For one thing, I find that anything worth doing has typically been done much better by a team of other people. ;-) Anything I could create would pale in comparison to the dedicated efforts of thousands of smarter people, so I just don't bother. I guess you could call that laziness, or just cynicism.

I'm also worried about IP laws, both in general, and the fact that I'm also a computer programmer by profession. My employer owns anything my mind creates that's in any way related to the work I do, and that may or may not include programs I write. I'm a salaried employee, so I don't have "work hours" and "non-work hours"; as far as I know, anything I do belongs to the company.

So, to be on the safe side, I just don't code anymore. I guess you could call that prudence, or paranoia, depending on your politics. I've thought about hiring an IP lawyer to clarify my own reading of the IP statues, but a good lawyer around here starts at $600/hr, and goes up from there. Add to that need for a second or third opinion (legal opinion isn't legal fact, and unless you've confirmed something from several sources, there's little reason to hold faith in a single person's point of view), and it starts to add up to be some real money. I just can't stomach paying that much just to learn what I can ostensibly find out for myself by reading the statues directly. So, I just read the laws myself, and do my level best to avoid anything that might possibly infringe. For me, that means not programming at all, and limiting my other hobbies carefully. Anything that involves creating a creative work may fall afoul of copyright; anything that involves new ideas or techniques may also be illegal under patent law. Anything that involves performance, like dance steps, can under copyright as well. I'm not sure if that includes martial arts kata, but I worry sometimes. The line between the two isn't that great, and dance steps are specifically included in the Copyright Act.

Lately, I tend towards studying ancient history, and trying to make medieval style crafts, because I know that's mostly legal, though it's often hard for novices like me to distinguish modern works "inspired by" ancient techniques from things I can legally make or study. It's also very hard to distinguish ancient writings activities which have been recorded in the ancient past; it's important, because copyright starts on the date something is written down, not the date it's thought of. Native Indians, for example, have been complaining because people have been going around writing down their ancient folklore, and then forbiding the natives from reciting their own folklore without a license. Legally, it's still an infringement of copyright to recite a copyrighted work out loud, so the natives are breaking the law if they tell their stories. It's an issue that the government has actively sought public commentary on; but the law hasn't been changed yet. So, yes, I'm paranoid, but not without reason. These laws are tricky and confusing, and not always what you'ld expect!

For example, translations count both as the original author's work, and as a distinct work by the translator, so you can't just make a copy of, say, the Tao Te Ching without checking the copyright date of the translation, too. You're only allowed to quote from a work for academic or reporting purposes, and you're legally required to attribute the source if known. It's tricky stuff indeed!

So, no, I don't code, because I can't prove it's legal for me to do so, and it hurts my head every time I try to find a way to do it. I try very hard to be a law abiding citizen, so this private coding stuff is just not for me anymore. *sigh* I do miss it sometimes, though. My work environment doesn't always challenge me.

I do suffer from email withdrawl: it's how my friends plan outings and events for more than a few people. If I want to hook up with five or six friends for an outing, sure, I might call them all. If I just want to send out a general invite to the 30 or so regulars, and see if I can get eight or ten to show up, (say at a concert, a party, or just a dance club), I'll send out an email to my friend's mailing list, and see who shows up.

Plus, I miss my friend's livejournals, and so on... some of my friends live hundreds of miles away, so I can't just walk over and see how they're doing, and the information density in a journal posting is sometimes much higher than a random phone call. People tend to post when they've got *news* to share, as opposed to random conversations, when they forget what's been new in their life...

So, yes I'm very addicted to computers... but not to programming. Programming just isn't worth it.