Protect Your Home CCTV Cameras

Apparently some of those IP CCTV can be a window into your own home. An IP CCTV, is an internet protocol closed circuit TV camera. A lot of these types of cameras you can simply purchase off the shelf and install by yourself. If you don't place a password people on the internet can actually snoop into your own home. This video is from Canada but I did a simple search here in the Philippines and I found some cameras that you can snoop into. If it's a camera facing towards your lawn or street this is not an issue but if it shows the inside of your house make sure to use proper security measure when you install one. I personally have a Xiaomi IP camera and because it I have a password for it and it's facing towards a lawn I have no issues if people try to snoop.

Why We Buy

In a previous post I mentioned that the problem is consumerism and this provides a reason why we buy. On a recent trip to Decathlon, I found myself buying something I though I needed because it was strategically placed on your way to the check out counter. It was relatively cheap and it was right there within my reach....so I grabbed and purchased it. Based on this video selling cheap may be a strategy so you simply buy stuff because you think you need it but really don't. After this you don't bother to return (in terms of an online purchase) or use it since it was so cheap anyway. The video also says that buying more has an evolutionary reason since in the past, during the hunting gathering phase of  humanity, we needed to accumulate stuff, the necessities, in order to live in the longer. More food, resources for shelter the better. But now, almost everyone who has the means are trapped by the mentality to buy more. Sadly, due to income inequality some people can buy while some people can't.

The Fashion Industry is Bad for the Environment

Here are various materials I found online describing how bad the fashion industry is to the environment. The video below has good business cases on how to mitigate the issue. Bottom line it's consumerism that's essentially bad for the environment. There must be something done to change mindset of people on the "disposable" economy. We can't just keep buying and throwing away stuff. It used to be that we buy stuff and we use it long term. Today we seem the change the things we buy every year.

Does Social Media Make Us Lonelier?

Here's a story that starts with a guy who didn't talk for 17 years. I don't know if I'll understand why he did that but apparently he lasted for 17 years. Now he's an established author and speaker.

This story look at how social media makes us lonelier. Based on studies from the US it does make us lonelier. With the Philippines being one of the biggest users of social media I wonder how true it is for us Filipinos. I feel it's not as bad though because as a culture we really have closer relationships with family and friends. Social media probably helped expand the number of close friends you have. The case can be made though that maybe Facebook may have created small 'secret' rifts among friend where you secretly despise a friend because of political affiliations, humble brag posts or just irritatingly active on the platform. I've unfollowed and even unfriended a bunch of them.

Maybe at the onset everybody was trying to get as many friends as they wanted. But as we grew with the platform we probably just realized that we just don't need that many. Actually, I think we've created smaller cliques with the messaging apps. I have a small basketball clique that I enjoy where for some reason we never invited more to it. Probably because adding people will just ruin the dynamic we enjoy in that group. That group can beat out the starters with NBA insights anytime.

Happy Valentines! I hope everyone has real connections!

Will Facebook Disapear?

I seem to be seeing a lot of articles and press out about trouble in Facebook. The video below asks "What will replace Facebook?". I see a feature on CNN about power struggles and internal politicking happening in Facebook. The privacy issues and breach in user data were the big problems of the platform last year. Some have went of the 'grid' (I actually just know of one person) or maybe they just limited their use. It's hard for me to imagine 2 billion users getting of a platform and Facebook simply going away. Social networks going away already happened though with Friendster and  MySpace (let's include Multiply as well, if people still remember that). Based on articles I went through the issues of these networks were they couldn't innovate fast enough. All these network started around 2003 - 2005 and only Facebook came out and is overly dominant.

My biggest issue personally with Facebook is that it was and is still being used by those with power to influence people. In the Philippines and in the US, digital marketers found out that you need only a noisy few and some fake news to spread and you can win elections. Facebook has to own up to this and remedy the situation. Maybe having a free for all platform still makes the strong stronger. People should start being more aware of this and do their own fact checking before spreading content. Unfortunately it might be to much to ask of people.

What happened to Friendster?
What happened to MySpace?