Are computers a good thing? : . : Computers : . : How safe are they?



: . : Computers, they seem harmless enough. I know, we've all heard the George Orwell 1984 paranoia, how someday computers will be used to monitor and control the population. The question is, how many of us really believe that to be true? I venture that it's not a large percentage of us.

: . : So why is it that we all feel so safe with all of these computers running everything that we do? I don't know. Now you're probably saying "What do you mean they're running everything I do?" Well, you'd be surprised just how much computers are in charge of. Anything that is of a very high security nature is totally run by computers. Like your banking, for instance. What the computer says is right, is right. If it says that you owe a thousand dollars, just by human numerical entry error, you suddenly owe a thousand dollars. Your password and pin number are known only by the computers. Your family line, and your very life is categorized and made into charts and tables at the Mormon headquarters. Yes, you. It doesn't matter who you are, or where; they know who you are, and where.

: . : So what does all of this mean? It means that there are a bunch of computer systems out there, running themselves, that are in charge of how much you are payed, when you are paid, what your social security number is, whether or not it is valid, your banking, credit, criminal record, medical history, even your very name is legally defined only by what a computer thinks.

: . : All of this information, hiding away in computers around the world. This means that your information is safe, right? That no one else can access it. Well, you need to know that just because it's in a computer doesn't mean that it is safe, or even perminant. You need the information to be backed up (stored in a safely copied form) somewhere other than the primary computer (which we will now call 'server'). When the server is destroyed, so is the information. Many businesses simply ceased to exist when the world trade centers were destroyed. Now, most people and businesses and institutions know well enough to have remote back-ups. So, does this mean the information is safe?

: . : By all means, no. Your information is not safe. The Pentagon, the worlds most costly and powerful security agency, can't even come close to the hacking techniques of pro hackers out there. They try to hire them for more money than they would make otherwise. This is a sad truth. Some hackers as young as 14 years old have broken into servers that have the most advanced computer firewalls in place (a firewall is a program made to keep people out of your computer; very useful, but sometimes futile). So, the Pentagon has to hire these people. What does that mean? That they can't even come close to stopping them.

: . : The hacking community all over the world helps one another with hints and tricks, always growing in knowledge. Since there are so many of them, there is no way for any security agency to keep up, it just isn't possible.

: . : Quite simply, if somebody underground (in the crime scene) wanted to change a few of the perminant 'safe' things that govern your life in computers, with the right connections, they can. The government will not admit it, but they really have no way of stopping it, and no way of even tracking the people except through plain old gum-shoe detective work. What they seem to try to show us are advanced online criminal tracking methods really amount to nothing but programs that catch amatures with their pants down. Nothing more.

: . : So, you're not safe at all, under the hands of computers. The problem and the blessing of them is, they do only what we tell them to do. If you can convince a computer that it should listen to you, it will. Simple as that.

: . : Now, this is a problem, because we need computers in our ever growing society. Do we really? Is it actually necessary for everbody to have a computer in their living room? Or in their bedroom where no one can see what they're doin? Your personal computer is a plaything for advanced hackers (of which there are several thousand), and none of the info on it is in any way safe. So, why do you have it, and why do you feed it with all of your personal information and data? It all comes down to the most well planned and well executed scandal of the latter half of the 20th century. The one statement that is full of lies and deception and marketing ploy. 'The Internet is Good.'

: . : Now, I ask you to take away all of the biases you may have for your little PC (personal computer) in front of you, and listen to me. Why do you have the internet? How does it truly benifit you? Can you think of one thing it does for you, other than make you less active, and want to use it more? There is only one thing: communication. What about the rest? Communication has nothing to do with 'the information superhighway'. Information on the internet cannot be trusted. It just can't. Yes, that does mean that you can't trust what is said on this page. You shouldn't put any faith in anything you see or read on the internet. There are no laws against lying on the internet.

: . : Okay, so you need it for cheap communication with your friends and family, and for home productivity and work. I'll allow that for now. What do you need a fast computer for? Why do newer and newer versions of Windows and MacOS just keep on coming out? They're better, of course, and each one costs more than the last. They are better because they use more of your computer's power, forcing you to buy a faster computer. Each version of windows requires a faster computer, and it is the same for OS, now can you really give me a reason for this? They get better. They look better. They do more things. They're faster. No, they are not faster. Each version gets slower, so you'll need a better computer. If Microsoft had continued to make Windows 3.1 (this is the first one you probably ever saw), you could buy a personal computer for $20. That's right, $20. The software was cheap, and would have gotten cheaper with age, and the components would be easy to come by. The longer a factory makes a product, the less it costs to produce.

: . : This is going to get more complicated, but bear with me. Now, this computer companies that make computer parts and software are huge. They require massive amounts of money to keep going. That is the nature of highly innovative, technological companies. Now, highly innovative technological companies, typically sell very very expensive things to a very small number of people. Like 3M, most of their money comes from industrial products. Microsoft sells to the everyday person, which isn't as everyday as they would have you believe. Only a very small percentage of the world's population owns a computer. Since these companies are dealing to regular middle class people, and people that are in small numbers, they have trouble making money. How do they do it?

: . : As was forementioned, if something is made for a while, it gets cheap. These big software companies have to make sure that the hardware keeps on advancing, and not risk having low prices. The hardware companies wouldn't mind this. They would sell more, because the market would then be open to more of the population. The software companies do not (hardware is what is physical and touchable with your computer, software is what runs in it, the stuff that comes on disks, just so you know) want this to happen, so they increase the speed demands of the software, forcing more expensive products out into the world at large. If the same software continues to be used, there won't be very much stuff selling, so they have to bring out something new and exciting.

: . : Now, what happens when the someone can use an old operating system (OS, like Windows 95 or 98 for example) and still run all of the new programs? They don't need to buy anything new. What can you do to fix this? You create a new operating system that is in few ways different from the previous ones, with the only exception of running only on faster computers, and being almost completely incompatable with existing software. All new software and hardware must be aquired to run this. How do you get people to buy it? Start phasing out old software, and make only software designed specifically to run on the new platform.

: . : Now, this may sound rediculous to you, but odds are you have seen advertisements all over the internet about Windows XP. What I have said happens, is happening. Windows XP is mister incompatable. Why? No reason. At the same time, Windows XP has such a great demand on the computer, they think you should buy a new one. All these adds everywhere about Windows XP ready or certified computers. All you need is a little more RAM and you can run it. "Windows XP, for use with the Pentium 4 chip." Why would you design a chip to go with an operating system? To reap the full benifits of the Pentium 4 chip, you need Windows XP, forcing you to upgrade both sides, software and hardware.

: . : Now, why is it that you need a Pentium 4 chip? There is really no reason. That was the problem that Intel faced when it released the chip. People were finding that there was just no practical use for a chip that fast, and so it didn't sell very well. They tried endorsing with MP3 users, and graphics designers. The only reason for it, "because it's faster." That reason just doesn't hold up with the general public, who only wants their computer to work, and to work well. Try again. How about saying that you need it for the newest operating system? Now you're talking! People are going to come running, and pay a thousand dollars for a new chip just so they can have the new version of windows that when it all comes down, is just more colourful than the last, with more fandangled unstably designed features then you can shake your "Useless Stick" at.

: . : A fast computer is all you need. For what? Nothing. If computers had stayed where they were for a while, even underdeveloped countries, anywhere with phone and electricity, could use the internet. Lets push it forward instead, and keep computers only in the hands of the G7 countries, and make sure that everything is good and expensive, for a good long time. Why? Because we're impatient, and we let our need for what is "better" get the best of us, all the time, every time.

: . : I dare say, that the advent, and continual advancement of the Personal Computer (PC) has caused a dramatic change in the basic reasoning of society as a whole, and every person within it. We have been tought that things need to happen fast, and they need to be pleasing to our eyes. If you want something nice to look at, go outside and stare at the clouds in the sky, or watch for a bird to fly gracefully overhead. These are things of beauty. What we have built to be pleasing to the eyes within our computers are mere abominations of beauty: the pornography, the hate literature, and even the digital designs and graphics, all these things are mere mockeries of what is true and what is real, and what it is to truly exhibit shape and form. I ask you to stay outside for a while; bundle up if it is cold; and watch the world in all it's majesty. You will only then see just how useless computers are, and how different and out of place they are in the world.

: . : You may notice that there are nature scenes in almost all of Microsofts adds. Do you think that that means something? Of course it does. It means that they recognize the truth even more than the people they sell to. They know that computers are a disgusting version of reality, and when they put the two together; a beautiful sky, and maybe some geese flying by, they move that one step closer to keeping you from realizing the truth.

: . : I tell you, my friend, the truth may be found. Find it before it becomes unrecognizable to you.