Am I the only one who occasionally vows to floss every day, forever, or else? And then forgets? Gross. I just made my gums bleed. I'm going to floss every day, from this day out, forever. Join me. We can beat this together.
Oh oh! And a new series of Supernanny starts tonight on Channel 4. I'm so there. I love watching this woman straighten out families dysfunctions within the space of a few weeks. If I were a parent, I'd be taking notes.
So I was reading in the Guardian yesterday about the Googlemonster and I have to say, I had no idea what the landscape was like out there. What are people thinking when they sit down at their computers? I'm no angel, and there might have been times when I trusted the power of the interweb a little too much, became too friendly with it, treated it as a friend instead of a tool, but on a whole, compared with what I've just read, I try to mind what I do. I am guilty of spending perhaps a little too much time in front of the thing, but in this day and age, with the cinema offering nothing but crap, I would rather settle for YouTube.
I remember when I signed up for Gmail, my step-dad expressed concern about the relevant banner ads. And I understand his point. It's a felony in the United States to open mail that's not addressed to you, and yet Google can filter your mail and send you ads related to your mail's content. But really, there's nothing in my inbox that I would really have a hard time showing people. And there's nothing I search for on my computer that I wouldn't go out in the real world and ask another person or a professional (you know, not going out and asking someone "What's the best way to harm my wife's lover?"). I find it a convenient source of quick information (albeit, with lots of noise, thanks zefrank) which saves me from nipping out to the library, spending hours on the phone trying to get things done and asking the chemist how to treat everything from thread veins to constipation. When I use my computer, I do it knowing full well that everything I do on the internet could be read by someone.
It seems to me that the way people conduct themselves on the internet is becoming a cause for concern, because people are waking up to the fact that the kinky things you do with your computer isn't like doing kinky things in the privacy of your own home with the curtains drawn. Someone, who knows who, can find out what you've been at. And if you live in a totaltarian government, you can get into a lot of trouble. I can't help but wonder if the fact that people can interact with the internet regarding subject that are taboo in the open without consequences, is that a contributing factor to how "kids these days" (ooh, look who's just turned old) act so brutally toward people around them? (refer to incedences of unprovoked stabbings, ASBOs, etc. in the UK)
So in this age of information, where we know that interconnectivity voids anonimity, should the focus be on the providers? Or is it time to develop a sense cyber-civil responsibility, aknowledging that there are real world consequences for things we do at home?
Hmm...
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