Be a Star in Your Own Reality Show...
How about this for the Halloween scare?! The smart phones have been selling better than regular desktop computers in the last couple of years. Apple has recently released an 800-dollar smartphone, I am talking about the unlocked version of its 64GB iPhone model, while Google and Samsung are releasing a vaguely comparable Galaxy Nexus, rather than the expected Nexus Prime, a Google phone version for 700 dollars. If you go to some discount stores, such as Newegg or TigerDirect, you will find yourself able to get a decent laptop for half that price. People keep running for a smart phone that can do anything BUT cook a meal. But, really, there isn't really any point in getting the latest and the bestest unless you really need it. It is just way more convenient to edit your documents on a bigger screen with a keyboard rather than the small buttons of your smartphone or the touch-screen buttons of your tablet mobile computing device, for the lack of a better word.
As for me, I like new toys, but I only get them for practical uses. For example, my smartphone isn't really that smart. What can I say - I like my ego boosted by being smarter than someone/something next to me. The phone's got a full QWERTY keyboard and Samsung's strange operating system. And I couldn't be more happier. The phone can make phone calls, it allows me to type messages at the speed of light, it lets me listen to my music, and it's got 2 sim-card slots – I am all set. While this is all I need in my phone, most people seem to be choosing phones based on the cameras those smart devices are packing. Like iPhone 3G's camera is only 3 megapixels and iPhone 4S' is 8... 'WOW... I am going to get the one with more megapixels, and I do not care I will never need it, and even if I use it the pictures won't be as good as with the regular digital camera.' Yes, it is convenient to have a phone and a camera in one device and in your pocket, ready at all times, but there are drawbacks that we never think of.
And here's my recent thoughts about the cameras on all of my laptops, phones, and my tablet. Last summer, I was watching a creepy episode of Warehouse 13, where this guy was selling computers and later on that day checking out what's happening in front of that computer through a built-in camera, sitting in his tinted and windowless van. All of our devices are connected to the Internet, hence there is a great possibility that someone can be watching you at all times. I mean none of those cameras warns you when it is on, none of them has a green flashing light to show you it's operational. In fact, there are no covers to close it or... get this... to cover it up just to make sure it is not working. So someone could be watching that camera when you are eating, reading the news, doing your morning business, doing your bedroom duties and changing. That is, besides the fact that your smartphone or tablet, all of them usually coming with GPS and Wi-Fi tracking software, can pinpoint your real-time location on a map. So some dude on the receiving end of your camera will know where you are and what you are wearing and what you are saying, using pretty decent microphones used in those phones.
Smiling Halloween Pumpking with a Built-in Spy Camera
I mean I know I am a little bit paranoid and that no one cares about me or my life, but what if... there is a governmental agency that tracks its citizens by collecting extensive files of their lives, connections, and their environment?! That's a best-case scenario, as I believe the Government is there to protect, though I'm yet to see protection of its citizens instead of defending its spending and corruption. The worst-case scenario, which is more probable, is that someone hacks into your wireless connection (it can be done within a 24-hour period using the tools and instructions off the Internet) and uses the flaws in Windows, Apple, and Google code to get access to your computing devices and their hardware. It is possible that he or she is watching you right now.
Muah-ha-ha-ha! Scared? Well, you should be! Well at least should think about it as possibility. Meanwhile, if you are getting a device based on its built-in camera, get one with the camera that shows you off from the best angle.
thanks
