Future Technology and Systems:
their bearing
on our lives and the environment
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas.
I'm frightened of old ideas." John Cage.
CONTENTS: Fossil Fuels | Paper Media | Information Revolution | Communications | E-Commerce | HOME PAGE
Everything about Zionsake has to do with the future since the rebirth of Israel as a state is understood to be an event that will happen close to the end of this era when the time of the gentiles has run out (1948). Zionism, a compelling force behind this action, is also oriented to the future and the ultimate complete restoration of Israel and the time that no Jews will live in the countries where they had been scattered. Biblically it seems that the people who will witness the restoration of Israel might the last generation living in this age. The approximately 4,000 year history of Jews in the land formerly called Canaan is only relevant in the respect that it proves that the Jews have a legitimate right to all that land as an inheritance.
The development of technology that will enable and support the "Big Brother"
and "Cashless" systems that will be in place at the end of the age is therefore
also very relevant in this discussion. The God of Israel told the prophet
Daniel the following about the end of the age:
Daniel 12:4 But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until
the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.
"Many will go here and there" is taken to refer to the ease of traveling brought about by the internal combustion engine, while "increase knowledge", the information revolution made possible by modern day computers and the digitizing of other media. Whereas digital technology still has some scope to develop by making present system more efficient and implementing alternative materials, automotive industry is still limited to the interior combustion engine running on petroleum fuel for mass production. It really has become time to change to engines running on alternative fuels or electricity in view of the following factors:
The world might run out of crude oil in 25 to 50 years. Reserves should therefore be saved for use in manufacturing and lubrication only.
Environmental concerns, especially polluted air. The cost to remove harmful emmisions from the exhaust gasses is just too costly.
The inefficiency of converting fossil fuel to energy.
Political security reasons to limit the funds available to extremist, militant and terrorist harbouring or supporting Islamic oil producing countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
It is also very relevant to include environmental concerns in this discussion of the future since they present reasons to promote the early adoption of environmentally friendly technology.
Links to future and environment related discussions are listed below under CONTENTS.
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Fossil Fuels and the environment
Paper Media and the environment
Fuel Energy and Paper Media
Being higher beings in creation, man is able to operate mentally versus the instinctive actions of lower beings. It has enabled humans to develop systems and utilize raw materials to make them more productive and comfortable. Due to economic factors, however, the world has so far mostly been slow to change systems and uses of raw materials when it became clear that they are harmful to man and the environment. What comes to mind is the ability man has developed to write on materials and to use crude oil to propel machines. Whereas it was wonderful to have ways to distribute knowledge and culture by transferring it to paper, it didn't change and revolutionize the world as much as has come about from the development of the internal combustion engine. In fact, electronic media has done more to proliferate knowledge during the last 40 or less years than has been possible during the centuries paper has been in use.
Huge industries, infrastructures and economies and power have been built around the manufacturing and distribution of paper and the refining of oil. Whereas oil companies have obstructed the development of engines running on alternative fuels, foresters and manufacturers of paper have not done the same to develop alternative media. In the case of paper, the ease and efficiency of its use, especially in low tech environments, is obstructing changes to more productive, environmentally friendly means to distribute knowledge. Consequently analogue and digital media have developed unabatedly. Fortunately development of alternatives to fuels have steadily advanced in spite of the little incentive to do so. Matters relating to oil and paper have been dealt with more comprehensively in the following articles:
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ENERGY
The future of CRUDE OIL
Ramifications for Arab countries and Islam.
Alternative
Fuels
Oil and the
environment
Influence of
crude oil price on its future production and use
Paper and Electronic media
Alternatives
to printing
State of the earth and
ecology: waste and pollution from the use of and forests/trees and
water to manufacture paper.
Trees and
Water. Facts: paper from wood wastes forests/trees and water and pollutes
/ depletes / strips the earth ; alternatives to wood
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According to Tony Twine, an economist at Econometrix, the Information Age has evolved to such an extent that information is competing to be recognised as the FIFTH production resource. Traditionally economists have recognised four resources which can be combined into all productive processes, land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship. The past two decades, however, have introduced such startling advances in technology and information transfer that information itself is bidding for recognition as a FIFTH production resource category.
Data, information, knowledge and wisdom (DIKW) form a hierarchy in the fifth resource, just as there are hierarchies in the other four. The thing that holds the structure together, and distinguishes between its individual ranks, seem to be intelligence. Reported in Computing SA Vol 18 No 28, 27 July 1998.
Having established what tremendous commercial value information has in our time, the following aspects about it need to be addressed:
The way it is stored.
It goes without saying that the Information Age involves too much information
to accommodate it on paper - see Paperless and
the environment. Information simply needs
to be stored and disseminated in digital format.
The way it is used commercially.
The trend seems to be to render databases more exploitable by converting
them to warehouse setups with more built-in intelligent tools for in
depth fundamental analyses. Data can therefore be used more profitably to
targetting customers according to perceived needs instead of randomly.
The way it will affect individuals.
While we can benefit from the ease of access to masses of information, we
can also be harmed or controlled by the availablity of information about
us. And individuals will not be able to operate outside the system since
just about everything we will need for our existence will be part of an
integrated system we won't be able to access without being identified
electronically. It could be hazardous for anyone who happens to belong
to a grouping disagreeable to their government, like belonging to a different
religion, an opposition party etc.
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It is said that the biggest event after the discovery of wire transmisssions is the discovery of wireless transmissions. It seems that communications will get more and more wireless, not only due to the convenience of not being dependent on wires, but also to again higher transmission speeds and greater band width.
Call centers will also play a big role in business to line up callers needs with warehoused information and other facilities available to them. Even calls from staff, agents, suppliers, in remote locations will go through call centers. Telecommuting will be commonplace for large numbers of employees, freelance agents, consultants, virtual secretarial services, etc.
For the following reasons improvements in communication infrastructures, including those connected to the internet, will enable more and more people will be working from home: Corporate policy to save on office space.
Saving on transport cost and time to travel.
Business opportunities available in cyber space for individuals to become intepreneurs.
Globelization due to the Internet enabling individuals to work for companies or clients anywhere in the world.
Automation will replace more workers, causing them to become self-employed.
The development of distance learning causing people not to have to leave their homes to improve their skills and qualifications.
With so many people working from home, homes and apartment complexes will have to be designed with dual purpose functionality to serve as homes and offices that don't intervere with each other.
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Communications and the coming of the Messiah
As we understand from the Bible, the Messiah will be "coming with the clouds, with power and great glory and every eye will see him". See the following scriptures:
Daniel 7:13 "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one
like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient
of Days and was led into his presence.
Revelation 1:7 Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see
him, even those who pierced him **; and all the peoples of the earth
will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.
Matthew 24:30 "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the
sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of
Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.
Mark 13:26 "At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with
great power and glory
There has of course been much speculation involved with the concept, "he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him". Does it mean we will see Him via present day media and improved versions thereof at the time of his coming? Not everybody yet has access to television, but enough to allow for a metaphoric (generilised) statement meaning "everyone will know". This "generlisasion" could be aimed at distinguishing His coming from that of the many false messias we are warned about. But, however His coming will be, we'll know it's Him!
** Refers to the following prophesies:
Psalms 22:16 Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled
me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.
Zechariah 12:10 "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the
one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only
child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
Luke 17:25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this
generation (that of about the year 0030).
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The following article gives a clear indication of future business potential of the Internet:
AN INTERNET COMMERCE SOLUTION THAT MAKES BUSINESS SENSE
By Alex Barrotti
abarrotti@inex-corp.com
Internet e-commerce will be remembered as the fastest growing business channel during the final chapters of this millennium. The Internet is opening new global markets and tearing down geographical and physical barriers that previously limited the scope of an organization's marketing efforts. In this new paradigm, businesses can market and sell products in a Web store environment to customers all over the world, 24-hours a day. Until recently, it is only the early adopters who have recognized the potential of this powerful new business medium, embracing electronic commerce. Today, consumer interest is on the rise and more companies are incorporating Internet e-commerce into their business strategies. As a result, 1998 is the year many experts believe e-commerce will become mainstream. Even Forrester Research recently estimated that the e-commerce market will reach more than US $70 billion by the year 2000, up from US $1 billion in 1996.
Not limited to a particular segment of commerce, both entrepreneurs and enterprises alike can take advantage of this new market opportunity. Some experts believe that the inevitable proliferation of e-commerce will put those companies who ignore or oppose it, out of business. Moreover, it's essential that companies embrace e-commerce now, before their competition does. So, how does a traditional company, small or large, open its doors to the Web without overhauling its entire business or spending significant amounts of money? There are now reasonably priced solutions that enable companies to compete in this global e-commercial marketplace.
Find the complete article at: http://www.WebPromote.com/wpweekly/aug98vol2/inex.html
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Integral to online business is of course, online payment, for which universal standards are close to being finalised world-wide at the time of writing (September 1998) - for instance the Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) standard. Various trial runs of different system are being run, but banks, Visa card, etc. already saying that they are losing less money from online than from offline fraud. But the verification of identity still largely entails keyed-in passwords instead of systems themselves ascertaining identity by various means, like finger print, iris, voice recognition, etc. Verification from scans of implanted chips is, however, bound to become the ultimate means of determining identity due to the amount of information they could contain about a person.
Knowing about warnings in scripture not to accept the MARK of the BEAST to
be able to do business, Christians in general are wary of chip implants.
It could exactly be the 666 system followers of the God of Israel are warned
against in the Bible.
Revelation 13:16 He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor,
free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead. 17
So that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name
of the beast or the number of his name. 18 This calls for wisdom. If anyone
has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number.
His number is 666.
The prohet Hosea also mentioned this wisdom we will have to have to discern
what is from God:
Hosea 14:9 Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning?
He will understand them. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk
in them, but the rebellious stumble in them
But other electronic gadgets are already being implanted in humans for medical purposes, like pacemakers, cochlea substitutes, etc. and chips are becoming available that will enhance mental capabilities, overcome seizures and more - referred to as CYBERNETICS. So, is the implanted ID chip going to be IT? How are we to know? Well, WHAT ELSE COULD IT BE? Actually the 666 system has been here for a long time in the form of barcodes. Chips have just become a more feasible way to to implant accessible information.
The answer lies in whether accepting a form of identification is connected to some condition that infringes on the bearer's freedom of choice of, for example, religion. The situation is already developing in different countries that prevent freedom of religion, like the prohibition on praying in schools in the US. SO BE WARNED!
In spite of warnings about famines in the last days, it is also clear that
life and commerce as we know it, including cyber business at a scale
we can only imagine, will be going on right to the end. This is clear from
the following scriptures:
Luke 17:24 For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which
flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. .........26 "Just
as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son
of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage
up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them
all. 28 "It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking,
buying and selling, planting and building.
29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and
destroyed them all. 30 "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man
is revealed.
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Fossil
Fuels |
Paper
Media |
Information
Revolution |
Communications |
E-Commerce |
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