The Future

Inevitable Anonymity and the End of Non-Physical Criminality

The drive towards complete anonymity on the internet, and thus complete anonymity in the majority of ones daily activities (being at least possible if not actually used by a given person) is completely inevitable and further, is being driven by those who will most suffer from it’s implementation. The rest of us will be set free.

It is in fact large corporations, mainly media corporations and their representatives such as the RIAA and MPAA which will lead the push, and lose their business in the process. This has been much analyzed, so here I will merely summarize the most important aspects as I see them.

Centered around such aspects as file sharing, which is perfectly legal and cannot be made illegal and which has simple come too far to ever be stopped, even by the most tyrannical of governments, organizations such as the RIAA will inevitable go too far, as doing less will be inefective in protecting their “intellectual” assets. In going too far they will (and already have) trigger a backlash which will result in the advancement of technology and methods for circumventing what meager protections they can create.

By initially attacking the centralized servers, the media corporations drove users, quickly and efficiently, to develop effective, scalable, decentralized networks capable of delivering desired content without any centralized control. It is by embracing this technology, as it’s creators and supporters all knew already, that they were able to make any headway at all. By offering reasonably priced downloads they can interact with the market and offer their catalogs. However this hasn’t in the least reduced file sharing.

By attacking individuals who trade in files, these media corporations have effectively maintained the push (limited in it’s efforts only due to availability of legal downloads) towards obfuscation, encryption, proxy networks, and indirected routing (such as onion routing) making it difficult to determine what is being traded, much less who is doing the trading.

The result is a system in which there is total freedom of information. Anything that can be represented as information, that is data that can be manipulated by a computer, can be completely free of any form or censorship or regulation. Only actions in the real world will be punishable and cyberspace will be without restriction. This results in protection both for the noble goals of freedom and liberty and for criminality.

The fact that nearly anything you could want is now attainable online means that such can be acquired anonymously and only in real world interaction can anyone be traced. It is then, that only when an action requirs a real world part, such as receipt of goods, can it be traced to an actual person.

This has numerous implications. First, copyright must be abolished, as it can no longer function if it cannot be enforced. No information can be limited or hidden unless one keeps it only inside his own head. Laws relating to images, videos, movies, shows, audio and anything that can be replicated digitally will be obsolete as they will all be unenforceable.

To do business in the digital world is to make your product accessible to others. Making it accessible inevitably makes it abundant (supply exceeds demand). This makes the price of all such things essentially zero, as there is no limit on supply. It is, in fact, only through artificial manipulation that corporations are able to enforce outdated and obsolete price-system economics on a system of abundance which it is woefully unprepared to do. The result may have come later than hoped by many, but it has been clearly foreseen. The complete collapse of the economic price system and the inability to artificially support it (through laws) in the long term.

Such arrangements are often criticized in that they allow for the committing of crimes, but such arguments are moot. The fact that a crime could be committed can not stop this from happening. Information about, or depictions of crime can no longer be considered crime in such a system as they are unstoppable. Law enforcement will have to find a new way to find criminals, based on their real-world actions.

One example used is assassination markets, where people can anonymously hire anonymous assassins to carry out murder. This however only creates a cycle of increasing reliance on the system, as potential victims seek anonymity themselves to avoid being found or targeted.

In reality criminals already find ways to hide their identity and such a system is not necessary for them. At worst they currently steal an innocent persons identity and implicate them for the criminal activity, creating one more victim that would not exist in an anonymous system.

As crypto-anarchists might argue, cryptology is based on mathematics and laws of mathematics are stronger than the laws of man, therefore crypto-anarchism is inevitable. This cannot be stopped.

To ban encryption would itself be impossible as strong encryption could be concealed within weak (and presumably still legal) encryption, encapsulated or hidden within other, innocuous, files.

Further as it’s near to impossible to determine the originator of some material, attempts at prosecution are likely to incriminate innocent people, and increase the motivation for the originator to spread the material as far as possible to make censorship or elimination of the material impossible.

THE Philosophical Question

All philosophy has, to me, come to one difficult to answer question. Should the focus of man's attempts at betterment be toward an individual (himself) or society as a whole.
To put it another way, should ones focus be at doing that which betters ones own life first, or do that which betters the situation of humanity as a whole first.
Or as a third alternative, should a person seek a middle path that balances the two?

Whatever school of philosophy you might choose, or religious doctrine you believe I think this is the most important decision. If you choose to do best for yourself then you can quite subjectively act however you think is in your own best interest as what's good for any individual is really their own judgment.

If you choose the other course however, the vast majority of problems faced can quite easily be breached with an objective solution that requires neither opinion nor belief.

The only real question is do you live for yourself or for the future of humanity.
Most people, no matter which they claim, live for themselves.
They may claim to work for the common good, but base their ideas of what is good on their own religious beliefs (this is probably the most common occurrence). Thus other beliefs with equal amount of evidence (or lack thereof) are suppressed and well founded scientific ideas do not flourish.
Conversely, if a problem is put forth more logically, that is not what's "right" but rather, what is the best solution we can enact so things become easier.

One example would be the abortion issue. Probably one of the most controversial issues of our time and obviously a problem that must be dealt with as there are many groups who want their way codified in law and forced on everyone else.
There is, however, a simple solution. The development of a contraceptive that prevents conception. This would entirely eliminate the issue. It becomes an issue of engineering. How do you design a 100% effective contraceptive and make it available. These are problems of biology, chemistry, materials science and transportation. These are not social issues or issues open to opinionated debate, but rather scientific issues about how to control our environment (in this case our internal environment). First the contraceptive must exist, and as current ones are 99% effective and better I'd say the problems half solved. The second problem is getting it available to everyone. The religious can wail all they want about how it encourages promiscuity but the truth is, if their religious beliefs were really accepted, people would follow them, and those that don't accept them shouldn't have to and things like pregnancy and disease are not a tool to control people's behavior. Refraining from using them that way, again, isn't based on some idea that it's "wrong", but rather based on the fact that it just doesn't work. This is out of behavioral science. (After all how many people really refrained from masturbating after being told it would make them go blind?)
In any case once such contraceptives are both in existence and universally available (available to anyone who might be in a situation to intelligently use it by their own choice) then abortion becomes limited to only two real groups of people, victims of rape and women who intended to be pregnant but who now face real health risks if they continue the pregnancy. The second group (Woman's health at risk) is supported in having a right to abortion by the vast majority of Americans (even most religious groups would allow abortion if the mother's life was in danger). It could be argued as being a choice between two lives, neither of which could be valued as more important than the other, thus should be left those it most directly effects which is only the mother herself. The other group, that is rape victims, is likewise supported almost universally. There are of course a few nuts who believe the woman should no longer have any right to self-determination, but most agree that she should have the right to do what she felt was right in such a situation, and if you weren't in that situation yourself, really, how could you understand?

Anyway, as this effectively eliminates all relevant debate on the topic (leaving the only people arguing being a few religious nut jobs who think the woman should always risk her life even if the baby may not survive or that rape none the less results in conception that is "god-given" and should not be stopped) it is therefore a solution to the problem without ever getting into a debate about "right" and "wrong"

People will have a child when they're ready and able to support it and not otherwise, which is a solution that people want, which is just control over their own lives, without debating subjective morals. The only parts that need to be fulfilled are making it available, both physically so people can get to it and through education so they know it exists and how to use it properly.

Therefore we have an engineering problem, how to design a 100% effective method of birth control rather than our current 99.99% effective ones, to eliminate the occasional failure.

Getting everyone to accept the solution though? Well, fixing human stupidity remains a dilemma. I'd argue the best solution is to make the solution available, the intelligent will use it and leave the idiots to their own devices, to continue to argue amongst themselves about "right" and "wrong" long after the argument has moved into pointlessness.

It's like an argument about the "right" way to get from New York to Rome. The most energy and time efficient is to fly. Take other methods only if the method itself, the voyage is particularly important to you. (You just NEED to sail? Have fun. But then, it's not really about Rome is it? It's about sailing now.)

Oh and back to my point... I think I'm for acting in the interest of humanity first. It'll out last you and just maybe you'll be remembered. Acting for yourself does have advantages though...
I guess I'm still working on this one.
Comment and let me know your opinion. (Preferably about acting for yourself or for humanity, but go ahead and rant about abortion if you feel the need)

CompBlog part 5 - UPDATE

I know it's been 10 months since a post. Wow.
Anyway here are the new highlights relating to my computer. About a month ago my power supply (remember from previous posts, the $40 case/power supply combo?) died. Just stopped working, yup. So it lasted about 9 months which makes it completely useless.

In any case I went and bought an 800Watt Ultra power supply which comes with cables in nice tightly bundled sleeves which take up less space and look nicer than the giant cables that have been the standard (A bit more money and I could've gone for a supply which lets you choose what cables are connected and add and remove them as necessary but I didn't give in to temptation.)
This also came with a free case. An Ultra Aluminus case to be exact. And it is awesome.

When I last build my computer I stated that the ease of install couldn't be finer, I was wrong. It is easier. This case proves it.
First every drive sits on an easy mounting bracket which then just slides in or out of the case.
The motherboard mounting plate is removable (so you can screw it on while it's outside the case then just slide it in) and is secured (very well) by two thumbscrews.

The hard drives face the side of the case (in stead of the front) and the wires go out the other side. The "other" side of the case comes off, so you don't have to reach in and manipulate things trying to plug the power cord into your drive. It's right there and no challenge at all to reach.
The cables from the power supply can nearly all (except for reaching a few fans) be routed behind the motherboard mounting plate for easy access from the side and keeping them COMPLETELY out of the main area of the case. Much improved air flow and much nicer looking interior without tons of wires going every which way.

I pulled the LED illuminated fan off the old demon case and secured it between the case side and the attached plastic tube designed to focus incoming air straight onto the CPU. There was too much space between it and the CPU fan for it to be very effective, but it was just about right after installing the extra fan which adds that much more air right onto the CPU to keep it cool.

I took the opportunity to add 2 more gigs of RAM. Unfortunately Windows XP 32bit doesn't let you access all 4 gigs, even though it's supported. Supposedly up to 1Gig can be lost, though it's somehow or other supposedly being used by the system.
The 64 bit systems (and some windows server editions) support it just fine, but because I run pro-tools 7.0 I need Windows XP 32 bit (my pro-tools version doesn't support 64bit operating systems)

All in all a good improvement though.

(oh and I remembered about the standoffs this time!)

The move of the entire computer into a new case went as easily as could be.

Year in Review

It's been a while since I've posted to this blog, so a quick review for the year.

First, on all things Microsoft. Vista (corporate) is out, but I haven't used it yet. I'm sitting by and letting others be the early adopters so they can sort out the inevitable problems. Internet Explorer 7 is out and my overall opinion is positive. Design wise, it's a vast improvement over 6, but we have yet to see if this translates into stability and security improvements as well. The improvement in design was easily forseen in any case as firefox has been picking up market share, and is, let's face it, the best browser available right now, so of course Microsoft will steal what they can. The one down side is that it did crash one computer and make the internet inaccessible until it was removed and rolled back to IE 6.
Windows Media Player 11 is out and... I couldn't try it as it crashed my computer. No worries though, I use the DVD software that came with my DVD drive, and it's a much better program then Media Player 10 was. Far fewer issues and easier to use.

For music I use iTunes, and it's about the best media player if you have a lot of music. The playlist creation and smart playlist functions are very well conceived and since it's free, it simply can't be beat. (I also have an iPod now, which makes it that much better as iTunes is needed for integration).

Back to Windows Vista, I'm disappointed so far. Some of the features I've been most looking forward to (a redesigned and conceived file system, virtual folders etc.) have been rolled back to maintain the release date, so we have to wait at least until the next version of Windows for all these new features, anywhere from 2 to 6 years from now.

I am looking forward to new interfaces. The Nintendo Wii has shown that new forms of more interactive controllers can be widely accepted. Coupled with an advancement in display technology (projectors that show images in the air, think non-solid form of Star Trek's holodeck.) the future for computer and entertainment interaction looks bright, and I'm confident we'll see a full "holodeck" mock-up that is fully functional within the next ten years (hopefully sooner).

PS3 made a splash and Sony bungled the release only in lack of quantity. We'll see how this round of system wars plays out, but it looks like Nintendo will do alright, falling ultimately to Sony as it picks up production and releases more units through 2007. The playstation will continue to dominate for at least one more round I think.

What I'm looking forward to: a complete Mind Machine Interface, allowing computers to be controlled by thought alone. The ultimate replacement for the keyboard and mouse.

Comp Blog 4: DEMON!!

The totally cool lit up interior of my new computer

Another angle

It's also possessed by a demon.

CompBlog part 3: In the packages and Assembly

I intended on taking pics of the parts as I went to post, but I was too anxious to get the machine up and running. I'll post a few of the finished product once the computer is working (so I'll have the drive to download the photos from my camera).
Overall, I'm happy with the parts. They pretty much kick ass. The one problem: TigerDirect apparently forgot to package the RAM. So...no memory. I'll be calling them tonight to try and resolve this and let you all know how good their customer service is. I've heard it's pretty good from others, so I'm hopeful.
I DID get impatient however (the parts arrived yesterday) SO I ran out to Staples (the nearest store that sells computer memory) and bought myself another gig of ram, so my system will have 2GB of RAM when it's done.
Initial assembly took longer then I had hoped. I had worked on hardware before but this is the first time I completely assembled a computer from components.

First note: the case is excellent for building your own pc. Not only does the clear side panel come right off after removing two screws you can undo by hand, but the other side also comes off the same way giving very easy access to the screws needed to install the drives. Overall, access to everything throughout installation was as easy as it could get.

First lesson: The standoffs (little brass thingies that have a screw on one end and a threaded hole to take a screw in the other) are in fact necessary. The motherboard isn't actually supposed to TOUCH the mounting plate. I didn't know this, so I had the thing assembled (The manual that came with the motherboard did not mention this or give any guidance how to secure the motherboard properly) and had to completely take it apart and reassemble to fix this initial error. The fact that I didn't have enough screws to reach the mounting plate through the motherboard properly tipped me off. PCMechanics online guide was a big help.

Aside from this assembly's a piece of cake. The only other thing I missed was setting the jumpers on the optical drive properly, which I'll get to.

So, I installed the CPU, Heatsink and Fan first then attempted installing the motherboard in the case. Aside from the case not being entirely clear which holes were going to be used (and thus which ones to add the standoffs to) it was fairly easy. Once I figured out which holes were the right ones (They should have been labeled "A" for the ATX design, but some weren't, some were and some were labeled "C" for the mini-ATX, so IDK what happened there.

Once that was in, memory snaps in place, the PCIe graphics card slid right in and I learned that the case's back panel was not quite straight, but bulged out so that the card didn't quite reach, but it was simple to bend it back in shape and then reinstall the graphics card.

The Two drives were installed, front ports and power switches connected and...
Power UP!!!
and...
then nothing
nada.
It was ON
but the drives weren't spinning, the optical drive (DVD) wasn't lighting up, and the monitor (plugged in and turned on.... did nothing.
shit.

Ok, well I was trying to use DVI interface for the monitor. I figured maybe this is why it wasn't getting a signal so I switched over to the VGA connector. Without the drivers (and as yet no operating system) DVI doesn't work, only VGA. I'll be switching back as soon as the drivers are installed.

Lesson 2: Use VGA video output during install, until drivers for DVI are installed.

That fixed the monitor, now the drives. I realized pretty quick it was the drive causing the problem (everything else appeared to work) and looking at it I realized the jumper was set to the spot marked "Slave" which means it expects another drive to be the "Master" to work. Unplugging all three cords and removing the drive (so I could actually REACH the jumper) The little plastic piece was a cinch to slide off and put in the right position, marked "cable select" which is what you set it to if it's the only drive on that IDE channel (You'll know because it's the only one using the cable, which has three connectors, one for the motherboard and two for two devices). I'm installing 1 hard drive (250GB) and 1 optical (DVD) drive right now, with maybe a second DVD drive later, so right now the HDD and DVD are on separate channels (my mother board has 2 channels for up to 4 devices) and so both are set to "cable select". The Harddrive was set to this by default.

Also, I swapped the memory from port B1 to A1 (There are 4 labeled A1, A2, B1 and B2). The motherboard manual clearly states that if using only 1 memory chip, it should go in slot B1. This didn't work, but everything started working when I moved it to the A1 slot, which just seems more logical anyway. A second chip would go in B1 and additional ones after that could go in either A2 or B2.

Lesson 3: Follow the manual. If that doesn't work, stop following the manual, but follow the manual first.

Ok, plugged it back in, restarted and...
IT WORKS!!!
yay.

So At about 1am I had a constructed (if incomplete) system that booted and I was able to access the bios settings. Not too shabby. Set a few of the settings (boot order and devices) disabled the floppy drive, as I won't be installing one, and verified a few other settings, and that the system was recognizing the full gig of ram and the proper processor type and speed, harddrive size etc.

Now my computer has base components installed and boots.
Next we'll be installing the Operating system, drivers and the remaining components, then on to yet more fun stuff.

CompBlog part 2: The Buy

I did look up prices, but being a bit lazy I bought them all at one place (www.tigerdirect.com) rather then get the best price on each individual part. I estimate I could have saved maybe $100 by doing so, so it wasn't worth the effort when I'm also getting about that much in rebates after I recieve the shipment. (Prices used in comparison were all pre-rebate in case I forget to send any of them in.)

Total of 11 parts, with the powersupply coming with the case. A nice looking case with a 450W power supply and for less then $40.

Used standard shipping which tipped the price over the $1,000 mark (it was almost $990 for the parts). considering this is going to be a pretty high end machine when it's finished (and has some very good options for upgrades) it's starting at a very acceptable price.

For a quick overview of a couple of the parts, and why I got them:
The Case: It looks cool, and it was cheap. Also it came with the 450W power supply. That's all there is to it.

MoBo: Asus is known as a brand that caters to gamers and high-end system builders. This model, though already a year old, boasts alot of high-end tech. Aside from 3 PCI slots, it has 2 PCIe-X16 slots which boast twice the throughput speed of the old AGP-Pro sockets, the mainstay of high-end graphics cards. The PCIe-X16 on this particular MoBo also supports dual graphics cards which nVidia claims can put through up to twice the performance of a single card (though both cards must be identical). It also has 8 SATA slots. That's right, 8. I don't know who could possibly use that many in a desktop system, but they're there. 4 of them are also set up to support RAID 0, 1 and 0+1 configurations, right through the mobo. Overall, lots of potential.

Athlon 64 X2 processor: It's dual core, which is like saying 2 processors on one chip, 64 bit so it'll support XP64 and any future 64 bit OS and applications, but still runs the 32bit versions. At 2.2GHz it provides good power, though not the fastest chip, For me it seems to be the best deal at the moment as far as balance between power and price.

A Gig of Ram. Need I say more? I intend to later add the full 4Gig.

250GB Harddrive, and that's the jumping off point. Future harddrives will all be SATA, and though I'm not sure I'm going to do this yet, a 2TB RAID-0 configuration sounds really nice right now.

Wirless Networking - easier then running new cables, though the Mobo comes with Gigabit ethernet if I should ever want it.

Universal card reader for photos and any other use I come across. Getting the photos to my comp from my camera has always been the killing point as it's included interface...well sucks.

That's all until it arrives.