Google has applied for a patent for “Media Rights Management Using Melody Identification.”

Right now, if you upload a video to YouTube using someone else’s music, that video is flagged. In the best case scenario, links to buy the original recording are placed underneath the video. There is also the possibility that the video will just be taken down from YouTube.

Google can find original recordings, but if you record a completely new version of a song with new music and vocals, Google doesn’t always catch it. The new melody recognition system will be more powerful. It will be able to take cues from the melody of a song and flag it to determine if the video will be used to monetize the original or if the video will disappear.

We should all support artists getting paid, and even though I’m not going to join a record executive’s fan club anytime soon, I guess I have to support record companies getting a return on their investments when they fund an artist’s career.

The right to make music may not be granted by documents written by our founding fathers, but I can’t actually comprehend life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness without music. Music is life when a mother sings a lullaby to ease her baby into peaceful sleep. Music was liberty when John Lennon sang Give Peace a Chance. Music is happiness when thousands of people gather in front of a Jimmy Buffett stage to sing about a mythical place called Margaritaville.

There may be exceptional music makers who learn to sing and perform with only original compositions, but most of us learn to sing, play, and write music by first learning, practicing, and performing other people’s songs. That is as much a part of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as anything else good that humans do.

Justin Bieber was a 12-year-old with a uniquely good voice when he started covering songs on YouTube. He started by covering the Chris Brown song, With You. At first, not many people noticed, but soon there were hundreds, then thousands, and now millions of people have seen the video. What if the technology Google wants to patent had been in place to recognize the melody Justin was singing? What if the rules for that song were that it should be taken down? Make all the Justin Bieber jokes you want. The kid has talent, and technology that gave him access to an audience that could have just as easily hated him as they loved him gave him a chance.

The music industry has power because it has money. Sometimes people just have the need to sing. They may be great or just fine or they may suck. When managing rights, I hope powerful people with technical, legal rights are never able to use their power to squeeze away the life, or liberty, or pursuit of happiness that comes from the simple act of singing and playing music, even music written by someone else.

Some rights just shouldn’t be managed.

This morning I enjoyed reading a passionate post by Jeff Atwood called, “Please Don’t Learn to Code.” I agree a little with what Jeff wrote, and disagree a lot, but I loved the passion in his piece. The question about everyone learning to code isn’t all that different from asking if everyone should go to university.

In America, we don’t have a shortage of good ideas. I bet you could stop random people on the street and find a lot of average people who have ideas for an App. If they knew how to code, they’d build it. I have 20 or 30 ideas. 5 of them are probable money makers. People with good ideas sometimes seek developers hoping a developer will code it for free in return for a share of the imagined profits. Good developers don’t need that kind of “opportunity.”

How can you not love the stories about kids and adults who knew nothing, but had an App idea they believed in so much that they devoured the iOS SDK and made it their bitch so that App would be in the App Store? It’s especially inspiring when someone creates an App from nothing and it changes his or her life through money and opportunity. I cheer.

Jeff wrote,

To those who argue programming is an essential skill we should be teaching our children, right up there with reading, writing, and arithmetic: can you explain to me how Michael Bloomberg would be better at his day-to-day job of leading the largest city in the USA if he woke up one morning as a crack Java coder? It is obvious to me how being a skilled reader, a skilled writer, and at least high school level math are fundamental to performing the job of a politician. Or at any job, for that matter. But understanding variables and functions, pointers and recursion? I can’t see it.

Jeff’s a programmer, and I’m one of the many netizens who is making an effort to learn at least some code. I can’t see his argument from his perspective because I haven’t been their and done that. I know from my perspective, I have lots of ideas that I can’t implement because I don’t know enough to code them, and I can’t afford to pay someone to do it for me. I don’t tend to think university is the best use of money for a lot of people, but I still buy into the idea of liberal arts education. Knowledge and understanding of a subject is better than no knowledge or understanding.

I will probably never have a child, but your children will make an impact on my world so I care that they are exposed to ideas that matter. I believe every kid should learn about math, science, language, history, visual art, music, electronics, mechanics, design, psychology, programing, and more. When a kid finds a cross-section of aptitude and passion, it should be encouraged and developed.

Technology needs more engineers. The more we can do to expose kids and adults to what engineering is all about, the more likely we are to find a few new great ones.

My main disagreement with Jeff’s piece is that I don’t believe in saying, “don’t,” or “stop,” or “never.” Everyone should give learning code a shot. If it isn’t for them, they’ll get bored and move on to something else, but some of the people who try will be brilliant and change the world. I’d be happy if Mayor Bloomberg discovered within himself a great coder so that he’d lose interest in dictating how much salt people put on their food, but that’s just me.

After a recent Google Docs update, the application goes beyond suggesting corrections for obviously misspelled words. Google Docs now considers context to ask if you meant to type “there” instead of “their.” It isn’t perfect yet. I typed this sentence with two correctly spelled, but misused words, “Their are too people I really respect in tech.” Google Docs asked if I meant “There” instead of “Their,” but not if I meant “two” instead of “too.” It’s not perfect yet, but it will be.

Last night I visited my grandmother. She wanted to sit out on the back porch, so we did. Being outdoors where the mosquitoes are biting, for me, is like being in Los Angeles for Woody Allen. It makes me whiny, uncomfortable, and needing therapy. This morning I updated my Facebook status to let people know I survived. I intended to write:

“I survived two hours in the Spring outdoors on a southern back porch, unless the mosquitoes were carrying malaria.”

As someone who rarely goes out-of-doors, I tend not to remember mosquitoes starts with m-o-s and not m-i-s, perhaps because I grew up pronouncing it miskeetahs. Mosquitoes was autocorrected to “misquotes” and I loved it. Rather than fix it, I posted:

I survived two hours in the Spring outdoors on a southern back porch, unless the misquotes were carrying malaria. #damnyouautocorrect

Mistakes are a big part of what it means to be human. Something about the way Autocorrect keeps making inadvertently hilarious mistakes that inspire websites like DamnYouAutocorrect.com is endearing. There will come a day when artificial intelligence gets it right every time, and we will reminisce about the days when it didn’t. That isn’t going to be far away. I wrote this essay in Google Docs and Google Docs asked if I meant mosquitoes instead of misquotes.

We’re living in the golden age of spell check. It’s good enough that it doesn’t hurt productivity, but it’s imperfect enough that we can laugh about it’s quirky little mistakes.

Soon the engineers will have all the algorithms worked out so our word processors are wise enough to even help us out with the difference between “accept” and “except.” There will be a day when autocorrect is always correct, and I’m going to miss the cute mistakes.

When I say, “Damn you, autocorrect,” I say it with a wink and a smile. In my heart, I really mean, “Bless you, Autocorrect!“

Video Transcript

Annoyed by game invitations and requests in Facebook? I’ll show you how to get rid of them for good on today’s EverydayTech.

The other day, an exasperated friend on Facebook posted a status update about game requests. She wrote, “I had to ‘unfriend’ someone because I kept getting requests for games. I sent this person several messages not to do this, but kept getting them—-Now, I am still getting them because they’re a friend of other friends—-WILL IT NEVER END???”

Now a lot of times, friends aren’t actively sending requests. Some of those things are automatically generated by the games, but for those of us who don’t have time for fake farms or pretend organized crime, constant game requests are ANNOYING!!! The good news is that with a little persistence, you can eliminate game requests from your Facebook experience without going full-out nuclear and unfriending a person for good.

I’ve long ago banished Farmville and Mafia Wars from my Facebook feed, but scrolling through the feed today, I see a friend is playing a new game called CastleVille that I haven’t blocked.

When you move your mouse to the top right corner of an update, a down arrow appears. Holding your mouse over the down arrow gives you power to control what you see or don’t see on Facebook.

You can hide just this one update by clicking “Hide story.” You can choose to ‘Report story or spam” if an update is offensive or spammy, and below that you have options about what updates you’ll get from that friend. If you click “All Updates,” you’ll get everything that friend posts. If you click “Most Updates,” you’ll see most of what they post, but you may, or may not, see something like a game update. If you check “Only Important,” you’ll only see updates about major life events. That one’s a nice one to check if you have a friend or family member constantly posting political updates with which you do not agree.

From this menu you can unsubscribe from a person without unfriending. With this option, they can see your updates, but you won’t see theirs.

The next option is to Unsubscribe from that friend’s game stories. Checking that will take away any game updates or requests from that particular person, but not from other friends who play the same game.

The last option is “Hide all by CastleVille” or whatever the name of the game is you want to block. That’s the one you want! Click that and you’ll never again see a notice about that particular game again. There are only so many games on Facebook, so you’ll only have to do this a few times before all the old games are blocked.

Games are a major way Facebook makes money so they’re always coming up with new ways to try to get you to start playing.

Recently this kind of notification popped up in my newsfeed. It shows me a list of games friends are playing. Getting rid of this list is similar to what I did with CastleVille. I pull up the down arrow and click the link that says “Hide all by….” This is a little annoying … I have to go down the list and click each item one by one, but once a game is hidden, I no longer have to worry about seeing it again.

That’s all there is to it. Share this video on your Facebook timeline so your less tech savvy friends will know how to do this themselves.

Sterilize a glass container or jar in boiling water. Pour in 2 cups heavy whipping cream and 3 Tablespoons of cultured butter milk. Stir and cover with a coffee filter secured by a rubber band or plastic wrap. The coffee filter lets it breath while protecting it from contaminates.

Keep it somewhere with a temperature between 70 and 75 degrees for 24 hours.

After 24 hours at room temperature, refrigerate for 24 more hours. It’s ready after that and will last a week or two refrigerated, except that it’s SO good, you’ll probably eat it within a few days the first time you make it.

Crème fraîche is French for “fresh cream.” It’s a homemade sour creme, but unlike store bought sour cream, it has a much more complex flavor with more depth. Also, unlike store bought sour cream, it doesn’t curdle and separate when you heat it. Add a couple table spoons to soups or sauces and you end up turning something ordinary into a really special dish.

I’ve never seen this video with Steve Jobs explaining an Apple Store, so I figure I’m not alone. In the video, Steve Jobs walks through an Apple Store before one had opened for customers. He explains how the store is divided into sections and invites customers to come into the store, play with products, and check email on Internet connected Macs.

Apple Stores have evolved over the years. They don’t look like this any more, and now of course, they are more about all the iDevices that didn’t exist when Steve did this demo.

The Sharks were turned off by Nick’s desire to live well and be paid well. They wanted to hear him say he was willing to struggle as he worked to take the business to the next level. The Sharks did not invest. I understand what they were saying to Nick, but I have a feeling Nick knows better than the Sharks can fathom what it means to struggle and survive without money or comfort. Ultimately, I think he’ll be just fine without their help.

Back when Kathy Lee Gifford got attacked when her clothing, I started worrying about what happens when people with very good intentions don’t have a good understanding of the needs of the people they’re trying to help. Sweatshop conditions that sound horrendous when described to privileged Americans can be life-changing for people in very poor countries without opportunities to improve their situations. If I am in extreme poverty and have an opportunity to work 18 hour days to extract myself from that poverty, what sounds horrible to you might be a lifesaver to me.

As Americans worry about Foxconn’s employees, people are lining up to work there. Our wish to improve their working conditions without understanding the personal goals of the individual people choosing to work at Foxconn can be really harmful.

With pressure from Americans with big hearts and good intentions, Foxconn has agreed to cut overtime for its 1.2 million workers. A Reuters story quotes a 25-year-old Foxconn worker who responded to the cut, “We are here to work and not to play, so our income is very important.” She is very unhappy that she can now only work 36-hours of overtime each month. She wants to work 60-hours overtime so that she can save up cash.

All the people who are upset with Apple should invest time understanding the personal goals of the individual people they hope to help. In this case, it looks like the good intentions will do more harm than good.

I suppose it may be possible not to love animals. I just can’t fathom it. This video shows an elephant playing with the touch screen on a Galaxy Note and it’s more awesome than a monkey eating bacon wearing a tuxedo. Beyond the coolness of the elephant interacting with the device, it’s neat to see the affection the elephant and the girl have for each other. At the end when the elephant waves goodbye, my heart melts.

Forget that I’m a foodie. Anthony Bourdain could write about cleaning supplies and he’d still be one of my favorite writers.

I wasn’t able to fully appreciate Bourdain before my wife left. I read his book Kitchen Confidential and loved it, but his hard-ass, kind-of-bitter take on life wasn’t something that I could get. I didn’t watch his TV show, No Reservations until last year. Post divorce, I’ve marinated in sufficient bitterness about the unfairness of life and humanity that Bourdain’s attitude now seems justifiable. No Reservations is now one of my favorite television shows of all time.

Last night at bedtime, I typed Kitchen into hulu with a plan to watch an episode of Kitchen Nightmares. A show with a different last name popped into the queue … Kitchen Confidential. Hmmm … I know that name. Why do I know that name? I’d never heard of this show. I looked at the thumbnails and saw what clearly a scripted show. I clicked on the first episode and started watching. A chef got yelled at and called the main character, “Bourdain.” I figured out the light drama I was watching was based very shallowly on Bourdain’s book by the same name.

I enjoyed it. I watched several episodes before falling asleep. I also did some research (I googled). Kitchen Confidential, the TV show launched on Fox in September 2005. Three episodes aired before Fox put it aside for the sake of Baseball. It returned in December 2005. It only scored 3.38 million viewers. Fox cancelled it. A total of 13 episodes were produced. They’re all available on hulu now.

Kitchen Confidential was set in a restaurant called Nolita. It had a large cast with actresses hot enough to star in a David E. Kelly show. It’s my kind of show. It doesn’t belong in the list with shows like True Blood, Mad Men, Modern Family, Breaking Bad or The Walking Dead. It’s light and enjoyable … more like Jane by Design, Switched at Birth, and Suburgatory.

I like it, but I like my coffee with cream and five tablespoons of sugar. I can’t imagine Anthony Bourdain liking it at all. Anthony Bourdain is a black cup of coffee. The fictionalized version, Jack Bourdain is sweetened with a nice helping of sugar AND Splenda. It has little tidbits from the book, but liking the show has nothing in common with liking the real Bourdain.

Kitchen Confidential didn’t survive Fox programing decisions. I bet, if they stuck with it, it would have found its audience and would probably still be on today. Food Reality shows grew into popularity at exactly the time this might have become a hit.

As much as I’m enjoying the sugary re-working of the first book to be brutally honest about what goes on in a real restaurant kitchen, I wonder if it were made after a show like Breaking Bad, would it be more like the real deal?

Last September I was listening to one of my favorite radio shows, Fresh Air.

Guest host David Bianculli interviewed Mark Bittman. When I heard the following conversation, I knew it was something I’d have to try myself.

BIANCULLI: All right, here’s my big question, in theory. What I wanted to do for the interview was pick out a recipe of yours that I was very skeptical about in advance. That…

Mr. BITTMAN: I am already amazed that you found one you could be skeptical about. But go ahead.

BIANCULLI: Yeah. No, I did.

(Soundbite of laughter)

BIANCULLI: And I couldn’t find it in the vegetarian cookbook. I had to go on “The Minimalist” and go back. And it was – we’re in firm agreement as meat eaters that – you know, we’re talking about rib eyes as the best part of the steak and…

Mr. BITTMAN: No question.

BIANCULLI: …and that, you know, simplicity is wonderful here. And you have a recipe which says instead of just doing it the normal way, just put it uncovered, you know, over a little wire thing in the refrigerator for like two or three or four days and flip it once a day and don’t cover it. And then this gives it this crust that you can then cook with. So…

Mr. BITTMAN: It dries it out a little bit.

BIANCULLI: A little bit. Well, let me tell you, I did an A/B test. I got two rib eyes. I have a real good butcher…

Mr. BITTMAN: You know, I’m very glad you did this. I can’t wait to hear what you say.

BIANCULLI: Yeah. So what happened was – so I kept one wrapped up and did it the way I normally would do. I did the other one. I did a rub on the -equal rub on both. But the one that was dried in the refrigerator, after a couple of days, it started looking like rib eye jerky.

(Soundbite of laughter)

BIANCULLI: You know, and the last time meat looked like that in my refrigerator, honestly, I threw it away. But I thought…

Mr. BITTMAN: Right.

BIANCULLI: Okay, I can sue you if it doesn’t work. I can talk to you about this or get some sort of…

Mr. BITTMAN: You didn’t throw it out, though. You cooked it.

BIANCULLI: I did not throw it out. I cooked it. And eating them side-by-side, it was remarkably better.

Mr. BITTMAN: Well, how is this a scary question?

BIANCULLI: Well, yeah. Well, yeah.

Mr. BITTMAN: You got me all nervous. But now you’re telling me that…

(Soundbite of laughter)

BIANCULLI: Because it looked horrible. It looks horrible.

Mr. BITTMAN: Yeah. Yeah, it does dry out.

BIANCULLI: And you didn’t warn me in the recipe that it was going to look, you know, inedible before you cooked it. But it was so much crustier and crispier and better. So how did you figure that out?

Mr. BITTMAN: You know, refrigerators are a pretty drying environment. And that’s why people hang meat in cool places, because you want to – if you think about all the different meat preparations, the traditional ones of aging and drying meat, they’re things that people love. And a prosciutto, which is essentially a dried ham, it’s hung for 18 months, and almost all the moisture is leaving that. And if you think of dry, aged beef, that’s exactly what it is: dry, aged beef. But my thinking in the refrigerator thing was not really to age the meat, although that’s something I want to try to play with at some point, or I’ve been threatening to play with at some point.

My thinking was really when you are trying to brown a steak, especially in a home environment where you often don’t have the kind of high heat they have been restaurants, your biggest enemy is moisture. And if you put a piece of meat on a rack in a refrigerator, I figured it would dry out. And the whole thing’s not going to dry out. What’s going to dry out is the outside.

BIANCULLI: Mm-hmm.

Mr. BITTMAN: And then it’s going to take a crust really, really well. So it wasn’t that hard to think about this. It wasn’t that hard to figure it out, and I was pretty sure I was right, which is why I was actually was getting nervous when you were – with your big buildup, making me feel like you were going to tell me I was wrong.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Keeping meat uncovered in a fridge is the way to go, but the meat can pick up odors and flavors from other items in the box. It took me awhile, but I’ve secured access to an otherwise empty refrigerator. In the next few days, I’ll be documenting this expensive cut of New York Strip as it ascends toward the horrible-looking perfection described by Bianculli and Bittman.