Read the letter I submitted below the cut.

Rosangela Canino-Koning
Class of Work: 3, 4, and 5 – DMCA exemption for Cellular Phones, Tablets, Gaming Consoles, and All Other Computing Devices

Summary:

• Computers have enjoyed unrestricted use privileges since their invention. Cellular Phones, Tablets and Gaming Consoles are computers in everything but name, and should enoy the same priviledges and protections.
• Renewing the DMCA exception for Cellular Phone jailbreaking, and extending the exemption to all computing devices including Tablets and Gaming Consoles will provide economic and social benefit to ALL people (including corporations) by:
  • Encouraging innovation
  • Expanding technological adoption
  • Accessing new markets
  • Providing greater access to information
  • Lowering costs of devices and expanding access to the Internet.

Comments:

I am a private citizen writing to ask that the Copyright Office renew the Jailbreaking exemption to the DMCA for Cellular Phones, and extend that exemption to ALL personal computing devices, including Tablets and Game Consoles.

For all of human tool-using history, people have OWNED their tools, and have been free to use them for tinkering, creation, and invention, in whatever way they saw fit. With the personal computer revolution of the eighties, this tradition of tinkering and invention created a great wave of new technology and scientific advancement. Further, with mass adoption of the Internet, the world has become greatly connected, and people are free to express and invent in ways never before imagined. For many years, the personal computer ruled the roost in this interconnected world, but over the past ten years, Cellular Phone technology has advanced to the point where, for all intents and purposes, phones have become general purpose computing devices. They run operating systems that are closely related to those commonly found on personal computers, and run applications just like computers, only in a very convenient, portable package. The benefit and potential of this kind of technology is staggering. Cellular Phones have become in most ways the equal and peer of personal computers.

In 2010, in acknowledgement of this new reality, the copyright office announced an exemption to the DMCA to allow users to freely “Jailbreak” cellular devices in order to run the applications they chose, and operate their handheld computers how they saw fit, without corporate control. This brought the cellphone into the same legal arena as the personal computer. The effect was immediate. This decision created and encouraged an explosion of innovation in the arena of cellular computing software that has benefited everyone, including the very cellphone manufacturers who opposed this exemption.

Now, the time has come for the Copyright Office to re-examine the question of whether Cellular Phones should continue to be treated like personal computers, and to evaluate whether their 2010 decision was the right one. There is no question in my mind that it was the right decision. Further, there are other classes of computing devices with the same capacity and potential as cellular phones and personal computers, whose free use has so far been unprotected. Specifically, I refer to gaming consoles such as the Sony Playstation 3 (which can natively run Linux, a full-fledged personal and server operating system), and tablet devices such as the Apple iPad, which is much more of a personal computing device than even the Apple iPhone was. All of these devices deserve the same privileges currently afforded to personal computers. The economic benefits to companies and individuals are obvious and many, and the negatives are limited to bruising the egos of some corporate actors.

Some large corporations such as Apple, Sony, and AT&T have been loath to give up control over these personal computing devices, and always for questionable reasons of corporate profit. This opposition is demonstrably shortsighted. The very corporations that oppose jailbreaking have seen significant indirect benefits to their businesses from people using their devices in new and interesting ways, and developing new software and technology that these corporations can adopt.

Shortsighted interests should not be permitted to stifle technological development and restrict the rights of users. Just as environmental and consumer product regulation stands with the people’s interests against that of the corporations, the copyright office should also stand for consumers rights in matters relating to free use of technology. Please renew the DMCA jailbreaking exception for Cellular Phones and extend it to all personal computing devices, and allow technology to flourish.

Sincerely,

Rosangela Canino-Koning

So, I was trying to install ETE to do some phylogenetic tree visualizations. The recommended method, MacPorts (sudo port install py26-ete2), kept failing while attempting to install the py26-pyqt4 pre-req package. Noted in the log was the following unhelpful error message*:

configure couldn't open "/System/Library/Frameworks/Tcl.framework/Versions/8.5/Resources/tclIndex": no such file or directory

*HINT: This isn’t the actual problem.

The problem is that sip (a prereq to py26-pyqt4) is not being properly referenced.

To fix it, run the following:

sudo ln -s /opt/local/bin/sip-2.6 /opt/local/bin/sip

which will create a soft-link between the installed sip binary (sip-2.6) and what is being called by py26-pyqt4 configure script (just sip).

Then, when you run the macports install command again, it will succeed in installing py26-pyqt4, and the rest of the prereqs.

(keywords: MacPorts ETE ete2 Mac OS X Leopard Python py26-pyqt4 QT4 sip)

A little background: I am subscribed to a high-traffic mailing list, composed of far-off friends and acquaintances. This list is mostly light chatter and event planning, but now and then a heavy topic will come up for discussion.

There is one person in particular whom I have always found to be not only clear-eyed and thoughtful in their responses, but also not wishy-washy about their positions. I barely know this person, but their contribution to this latest set of heavy conversations elevated the tone and clarity of them so significantly that I felt compelled to express my appreciation directly.

On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 9:21 AM, Rose <voi…@….com> wrote:

BTW, while this thread is definitely stretching my capacity to sit still, I really appreciate your thoughtful no-bullshit responses. Pretty much every thread I’ve read that you’ve contributed to has been elevated by your contribution (serious or not), and even though I barely know you, I think you’re awesome.

Ok, I’m done fan-boying now.

<3

-rose

Their response was way more than I expected.

On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 12:55 PM, [person] <…@….com> wrote:

Rose, thanks so much for saying this! I recently was called a troll on another email list because I was defending [a perfectly reasonable position that some people find controversial]… And it truly hurt my feelings so I signed off a few lists and also turned off email notification for [this list].

I think I will turn it back on now, because your encouragement has made me see it’s ok to take a strong position and defend it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! <3

The moral* of the story is that it never hurts to reach out to people you admire. You don’t know what they’re going through, and it’s possible they could use the encouragement. And it will almost certainly make you feel better in the process.

*There are several. Contemplating them is left as an exercise to the reader.

Item the first, The Architecture of Open Source Applications, in which Titus Brown and I have a chapter, is out! Woohoo!

Second, we just wrapped up our second year of Analyzing Next Generation Sequencing Data. This year’s tutorials are up on the ANGUS site, along-side last years’.

(keywords: bio-informatics, next-generation sequencing, tutorials, Python, continuous integration, Unix, Amazon EC2)

2 9-inch frozen pie crusts

8 cloves garlic (crushed, pressed, or minced is fine)
2 large onions (chopped)
1/2 cup pesto (storebought is fine)

6 eggs
1 cup butter (the good kind)
1 cup half & half or heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 cup Ricotta cheese
3 cups grated Romano cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Pre-bake the pie crusts @ 350 for 5 minutes.

Melt the butter in the pan, then sautee the onions and garlic until translucent. Allow to cool (I do this by popping the whole pan in the freezer for a few minutes).

Combine Ricotta, milk/cream, eggs, Romano, pesto. Add cooled butter/onions/garlic. Mix well.

Pour into pie dishes. If you have extra, pour into ramekins sans crust. It’s still pretty good.

Bake for, I dunno, 40 minutes? Poke a fork in it after 40 minutes and if it’s done, pull it out.

This next bit is very important. ALLOW IT TO COOL BEFORE SERVING. This lets the quiche set, so you don’t end up with a gooey (but delicious) mess on your plate.

What a huge pain in the ass to figure this out.

Anyway:

1. Download and install the Python 2.7 DMG.
2. Download and install  Numpy 1.6.0b1. *Yes, it’s the 2.6 one. :/ It works, though.
3. Download and expand Matplotlib 1.0.1 source package.
4. In the root source directory

   cp setup.cfg.template setup.cfg

5. Edit setup.cfg, uncomment line 10, and make it read:

   basedirlist = /usr/X11

6. In the root source directory, run:

   python2.7 setup.py build **You want to do install, not build. Thx Ivan.
   python2.7 setup.py install

7. Have a beer in celebration.

(keywords: Matplotlib 64-bit Mac OS X Leopard Python 2.7 freetype2)

Spicy-ish Tomato Sauce

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• generous sprinkling of chili powder (to taste)
• 2 28-ounce cans Italian-style diced tomatoes
• 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes with added purée
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• generous splash of balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt (or to taste)

Set the tomatoes, wine, balsamic vinegar, and salt stewing in a large sauce pan, at a gentle simmer.

Sautee the onions, garlic and spices in the olive oil until the onions start to become transparent. Add to the sauce, and allow to simmer for at least an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. Stir periodically.

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 15-ounce container Ricotta cheese
• 3 cups grated Romano cheese
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 large eggs
• 12 ounces heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 9 (or whatever) uncooked lasagna noodles
• 6 oz sliced fresh mozarella.

Brown the ground beef and set aside.

Reserve 1 cup of the grated Romano.

Combine Ricotta, the other 2 cups of Romano, eggs, heavy cream, basil, oregano, black pepper, and salt. Mix well, until Ricotta is smooth.

Combine ground beef and sauce.

Preheat the oven to 375.

In a 13″ x 9″ x 2″ lasagna pan, layer as follows:

1. meat sauce
2. lasagna noodles
3. meat sauce
4. cheese sauce
5. sprinkle of romano and parmesan
6. lasagna noodles
7. meat sauce
8. cheese sauce
9. sprinkle of romano and parmesan
10. lasagna noodles
11. meat sauce — VERY IMPORTANT TO RESERVE ENOUGH MEAT SAUCE FOR THIS LAYER
12. cheese sauce
13. the last of the romano and parmesan
14. mozarella medallions.
15. generous sprinkle of ground black pepper.

Cover the lasagna tighly with foil, and bake for 50 minutes. Then remove foil, and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until top layer is bubbly and noodles are tender. Remove from oven, and rest for 15 minutes.

Serve with garlic bread. :D

The recipe doubles easily.

Ingredients

• 16oz of Pasta (Rigatoni is recommended)
• 2 C grated Romano cheese
• 3 eggs
• Fresh mozzarella cheese
• 12oz Pesto of your choice. Storebought works fine.
• 12oz Heavy Cream
• 4 largeish cloves garlic, finely minced, or garlic-pressed.
• 3-4T butter
• Black Pepper to taste

Directions

Boil 16oz Pasta to Al-dente, with salt, but no oil. Drain well.

Gently sautee garlic in butter. Allow to cool briefly.

In a large bowl, combine grated cheese, eggs, and heavy cream. Add garlic/butter to sauce and mix thoroughly.

Add pasta to sauce bowl, and mix thoroughly.

In a medium casserole dish with reasonably high sides, spread one layer of pasta.

Spread all the pesto over that layer. Add second layer of pasta.

Place mozzarella medallions over the top layer. If the medallions are thick, full coverage is not required. Don’t over-do it. This isn’t a pizza.

Apply a generous sprinkle of black pepper, to taste.

Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes, or until it’s done. If the mozzarella is starting to brown, it’s ready.

Serve!

Ingredients:

1lb’s worth of leftover bacon grease
2 slices of white bread (the whiter the better. No ground black people in this one.)
garlic and olive oil paste, to taste.

Tear the white bread into pieces, and fry in the grease with a dollop of garlic and olive oil paste. Fry until the bread has browned, and your gall-bladder has shriveled in sympathy. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Wait, who am I kidding? Forget the draining.

Smear fried bread with more olive oil paste until you cover the greasy flavor and the tang of broken dreams with the delightful taste of garlic and decadence.

Serve with a side of the candied bacon you made earlier.