My buddy Leo Pareja introduced me to the notion that if you aren’t paying for a product, you ARE the product. In other words, when you use a “free” service online or otherwise, your information is most likely where the company is making their money. This became painfully clear earlier in the week when it was revealed that Facebook effectively sold private information (by virtue of an app) on millions of its users to Cambridge Analytica, who in turn used the information to assist a client of theirs to use the information for the benefit of the Donald Trump presidential campaign. At this point, there is no evidence that the Trump campaign did wrong by acquiring this information, but it is a sobering reminder that the massive information that companies like Google, Amazon, Samsung, Facebook, and Microsoft have on us is anything but private. Facebook stock took a dive last week and Mark Zuckerberg has been crying mea culpa on CNN and the online media. Zuckerberg should expect a subpoena to testify in front of congress soon. I deleted all of my FB apps and definitely don’t want one of those creepy Amazon Echo or Google Home anywhere near my house.
Terms like “great, genius,” and “world-class” are overused, perhaps because they mean something different to everyone. Greatness is subjective. Some might say you must be great just to be employed in the film business or to play professional sports, but I don’t think Will Smith or LeBron James think that way. The concept of being great also requires context. You could be a great high school athlete but only an average college player.
Regardless of political persuasion, most people think the rhetoric of politics has gotten out of control. If you believe that, as I do, there IS something you can do about it. You can ask yourself whether you are helping or hurting the situation. I like to say that there are two types of people in the world: people who add stress and people who relieve stress. I think similarly, some people are adding to the political spectacle in the country, and others are at least trying for something better.
Gary's Blog will return next week.