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Okay, enough about dreams. It seems as if my IP has been changed (again). Are these network outages just an underhanded way to switch IPs on me? Yeesh!
Last night, I watched a TLC documentary on the Halloween storm of 1991. It was the same storm that "The Perfect Storm" is based upon. I didn't know that! Well, at least had I known, it would've ruined the movie for me. (Because I would've known the ending right?)
Oh, I also forgot to mention that there was some sort of commentary on "1984" last week. One thing that struck a chord was their comment that by writing the book, George Orwell impressed so many people that 1984 should never come to pass. Or could it?
The commentary went on to talk about a psychological experiment where college student volunteers were chosen at random to become wardens or prisoners of a mock prison. The prisoners were even given mock arrests before being thrown in jail. The experiment was scheduled to last a week. He had to cut it short at three days because the experiment went out of control. The wardens, high on power, were abusing their authority left, right, and centre. Holy crap. How does that saying go?
"Power corrupts. Absolute power, corrupts absolutely."
Scary.
On the paranoid side, could the internet not become Big Brother?
Oh well, I should eat.
Thursday, November 16, 2000 at 20:10:48 (UTC)
While the Net can't quite become Big Brother, it can certainly facilitate his activities. I point to the allegations of Echelon, Carnivore, and the RIP bill. While the Net was originally hailed as a boon for anonymity, it is becoming increasingly evident that Federal bodies will prevent on-line anonymity wherever possible.
As a result, people who don't appreciate how un-anonymous they are could easily step where they shouldn't, thinking they are relatively safe.
Not that we, as good citizens, have anything to hide. ;-)
paranoid mikeo
Friday, November 17, 2000 at 21:25:36 (UTC)
actually, Mike, good citizens have plenty to hide. Anonymity is an encouragement of free speech. For example, if you're a citizen who's concerned (say) that a big company is polluting your drinking water, you may (anonymously) report them to the EPA (via their website) without fear of reprisal.
Reg <e-mail>
Friday, November 17, 2000 at 22:32:53 (UTC)
Hey! Reg is alive! Wait.. Reg has been alive for a while..
<- remembers Reg's comments on Laz's site.
Anyway, when is your wedding site going to be updated? Is it ever going to be updated?
QYV
Friday, November 17, 2000 at 22:45:23 (UTC)
About the net becoming big brother, I guess I was thinking far ahead to a possible future where artificial intelligence has reached a level to rival or surpass human intelligence. (Then it would take over the internet! Ahh!)
But I would agree that the net does facliltate any institution that would wish to keep tabs on people. I mean, it's already doing that is it not? Anyone who's used their credit card on-line, or even surfed could have their movements logged. I'm sorry, did I say "could have"? I meant "is having". Everything is logged on the internet. It's just a matter of sifting through the exabytes of crap to find your trail, and follow it back to you.
I think the current barrier to keeping track of everyone on the internet is the huge volume of information that one has to store and search, but as computing power improves and storage costs decrease..
Well, anything is possible.
QYV
Friday, November 17, 2000 at 23:00:10 (UTC)
Speaking of Carnivore, here's some newly released information on the project.
QYV
Sunday, November 19, 2000 at 21:37:49 (UTC)
quite so Reg - my "good citizen" comment was my attempt at sarcasm for the day. Mind you, your opinion (as well as mine) is at odds with current legislative winds in the UK and the US.
That said, I would never consider an "anonymous" website submission to be anonymous. Even Freedom.net is only pseudoanonymous..
mike