user in more than one way.

Instead of restricting users, ways to make easier to support artists should be made available. In some ways, artists, producers and content creators should realize that once their creations are made public, they lose some of the control over it. People will use their work for their own purposes, and there isn't much they can do to stop this from happening.

The business model of the music industry has changes, and thus the way of making money has to change as well. The relationship between artists and their fans has changed as well, as such artists have to adapt.

For better or worse, artists and producers don't have as much control over their creations as they did before. New channels need to be found in order for them to be able to make a living.

Electronic payment for public trasportation...

There has been a lot of talk in Guadalajara about using smart cards on buses of the public transportation system, the only step taken toward this has been that a norm has been approved by the local congress a few years back.

So far, only the light rail system and the Macrobus use smart cards. The problem being that they are incompatible, which is at least problematic for riders that use both systems on regular basis.

The ideal would be that the smart card system for all three systems would be integrated, allowing riders use one card for the three systems. That would facilitate things for everyone involved, which is one of the main reasons to adopt the smart card to begin with.

Personally, I'd go one step beyond and allow users to pay with their smartphones. That would facilitate things a lot more, since a large portion of riders already use smartphones to begin with.

I rather use a smart card, specially if it allows me to use it on the three systems. I already use it for the light rail system, and the buses that it uses, and I really find it to be a lot more practical that having to worry about having the spare change to pay for the ride.

The public transportation system is a dire need of modernization, and the payment system is one for those things that would benefit the most. Both the light rail system and the Macrobus have proven that the smart card works, so there is no reason for the buses not to adopt it.

The more I use the Android/MOBO combination, the more I love it...

After a couple of year using Nokia's E63 using Symbian's S60 platform and a year using a Blackberry Bold 9650, I made the jump to Android via an independent manufacturer called MOBO(page is in Spanish since its a Mexican brand).

To be honest, I was really a fan of Nokia's smartphones and of Symbian as an OS. For me it was sad to see Symbian being ditched, and worse when it's place was taken by Windows Phone OS. I've rather seen Nokia move to Android, since I believe that it would have made a much better match.

Since I've being using Android, it has taken Symbian's place as my favorite mobile OS. As devices go, MOBO has become my go to brand since it sells unlocked smartphones at a decent prices that have good quality. And while the specs are not premium, they are more than good enough for most people.

I'm also really conscious about the design of the devices I use, and MOBO's devices have the design I like. The only thing I miss is to have a physical keyboard, but that is more of personal preference.

Another thing that I've come to realize, is that my smartphone hasn't completely replaced the way I use my laptop. As a matter of fact, the laptop/smartphone combination is the one for me. They give me the freedom of movement I want for my lifestyle, since each pro's cancel out each other con's. I don't think I could replace my laptop with a desktop, or my smartphone with a feature phone.

The more I use the Android/MOBO combination, the more it becomes cemented as my favorite. I'm really comfortable with how it works, since it allows me configure my device in a way that better suits my needs and tastes.

Copyleft is growing and gaining relevance...

Many times when I talk about open-source software, the question of why the concept behind it hasn't been applied else ware if its so good come around often. It turns out it has, in the form of Copyleft, and there are many artists actually using it to license their work.

The fact that Copyleft is expanding beyond software development speaks volumes. It tells that Copyleft works, and that its beneficial to creators and users alike. It might not be perfect, but it actually could mean that there be viable alternative to Copyright that benefits both artists and their fans.

In more than one way, it could shift how artists relate to their fans and how their work spreads. It also means that their source of income is going to change even more, and it ways that aren't all that clear at the moment.

The advent of the Internet, smartphones, and tablets has changed the dynamics of how people shares things and what owning ideas or art means. In a way, it has become ever harder to control how people share things around. It seems that all attempts to prevent people to share are simply made to say that something is done.

In that light, Copyleft could be the key to help artist the credit and the income they deserve, while giving people a way to share what they love with others legally.