Today’s blog post concerns Facebook and, specifically, the interweb. There are a few people, yes, who are all “up in arms” about this “security” “issue” where facebook might be accidentally sharing with the whole “world” what you’re “doing” and what your credit card information might be. You know what I say? Big deal! As in… this is a big deal.
Here’s the thing about the internet. First — no more punchcards. I just wanted to make that clear. Second — if you post something on the internet, it’s going to be somewhere forever. Hard drives containing replication upon replication of your data will always be spinning, and this includes your kid’s 3rd birthday pictures where the candles caught the curtains on fire. Sure, it ended up being funny, and sure, even the fire chief laughed about it later, but that evidence will never be gone. Someone will be able to find it, somewhere, somehow, on some stack of punchcards in Duluth.

We archive things because we can. Remember back when people would boast about having “Twenty MEGS!” on their IBM AT? Oh, I remember those Oregon Trail Days, when nothing mattered except a broken wagon wheel and dysentery. No one would dream of trying to store all the data in all the world, especially not back in the 80’s. Today is different. You can get 2 Gigabytes of data by buying specially marked boxes of Trix.

Technology flies by the rule of if/when/do. IF we can do it — WHEN we can do it — then DO it. IF we can have a thing called facebook becomes WHEN by the drive of IF, and, if you can, then, by all means, start a thing called Facebook. Rules of the 2GB Trix applies, too. IF you can store all that data on redundant machines, starting WHEN we get that server room built, then let’s DO it — let’s store everything and leave ports so that everyone can get what they need.

And what they want.

The “they”, by the way, may not be just Aunt Sue trying to see how your new curtains look. It may be the bad guys trying to catch some information about you and yours. By the way, once they capture it, it’s in their (and whoever elses’) hands forever.

There is no paper shredder for the internet.

“Just print everything and then — SHRED IT!”. Nope. It’s still there. On a flash drive or punchcard. Somewhere. Forever.

People are upset about Facebook stuff because it has become so central to their daily function. For many, the internet IS facebook and facebook IS the internet. It starts and ends there. Funny how things escalate. What began as a digital photo album is now the site of the day.

Mmm. Soup.

If you mess with something that affects so many, you’re going to get feedback. And if our willingly-posted data is in jeopardy, yeah — we’re going to be worried.

Eh. Sometimes I wonder if part of the wonder of Heaven will be its incredible simplicity and zero evil. Yeah. That sounds real good right ’bout now.