So the reason I really like the GPLv2 is exactly that it allows everybody to be selfish and not having to really believe in any other politics. We can all be selfish and do things that make sense for ourselves, and it really boils down to a very simple equation: “I will get more effort out of other people working on it too, than I have to give back.”

And yes, you can be a free-loader, and not do anything at all, but on the other hand, if you do that you don’t really “cost” anything to any of the people who truly help in development, and you also won’t actually get your specific needs looked at. So to get the most out of the whole process, you really do end up having to help with the process yourself.

That’s a kind of beauty, to me. People are encouraged to chip in and help, not because of some political agenda, or because they try to be “good people,” but simply because it helps themselves more than not chipping in and helping would. That’s what I would call “positive feedback!” — Linus Torvalds

I think “positive feedback” is a really lame term for the awesome effect he described. Instead I would describe this effect as “systemic self-enforcing behavioral incentives providing a socially net positive outcome”. It’s a rare effect, but totally awesome when harnessed — you don’t need a complicated bureaucracy or reliance on assuming people or organizations will play nice.

I’d like to see politicians and other organizational leaders to target this effect broadly across society as an alternative to traditional approaches. If by design the self-interested actions of various members can lead to co-operation and mutual benefit without need for heavy-handed central management or irrational hope for goodwill… that would be a huge win.

I have to admit… this effect is a large reason why I love free software.

Yesterday, this delayed my ride home from work.  All of the buses I can take were re-routed around the scene, but thankfully the lovely wife directed me to a stop further along the line I could catch one at.

…when you disappointed that the book about zombies you bought isn’t as realistic as you’d hoped.

OH COME ON, HOW COULD ANYONE COVER UP A ZOMBIE EPIDEMIC?  I MEAN C’MON!

You think you’ve got problems?   Bah!  I’ve got a huge problem, at least an order of magnitude bigger than any other problem which has ever existed since the beginning of time.  Move over, African AIDS orphans, I’ll show you something to worry about!
I have a laptop at home, and it’s dying.  The LCD hinge is totally shot, so I have to prop it up with velcro in order to be able to see anything.  The sound doesn’t play at all because of motherboard damage, and the wireless PCMCIA card I use for networking is cracked (but still works most of the time).

Time for a new laptop then eh?  Except, I have a spiffy nice laptop from work.  It’s got piles of RAM, nice shiny wide screen and it generally works great (except for right now when it’s in repair).  I generally use this one at home as my primary laptop because, well, it functions better.

So I don’t really need a new laptop because I can use my work one.  The only case I’d need one would be if I get laid off — which I totally don’t expect but still that’s the only circumstance I’d really need a new laptop.  And if I would get laid off, that means that I can’t be spending money on a laptop because I don’t have a job and will need to conserve money for essentials while job hunting.
So realistically, there are no scenarios in which I should buy a new laptop, even though I need one.  Grumble.

Those “tag clouds” used by every “Web 2.0″ website are frigging annoying. Is a ranked list too logical and straightforward for people to use for 2.0 usage?

tag cloud annoying hatred stupid lame urge to kill