- BY SARAH

Well this is my first serious article here at the NudeOC and thought I would take the opportunity to speak about the amazing world of technology that we live in.  I wonder how many of you would agree with me if I said that of any time in history we are most fortunate to have been born in the late 1900s.

Being an overclocking naturalist this could be considered to be a somewhat contradictory viewpoint.  Naturalists love nature yet the present world has eroded much of our natural resources, created global warming, destroyed the rainforests and polluted the seas.  But then again, we have Intel Pentium III processors and 133mhz SDRAM, so I guess it's acceptable...

EDWARD I - (1239 - 1307)

Environment worries aside I couldn't envisage any other period in history that I would want to have lived in.  Just imagine for a second, being born in 1300.  What happened between 1300 and 1350 (when you would probably have died at the grand old age of 50)?  Not very much, is the simple answer.  Most of history was stagnant and dormant, with little being achieved in short periods of time.

The 20th century, however, facilitated monumental changes of a scale previously inconceivable.  Just take a look at the world around you.  The room you are sitting in.  How much of it is computer controlled?  Alarm clocks, televisions, cookers, fridges, microwaves, electricity, watches, the list is endless.  Those in the world who take the Luddite stance and rebel against technology are in a vast minority, yet their numbers are steadily increasing,

The downside of all this, as I see it, is the ability to shift power to the few, who can use it to control the many.  How much power do you think Microsoft, for example, holds?  More than you could imagine.  Let's take one simple scenario, Microsoft Windows.  Now lets say that in Windows there was a pre-programmed virus, which caused windows to erase itself.  A simple idea, but imagine the effects.  With some 90% of the world's computer systems running windows the economic and financial damage would be unimaginable.

The ensuing panic could cause whole stock markets to crash and jeopardise economies on a vast scale.  This is one small example of how the world could be held to ransom by a small minority.  The old point of contention of Nuclear weapons is another much hackneyed topic but equally valid in it's prominence and importance.  The ability of the few to cause death and destruction to billions of others becomes ever easier with each passing year.

Am I being a harbinger of doom?  Maybe.  I wonder what percentage of the world's population, and what percentage in industrialised nations realises the extent to which they are routinely spied upon their governments.  There are now spy satellites which can zoom onto the nose on a person's face, whilst floating miles above the earth in orbit.  You can't see it, yet it can see you.

I recently discovered that in England, where I live, 1 out of every 1000 phonecalls is routinely monitored by a government eavesdropping centre.  The average person will have 1 or 2 phonecalls listened to each year.  Disturbing, isn't it?

CCTV CONTROL UNIT - HOW EASY IT IS TO SPY

CCTV cameras are another increasingly imposing tool that those in power wield.  Going to work one day, I counted the cameras that I passed on a 6 mile journey.  It was a total of 47.  My whole journey, which involved walking, a bus journey, more walking, a subway trip and some more walking was captured on 47 different recording devices.  So far we have established that our movements are recorded, our phonecalls listened to and our faces are zoomed in on from beyond the planet.  Getting worried?

The advancement of technology can only serve to increase this invasion of our personal privacy.  If such devices are used in a regulatory manner, to prevent crime, to improve society and for honourable purposes then their presence is warmly welcomed, but do we really know what they are used for?

The recent riots in Seattle, London and many other cities against capitalism are cause for some concern.  Sadly I did not take part, as a naked overclocking bald woman running through the streets in the midst of a riot did not seem wholly appropriate.......  I was more content to stay at home and watch it on TV whilst polishing my soldering iron.......

I started this article by saying that I would prefer to live now than at any time in the past and this is certainly still true.  There are a great deal of negatives which have arisen from technology but the potential positives far outweigh the bad points in my opinion.  We only need look at the advancement of medicine as one example of this.

We are now starting to understand the human body and mind and with the soon to be completed Human Genome project will understand the seeds of creation.  There are potentially many bad uses of this technology but again the benefits are so strong that we will inevitably proceed with it.  The need for knowledge is the driving force of humanity and the temptation for it will always be there.

We now sit in the year 2000, having safely made it through the Millennium Bug (so far) and looking forward to a future of wonder and awe.  On the subject of the Millennium Bug, it's amazing how dependant we are on technology now.  The whole world was thrown into confusion and worry over the numbers 00.  A disturbing thought!

For those of you don't know, Moore's Law states in rough terms that the processing power of computers doubles every 18 months.  Of late this has certainly proved to be true.  We have 800mhz processors now.  In January 1997 I had a P120.  In November 1995 a friend of mine bought a P75, the fastest processor on sale at the time being a P100.

HOW PROCESSING POWER HAS ADVANCED

With each new processor release comes more and more complex games, increasingly advanced software and applications and a whole new tier of interactivity.  In which year do you think we will have 10,000 mhz computers?  It would be easy to say in about 100 years time.  If Moore's Law holds true we could see these computers being commonplace sometime around the year 2006.

How long do you think it will be before we have computers that can rival the human mind in intelligence stakes?  Not long I would say.  Intelligence, some would say, is an organised level of complexity.  Once the complexity is sufficient it will no doubt organise itself, et voila!  You now have artificial life.  Have you heard of Aibo?  He's a Japanese cyber dog.  Acts just like a dog and can even record emails and voice messages for you.  He has digital cameras in his eyes and computer chips throughout his cybernetic body.  Aibo is not an imaginary character from a science fiction film.  He is very real and is on sale now for around £2000.  ($3200)

AIBO - THE CANINE ARTIFICIAL LIFEFORM

The Internet revolution is gradually breaking down the barriers between nations and truly creating a global community.  Consider now how easy it is to sit in a chatroom on the net and be effectively in conference with 100 people from all over the planet.  Something that was unimaginable a short time ago and now is a reality.  Unimaginable is the key word here.  What unimaginable things will become reality over the next decade?

Cybernetic neural interfaces?  They are closer than you would think.  Recently there was a story of a computer chip being implanted into a disabled man.  Now by thinking and just by thinking alone, he can control a mouse pointer on a computer screen.  Mind and machine have taken the first steps to interfacing.  Expand that 10 years down the line.  Virtual reality computer games will no doubt be common place.  Take it 30 years down the line and you will have a hard job of deciding which reality is the real one!

Already when we use the internet we are interacting with others on a purely mental basis.  We have no voices or bodies in cyberspace.  We are merely minds.  If you then expand on this technology with more and more devices such as optical sensors, motion detectors etc you will quickly find that we have transcended our bodies entirely.  This scenario has been parodied by many a TV sci-fi show but could become commonplace easily within 50 years.

SIT BACK AND PLUG YOURSELF INTO A NEW WORLD

I can quite easily see a future of people plugged into computers, their base functions such as feeding and going to the toilet being regulated by computers and their minds permanently floating through the cyber-ether.  You would need to return to real life maybe once a month but everything else could easily be handled online.

This closer integration of humanity is a good thing and certainly is welcomed by many.  If we were all one community there would be less chance of war.  When countries go to war it is not the people who are going to war, it is the governments.  The few hundred people who have ultimate power are making the decisions, not the billions who sit at home and watch it on television.

So far we have:

PROS:

1)  Closer Integration Of Humanity

2)  Medical Advancements

3)  Longevity - Prolongment Of Life

CONS:

1)  Less Control - Invasion Of Privacy

2)  Potential Facilitation Of Widespread Destruction

3)  Destruction Of Nature

Already the Internet is beginning to show that without central regulation we naturally regulate ourselves.  We do not need to have the conditions of existence dictated to us, what we see censored and what we do monitored.  So I guess the question now is:  Is the freedom of information between individuals spreading quicker than increased imposition by governments upon those individuals?  The answer is open to interpretation.

Do not consider me to be anti-government in any way as this most certainly isn't the case.  I do however have strong concerns as to the powers that these few people hold and how ultimately we have less and less say in the running of our lives.

I look forward to the next 20 years and believe that we will be constantly amazed at how quickly things change around us.  It certainly is a very exciting time to live in and will be one hell of a ride unraveling the future.........

EMAIL SARAH - HERE

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