asterisk
14th April 2020, 09:08
Dear Avalon community,
As we ease out of the Easter holiday please let me share an open discussion topic for your consideration and a network query please.
Through my life I have dug deep and wide into the science of computing as a passion and profession.
Through that time, I find it mind boggling how much we have come to use and depend on the internet for social interaction today in such a short span, it reaches into all aspects of our communication and coordination and documentation for professional things, and then in our private lives we do all communication digitally too, and then our vacation planning, and all our bookings, and then formal things like legal and medical go through it too. I could go on and on.
Finally our children use the internet for everything too, and we keep our social networks posting the schedules of our lives . . .
At the same time, the privacy aspect of using the internet simply could not possibly be any worse.
All users' interaction with the internet and with others using the internet goes through a middleman who acts as a so-called "trusted facilitator", such as, say, Facebook or Google Mail. The middleman always gets a copy of the entire interaction, and can do whatever he wants with it as long as he wants, and in all ways owns the content of your interaction with the internet. I find this unacceptable; an issue of tremendous concern, an Orwellian manifestation our earlier generation warned us about . . . and now, voila, here it is.
This came to be a reality for a variety of reasons but include the "good business" argument of money and power, but also because it was the best science at hand. Luckily the factors that underpin this disturbing reality are still reversible and the science has actually grown apace offering us some relief.
My hope is to see an internet with a warmer humanity and a safer more reaffirming digital experience.
This has been on my mind for a long time and I wanted to share it with others as a general topic. I leave this thread to ask for other's input on how they see internet privacy and decentralization. I would appreciate your thoughts and perspectives on it and if it's of concern to you please share your opinion.
Related project seeks experienced philanthropists.
Letter (2 A4 pages): http://www.asterisk.fyi/2020-04-11_-_Public_Call_For_Philanthropic_Funding.pdf
Appendix (3 A4 pages): http://www.asterisk.fyi/2020-04-11_-_Public_Call_For_Philanthropic_Funding_-_Appendix.pdf
As we ease out of the Easter holiday please let me share an open discussion topic for your consideration and a network query please.
Through my life I have dug deep and wide into the science of computing as a passion and profession.
Through that time, I find it mind boggling how much we have come to use and depend on the internet for social interaction today in such a short span, it reaches into all aspects of our communication and coordination and documentation for professional things, and then in our private lives we do all communication digitally too, and then our vacation planning, and all our bookings, and then formal things like legal and medical go through it too. I could go on and on.
Finally our children use the internet for everything too, and we keep our social networks posting the schedules of our lives . . .
At the same time, the privacy aspect of using the internet simply could not possibly be any worse.
All users' interaction with the internet and with others using the internet goes through a middleman who acts as a so-called "trusted facilitator", such as, say, Facebook or Google Mail. The middleman always gets a copy of the entire interaction, and can do whatever he wants with it as long as he wants, and in all ways owns the content of your interaction with the internet. I find this unacceptable; an issue of tremendous concern, an Orwellian manifestation our earlier generation warned us about . . . and now, voila, here it is.
This came to be a reality for a variety of reasons but include the "good business" argument of money and power, but also because it was the best science at hand. Luckily the factors that underpin this disturbing reality are still reversible and the science has actually grown apace offering us some relief.
My hope is to see an internet with a warmer humanity and a safer more reaffirming digital experience.
This has been on my mind for a long time and I wanted to share it with others as a general topic. I leave this thread to ask for other's input on how they see internet privacy and decentralization. I would appreciate your thoughts and perspectives on it and if it's of concern to you please share your opinion.
Related project seeks experienced philanthropists.
Letter (2 A4 pages): http://www.asterisk.fyi/2020-04-11_-_Public_Call_For_Philanthropic_Funding.pdf
Appendix (3 A4 pages): http://www.asterisk.fyi/2020-04-11_-_Public_Call_For_Philanthropic_Funding_-_Appendix.pdf