In the wild days of 1996, when I got my hands on a computer (it cost about a year’s worth of my Dad’s salary, and nothing that I am would have been possible but for that sacrifice he made), I was enamored by the ease of content consumption on a computer.
In one year, I went from knowing nothing about the world, to interacting with hundreds of other people across the world, talking about different things, and experiencing new content every day. Ideas in the form of text, video (granted there wasn’t much back then), music. That desire to learn new things, and to “consume” content has not abated in the last decade and a half.
Last week, I was mentioning to a colleague that I had to “download” a particular album by a new artist since it was unavailable in the US (both iTunes, and in store), and the conversation moved to the ethics of doing such a thing.
How can one, in the world today, justify “pirating” a song, when there is so many ways of getting, said product?
In my opinion, the cost of virtual goods (videos, movies, music, pod-casts, articles) are higher than their perceived value by the consumer.
With these assets on the internet, the cost of storage, distribution, and revenue generation is almost zero. Yet an album is still priced around $10-$20. In such an environment, scarcity is pre-dominantly artificial, whether it created by DRM or regional restrictions or pricing schemes, only serve to fuel piracy.
In my case, I would have gladly paid for it on iTunes, but it wasn’t available there. It was available on Spotify, but of course, that is not available in Canada (it’s only been 3 years since the rest of the world has access to it). So my choice is between being denied access to content I’m willing to pay for, or fire up a browser, find the torrent, and download it. Guess which one I chose?
Fred Wilson, says it better than I can ever hope to (seems like he had a similar problem, and found the same solution):
I understand their muscle memory in terms of the scarcity business model. But restricting access to content is a bad business model in the age of a global network that costs practically nothing to distribute on.
We, humans are creative beings, and we will always seek the shortest, fastest, cheapest path to creative content. We can make it illegal, but we can’t stop people from reaching out to their fundamental impulses. Perhaps it is time we change the way we have organized how we make money from those impulses.
If you are in a hurry, and need something tasty yet easy to make, this one is for you. The prep time is about 5 minutes, and the cooking time around 10-15 minutes. If you have a small rice cooker — the kind that plugs into a wall sockets — you should be able to get the rice done in about the same time.
It is also the perfect curry to cook for smaller portions. If you are like me, and have to cook for 1 person, aka me, all the time, it is a no-frills and no-freezer required recipe.
1. Fry all the onions until soft (5-6 mins) in high heat
2. add mined garlic, 1 tsp jeera, 1 tsp dania powder, and salt to taste, some tumeric powder (1 tsp for each handful of prawns), and chilli powder to taste (I use very little)
3. add some salt (increases the temp and allows everything to sear nicely)
4. cook for 4 mins or until the prawns are half-cooked
5. add diced tomatoes, and salt to taste (remember to taste the sauce before adding the salt)
6. sear for 1 min and then add 1/2 cup of water (not too much or you will over cook the prawns), and reduce heat, and simmer until the above consistency is reached.
cook some rice, and you have a decent meal!
Some pictures:
It’s my mom’s birthday today, and as I scoured the recesses of the internets for something nice to say, I came across this most beautiful poem by the author of ”Joy Junction” about his mom. As most of you who know me know, I’m not much of a poet, but I am enough of a romantic to steal “borrow” someone-else work to express what I feel (I know — lame, right?)
மழையில் நனைந்துகொண்டே
வீட்டுக்கு வந்தேன்
‘குடை எடுத்துட்டுப் போக வேண்டியதுதானே!’
என்றான் அண்ணன்’
எங்கேயாச்சும் ஒதுங்கி நிக்கவேண்டியதுதானே’
என்றாள் அக்கா
‘சளி பிடிச்சுக்கிட்டு செலவு வைக்கப்போற பாரு’
என்றார் அப்பா
தன் முந்தானையால்
என் தலையை துவட்டிக்கொண்டே
திட்டினாள் அம்மா
என்னையல்ல; மழையை!
source: Joy Junction
My translation, in the hope that it redeems the “theft”:
I came home drenched in the rain
‘Why didn’t you take the umbrella’
said my brother
‘You could have waited somewhere until there was a respite in the rain’
said my sister
‘you are going to catch a cold and cost us money’
said my father
With the tip of her sari,
as she dried off my head,
my mom was cross
not with me;
but with the rain.
Yes. We tamilians are melodramatic and sentimental sometimes … (well actually, all the time. Some of us, just learn to hide it better) Mom. Dad. Grandma, Shankar and Swetha. There are days where I really miss you guys. Today was one such day.
Forget perfect pitch. I’m so thankful that I can experience a large range of frequencies, and that I have enough hearing ability to distinguish timbre, and tone. Watch the video below, especially at 7:00 minutes. We all must be thankful that we can hear as well as we do. I can’t imagine what life would be like without the ability to sense the warmth of a viola rising up in the Brandenburg concertos (BWV 1046) movement 1, or the horns in the 3rd movement of the same.
J.S. BACH BWV 1046 Brandenburg Concertos No: 1
Movements 1 & 2: http://youtu.be/idvduV2I3o0
Movements 3 & 4 : http://youtu.be/x8AEGLAyMOc
