Know,What,You,Did,Last,Night,D DIY I Know What You Did Last Night!

When starting a new work at home business it is very easy to become consumed by it. We spend so much time trying to get the business up and running that we may end up becoming burned out and lose our motivation. There is so much to learn and Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in

Don't try to deny it. I know what you did last night!One might expect that a line like that could only come froma jealous wife who has had a private detective follow herstraying hubby, but soon it may come from your wallet oreven your milk carton!Why would your milk carton care what you did last night? Itdoesn't, but it could soon "know" that you passed the grocerystore on the way home without picking up a fresh carton of milk.It will simply ask the garage door opener which was told by thecar and then inform your briefcase which will remind your cellphone to alert you tomorrow before you pass the market again.Your checkbook will know your bank balance before you balanceit, so you won't need to balance it. Your car will insist thatyou take it to the dealership for maintenance before it reachesthe mileage limit set by the manufacturer for required serviceto keep the warranty intact. The Secretary of State (or Dept.of Motor Vehicles [DMV] in some states) will be able to disableyour car if you fail to renew your registration or license.All of this magic is possible now and in use in some cases.Your world is very close to being automated, trackable andrecorded in a permanent database. Huge abuses are possible inthis strange new world and we need to establish boundaries andlimit access to this information before it gets out of thosedatabases and into any "unsavory" databases. I'll bet on thenewest action adventure movies in the next few months havingsomething to do with "Arnold" chasing down a good database thatwas corrupted by an evil data warehousing software developer.I'm not a doomsayer, so I'll address these issues by suggestingthat we all remain aware, informed and alert to the possibilityof abuses so that we can stop them from occurring.I am a technology enthusiast so I welcome these developmentsfor what they mean in terms of convenience and in making my lifeeasier. The wireless web, BlueTooth technology, embedded chips,bar codes and information databases make it all easily do-able.For those of you unfamiliar with BlueTooth technology let me putin its simplest terms (limit of my own understanding) it allowsantyhing with this low frequency radio transmission to "talk"with anything else with the same embedded technology. This meansthat inanimate objects can communicate with each other wheneverthey are within a specific physical proximity to each other.PRIVACY as we've known it in the past may be unattainable or shall I say, un-maintainable. Public uproar at well publicizedissues such as the ToySmart.com database being sold as an assetin its bankruptcy, when it had promised that information wouldnever be sold, illustrate how information on YOU could be sold,resold, sold on the blackmarket, hacked from multiplicity ofsources or simply stored for access by big brother.Suffice it to say that information, in the information economy,has the value we used to assign to precious metals or gemstones.When things have value, they are susceptible to theft, graft,bribes and criminal abuses by bad guys. Information is goldenand precious. We need to define a new type of "Fort Knox" forinformation sources. Security, encryption and permission levelsto access distribute, store and manage all types of informationthat exists in millions of databases that could all be easilymerged.I was told today of a web site that exists allowing you to sendsnail mail to someone by entering their email address in a webform. DoubleClick was thoroughly reamed for publicly announcingtheir intention to merge online and offline databases for exactlythat ability, yet other companies are operating quietly withoutpublic outcry. Because they are doing it without telling us."I know what you did last night" may soon be a wonderful andwelcome comment if it comes from your milk carton. Let's justkeep that information in the family of inanimate objects andout of the hands of the government, criminals, telemarketersand unsavory data warehousing software developers.A recent privacy uproar concerns the public posting of ICQlogs from the PC of a web company CEO concerning internalprivate discussions over the instant messaging service.http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-5148422.htmlIn this case it was someone having access to the same PC thatled to the security breach, but it has fired discussions abouthow instant messaging text is served and how and where it isstored and who has access to those logs, how they might beaccessed externally and by whom and if they are encrypted.This is the un-nerving side of ease of access to informationbut there are also some seriously funny thoughts on privacy:http://futurefeedforward.com/index.mv?pagename=newest20010401The link above will take you to a hilarious article describing a"continuous series of detachable, 480x480-pixel square displays,complete with Bluetooth wireless communications!"This "display" innovation may get more personal than you thinksince it comes as the newest version of "Free Toilet Paper withBanner Ads". Talk about getting personal with privacy issues! Article Tags: Last Night