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Musings_492036

Feature Article January 30

Feature Article January 30, 2002

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492036That is only one of many numbers that places me somewhere in a computer, somewhere in this world; at least I hope in this world, but one never knows with cyberspace mysteries.

The world is full of numbers and perhaps you have my problem in trying to remember them. How we have progressed since our ancient ancestors began to keep track of things by counting on their fingers! After many eons they doubled their knowledge by including their toes. Would you believe that they were ten times more advanced than we are?

If I correctly understand the fundamentals of a computer, its innards use only two digits, 0 and 1. These act as switches, and little electrons scatter about, depending upon which switches are opened or closed. At one time, less than two years ago, my computer was a state of the art PC but now is a lumbering antique. Of course even the most modern PCs are in a minor league compared to the massive computers that are designing and lobbing bombs and other goodies at fellow humans. Think what can be done when computer engineers learn to count to twenty, equivalent to their fingers and toes.

Back to numbers. What would the world be without them? All Canadians have a suggestive SIN number and most of us have several painful PIN numbers as well as credit cards and bonus point numbers. Can anyone remember them all?

Telephone numbers have been augmented with fax and cell phone numbers (at least for you up-to-date types). Thank goodness someone invented Palm Pilots to keep track of all these, but then one needs to remember the access number to the PP.

Almost every object you buy is assigned a numbered bar code for easy identification and tracking. Our fingerprints are converted to a series of 0's and 1's and we are easily identified. The complexity of our eyes and facial features can be converted to the two digits just in case we wish to wear away our fingerprints and escape detection.

The 0's and 1's describing us fill vast computers safely tucked away, or are they? A significant number of concerned individuals are worrying about all those 0's and 1's spilling out and exposing our hidden secrets to prying eyes. It seems that clandestine government agencies already have the ability to pull the 0's and 1's from the atmosphere and decode the most secret of information. If the employees of government can glean this information, how long will it be before the politicians have a new persuasion for controlling us?

While some of those strings of 0's and 1's careen through computers, it may be far too easy for them to get tangled and create embarrassing possibilities. The bank machine or airport camera could scan a sweet young face but inadvertently superimpose my nose and wrinkles; then what happens to that unfortunate customer or traveler?

We have had an exciting history of communications ranging from initial guttural grunts, diagrams drawn in shifting sand and pictures semi-permanently etched on cavern walls. We have invented complex oral and written languages and now we can reduce all our knowledge to 0 and 1. Where can we go from here?

With the participation of the Government of Canada