The Resistance
They are the digital dissenters.
They see tech companies tracking our every move.
They want to go back to the basics – to a world where the interests of
humans come before robots, algorithms and the needs of Silicon Valley.
“Techno-skeptics”, is the current name given to a growing minority of such people. They are emerging today as they don’t want to see a “dystopian” ( or dark/”1984”-ish/police state; the opposite definition of “utopian” ) future form around all of humanity - due to the fact that we are seemingly constantly marketed to and driven to adopt and adhere to ever more digital technology. ‘Humanists’ may be the most fitting new term.
The point being made by the Techno-Skeptics, is that our culture, the way it is being influenced, seems to be taking less pleasures in the simple and wholesome family or community-oriented matters, but seems to have an insatiable need for more digital entertainment technology; and ever more more “feature-rich” cell phones, and mobile ‘wearables’, even some wired clothing products that somehow interfaces us to the internet of things, etc.
This deep thinking minority group of “Humanists” have grown to believe us humans, and our most important needs and sense of priority, are getting lost in the current technology frenzy. Are we developing technology, such as Artificial Intelligence and robots that is destined to replace most of the human workforce?
These techno-doubters are even going so far as to address their views in public, as their thinking is that “too much of a good thing” will have the adverse affect of changing or re-arranging priorities off from what is actually more important: health, sanity, and family. They believe our society is being fundamentally changed for the worse; and it seems they have some good points; so their movement is growing and gaining some notoriety. Many of them also believe we are being slowly micro-wave damaged biologically by the microwave radio signals our cell phones and laptops, and office and home wireless routers constantly emit. If there is truth to that, we should indeed to go back to the drawing boards and invent safer methods of wireless data transmission.
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It is true when we think about it: all of us on the average are spending more and more time staring not only at TVs, but at LCD screens, as small as they can be designed too, even LCD screens on watches. Google glasses and virtual reality - is it really all so necessary? Perhaps instead, if we could somehow press the pause button, we should all take a breather together and ask ourselves where all of this is taking us, and what kind of world we are forming for our children. What will be the new normal for us and them?
Of the myriad criticisms of today’s computer culture, a common one that comes up is that technology corporations, the bigger ones are usually the worst, seem to be driven to generate additional revenue off our personal data. We are being compu-profiled. Beloved Google is one of the biggest offenders in that way, of course. As the trend has been going - our thoughts, our relationships with others, and perhaps even our primal instincts (as tapped and interpreted through our internet connections) are being pre- and post-processed by computer algorithms - and usually sold to advertisers, or perhaps something to something worse.
Knowledge is generally interpreted as a way of having increased power in business and even personal relationships. The internet as a whole, and therefore “the state” (whether in Canada or elsewhere) with access to perhaps all your data today (especially if you are using “free” Windows 10) {Link to former Windows 10 article}, while using another set of powerful computers on top of the internet’s communications gateways itself - may soon know more about us, than anyone except those closest to us, or even our intimate partners know about us. Billions of dollars have being spent of the years to set up internet spying, as the Edward Snowden revelations have surfaced.
Your “record” isn’t just about traffic fines anymore; your political affiliation, your advocacies, or perhaps even online activism - is being sought after as potential valuable data to someone else or some other organization. Maybe you feel that the system or government has become too corrupt in one way or all ways. Well, that information might just have been audited, framed, or sent to a gulag one day; depending how society as a whole responds to the anti-privacy, all knowing-state, trends.
The basic point is that the economy usually accepts every advance in technology, seemingly driven by some profit motive, without concern for the potential of negative impacts on themselves, us, or other human beings; basically everyone.
As we move into this New Year 2016, let us also think about and celebrate something even more important than the internet itself, which is our freedoms, our rights to be secure, to retain some measure of personal privacy, and our destiny together as the human race. It is a good idea to reflect back on the state of change in our society, and consider if we are really building a better world for our children, or if we are simply turning the whole world into a state of ever increased government, corporate, and police state control - which was depicted in the now decade old movie The Matrix.
So why are we, 4GoodHosting, a global web hosting and technology company, posting this article topic on our blog? Because we are humans too, we absolutely really do respect the privacy of our customers, and these are some interesting points for any or all of us to ponder. We keep our customer’s hosting files and emails private and secure before it is sent over the general internet. We have never sold any information about our customer base. We defend our customers from attacks or accusations when needed as much as possible. We have never had a data breach due to the firewalls and security software we have in place. We provide solid and secure webhosting in this and other ways. We intend to keep it this way.
If you are so inclined, please feel free to share the link to this blog with your friends and business associates. If you think these are good qualities for a hosting company to hold onto, we would certainly appreciate your referrals with any recommendations to other that you may have. We wish to uphold these values in the future, and expand our business with that belief.
Also, if you are ever in need to a certain kind of new web hosting service that we may be able to provide to you, please let us know. We love hearing from our customers, even when there is no other reason than just saying “hi”, or asking for some advice for your next website update or project. Please feel free to write us anytime at support(at)4GoodHosting.com. Thank you and Happy New Year 2016 to you and your families.
