Shameless advertising.....

Well this orkut thing is pretty great. I know, I know.. aside from the whole insane scrapping thing and every little thought being put out there - its really easy to find people. And nothing beats that feeling of finding and catching up with someone you once knew.
Just today I found someone from my college who joined the Indian Army and I kind of lost touch. Now of course, there is the other type as well - people I hardly knew, and didn't care to much then, will also be able to find me. But so far, I havent really had any such people :)

Now if we really think about it, google has been getting a lot of information about a lot of people worldwide. They already keep some data on the searches you do on google itself. But with other services like orkut, blogger etc. they really know a lot about you. If you've read Asimov, this sounds eerily like the beginning of Multivac - an all knowing computer/network/sentient being that knows all about you.

Google, has been fighting a case against US govt. about releasing some search information. The case is about paedophiles - lovers of the young (yech!). But I honestly dont believe the government has any right to examine what you search for the internet. Its like the Tom Cruise movie Minority Report, where cops get you if you think of committing a crime. Unless and until you actually commit a crime, you cannot be punished.

Of course, the bottomline is this. We live in a society where we have incredible benefits. We are more connected as a community than ever before. For example, I can live in Chicago away from all my friends for years and yet when we meet, there will be no feeling of separation. However, the cost of all this connectivity, only time will tell. (or multivac.....)