Techno, Help... or Hinder?

[adrianh]

It is not as simple as just turning it off. We say that guns don't kill people - maybe - but ready access to guns makes it easier for people to use guns. Technology is an enabler but it is also a disabler - it allows you to run 10,000 invoices in an hour but it also makes you reach for the calculator to do mundane calculations. I think that technology is a double edged sword that should be wielded with discretion. You can't simply turn a nuclear warhead off. The mere existence of the technology meanse that we have to safeguard ourselves against the technology. Yes, it takes a human to lob a nuclear bomb, and of course we have done so already. To restate what I said earlier, guns don't kill people but the mere existence of a gun forces us to protect ourselves against the usage (accidental or otherwise) of that gun.

The gun / weapon / computer etc is an enabler if used in a particular way and a disabler if used in another. Some say SMS advertising promotes trade, some say its a pain, a gun is good in a policeman's hands but bad in the hands of a criminal. Explosives are bad when the kill innocent people but good if they demolish old buildings.

And yes, I get completely off my head when the same twat phones me 10 times in a row but never just leaves a message so that I can get back to them at my convenience.

[Dave S]

To refer to an old movie, think it was Jamie Uys, "God's must be crazy", goes on to explain that modern man has adapted his society to the degree that he must adapt and re-adapt to a new environment repeatedly. This is what technology has done.

On the other hand, who wants to live like a bushman all your life?

Technology has certainly made it easier for us to adapt...

[garthu]

On the subject of tech, for those that recently would have seen the latest FHM, there is an article in there regards Google.

If tech hasn't started to scare you, then maybe it's time!! They use reference to the movie terminator and so on....

Heres a link to a video on same but not the same as the article in the mag.

Not sure, but i reckon the term conspiracy theorist will soon change to "realist".. scary stuff

[Dave S]

I watched the video, it seems more like a doomsday speculation than a reality. What I did find surprising, there is no mention of Facebook and its increcible power? To this day I steer clear of Facebook, simply because it has too much personal information.

[garthu]

Yup, maybe "doomsday" is the correct term for it and whilst pretty far fetched, what is there to stop them going bad? With the amount of information they have been capturing since inception, your searches etc, and never ever deleted, imagine the profile they could build of you!

I just think that it is pretty concerning as there is potential merit to it....

[adrianh]

I am yet to see anybody say anything of value on Facebook. I look every week or so but it is like poking your head into a cocktail party, lots of trivial waffle.

[tec0]

The truth is news has always been selective and planned. Scream violence death and involve a touchy subject and you have news. People don’t see kindness or the nice things others are doing simply because it’s not news worthy.

Our internet activities are also not private, it never was. The fact is every time you b**ble your IP address is the content’s final destination. Yes there are systems around IP tracking but there are also systems that can track you regardless with a little known address known as MAC aka Media Access Control Address� this address is a hardware address and cannot change.

So your mom or your wife will not know that you have been on b**ble but the rest of the world knows and it gets documented stored and researched. And your name is next to it... or the company where you work’s name is next to it.

So this conspiracy was fact even before it became a conspiracy... how about that...

[Dave A]

Forget Google - when it comes to privacy "risks" Microsoft makes the Google datamine potential look tame.

I remember reading someone making the point that if you consider all the deployments of just one application - MS Outlook - and the total data mine this represents...

[tec0]

In a way “a big way� our right to privacy have been violated? I have the right to privacy right. But everybody can see my property on Google... Same is true with your e-mail... but these companies simply don’t care

[AndyD]

The OP of this thread wasn't really about security so if this is going too far off topic I apologise.

In a way “a big way” our right to privacy have been violated? I have the right to privacy right. But everybody can see my property on Google... Same is true with your e-mail... but these companies simply don’t care

I'm not sure how Google is violating your right to privacy. Anyone driving or walking past your house can see it as well, there's no law about them not being able to look.

With Microsoft if you ever read the EULA that you agree to when you fire up their software for the first time, you agree that they have access to certain information for certain reasons.

If you want your email to be private you can set your spam filter to delete all mail from anyone who's not in your address book or on a whitelist.

Just out of interest if you want privacy then I hope for your sake you don't have a Facebook page. If you do then this may be a bit of an eye-opener http://www.skullsecurity.org/blog/?p=887