The Internet of Voting

Of course I'm doing a political post.  But don't be too afraid, I promise not to talk about candidates or emails or actual politics.  But I will talk about issues.  One issue: Electronic Voting.

(Courtesy, The New York Times)

The Ideal

Imagine a world where we drop the 'Representative' out of 'Representative Democracy.'  All issues are submitted to the population for a vote.  We all get a notification on our device of choice, read up on the issue and submit our choice.  We all get an actual say in the direction our city, county, state/province and country goes.

Heck, why stop at country.  Trade agreements, sanctions and UN resolutions could go world wide to everyone and a real 'Will O' the People' could be enacted.  Everyone would have a say.  There would be no arguments about secret cabals controlling everything.  It would be beautiful.  #dogsandcatssleepingtogether

The Dyn DDoS Was My Fault

The biggest news article for the Internet of Things this last week was the attack on Dyn's DNS servers that took down a variety of sites in various locales (mostly eastern US seaboard).  It was a persistent Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on their systems and, while I do NOT claim responsibility, I think I might have been at least partly responsible.

Google Trust: Doubling Down

For the past two weeks, I've discussed the role of big data in my life, both as something to use with at least one eye open and as the terrain that my daughter must navigate as she grows.  And then October 4th happened.

On that day, Google announced a variety of products with most of the focus going to their new Pixel phones.  But they also announced their Allo messaging app, a new 4K Chromecast and their Google Home voice assistant.  It was that last that caught my eye.

Web Parenting

Last week, I spent some time discussing whether or not the techno-corps (Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, et al) were trustworthy.  The short answer is that I trust them to do what they say they are going to do in their Terms and Conditions.  I do not trust them to protect my personal information because 1) they can be forced to reveal that information by my government and 2) there is no such thing as a perfect defense against hacking.

But that's not the end of my thoughts on this topic because I am a parent.  My Middle School Daughter (the MSD that has been missing from several months of these posts) is swimming in these technical waters as well.  Teaching her how to navigate them is my responsibility, one that is almost more difficult to explain than why we have to say "Please" when we ask for things (instead of "Boop" or "NOW!").

Always Google

Keep in mind that she has never known a world without Google.  Knowledge is no more than an "Okay, Google" away.  Encyclopedias and research libraries are foreign to her.  She has had a presence on Facebook almost since before she was born thanks to her mother, her grandparents, her aunts and uncles and me.  She's had no control or consent to these social media postings, but she also does not complain about them.  At least, not yet.

The point is that on-line is part of where she lives.  It's not the only place she lives but it is a part.  She hangs out with her friends on Hangouts.  She posts her artwork on Instagram.  She comments (endlessly) on YouTube.  She has three email accounts.  (But not Google+: "Nobody uses that, Dad!" eye-roll)

Technical Parenting

Most other parents that I know tend to restrict their children's use of technology: smartphones, tablets, the Internet.  The feeling is that kids need to spend time in reality, facing the physical world and its challenges.  And there is certainly some truth to this: the only way we all learn to roll with the punches is to by having survived a few punches.

However, the punches are no longer only physical punches.  Where is she going to learn how to deal with phishing scams?  Cyberbullies?  Nigerian Emails?  Not by avoiding them but by encountering them and asking questions.   Usually of me.  That is behavior that I want to encourage.

If I restrict her use of technology because of what might happen, then I teach her that technology is to be feared, or, worse yet, that it is forbidden fruit that must be used in secret.  Then she will not ask me questions about it because she will be afraid of being caught.

Instead, I am her technical support.  It's a role that I sometimes enjoy, sometimes dread, but at least it creates a habit of coming to Dad to get help.  I ultimately want her to be able to answer her own questions around technology, but for the moment this is a better solution.

Cyber Boundaries

Understand that I do not agree with all of the choices that she makes in her use of technology.  She feels entitled to comment on everything on YouTube, something that I do not do because I do not want to start a flame war.  But all of her comments get forwarded to my email thanks to Gmail auto-forwarding.  On top of that, the content that she consumes is not interesting to me, but she wants to share it with my and so I make the effort.

And there are boundaries.  Her Instagram account is private and I know who she has allowed to view it.  I follow her and know what she posts.  If she kicks me out, then the account goes away.  I know the channels to which she has subscribed on YouTube; I don't watch every video, but I know the general tone of each channel.  Some of them use swear words, but instead of restricting them, we have talked about it.  If she starts using those words in casual conversation, then she knows that the phone will go away for a while.

Features not People

The bottom line is that my daughter needs to learn to live in both the real world and this on-line world.  It has always been a part of her life and it always will be.  Both have rules of behavior and conduct, but she is not going to learn them by avoiding either of these worlds.  I certainly do not want Google, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook or Amazon raising my child.  Fortunately, by being her technical support, I can help her understand that these companies are features of the on-line landscape, not people who can be trusted.

Will this apporach always work?  No, but it seems to be working for now.  When it stops, I'll have to change how I parent the internet.  But change is nothing new; it's what technology is all about.

My Cord Cutting Journey, Part 1 [Guest Post]

My Cord Cutting Journey Part 1

By One and Zeros

[

Editor's Note: I've asked a friend of mine to write up his cord cutting experience.  He has gone through it more recently and embraced it more deeply than I have.  I hope that you enjoy his journey as much as I have. 

                                                                                                                                              - Schmoid

]

A Brief History

I can track my love of all things tech to two very distinct moments in my life. The first occurred shortly after my high school graduation in 1982. My father gifted me an Audio Receiver and speakers. The setup was straightforward and the quality of sound was, to an 18 year old, superlative. But it was the first time the thought popped into my head that the experience might be better with a larger, and yes, more expensive pair of speakers. I grabbed every audiophile magazine I could find from the newsstand and spent months obsessing over that perfect pair of speakers. I was hooked, and that started my audiophile compulsion. The computer side of my tech love affair didn’t manifest itself until 1992 when I met my future ex-wife. It was yet another gift from my father: a 486SX computer with 4 MB’s of RAM. I knew very little about computers and the gift was meant to stimulate my interest so I could be better prepared for the business world. Mission accomplished. And like my audiophile lifestyle, this new passion came with the desire to constantly upgrade.

Trusting The Web

Recently, I was asked by a friend (the same friend that introduced my to drones, BTW) if I trusted Google.  In the context of our conversation of the time, the implication was that that might not be the wisest thing to do.  At the time, my answer was highly qualified:

"I trust them to do things that are good for Google.  And abusing what they know about me and everyone else that uses their services is will only be good for them in the short term.  If they go to far, then people will stop using their services and they will stop making money for their shareholders."

 - Schmoid

 Which is only a sort-of answer.  And, as things like this often do, it got me thinking.  Should we trust the large tech companies that know so much about us: Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.?  I don't really like my answer above, so I'm going to type my way into a better one.  Come along for the ride, why don't you?