Last weekend I took a quick trip with Kate, the new employee here at Unidad, and Elizabeth one of our friends from the monkey project to Ricon de la Vieja, which is one of the seven currently active volcanoes in Costa Rica. It’s name interestingly enough means “The old woman’s corner” which comes from a legend about a girl who became a recluse living on the volcano after her father threw her lover into the volcano’s crater (Gotta love Wikipedia).

The park is only about 30 kilometers outside of Liberia. To get there, Kate and I took an early bus from Bagaces to the town of Guayabo. From Guayabo we were picked up by the owner of the lodge we were staying at. We stayed at “El Riconcito” lodge, a former client of Unidad22. The lodge was really amazing, staffed by some of the nicest people I’ve met here.

Kate and I met Elizabeth there, she had arrived three days previous. Unfortunately weather conditions prevented us from being able to climb the volcano to the summit. High winds and rain make the climb very perilous. We were told that the best month to climb the volcano is April, so if this is your intent try and plan your trip with this in mind. Instead we went on a horse tour around the park where we saw waterfalls, thermal pools, and amazing views.

That night we had dinner while chatting to some of the people working at the lodge. After a few beers and a few rounds of a drinking game that Kate taught us, we decided to go with our new friends from the lodge to a small bar about 10 minutes down the road.

This was probably the coolest part of the trip. I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole town was there that night at the bar. It was really neat to see kids as young as 6 and people as old as 80 all hanging out in the same place, drinking, dancing, and just having a good time. We made a lot of friends very quickly, and were never starved for someone to dance with. The boys were very taken by my two Gringa friends while I met a young tica with whom I danced with and spoke to for much of the night. She said my dancing was really good for a first timer, (I took the compliment and neglected to mention I had done it 3/4 times before).

At the end of the night we went back to the lodge and hung out outside for a while talking and joking around under a clear sky. This weekend really solidified the notion I have been developing over the last 7 months that, travelling really is not about seeing the inside of resorts, but getting out into the spots where you really don’t belong. It’s in these places you learn the most about yourself and the world around you.

So I’ve only got about another month left before I have to go back to the shivering cold of Canada and finish up my university studies. My Costa Rican adventure has been an amazing experience and tons of fun. The 8 months I’ve spent here really just flew by, and while I am excited to get back home it’s really depressing how much I’m going to miss this place.

But here’s the good news for you! My employer “unidad22” is currently looking for someone to fill my place, so if the idea of working and traveling in Central America appeals to you, and you work in the tech industry, apply now!

I believe they are looking for someone with similar characteristics as me:

• PHP Experience
• MySql
• Flash/Actionscript a plus
• HTML
• CSS

So read through my blog, if this experience sounds like something you might be interested in, you can apply here.

Everyday you see it, progress is being made. They are slowing winning the war. At once it was a holy war, the benevolent against the evil empire. When one would fall, two would rise to take it’s place. But those days are over. Slowly people are questioning their justifications and the validity of their cause, more and more they are unwilling to be sacrificed for the cause. It is this realization that will eventually lead to the end of online copyright infringement.

It seems each day we hear about a new bit torrent tracker going off line, another lawsuit against individual file sharers, another twenty-something pulled out of his parents basement in handcuffs. The tactics taken by the RIAA and MPAA, while occasionally pointless, frivolous, transparent or even humorous are in fact working. Sites are being shut down, it is becoming harder to obtain copyrighted materials online, and the risk involved in stealing music/video/software online is becoming too high to validate the decision. We are slowly losing our online anonymity and it’s scary.

Is this a bad thing? No, not at all. We should be accountable for what we do. For a while the Internet was an exclusive community that enjoyed benefits comparable to a secret society, it could make and abide by its own set of rules. This is no longer the case. The internet is now a global phenomenon, a part of everyday life, and as such it will now fall subject to the rules of our global society. The fact is, that illegal file sharing is stealing, and if you steal you will be punished.

I am not saying that I have never downloaded a movie online, or shared music, or that I am going to stop entirely at this moment, but slowly now I am realizing I was wrong, and my actions were motivated by the fact that I knew I wouldn’t be caught, and I felt the legal alternatives we’re unfair. But more and more individual users are being targeted for lawsuits and better legal services are being provided.

Think about this, you wouldn’t go into your neighbors backyard and jump in their pool without asking, but who thinks twice about stealing their neighbor’s wireless connection? The idea of anonymity or lack of accountability justifies the crime (Kind of like the Milgram experiment). Or you justify it, citing your neighbors lack of precaution as justification for taking advantage of them. We would attribute these kinds of qualities to criminals, but not to ourselves.

So yes, we shouldn’t be sharing files. Does this mean that we have to become slaves to the MPAA and RIAA who control a monopoly on our music and video content? Allowing them to charge whatever they want for the content they control?

Absolutely not.

Remember, we are collectively smarter then these organizations, infinitely more technically savvy, and more willing to embrace new technologies. Frankly there is little need for these organizations anymore. So let’s innovate, or support those who are innovating.

Increasingly artists like Trent Reznor and Radiohead are experimenting with new methods of distribution and revenue generation. Additionally Amazon has launched a new music store that offers a huge selection of music entirely DRM free.

What we need to do now is support these causes. The ones that have it right. Otherwise nothing is going to change. Basically, Consumers, Artists and the Tech Community have to work together on this to find a solution that works for everyone. Artists have shown their willing to leave behind the confines of record labels, independent movies are coming out all the time as well.

Still not satisfied with the options that are out there? Then it’s time to innovate. As members of the tech community we can make a difference by coming up with alternative methods of distribution that rewards artists while providing digital content to users. Artists don’t want to rip off Fans, and Fans don’t want to rip off Artists, it’s the middle man that profits off both parties that is causing the frustration.

So why don’t we find a way to connect these two bodies directly?