ross millar » people

Calgary’s finest

ross millar — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 02:58:22 +0000

On the way to work this morning I stopped for a cup of Tim’s, as I almost always do. This is what I found:

Seems to me the rising crime rate in Calgary has nothing to fear, unfortunately donuts do. In hind sight I should’ve turned down the Danzig, I might have heard the HAWC police helicopter circling nearby.

user generated content

ross millar — Tue, 01 May 2007 15:13:02 +0000

Google just released iGoogle, along with their gadget maker, which allows anyone to make their own gadgets to share with friends on personalized homepages (the new part is the gadget maker). If you haven’t already done so, check it out.

BBC has an article discussing iGoogle along with the $1bn lawsuit involving YouTube. It’s becoming clear that copyright laws do not suit the current trends in user generated content websites, or any media for that matter. Current copyright laws are there to protect corperate America, not there to encourage creativity, or necessarily to serve the artists interests. Take the Beastie Boys for example, they embrace & encourage fans to recreate their work. Let’s not forget what these laws did to WKRP. Imagine for a minute, what could possibly be out there if people were truely free to remix, recreate and expand on any media. Keep in mind that the majority of users do not do it for financial gain. Creative Commons goes a long way in acheiving this. It’s a simple concept: the more exposure a creative piece gets, the more interest the original artist gets.

Think of it this way, with current technologies and the enabling power of the internet, is there any need for big business in the creative process? Come to think of it, what does business have to do with art in the first place?

democratizing technologies

ross millar — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 15:22:17 +0000

Time magazine has a poll for the 100 most influential people of the year. What disturbs me is the people at the top of the poll; Steven Colbert is #1 at the time of writing this post. Have a look at the top 5, in the order of most “influence” we have a comedian (Colbert), a game designer (Shigeru Miyamoto), a mediocre novelist (J.K. Rowling), a 19 year old hockey player (Sidney Crosby), and a singer (Bono).

What gives? I feel people of real worth should be up there. Now, I know what you’re thinking, Bono has made some great political statements, and I would agree – Bono deserves a spot in the top 100, number 5? I’m not so sure. But how does he take backseat to a hockey player? To a comedian? To a game designer? To a novelist? They are entertainers, no more. If that is who “influences” you, then we’re in trouble, big trouble.

Take a close look at the list, and ask; do these people deserve a spot on the list? In my estimation, there are only 2 people in the top 10 who deserve to be in the 100 at all, Bono and Steve Jobs. The others? Entertainment, nothing more. I’m dissapointed to say the least. My pick for the top 5? Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Ben Bernanke (thanks to Robert for pointing out his complete absence from the top 200), Bill Clinton, and Nicholas Negroponte, at the time of writing numbers 17, 32, ???, 45 and 66 respectively.

But then I’m not a hockey fan, so what do I know?