Saturday Evening Post

In a week where things got as close to normal as what passes for normal around M3, there were many exciting and eventful things which arrived and stayed. Clyde took an extra day, since his day was technologically skipped. He has some more to say. Grab a cuppa and snuggle into a rocker. Let’s talk.

Social Functions Blog Hops

M3 is in the lineup for two new blog hops. Edward Hotspur’s Romantic Monday is a weekly. I have been quick to assure those in the SIB worried…It will not replace Mantra’s spot. She may move to another day, however, depending on work load as we near launch.

Samantha Light-Gallagher’s Widowed Blog Hop was more of a surprise than I imagined. It is a monthly hop. So, for those uninterested, it will be an easy one to scroll past.

The Red Hat series over at Tilted Tiara is going to be a recurrent field trip over the next…well, until I run out of examples of dysfunctional, nonfeasant, alleged customer service with retrograde intellect. I am guessing it will be a long time.

Broken

Two updates from WordPress this week effectively destroyed a piece of real estate I offer the M3 Readers. You may have noticed this week the green stars after the posts are missing. I have not removed them, but the generating software can no longer pull them.

In a brain-bleeding-saving decision, I have decided not to recode them. It is a toss up as to whether WP will get them fixed. Since they were one place which did not work with any real regularity, I do not consider them all that big a loss.

On the upside, the Love! button is working without its normal protest. The stars for the WP people irritate the Love! button for those who do not want to give the posts a grade.

Mantra

For those looking forward to Mantra’s new book, either out of morbid curiosity or a healthy embrace of the darkness, Mantra’s Midnight is progressing disturbingly well. I need to do some transcription from her notebook, but already there are 39 poems in the book. Unlike MFM, I am not shooting for 100 poems in this book. Instead, I am going for at least 150 pages. So far, it is more than one-third complete.

RP

The forum has some questions I have posed to all who write. In “Nuts & Bolts”, I have posed similar queries to the current poll (which will be ending tomorrow morning). One of the largest sections of the main RP site will be the Grammarian. It is going to be an exhaustive section on writing in English effectively and with impeccable grammar. Your help is greatly appreciated.

There are a few new authors who have joined in the fun. I am looking forward to the new manuscripts in a few weeks.

FTP!

One of the segments cut from last week’s failed SEP was the update for Flash in the Pan. Oh, my word! The M3 Readers are so very creative, and quick, and creative, and prolific, and creative! If you have not stopped by the FTP page recently, you are absolutely missing out on some of the best flash anywhere.

The book for February already has 55 entries in only its first six weeks! This promises to be the best set of flashes assembled. If you are not already one of the FTP Flashers, now is a great time to try your hand at it. Click on the Flash in the Pan menu button under the header for the whys and wherefores.

Right Turn, Clyde!

Right turn, Clyde.

One of the things Clyde wondered over the entire insurance/bank debacle was how much of a dystopian society we already are. In Friday Follies, one of my responses to Sherry was we are already living in a dystopian society. This tenet is not something which emerged over the course of the last few weeks; rather, it is one which has been formed and solidified over a number of decades.

WARNING: THIS WILL NOT BE A POLITICAL DISCUSSION. IF YOU CANNOT KEEP YOUR POLITICS TO YOURSELF, PLEASE PROCEED TO A SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLET IMMEDIATELY.

(In case you missed the allusion please view the film clip.)

One thing (of many, but only one we will focus on today) strikes me as very odd. Our Internet society is driven full force by an overwhelming sense of fear and paranoia.

Banners and articles and security software designers warn us there are trolls, poised with bots, awaiting our next post to spam it with comments to bring down the reputations of our sites. Cookies are no longer baked confections of past generations, but are now ways of revealing our secret, wondering searches to advertisers who want to sell us precisely for what we seek (or some unreasonably priced facsimile). An entire industry was borne of identity theft.

Every single one of the companies purporting to protect us holds the information in question. When we do not like the way they perform, we move to someone else with no guarantee said information moves with us. Have you forgotten everything someone else wished you would not remember?

It is a process.

As we scurry to accomplish what we feel we must in a (day, hour, minute), we fail to think of the automated processes which make all we accomplish readily accessible. No? A few examples, then?

  • Assembly lines: vehicles, computers, frozen food
  • Pipelines: gasoline pumps, natural gas appliances, running water
  • Scheduling: autodrafts, goods delivery, sleep

We do not consider any of these automated processes invasive. In fact, we have come to rely on them to provide us a stable environment in which to take care of things we find more important. Personally, I would rather someone else deliver the water for my hot bath than carrying it to a fire to heat it before I poured it into the tub. You?

All of them require our information to be shared and transmitted. How can the water provider know how much water to supply until your consumption is measured and added to the consumption of others? Are you uncomfortable someone knows how much water you use?

Enter Ape

Where do we draw the line between the convenient society we enjoy and dystopia? By definition dystopia is an imagined place where everything is bad. In my experience, bad is often as individual an assessment as beauty.

Ugli is in the eye of the beholder.

In the splitting of responsibilities, we often choose our own based on our abilities, interests and the palatable nature of the tasks on offer. It is a classic example of give and take. While we can only ensure our own performances, we are at the mercy of the others in the equation to act with the same (or greater) integrity as we employ. Integrity is so subjective as to be on par with both bad and beauty.

Our information can be used to provide us with services we enjoy and prefer just as easily as it can for services we do not. Are we willing to give up the ones we do in order to prevent the ones we do not?

What was the question?

Always with the questions.

If we consider our conveniences, at what point to we cease to be self-reliant and cede personal responsibility to those who have the tasks we have chosen to give? In short, the conveniences necessitate our relying on someone else to provide for our own (and usually the common) good. Despite our individuality and protestations to the contrary, we are very much alike.

More importantly, do we forfeit our rights for complaint when we have no working knowledge of the tasks we do not personally pursue? In the example of running water, how can we complain there is no water when we do not understand our own actions have disturbed the process?

It is enough to make an ape wonder.

Until next time,

Red Signature

~~~~~~~~~~


Where is the line? What is your version of dystopia? Is living in a state depicted in the video dystopian? Why or why not? If we forgo the sharing of our “personal” information, how do we form societal bonds?

Yes, Clyde is full of questions tonight. Any of the ones from the text are up for discussion as well.

PS M3 only needs 60 new American visitors to reach 20,000. With whom can you share M3?

(c) Red Dwyer 2012
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26 Comments

  1. I didn’t know by definition dystopia is bad. I ceded my responsibility to look it up and learn more. The video disturbed me quite a bit. But it wasn’t because of the automation of things, it was the lack of natural habitat and free space. If we are living in a dystopian society now, I am very happy with it. I would not want to live without running water or central heat or automobiles with interstates and roads to connect commerce to my door. I don’t have personal information I do not want to share. I order merchandise online, and freely give my banking information, address, telephone number, and at times my social security number without feeling any intrusion. It doesn’t define me, and it doesn’t harm my personal space. I am not narcissistic enough to think that I warrant an investigation into my activities of daily living. I’m just average.
    Gail Thornton recently posted..Poem – Anaphoric RideMy Profile

    Reply
    • The scene from the movie is aboard a ship. There is no habitat other than the ship they are on. I recommend that movie to you without reservation. It is Disney/Pixar’s WALL-E. The social commentary is very revealing.

      As to dystopia (the antonym of eutopia — all things are good), I supplied the dictionary definition. As with most other English words, we tend to water them down and use them for other purposes to suit ourselves. With the rise of dystopian fiction, dystopia is a more common word than it was in years past. I completely agree about the “I’m just average.” I recently said precisely such a thing to someone else regarding the topic of information and possession theft. 😉

      Reply
  2. Hi Red!
    First of all, I’d like to say that your blog is now appearing in my WordPress reader, which it hasn’t done for a while, and is mightily convenient, I don’t mind adding!
    Secondly, in response to this post, I don’t think I mind my information being passed on in certain circumstances but not all… but it has to be either all or nothing and I totally get that! I am slightly frustrated though when I read an advert for some item that I bought months ago, as if I’d want to buy another one so soon (book / microwave oven etc!)
    Thirdly (can’t you tell I’m catching up again!), I was reading your post about M3’s downtime, when I lost my internet connection. Everything went, I had to close the browser and start again. Just a coincidence, I know!
    And finally, your hatemailers still make me smile.
    Hope you’re having a good weekend… and see you soon!
    Tom recently posted..The Superhero Diaries 1.9: Love Letters Lost?My Profile

    Reply
    • I think the recent appearance in the reader is based on the latest update I installed. It is the first leg in the switch to the new version of the blogging platform. I recently advised a company to exclude previously purchased items in their algorithm for delivering ads and selections. It has been a mathematical function for which I have advocated on many platforms. LOL! I despise the Internet interruptions.

      Hope you are having a great weekend as well. Glad to see you today. 😉

      Reply
  3. The trouble with most companies is that they cannot function without first knowing all of one’s private details, and even if one were to offer them this without first thinking of the consequences then the one’s asking for these details would still manage to get things totally wrong. Often the automatons requesting this data have no qualms about giving said information to third parties and couldn’t care less if one’s personal information is discarded unwittingly.

    Banks do this all the time and they are supposed to be the forerunners of keeping our privacy intact and not giving it away needlessly, what a farce, in many instances they don’t even shred our information before discarding it.

    Insurance companies, whether it be house, car cover or of a similar protection are of the worst in this breed as each time a policy is undertaken every last scrap of information is requested and this method is the same online, so be careful.

    This will be obvious for most Internet users that frequently purchase online but as a safeguard I recommend a good branded Antivirus and Internet Security Suite to automatically detect phishing websites, of which there are many unscrupulous creeps just waiting to collect one’s private details.

    Banking and credit cards are targeted by thieves all over the globe and one can quite easily be fooled into giving out security details, then as one unsuspectingly gives out this information they use mirrored computers that bounce signals right into the thieves den, once there identities can be copied and bank accounts cleared of money, all without one’s knowledge, so be wary of that when doing business on the computer, particularly when one is unprotected.

    Well I have certainly gone off on a tangent here Red and more than likely missed the whole point of your posting and so I will sign off before I write a whole new blog on the dangers of giving out too much information 🙁 lol

    Have a lovely evening Red 🙂

    Andro xxx

    Reply
    • You are speaking of the bad in the current society. Although I did not bring it up verbatim, it was intimated in the post, not everyone bothers to act with integrity. This is the first cobbling of the road to dystopia. As I have seen the hacking of digital fortresses, I rarely am an advocate for automated security. Alternatively, I advocate for informed browsing. As the Red Hat post revealed, even that road has its potholes. Ergo, the question remains: If we forego the sharing of our “personal information”, how do we form societal bonds?

      I do know my blatant refusal to define “personal information” will lead to some questioning; however, I am unwilling to elucidate at this juncture. I prefer to see where the discussion leads, first.

      Reply
  4. Very glad to read your paranoia pick-up of web-sters. Not just me, for a start, but yes, we do commonly get this & that to protect ourselves.

    Love the exchange between you & Andro above. I get tired of, when I ring the bank, for instance, having to say offhand a transaction I’ve done recently, and my mother’s maiden name & so on. It really seems we give away SO MUCH of our personal info, as we HAVE to. It’s the having to, to function in this world that pisses me off, really.

    You’ve got great pace in your scribings, Red – just enough of this, before you’re on to that. I enjoy 🙂
    Noeleen recently posted..He took a drug overdose. He’s in hospital. He’s scum.My Profile

    Reply
    • Actually, the Wombies are where this started. You just chimed in a couple of days later 😉

      It is needless to cough up all of that for the bank. The technology for them to identify you by location (call ID) is cheap when not free. Likewise, the over proliferation of information at the outset of a call which is likely being recorded is increasingly a method to lose such information. The fallacy of “mother’s maiden name” is ludicrous in the US, as birth records which demand the maiden name are public.

      I long long long ago adopted a group of information which is 100% snark. If someone is going to steal my identity by guessing my secret answers, they had best be wearing a sarcasm shirt.

      As to the pace, call it the flight of the butterfly 😉 xxx

      Reply
  5. That is quite an interesting writing that makes one do some thoughtful thinking, where do we draw the line between sharing our lives voluntarily and where do we draw the line in allowing access to our lives for the common good. Invasion of our privacy does come when stolen identity is used for commercial unsolicited attention.
    Very very interesting subject
    Aussie Ian
    aussieian2011 recently posted..Candlelight, Wine and Romance…..For Paul and JeannieMy Profile

    Reply
    • It begins, Ian, with deciding what is “personal”. Frankly, the majority of the information is already public, so asking to provide it is inane. So, where do we say, “This is private, and I refuse to trust you with what is mine.”?

      Reply
  6. I find it interesting how much personal information many places require you to give when they simply do not need for it to provide you with the service that you’re signing up for. And most places promise not to give away or sell your info, but somehow it always gets in the hands of many third parties.
    Binky recently posted..Identity TheftMy Profile

    Reply
    • You started this. I agree wholeheartedly. (See my comment to Noeleen.) Conversely, how do we go about building a society when we do not freely share what makes us “personal”?

      Reply
  7. I agree Red, at this stage of mankinds technological evolution we are all documented and boxed by our governments.
    Ian
    aussieian2011 recently posted..Candlelight, Wine and Romance…..For Paul and JeannieMy Profile

    Reply
  8. Its the beaurocratic idiocy of it all, I get a letter in the mail from a Govt dept requiring details to update their records, first box to fill in is address, for bloody sake I just took the damn letter out of the letterbox so they already know my address, next is my date of Birth, yep once again their registry of Births also have these details, another Govt department, nTax file number, yep another bloody Govt dept has these details, Drivers license, again another bloody Govt dept, Military service, bloody hell I served over twenty years in the army you would think some Govt body has this record, Marriage certificate, they need a bloody copy, bloody hell the idiots just have to wander over to the registry of marriages.
    I have no more bloody details to update except my bloody death certificate and that wont be bloody long with the Govt mentality frustration.
    Why cant the bloody Govt learn what we all know out here in the net.
    It;s called bloody crossreferencing.
    Cheers Red
    aussieian2011 recently posted..Candlelight, Wine and Romance…..For Paul and JeannieMy Profile

    Reply
    • Forgive me for laughing! I agree 100%. The money we could save them on hosting by merely giving them ONE database for all their nonsense would likely feed a third world country. I always laugh at the letters wanting my address. Why is there not a box to tick which says, “It is all the same crap you already have.”?

      Reply
  9. I guess it all depends on your personal point of view.

    My experiences with Investigative Journalists and the Police have often been bad – I had been persecuted by Journalists for the past sixteen years and it was only last month that they called it quits having not only proved I was innocent of their allegations, but that I was also incapable of harming others no matter how hard they tried, even using bait in an effort to tempt me.

    The Police at least accepted I was innocent of any allegations and gave me a pristine criminal record, but the Journalists (of course) had to know better!

    After having had everyone around me bought including those nearest and dearest to me, I am now faced with my own personal dystopia – where the only people I know who have NOT been tainted by bribery and corruption are living in other countries and who I most likely will never meet…

    It is ironic that we NEED the Police and Media to safeguard us, yet when we suffer at their hands we find ourselves hostile towards them.

    What a sad world we live in… 🙁

    Love and hugs!

    Prenin.
    prenin recently posted..Saturday- The Zoom Box arrives!My Profile

    Reply
    • Oh, that is an interesting take, Pren. I am working on a series about this. I believe the fourth estate should not be immune to prosecution, despite all of those who believe they satisfy a need otherwise not independently covered. I have often wondered. Hmm…

      Reply
  10. A problem with the targeting of search results by analyzing histories and preferences is that the systems make assumptions about what we want, with one result being that the online echo chamber many live in deepens and it becomes even harder to break out of ones bubble (even moreso for those more technologically challenged).
    I’d rather have to go hunt down what I’m looking for and run across multiple different sources/types/opinions than have something I may like but isn’t necessarily the right product/information offered to me because, well, I looked at it before.

    I’d go one step beyond that to say that I think the tools we have way outpace our intelligence at using them.
    El Guapo recently posted..Friday Foolishness – East Coast EditionMy Profile

    Reply
    • I suffer from the echo effect often. I am a direct surfer. I prefer going to the place which will have what I want, rather than search for the possibilities. For me, the Internet is an extension of the IRL world rather than a separate entity. You have definitely not gone too far in your assessment. It fuels my question about complaint. Although my example was running water, it equally applies to web use and the tech we use everyday. Be glad for OCD! I want to know how it works before I use it! I had to take a course to learn how not to reverse engineer. 😉

      Reply

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