Political Post: SOPA and PROTECT-IP Acts

Although I am generally a-political and rather cynical about politics, I periodically get worked up about a few issues that prompt me to actually attempt to interact with my overlords senators and representative.  One of those things that always scares me is when I see laws that can cripple technical innovation or free speech.  Frequently those laws go hand in hand.

Normally I won't post about political junk here, but I think these laws are directly related to this blog on so many levels that I felt the need to share.  I basically touched on only the economic and 1st Amendment based complaints.   These laws have the potential to shut down websites such as this blog and prevent people like me from sharing my love for music.  The potential for appallingly disgusting levels of censorship against both creative works and political speech is staggering.  I wanted to mention that I am also a musician, writer, and content creator but I have a feeling that mentioning any participation in the arts would be a bad strategy when speaking with Republican congressmen in today's day and age.  In my opinion any Senator or Representative that chooses to support this legislation does not understand the basics of the constitution and does not deserve to be re-elected.  Ever.

Rep. Cynthia Lummis
Sen. Mike Enzi
Sen. John Barrasso

I am writing as a registered Wyoming voter to express my concern about both the PROTECT-IP and SOPA legislation.  I personally believe that both of these items are extremely bad for technological innovation, job creation, and most importantly the 1st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

As a computer programmer and database engineer in ________, Wyoming I have had the wonderful opportunity to be able to use my skills in one of the few job sectors that can be described as growing.  I fear that both the PROTECT-IP and SOPA Acts will directly threaten the United States' ability to be truly competitive in the world of information technology.  If either of these pass I expect that only the largest and richest content providers will be able to comply with the poorly defined technical requirements set forth.  This has the very distinct potential of crippling innovation in the private sector by creating a climate with far too much legal risk for smaller entrepreneurial outfits to survive.  Additionally the cost of implementing these new rules could simply strangle companies financially.  While I recognize the importance of protecting the intellectual properties of American companies, this is not the right way to do it.

What concerns me even more than stifling job creation and innovation in the technology sector is the blatant threat to the 1st Amendment.  Creating new powers to shut down websites without the ability to challenge a shutdown in court is unconscionable.  This power will eventually be abused and it will be used to censor free speech.  The Digital Millennium Copyright Act has already been repeatedly used to stifle the communication of competitors and some influential companies argue that its primary use has actually been abuse:

"In its submission, Google notes that more than half (57%) of the takedown notices it has received under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act 1998, were sent by business targeting competitors and over one third (37%) of notices were not valid copyright claims."

Unfortunately I do not see any way that either the PROTECT-IP or SOPA legislation from preventing these types of abuses and possibly creates more opportunity for abuse.  Any law that can be easily abused is a bad law.  This isn't a Liberal law or a Conservative law; this is simply terribly short-sighted legislation that only benefits the largest companies and will hurt small companies and content providers.  Please join other members of Congress, such as Representative Ron Paul, in opposing it.

Back to being politically cynical, I am confident that none of my elected congressmen will give my letter a single second of thought.  I voted for two of these people, but my letter probably won't even be read by any of them because my name isn't on their list of wealthy campaign donors.  I might receive some automated response or generic "here's our position" reply from one of their aides.  I expect near unanimous Republican support and only slightly less Democrat support for both of these laws.  Their decisions were made a long time ago and the only way I'll be able to influence them is hoping others will join me if they need voted out of office.

Project: Bach Prelude in D minor

My buddy John and I have been casually playing music together for about a year.  Off and on we jam when we feel the motivation, but whenever we hang out our conversations immediately turn to music, video games, and women.

One of those conversations via text message had John mention Bach's Prelude in D minor.  A quick search for some sheet music and a quick PDF download later and I had found my new project. I quickly discovered that the piece is much more difficult than I initially assumed, but I hope to be able to play it smoothly within a month.  In about a week I have the first half down reasonably solid, but leave it to Bach to ensure the last half of the piece is immensely more difficult than any challenge presented by the start of the piece.

My goal is to have a recording ready to post on you tube before the end of the year.  This is a pretty big milestone task for me so I am excited to see how this goes.

Free sheet music

Bach, Johann Sebastian Prelude in D Minor (BWV 999) + MP3 (human interpretation) / MIDILute, Guitar Baroque Public Domain Powered by Free-scores.com

First post, writing about an obsession, and starting my 10,000 hours over again.

I had abandoned music in so many ways.  I had plenty of excuses.  No time.  Unable to find reliable musicians to jam with.  No Time.  No money.  No time.  Arthritis.  No time.  Classically trained musicians are asshole prima donnas and painful to deal with. No time.  Mostly I told myself I just didn't have time and I really did fall back on arthritis and painful hands as an excuse.

Last year the primary cause of my arthritis symptoms was eliminated.  I didn't do anything with music beyond the occasional halfhearted attempt to jam with others.  Rock, blues, indie... it didn't matter I just wouldn't commit.  I would often wonder how I let something so important to me become so trivial.

Then I had a re-awakening just about 7 months ago.  A friend of mine was playing guitar and working on some classical music at the coffee shop.  It was just some simple stuff like a guitar voicing of Fur Elise, but something stirred in me.  I suddenly remembered a piece by Isaac Albeniz, Asturias.  Most people probably know it as Leyenda.  In my mind it is one of the most definitive pieces of classical guitar music ever written.  I suddenly remembered how much I loved classical guitar.  I suddenly remembered how badly I wanted to be able to play Asturias.

I went home that night and remember not sleeping.  I kept wondering where my Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) books from over a decade ago had disappeared.  I struggled to remember the melody to Espanoleta,  a piece I lovingly recalled being either the 2nd or 3rd piece in the 2nd RCM guitar volume.  I never throw a book away so I had to have them. Somewhere. But I didn't. Tearing the garage apart and scrounging through each and everyone  of my drawers and boxes I couldn't find them.  I think I'm glad I couldn't find the books.  I felt like I lost something important and suddenly I found myself on an obsessive mission to replace what I had lost.  The next day after work I rushed to the only decent music store in town.  I bought new nylon strings and the first two books of the newest RCM editions.  I didn't realize it at the time, but that day a fever started in my brain and guitar became a nagging obsession.

My dog was suddenly going to learn what true neglect is.  I had started my ten thousand hour journey.