Embracing Change

What does it take for a society to embrace a different way of doing something? Our current system of consuming electricity starts at a central power plant. The energy produced is then directed to homes through an extensive network of substations and power lines. Large costs go into each foot of the electrical infrastructure. Conversely, a new model for energy consumption has been created by Bloom Energy. This week, Bloom Energy released plans for the new electrical infrastructure that would put a micro power plant in every backyard. The company's plans outline a greener and more cost efficient way to produce and consume energy with a device called the Bloombox. But the current energy model is very invested into landlines and large power production companies. With a better model that saves money and stamps a green footprint in every yard, is there a obligation to convert society? I'm not talking about a single product, but the entire way that we think about energy consumption. A way that we've unanimously followed sense Tesla created the energy framework.

The Cuckoo's egg

In medieval times, castles with thick walls were constructed to protect persons and their possessions. Sadly, there have always been offenders who plunder for a profit. At first, arrows and rocks were used to attack. Then black powder and cannons changed the battle field. Today, the networked world first defended itself with passwords. Only the exact combination of characters could open the door. Then holes in operating systems and communication networks allowed modern pillagers to hack there way into sensitive information. The story of Cliff Stoll is evidence of a computer hacker's genesis cannon shot. The days of simple password protection crumbled after Cliff found out how far Markus Hess penetrated into government websites. Warfare requires rules and the prosecution of rule breakers. WWII produced the Geneva convention. The convention rules cross boundaries and allow the prosecution of war criminals. At the end of The Cuckoo's Egg, Markus Hess still walked free from his crime. There's no need for a cyber world war before standardized laws are created, allowing the prosecution of cyber criminals in other nations. With a law comes the ability to prosecute offenders. The cyber history of the networked world is still young. But the lessons learned from past warfare can be applied to the fresh battle field of computers. Governments need to plan, prepare, and protect now for future nuclear cyber attacks. Learning from the past lends to a safer and better prepared future.

Total Genealogy

One use of computers is to connect lives through genealogy. Relative's records, both of the living and of the dead, are linked together online. Personal lineages have been combined to form vast online databases of the human family. Though the information transition from personal pedigree to the online community happened seamlessly, there now needs to be a union of all the different online repositories of genealogical information. That is, there is a need if the end goal is to create a single bank of connected names for all humanity to reference. There is, however, a problem. The issue lies with online-pedigree databases that focus on profiting from the names collected. How do you combine information when segments are held under lock and key? I feel that, if money is to be made from genealogy, let it be made by creating applications that access a database of all gathered names, and not from the slice of the names to which someone has the rights.