For Better Or Worse

I am grateful for the recent emphasis in technology by my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Just a few weeks ago, I watched online as our Church leaders spoke to members worldwide. There was a clear theme that the Lord has provided many tools in the form of technology to help us spread the Gospel. But in the same general conference Church leaders warned of the many dangers we face from addictions to technology. In the last few decades, the world has seen phenomenal advances in technology, but whether that is for better or worse remains to be seen. I believe the Lord gave us these marvelous tools to connect the human family, spread the Gospel, and declare Eternal Truths. It is up to the human family to decide whether we use these gifts to the blessing of our lives or our ultimate destruction.

Can't We All Just Get Along?

The Apple ecosystem is very different than the open source and free software movements documented in Revolution OS. The Apple camp and the open source camp may be very different, but there is a place for both of them in this world. I've been in both camps. My freshman year of college I was introduced to Linux, and spent hours trying every flavor I could download. This last summer I interned at Apple, and I'll be going back when I graduate. Apple runs an exclusive club and locks down its devices and software. But even at Apple, where everyone naturally uses a Mac, the server rooms are filled with Linux servers. Mac OS X shares a common ancestor with Linux, Unix, and so a lot of the GNU software like emacs runs and even ships with OS X. In fact, Apple's developer software Xcode is based on emacs. After becoming addicted to programs like vim, ssh, and bash, I thought I could never leave the Linux world, but I was delighted to find that all of these programs run natively in OS X. As a result, I get the best of both worlds, and I honestly couldn't do without either of them. As a software engineer and computer power-user, I need both camps to get along. There's room for everyone to play, even Windows. How else would I know just how great OS X is?

No Really, Trust Me

As I have stated before, trust is everything. Our society depends on it. When I drive on the highway at 65 mph, I'm trusting that the guy next to me isn't suicidal and won't swerve into me. I have a lockless mailbox, where my private mail sits outside for hours each day. Many functions in our world rely on trust to work. We need it, and I'm grateful we can still use it. To me, the inherent trust in society is part of what defines the human family.

But mankind is slowly changing. Chris Stoll's The Cuckoo's Egg shows us a time in early computing when networks were built around openness and trust, and how malicious users broke that trust. As a result of increasing accounts of trust violation, computer users are forced to become more paranoid. Stronger passwords, better cryptography, and security awareness have become a natural part of modern computing. And it's not just the computers.  I am always looking for ways to live "smarter,"changing my lifestyle so it relies less and less on the trust of absolute strangers. I lock the doors, I keep personal information private, and I drive defensively. I don't talk to people in line at the store, and I am grateful for the elevator music that breaks the awkward silence. I am not alone. Society is evolving, increasing paranoia and self-protection, and loosing its trust. One day, we may "perfect" society so it no longer needs trust to work. I'm not sure that's the kind of human family I really want.