25 years of radical change

The news is all atwitter because .com names came into existence 25 years ago today. But it wasn't until 5 years later in 1990 that Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web – the only 'internet' that most people know – and made those .com names useful.

I remember seeing my first graphical web page at that time – a friend of mine at college had put up a little page about his department and had scandalously included his photograph. I was horrified, and the first words out of my mouth were, “this will never catch on.” Boy was I wrong.

At that time 'my' internet was a world of safe, opaque text. I'd have never dreamed of putting my photograph up on a web page for potentially anyone in the world to see. That thought frightened me because sharing something so personal with people I did not know seemed fundamentally wrong. But these days not it's not unusual for people to share much more than that on social networking sites.

I lecture my daughter weekly about the dangers of sharing too much on the 'net. She thinks I'm an old fogey.

But the W3 has changed us forever in many ways, particularly in the way we view privacy. We have gone from a people who jealously guarded our privacy and defended confidentiality to a people that no longer really even seem to understand those concepts. I consider that from time to time, and I don't really like it. I guess I am the old fogey that my daughter thinks I am.

Censorship vs Free Will

Partial Freedom is an oxymoron - but that's just want some people would like the internet to be: "Partially Free". I am greatly disturbed by the censorship of the 'net that has been taking place in China, and is now in beginning in Germany. This censorship in Germany is being done under the guise of making the internet safe for children. In China the Government just admits that it wants to control the information being distributed to their citizens. While China's attitude is disturbing, at least their admonition is refreshing.

This subject took me back some years as I recalled the formation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. I remember the first time I read the Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace penned by the poet John Perry Barlow. Its inspiring words, shown in part below, brought tears to my eyes:

"Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, I come from Cyberspace, the new home of Mind. On behalf of the future, I ask you of the past to leave us alone. You are not welcome among us. You have no sovereignty where we gather. ..."

"We are creating a world that all may enter without privilege or prejudice accorded by race, economic power, military force, or station of birth. ..."

"We are creating a world where anyone, anywhere may express his or her beliefs, no matter how singular, without fear of being coerced into silence or conformity. ..."

"We will create a civilization of the Mind in Cyberspace. May it be more humane and fair than the world your governments have made before."

---John Perry Barlow

Noble thoughts expressed over a sometimes ignoble medium. But the truth is that Cyberspace is no more evil than the world in which we live, although the anonymity of the internet allows that which resides in the hearts of men to surface freely. But we can not be afraid! Where freedom reigns the truth can always be found. Censorship does not eradicate evil. Wrongdoing is only further obfuscated by censorship.

Yes, there are nasty, and evil places on the internet. There are also places of goodness, justice and truth. I'm not willing to allow any Government to decide for me which is which. In China, for instance, some Christian Web Sites have been banned.

Our Lord gave us Free Will. I'm not willing to let any Government take that away from me.

I will walk about in freedom,
for I have sought out your precepts.

I will speak of your statutes before kings
and will not be put to shame,

--Psalm 119:45-46

Makeup your own mind about Cyberspace! Here is some software that can help:

• XXX Church
• Parental Control Software

Do not get Scammed by an 'Astroturf Movement'

I've heard so many people say that the internet is inherently evil. But it's exactly as evil as the real world that we live in, and conversely just as good. You have to be careful in the real world, so be careful on the internet.

I'm always trying to demystify the internet and educate my friends and family about Internet safety, so when I read a very good post in PC Magazine stating that 'grass roots' looking sites were the next big thing in phishing I knew I had to make a quick post. My friends and the people where I work are just the kind of people who might get scammed by these kinds of sites because they all have hearts for God.

An article in PC Magazine by maven John C. Dvorak introduced me to the notion of 'Astroturf campaigns' that target good hearted people who want to help try and change the world. I urge everyone to read the article here.

I do not advocate Mr. Dvorak's call to be suspicious of everything on the internet, but I do recommend caution in everything you do there.

NOTE: And this next section is for my Parents. My mother has begun to utilize her first internet connection and email account:

"I promise, Dad, no one can steal Mom's identity on the Internet unless she puts her name and credit card out there, honest!!! I love you and am proud of you both!!!"

"For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of sound mind"
2Timothy1:7

Pittsburgh puts a Dent in Cyber Crime!!!

Check out this article in Wired Magazine about how the FBI in Pittsburgh is helping to foil Cyber Crime in a very clever way.

Read the article here!