Thanks to Tim Berners-Lee (Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee), the inventor of the World Wide Web in 1989 while he was at CERN. We now enjoy rapid information exchange because of him.
His invention practically shrunk the world. Especially when it was not just textual information anymore that could be shared and accessed via the telecommunications networks. It did not take so long when graphics began to spruce up the screens of computers. Then there was sound. Then video. Now, the technology of the Internet is quantum leaps away from its crude form. It has become the frontier of information. Often referred to as the Information Superhighway, it has become virtually the biggest library ever assembled. But one has to be carefully selective on the information fished out from the Internet. There are lots of both authentic information and data and exaggerated, adulterated ones. The Internet is flooded with all types of sites. It's anything goes. Even the unimaginable could be found lurking somewhere in the World Wide Web.
There are sites for organizations, for governments, for legitimate businesses, foundations, financial institutions, universities and colleges, entertainment, newspapers and magazines, books, software, forums, churches, etc. But side by side with all these authentic sources of information, there are also almost the same number or even more websites which could be considered plain gross, weird, offensive, discriminating, appalling, disgusting. Simply put, sites which should have no place in a world populated by decent, well-bred, well-educated people. Most of these sites, though, are expressions of personal or collective beliefs and philosophies. Some peddle people as if they are commodities like the pornographic sites. Others are meant to demean, discredit, demolish others. Others are plain criminal sites. Some are dedicated to illegitimate software sharing. Some download sites disregard the rights of the original creators on their intellectual properties.
Surf the Net and you get everything under the sun. The Web is rich. Super rich. And a lot of sites are literally filthy rich!
Perhaps the best-earning websites are those dedicated to pornography. They exist because of the huge dark market worldwide. There are millions out there lurking incognito accessing them, even just for some samplers. But for those who have strong carnal and lustful desires, they would not mind punching their international credit cards just to access the promised filthier, dirtier, more instinctively animalistic contents! And you can already imagine the heavens as these sites practically crunch millions and millions of dollars into their online bank accounts. Imagine a site that could lure even just a million peeping toms an entire year. Let's say each member threw in even just $10 for a year. That's a whopping $10 million! And the site simply maintains graphics and videos that satisfy the hot-blooded dark market. These sites peddle mostly young girls, either voluntarily, forced, or perhaps paid meagerly.
This is where parents should guide their children on their surfing habits. Even the social networks like Friendster.com now are infiltrated by unscrupulous individuals posting porn stuffs. Video sites like YouTube.com are not spared. There is no way that these sites can truly verify the ages posted by children when they begin signing up in these seemingly safe sites. Even a 7-year old can practically sign up and fool the site that the child is already 50 years old. With such vulnerability, YouTube's adult contents could be accessed even by children who are too young to understand what could be going on on screen.
When Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, perhaps pornography and other filthy contents that could be shared to others through this technology were way far from his mind and intentions. But like any other technology that is invented for the boon of mankind, there is always the bane for it. Take the cellphone, for instance. The tiny digital gadget intended for communications, entertainment, and productivity could also be the same gadget that could destroy or even kill time-treasured virtues and values that the humankind could hold on to to make this world a better place to live in.
Surfing the Internet is fun. But the fun could be dangerously deceiving.
His invention practically shrunk the world. Especially when it was not just textual information anymore that could be shared and accessed via the telecommunications networks. It did not take so long when graphics began to spruce up the screens of computers. Then there was sound. Then video. Now, the technology of the Internet is quantum leaps away from its crude form. It has become the frontier of information. Often referred to as the Information Superhighway, it has become virtually the biggest library ever assembled. But one has to be carefully selective on the information fished out from the Internet. There are lots of both authentic information and data and exaggerated, adulterated ones. The Internet is flooded with all types of sites. It's anything goes. Even the unimaginable could be found lurking somewhere in the World Wide Web.
There are sites for organizations, for governments, for legitimate businesses, foundations, financial institutions, universities and colleges, entertainment, newspapers and magazines, books, software, forums, churches, etc. But side by side with all these authentic sources of information, there are also almost the same number or even more websites which could be considered plain gross, weird, offensive, discriminating, appalling, disgusting. Simply put, sites which should have no place in a world populated by decent, well-bred, well-educated people. Most of these sites, though, are expressions of personal or collective beliefs and philosophies. Some peddle people as if they are commodities like the pornographic sites. Others are meant to demean, discredit, demolish others. Others are plain criminal sites. Some are dedicated to illegitimate software sharing. Some download sites disregard the rights of the original creators on their intellectual properties.
Surf the Net and you get everything under the sun. The Web is rich. Super rich. And a lot of sites are literally filthy rich!
Perhaps the best-earning websites are those dedicated to pornography. They exist because of the huge dark market worldwide. There are millions out there lurking incognito accessing them, even just for some samplers. But for those who have strong carnal and lustful desires, they would not mind punching their international credit cards just to access the promised filthier, dirtier, more instinctively animalistic contents! And you can already imagine the heavens as these sites practically crunch millions and millions of dollars into their online bank accounts. Imagine a site that could lure even just a million peeping toms an entire year. Let's say each member threw in even just $10 for a year. That's a whopping $10 million! And the site simply maintains graphics and videos that satisfy the hot-blooded dark market. These sites peddle mostly young girls, either voluntarily, forced, or perhaps paid meagerly.
This is where parents should guide their children on their surfing habits. Even the social networks like Friendster.com now are infiltrated by unscrupulous individuals posting porn stuffs. Video sites like YouTube.com are not spared. There is no way that these sites can truly verify the ages posted by children when they begin signing up in these seemingly safe sites. Even a 7-year old can practically sign up and fool the site that the child is already 50 years old. With such vulnerability, YouTube's adult contents could be accessed even by children who are too young to understand what could be going on on screen.
When Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, perhaps pornography and other filthy contents that could be shared to others through this technology were way far from his mind and intentions. But like any other technology that is invented for the boon of mankind, there is always the bane for it. Take the cellphone, for instance. The tiny digital gadget intended for communications, entertainment, and productivity could also be the same gadget that could destroy or even kill time-treasured virtues and values that the humankind could hold on to to make this world a better place to live in.
Surfing the Internet is fun. But the fun could be dangerously deceiving.
