Foursquare Articles and Parents of the Future

I think it is an invasion of privacy even when it is your own parents to know your exact location at any given time. I think parents should be able to trust their child, as long as there is good communication between child and parent there should definitely be no reason for parents to "spy" on their children. I grew up in a household that as long as we informed our parents of where we were going and who we were with, they trusted us. There was never an instance where I had to lie to my parents because I knew they were okay with anything I was doing that was reasonable and responsible. Now if there have been times that have shown the parents they can't trust their child then I might understand parents monitoring their child, but I don't think it should have to go to that. I don't agree with a non-obtrusive and safe cybernetic implant. I understand it is to monitor the child's health, but i think it would be used in the wrong sense, mainly to track if any illegal substances were going into their child's system. Again I think that goes back to the whole trust and communication thing. I think parents need to have a good relationship with their children where they can trust them because of the good communication they have with one another. Other issues looming in the near future for would-be parents I think are internet safety, for example social networking sites.

No Budget, No Boundaries: It's the Real You

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/fashion/22Avatar.html?pagewanted=1&8dpc&_r=1

I believe the concept behind these avatar-based social networking sites, the idea of having fun and getting to do whatever you want with no restrictions is a fun thing. But at the same time I find it a little ridiculous that a grown woman or man is actually spending money like $40 to have $10,000 virtual dollars to spend on anything they want. It is not like your ever going to see the clothes and jewelry you bought, it will be in the computer, but that is it. And to read that people are "buying" everything from a clothes collection that Beyonce would be jealous of to helicopters to fly them to their island every weekend, you still have to spend some money on the game, which means they are still spending money. In the article there was big talk about the recession and even though people are cutting back on everything they buy, they are still willing to spend the money a virtual person. I think the people spending money on a virtual person don't have their priorities straight if they are trying to cut back and save some money. I think that the idea of a virtual place, where you can be any person that you want is a way to have fun, but I think spending money on it is the wrong thing to be doing.

Calligrams