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August 8, 2004April 15, 2012 by Brendon J. Wilson

Kickin’ At The Lick

Ashley and I headed up the deadly winding road to the top of Mount Hamilton last evening to visit the Lick Observatory – we’d won tickets to participate in the observatory’s Summer Visitors Program. Normally, the observatory is only open during the day, but the Summer Visitor Program invites visitors to view the stars through the 40-inch and 36-inch telescopes and listen to some of the observatory’s staff talk about the history of the observatory, and the research it is currently undertaking.

We managed to catch both the science lecture by Dr. David Koo, and the history lecture by Dorothy Schaumberg, curator of the Lick Observatory Archives. Dr. Koo’s lecture focused on how cosmologists are currently struggling to understand the nature of dark matter and dark energy. To be honest, I’m not sure I understood either of them any better after the lecture – the main thing I took out of Dr. Koo’s talk was that the history and knowledge of the human race are insignificant when compared with the scale on which the universe operates.

Dorothy’s lecture on the history of the Lick Observatory started with background on James Lick, a famed local entrepreneur who left the money required to create the observatory. Dorothy gave a lively account of the man’s life and times, culminating in Lick being buried in the base of the 36-inch telescope at the Lick Observatory, and then traced through the history of the astronomers who made their names at the observatory. Of particular note: the fifth moon of Jupiter, Amalthea, discovered by Edward Barnard on his first night using the telescope.

After the lectures, we were treated by the telescopes of both the Lick Observatory and a number of amateur astronomers to views of M11 (The Wild Duck Cluster), M31 (The Andromeda Galaxy), M57 (The Ring Nebula), and M17 (The Swan Nebula).

Bummer of the evening: running over a rock two minutes out of the Lick Observatory parking lot, puncturing our car’s front left tire. D’oh!

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August 5, 2004April 30, 2012 by Brendon J. Wilson

Freedom & Privacy

My buddy Kevin was lamenting having to give his ID to get into LinuxWorld in San Francisco this week. Yes, the response from the LinuxWorld security was absurd (“it’s for security reasons”), but it’s interesting to note Kevin’s failure to grasp a key point: he didn’t have to go to LinuxWorld. Nobody was forcing him to reveal his identity – as long as LinuxWorld was up front with its requirements for entry (or offered a refund if Kevin refused to provide his ID) I’m not sure there’s anything wrong with what LinuxWorld did.

At the risk of infringing Bruce Schneier: privacy is a trade-off. It’s a free country – companies have a right to dictate the conditions under which they’re willing to sell to a consumer, and consumers have the right to decide whether or not they feel like accepting those terms. If you don’t like the terms, then there’s a simple solution: don’t buy the company’s product or service. It’s not like LinuxWorld security held Kevin down and went through his wallet – he could have just walked away.

It’s relatively easy to protect your privacy, as long as you’re willing to accept the inconvenience, cost, and lost opportunities. Don’t like companies tracking your purchasing habits? Fine – say good-bye to easy access to credit via credit cards, say good-bye to discount cards that “save” you money (the “save” is in quotes because the prices are usually inflated to encourage participation in discount schemes). Don’t want your movements to be traceable? Fine – get rid of your cell phone. Now, I’ll admit it’s effectively impossible to stand up to every company, all of the time, especially if you want to get anything done in life. But no one’s holding a gun to your head.

I think people overestimate the value of their freedom and privacy – they’ll scream bloody murder against laws that allow the government to collate data it already has on citizens, but sign away the same information in a heartbeat to save 10% on their groceries. It also appears people misunderstand the freedoms to which they think they’re entitled. Sure, you have a right to assemble – but only peacefully, without blocking free passage, and on public land. Sure, you have the right to free speech – but not to make threats, or spread libel. You can’t protest in the mall – it’s private property. And if you and a couple hundred friends are going to protest at the Democratic National Convention, don’t be surprised if the police put you in “free speech” cage. Those are the rules – any ideas of your own on the subject are merely creative works of fiction.

For those areas where you have a choice between preserving your privacy and buying into another product or service, it’s up to you to stick to your guns. If enough people had the courage to vote with their dollars, maybe companies would get the message. Until then, be prepared to present your “papers” along with your cash.