Octopus

When I first read the Everyware chapter about the Octopus system in Hong Kong, I thought they meant a system that had an RFID tag imbedded in someone’s arm, because they said something about a “jaunty wave of your wrist”, I think it was. It took me awhile to figure out they meant a card. I guess it looks like a credit card? To me it sounds like a credit card, with the same functions- able to pay at all different places like the store or pool. I guess we don’t have card readers by the pool or on the bus, though. Plus here we still have to run the card number, which takes time. This sounds more like a UT id, where you just slide (scan) it and go. I just don’t think it sounds that much different from what we already have. I like the idea of the tag in a cell phone-that is new and different. I think that would be a great thing to have here in the states-a tiny credit card in your cell phone that you just use like a paypass.

On a related note, the eres articles were interesting too. I have to admit, I never really thought much about online rape, but I suppose it could be a big deal if it happened to you. I do agree that it is a crime against the mind more so than the body, and I think if you let yourself get into the idea of the virtual world, then it becomes real to you…or real enough that it affects your mind. It makes me wonder how real it was to Mr. Bungle, the character who wrote the program that raped and violated the other characters. I wonder if it actually meant something to him or if he simply thought of it as a game.