Pictures that LIE!

The photo I chose from the "Pictures that Lie" gallery was the one with Clement Hurd. He was the illustrator for the book "Goodnight Moon". This is a very popular children's book that I can recall reading many times as a young lad. The picture is seen on the inside cover of the book. The picture was manipulated to eliminate the cigarette in his hand. I am guessing the publisher removed the cigarette from his hand to prevent children from seeing someone they could potentially idolize smoking a square. I believe it was a good choice to remove the cigarette from his hand because kids need positive role models, not ones that could lead them to start smoking. It could potentially offend Hurd, because maybe he wanted to be seen smoking cigarettes all the time. But ultimately I prefer the health of the children!

Visit to CLT

My visit to the CLT (Center for Learning and Technology) was very informative. Before this class, I had no idea such a place existed. It is absolutely wonderful that the university provides us with such high quality tools and computers, but at the same time it is a shame not everyone knows about it and utilizes it. When I was there, not very many people were down there using the machines and what-not. My favorite area was the Digital Audio Lab. In the future I hope to bring some friends down there like Joel Van Essen and maybe we can lay down some sick tracks or something. I have been wanting to record some music for a long time but have never had the means to do so. Now that I discovered this awesome place, I can begin my climb to the top of the music industry and become a famous rockstar one day!!!

Copyright Laws

Last Thursday we had a speaker in our computer skills class. His name was Jason Hardin and he works in the library here at Trinity. He came to teach us about copyright laws, which is what his specialty is here at Trinity. Copyright is exactly what it sounds like, a persons right to copy a work. The original creator holds the copyright, and the government is charged in the Constitution with protecting this right. I learned that copyright infringement is not the same as plagiarism, copyright is a crime, but plagiarism is a social taboo. The copyright is established when the piece of work is made, and it lasts until 70 years after the creators death. Then, the work becomes part of public domain, and anyone and everyone is free to use it as they wish. I knew that downloading music via a P2P program was illegal, but until I heard this talk I did not know just how much trouble could come of it. A Trinity student was caught illegally downloading music, and the lawsuit was settled out of court for $14,000. I think it is rather ridiculous that they can get away with taking so much money for such a small infraction, but that is just the way things work these days. Music artists make a lot of money these days, A LOT, so I do not see why the recording industry feels a need to crack down so hard on poor college students. I found the creative commons idea very interesting. I think it is a good idea for people to be willing to share their work with other people for free, generosity is hard to find these days it seems.
After hearing this talk, it made me think again about all the music I have been illegally downloading. Sure, it is a longshot that I will be caught, but is it really worth getting sued thousands of dollars? I think not. I have now resolved to quit illegally downloading music here at school and use websites like www.youtube.com, www.last.fm, and www.pandora.com to listen to the music I want to listen to. It causes more of an inconvenience to me, but it is definitely a better choice then taking a risk and possibly getting sued for every bit of money I have.




Kyle's Blog by Kyle Brightwell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.