Shopping In A Modern World

     Black Friday has come and gone.  Did you fight the maddening crowds just so you could save 50% on a flat screen TV or some stupid toy your kid has no business having in the first place?  Were your fingers flying across the keyboard on Cyber Monday just so you could brag about all the free shipping you got?  If you answer yes to either of those question I've only got one thing to say " the credit card bill comes in less than thirty days".
     Computer networks have given all kinds of power to the individual.  From price checking and product information to bringing corporations to their knees with our complaints and negative recommendations, computer networks have returned power to the people.  As time continues on, technology continues to evolve.  More and more most activities of one kind or another are operated by software.  More things than we know are run by automation but such automation is only as good as the data that come from the people in charge of that automation. We are not to the point where artificial  intelligence can run our lives although whoever came up with Black Friday and Cyber Monday has to be from another world.  For now there is still a man behind the curtain who has the power to say " No 50% off For You".