Who Wil Be Our New President; Post His Name;

[reeb]

I am going Bush , unless he opens the flood gates from the South, then I will be like the Legals living here ( cause their jobs are on the line also ) and go with Kerry ( fuly qualified ) to me.

enough.......

[Keith_Hixson]

The computer age and the internet had its great growth in the 90's. My Niece's husband, Phd. in Math, Phd. in Computer Engineering predicted and that there would be a great leveling off of the computer industry as it saturated the market place. He said back in 1998, "Keith if you have any stock in a DOT.COM get it out because that industry is going to start shrinking." Ron you are absolutely correct. The Economy cycle wasn't Bush's fault or even Clinton's fault, Economies cycle. If we had Gore in office the same cycle would have occurred in economy, so blaming anything on the economy isn't fair. However, the professionals in computer industry knew the DOT.COM crash was coming. My Niece's husband owns his on computer consulting business and travels the world setting up major computer systems for governments and industrial giants, and knew it was coming just because of the saturation that computer was making into society had to come a leveling off and recession so it could normalize. Can't blame anyone for the failure of DOT.COM, such regular business cycle as products adjust to supply and demand. The computer I bought back in 1995 cost me $2000 and and by today's standards its a piece of junk. I use for Word Processing in my office (occassionally play solitaire). For $2000 I can buy quite a set up today, with 10 times the power and storage that the old one had.

Keith

[williams919]

BUSH, even with the backing he is not giving some groups. I think his record will continue to be his asset. The economy is up, gas is up and the rent is up. So the rest can't offer much for appeal. Old Gep did the right thing with orm without tears. Kerry has a chance but, Clarke will more then likely kncok him out.
The rest are just wasteing time, money and a lot of others effort.
Willie

One thing for sure, "No Gore in 2004"

[David]

Keith, the internet and pc revolution has not even started yet...

[David]

In other developments....

Microsoft.

Microsoft has decided to open it's source code up to certain officials within our government. They are also opening it up to officials in certain other governments.

[MORTARDUDE]

David :

Thanks for your comments regarding IT. It is difficult for anyone not in the business to see the mess it is in. I started with mainframes in 1972 and my first PC was in 1986 ( Apple IIC ).
Altho my time has been with the government, I have had a lot of interaction with contractors. Consolidation is the name of the game. Anyone that thinks that Bush & Co. are pro-worker are just wrong. I was hood-winked last election, but not this time.

Larry

[David]

In still more developments...

Keith if that last one did not interest you this one is sure to.

Applied Digital Solutions has announced VeriPay. VeriPay uses a RFID chip implanted in the consumers skin to allow then to conduct monetary transactions. The company states many customers have already accepted the chip and it is gaining in poularity.



From their website:

How VeriChip Works
An implantable, 12mm by 2.1mm radio frequency device, VeriChip is about the size of the point of a typical ballpoint pen. It contains a unique verification number. Utilizing an external scanner, radio frequency energy passes through the skin energizing the dormant VeriChip, which then emits a radio frequency signal containing the verification number. The number is displayed by the scanner and transmitted to a secure data storage site by authorized personnel via telephone or Internet.

[David]

I am with you on that Larry

[David]

The next wave of chipping, tracking your food and every other purchase you make.


Computer chips the size of grains of sand have become the latest trend among manufacturers seeking to track everything from automobiles to underwear to razor blades.

The new technology can fix the exact location of virtually any consumer product and the humans who wear and carry the items.

The radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips now in mass production are affixed to postage-stamp-size labels. Merchandisers, led by Wal-Mart, will soon use them to track goods inside the store. Shelf antennae will alert staff to restock products, or turn on surveillance cameras if shoplifting is suspected.

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Auto-ID Center, the leading research organization on RFIDs, says in its literature that the simple concept has "enormous implications.

"Put a tag ? a microchip with an antenna ? on a can of Coke or a car axle, and suddenly a computer can 'see' it. Put tags on every can of Coke and every car axle, and suddenly the world changes. No more inventory counts. No more lost or misdirected shipments. No more guessing how much material is in the supply chain, or how much product is on the store shelves."

The global infrastructure that MIT envisions is an Internet tool "that will make it possible for computers to identify any object anywhere in the world instantly. This network will not just provide the means to feed reliable, accurate, real-time information into existing business applications; it will usher in a whole new era of innovation and opportunity."

And that is what worries some privacy advocates, who fear the Big Brother technology attached to clothing will follow customers out of the store and be used to track people through the items they purchase.

"If misused, the potential for abuse is so tremendous," said Katherine Albrecht, director of Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion And Numbering (CASPIAN).

The consumer-watchdog group initiated a boycott against Benetton, an Italian clothing maker and store that says it plans to implant the technology on "smart labels" on its Sisley brand of underwear.

The company admitted in a written statement it "is currently analyzing RFID technology to evaluate its technical characteristics," but "emphasizes that no feasibility studies have yet been undertaken with a view to the possible industrial introduction of this technology."

"On completion of all studies on this matter, including careful analysis of potential implications relating to individual privacy, the company reserves the right to take the most appropriate decision to generate maximum value for its stakeholders and customers," the statement said.

Advocates of the new technology say the identifying number on the chip can be erased, easing some privacy concerns, and that safeguards are being developed to completely turn the chip off before it leaves the store.

But opponents say they are not convinced that the safeguards are enough, arguing that the chips may not be deactivated ? potentially leading to abuse of power similar to that in totalitarian regimes.

"If Hitler had access to this technology, there would not be a whole lot of Jewish people alive today. This is the ultimate form of power," Mrs. Albrecht said.

She said that the technology also offers X-ray vision capable of reading personal items in handbags, brief cases and pockets.

Advocates of the new technology say it will enable manufacturerers to reduce thefts and increase profits, and field tests have already tracked inventory shipped from all over the country to the loading dock of a Sam's Club in Tulsa, Okla. Also, an amusement park did real-time tracking of children wearing bracelets with the tiny technology.

Numerous companies have the technical ability to produce the chips at various costs, but Alien Technology Corp. of California is at the forefront with a contract from Gillette Co. to produce 500 million tags, at about 25 cents apiece, to track the firm's shaving products.

"This is a landmark agreement," Stav Prodromou, Alien chief executive, said in announcing the deal. He said the affordable prices will ensure widespread adoption of the technology.

Alien spokesman Tom Pound said that within a few years, the tags will be produced for just pennies apiece.

"We have the technology and a roadmap that takes us there," Mr. Pound said.

Some companies are already moving past consumer use and marketing the technology for military and homeland-security applications.

The military used the technology to track food and equipment headed to the war in Iraq, said Mark Roberti, editor of RFID Journal. "In the first Gulf war, they sent 20,000 containers and had to open 16,000 to find out what was inside," he said.

In this year's war, chips sewn into wristbands followed wounded military personnel and triage records as they moved through field hospitals.

ActiveWave says its RFID system can aid homeland security by real-time tracking of airport employees working in secure areas by their identification cards, and passengers by airline tickets.

To expedite border crossing, the Homeland Security Department is already using the chips, embedded on identification cards.

[David]

From the posts above you can see why I say it has not even begun yet.