Participating in Government

I did something today that I have never done before. I sent a letter to my (Iowa) senator, Tom Harkin. The letter I wrote, which can be found below, was about the Open Textbook Act of 2009.

In this context, "open" means that the content in the textbooks is free (...well, it means more than that). Thus, the cost of a physical textbook would only come from the process of printing and shipping the book. For an electronic book (an ebook), it would be free! For colleges, that means that college students much less for physical textbooks for nothing for ebooks. For K-12 schools, it means the the school district would have thousands of dollars a year!

Hello Senator Harkin,

As an Iowan, recent alumni of Iowa State University, and advocate of open culture, I would like to say that you should support the Open College Textbook Act of 2009. You have great influence over this bill because it is currently in your US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Please give this bill more attention so that it can reach the senate floor. This type of bill is very innovative and too good to simply let it "die" in committee.

Thank your for your service in the US Senate and reading my letter.

~Tyson Williams

Google is Almost Perfect

Over the last four years, I have become a fanboy of many things. Google is one of them. Google is part of the final straw that made me decide to start this blog because it is hosted by Google. However, the look and feel was not exactly the same as other Google products, so it was pretty obvious to me that Blogger was purchased by Google sometime in the past. I wish the hyperlink button used JavaScript (like Gmail does) instead of opening a new window so that I can start the hyperlink process, get the URL, then come back and paste it. I am picky; I don't deny it.

Google is the number one search engine and number two website (to Yahoo). They help set the standard that other websites feel that they have to match. Specifically, most (if not all) of the services of Google are free, so sites like Twitter continue to provide the services at their site for free even though they have no alternative income. As a company, Google can provide its services for free because it makes gobs of money through ads.

Google has done so many things right on the Internet. Their search engine makes so many things possible. They support numerous open source software projects through their Google Summer of Code program. (I would actually like to get on a project next summer.) Google even has the motto of "Don't be evil." However, Google has done one thing that I deem as evil.

In 2005, many people were talking about book scanning projects. Many different companies, organizations, and people are trying to digitize all books. Google Book Search is the result of Google's lone efforts. Google is working alone because they do not want to share their scanned books with others, which does not sound like the Google I know and love. Google dominates because of its exceptional searching abilities. Google should not care who is holding the books; their algorithms will be what everyone uses.

Most people had problems with Google's scanning actions because they were scanning books that were still in print and copyright. The other book scanning projects are sticking to books that are out of copyright and out of print. Since the controversy, which included many class action lawsuits, Google has negotiated deals with the copyright holders in which Google can continue its work.