Comments on: Security, Control and the Future of Everything http://www.chaosprg.com/blog/2010/01/security-control-and-the-future-of-everything/ Without creativity, the universe would just be columns of numbers. Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:27:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: irv http://www.chaosprg.com/blog/2010/01/security-control-and-the-future-of-everything/comment-page-1/#comment-222 irv Mon, 04 Jan 2010 16:29:27 +0000 http://www.chaosprg.com/blog/?p=300#comment-222 Beyond whether information is free we have the problem of what qualifies as meaningful information. Newspapers are still operating under the broadcast paradigm where the only information that counts is what they tell you. Sources beyond their own self contained articles are generally ignored. Likewise, most corporate websites want to show you only a narrow slice of the info available about their companies and products and people's interactions with them. In a way, with those attempts at control they've forced the creation of hate sites (ie: yourcompanysucks.com), which they then often sue in the mistaken belief that the Internet has no effect on word of mouth. They think they can suppress information they don't like. That is simply no longer possible. That's an illustration of what I mean about loss of control. Whether people want to admit it or not, they have to deal with more information, including the spurious (what I had for lunch today) and the harmful (yourcompanysucks.com). Embracing that - such as having a built in complaint forum to head off hate sites - is something everyone has to learn now. Beyond whether information is free we have the problem of what qualifies as meaningful information. Newspapers are still operating under the broadcast paradigm where the only information that counts is what they tell you. Sources beyond their own self contained articles are generally ignored.

Likewise, most corporate websites want to show you only a narrow slice of the info available about their companies and products and people’s interactions with them. In a way, with those attempts at control they’ve forced the creation of hate sites (ie: yourcompanysucks.com), which they then often sue in the mistaken belief that the Internet has no effect on word of mouth. They think they can suppress information they don’t like. That is simply no longer possible.

That’s an illustration of what I mean about loss of control. Whether people want to admit it or not, they have to deal with more information, including the spurious (what I had for lunch today) and the harmful (yourcompanysucks.com). Embracing that – such as having a built in complaint forum to head off hate sites – is something everyone has to learn now.

]]> By: Aaron http://www.chaosprg.com/blog/2010/01/security-control-and-the-future-of-everything/comment-page-1/#comment-221 Aaron Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:25:57 +0000 http://www.chaosprg.com/blog/?p=300#comment-221 I think in part what we need is a way to distinguish various sources of information. The ability to rate and categorize information sources will at least allow us to filter out the noise. Similar to how Amazon allows people to rate user comments on whether they were useful, but on a larger scale. Preventing the initial outflow of information could be a little more difficult. DLP can help, but it can only protect so much, and can only protect the systems that are channeled through it. Thomas Jefferson often spoke about the freedom of information and the idea that information should be free for the sake of the universal good. Maybe information wants to be free, and should be free, but it isn't its own master. It's enslaved to those who find value in its content. I think in part what we need is a way to distinguish various sources of information. The ability to rate and categorize information sources will at least allow us to filter out the noise. Similar to how Amazon allows people to rate user comments on whether they were useful, but on a larger scale.

Preventing the initial outflow of information could be a little more difficult. DLP can help, but it can only protect so much, and can only protect the systems that are channeled through it. Thomas Jefferson often spoke about the freedom of information and the idea that information should be free for the sake of the universal good. Maybe information wants to be free, and should be free, but it isn’t its own master. It’s enslaved to those who find value in its content.

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