King Kong vs Darth Vader! Free money! Porn! (I've got nothing)

So we have all seen those dystopian scifi movies and maybe read 1984. 15 years ago one might have thought "I'm sure glad I don't live in a world like that." 10 years ago it might have been "I can recognize some of that stuff from that movie in my world today. Maybe I should think more about what is going on with that science and the world in general".

Today. Well, today we are there. If you didn't stop to think about big brother, thought surveillance and the global community (No, not the hippie kind) until now, you might be screwed.
I'm not talking about drones. I'm not talking about the all-seeing state (yet). I'm not even talking about the NSA. I'm not talking about the 24-7 surveillance and total loss of privacy that is just around the corner, if we're not very careful. I'm talking about the situation as it is right blogging now. We have arrived, the only question is, are you aware of it, and what will you do?

 

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First, we shall take a minute to look at my grandmother and some theories about technology.

Back in the good old days of Hollywood, they had us flying around in jet-cars, colonizing other planets, living forever in cyborg bodies and what nots by now. Then they adjusted their aims a bit around 20 years ago or so. 2001 was not going to be a space odyssey. We didn't get AI or skynet.*

On the other hand, trying to explain the internets** to my dear old grandmother back when she was around, was impossible. She still lived in a house with no hot water and an outdoor toilet. She had no idea how to deal with new technologies, and she was a bit worried about black people and thieving gypsies. She grew up with 7 siblings at a small farm, promptly lost 5 siblings and both parents. She and her brother lived with an uncle as shepherds, looking after goats, fending off wild animals with sticks and stones. She was a bone-tough*** lady who lived until her late 80s and has been gone for some years now.**** Since the time she lived in a wooden shack as a child, to this point in time, there has been a slight shift in technological advance.

The thing is, if you look at advances made in science and technology, the growth is exponential. We have reached the point where the hypothetical graph is beginning to get steep. The gadgets I could only dream of as a child, are on the market or at least being developed, today. That is a relatively short span of time. We have bionic limbs. We can make the blind see. We have motion capture, virtual reality, 3D printers, semi-nanobots, everything is wireless and some enterprising corporations are making reality shows about how they are picking out the first colonists of mars. When I went to school, we had special lessons on how to use computers in the special IT room. My 9 year younger sister and brother had to bring laptops to school. That is a big jump in a short time. Things progress faster.
This is because of the everything is connected to everything else rule, from now on known as the eicteer. Sounds like Dutch beer. Mmmm. Beer.

At this point, I got sidetracked by the thought of beer. Sadly there was no beer to be had in Casa del Hate at this point. So I then accused Cat of drinking the last beer in a vain hope to guilt trip her to go on a beer run. Cat pointed out that an unknown quantity of beer, wine and indeed whisky from our esteemed household, was last observed in my backpack with my person attached, en route to the bus. It was also suggested that I should stop breaking drinking containers in said backpack as soon as I put it down in said bus, as neither backpack, clothes or bus seat is water/wine proof. It was further suggested that if I didn't insist drinking whisky in the middle of the day, I would perhaps not forget this bottle of 10 year old nectar when taking the bus back. It was also pointed out that this is why we have no more money for beer this month. I hate it when Cat is right.

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Eicteer says that advances made in one field of technology will grant benefits to any related branch of technology. With the free exchange of information we have today, new ideas and technology is spreading faster and faster. The point I'm trying to get to somewhere in here, is that the media for this free exchange of thought, is not as free as one might think. This is also because of eicteer. When you Google something, you don't get the information you think you want. You get the information Google thinks you want. Facebook doesn't tell you about everything your friends do. It tells you about the things FB thinks you probably would like to see them do. Some online news sites will show you what they think you think are news. Advertisements, promotions, offers for gadgets, jobs, loans, it is all tailored to suit you. All the big companies who provide online services to you, know what you do and they know what you want. They will share that information to other companies that might be interested in either you in particular or to just expand their platform in general. It is said that the sum of human knowledge doubles every year. Some even say that it takes much shorter time that that by now, but who can really tell anymore. But what the hell is the point of all this knowledge if it is not available to the public? It may be convenient to filter out information you don't need, but if you aren't aware of this, you will get a false picture of the world. Where do the filters end and the cold facts begin? As it is, you might not get the information you want, but they have more information about you than you would dare to believe.

Your digital imprint is out there and it is bigger than you think.*****

Some devices use your fingerprint to unlock. With VR just around the bend, iris scans will probably be next. This might mean a huge leap in security, but it will also mean that some companies will have more detailed information about you than anyone else, including the police (whom we hate), your doctor and maybe even your closest family. Today a good profiler with tech skills can with a good certainty tell your intelligence, your political views, your personality, hobbies, habits and what you had for breakfast, without ever meeting you. This is what the big companies do today. My question is, what will they do tomorrow, and who will it be doing it? And why aren't people more aware of this? It is like the future people talked about has arrived, but nobody noticed. They post pictures of their dinners and don't care that the captain of Starship Future Enterprise is Ronald McDonald. Hatehate.

It is only a question of time until the people who are too old to see are replaced by the young people who take the world for what it is and see some unexploited possibilities.******

I could rant on for hours, but believe it or not, this actually takes some time to write and I have a limited amount of energy. I will attempt to make a punch line.
Freedom of speech and a free press is essential. Freedom of thought is a given. Your life online is being streamlined to make you think what others want you to think. If you do not get the information you look for, but get the filtered version of the truth via clever algorithms, is that free press? Is it free thought?

If Bill gates is right in saying that the internet is the town square for the global village, then surely they are gathering us there for a reason. They might want to sell us hotdogs and put on a show, but the surrounding rooftops are quietly filling up with machineguns.

 

"I support free speech, obviously. But equally obviously, all things must be taken in moderation. This is something we need to strongly communicate to the media." - From Transmetropolitan

* Nor do I think we will get time travel. We haven't seen any time machines. Think about that.

** Thank you Mr. Bush.

***I once saw her chasing away a huge elk with a broom. She was tiny and quite old at the time.

****This is taken from fuzzy memory, don't be mad if I you are family and I got something wrong.

*****That is why I Google how to make bombs and send suspicious emails to myself, just to see what will happen.

****** Maybe the stupidest thing I've said in a long time, but I know what I mean.¤

¤ The most amazingly annoying stupid thing I've ever been told by another live person is "The brain has alot of power." This person was paid to give motivational speeches to the unemployed. hate