Big Brother is Watching You

[bannination]

banni, maybe you can display the banner widgit here.

Signed up for it, but they don't have the banner finalized yet, don't know if I'll have time to implement it after they do... whenever that is.

[O Really]

You should be sorrier that you watched and remember Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
I'm sorry that I watched your link, I had a seizure.

If you don't like the style of \V/'s video, maybe these discussions of the same action will be more appealing:

.

Remember? It's become somewhat of a Halloween tradition. Like some people watch "It's a Wonderful Life" at Christmas? But I said I enjoyed it. I didn't say it was particularly good cinema.

Anyway, I know I'm not in Anonymous' demographic. I don't like PS4 ads either. But in honor of the day, after the Super Bowl maybe I'll change my avatar to the NSA "Always Vigilant" seal. Think Banni would ban me?

[\V/]

[JTA]

Electronic Leashes for Office Workers

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/02/opinion/g ... ?hpt=hp_t4

Hitachi, the big electronics company based in Japan, is manufacturing and selling to corporations a device intended to increase efficiency in the workplace. It has a rather bland and generic-sounding name: the Hitachi Business Microscope.

...

The device looks like an employee ID badge that most companies issue. Workers are instructed to wear it in the office.

...

If you get up to walk around the office a lot, the badge sends information to management about how often you do it, and where you go.

If you stop to talk with people throughout the day, the badge transmits who you're talking to (by reading your co-workers' badges), and for how long.

Do you contribute at meetings, or just sit there? Either way, the badge tells your bosses.

The stated intention of this is to increase productivity and get the most out of employees.

Awesome!

[O Really]

From the article...
"But a case can be made that, however much we worry that the National Security Agency may be peeking into our lives, we should be just as concerned -- or more -- about the potential for corporations to become their own, private NSAs."

[JTA]

From the article...
"But a case can be made that, however much we worry that the National Security Agency may be peeking into our lives, we should be just as concerned -- or more -- about the potential for corporations to become their own, private NSAs."

How much of my soul does my company own for (at minimum) 40 hours a week?

[bannination]

From the article...
"But a case can be made that, however much we worry that the National Security Agency may be peeking into our lives, we should be just as concerned -- or more -- about the potential for corporations to become their own, private NSAs."

How much of my soul does my company own for (at minimum) 40 hours a week?

All of it, plus your first born.

[O Really]

That's an interesting product, sure to be universally hated by employees. But it will be hard to find what might be illegal about it as long as the tracking is all on duty time. It's not much different from cameras, or for that matter, not much different from supervisors. The employer is paying for your time, and is entitled to watch you while you're on its time. It might actually be implemented in Japan, as Japanese workers have markedly different attitudes than US workers. But if anybody misses the golden days of strong unions, hang on. Bring that type of surveillance to US employers and voila! Unions again have a viable enemy with which to draw a big crowd.

[O Really]

Maybe, we tend to be more compliant than I'd like. It's not like there aren't enough outrages already.

Outrages, maybe. But it's easy to be outraged and wave your fist at the TV. Action, on the other hand, is often more in proportion to the actual effect on a person. I could be outraged because somebody is abusing their dog in Kansas. But if you abuse MY dog, I'll kick your ass.

[JTA]

From the article...
"But a case can be made that, however much we worry that the National Security Agency may be peeking into our lives, we should be just as concerned -- or more -- about the potential for corporations to become their own, private NSAs."

How much of my soul does my company own for (at minimum) 40 hours a week?

All of it, plus your first born.

Well, depending on how much you like kids, that could potentially be a good thing.

[homerfobe]

I am not an animal rights extremist - except for goats

How about deer?

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/nature/p ... -drowning/

[O Really]

Spooked like Florida beach-goers when somebody yells "shark!" Nevermind there are always sharks a hundred yards or so offshore. Total number of attacks since 1882 - 663. Total fatal attacks since 1882 - 11. Not that it wasn't a serious issue for those attacked, but I'm not going to stay off the beach with those stats.

[neoplacebo]

Spooked like Florida beach-goers when somebody yells "shark!" Nevermind there are always sharks a hundred yards or so offshore. Total number of attacks since 1882 - 663. Total fatal attacks since 1882 - 11. Not that it wasn't a serious issue for those attacked, but I'm not going to stay off the beach with those stats.

I generally run full speed into the water if someone yells that. Good to know you're a kindred spirit. Besides, sharks are just as political as cats; mostly the extremely conservative ones stay home and revel in their misery.

[O Really]

Spooked...

Thanks for the laugh...yes, it was intentional.

[O Really]

Some might disagree with your conclusion that it was the spooks that hurt the NSA or the NSA that hurt Americans.

Question: where would you find it acceptable for the NSA to pick up somewhat public information? Is it OK for them to read Facebook pages? Tweets? Emails spammed to the world? Voice communications on a CB or ham type radio? Listen to a guy yammering on his phone in the seat behind you on the Metro? What would be the guidelines if you made the rules?

[O Really]

Interesting analogy. You do realize that if the Brits had prevailed, we'd basically be Canada and all have universal health coverage, right?

[O Really]

Well, a lot of the "civil liberties experts" see the government as the enemy of civil liberties - forgetting that it is also the government that has established and protects those civil liberties. If rights were really inalienable and provided by a creator, we wouldn't need the government at all, would we?

[O Really]

That assumes that none of the subsequent things that have made America such a wonderful place would have had any influence on the resultant nation.

Well, from someone with half his extended family still Brits, how bad would it be to have continued to be a part of the "UK"? Sure, there were reasons to be revolutionaries back then, but England progressed over time, too. Life isn't the same there now as it was in 1750-something. Life here now would likely be like Canada. Is the US really that much better than Canada? Explain, with cites as may be appropriate.

[O Really]

I think most civil liberties experts see the government as a potential enemy or protector of civil liberties, hence the need for civil liberties to help it choose the right path. That's why you're an ACLU member, right?

A lot of ACLU work is in what might be called "policing the contract." A lot of people might think there is no actual harm in some village in Kansas having a "Ten Commandments" poster in their town hall. But if you don't challenge that one, you have a more difficult time challenging the one in Jersey City, where the population is much more diverse, and where actual discrimination against citizens is more likely to occur. But you don't file suit against the Kansas village because the mayor has a Ten Commandments poster in his house and could, should he choose to do so, post it in the town hall. You wait until he actually posts it, and sue him over the posting.

My problem with the paranoia over the NSA is that the biggest objection seems to be that NSA simply collects the data - ignoring whether it is used for good or evil. There have been illegal acquisitions and use of data. Want to protest that, or sue where possible? Fine. Gofer it. Want to shut down legal intelligence gathering activities because of what NSA "might" do or "could" do or because out of millions some few people could be unlawfully targeted - I've got a problem with that.

[O Really]

"Hyperbole"? Me? I think irreparable harm is being done to legal intelligence gathering activities, wrecked along with whatever abuses are swept out by the McCarthy-like vigilantism. The term "meat-axe approach" comes to mind. Sad thing is, once everybody is tired of the topic, and every new published Snowdenism is greeted with a yawn, there will be major blind spots in US intelligence, but hey...they won't have access to your phone meta data. No, I don't think it's me who's engaging in hyperbole.