Ethics

If a lot of people are doing it? does it mean such act is ethical? Being a computer teacher I am faced with this dilemma. This is one question that I might not be able to answer (well before actually) as it is really a question of the acceptability of the act to the general public. One example of an act that is being done by a lot of people is utilizing unlicensed software. Many people are using unlicensed software and this problem is not only use of such unlicensed software for personal use but we sometimes see offices, institutions and companies utilize unlicensed software in the performance of their function. So now the question is, if majority, say 99%, in your community is doing it, is the act ethical?

In my own personal opinion such act is not ethical, this is because of the fact that I based my determination of what is ethical or not on the golden rule which is "Do unto others what you want others do unto you." The act of utilizing unlicensed software means that you are using a product of hard-work and thus you should give due recognition to that hard work by paying for the license. How would you like it if other people would be eating the food that you prepared for yourself or for your family exclusively? Or if you have developed an invention that will save mankind from environmental destruction and ultimately you did not get any recognition for it because others who have never lifted a finger took that recognition?

How would you like to be treated? This is the question that was posed by John Maxwell in his blog and I believe this question summarizes ethics, for me.

My GLOBE New Year's Resolution

Take action, I think this would best describe my new year's resolution. Have you ever thought of the statement "New Year's Resolution are meant to be broken"? Most of us do have a new years resolution heck we even boast about keeping this every year however after the first month many have already forgotten their resolution. I for one boasted some years back that I will start to remember my friend's birthdays and every important event in their life (in short i will be a lot more social), guess what, I never attended any birthday celebration to which I was invited on that year.

If new year's resolution are meant to be broken why make one anyway? Well, I realized now that new year's resolutions are made, conjured, written and or extensively thought-of because of the fact that at the back of our mind we really do want to integrate change in our life for the new year. The only thing that made us break these resolutions is our inaction, yes, resolutions most of the time only get as far as our thoughts. Inaction always gets the best of us, that is why for this year my new year's resolution is Take Action! and Make my resolutions happen. I guess I would start by fulfilling my previous resolutions way back several years ago, and thanks to the power of the internet, social media and several other sorts of technology (some of which are still being invented) I can now connect with all my friends wherever they are and the beauty of that is I could connect with them and even attend their birthday parties virtually or in person. Connecting with my friends online would of course require the use of an internet connection thanks to Globe's Superstick (yes this is a new technology invented) i am powered with 3 Mbps internet speed which I can also share with my family and friends so that together we could take action and start connecting with our friends and love ones.