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| Which scenario is the world more coming to resemble? |
| 1984 |
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34% |
[ 13 ] |
| Brave New World |
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13% |
[ 5 ] |
| A disturbing synthesis of the two ... |
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23% |
[ 9 ] |
| A wonderful synthesis of the two |
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2% |
[ 1 ] |
| Neither |
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26% |
[ 10 ] |
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| Total Votes : 38 |
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| Author |
Message |
igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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 Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 1:27 am Post subject: |
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| Milwaukiedave wrote: |
I've never read either of the two books. I have a vague idea in terms of 1984 because I've heard people talk about it.
My thought is we really don't for sure know how much our lives are being invaded. |
Until we start opening our eyes & ears etc.
WAKE UP.
Mind How You Walk. It Could Be A Crime
By Philip Johnston
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 26/03/2007
Later today, the Commons home affairs select committee will announce it is to conduct an inquiry into the growth of surveillance in Britain. It is tempting to say this is not before time, but it is probably too late if the aim is to have any influence over policy.
We are already a "surveillance society". We are, for the time being, fortunate that the full potential for its abuse is constrained by the pluralist democracy in which we live. However, we do not have to look back very far in history to imagine the use to which such snooping could be put 
In the media, whenever we wish to describe the burgeoning intrusiveness of the past decade, we are inevitably drawn to one of our greatest writers, George Orwell - although even he could not have envisaged that, in addition to the ubiquitous cameras, it would be possible to track everyone from cradle to grave through computer-chip technology or to build up a database of the population's DNA.
But he would have understood why it is being done 
In 1984, it is about control. The state tells its people that the cameras are there for their benefit and to prevent crime, but the crime they are preventing is insurrection. Everyone is watched to ensure they conform.
Winston Smith can never get away from the surveillance. At one point, he realises how dangerous it is even to allow his thoughts to wander in public or when facing the telescreen. Facial expressions were watched closely and could have dire consequences.
Giving a disbelieving look when a state policy or a military victory was announced was considered a "facecrime". There would have been a lot of facecriminals around on Budget day last week.
OK, so we have not gone that far. But the point is that we could. In the wrong hands, technology that appears benign can be used to shackle. Within the lifetimes of millions alive today, there were totalitarian regimes that would have made the most appalling use of such opportunities.
I have no doubt that our political masters believe the rapid expansion of CCTV cameras, for instance, is good for us. Indeed, that would be the view of most people, who seem happy with the cameras.
It stands to reason that if you have a camera trained on a shopping centre, a car park, a hotel lobby or a bus stop, we must be safer.
Well, actually, it does not follow at all. One problem is that cameras take the place of other forms of crime prevention, such as more police or better street lighting.
You might feel safer and the mugger may well think twice before striking if he thinks a CCTV camera is about. But they can engender complacency; and if cameras are so effective in preventing crime, why have the numbers of town-centre assaults and robberies shot up even as CCTV has mushroomed?
The iconic CCTV images we all remember are of crimes happening, or about to happen, not of them being prevented: the grainy image of Jamie Bulger being led away by two boys to his death; Jill Dando shopping before she was murdered on her doorstep; the four July 7 bombers boarding a train at Luton en route to London.
Perhaps CCTV will lead police in Jamaica to the killer of Bob Woolmer. But even as a detection tool, CCTV has been found wanting. A review carried out by Home Office experts and police chiefs has found that too many images are hard to access.
The next generation of CCTV will be far more sophisticated than the analogue video cameras we have now. The new ones will be smart digital technologies able to "decide" if a crime is about to happen and focus in on suspicious activity rather than on everything, making it easier to go back over the images.
These intelligent cameras can tell if someone is spraying graffiti on a wall because they have "learnt" what normal behaviour should be within their field of vision.
Similarly, a camera trained on a car park will be activated only if it detects someone going from car to car. An airport camera can be programmed to know what a departure hall should look like, with thousands of separate movements. A single suitcase left for any length of time would trigger an alarm.
This technology was developed for use in hotels to alert staff to a breakfast tray left outside a room. Soon, it will be coming to a street near you.
Why not go the whole hog and have microphones attached to cameras or embedded in street lights? The Dutch have pioneered a system that recognises aggressive sounds, without actually eavesdropping on conversations (perish the thought).
My favourite is automatic gait recognition. This identifies people by the way they walk and the Government has asked Ministry of Defence scientists to develop it for widespread use.
Cameras are programmed to pick up on a particular gait, thereby making it impossible for a suspect to escape by covering his face. Even Orwell did not come up with "gaitcrime".
It is right that the home affairs select committee should look at this, although it is hard to see what it can do about it. We already have close to five million CCTV cameras, which is one fifth of the world's total.
The average Londoner might be monitored by 300 CCTV cameras a day. They are not going to be switched off, merely made more sophisticated.
But the committee can do one thing and that is alert the country to the potential dangers of putting all this surveillance together - the CCTV, DNA, ID card, radio-frequency identification, citizens' database - and linking it up with the rest of the information held on us.
Whatever can be said for the value of any one of these, it is the combination that makes me feel uneasy. I just hope it doesn't show on my face. |
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 9:02 pm Post subject: |
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The Panoptic Age - Part 1
April 26, 2007
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon
Phillip & Paul Collins joins us for an excellent discussion about their recent article "Panoptic Age: Entering the Pupil of the All-Seeing Eye". Topics Discussed: Background, The Term Panoptic, The All-Seeing Eye, The Surveillance Society, obscurantist agenda, Francis Bacon, Total Information Awareness, Information Awareness Office, The Emergent Carceral Culture, CIA, Global DNA Database, Adam Weishaupt, Jeremy Bentham, Bentham's Panopticon, The New-Conservatives, "Shouting" Cameras, Traffic Cameras, Dummy Cameras and much more.
LISTEN:
http://www.redicecreations.com/radio/2007/04apr/RICR-070426.html |
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cbclark4
Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Location: Masan
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 11:33 pm Post subject: |
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For a true glimpse at your future try Dune; Frank Herbert.
cbc |
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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 1:24 am Post subject: |
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If your question was: is our world coming to resemble a dystopia or a utopia - I'd have to plump for neither. But I don't think that was quite your question.
I voted 1984, although - happily - I don't think we quite resemble Oceania yet. However, following the media or listening to politians I seem regularly reminded of concepts such as: newspeak, doublethink, the memory hole and - post 911 - even thoughtcrime. People regularly cite Stalin's Soviet Union and Hitler's Germany as Orwell's inspiration for his novel, and with justification. What many do not realise, however, was that in Orwell's original introduction to this novel, he made it clear that he already saw these dark concepts featuring in postwar England (though of course not in quite such pervasive form). I'd say that that was even truer of today.
Also, I sometimes feel a little uncomfortable at how easily the authorities can track our movements these days with the advent of modern technology. I also acknowledge that there are advantages to that, i.e. surveillance of criminals, suspects, terrorists etc. I feel, however, it is something that can easily be abused, and that we should be vigilant. |
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 1:46 am Post subject: |
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| Big_Bird wrote: |
| Also, I sometimes feel a little uncomfortable at how easily the authorities can track our movements these days with the advent of modern technology. I also acknowledge that there are advantages to that, i.e. surveillance of criminals, suspects, terrorists etc. I feel, however, it is something that can easily be abused, and that we should be vigilant. |
Suspects? Yah, well do you know how many terror "suspects" the Bushies have locked away over the last 5 years? When the mere suspicion of wrong doing leads people 2B spied on, imprisoned, or executed, that's a big problem.
Your last line re: vigilance says the most. |
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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 9:45 pm Post subject: |
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| igotthisguitar wrote: |
Suspects? Yah, well do you know how many terror "suspects" the Bushies have locked away over the last 5 years? When the mere suspicion of wrong doing leads people 2B spied on, imprisoned, or executed, that's a big problem.
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They've been taken away to the Ministry of Luuurve...  |
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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 10:06 pm Post subject: |
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| igotthisguitar wrote: |
| Big_Bird wrote: |
| Also, I sometimes feel a little uncomfortable at how easily the authorities can track our movements these days with the advent of modern technology. I also acknowledge that there are advantages to that, i.e. surveillance of criminals, suspects, terrorists etc. I feel, however, it is something that can easily be abused, and that we should be vigilant. |
Suspects? Yah, well do you know how many terror "suspects" the Bushies have locked away over the last 5 years? When the mere suspicion of wrong doing leads people 2B spied on, imprisoned, or executed, that's a big problem.
Your last line re: vigilance says the most. |
During World War II, Britain developed a huge surveillance and intelligence sector. When the war was over, they turned it towards tracking their own citizens. [As I've already stated, I realise there pros as well as cons in that regard.] I remember learning that domestic telephone calls were monitored by computers and if, during a conversation, certain words were used, the conversation would automatically be recorded. Being young and silly, my friends and I loved to throw in the odd "Bomb!" and "Drugs!" just for the sheer joy of it. Now - post September 11, I would never never do that. The consequences might not be trivial. |
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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| Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 3:59 am Post subject: |
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| Big_Bird wrote: |
| During World War II, Britain developed a huge surveillance and intelligence sector. When the war was over, they turned it towards tracking their own citizens. [As I've already stated, I realise there pros as well as cons in that regard.] I remember learning that domestic telephone calls were monitored by computers and if, during a conversation, certain words were used, the conversation would automatically be recorded. Being young and silly, my friends and I loved to throw in the odd "Bomb!" and "Drugs!" just for the sheer joy of it. Now - post September 11, I would never never do that. The consequences might not be trivial. |
All int'l calls from Korea are "monitored".
"Key" words on da phone ... uh-huh, you had better believe it ... ECHELON
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON
Keyboards ... YES ... MAGICK LANTERN
(everything is recorded even if you edit!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Lantern_%28software%29
CARNIVORE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore_%28FBI%29
Ah yes, can't you smell the freedom? |
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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| Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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Big Brother Microphones Could Be Next Step
By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor
Last Updated: 1:52am BST 02/05/2007
Your view: Do we "need" a "surveillance society" to "protect" us from "terrorism"?
Hidden mini-cameras and microphones that can eavesdrop on conversations in the street are the next step in the march towards a "Big Brother" society, MPs were warned yesterday.
Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, said a debate had begun about whether listening devices should be set up alongside Britain's 4.5 million CCTV cameras.
Talking CCTV: a bridge too far
In evidence to the Commons home affairs committee, Mr Thomas said he would be hostile to such an idea.
He was also alarmed by the prospect of tiny cameras, hidden in lamp posts, replacing more obvious monitors.
Mr Thomas even considered that so-called ''talking CCTV'', which is to be trialled in 20 areas across the country, might be a ''bridge too far''. This system allows operators to bellow orders at those deemed to be "behaving badly".
He said it was arguable that surveillance in Britain - which is greater than in any other "democratic" nation - may already have gone too far. It was crucial, he added, to ''proceed with caution'' to avoid creating a climate of suspicion.
MPs told Mr Thomas that their constituents were keen on CCTV, which they found reassuring.
But Mr Thomas said that a proper assessment of whether other means of crime control, such as improved street lighting, might be a better was rarely carried out.
He called for ''privacy impact assessments'', which are used in Australia and America every time a public authority wants to introduce CCTV or start a database.
CONT'd ... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main ... |
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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| Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 9:02 pm Post subject: |
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"Errant" Text Message Draws Cops To Door
Nov 14, 9:58 PM EST
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Leif Harry Ersland wanted to return a nail gun he borrowed, so he sent a text message to the owner saying "the gun is on the cabin steps."
It didn't take long for the police to turn up at his door, demanding to know whether Ersland was interested in weapons or had any enemies, the Haugesunds Avis newspaper reported Wednesday.
It turned out that Ersland had punched the wrong phone number.
Instead of the message going to the nail gun's owner, it went to a stranger, who called the police early Tuesday because she was suspicious about a possible gun deal.
Ersland was not home when the police arrived. His cohabitant, Hilde Pedersen, who knew nothing about the text message, told the newspaper she faced a confusing 45 minutes of intense interrogation.
"I was shocked to see them," Pedersen was quoted as saying. "I became even more shocked when I learned what they wanted. ... It was very unpleasant."
She said about a half-hour after the police left, they called her to say that the whole thing had been a misunderstanding about a "message gone astray".
Official story says
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/ODD_NORWAY_MISFIRE?
SITE=MOSTP&SECTION=ENTERTAINMENT&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-11-14-16-59-14 |
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