Open Source cars

So, back in the day, if you wanted to get from point A to point B, you walked.

Something interesting happened between that time and today.  We stumbled upon a
number of technology advances that eventually led to the development of the car.  And the world became more connected.

But there's a problem.  If you want a car, how do you get one?  Chances are, you'd think that going to a car dealer is the only option.

But that's not the case, any more.

Open Source and interdisciplinary convergence

In the previous article, I talked about tribes.  The groups that we form or join, for one
purpose or another.  Whether it be comfort, safety, growth, we form or join tribes that benefit ourselves, at the very least.

That sounds selfish perhaps, yet if we look at life as simply self and species preservation, it is reasonable to consider that there is a very distinct and deep need to be selfish.  To a point.

While technology may one day provide everyone the ability to individually ensure the continuation of our species, even without needing a partner to do so, we still, also have a need to form at least a familial tribe, have children, protect them, and teach them, allowing them to duplicate what we have done.

That simple idea, that we do need others to grow, speaks directly to the core of what interdisciplinary convergence is all about.  Has our trend to become more and more narrow in our thinking and purpose put us all at risk of our own extinction?

Open Source as tribal paradigm

When we hear the words tribe or tribal, we probably think about an undeveloped society that rarely exists in today's world.  A throw back to our "hunter - gatherer" days.

More and more scholars and thinkers are re-examining tribes and how they may still be part of society and how those behaviours affect our interactions with each other.

In a way, any group of people with some common interest or need to relate is a tribe.  We have different names for this behaviour:  club, team, special interest group, co-op, or even clique.  What ever the name, there is a social drive to form and maintain this tribe.

So how is thinking of tribes important to the idea of Open?

DIY and Open Source

When life throws you lemons...  make lemonade.

There's something deeply powerful about doing something ourselves.  Sure, there are our daily tasks that we do ourselves and they are so routine, we may give it very little thought.  Yet, when we are motivated to do something, there is a sense of accomplishment and pride, even if the result is not quite what we expected.

What ever your reasons to DIY, it is great to be able to do so.

So what does DIY look like?

Open source books

OK, first we are dealing with copyright and therefore are really talking about creative commons licenses.  Next, this raises the question of why a person would want to modify a classic, epic story.

So, for the most part, what we are really looking at here is, non-fiction works or other current event or opinion articles, books, and other documentation.  Of course, that's not to say that someone would not want to create derivative works of a classic, epic work of fiction.  A lot of story franchises, especially those taken to film, are "re-imagening" their context.

So in this article, we look at open, creative commons books and documents and some other, fiction based colaborations.

Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse

This is always a fun topic.  When the Zombies attack, will you survive?  Of course, Zombies, while scary, are more fun than war and nuclear disaster, since...  well...  Zombies aren't real...  right?   ...  ...  RIGHT???

Many industries deal with what they call "hypotheticals".  Role playing scenarios that deal with things that may not have happened, may never happen, but if they did happen, would anyone survive?  Or in the corporate world, would the business stay afloat to sell another day?

So, if you hope to survive the Zombie Apocalypse, there are a few things that will need to happen.  That you will need to do.

Making money with Open Source

Fifteen years of history has proven that money, and good money at that, can be made in an Open Source framework.  So much so that companies like Sun, Oracle, Ubuntu,

and IBM have invested significant resources towards Open Source in order to capitalize on it, in one way or another.  And companies like SCO, Microsoft, and others continue to fight against it with copyright and patent claims.

If anyone thinks the war is over due to the many victories in the software community with the most prominent battle being Linux, it has probably only just begun, as Open Source spreads into other realms such as Hardware, Music, vehicles, and more.

Open Source is not just a battle over money, it is a war over intrinsic human rights.  But that's another story and this article is just one example that money CAN be made in Open Source.

Open Source Music

Yes, many articles here will start, or at least silently infer, that "free" is not necessarily "open".  Like all things, there is both unintentional AND intentional confusion around drawing people to certain resources.

Many people tag their web sites with "free" and "open source" with the intention of building an ad based business around a highly popular search parameter and ideal.  Your mileage may vary as you seek out properly licensed music for use and re-use.

There are two prominent phrases in artistic, copyright works.  They are "copyleft" and "creative commons".  These are key indicators that what you seek is truly open.  You can also seek out "Public Domain", just be sure to understand that legal concept is subject to interpretation and as such, it is wise to not trust a claim that a work is truly in the public domain.

With that said, have no fear, there truly is open music that can not only be of quality and enjoyable for simply listening to, but may also be shared openly and modified and the modification shared, as desired, legally.

Open Source Hardware

Open Source(-like) software has been around for over 20 years, if not in label, certainly as a principle.  In many ways, it is the grandfather of all things now Open Source, notwithstanding it's precursors.  For that reason, there is a large selection of excellent software available under this type of licensing and it almost seems commonplace these days.

Open (Source) Hardware streches this can of worms to limits that almost seem overwhelming.  From electronics to vehicles to architecture to tools and textiles, there are boundless opportunities for open source.  So where does one even begin?  Because Open Hardware is such a relatively new concept, one can get lost trying to internet search something relevant.  But, there are places where one can at least start.