The Matrix (no not THAT matrix)
 

Watch this video and tell me whether you think the Matrix is good or bad.
Is it the end of privacy like the video suggests or is it a new technology that can be used for good?
There are obvious benefits like for hospitals they could look up your entire medical history to determine what sort of treatment you need or can't take.

Order a Pizza

So sad...yet so true. As of now, that is literally only about 10% away from reality. The only things, if they wanted to, they couldn't access (yet) would probably be physical appearance and recent plans.

This tempts me to make a write up on how to be anonymous on the internet. I know a bunch of tools and methods to help do so, so it could be done...

Regardless. This kind of stuff is happening every day, and if you want to stop it, you really do have to take action--you can not just talk or think about it. I suggest visiting www.eff.org as a first step. Try to partake in open-source communities (ie wikipedia)--they usually have the same sort of independent thinking. Don't use mainstream programs! If it has a commercial, research it first.

Hmm...maybe I will start compiling that guide.

Most important tidbit of this post, though: get peerguardian. It blocks IP scanning of several companies. I, myself, downloaded the largest compiled IP blocklist (take that, military!), and any time I have troubles with a site, I just remove that IP chain.

I would support a medical matrix system. I don't have first (or even second) hand knowledge but there is a huge battle for information for medical records. That problem is even more critical when you have an ER patient and a simple mistake can end their life. As they say knowledge is power. I want my ER doctor (God forbid I ever land in an ER) to know everything about me that can give him the power to save my life. I also want to do everything in my power to with-hold my information (and thus, power) from Big Bro's grubby little hands.

The Animation was funny, but how could it go THAT far? "Oh, no! They're stopping me buying pizzas!"... Although some of it was creepy (Like the list of stuff the guy had brought recently... look to the bottom of the list).

People think it won't go that far--but it's not too far from reality.

In reality, they wouldn't stop you from buying pizzas, they would simply make a chain reaction of decisions based on what they know about you. All this is already easily possible, and the only people who enforce it are probably the government and a few weird people.

Hell, how do you think any official website works? While you would not get in one minute bit of trouble, even if you had 10 hard drives of warez, if you went to whitehouse.gov, they have a built-in scan done. Hell, I just went there now, and was scanned 3 times. It's the same way with the phone companies--they record conversations, but they can't necessarily use them. I mean, who's going to randomly pick out the right person and hope they're doing something wrong?

Which is why this Matrix system would automatically find anything about you and report it back quickly, inching us ever-so-closer to 1984.

That thing is kinda scary, i dont think they would use it to charge you more to buying a pizza, but they could use it for other non-medical things and it might be the end of privacy.

I'm kind of worried someone who works at a restaurant has access to everything about you. If the jackasses at my school knew I had a form of autism, I'd be screwed.

I thought it was a funny animation. I really don't think it'll go as far as they put it. I actually do think it would be kind of cool to have a system like that but hey that's me.

Well, the pizza gimmick is just a dumbed down version to satisfy the more.. imaginative... American...

what's more likely to happen would be a system where everything you do is recorded and used against you. "Ahhhh, I see MP37a drove 617 miles last week. And for 45.6% of those miles he was speeding. Increase his insurance rates by 20%, increase his taxes, ticket him..." It creates a system where no one can get away with anything. That's true authoritarianism. Maybe I'm just criminal minded ( :bmage: ) but I like a system that is built like a net. I don't want government breathing down my neck. Sure, they can catch the big fish, but I want to slip through the cracks, along with petty offenders if need be (hey, if you haven't broken the law yet, there's gotta be something wrong with you). I don't want to be penalized because I drive like everyone else. I don't want to be put on some sort of "list" because I like weird porn. I don't want to pay more health insurance because I like bacon.

It comes down to freedom, and the type of government you want. If government were embodied into a single person I would tell him to go fight our nation's wars, but only if necessary. Keep my taxes as low as he could, fight white collar crime, stand up for the little guy, but stay the fuck outta my personal business. If I catch ya peekin' over my fence, I *will* break out the shotgun. :p

Government is similar to parenting in some ways. I recently heard a breakdown of various forms of parenting: Authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and negligent.

Authoritarian refers to that style which "lays down the law"; the child is told what to do and not to do "because I say so". As far as I can tell, this breeds rebellion in a child.
This is also the style of government that is being described here.

Negligency simply means ignoring the child.

Permissive parenting does not ignore the child, but allows just about anything. the parent "can't say no".

Authoritative parenting is about advising, instilling values, guiding, but still saying 'no' sometimes.
This tends to work best.

I suspect that you'll find that an authoritative government works best.