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 ekomstop
 
Registered: 03/31/01
Posts: 1,880
Loc: Canada 
Last seen: 13 years, 2 months
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 Your private business? Think again 
#3200790 - 09/30/04 04:43 PM (19 years, 6 months ago) |
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http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/news/editorial/9785804.htm
Posted on Wed, Sep. 29, 2004
Harrington Realty
Your private business? Think again
By ROWLAND NETHAWAY
THE WACO TRIBUNE-HERALD
Let's say Saturday morning you have a little time for yourself and you decide to retrieve a few bucks from your ATM, get some gas for your new car, run it through a car wash, pick up a couple of items and finish your weekly grocery shopping before your favorite college game starts at noon.
Every step you take, every corner you turn, and every purchase you make on this lazy Saturday morning will be watched and recorded.
This isn't Big Brother in a future police state. It's today in the good ol' U.S.
Most Americans, including me, don't give all this scrutiny of our daily lives much thought, if we are even aware of it. That's just as well since surveillance of our lives is here to stay and will become ever more intrusive.
For example, on your fictional Saturday morning you will be videotaped at your ATM when you insert your bank card with its magnetic strip that contains all sorts of personal information.
Your request for money will be checked against your bank balance or credit limit. Your banking, credit and debit histories are on file someplace, available for instant access. These machines are interconnected worldwide.
Low on cash one day in a small town in Italy, I used my credit card and PIN in a small, tucked-away ATM . I was both grateful and uneasy that this machine knew me well enough to give me money.
That was several years ago. Now I take it for granted that my banking history is available anywhere there is electricity.
You again use your credit card at the filling station where you can say "yes" to a discounted car wash. Once more your credit limit is checked and the transaction recorded.
At your neighborhood chain book store you pick up a paperback and an audio book for the car. Along with your credit card, you hand the clerk your store discount card, which is a good deal because it saves you money.
At the supermarket, you save even more money by using another store card that gives you points for each purchase. The store's computer keeps track of your points and periodically sends you coupons that can be used the next time you buy groceries.
When you settle onto the sofa to watch your team take the field, you give no thought to the fact that your every movement was recorded from the time you left your house until the time you returned home.
For starters, since you have a new car it's likely that you don't know it came equipped with a black box similar to those on commercial aircraft.
About the size of a book of matches, the "event data recorder" keeps track of your driving times, how often you use your car, how fast you drive, whether you use your seat belt and how you accelerate, brake, turn and more. These devices have already been built in to about 40 million cars and probably only a few car owners know it. Police and insurance companies could find this information handy. In large measure, who has access to this information, including the owner, has yet to be determined.
Every purchase you made Saturday morning was recorded, not only the price but the exact items. At the least, this information will be used for marketing. That's why your mailbox soon will be stuffed with targeted holiday catalogs.
Surveillance cameras recorded nearly all of your morning excursion. Those places that were missed likely will be recorded in the future as governments and private companies install more cameras. New cameras not only record your movements, many can use software to alert authorities to suspicious behavior.
But as long as you behave in an acceptable manner and never act suspiciously, you have nothing to worry about. Enjoy your game.
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Anonymous
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Re: Your private business? Think again [Re: ekomstop]
#3200932 - 09/30/04 05:19 PM (19 years, 6 months ago) |
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"The technology is already available to monitor all electronic money transfers. We need the will to make sure it is put in place."
- senator john forbes kerry
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 Annapurna1
liberal pussy
Registered: 05/21/02
Posts: 5,646
Loc: innsmouth..MA
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Re: Your private business? Think again [Re: ekomstop]
#3201075 - 09/30/04 06:14 PM (19 years, 6 months ago) |
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(fully expecting to get laughed off the board)...
the cost of implementing surveillance is less than the cost of not implementing surveillange...the former cost will not become inflationary.. the latter will...and pls dont ask for any fuckin' numbers either.. statistics are specious...
BTW..its not only in the good ol' US.. practically every lamppost in amsterdam has a camera...
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"anchor blocks counteract the process of pontiprobation..while omalean globes regulize the pressure"...
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Phred
Fred's son
Registered: 10/18/00
Posts: 12,949
Loc: Dominican Republic
Last seen: 9 years, 3 months
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Re: Your private business? Think again [Re: Annapurna1]
#3201200 - 09/30/04 06:50 PM (19 years, 6 months ago) |
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Annapurna1 writes:
...and pls dont ask for any fuckin' numbers either.. statistics are specious...
Fortunately, this afternoon I came into possession of a secret Leftiespeak decoder ring which was flung from the finger of a drunken neocom leaping into the air and gesticulating wildly while celebrating the latest bad news from Iraq. It might have been the news of the three dozen kids blown up today, but I can't be sure of that as I was concentrating on recovering the ring before it rolled down an open drain at the end of the bar.
Applying it to the above Leftiespeak phrase yields this translation into English --
"And don't ask for any numbers because... *translation enabled* ...I pulled the above assertion straight out of my ass." *translation disabled*
pinky
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Evolving
Resident Cynic
Registered: 10/01/02
Posts: 5,385
Loc: Apt #6, The Village
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Re: Your private business? Think again [Re: Annapurna1]
#3201410 - 09/30/04 07:57 PM (19 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
Annapurna1 said:
the cost of implementing surveillance is less than the cost of not implementing surveillange...the former cost will not become inflationary..
P L E A S E , 
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To call humans 'rational beings' does injustice to the term, 'rational.' Humans are capable of rational thought, but it is not their essence. Humans are animals, beasts with complex brains. Humans, more often than not, utilize their cerebrum to rationalize what their primal instincts, their preconceived notions, and their emotional desires have presented as goals - humans are rationalizing beings.
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Baby_Hitler
Errorist
Registered: 03/06/02
Posts: 27,652
Loc: To the limit!
Last seen: 5 hours, 33 minutes
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Re: Your private business? Think again [Re: ekomstop]
#3201477 - 09/30/04 08:14 PM (19 years, 6 months ago) |
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Do we have the technology to make a pocket gold value estimating machine?
Maybe silver would be easier.
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This space for rent
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Annapurna1
liberal pussy
Registered: 05/21/02
Posts: 5,646
Loc: innsmouth..MA
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Re: Your private business? Think again [Re: Evolving]
#3201788 - 09/30/04 09:21 PM (19 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
Evolving said:
Quote:
Annapurna1 said:
the cost of implementing surveillance is less than the cost of not implementing surveillange...the former cost will not become inflationary..
P L E A S E ,
yeah.. theres no such word as surveillange...
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"anchor blocks counteract the process of pontiprobation..while omalean globes regulize the pressure"...
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Evolving
Resident Cynic
Registered: 10/01/02
Posts: 5,385
Loc: Apt #6, The Village
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Re: Your private business? Think again [Re: Phred]
#3201815 - 09/30/04 09:26 PM (19 years, 6 months ago) |
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Pinky, can I borrow that Leftiespeak decoder ring?
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To call humans 'rational beings' does injustice to the term, 'rational.' Humans are capable of rational thought, but it is not their essence. Humans are animals, beasts with complex brains. Humans, more often than not, utilize their cerebrum to rationalize what their primal instincts, their preconceived notions, and their emotional desires have presented as goals - humans are rationalizing beings.
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Phred
Fred's son
Registered: 10/18/00
Posts: 12,949
Loc: Dominican Republic
Last seen: 9 years, 3 months
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Re: Your private business? Think again [Re: Evolving]
#3201852 - 09/30/04 09:32 PM (19 years, 6 months ago) |
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No!
It's MINE and I won't share it because I'm a heartless Capitalist bastard. Go find your own drunken celebrating neocom.
pinky
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Rono
DSYSB since '01
Registered: 01/25/01
Posts: 16,259
Loc: Calgary, Alberta
Last seen: 1 year, 1 month
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Re: Your private business? Think again [Re: Phred]
#3201931 - 09/30/04 10:08 PM (19 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
because I'm a heartless Capitalist bastard
...nuff said. 
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"Life has never been weird enough for my liking"
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Mushmonkey
shiftlesslayabout
Registered: 09/25/03
Posts: 10,867
Last seen: 5 months, 28 days
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Re: Your private business? Think again [Re: Phred]
#3205782 - 10/02/04 02:00 AM (19 years, 6 months ago) |
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"It's MINE and I won't share it because I'm a heartless Capitalist bastard. Go find your own drunken celebrating neocom."
Does that mean I can buy it?
[edit]
WAIT! One better. Does that mean I can contract out the use of such a ring? At least until I can find some guy in India with one willing to do the same job for a fifth the price? 
Edited by Mushmonkey (10/02/04 02:02 AM)
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Phred
Fred's son
Registered: 10/18/00
Posts: 12,949
Loc: Dominican Republic
Last seen: 9 years, 3 months
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Re: Your private business? Think again [Re: Mushmonkey]
#3206120 - 10/02/04 08:10 AM (19 years, 6 months ago) |
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I'm not interested in selling it outright. However, I am willing to entertain offers for short term rental under close supervision. Let's do lunch.
pinky
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