Microsoft announced today that it has developed a new home search utility code-named “OpenGates.” Not to be out done by Google and Yahoo! in the desktop search wars, Microsoft has gone one step further. According to vice president of Content Development and Delivery Group (CDDG) at Microsoft, Dick Kaplan, “OpenGates has teamed up with wireless nanny cam maker, X10 and Global Positioning giant, Magellan to bring PC users a utility that will search their homes for lost car keys, glasses, wallets and even jewelry.”
Based on simple keyword technology, all the user has to do is open the application, type in a keyword such as glasses and OpenGates does a search of your home and will zoom in and circle the item when found. If multiple items are found, then OpenGates will go to the split screen option and give the user several different views. According to Kaplan, “Even if you have lost your kids in a large house, do a keyword search and you will find them in seconds.”
“In the beta version our programmers even added a ‘ransack’ feature where you could actually simulate someone ransacking your home. This was for general entertainment purposes and won’t be available in the non-beta final commercial version.”
When asked whether Microsoft would be collecting data from these searches and instead of the typical ‘no comment’, Kaplan said, “Microsoft needs to know what’s inside our users’ homes. This way we can market to them more effectively.” Further inquiries were left with a ‘No comment’ and afterwards repeated phone calls to Microsoft at press time have been unanswered.
According to one Microsoft product engineer who asked not to be named, “World domination starts at home.”
Now this article may seem a little far-fetched because it is actually a spoof. I got to thinking about this scenario as I was ruminating over the right-to-privacy versus security issue on a national scale and what that may look like if it were brought home.
Internet security has been a huge issue in 2004 and will continue to be even a larger issue in 2005 as well according to Red Hearing online magazine. It is odd, though, that on the Internet, security and privacy go hand-in-hand, while on a national, general level these two issues are most often in conflict.
Anyway, this is my thought for today. Hopefully, you have your web business all locked down with firewalls, virus protection and appropriate permissions given on your web server.
