Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. You will have to accept my apologies since I am multi-tasking more than usual as I write this article. My middle daughter has taken up physical fitness competition, and happens to be live streaming the competition from Chattanooga, Tenn. So, on one screen I am writing this article, and on another in the background I am keeping an eye/ear open for her appearance on stage. Good news! I got my laptop back. As I mentioned in my previous article, I had to take it in for a compete scan to make sure a third-party repair site did not do anything more than just repair my computer. Nothing was really out of place, but my repairman said my updates were way behind. Not sure how that happened since I always get an alert when I get ready to shut off my laptop. Despite the dollars spent, it was a relief to know that I could use my laptop without the fear that a second pair of eyes were watching what I was doing. Speaking of technology, I saw a YouTube video the other day where a lady went up to a beverage machine, and by just staring into a screen, the machine gave her the drink she requested. No money was exchanged, nor was there a credit/debit card used. It was all done via facial recognition software. Now this technology is not new; it has been around for years, but they have really improved its capability. We see it in many movies and TV cop shows, as they track down the bad guys by using cameras that are located all over town. Actually, a few airports here in the States are starting to use this technology to speed airport security check-in. They scan you at the gate, and it is compared to the database, where passports photographs are on record. They have caught seven individuals who were using someone else’s identification. Now that is all well and good, but there is a troubling dark side to this technology. Going back to my first example, this vending machine was in China, and they are building a complete facial recognition database of their population, not just from their passport. The government is using this database for behavioral modification. What this means is that they can monitor your everyday transactions and movements; if the government thinks you are not toeing the line, they can penalize you in a number of ways. They can prevent you from getting a credit card at a low interest rate, stop first class flight purchases, or even prevent you from buying tickets you want for that special concert. Can you say Big Brother?! He may not be that far away. Something to think about for sure.
A SMILE
A dog is so smart that his master decides to send him to college. Home for vacation, his master asks him how college is going.
“Well,” said the dog, “I’m not doing too great in science and math, but I have made a lot of progress in foreign languages.”
“Really!” said the master. “Say something in a foreign language.”
The dog says, “Meow!”
Got to run. As always, be good, do good, play safe, and remember, we need government, but like medicine, we only need just enough to keep us healthy.
– JR
