Chapter 2 - Times are changing

I had never thought about that people today are still afraid of new ideas or ways. But to come to think about it, yes they are. It is really hard to introduce new innovative ideas from politicians for example. Everything new is usually considered risky and tricky - at least by most people. And even those who have ideas and would be ready to take a risk, can't because the majority does not allow. I do not like politics, but at the same time, it is what leads us towards the distraction that we all know is coming.
Weird, how people understand that their every step is actually harming the same organism they are living on, but well continue, mostly the same way.
Theobald book "Rapids of change" overview in here and discussion between him and Tess Taft in Radio National how much can be known on everyday basis, but not followed by actions.
People are selfish and individualism is more and more considered as a plus. What I feel is good for me is probably not so good for someone else. My actions can affect someone else in a hard way, without me actually wanting this. If I am a dog-friendly person and my boss allows me to take my dog to work with me, then I am happy and my productivity may increase, at the same time my co-worker might not like dogs or one might even have allergy towards dogs, his productivity decreases at the same time. But when my boss tells me to leave my dog at home, I start making shorter work-days and my motivation definitely suffers.
Well the dog is a certain thing, fortunately something still is static in this world. Dog who wants to go outside at certain hours keeps life circulating on a routined way. But as work behind computers is more and more flexible, it might not matter anymore at what times I work. My day starts with talking Latin-American moderators, if I wake up early. My day ends with talking Latin-American moderators, if I stay up late, and usually I do. It is their morning, when common office workers end their workday in Estonia, at 5 p.m. My 24 hours are managed mainly depending on most active users time zones on our social network.

Chapter 5 - Echelon

Teenagers often have a period where they think that all other people around them are observing, watching, listening them. But this period usually passes and after a while person will understand that it has all just been a crazy and not real fear. If this paranoid feeling continues it is considered as a disorder and needs to be treated.
But... actually if someone would love to follow me and see all the things I am doing it would be really easy with today's technology.
Where it will lead the world? If a husband suspects their wife on cheating then they can use small eavesdropping devices, minicameras etc. And what happens if the jealous husband works for some government organization and has access to all needed secrets to spy on his wife?
Echelon should not be used to personal purposes but to protect countries or world or get information about terrorism.
I often think that USA, who is leading all of this is like a paranoid teenager who thinks bad of everybody else and considers itself to be the center of the world. Usa does not want to understand that not everything that happens in the world is about them. Usa is like a big "bully" and as long as he continues to bully others and does not give respect to differences in the world, there will always be someone to rebell and fight against it.

Or is it normal to have such a surveillance system, that can track who I call, what I write, satellites read the newspaper on the street and all person can be tracked when they carry mobile phones.
At some point the only way to escape from others knowing information about you is run and hide somewhere with no signals, wires, machines or technical devices. Bit where would that be?

Chapter 7 - Internet availability and Digital divide

Estonian internet availability is good. There has been many talks over opening wifi all over the country for free. Basically it is possible to use wireless internet all over the country. Mobile phone operators, Estonian Electrical company all offer somekind of possibility. Farms and faraway places in the middle of forest can have radio internet.
Estonia is a small country. Of course we have borderland as well, where fewer and poorer people live and where things are not so easily taken as in and near bigger cities. But I think actually getting internet access is not a big problem. If one wants to have it then they will get it.
There is a difference that in the city I can choose from which provider I get my internet, but in the countryside I might have to take the only one available even if it costs twice as much as quicker internet in the city.
I stayed in USA for 3 months 4 years ago and I felt in there what actually means not getting internet so easily. I was surprised to see offices where several rooms did not have internet connection (but had people working behind computers). Then I thought “and they think that I have not seen a true civilization?”
Basically I can use internet everywhere in Estonia. Because of my work I also have KÕU – a small mobile device that can be connected to my laptop and I can get to internet everywhere NMT network works. Currently I only know one place in Estonia where KÕU didn’t gave any internet connection even with car antenna. I know that this is the place I have to go to get some rest from work and technological devices :P

Chapter 1 - Himanen talks

Himanen talks about the society the way it is today. If the title of the article might sound kind of abstract – „Challenges of Global information Society“, then actually this is where we are today and what we will see in couple of years.

The paper is written 4 years ago at 2004, probably today Himmanend has other great ideas to add to his theory.

The challenges that world has to face touch all the fields of human life, starting from social, educational fields. People grow older, it is an ecomonimical problem, medical challenge and continues problem that we have to face. Europe nad even USA are loosing their „number 1“ status as especially China and India jhave such a big people base that they will just override Europe and USA at some point. The more people you have the more you will have the possibilitities to find new ideas and develop them.

Economically companies find it really useful to outsource their production to China or India. But not only production is outsourced but also calling centers, knowledge, development departments. It all means that west gives voluntarily away some of the most important things that we have. Different countries have always had race to be the first to discover something, to be the first to be somewhere, but now money comes from „the west“, product goes to „the west“ but knowledge and basics are worked out and probably stay in Asia.

Himanen talks about „information society“ never forgetting the human in it. He has a theory that brings together economist, sociologist, techinican, psychologists and many other field representatives point of views. And this is the most important part about his work probably that he can understand the „problem“ from different point of view and bring it together to one theory that can even help most of the countries in the world to deal with coming problems.