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The corruption of all things good

[yesterday: 3.4 miles]

Anyone who has been alive for more than a few years has seen something good ruined by misappropriation and misuse.

When I started out in computer programming I was interested in the power that could be brought to bear through simple programming.  And over the years I have been in the business the world has seen an explosion of computing power and the application of that power through world wide networks.  It is amazing.

But, inexorably, all of the good power of computer networks is corrupted by evils inherent in human nature.  It is not unusual to read in the news that hackers have stolen a database full of credit card numbers.  And we are hearing now about the theft of a large body of information about government employees.  [There is no safety, even there.]

I know people who have left email behind.  But most of us continue on, on twitter and facebook, email, buying and selling over the internet.

I personally don’t think it is the end of the world, but it is a sadness.  Something I found so interesting and amazing, has been so easily corrupted.

So now a lot of my job involves meetings and discussions about how to authenticate who people are; how to keep data safe from unauthorized access; how to keep systems both accessible and protected.  The techniques of a few years ago have been eclipsed by the “bad guys” and we have to employ new ones.

I’m getting tired of it, frankly.