Computer Madness

Let me quickly say that I love my computer. I don't want it to get mad at me and it is a bit cranky today. Actually, it is not the computer, it is the whole internet issue.
I gave just spent almost 2 hours getting my email. I only bothered because I am expecting something important. I kept losing connections and very bizarre things. It deleted the one thing I wanted without me touching the keyboard and it took a very long time to retrieve it from the deleted file/ This got me wondering just how much time is lost each day through such malfunctions.
We were told that all this technology would streamline all procedures, eliminating much paperwork and freeing workers for more creative tasks. Now, constantly, I run into situations where computers are down or internet connections are overloaded and business and other works slow to a crawl. Information gets lost and important issues, sometimes just get wiped out. They disappear, lost in some alternate universe, I suppose. Occasionally they pop back into our reality, more often not.
Part of the issue is simple, but I do not believe it will be solved anytime soon. There is just to much stiff being sent over the internet. It was initially designed to disseminate technological and scientific data, Then businesses started using it and that was fine. Now, we have the ridiculous use of social sites and there is just too much junk being sent.
Back in the dark ages, not many tears ago, if  little Alice wanted to tell her folks how her Economics exam went, she picked yo a phone and called, not texted or tweeted. Of Cousin Sally wanted you to see h,er new baby or Uncle Fred wanted you to see his new car, they sent photographs. I know that sounds primitive, but it worked. It was nice. You do not have to see or know everything the instant it happens. Delayed gratification is very sweet.
What will happen? People could wise up and stay off their computers a bit. That likely will nor happen. The Government could step in and demand that internet providers charge more and thus limit usage.. They can do this by increasing taxes on companies like ARR and Comcast, or they could charge  companies like Facebook  a huge licensing fee that they would, of course, pass on  to the customers.
Or, the whole thing might just collapse under its own weight. As demands increase, the systems will have to become more complex. Chaos theory states that any system that grows too complex will break down. Then, we will see what can be dome  with the remnants.
Until then, I suppose we all will just have to put up with what is an increasingly more complex systen that, here and there just does really strange things.
To alter Shakespeare a little, the fault lies not in our computers, the fault lies in ourselves.

High Tech Madness

I love technology, when it works. When it doesn't, I am ready to rip my hair, what little I have, out. Yesterday, I spent a great deal of time waiting for Internet Explorer to decide to work. MSN kept drifting away and I gave up on google long ago. It is frustrating and tiresome.
Then, we have the issue of ads. You notice that I have none on this site (okay, a very few mention  my books. By the way, they are available on Kindle, but the ads are short and to the point and easy to skip). My issue is with pop ups. I can be in the middle of something and an ad for some product I will never buy, shows up.  Or, ads are interspersed within the text that completely disrupt the flow.
Pictures are another issue. I got over needing my reading accimpoanied by pictures when I left 2nd grade
Then, we have websites that are uselessly old. I get all excited sometimes, when I find just what I want, only to discover that they have not been updated for 10 years.
I also find sites that have nothing to do with the highlight on the search engine. For example, I type in 'golf history' and click on a site that says it has the definitive history of the game, It does not. Instead, it is selling condos on golf courses. Then of course, thanks to the nice folks at google, I get bombarded with ads for condos.
I know that people have to make money and I know that they don't always have time to keep things completely up to dare, but really, we can do better. Keep it up and it will grow so tiresome that people will stop using it and they will certainly stop paying attention to the ads. The users need to get a grip or the big tech people will. Failing that, the Government will have to start regulating and no sane person wants that.

America and the Internet

I have not been able to blog for a few days. We seem to be having Internet connection problems. Why? Well, who knows? We deal with Comcast and they are not big on providing answers. They are also not big on fixing things.

But this just serves to re-inforce something I have thought a lot about. We have become almost totally dependent on that cobbled together system we call the Internet and when, not if, there is a breakdown that knocks it out of commision, even for a day or two, there will be chaos.

A failure of the internet is inevitable. Chaos theory states that the more complex a system is, the more likely it is to malfunction. It is true that the system has built in redundancy so that if one link goes bad, another will take up the slack, but suppose it does not. Remember, anything we build has a chance of not working and we really cannot do a lot of test runs on the system without shutting part of it down deliberately, and that is not done. We are banking almost everything on assumptions.

Then, there is the issue of cyber attacks, It is possible for skilled hackers to bring down servers. A coordinated attack could bring down several. There have already been instances where individual servers have simply been bombarded by traffic and stopped functioning. A massive operation could temporarily shut down the Internet and even if only temporary, it would cause upheaval. Anything depending on precise timeing would be thrown off and businesses would suffer. Also, faith in the Internet would waver and a frantic search for alternatives would ensue and no one is ready for that.

We are also faced with the possibility of physical damage to the web. Recently, the US became fairly frantic when they discovered Russian submarines lurking near a spot where many cables were laid. Nothing happened, but the threat lingers.

Another potential source of problems is Mother Nature, herself. We are subject to such unpleasantries as Solar flares, which, if they occur when our magnetic field is in one of its weak phases, have the potential of wiping out most everything electronic.

Finally, we cannot overlook the chance of terrorist attack. Of course, they have little chance of bombing major computer hubs but, if any one of them ever gets their hand on atomics, a simple blast, set off in the air, will have the same effect as a Solar flare, due to the creation of an electromagnetic pulse. Now that I think of it, the North Koreans, hardly a bastion of stability, are getting very close to that capability.

The solution? There really is none, short of weaning yourself off its use. The problem is that businesses are going to be loathe to do that. so we humans will almost certainly become more and more dependent on the internet. It is a handy tool for business, but, putting all your eggs in such a fragile basket is a really bad idea, one that will bite us in the rear one day. When that day comes, just stay calm and trust that you will find a way to muddle through what will likely be a nightmare.

America on Line - Part 2

I want to reiterate. I am in no way suggesting that we abandon computers and the Internet, They are too useful as tools. Obviously, I am using them myself. But, we must control the technology and not allow it to control us. More specifically, we must not allow those who control the technology to control us.

Change is a Universal constant, but at an organic level, at the level of human consciousness, the pace is usually comfortable. We can adapt and, when catastrophic change occurs, we have some energy and some solid mental ground to stand on. The pace of the World has been changed and now we lurch forward at breakneck speed, hell bent for, well, for what, we don't know. This is the essence of stress and when you stress anything enough, be it a steel bar, a belief system, or a human being, it snaps. Why are things being driven this way?

Well, it all started as a push toward money and power. If you break a human, you control him and, if a few die along the way, from that point of view, no problem. There are plenty of people, plenty of customers, and, some would argue, there are too many, so losing some is a bonus. Humans placed under this sort of stress react two ways.

First, fight; rebel; and turn back things to a time when things were under control and your particular group was great. This is what we see in all of the various terrorist groups. Their ideology may be radically different, but that is unimportant. Their thrust, their goal is the same. Win or destroy everything, anything to stop what they perceive as unacceptable madness.

Nothing new there; Hitler wanted to return Germany to the glory days of per-Christian paganism (they weren't that glorious, but nostalgia for days that never were is a common emotion). When it became clear that no such thing was going to happen, he was content to see the nation destroyed rather than concede defeat. Blessedly, he did not develop atomic weapons and accurate delivery systems or we would all, now, be glowing in the dark This is what is happening with ISIL, Right now they are in their conquest phase, but soon, inevitably, for you cannot turn back time, they will see that they will not win and I will bet large sums of money (if I had them) that they will see to the ruin of the lands they claim to represent. Hopefully, we will keep devastating weapons out of their hands. And, we Americans should not be too smug. We still have a strong White Supremacy/ Christian Identity movement in this Country that is quiet now, but can grow dangerously active quickly.

ISIL and theses other groups are not, as they claim, reacting to immorality and decadence. Yes, they see this on the Internet and are revolted with it, but there is more. They are not even really reacting to the obscene discrepancy between the rich and poor. They are reacting to a World that is changing so fast that they cannot keep up, a World that seems to have no place for them. Many others are feeling the same and I wonder when the whole mess will boil over.

On a more individual level, we are replacing real interpersonal relations with virtual relationships. Email is fine for business, but what ever happened to writing notes and letters to friends and families. The act of putting pen to paper and guiding it with your hand transfers some of you to the writing. Making a phone call, using your voice, gives a part of you to the other party; texting gives them nothing but shorthand thoughts, transferred bits of cold information. Facebook allows you to claim as "friends" people with whom you have never shared a real moment of human contact.

Just recently, I saw a feature on the news about a very disturbing trend in Japan. People there have become captivated by robotic dogs. They want something fuzzy to hold and talk to, without the bother of relating to a real, living creature.

In this Country, when porn hit the Internet, it exploded. I guess it is still big; I don't keep track of such things. Why the boom? Because it gives the illusion of sex without the bother of a relationship. However, you also miss the great joys of the real relationship. Now, we have the very distasteful  phenomenon of sexting; having a sexual relationship by exchanging bit of electronic data. We want relationships without the bother of people.

I am convinced that we are entering a stage of cyber-Gnosticism, a rejection of the physical world for a "purer" world of the spirit. However, a mistake has been made. Spirit is more than bits of information. The old Gnostics knew that and knew that you had to live in this world to develop spirit. We are reducing ourselves to flashing, glittering pixels that spring to life when summoned, then fade back into a dark cyber-void until again called forth.

And, all the while, those who run the Internet get rich by keeping track of everything you do on line and selling the data, or using it themselves to gear marketing toward you. That marketing is so sophisticated that it becomes almost irresistible, urging us to buy more and more crap, more and more stupid gadgets that no sane person needs and that you really cannot afford.

Here, things get interesting. When you buy things you cannot afford, you go into debt and then you are controlled. Being in debt is a form of slavery. You must do as you are told or suffer dire consequences. The folks running the Internet don't care about that, but the ones who control them, the real Powers that Be, do. They use your debt and all of that other information gathered on line to tighten the noose, to create more strain, until you finally break.

At that point, when the nooses are all nice and snug, we will be reaching the end game, and next time, we will talk about that and I will offer a suggestion or two on how to resist. All is not lost, although time may be growing short