tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post4801702577648287853..comments2024-03-28T23:39:08.616-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Sousveillance: A New Era for Police AccountabilityDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-5265275677217741712011-09-20T08:26:54.205-07:002011-09-20T08:26:54.205-07:00All I have today are quips:
-- Let's not forg...All I have today are quips:<br /><br />-- Let's not forget that every policeman already enjoys the right to film his encounters with the citizenry.<br /><br />...and...<br /><br />-- If those people are "job creators", they're performing execrably at it, and need none of the disincentives the Republicans threaten to keep doing it so badly.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07541997928359883625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-18076293251240622902011-06-29T01:03:15.424-07:002011-06-29T01:03:15.424-07:00Ttansperant society?! I want to read this book.Ttansperant society?! I want to read this book.china electronicshttp://www.koobox.ca/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-52458028446723349682011-06-27T01:38:26.385-07:002011-06-27T01:38:26.385-07:00Article in New Scientist. Birds tweet using learne...Article in <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20615-first-evidence-that-birds-tweet-using-grammar.html" rel="nofollow">New Scientist</a>. Birds tweet using learned rules of grammar. Researchers traced it to an area of the birds' brains that corresponds to Broca's area.<br /><br />Should give uplift researchers an extra tool to work with.<br /><br />(A commenter notes the irony of bird tweets having grammar, when human "tweets" often don't.)Paulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-76228181744961611392011-06-24T18:55:49.253-07:002011-06-24T18:55:49.253-07:00Recently read Charles Stross's "Halting S...Recently read Charles Stross's "Halting State", interesting perspective on ubiquitous cameras.<br /> A thought, are we seeing a privacy concern, or a dominance game?<br />"idepa", something less than a clue.Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-90360878224229875982011-06-24T12:14:46.110-07:002011-06-24T12:14:46.110-07:00This sounds like another great step for SOUVEILLAN...This sounds like another great step for SOUVEILLANCE:<br /><br />CopWatch and OpenWatch: covert recording apps for interactions with authority figures<br /><br />"OpenWatch is a project that publishes open/free apps for Android and iOS; the apps (called "OpenWatch Recorder" and "CopRecorder") covertly record audio and, at your direction, transmits it to the OpenWatch site. There, it is reviewed for significance, stripped of personal information, and published. It also has a video mode. The OpenWatch site looks for regional patterns in authority-figure interactions -- for example, whether a county operates its drunk-driving checkpoints in an illegal fashion..."<br /><br />more (including a short video) at:<br /><br />www.boingboing.net/2011/06/24/copwatch-and-openwat.htmladastrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07079484504006792763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-23740450231797108112011-06-23T10:40:31.494-07:002011-06-23T10:40:31.494-07:00Or heck, even with a clickable link:
Harry Potter ...Or heck, even with a clickable link:<br /><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/harry-potter-methods-rationality/id431784580?ign-mpt=uo%3D4" rel="nofollow">Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality</a><br /><br />(sorry for the double post, didn't realize some blogging software still didn't auto-convert pasted links)Eneaszhttp://HPMoR.LibSyn.Comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-26295479593364462192011-06-23T10:38:16.851-07:002011-06-23T10:38:16.851-07:00Speaking of fiction being turned into an audiobook...Speaking of fiction being turned into an audiobook in the form of a weekly podcast...<br />http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/harry-potter-methods-rationality/id431784580?ign-mpt=uo%3D4<br /><br />(yes, a bit of a plug, but I'm rather proud of it :) )Eneaszhttp://HPMoR.LibSyn.Comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-80922404071486461862011-06-23T08:31:37.225-07:002011-06-23T08:31:37.225-07:00"Does anyone know if ATT will let you pay JUS..."Does anyone know if ATT will let you pay JUST to forward mail sent to your current ATT email address, if you move your internet ISP service away from them? That would be an honorable thing to do."<br /><br />$7.99 a month for a service that cannot cost them more than $0.20/month to provide. And I'm estimating very, very high. <br /><br />In my experience, they'll either be so complacent about a forwarding setting that it will forward forever, or they have some automation that will shut it off completely immediately upon cancellation.<br /><br />In either case, they have no honor, because phone companies aren't run by honorable people.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07541997928359883625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-74886900086615435282011-06-23T07:28:16.952-07:002011-06-23T07:28:16.952-07:00The article doesn't answer its question: How c...The article doesn't answer its question: How conservativism lost touch with reality.<br /><br />The answer: conservatism hasn't lost touch with reality so much as it has its shop front. What's being paraded by today's republicans is self-servatism.<br /><br />...Ooh! Ooh! What's this about 'last week'?<br /><br />holomarb: a projection service that gives you the statue without the lifting crew.Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-56610600461248207212011-06-23T06:36:04.603-07:002011-06-23T06:36:04.603-07:00The publicly visible part of the conservative move...The publicly visible part of the conservative movement has become little more than fanboys for wealth. Just when the nation could use both hands on the wheel. Matt Taibbi has raised the possibility of Michelle Bachmann being elected by a grudge vote:<br />http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/michele-bachmanns-holy-war-20110622?page=1<br />With the choices being "In thrall to Wall $treet" and "Deeply enthralled by Wall $treet" it's nearly plausible.Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-45454806216431022152011-06-23T00:16:37.629-07:002011-06-23T00:16:37.629-07:00Carl has shared this interesting article about the...Carl has shared this interesting article about the current state of conservatism.<br /><br />http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2077943,00.html<br /><br />http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/<br />0,8599,2077943,00.html<br /><br />alasDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-11785102370207228362011-06-22T23:17:49.528-07:002011-06-22T23:17:49.528-07:00Ah... now (in my last-week slog to finish a novel....Ah... now (in my last-week slog to finish a novel... I must slog through customer support to find the right person who might be able to help me set up such a forwarding service.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1752123848085413952011-06-22T21:09:03.544-07:002011-06-22T21:09:03.544-07:00Dr Brin,
My wife and I had ATT internet service b...Dr Brin,<br /><br />My wife and I had ATT internet service back when it was still associated with Worldnet, and when we changed service providers, we were able to keep the .att e-mail address for a very small monthly fee--I think it's $7.99<br /><br />We still have the .att addresses, although they now receive mostly spam.<br /><br />So I don't know if they'll do what you specifically asked about, but they should let you keep the e-mail address active even if they are not your ISP. The only caveat is that ATT is now associated with Yahoo rather than Worldcom, so I'm not sure about current policy.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-89451050253121077022011-06-22T19:30:00.918-07:002011-06-22T19:30:00.918-07:00Does anyone know if ATT will let you pay JUST to f...Does anyone know if ATT will let you pay JUST to forward mail sent to your current ATT email address, if you move your internet ISP service away from them? That would be an honorable thing to do.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-81256547661254153562011-06-22T16:37:03.113-07:002011-06-22T16:37:03.113-07:00Lightfield cameras are apparently nearly ready for...<a href="http://www.lytro.com/picture_gallery" rel="nofollow">Lightfield cameras</a> are apparently nearly ready for consumer sale.<br /><br />These were first created in the mid-'90s, requiring 100 cameras in a room for a single shot. But the company claims to have shrunk the tech down to a single consumer-level camera.<br /><br />Play with the images in the gallery. Click anywhere in the image to bring that part of the image into focus. It's pretty cool, macro and landscape in the same shot. (It looks like there's a limit of three focal depths in the images, but that may be a limit of the player.)<br /><br />(I wonder if it works with video?)Paulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-19460165910758326142011-06-22T16:03:17.808-07:002011-06-22T16:03:17.808-07:00"Tony Fisk said...
I think that nation s...<i>"Tony Fisk said...<br /><br /> I think that nation states that persist in thinking of their organic assets in that way will be in for a rude shock...<br /><br /> When said assets start agitating for improved conditions...."</i><br /><br />The only "rude shock" they're getting <b>now</b> is the ease with which the robots that wear out <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/business/worldbusiness/05sweatshop.html" rel="nofollow">from 16-hour workdays</a>chose to <a href="http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/news/new-242.html" rel="nofollow">dispose of themselves via suicide</a>; the response was to ask them to <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37354853/ns/business-world_business/?ns=business-world_business" rel="nofollow">sign no-suicide pledges</a>. I mean, seriously, what do you THINK is going to happen?<br /><br />This is not a movie. What do you think Foxxconn would do if 10% of their workers demanded a 40-hour work week?rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-64416369517762762602011-06-22T15:39:48.438-07:002011-06-22T15:39:48.438-07:00Charlie Stross on why you shouldn't count on t...Charlie Stross on why you shouldn't count on the Singularity to make you immortal or even happen in the first place:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2011/06/reality-check-1.html" rel="nofollow">Three arguments against the singularity</a><br /><br />'copip': Personnel required for complex operations where one Pip is not enough.Stefan Joneshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan_e_jones/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-88821493486349932532011-06-22T13:14:12.291-07:002011-06-22T13:14:12.291-07:00David_ You seem to be under the illusion that you ...David_ You seem to be under the illusion that you "own" the electronic devices that you've "purchased." Nothing could be further from the truth. <br /><br />Example: The software that runs this Mac computer updates itself every week or so. Of course it "asks" permission but that request never includes a valid explanation of what changes are being made. Apple could lock me out of this machine and disable it's internet access anytime it wanted to. <br /><br />Some time ago Amazon removed thousands of copies of a book people had "purchased" from their Kindle units which they had also "purchased." It's clear to me that the "owner's" of such units don't actually <i>own</i> either the unit or the content in quite the same way I own my battered paperback copy of <i>Startide Rising.</i><br /><br />If Apple wants to turn off your Iphone you own a bunch of electronic junk and there is very little you can do about it. Isn't the future fun? <br /><br />"Open the pod bay doors HAL."Pangolinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18369503994505817789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-77067192221985470932011-06-22T11:37:58.496-07:002011-06-22T11:37:58.496-07:00Insanely intense efforts have gone into making sur...Insanely intense efforts have gone into making sure that the 21st century technologies are not prone to owner control, the way VCRs and tapes and magnetic media were, in the 20th.<br /><br />Notice how frustratingly disobedient DVD devices are? Refusing to skip previews? Refusing to record when you want them to? Why hasn't a manufacturer COMPETED by selling versions that bypass all that crap? Would that not be a feature to advertise?<br /><br />But no one has. Anybody smell... collusion?<br /><br />BTW see: http://science.page8productions.com/?p=296David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35143222182161316032011-06-22T10:59:59.303-07:002011-06-22T10:59:59.303-07:00Tony Fisk,
"how can you ever be sure you [......Tony Fisk,<br /><i>"how can you ever be sure you [...] aren't being recorded by 'unapproved' technology?"</i><br /><br />It doesn't really matter. If it's illegal, then the recording itself is grounds for conviction. (Against both the recordist and the camera manufacturer.) Chilling effect and all that.Paulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-92040956138789776192011-06-22T09:57:16.960-07:002011-06-22T09:57:16.960-07:00Tony Fisk,
"I can't see Apple's camer...Tony Fisk,<br /><i>"I can't see Apple's camera disabling patent ever being practical: we don't all use iPhones!"</i><br /><br />LarryHart,<br /><i>"But I could easily see use of camera-disabling software becoming "industry standard" or even mandated by law"</i><br /><br />A number of countries required camera-phones to have a "shutter" noise whenever a photo is taken, to prevent up-skirters and locker-room-pervs. It doesn't seem hard to believe that governments could be goaded into mandating block-sensors in FCC (or equiv) standards.<br /><br />Apple may have done us a favour. Other manufacturers get that much more traction arguing, "You can't require us to pay Apple royalties!" and the legislators not being willing to pay to nationalise the patent, or compensate the manufacturers (as many national constitutions would require.)Paulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-12535170548082487022011-06-22T06:42:45.022-07:002011-06-22T06:42:45.022-07:00Tony Fisk:
I can't see Apple's camera dis...Tony Fisk:<br /><i><br />I can't see Apple's camera disabling patent ever being practical: we don't all use iPhones!<br /></i><br /><br />I'd like to agree. But I could easily see use of camera-disabling software becoming "industry standard" or even mandated by law, in the same way that they're trying (or is it already a done deal?) to force music recordings into a format that enforces copywrites.<br /><br />That will be the excuse here too--that cameras have to be prevented from recording "proprietary" content. But anyone with enough money or power (governments, corporations, billionaire) will have access to the disabling technology.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-81253714189530686972011-06-22T06:35:58.058-07:002011-06-22T06:35:58.058-07:00Wow! That should teach me to read to the end befo...Wow! That should teach me to read to the end before posting. Looks like every post since yesterday afternoon is already about that Apple camera-disabling thing.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-81146801634573146352011-06-22T06:34:48.755-07:002011-06-22T06:34:48.755-07:00I just heard about this on Thom Hartmann's rad...I just heard about this on Thom Hartmann's radio show yesterday. Very on-topic for this post:<br /><br /><i><b><br />Apple’s recent patent for an invisible infrared sensor that would block piracy at concerts and movies has net neutrality enthusiasts rattled, but some patent bloggers enthused about the possibilities.<br /><br />The SavetheInternet.com coalition, a group of some two million people devoted to a free and open Internet, want to send Steve Jobs an online petition, “Dear Apple, Don’t Shut Down My Phone Camera,” to ask that he reconsider the patent. The patent, which would enable a device’s camera to shut down during a movie or concert, applies to iPhones, the iPod Touch and iPad 2.<br /><br />In the petition, the coalition argues that the patent is dangerous because of the way smartphones are now used for political expression and community organizing:<br /></b><br />That’s why I’m concerned that Apple wants to patent a sensor that would detect when people are using their phone cameras — and give corporations the power to shut them down. ... As we’ve seen in Egypt and elsewhere, the images and videos we take with our phones can be powerful forms of free speech. That’s why governments and businesses that feel threatened by the democratizing nature of mobile devices are doing what they can to control how we use them... If this tool fell into the hands of repressive regimes or malicious corporations, it would give tyrants and companies the power to silence one of the most critical forms of free expression.<br /><b><br />Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt has long warned that anti-piracy laws might be disastrous for free speech.<br /></b></i>LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-39093476082043302602011-06-21T19:22:44.726-07:002011-06-21T19:22:44.726-07:00I think that nation states that persist in thinkin...I think that nation states that persist in thinking of their organic assets in that way will be in for a rude shock...<br /><br />When said assets start agitating for improved conditions<br /><br />When said assets, for their own interests (see '<a href="http://www.witness.org/" rel="nofollow">The Witness Project</a>') start disabling 'certain features'<br /><br />As I said, we'd have to be collectively asleep at the wheel.<br /><br />Gripping hand is this: how can you ever be sure you've successfully put the genie back in the bottle, and aren't being recorded by 'unapproved' technology? <br /><br />roglacy: a state governed by roogs.Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.com