MetaFilter posts tagged with UK and BigBrother

Big Brother at the Petrol Station

symbioid — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:43:08 -0800

We've all heard about the proliferation of CCTV in the UK. Now, accounting firm Ernst & Young has a new scheme for the Brits: Uninsured drivers won't be able to fill up. "A new plan from the British government will use closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at gas stations that will automatically prevent uninsured drivers from filling up their gas tanks—that is, until their vehicle information has been logged in the system."

He likes to keep himself to himself

256 — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 06:53:41 -0800

After years of "If You Suspect It, Report It" (the more Big Brotherly British equivalent of "See Something? Say Something."), it has been finally been determined what level of encouraging people to turn in their neighbours is just too much.

"children should be wary of all adults – unless they're government-approved?"

orthogonality — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:44:34 -0800

A group of respected British children's authors and illustrators will stop visiting schools from the start of the next academic year, in protest at a new government scheme that requires them to register on a database in case they pose a danger to children.

"In essence, I'm being asked to pay £64 to prove that I am not a paedophile."

If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever.

tybeet — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:14:23 -0800

BigBrotherFilter: Estimates place the number of CCTV cameras in the UK at 4.2 million, but how can these images all possibly be watched? Researches in Turkey have an answer: an eye-gaze tracking system placed on the CCTV operators themselves which can "then automatically produces a summary of the CCTV video sequences they have missed during their shift". From NewScientist article. "This increases the reliability of the surveillance system by giving a second chance to the operator." The system uses webcam-style cameras trained on the irises of the CCTV operators. From this, software works out where the operators are looking as they stare at each monitor - and the areas they have not been paying attention to. From this it creates a video of what they missed, for them and their bosses to watch at the end of their shift. To make sure the summary can be watched as quickly as possible, Vural and Akgul have developed an algorithm that discards frames that show only the background with no people or moving vehicles in them, to leave only a few key frames for each scene of interest. Vural says the system runs on a standard PC and processes the images in real time, so the summary frames are ready to browse, like a fast-motion flip book, at the end of the shift.

Ram, gang, ram!

Artw — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:23:10 -0800

Zombies don't run, says Simon Pegg. Well ours do, says Charlie Brooker, director of Deadset. (also some stuff about the election and skeletor and stuff)

Bollywood Vs Bigots on UKs Big Brother

Artw — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 21:43:53 -0800

The UKs Celebrity Big Brother provokes a diplomatic incident after bullying and alleged racism in the Big Brother house. At the center of the furor are Shilpa Shetty, massive bollywood film star, and Jade Goody, a previous Big Brother content famous for being a previous big brother contestant and her odd views on geography. Both Jade and Shetty are now up for eviction, with the formerly popular Jade being widely expected to be evicted. She could face trouble on the outside, where already an anti-bullying charity she represents has dropped her. Meanwhile Shetty has become favorite to win.

Surveillance Nation

grahamwell — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 02:46:28 -0800

Surveillance Nation. Cameras, Cameras everywhere. Welcome to the United Kingdom.

"The UK would appear to have around 4.2m cameras in operation," says Professor Clive Norris, of Sheffield University's centre for criminological research. "That's more than anywhere else in the world, with the possible exception of China. It's one for every 14 citizens."

While you're here, admire the ANPR system, that will record every journey by private car, anywhere in the country and keep the information for five years. It will be switched on this summer. Not everyone is happy.

Maybe I should emmigrate to... China?

Blue Stone — Mon, 01 Dec 2003 02:14:44 -0800

The State of Britain today. Mass surveillance of it's citizenry. ID cards. Making criminals of teenagers who snog (!) And a bill to rival the USA Patriot Act removing property & human rights at a minister's whim. With men being imprisoned in UK jails for over almost 2 years, without charge or trial (ala Guantanamo) it looks like the partnership between Bush and Blair is a little more than simple expediency.

Big Brother Is Watching You...Idiotically

jonp72 — Thu, 06 Mar 2003 21:23:19 -0800

Nominate the world's stupidest security procedure. UK-based watchdog group, Privacy International, is accepting nominations until March 15th from the general public about the most annoying and invasive security measures with the lowest effectiveness in protecting individual safety. What would you nominate?

Secure Beneath the Watchful Eyes;

George_Spiggott — Mon, 28 Oct 2002 15:36:21 -0800

Secure Beneath the Watchful Eyes; Big Brother goes retro. In the artistic tradition of classic London Transport poster art comes this sinister-looking campaign. Reminiscent of these parodies, but the art is better and they're not kidding.

Big Brother is here!

( .)(. ) — Tue, 23 Jul 2002 09:23:03 -0800

Big Brother is here! Close to a thousand Brirish schools have collected their student`s fingerprints via library scanners; all this without the consent or knowledge of the parents. Please commend my success in refraining from oversentionalizing the story. YES!

Mocata — Fri, 18 Aug 2000 03:11:49 -0800

So farewell then, Nasty Nick! Or was he a stoolie all along?