A Random Thought

As I am wrapping up this blog I had a crazy thought.. I made all these videos on my Palm Treo cell phone and my Canon Digital Camera which by no means is a professional one.. Sure that sentence sounds like an ad, but if you think about it, it is crazy how videos can be made now, gone are times when you had to use 35mm/ 16mm film, even DB tapes, now all you need is your trusty cell phone and it can be instantly uploaded for the world to see!

Lindsay Lohan vs. The Paps

This was a video of the extreme measures paparazzi take to "get their shot" It's amazing how many photographers fight for the right picture. WARNING - Mild obscenities

Sony & Technology

I thought this was an interesting article to read on technology. Some people can’t afford to protect their home with alarms and home surveillance this PowerPod-LANC and software offers an affordable alternative to something that can be quite the budget breaker. Not only protecting certain areas of your home it can be used for video chatting, video conferencing and webcam video broadcasting over the web. Although it might not be the first choice for a home surveillance system it’s multi-features are good enough for average living.

http://www.hometoys.com/htinews/feb05/articles/eagletron/sony.htm

Paparazzi

There has always been this big debate as to whether the paparazzi should continue to take pictures of celebrities or if there should be someway to protect the Hollywood A-listers. I feel if his product is installed in environments where cameras might not be welcome, it would be a good compromise for the paparazzi and celebrities. With the paparazzi causing so many celebrity accidents I feel that this would ensure the safety of “people” celebrity status or not.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/magazine/11ideas1-3.html?ei=5090&en=ea51f203939e602f&ex=1291957200&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

Review - Is Britain Becoming a Surveillance Society?

When I read this article I was almost started to laugh at the fact that plans to install surveillance cameras that would allow operators to shout at people misbehaving. I mean I think surveillance is good for peace of mind…but what is point in having someone “shouting” at people misbehaving. I feel that it would be more beneficial if the operators immediately put a call into the authorities…the point of surveillance is to not give someone a warning, but to catch and punish someone if they are breaking laws etc. Though I might always feel that they are always looking over their shoulder.. Maybe after living in Britain I would get use to the feeling. I just feel that if everyone knows their are camera everywhere what will deter people from causing crime or altering their actions? Why is their a need for cameras? Isn't it like the big brother effect? Someone is watching you at all times. Sure there are cases that surveillance is needed as in retail stores. But really they are only used after a crime or action is committed, they do not help in deterring as the act would have happened anyways instead they just help in prosecuting after the act. Why are cameras needed on streets? Does that not imply that everyone is guilty of something until the camera catching them and it is true? There are lots of ideas I have regarding this issue now hopefully they won't take surveillence further.

Bush's Phone Taping Program

I would agree in President Bush’s Phone Tapping Program that would monitor the phone calls and e-mails of people who are in contact with people possibly linked to al-Qaida. With terrorism being a rising threat in the United States I feel it is in the White House’s interest to be prepared for anything. It maybe an invasive of ones privacy but if it means protecting society as a whole, then that takes priority. but at the same time I think bush's phone taping program is a slight invasion of privacy.. The act does say that it will tap anyone that they think is associated with terrorism but who's to say that they are not racially profiling the users? We all know that after 9 11 people from the middle east were called out and profiled due to their race.. Does an act like this say that it is ok to tap anyone of middle eastern decent? When do they stop and how far will they take it?

http://voanews.com/english/archive/2006-01/2006-01-01-voa34.cfm?CFID=72781994&CFTOKEN=47959667

Cookies

From a marketers perspective cookies are a useful tool to track people as they surf around the internet.. From a users perspective cookies leave a trail of where you surf and what you look at. This allows for companies to target ads towards you as they make a profile of your browsing techniques. Do you like the idea of companies knowing what your preferences are? I think its a neat idea to further target you but at the same time it personalizes something that has not had your inclusion.

Jimmy Kimmel on Galker Stalker

I watched an interesting video on Youtube today. Jimmy Kimmel is talking about Galker Staker.
For those who have not heard/seen it, here is the link http://gawker.com/stalker/. This raises an interesting point. Are celebrities exempt from surveillance issues? Are they putting themselves out there for fame and to be filmed by anyone at anytime? Websites like Gawker Stalker I think are fair game as long as they are not real time. It is of some people's interest what celebrities do in their day to day lives and this site serves that purpose. There has to be some limit. Personally I feel that a website like this is fine, but if it was updated in real time it could be a danger to celebrities.

Here is the Video.. Enjoy!

Apology

I noticed the quality of the films isn't that great.. I'm pretty sure it's because of the camera ( aka cell phone / digital camera) I was using plus the fact that I had to keep the files small to upload them... Hopefully you all still get the main idea that I was trying to portray though.

Cheers!

Playing in a Playground - Who's Really Watching?

A Music Video of A Girl Being Watched

A View of Surveillance

An Opinion of Myspace, Facebook & Blogs

I was watching this girl.......

Google Earth

I don't know about you but I find Google Earth to be pretty creepy. Google earth makes map by superimposing images of satellite imagery, aerial photography and GIS over a 3D globe. The details are very precise sometimes such as the sunbather shown in this video. It is alarming to know that a satellite thousands and thousands of miles away can see you in your very own backyard...

A Humber College Student's opinion of Facebook and Surveillance

"i do feel like im always being watched, actually i know im being watched...by the man!! also society is dependent on cameras, like at a baseball game as soon as you are on the jumbotron everyone makes weird faces and tired to be funny! NO !!!!! just act natural in front of the camera!! And i do leave a trail for others to follow on the internet...its called facebook minifeed...sometimes i hide my stories."

A Student's Opinion of Surveillance

I asked a friend their thoughts on surveillance and this is what she thought..Discuss!

"We have agreed to take part in things like facebook. The same can be said for the government, we have agreed to take part in it. Lets turn to good ol' hobbes to explain why.... the state of nature would make life "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" Pretty much we would all go around protecting ourselves in any way we could, even if protecting ourselves means killing others....pretty much man against man... for example, kill someone for that last piece of meat. haha... So what do we do to avoid this situation? We give up our freedoms, we give up our right to privacy so that a BIG BROTHER type will come and protect us from the state of nature. In terms of cameras everywhere and such, that i suppose is just big brother protecting us from the state of nature. Is it right? Has it gone too far?...WHO IS WATCHING THE WATCHERS?....at what point do we say," okay back off now".. i mean with credit cards, banks cards, cell phones, cameras... people don't realise how easily they can be tracked down. after 911 we gave up alot of rights, most people don't even know that, will it get to the point that we all have chips implanted into our heads so that they can keep track of us? haha IT COULD HAPPENoh p.s. take a look at Britain, they have like 4 million cameras.... and alot of them are hidden, so you can't even see that you are being seen..... hmmm and is it even working?, read some reports and apparently not, it doesn't seem to be preventing anything"

UK tightens surveillance of students

Tidbits from an interesting article I read today..

British intelligence will be allowed to keep closer surveillance of foreign students who major in sensitive courses in Britain.

Okay, that makes a little bit of sense so I kept reading.......

Colleges are mandated to maintain a close watch on non-European students who study biological sciences, chemistry, nuclear physics, power engineering and metallurgy as the main focus of the new law.

This is crazyness! This has to be racial profiling, has Britain taken it to far?

Today's Walk

Today I walked down Peter to Queen across Queen to John -John to Richmond and back to Peter. This walk takes about 10 minutes and I saw over 15 cameras and I'm sure I missed some too!
Enjoy!

Here is also an article I read..I think this has the potential to benefit society however; the province needs to really research to see if it’s going to be effective. So if this is part of that research then I think anything to help reduce crime in the city is a good thing. Although I strongly agree with Murray Hedges in saying that once perpetrators are caught we're not doing anything.

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_7641.aspx

Another Opinion on Surveillance

An interesting video I thought would be fitting for this case..

A video of a personal opinion on surveillance

1984

Surveillance is something that bothers me because I feel scared that I am doing the wrong thing and if I do, I will be penalized. It reminds me of the George Orwell novel 1984, where big brother is constantly monitoring citizens every move. It feels like a loss of freedom to me, and I feel its getting worse everyday.

Peter Barret

Two Way Street

Another Personal Opinion

"Surviellance is a two way street ppl want to know that they will be safe and yet they do not want the privacy to be invaded"

- Graduate Student

Personal Opinion

I asked student's what their thoughts on surveillance were, here were some opinions I received.

"I feel it is so important to have certain locations under surveillance. In today’s society there is too much crime, fraud and violence that exists and although surveillance isn’t going to protect a person physically, it definitely offers some piece of mind; knowing that surveillance is being used as a tool to ensure one’s safety."

~ Carolyn Atyeo OCAD

What are Cookies? Yum Yum

Cookies are "stored as text files on your hard drive so servers can access them when you return to Web sites you've visited before. ... Cookies are commonly 'handed out' when you, as a user, login to a Web site where you've registered a username and password. The server finds the cookie information on your computer, checks with its own information, and if they match, retrieves your file. You then have either a personalized version of a portal, or easy access to your online shopping account, for example."

As Defined by --> http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Internet_surveillance

Spyware Defintion

What is spyware?

"Software that gathers information about a user as he or she navigates around the Web, spyware is intended to track surfing habits in order to build marketing profiles. .... [and] information about your habits will be transmitted back to the company's Web site-but not information specifically about you." Although marketing spyware is not illegal, the way in which it works can be used as one technique for internet surveillance.


As Defined by --> http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Internet_surveillance