Jinn of Quality and Risk

NYT: Malaria-carrying mosquitoes have been found near the [Virginia] homes of two teenagers infected with the disease. The authorities say it is the first case in at least two decades in which malaria has been detected in mosquitoes and humans in an American community. Malaria was eliminated from the Western world thanks to the systematic use of DDT after WW II (e.g. in Italy the number of malaria cases dropped from 411,602 in 1945 to only 37 in 1968). Much progress was also being made in developing countries. Then came Silent Spring and the irrational DDT ban. Because of this ban, millions are dying each year across developing countries, mostly children and pregnant women. Details about malaria and the misguided DDT ban. 

NYT: Computer games have taught players how to slay dragons, build empires and blow up tanks, but they can also be used to teach more mundane skills. Virtual Leader, corporate training software from SimuLearn, is designed to teach managers how to run a business meeting. I've been thinking for a long time that some soft skills could be emulated and developed through computer games. Another idea I have is to illustrate fundamental laws of economics in a game environment — e.g. for the law of comparative advantage, if your country keeps producing shoes and TVs instead of buying them in other countries, you reduce the quality of your products, limit opportunities for growth in other areas, and generally lead your people on the path to poverty. Sort of a minilab to experiment with parameters and infer natural laws of free markets. 

The Swedish Academy recommends Imre Kertesz because he has a certain kind of message: to live is to conform. No thanks! 

NYT: They spend their days working with technology. Yet when it comes to what they allow into their lives, they are highly selective. They don't just buy a cellphone, a hand-held computer or a laptop. They choose and weed, according to how they want electronic objects to shape their lives and according to the personal image they want to project. My personal focus is on how to make my life easier, rather than on how to reduce the presence of electronic devices. Of course, there is a convergence of values in terms of unifying functions into small, multi-purpose devices. At the same time, I'm still trying to deal with the tons of paper-based products I've accumulated over three decades (books, magazines, letters, tax records...). 

NPR's Nina Totenberg reports on a Supreme Court argument that will decide who has the rights to Mickey Mouse, Gone with the Wind, The Great Gatsby, and other works. The high court is considering whether copyrights on old songs, movies and books should be extended, or whether the works should be allowed into the public domain. (RealAudio 7:27)

The main issue is how limited copyright protection is (compare to 20 years for patents) and whether retroactive extensions are acceptable. I strongly believe that the original 14 years were amply sufficient and beneficial to the progress of mankind, arts, and sciences. I find it unfortunate that many well-intentioned people use wrong terminology and arguments, such as "free speech" and "reverting to the public domain." An objective limit on copyright duration should be affirmed and maintained, so that old works do enter the public domain once they have, justly, generated profit and fame for their authors. Part of today's problem is that major corporations seek the protection of the State to enforce near-permanent monopolies on works created by now-dead authors. Intellectual monopoly protection should last less than the average human life, and should benefit directly the authors (e.g. musicians) rather than be the hostage of monopolistic corporations.