We Are Information

  Information has become the new currency of the 21st century. It seems like everyone is champing at the proverbial bit to gather intel on people. I just read an article about a company that uses sensors to track the movements of GPS enabled smartphones in order to gather information about the habits of the smartphones' owners. The collectors of said data process it and sell it to their clients so they can better sell their products and services. As this technology becomes more ubiquitous, the amount of data gathered about our movements and habits will grow exponentially. The question is how much privacy will we lose as a result of this technology? Big Brother already exists to some degree in our society. However, unlike in Orwell's fictional Oceania, this Big Brother hides in plain sight. Instead of Thought Police, we have Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and the like. And we voluntarily supply information about ourselves to these sights. Couple that with the information surreptitiously gathered via our smartphones, computers and tablets and the amount of information about us that exists on the Web is probably staggering. Data mining has become very lucrative for some companies and unlike precious metals, it won't run dry. This is a double edged sword we're wielding. In the wrong hands, we could end up prisoners in an information driven techno-dictatorship where our movements and information are constantly tracked and collated in order to keep us in line.

The Information Age and Dictatorships

It used to be that all a dictator had to do to prevent information about atrocities committed in their country from getting out was to control the local media outlets and keep outsiders out. That way only the government's views and opinions were disseminated to the populace. Any information they didn't like was brutally and effectively silenced. Now, with the widespread use of social media like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube etc., it's becoming extremely difficult for them to contain said information. Anybody with a cell phone, computer or tablet can be a reporter and let the world know what's going on in their country. Repressive regimes hate social media because it exists outside their country where they can't control it. They can't send secret police squads to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube etc. and co-opt them or shut them down. In Orwell's book 1984, all information was controlled by the Ministry of Truth. It controlled every form of information and could even alter the historical record to serve its ends. Become an unperson and all record of you and your life gets erased. You not only cease to exist, you never existed in the first place. That's pretty much impossible to do in the real world now. There is no way someone could erase all trace of your existence and make you an unperson. There's also no way anyone can completely contain the flow of information anymore. They can install all the Internet filters they want in order to block searches they don't like. People will just find a way around them. Information wants to be free.

Relationships

  I no longer see myself as ever being involved in a relationship. This is primarily because I don't exist as far as women are concerned. They don't view me as a potential partner so I don't waste the time pursuing them. I don't need that much rejection in my life. I've pretty much come to grips with fact that I'm unappealing to them. I figure every women that has ever laid eyes on me shot me down inside a few seconds.
  This means that I'm going to be spending a lot of time by myself. Nothing new, I've gotten used to being by myself. I've gone to movies alone, the Ren Faire alone. I've even attended Gen Con alone. This is my life, welcome to it.
  Being alone also means no sex life. Again nothing new. Want to hear a bit of stunning news? Ever hear of the 40 Year Old Virgin? Add almost 11 years and you've got me, the guy no woman wants to touch. Yay. This is result of a lifetime of being told by people that I was a nobody. The number of friends I had as a teenager could be counted on one hand even if two fingers were cut off. It's taken me a long time to acquire what little social life I have. My lack of extensive interaction with women has left me socially and emotionally stunted when it comes to them. Throw in some hard wired fetishes acquired over the years and my chances of having a meaningful relationship with a woman asymptotically approaches nonexistence. I debated releasing this bit of news because of who might end up reading it but then I thought "Who fucking cares?". It's unlikely that anyone I know will ever read this blog and if they did, so what? I really doubt that any of this will be all that new to them.
  Hell there are times I'm amazed that I have any friends at all. I'm amazed anyone bothers to read the poetry I've posted here and on Deviant Art. I actually have two watchers on Deviant Art. Two. Will wonders never cease? And three YouTube subscribers. People follow me on Twitter. How is it that someone so insignificant in the grand scheme of things has people reading his insane little rants? Anyone reading this who cares to weigh in on this matter can feel free to drop me a line via the comments portion of this blog.
  That's all for now. This is the Right Reverend Mike, Head Honcho and sole member of the Fellowship of The Eternal Dobbs Pipe Clench, signing off.

Social Networks

For the longest time I avoided social networks. I didn't tweet, have a Facebook page or work on a blog. I didn't see the point. I still don't have a Facebook page. Facebook's privacy policy gives me cause for concern. Besides I really don't have anything to put there. The reason I have a Twitter account is so I can join in the conversation on the TBS Big Bang Theory app. What really surprises me is that I actually have followers. 50 of them at last count. Of course, some of the first ones were porn bots. I guess that comes with the territory. But I have actual people that follow my tweets. Why exactly I don't know. It's not like I'm tweeting anything especially profound. And then there's this blog. I'm not expecting a lot of readers. This is primarily a place for me to sound off about this and that. If people read it, that's ok. If they don't, that's ok too. Your comments are welcome. Mike