“Without the right to privacy, there is no real freedom of speech or freedom of opinion and, therefore, there is no actual democracy.” -Brazilian President Rousseff

Internet privacy is not a requirement for what I consider free speech. Free speech is the right to make your ideas public, not to keep them private. To keep something a secret, you only tell people that you trust won't tell others. Now our middlemen can't be trusted to keep the secret, so if you want something to remain private, cut out the middleman. Assuming the right to free and convenient Internet services without strings attached is the epitome of the entitlement generation. Freedom of the press didn't grant every US citizen a printing press back in 1787. Nobody today seriously complains about airport security, and the NSA checking our email will soon be as routine.

Refs: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/09/brazils-rousseff-trashes-us-over-nsa-spying/

In the wake of PRISM

The cat we all knew was there is out of the bag. Aside from hurting our country's ability to market data-hosting services to the world, how is PRISM going to affect our daily lives and use of technology? Despite the knee-jerk reaction we all have when we realize the government is spying on us, there are some benefits to realizing our data is vulnerable. The weakest link in security has always been the user, and the bottom line has always been, if it's private, don't put it on the Internet. PRISM dispels the false security that passwords make your Internet data private. A skilled and determined hacker can get into most accounts one way or another. We would all be wise to be more careful about the information we make public. Besides, users becoming more careful about their private data shows that even big, ugly, monstrous, black clouds have silver linings.

Ref: http://resources.infosecinstitute.com/prism-facts-doubts-laws-and-loopholes/

Who is master and who is slave?

Technology eats as much time as it saves. As our servant, it meets our needs with ever-growing efficiency. Food, transportation, communication, and security are all enhanced. As our master, it creates needs we didn't previously know existed. Who needed an iPod before there was one? We are given an increased capacity to produce and consume, so the world expects us to produce and consume more. If merely producing or consuming more is our objective, then we are achieving it. But wouldn't you say that there is a little more to life?

First Post!!!!

Hello World!