Skip to main content

The Eaters and the Eaten: My Hopes, My Fears

I want to see the World Wide Web help the world grow. I look forward to the possibilities that the WWW offers to me as a writer. I am excited about the way that the World Wide Web can make education reachable by all peoples. But mostly, I am excited about the way that the WWW, and social media in particular, offers the opportunity for people to unite their voices in a song for progress. Whether that progress is to the benefit of the Earth or the advancement in the evolution of its people, the possibilities for good are breathtaking. 

By contrast, the possibilities that lie in its darkness are soul crushing. As with all "governed" domains, the sheep can be lost in the plight of the wolf. I don't want to be a sheep, but I accept that in all but a few competencies, I am. And so is the majority of the population when it comes to the intricacies of the web. 

From the beginning, technologies have been made available to the government, academics and then the wealthy before the knowledge of its capabilities even reaches the consciousness of the general public. It continues on this path, stagnating any close in the poverty gap and threatening democracy. Although I find the concept of singularity frightening, I find the potential of the possibility that the few can outcast the many a more exhaustive and immediate concern. Considering that the dark web exists, I already wonder at how much that has already occurred.


If one were to view the Web as an alternate universe, then it seems fair to view the dark web as a third alternate. The world that exists there may very well be the center of control and the sheep can’t see it for the fence.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering the Old Ways (HTML)

Long before technology really had grasp on the world (because I feel myself to be oh-so-old), I recall spending an obscene amount of time ensuring that my MySpace was just so. HTML gave me and all the hormone-driven teenagers something to do with themselves when they should be writing up homework, but would much rather be stuck in the back of someone's car playing with the hem of their crush's shirt, their heart all aflutter- but alas! It's a school night. There was art to it that involved no small form of thievery. As anyone scrolled through MySpace looking for new exotic teenagers (not persons in general, because anyone over 25 felt creepy) and found themselves struck by that amazing new thing that Jessica (it was always Jessica who had so many advantages) had moving, dancing or otherwise tantalizing across their screen on her virtual home, anyone could rest easy if they only knew how to search through the code and pick out that unfamiliar thing. Copy and paste. It'...
4 comments
Read more

The Mail Race: Electronica vs. The Snail

Methods of communication have evolved and expanded dramatically over time. Humanity has used the word of mouth (as in runners), delivery animals (as in pigeons), the Pony Express, the train system, the telegraph, smoke signals, Morse code, and many other methods besides to communicate with others over vast distances… or right down the street. Many of the communication vessels above are still used, although some in less practical ways, and simply for the sake of nostalgia. The primary means of communication now rest in e-mail, text messaging, the occasional though rare phone call, and somehow, for some reason, the postal service. Why is that? How is that? The postal service has always had some advantages over the new(er) and therefore exciting electronic mail. We cannot, at the moment, send a physical package via e-mail… yet. This is an advantage that I believe will be called into question once 3-D printers are normalized, something to occur very soon. There is also the added fee...
3 comments
Read more

"It isn't just about being a programmer." - Shadrach White on Cloud Computing for Business

Shadrach White declares that "cloud computing is about democracy -- the democratization of technology." Before cloud computing was possible, every single person in tech had to understand not just how to write code, but had to have a solid understanding of hardcore computer processing. And then came the switch to the virtual computing environment, and suddenly everyone wanted in on the untapped computing power that was ever-present in the already established computer network. The hardware was there, it just required the right method of application and utilization. The next step in this democratization was to put this new resource into the hands of the consumer. The browser became the new operating system, and the world of tech based business opened up to the entrepreneur. Once again, the world wide web has opened up greater opportunities to the people without discrimination against race, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation... or capital. Cloud computing significantl...
2 comments
Read more