MetaFilter posts tagged with bigbrother

Big Brother 2.0: now easier than ever before!

tybeet — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:45:48 -0800

Alt-Printscreen, load photo software, paste, crop, navigate browser to image host, browse for file, upload. Yeesh, so much work. Want free and "seriously instant" screen-grabbing or screen-casting? Then you'll be glad to know two pieces of software have recently cropped up to streamline the whole process: (open-sourced) Gyazo for instantly hosted screen-grabs, or (free) Jing, likewise, for screen-grabs and screen-casts. If you're the meddling and paranoid type, you might be interested in this Gyazo mod (Google Cached link) that posts screen-grabs to your own server rather than the public Gyazo repository.

Big Brother's just a beetle on the wall

scrutiny — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:54:32 -0800

Cyborg Spy Beetles are no longer a thing of the future. UC Berkeley (funded by DARPA) has created cyborg beetles guided wirelessly via laptop. These spy beetles were created with the intent of bugging actual conversations, literally acting as the "fly on the wall". This, surprisingly, doesn't seem to be a hoax. Here's some more detailed info.

"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."

The Last Man in Europe

Artw — Sat, 09 May 2009 17:56:37 -0800

1984: The masterpiece that killed George Orwell

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.

The Play at Home Game!

cjorgensen — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:30:21 -0800

Become a Virtual Texas Deputy! (via)

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)

I feel safer.

gman — Fri, 30 May 2008 16:25:45 -0800

Not only will SAFEE ensure 9/11 never happens again, but it will also catch unruly passengers.

A google a day?

pearlybob — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:04:15 -0800

Google Health launched today.. Mega-giant Google now offers a way for people to store their medical records and information all in one place online. It will help search for health-care providers and even remind you to take your medicine. They are also partnering with CVS to streamline the whole health process from being seen in a CVS clinic to renewing your prescriptions through Google. More about the service at the Google Health FAQ.

Shepard Fairey Meets George Orwell

jonson — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 18:09:25 -0800

Shepard Fairey's cover art for Penguin releases of 1984 & Animal Farm.

"Leaving no trace [of our daily lives] is nearly impossible."

amyms — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:14:48 -0800

The Anonymity Experiment. Is it possible to hide in plain sight? Privacy-minded people have long warned of a world in which an individual’s every action leaves a trace, in which corporations and governments can peer at will into your life with a few keystrokes on a computer. Now one of the people in charge of information-gathering for the U.S. government says, essentially, that such a world has arrived.

You were poked by Big Brother.

Reggie Digest — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 21:27:17 -0800

Over the past couple of years, Facebook has become increasingly popular, until it seemed like everyone and their grandma was joining up. A new feature, called Facebook Beacon, lets corporations join the fray. Might this be cause for concern? Previously.

11:54

homunculus — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 20:54:25 -0800

Surveillance Society Clock. "It's six minutes before midnight as a surveillance society draws near within the United States." [Via Danger Room.]

Eviction surprise!

reklaw — Fri, 25 May 2007 04:22:28 -0800

So you're in the Big Brother house in Australia. Your dad died last Wednesday. His funeral was on Monday. But his dying wish was that you shouldn't be told that until you're evicted. So when will you be evicted? Since you're not up for eviction this week, it'll be at least a fortnight. A letter from Emma's brother.

Rewriting history

jbickers — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 18:03:52 -0800

"Web History helps deliver more personalized search results based on what you've searched for on Google and which sites you've visited." Google unveils Web History, a new feature to help you "view and manage your web activity." You can also get an idea of what sites you visit frequently, broken down by time of day, and search across the full text of pages you've visited. "If you remember seeing something online, you'll be able to find it faster and from any computer with Web History. " What could possibly go wrong?

Big Brother is Watching You. On CCTV.

homunculus — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 01:09:39 -0800

George Orwell, Big Brother is watching your house. With CCTV. Perhaps the Surveillance Camera Players could put on a performance there. It looks like Britain really is becoming a surveillance society . [Via Digg.]

AT&T Unity Plan FREE calling to 100 million customers.

homunculus — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 22:23:43 -0800

AT&T and Verizon obey FBI emergency requests, even if they're of dubious legality, and they get paid for it. But AT&T can't be sued, they say, because that would endanger national security.

Big Brother State

homunculus — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 21:20:08 -0800

Big Brother State. Nice animation about life in a surveillance society. [Via BB.]

You had to live -- did live, from the habit that became instinct and the assumption that every sound you made was overheard.

homunculus — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 00:33:17 -0800

For Your Eyes Only? Allegations that the government is reading your e-mails, with the help of AT&T. The latest episode of NOW did a good piece on the NSA's domestic surveillance program (previously discussed here.) It can be viewed on their website. Meanwhile, Canadian human rights attorney Maureen Webb has written a new book on the scope of government surveillance, and found that the use of sophisticated methods to search for terrorists is not identifying the right suspects.

Your world, delivered to the NSA

homunculus — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 21:59:02 -0800

AT&T Ducks Accountability. Lawsuits, Questions Follow NSA Surveillance Approval.

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.

Psiphon

Optamystic — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 02:25:18 -0800

Psiphon facilitates circumvention of national firewalls.

This won't hurt, it's for your own good.

Brandon Blatcher — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 16:11:27 -0800

Fingerprinting school kids for lunch. Several schools in California will require students to scan their fingerprints before getting their school lunch to help speed up cafeteria lines. Don't worry about it, it's already being done in Georgia while Florida has a similar system which also lets parents check to see what their kids bought for lunch. Arizona doesn't do fingerprints, it just has the kids enter a number for their meals. New Jersey has Iris Scanning.

Hopefully all of this information was gained through parental consent.

Harshin' My Mellow

aburd — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 12:09:51 -0800

Drugs at music festivals are nothing new. Sometimes this results in comically bad journalism and sometimes the results are not so funny. At the Wakarusa Music Festival this past year police used new, creepy tools pursue drug dealers on the Festival grounds in an attempt to seperate the drugs from the music.

The next big thing in stalking!

panoptican — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 15:36:28 -0800

You are being followed.