How dumb are we

Whirlpool designed a "smart" washing machine, but nobody is buying it!

Apparently, following the trend of the Internet of Things, the smart washing machine can be connected by Wi-Fi and be accessible from an iPhone app.  One can start or monitor the washing machine by sending signals across the internet, and the device can sms or email the user when the wash is complete.  It costs only USD1699, but hardly anybody at this point in time is wanting to buy one.

Who needs to control or monitor one's washing across the net?  One still needs to be physically present to load or unload the wash.  Or have another person attend to the task on one's behalf.  Besides being trendy, how useful is it to have such a device?

Will it win an Ig-Nobel prize the way the way the software that detects a cat walking over a keyboard did?

Maybe it is not that silly.  But it does beg the question.  Are we inventing things to follow a trend, without really solving useful problems?  Has ICT gone crazy, solving problems that nobody needs solved?  Do we really need data everywhere, and data mining to follow trends?  Are we doing anything really practical, or has effort gone into marketing useless gadgets?

Do we really need smart watches, electronic tablets and computer-spectacles?

Or are these instruments actually useful?

I remember once not needing a smartphone, but I now realise the benefit of having one.  I am happy with 3G, but understand the trend is going towards 4G.  We used cameras and phones as different devices in a previous era; I am not sure that combining the two devices is actually a good thing, but see that this is where the world has become.

What do you think?  Do consumers buy dumb things because it is fashionable to?  Or are we really more astute?

Arrested at a library

Ross was online with his notebook at the science fiction section of a San Francisco library when the police arrested him.  He apparently had posted a question on a forum using his real name.  He quickly changed to a pseudonym, but his "error" was enough to catch the attention of the police.  The police had been looking for him because of some computer hacking, narcotics trafficking and money laundering activities.

How closely do the police watch what happens on the internet?  How quickly can they act on this information?  There are millions of routers on the internet, and millions more hosts.  Each host may have several channels of data streams going simultaneously.  Most of these are encrypted, especially if they run across wireless networks as public wi-fi services are.  Even with the help of software to filter out keywords, I think it is impossible to track everything.  Especially in a matter of minutes.

I am amazed to realise that internet traffic can be policed so quickly.  We know that information stored on public servers such as Gmail is not private, as Google and the police have the ability to search these.  But for them to find anything quickly seemed unlikely to me - until I read about Ross' arrest.

What do you think?  Do police, hackers, data miners, etc. have the ability to track information that quickly?  Or was finding Ross a fluke that happened in the police's favour?

In any case, the story reminds me that the Bible tells us to "be sure your sin will find you out".  Do you think that is true?

Even if one can elude the police who has finite knowledge, it would be impossible to hide from God, who knows everything.

So what can we do?  How can we handle our sin?  Please share what you think.  Thank you.

Retention

How does one retain supporters for one's political party?  How does one keep one's customers?  Gets the visitors to one's website to keep coming back?

Colin Myles' blog post spoke well on this topic.  What do you think of it?  Does it challenge you?

I think the same principles apply to churches.  We wish to get people to come to attend church.  We wish to have these people come back and attend regularly.  But the hypocrisy turns visitors away.  Older members die.  Families with children move away.  How do we grow churches in these circumstances?

(At least the internet and multinational corporations are accessible from almost everywhere ... churches with physical addresses are not as accessible when one is overseas.)

I think the real aim of the church is to introduce people to Jesus.  What do you think?

Are churches out for conversions or for retentions?

How do we keep people interested enough to keep coming back?