Intellectual Property

As indicated by the date of my previous post, I haven't been making many entries. It's not that the occasional thought hasn't crossed my mind, I've just been otherwise pre-occupied. Doing what, you ask? Well actually, I've been figuring out the javascript needed to constructing an "online calculator" used for developing and analyzing soap recipes ...I'm very much into soapmaking.

Without giving a dissertation on the craft, certain calculations -- based on the oils and fats used, which are selected for the properties each imparts to the finished product -- are needed to make the soap, which differs greatly from that your Grandmother used to make. Since I have an entire site dedicated to the craft, I wanted to include one such calculator, and now have one of my own ...designed, written, and constructed by me.

I used to have a calculator but had to remove it. You see, I use Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet to do my calculations, but unfortunately, since I [previously] lacked the coding skills to translate that spreadsheet to a web page, I had to resort to using someone else's code.

I had found this online calculator and, in the code, (the javascript used to provide the interactive functionality), the author specified it was free to use for non-commercial purposes. So, I "appropriated" his code, and modified it to suit my needs. After some time I received an email from him requesting I stop using it. Despite my giving him full credit for the used of the algorithm, I guess he felt that the large amount of traffic I was getting was "competing" with his site. In any event, I removed the calculator. After all, the code was his intellectual property and he had every right to make the request.

This brings me to the subject of this post. I know that people (artists, musicians, writers, web designers, etc.) all have a right to profit from their respective endeavors, and I don't begrudge them their due. BUT ...and I know this sounds naive ...I feel very strongly that all knowledge and art (in all its forms) should be something shared and made available to everyone. I know you're probably saying, "But without the remuneration, what would be the motivation for doing anything?", Well, the doing itself! ...and the credit for the accomplishment.

I've spent countless hours compiling and formatting the data displayed on my "Skin Esscentuals" site, which deals with making different types of soap, as well as other skin care products. I'm constantly receiving emails from people who offer thanks for the sharing, but seem amazed that I've made so much information available for the browsing. Well, I can't take credit for such largess. You see, my motives -- and there are several -- are:

• First off, I enjoy creating web pages. Having taught myself, I'm constantly refining the skill by doing. When I learn a new technique or applications for a new feature, I enjoy putting it into use. I learned it (what I know of it), because it interests me ...not because I wanted to get paid for doing it.
  
• Secondly, I've found that the best way to know what you're taking about ...or to test what you think you know ...is to try to explain it, in extreme detail, to some else. So, compiling my multitude of notes into a coherent "presentation" was, in itself, for me a learning tool. That's really why I constructed the site.
  
• And lastly, although complemented with the results of my own experience and experimentation, so much of the information I'd amassed was via the internet, (personal sites and users groups) ...from people who were more than willing to "share". Sure [they] retain a few secrets for themselves so as to preserve the uniqueness of their own creations, but for the most part, are willing to share what they know in an exchange of ideas. My site is my way of giving back to that online community.
  

As I experiment to create new and improved products, I do so to improve my "craft", but I'm constantly being asked by those who sample the products, "Why don't you sell this?" Why is financial gain the only motivation people seem to understand? Sure, it's nice when what you love to do can support your lifestyle so that you are free to spend your time doing what you love. But as soon as you try to make what you love into that something to support your lifestyle, it turns into something else ...something totally different. Unfortunately, there are too few that recognize that difference.