Wonders of technology

E·N·Q·U·I·R·Y
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL

Wonders of technology
Sunday, 11 26, 2006

Today, I am tempted to put in a good word for Gloria Arroyo, the well-behaved guest that she was at the launching of Sen. Ed Angara’s biography by Nick Joaquin, but I find myself thankfully able to resist by losing myself in the vast areas of cyberspace and writing about things I am no expert about.

So here I am, studiously packing at the keys of my laptop 33,000 feet up in the air. The inflight TV, chronicling events around the world as they happen, provide a distraction as I try to compose what should appear in my Sunday column. A passenger beside me is talking to somebody on his cellphone. Others are as busy as I am, opening their e-mails or dashing off a memo to somebody on earth, on terra firma. So far yet so near.

Ahhh, the wonders of technology! Which only means I can talk to my son, Kenneth, thousands of miles away — and even see each other through our 3G phones. Or send this column via e-mail or the fax machine – as you can see, I have never skipped a Sunday even though I am often out of the country. I am never out of touch – my Mac, CNN or BBC being the chroniclers of the latest gaffes of Gloria, the victories of the opposition, or the miracles in the Supreme Court.

Yes, it was the devious application of technology that a man named Ricardo and his friend in Padre Faura used to strip Fernando Poe Jr. of his citizenship; that eavesdropped on Garci conversing with Gloria on how to multiply the votes; that recorded the switching of ballot boxes. Through technology, Gloria’s operators tried to disabuse our minds about the fraud; remember the versions of the tapes displayed by Toting or the bagabag voice examination results of Mike? Technology, still it was, that made possible the transfer of $2 million to the account of Gloria’s mustachioed bestfriend, or make us witness the stealing of the presidency at noon the first time and at dawn the second.

I have limited knowledge of how newfangled electronic gadgets work. I can send an SMS, or dial a number, but I have yet to figure out how to take a picture with my cellphone; transmit data through its bluetooth thingmagig; play the TV on its expandable screen; use its e-mailing capability; or, avail of its credit card facility.

My laptop is even a more intimidating gadget, but I am content that it preserves my thoughts, which I can send to anyone at the click of a mouse. But when it gets the virus, I would have to engage a cyberdoc who could make it operate right again.

The plane that carries me is itself, a technological wonder. It can bring me home from any point on earth faster than I can go from Laoag to Naga via my intelligent SUV. The amenities of home and office are all there, and because I am not a jaded traveler yet, I still wonder how the food onboard could be as good as the home-cooked meals of Lola Long. Could it still be the naïve Ilocano in me?

They even say one could be tracked anywhere in the world, via the GPS. How in heaven’s name can anyone do that! Good, if that means I can know with certainty where my son, Kevin, is on a particular night, and that I can trace him all the way to where he should not be thereafter.

And maps are no longer what they used to be – flat and uninteresting. Now, maps are virtual reality, googled, they say. Every street, mountain or structure on the ground can be delineated, complete in every detail, in living color: the crevices in Tora Bora where Bin Laden is suspected to be hiding, or that building along Perea where many criminal conspiracies are being born, for instance.

Indeed, technology has advanced by leaps and bounds since we first had our close-up glimpse of the moon in 1969, when Neil Armstrong planted his boot on the lunar surface and make that small step of man a giant leap for mankind. Thanks to technology of course. But it was Buzz Aldrin’s statement – that somebody omnipotent made that landing on the moon possible – that brought us back to earth.

Yes, the Omnipotent One – and I do not mean Bill Gates or any mortal who brought the wonders of technology within the reach of everyone – is out there. All these remind us of His presence, to give directions to our lives. These are things only He owns, over which we cannot claim any franchise: They are only being left to us to discover, to improve upon, to use. [Or abuse: I am reminded of the laser-guided weaponry that continue to wreak havoc on the innocents in Iraq, and Kim Jong Il’s nuclear capability that makes everyone shiver].

But come to think of it. A senator — the bete noire of Loren Legarda - once claimed that God sent an SMS directing him to vote on a particular issue. The Senate had a good laugh, and the senator himself could only exclaim, “It was God, sigurado ako!” Everyone thought then he must be referring to the god by that stinking river or the kapamilya ensconced in a steel tower, both of whom are known to dictate his every move. The senator was probably right, if he was not hallucinating then or if his cellphone was not infected by the deadly virus called Canine Devotion.

Technology is God’s gift to us, just like our children are God’s gifts to us. What we make of it, or how we use it, is our gift to God. So, let us not abuse or pervert its blessings. Technology is something then that we need to care for, nurture, give proper direction and put to good use. Enshallah!

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