Posted by admin in After some breathtaking action when you’ve almost made it to the finishing point, a scrolling message appears from nowhere on your console and warns you of a storm brewing somewhere. How about that?
New York state gamers might just have to live with something like that from now on. State authorities now plan to send emergency alerts and warnings over online gaming networks.
Their logic is simple. Many of the younger generation now spend their time playing video games on their PlayStation, Xbox, or Wii consoles rather than watching TV or listening to radio. By issuing emergency alerts via video game consoles, they hope to reach a larger audience.
Speaking at the Interop technology conference, New York State deputy CIO Rico Singleton said the plan makes sense given the amount of time young people like to spend on video games.
This initiative is part of a wider New York state program named Empire 2.0. Its objective is to make the government more “transparent, participatory, and collaborative”.
Empire 2.0 also plans to monitor Facebook posts to detect early signs of suicidal tendencies and disseminate information through Twitter. So if you’re a New York state resident, you might want to watch out before you write something depressing on your wall!
In fact, that’s not the end of the Government’s “participation” in your lives. To create more awareness, Homeland Security has already started using the online game Second Life to train 700,000 first responders. Empire 2.0 will also publish Senate bills online where you can make your comment on and mark up proposed legislation.
Would it be like giving up some liberties in favor of safety? We wonder what Benjamin Franklin would say to that.
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