As Google introduces Google Glass, the Explorer version, there are some serious questions about privacy and distraction possibilities. The first 8000 are going for $1,500 now and the real product will be available to the general public at the end of the year or in early 2014, presumably at a lower price. 
The not so trendy eyewear is Android based and can be either WiFi or tethered via Bluetooth to your phone. The small screen displays the web, email, maps, and any other web-based or phone application. It responds to Google voice, can take photos or video, and has GPS. 
From most of the comments that I have read so far, the big issue seems to be that of privacy. With video capability, anyone can be captured and the image used in some nefarious way. But, let’s get real for a moment. There are so many phones and surveillance cameras already in place that our privacy in public places has already vanished. The only question is how the images will be used.
My biggest fear is in the distraction aspect of this new method of wasting time. We already have people getting hit by cars, running into lampposts, hitting other people, all while walking on the streets checking texts and maps. But, what will happen with their playlist synced to the car radio, GPS instructions, and reading email on the Google Glass at 60 miles an hour? Sounds like a disaster to me.
Rather than tracking my email and suggesting what I want to buy, and highlighting paid advertisers and anticipating my search criteria, I wish that Google would improve the search algorithm and spend their billions on devices for the handicapped, and open their data to an open source. The trend? There will be no change in corporate policy, no open source, and more “innovative” products.
Of course it will not take long for the Chinese to reverse engineer and offer a knockoff on DealExtreme for $49. There is a link to the Google Glass technology here.

It really does not take long for bad things to happen when two ideas, both questionable, fly around cyberspace and find each other.  Of course, the process goes faster when an individual or group decide to combine poor judgment and stupidity to cause problems. Spoofing and swatting are the two bad ideas and both are spreading to a town near you.
Spoof cards have been around for a while and were originally designed to fool friends with bogus phone calls. There are several card services available but here is how it works. You sign up for the card service on a web site and essentially buy minutes of spoof time. When you want to make a “trick” phone call, you call the card service number. You then enter the phone number that you want to call, the number that you want to have the recipient see on their caller ID, and spoof to your heart’s content. There are additional features like a voice changer and a record function. So, you could call a friend and have him see his banks telephone number and advise him that his account is overdrawn and there will be a $50 dollar fee due. But, you could also ask him to verify his account information! That is not a spoof; it is a scam and it is illegal. The really troubling part of this “service” is that you can buy up to 750 minutes of spoof time at $99 dollars. That is 12 and ½ hours! So, you either have a lot of friends, a lot of time, or you are doing something illegal.
Swatting began in California, the land of celebrities, and has spread far beyond the celebrated persons of Hollywood. The idea is that a person makes a call to police to advise them of shots fired and several gunmen at the home of _________________. Of course, the police have to respond and send police and a SWAT team to handle the situation. When they arrive, the celebrity is unaware of any problem as there was none. The caller gets a kick out of fooling everyone and does it again. So, we have emergency vehicles on the road, resources being allocated, and at the time, there may be a real emergency somewhere. Dispatchers can try and call to verify the information, but if the person is not home, they get a recorded message and more concerned.
But, with the combination of spoofing, swatting, and the use of “burner phones”, the culprit may never be found. It is really sad that technology always has a good side and a bad side. There is always someone who uses useful skills to make life difficult. The trend? More of the same but a lot closer to all of us…