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Almost-Wild

The following are a few things and ways in which information is going, or has already gone almost-wild. You might find yourself familiar with some of them (listed below).

(Note: Generally speaking, information has not gone completely wild, because there are constraints and feedback loops within the system.)


See the book Information Gone Almost-Wild at the Almost-Store on the right side of this page for more information about information.

"Most of what we call life consists of becoming informed, processing information, and informing others; and each of our too-short trying quests is at best only almost-complete with imaginings, surprises, and learning experience that range in nature from the tranquil to the wild."


Information privacy.

Information security.

Blogs and tweets. Twitter fights.

Junk mail. Spam.

Thanks (to someone else, cc: you).

Cyber war. Readiness for cyber war.

Stuxnet, Conficker, Zeus. Viruses, trojans, back doors, logic bombs.

Security and privacy software.

A continuous need for security updates. A continuous need for software updates that will then need security updates.

Reputation protection services.

Search results that you find helpful or entertaining - mixed in with results somebody else thinks you will find helpful or entertaining. (It's just like TV, but there's more clicking involved.)

Pop-ups.

Chat.

Opting out.

Telemarketing. Robocalls.

Do Not Call lists, registry.

Big Information (euphemistically called: "Big Data").

Big Brother. Medium-sized brothers. Blabbermouth little sisters.

Demand Management.

Know You Customer.

Shrunken Audience Syndrome.

Computer-based training (CBTs).

Filling out another form, so that they have more information about you for their files, . . . for your convenience.

ID cards. Licenses. Credit cards.

Passwords. Strong passwords. Even stronger passwords.

Encryption. Decryption.

Fingerprints, voiceprints, retinal scans. Facial recognition. Full body scans.

Packet sniffers. Keylogging.

Counterfeit sites. Phishing, spear phishing. Phishing when you should be shopping for groceries online.

Watering hole attacks.

Bitcoin.

Discount cards.

Openness and transparency.

Regulatory compliance submissions.

Backups, archives. Storing information in safe places.

Retention of records for audit, quality, or evidentiary purposes.

Your medical records available to anyone who treats you, anywhere in the world, . . . for your convenience.

Release of Information (ROI) consent.

EMP readiness.

Smart cars. Smart bombs. Genius cars. Genius bombs. Smart-aleck cars.

Whole-genome sequencing. Health insurance and genome sequencing.

Remote surgery.

X-rays. MRIs. Sonograms.

Microscopes. Scanning electron microscopes. NMR spectroscopy.

Telescopes. Precision cosmology.

Almost-travel (see page on left).

Ancestry sites.

Dating sites.

Gaming sites. Cloud gaming.

Gambling sites.

Electronic banking.

High frequency trading.

YouTube.

Viral stuff. Everything going viral except useful stuff, and the stuff you want to go viral.

Advertizing (amazing commercials, annoying commercials, blah commercials).

Free Speech.

Hired bullshit.

Freedom of Information.

Whistle-blowing.

Wireless networks.

Bandwidth.

Cyber espionage. Corporate espionage. Eavesdropping. Wiretapping. Snooping.

Cyber stalking.

Cyber bullying.

Fraud.

Data breaches.

Identity theft. Identity borrowing. Getting your identity back.

Dumpster diving.

Real clouds, real fog, and real haze.

Cloudy services. Shady dealings.

Shadow banking.

Gumshoes. Fuzz.

Copyrights. Trademarks.

Patents. Patent infringement. Patent-related law suits, and countersuits.

Counterfeit everything.

Denial of Service (DoS) attacks.

Intelligence gathering.

Global Intelligence Network (GIN).

Norton Cyber Security Institute.

Satellites. Geo-imaging. Satellite archaeology. "Star Peace."

Google Earth. Also, seeing inside public places around the world.

Radar. Radar traps.

Arial surveillance. Camera surveillance. Phone surveillance.

Drones, and micro-drones.

Robots. Watson. AI. Your friendly neighborhood "technological singularity."

Credit card purchase information. (They know what you eat.)

Credit bureaus.

Credit. Debt. Cash. Real money (numbers in a computer).

Camera and microphone (eye and ear) in all your stuff.

Continuous authentication.

RFID tagging. Internet of things.

GPS. GPS vehicular tracking. Chips-in-seniors tracking.

Instant messaging.

Software intermediation.

Cell-phones, and smart phones.

Showrooming.

Apps.

Cell tower dumps.

Phone hacking.

Pocket dialing.

Hang up and drive!

Mainstream media.

Social media.

CDs, DVDs. Flash drives.

Home security systems. Home intercoms.

Mail sent to Santa.

Tracking space junk.

CERN.

Information overload.


And all that almost-boring pre-Internet format information:

Books.

Magazines.

Newspapers.

Bulletins. Flyers.

Libraries. Museums.

Billboards.

Hollywood.

Television.

Walkie-talkies.

Radio.

Records. Cassettes. Videotape.

Telephones.

Communication cables.

Flags. Semaphore.

Carrier pigeons.

Street signs.

People talking to people.

Grunt-and-point.


Most of the above stuff is either desirable, or regrettably-desirable, or occasionally desirable, but also there are undesirable instances or versions of things that make us think about what kind of world we are building.

If you like to prepare your product or service for market before your competition finds out what you're doing, then you just might be concerned about this issue.

If you think replacing roadside phone booths with phone booths that can drive upwards of 60 m.p.h. was a bad idea, then you just might be concerned about this issue.

If you like sunbathing in the privacy of your own backyard, then you just might be concerned about this issue.

If you live in the Information Age, then you just might be concerned about this issue.


For more, at the store, see the book: Information Gone Almost-Wild.


almost-wild


This next pages may leave you with the feeling that the Information Age has just begun . . .

 

Information on Information (by Subject)

Information Age advertisements

Information Age oddities

 




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