Technological Threat?

Ah ha! After taking a one week break Mr Potato is back to throw in more intellectual trivia for you! In the 21st century, our life is centred around various communication mediums. To date, I'm sure most of us are familiar with programs like MSN messanger, Facebook, Youtube etc. Being a netizen has never brought us so many opportunities to interact with one another, but have you wondered how dependant you are on technology?How much control does it have over your life?

Life has become more hectic with the emergence of newer communication technologies. What happened to the good old days when you could just laze in bed on Sundays and not bother about work? With Blackberry's to tie you down, one can almost hear their Boss's voice nagging through the email.Techonology has become so embedded in our society that most people will feel crippled if they have their mobile phone taken away from them. One might wonder if this is truely the direction we wish to head in.

Much of our privacy has been lost in this age too. When looking at online networking platforms like Friendster and Facebook, we see people putting personal information like their age, where they stay, which school they study in etc. This is enough for any Tom, Dick or Harry to press a few keys and run a google search on you. You never know if there is a virtual stalker leering at your picture.

Wait, there's more. How often do we receive junk mail or spam in the form of SMS's through unknown advertisers? When we visit a certain webpage you never know who is secretly collecting data about your preferences and selectively sending you advertisements that might perk your interest (most of the time they don't) This form of virtual harassment is probably happening every second despite the layers of firewalls that supposedly protects us.

The bottom line? The world is not what it was 20 years before. Technology has become part and parcel of our lives and it is up to us to discern how we should deal with it. Should we integrate ourselves with it fully or set up perimeters to safeguard against potential threats? What are your views? Let's hear them!