The internet was technically opened to limited commercial entities in the late 80's and we all, for the most part, hopped on around 1994. It was at this time a whole global transition took place giving birth to e-commerce and since all computer language (HTML included) is written in English, the world started learning English more than ever before. In fact, we were told back then that if we did not learn a foreign language in school that we would have a harder time surviving later in life or be left behind. I'd still recommend learning a foreign language though not by scaring people into it or for inaccurate purposes. It would be interesting to figure out what they were thinking exactly when they plugged us all in... and I don't doubt that we all have some "easier left unsaid" ideas. Was this global shift in commerce planned? What many claim to be "heightened communication" and what seems to be a suddenly smaller globe actually decreased communication but left our focus more on the global and less on our neighborhoods which is why we no longer know our neighbors or get out nearly as much as we used to. Neighborhoods are not what they used to be as we sit in our houses trying to figure the world and its problems out (talking instead of doing) and with this "heightened" and "global" communication we run the risk of finding more ways to come to disagreement or find excuses to go to war. I feel that certain operating systems connected to the internet are essentially broadcasting your movements... think of it as "Windows" into your interests and how your time is spent. Also interesting is the rate of decay on the web and there are certain methods that can be used to determine when something has disappeared organically or intentionally. A LOT disappears and not just over time either. Studying link connectivity (inlinks/outlinks from domains) is also rather interesting... for example, wouldn't you like to know if there are any ".gov" sites pointing to this domain? I'm sure such entities are well aware of our awareness and would hide such data nowadays (robots.txt). While you may consider yourself to be rather "internet savvy", the fact is that we are all somewhat ignorant as your computers are your worst enemies. Consider for a moment your family members use of the web and their level of understanding. This baby didn't come with a government issue handbook as it is sort of being written as it develops. Was all of this change considered prior to turning us on? There is clearly a "global" motivation here. Were we to fully grasp the internet and the extent to which our movement is recorded, we'd most definitely alter our internet behavior immediately and accordingly... or simply unplug. Who's going to do that however? It's like an addiction and yet it can be ripped out from under you in less than a moment. You might think we will be able to protect our last true freedom of expression but consider how well Americans have protected their Constution. This will be no different.
Oh and what was that about IBM and the Third Reich?

[edit on 4-2-2008 by spectre76]

The government has been spying for years online, they even made it so those of us whom were working online making a few hundred dollars a month could no longer work online anymore. The US government even had online accounts at online banking places and money exchanges closed until you could prove the cash was yours and how you made it. Storm pay, E-gold, and Paypal are are under the Governments eyes at all times.

I have lost to the government over $5000 in the past year. It is stupid when I work online and make money it should be mine not theres. Just makes me wonder if they need more money to fund there Darn war. I am tired of it that is why I now transfer all of my money to my bank when I have $50 in any online processor. And you dont want to keep much in your bank account either. I had them lock up my bank account because I had $250 go there from Paypal last year. I lost over $300 last month in my e-gold account because the Government wanted to know where it come from. It took me 2 years to save that much and they stole it. We call them the US buttholes.

It sucks but the US thinks they can do what they want when they want. But I have just started getting a bit smarter I now only work for places that will send me a check once a month. Google adsense included.

When they start telling me what I can and cant say online, I will move out of the US. This is just wrong.

Hilda

Originally posted by Areal51
One of my beliefs is that freedom fighters will always exist and they will always do what's necessary to defend, protect, and if it is ever lost, win back freedom for all. So all the government talk and propaganda about the war on this and the war on that doesn't mean much in the long run to those who would not ever be oppressed. Again, history provides me with all that I need to support my faith in this.

Well but we here in America ARE being oppressed, are we not? The world is witnessing more change in the US than ever before. I'd even say that because we are in it and because of the way our media works we are more ignorant about our "situation" than people from many other countries who can't figure out how the people lost control of their own government and why they are doing NOTHING to get it back. Of course, in order to defend the Constitution (the one duty our president is supposed to uphold under oath) Americans would have to read it and understand it. The same is true for such documents as "The Patriot Act I & II" but were you to ask what these documents really said few would be able to convey them in any sort of detail.
While I don't know how to return to our former glory where we have a government of, for and by the people, I feel we aren't living up to our duties as American citizens either. Instead of doing something, we sit at the computer and share our opinions as if we played no role in any of this and as if our opinions created change. How did those large corporations that people claim run the government get such power and ability to control? I think it might have had something to do with normal people like you and me paying them for their services. We also voluntarily hopped onto the internet and cell phone technologies... though, it is true that we have been enticed into doing so over time as these things become "standards"... you need computer skills to get anywhere these days supposedly, for example. We've all heard that the day will come where physical money is no longer accepted and as always, it will take "regulation" and the promise of "added security" to entice us once again but it will happen. We must accept our roles in the current state of things. It does start with YOU and ME. If you truly want to change the world you should perhaps use all that time forming opinions on the world to instead research which corporations you would like to support and then do so. Might I recommend products from small businesses? They may be more expensive but finances are not the greatest price we will end up paying... and you could consider it an investment in the quality of life in your future. This is no small task but just as we contributed to the rise of these "giant" corporate monopolies we can in time level the playing field and return the power to the people. There is also a noted side-effect of the internet that nobody is talking about... instant gratification. Our social behavior has changed and I'm not so sure it is truly for the better. There are positive and negative aspects but look at what all has occurred since the dawn of the (w)ild (w)ild (w)est. I am only in my early thirties but the "change" I am witnessing cannot be denied and the internet clearly plays a role in that change. The masses watch the propaganda news channels for the latest on Britney (victim of a drug few get to try - no financial limit) more than they ever supported public broadcasting though there is no real publicly funded news station. What's worse is the masses believe what they are told, if not because of their willingness to trust because of the repetition hitting us from all directions. Whatever happened to our color-coded terror alert chart anyway? Have you felt in any way threatened by terrorism and if so are you more afraid of terrorists or your own government and the corporations that are taking more and more control of it in order to fulfill certain global initiatives?


[edit on 4-2-2008 by spectre76]

One of the biggest problems with this area of concern is ignorance. It is astonishing how people watch movies involving some kind of computer interface and think its real. I mean those pesky aliens thousands of years more advanced than us just happen to have computers that can talk to Apple macs and get infected!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DUH!!!!!!!!

The internet is the biggest threat to government control that has ever existed that's why they are worried. Computers linked to the internet are indeed vulnerable but only if the idiots using or managing them are stupid enough to leave the door wide open. How about creating an account name Guest with a password of Guest or even Password! Very very common. DUH! Come on dear readers how many of you have set the admin password on your router or have you just left it at the default value which means every hacker in the world knows what it is.

Because of the ignorance there are an awful lot of computer experts who are nothing of the sort. They just happen to know enough to make them seem like experts and god help any institution that lets these amateurs near their systems.

I went off on a tangent (or a few) and ran out of room to close comments off with my original point, which was that... While it may *seem* that all the government talk and propaganda about the war on this and the war on that doesn't mean much in the long run to those who would not ever be oppressed, the fact is that no amount of money in the world amounts to the value of human life (which will sound foolish to some) but it means a lot to all who have lost loved ones and it should matter to us all (including non-American innocent civilians). In my best estimate, for as long as you depend on the financial system... you are being oppressed. Now consider all the ways money is earned and spent. I see mountains of oppression (materialism) all around us. Add this new sense of instant gratification we are all used to and well, wait for the withdrawal to set in before promises are made that cannot be kept. Indeed, bloggers will be on the forefront of the final battle for freedom of expression (virtual freedom). Why would we be any better at defending our freedom on the internet over the erosion of the Constitution (physical freedom)? I'll borrow an example from The Department of Motor Vehicles and pose the following question:

Is our use of the internet and our freedom on it a privilege or a right?

[edit on 4-2-2008 by spectre76]

This is exactly what I have been pointing out. If you can be tracked then you have no freedoms, if you have no freedoms, you're in jail already, if you're in jail, you are helpless. The Pentagon was one of the original creators of the Internet, or DARPAnet, which was originally intended for use as a communications source between military bases and other installations in case of WWIII and nuclear holocaust.

They released the "weapon" in the form of better communiction to you and now they are afraid it will be used against them. Well, when someone hands you a weapon, and that person was untrustworthy who created it, who abused you and your thoughts, who lied to you and spent all your money on illicit endeavors, this is a surprise to them why exactly?

You do not stick your neck in the mouth of a lion and not expect it to bite you, or devour you whole. The American people here would be through a collective as people, the lion, and the Pentagon obviously thinks the American people forgot so easily the Vietnam War where they lied about everything. That's not a slight against any soldier who went through Vietnam, but against the agency that sent them there. Don't forget about "Air America" either and the CIA's hand in drug and gun smuggling for profit.


[edit on 4-2-2008 by SpartanKingLeonidas]

I get the impression that some people think the internet is in a room at the pentagon and they can see all.
The internet was made by hackers, the type that like to explore and figure out how things work. Crackers are those who destroy systems.
Anybody can set up a server and store information on it for others to access. To say the gov. let the internet loose on us is not true. Yes they used it as a way to share info but if they had a control of it i,m sure you would be paying them for it.
Read the ebook "underground". It follows the australian hacking scene in the late 80s. They were teenagers who set up there own networks to share hacking information and tools and it details their exploits into system cracking. Yes they got caught, but this was the early stages.
Hackers are always looking for things that shouldnt be there.
The sony rootkit is one. Sony placed rootkits on their cds which auto downloaded onto your pc. Its was found and sony released a patch to get rid of it. This also shows how much us folk are underestimated.
Apple, hd, blueray all said that their copyright could not be hacked but they all were.
The internet cannot be controlled.
Anything that is put in place to monitor will most likely be found.

Originally posted by INdigo Child
But I guess if they are really serious about all this then we can kiss our little CT sites goodbye.

Yup and the first blow was struck last night...

Originally posted by zorgon

Originally posted by INdigo Child
But I guess if they are really serious about all this then we can kiss our little CT sites goodbye.

Yup and the first blow was struck last night...

I bet you don't have to kiss it goodbye.

In the wild, animals which are back up in a corner and attacked will lash out. IMHO, these events of stripping away our liberties and rights will force us "nonconformists" to start a civil war. The internet would be a useful communication tool for this. How can we band together if we can't talk to each other.

Why now, are the main internet lines in the Middle East being cut? I do not think it is coincidence. This also prevents the citizens living in these affected countries from providing videographic proof of any potential wrongdoings. We would have to rely on Big Brother's pet media for all knowledge regarding events.

Why now, are the main internet lines in the Middle East being cut?

Personaly I don't think it was an accident either, but we can only assume who is responsible at the moment, and "will" we assume according to who we dislike the most, politically?

Why couldn't certain people be trying to discourage western ideologies?

If the Pentagon considers the cyber-globe an "enemy weapons system" doesn't that suggest that those considerations have made them "active". Sure there's the Mellon-Heads at CERT... but if I was them I'd have me some REAL smart boys and girls... in a bunch of places quietly "doin' stuff" and "tryin' things" you know? Wink. [invisible]test attack pattern delta - number station foxtrot - gulf fiber Q33[/invisible]

CERT is great but they ain't "the crew". The Pentagon's "people" are "anonymous" and may leave 0phtprnts. Who knows what "magic" is in any chip or software beyond what we are told. [invisible]shutdown -h then[/invisible].

Just speculating but did the Pentagon just pick a fight with with the entire planet in some small way? Why disclose this information now? /root/*.*.conf? It's deeper, in the sands...

Cheers,

Vic

[edit on 4-2-2008 by V Kaminski]

[edit on 4-2-2008 by V Kaminski]