How technology is shaping society

I used Mobile Phone to identify a person

I have been talking to a potential client of mine for quite some time over his mobile phone, without ever meeting him. He was referred to me by one of my earlier clients. Finally, yesterday we decided to meet and the place was set to be the parking lot of one of the mutually agreed parking lot of a shopping complex. I told him about my car's make, model and color, but forgot to tell him about the license plate number. And I never asked him about his car.
I was waiting in my car, when the person arrived. He knocked on the car door. And that is when it dawned on me, I do not know how to recognize him. So, I figured if I can call his mobile phone and if it rings and I can talk to him, I will recognize him. Ofcourse, I could always apologize to him. And that worked!

That was very crude method used by me, but it did raise questions as to how can we use Mobile phone as ID card? For one, if a cell phone is lost, we can remotely disable it, which we can't do with paper or RFID based ID cards. What is required to implement such a system?

Digg for kids

Digg has provided me is a one place where I go to read stories of all kinds, that the users think are of importance, and with their comments. The more comments, the more viewpoints about a story, thus making me think a little more about story in different ways. This approach is very useful for educating kids. But the trouble is some of the stories on Digg have content that is inappropriate for kids. So, if Digg can create a URL that is only for kids (or perhaps just a filter that I can set), I can expose my 12 year old to digg.

Cell phone camera images for decentralized law enforcement

New York will now accept digital images from cell phone cameras in 911 and 311 call centers, and use these images in better handling the emergency situations. While This is the first in nation to use digital images in a very innovative use of technology, for a technology that has been used for all things including news reporting, mobile commerce and law enforcement, this is not the first. Boston Police department started using SMS to fight crime in 2006, and others have used it outside of US for crime fighting. And imagine the GPS enabled cell phone also transmitting exact location, along with images, to help authorities find the place, and potentially save lives!

If used effectively and positively, this technology has the potential to change the way law enforcement is done in the coming years.

How recording videos by cell phone and circulating them is changing policy?

Recent videos captured by cell phone of Saddam's hanging and an Egyptian man being tortured raised lots of controversy. While there have been other graphic videos posted on the Internet (remember Daniel Pearl murder video), these videos are different. As Jessica Vascellaro writes in  WSJ, this is “the latest reminder that the device that tens of millions of people are now carrying around in their pockets is rapidly becoming one of the most powerful news-gathering tools on Earth.” and surely demonstrates the power of cell phone. While Daniel Pearl murder video was posted by terrorists as a propaganda video, these videos capture the process of law enforcement. As more of these videos appear, they are sure to ignite debates and in the process effect the policy of a state. Even though the initial debate appears in developed world media, none of the developing countries are immune from the effects.

It would be interesting to see what effect these videos have on middle eastern governments. Even though these governments are  mostly immune to their own populations views, western population views are sure to apply some pressure.