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#1 (permalink) |
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Gangnam Style
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: DH's Massage Parlor
Posts: 6,383
Internets: 213510
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I'm all in love with techonology and everything, but these systems being put in place will undoubtably turn into use for Big Brother.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070927/...ecurity_system CHICAGO - A car circles a high-rise three times. Someone leaves a backpack in a park. Such things go unnoticed in big cities every day. But that could change in Chicago with a new video surveillance system that would recognize such anomalies and alert authorities to take a closer look. On Thursday, the city and IBM Corp. are announcing the initial phase of what officials say could be the most advanced video security network in any U.S. city. The City of Broad Shoulders is getting eyes in the back of its head. "Chicago is really light years ahead of any metropolitan area in the U.S. now," said Sam Docknevich, who heads video-surveillance consulting for IBM. Chicago already has thousands of security cameras in use by businesses and police — including some equipped with devices that recognize the sound of a gunshot, turn the cameras toward the source and place a 911 call. But the new system would let cameras analyze images in real time 24 hours a day. "You're talking about creating (something) that knows no fatigue, no boredom and is absolutely focused," said Kevin Smith, spokesman for the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications. For example, the system could be programmed to alert the city's emergency center whenever a camera spots a vehicle matching the description of one being sought by authorities. The system could be programmed to recognize license plates. It could alert emergency officials if the same car or truck circles the Sears Tower three times or if nobody picks up a backpack in Grant Park for, say, 30 seconds. IBM says this approach might be more effective than relying on a bleary-eyed employee to monitor video screens. "Studies have shown people fall asleep," Docknevich said. It is unclear when the system will be fully operational. Existing cameras could be equipped with the new software, but additional cameras probably will be added as well, Smith said. "The complexity of the software is going to define how quickly we are able to do this," he said. Chicago's announcement comes as it is vying to bring the 2016 games to town. A purportedly security-enhancing surveillance system is something city officials could trumpet to International Olympic Committee. "The eventual goal is to have elaborate video surveillance well in advance of the 2016 Olympics," said Bo Larsson, CEO of Firetide Inc., the company providing the wireless connectivity for the project. Neither Smith nor IBM would reveal the cost of the network, but Smith said much of it would be paid by the Department of Homeland Security. The cost of previous surveillance efforts has run into the millions of dollars. Just adding devices that allow surveillance cameras to turn toward the sound of gunfire was as much as $10,000 per unit. Some critics question whether such systems are effective and whether they could lead to an unwarranted invasion of privacy. Jonathan Schachter, a public policy lecturer at Northwestern University, said there are no studies that show cameras reduce crime. And the idea that placing cameras near "strategic assets" would prevent a terrorist attack is "absurd," he said. Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said he was concerned that more cameras and more sophisticated technology would lead to abuses of authority. "It is incumbent on the city to ensure that there are practices and procedures in place to sort of watch the watchers," he said. |
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#4 (permalink) |
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Spice Master
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 17,969
Internets: 278288
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Psychedelics are illegal not because a loving government is concerned that you may jump out of a third story window. Psychedelics are illegal because they dissolve opinion structures and culturally laid down models of behavior and information processing.
― Terence McKenna |
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#7 (permalink) |
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MURICAN
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All of London has this, the entire city is under video surveilance. Not sure how to feel about it. Probably don't like it. But it's also practical as well.
Practicality vs. Idealogy |
![]() The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them. ![]() |
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#10 (permalink) |
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Spice Master
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 17,969
Internets: 278288
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he's a goddamn redcoat is what he is! i bet you support taxation without representation too, because "i'm sure the government is putting the money to good use in our community", right? RIGHT?
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Psychedelics are illegal not because a loving government is concerned that you may jump out of a third story window. Psychedelics are illegal because they dissolve opinion structures and culturally laid down models of behavior and information processing.
― Terence McKenna |
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#12 (permalink) |
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Gangnam Style
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: DH's Massage Parlor
Posts: 6,383
Internets: 213510
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I don't have a problem with random liscense plate checks, as driving is a privalege, not a right. I do have problems when I have no privacy outside my own home, and that is what I see this system being used for. Just like any other power, it all goes for the wrong reasons once it's implimented.
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#14 (permalink) |
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Spice Master
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 17,969
Internets: 278288
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I don't know about most, I've only had a few jobs that i've had to get drug tested before. Alcohol tests never
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Psychedelics are illegal not because a loving government is concerned that you may jump out of a third story window. Psychedelics are illegal because they dissolve opinion structures and culturally laid down models of behavior and information processing.
― Terence McKenna |
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