Siren Servers

Jaron Lanier, the Author of "Who Owns the Future" and "You Are Not a Gadget" calls out the "Siren Server" as the evil of technology that is corrupting civilization. 

In an interview with San Francisco Magazine he said this about the Siren Server: "It's the biggest and best computer on a particular network.  They almost always have evil consequences, even though they're rarely designed with evil intent. A great San Francisco example is Craiglist. Craig is genuinely a sweet guy (something I can personally attest to as well), but even so, Craigslist is destroying newspaper revenues and harming local journalism. The most damaging siren servers are the ones that deal with money.  When you cross a siren server with finance, as happened in the housing bubble, you get the meltdown of the market, "too big to fail," austerity, and jobless recovery." 

Lanier's definition of a Siren Server does not have to be just applied to the large-scale.  As each of us become more aware and able to use big-data to disrupt and upend one thing, let's remember that there is a law of unintended consequences that will create reactions that without long thought, could be more damaging than good.

(For a further faith based application of this post you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/)

Two-Way Links

The recent and ongoing learning of government knowledge and data gathering using digital technology continues to increase the apprehension of many people across the world.  A conversation has been created about the role and use of technology as it relates to the knowledge of what each of us do, who we converse with, where we go (both physically and online), and what we are interested in (as evidenced by our online searches).  It's above my pay-grade to understand and comment on whether or not these efforts are making us safer or putting us at greater risk, but I do know that technology continues to invade and redefine what is considered personal and proprietary information. 

What is that information? 

Jaron Lanier, in a recent interview in San Francisco Magazine with reporter Scott Lucas said this, "I'm building on the very first idea for a network, which is based on two-way links; that is if your data is being used by somebody else, there is always a link back to you so that you know if and how it is being used. You could set your own price for it - and if you didn't get paid, you could shut off access." 

I find his idea fascinating.  Two-way links would make each of our life patterns, interests and activities all pieces of intellectual property. 

What a new definition of supply and demand this "marketplace" might create.

(For a further faith based application of this post you can visit: http://purposedworking.blogspot.com/)