re: Mark of the Beast (Rev 13:16-18)
Will Your Computer Get Under Your Skin? WINXPNEWS.COM Last week, I talked about some of the new technologies for which I'm thankful: the ability to do my shopping, banking, and much of my work without leaving the house; the ability to keep in touch easily via e-mail and photograph whatever I want with my digital camera. Several of you wrote to add to the list. The many technological advances in medicine, wireless networking, and the ability to store dozens of books on a tiny flash memory card were the most often repeated. This week, I want to discuss how some new technologies make me uncomfortable, and explore the question of whether the future of computing is a little scary. Last week, ZNNet published an article about a company that wants to implant RFID chips under your skin to be used in place of ATM and credit cards. See: http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=031209ED-RFID_Chips The idea isn't new; pets are already being implanted with identification chips as a matter of course, and it's been offered for children in the wake of kidnappings and other disappearances. Maybe I'm just an old fuddy-duddy, but the thought of such a chip seems a little higher tech than I want to go. The advantages are obvious, at a time when terrorists are able to forge drivers' licenses and passports with ease and identity theft is a growing problem. But so is the potential for abuse, as anyone who's seen Minority Report and other recent science fiction movies knows. Sure, there's already plenty of potential with accepted, widespread technologies. We can be tracked through GPS built into our cell phones, and reconnoissance satellites can photograph us from thousands of feet up in the sky. Our movements are traced through our credit card use, cameras record our license plates at toll booths and red lights and take our pictures in stores and on street corners. What's the harm of having one more way to ensure that privacy and anonymity are lost concepts, remnants of back "before the world moved on?" Technology itself, after all, is neither good nor evil, but can be used for either. Nuclear science, for example, gave us both power plants and the bomb. What do you think? Are there technological developments that scare you? Do you foresee a day when we'll all be forced to have chips implanted to identify us? How far is the leap from implanted ID chips to full fledged cyborgs, beings that are part human and part machine? Have I just watched too many Matrix sequels, or is this a real problem that we should be worried about? Let us know your opinion at [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.winxpnews.com/?id=105 _______________________________________________ Sndbox mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://a8.mewebdns-a8.com/mailman/listinfo/sndbox_sandboxmail.net
