Originality is Overrated

https://pixabay.com/en/piano-music-score-music-sheet-1655558/

What constitutes originality? Is it the act of creating something unique, an idea that has never before been thought of in the the history of mankind? Or is it something that is just different enough from other content in existence that people can look and say, "Hey this guy's content is fresh!". In the context of music, especially pop, most "original" songs are actually very similar in structure and sound to one another. The whole reason why we can categorize pieces of music into various genres is because people have the capacity to pick out these familiar structures and patterns. The question is, how original does something like music have to be for someone to A) enjoy it, and B) not think to themselves immediately "What a rip off of (insert other song here)"? In the case of legality, copyrighting a piece of music involves owning the particular combination of notes used with respect to time, as well as the exact lyrics used in the song. Nobody can own the sound of a piano, or lay claim to the idea of writing a love song. Because of this, it can sometimes feel like modern music is centered around the same compelling topics, like sex, or getting high, rich, etc. These topics help a song to feel relatable and sell copies. Most people, however, don't really care whether or not a song sounds too similar to another one. They just care that it sounds good. In my opinion, I appreciate when an artist tries out something new and original, but I will always come back to the genres of music that I enjoy. Sometimes it's not about being first, but doing the most with what works.

Don't Pretend To Know Open Source Until You Read This

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:121212_2_OpenSwissKnife.png

The debate between open source and freedom of information, versus protecting intellectual property and what constitutes originality has been fought for ages now, and has only heated up in recent years where access to information has exploded. Personally, I want to believe that all of the code I write and content the I produce should be mine, and mine alone to sell and publish. This is true under copyright laws, where "original" content can be licensed such that no one else can publish the same piece of content. There is a discrepancy in what constitutes originality, however, as one only has to look as far as the Google Play store, or Apple App store to see that original content regularly gets copied and remixed into similar albeit slightly different entities. The counter argument to having all information protected as per the individual who incepts the content, is that a free and open flow of information and content will allow our society to grow much more quickly and learn faster with full freedom to shape the content as needed. Why reinvent the wheel, when there are many versions already available to be expanded upon and improved? Perhaps both sides of the argument have merit, but it will be up to society in the coming years to decide how free or closed information should be.

They Turned to Reddit for Help

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Antu_reddit.svg

In class this week, we learned that Reddit is not only a powerful collaborative community, but one with the power to help those having suicidal thoughts or tendencies feel more connected to others in similar circumstances. Since Reddit is an online community, most of its members can remain anonymous to each other, and thus can feel more inclined to share feelings that would otherwise go unexpressed in real life. This advantage also comes with some disadvantages, one being that anonymity can bring in people with less than harmless intent. Trolls are those who have fun at the expense of others, and in a case where people are legitimately trying to get help for serious problems, trolls can be the last nail in the coffin. Luckily Reddit is not a complete anarchy, and usually has multiple active moderators per subreddit. Overall, turning to Reddit for help is definitely a positive, especially for those who have become ingrained in its community and feel no one else would be able to relate to them as well.

You Won't Believe How This One Group Managed to Work

https://www.flickr.com/photos/collegelibrary/8596552756

In my experience, group projects tend to follow a similar pattern when it comes to the social dynamics between members of the group. In one of my computer science classes a few semesters ago, we were assigned a semester long group project, where the people we picked for our group would be integral for our success on the project. I was able to form a group with my friend and a few others sitting by, and we decided we were going to build a Pokemon themed game in Java. After introductions, our group went on to meet a few times that week in order to plan. I noticed we all seemed to have different opinions on how to layout the design, as well as who would work on what. This led to some conflict, which was later resolved by getting to work and communicating often. About halfway through the semester, we were making good progress, and each member seemed to know what they were doing. We didn't really start producing until near the due date, when the team went into maximum overdrive and finished off the game strong. This slow ramp up in how our group interacted and progressed, in my opinion, correlates with Tuckman's five stages of group development. I've had similar projects for other classes where we never got to a very productive state, and so I believe sometimes you just need luck when it comes to forming a solid group.