Links of Personal Interest

 
The Environment

An excellent book (free version online) written for lay persons on transitioning to the use of sustainable energy: Sustainable Energy -- Without the Hot Air, by David Mackay. The focus of the book is a systematic analysis of energy consumption patterns and production by various forms of energy sources (renewable and otherwise):  "We often hear that Britain’s renewables are 'huge.' But it’s not sufficient to know that a source of energy is 'huge.' We need to know how it compares with another 'huge,' namely our huge consumption. To make such comparisons, we need numbers, not adjectives."

This article proposes a way to strengthen the environmental movement: Why I Am Not an Environmentalist  It argues that the environmental movement "won't thrive until it addresses economic development in low-income communities." In order for the movement to advance, the public needs to appreciate the connection between environmental degradation and poverty, rather than being asked to support a seemingly disjointed set of causes that many perceive to be narrow or abstract (such as saving the spotted owl) or elitist (such as preserving distant parklands that are enjoyed mostly by the well-to-do).

More Profit with Less Carbon, by Amory Lovins. "The economic theorists and political friends or foes of climate protection, who all argue about whether its cost is big or small, are getting the number's sign wrong. Amory Lovins's September 2005 Scientific American article shows why climate protection is not costly but profitable: energy efficiency saves fossil fuel more cheaply than buying it. Practical experience and corporate success with energy efficiency are now so compelling that even governments may soon realize the climate debate should be not about sacrifice but about wealth creation and competitive advantage."


Open Source, Copyright and Economics

The Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that offers flexible copyright licenses for creative works.  "Creative Commons defines the spectrum of possibilities between full copyright — all rights reserved — and the public domain — no rights reserved. Our licenses help you keep your copyright while inviting certain uses of your work — a 'some rights reserved' copyright."

Science Commons  "Our goal is to encourage stakeholders to create areas of free access and inquiry using standardized licenses and other means; a 'Science Commons' built out of voluntary private agreements."

The Same Old Song, by Larry Lessig. This article raises "awareness about the harm to creativity and spread of knowledge caused by the ever-increasing duration and scope of copyright protection." (A case in point: the song "Happy Birthday to You" is under copyright until 2030!)

Why open access publishing makes sense:  Letter written in 2001 explaining the decision of forty researchers to resign from the Editorial Board of the Machine Learning Journal (MLJ). "Articles now circulate easily via the Internet, but unfortunately MLJ publications are under restricted access...While these fees provide access for institutions and individuals who can afford them... [n]one of the revenue stream from the journal makes its way back to authors... We see little benefit accruing to our community from a mechanism that ensures revenue for a third party by restricting the communication channel between authors and readers." (emphasis added)

The "ransom" model of publishing What is a fair way to profit from publishing software, given that it costs money to create but can be copied for free? The usual way is to charge a fixed price for each copy of the software, but this method has an important flaw: many consumers feel it is unfair to pay anything for software given that its marginal cost to the publisher is nearly zero, which creates a strong incentive for piracy. An interesting solution to this problem is the ransom model, in which the publisher advertises a new software product that they offer to develop and distribute for free after they have received a certain amount of "ransom" money in donations. Certainly many freeloaders will wait for other people to donate, but "there is no conceivable way anyone can feel ripped off with this setup, since no one is being asked to front more than they're comfortable spending."



Miscellaneous

Against School - How public education cripples our kids, and why, by John Taylor Gatto. The author, a former New York State and New York City Teacher of the Year, expounds H.L. Mencken's assertion that "the aim of public education is not to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States... and that is its aim everywhere else."

nextbus.com  Buses rarely arrive on schedule, but this online system estimates the arrival time of the next bus at a particular stop by tracking all the buses on the route in real time. The information is accessed by internet or phone. Currently it is only available in a handful of cities (such as San Francisco).

Giving an Academic Talk  A short list of useful advice.