mcantelon

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TROPHY CASE

Surveillance: Where we're being watched | OpenFile by ptupperin vancouver

[–]mcantelon 1 point2 points ago* 

I hope that wasn't meant to be implied as an insult because you'll lose all integrity as soon as you attack the arguer rather than the argument.

It wasn't meant as an insult, but it's funny you say that given your response to the previous poster about "Drinking a little bit too much of the kool-aid I think dude" which, ironically, seems like an insult with zero relevant content.

I don't doubt there are extreme cases, but you can find an example of nearly anything if you look far enough.

You'll find an awful lot more examples in history of state surveillance infrastructure being abused rather than it leading to peace and prosperity. Centralization of power results in abuse and those who enjoy abusing power work to centralize it. This is why democracy is considerably less common in the world than dictatorship.

Given that crime has decreased in the past few decades it's pretty hard to make any rational argument in support of spending gobs of money on state surveillance apparatuses.

Surveillance: Where we're being watched | OpenFile by ptupperin vancouver

[–]mcantelon 0 points1 point ago* 

I have less of a problem with body scanners than with other surveillance state systems as long as you can opt out of scanners due to health concerns (which I always do).

Do you not sleep at night because of the possibility of a peeping tom outside your window?

It seems to me that those most worried about remote possibilities are those attempting to sell the idea of the necessity of spending money on state surveillance infrastructure. Crime has actually been going down in past decades, so I'm not sure what the grounds for paranoia are.

These cameras are pointed at the streets; if you're doing stuff on the streets that you don't want to be caught on camera then chances are you shouldn't be doing that on the street anyways. I still see it as an issue of public safety. This is not Orwellian.

Facial recognition technology means these cameras will eventually be used to track your whereabouts. Combine this with license plate scanning, which is already being used in BC (http://www.focusonline.ca/?q=node/312), and you have an Orwellian dream.

Crime rates in North America have been falling over the past decades. The real problems in everyday people's lives are economic, not law-and-order. We should really be spending our money dealing with actual problems rather than creating new ones by enriching politically connected security contractors (who then have more money to lobby politicians to buy even more surveillance tech) and creating a surveillance infrastructure that invites future abuse.

As the famous Milgram experiment shows on a small scale (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment), concentrating power easily begets abuse. And, observing on a larger scale, democracy is rare in the world because the powerful prefer total control to egalitarian systems.

Surveillance: Where we're being watched | OpenFile by ptupperin vancouver

[–]mcantelon 0 points1 point ago

I don't disagree, power corrupts. History has also shown us that it can be used properly and effectively, eg. the aforementioned London.

Yes, power corrupts. Surveillance systems could be used for good in the long term if one could trust that checks and balances could be maintained, but how is that done? The most outlandish, obvious abuses of power by authorities routinely go unpunished, so how do you avoid abuse of something like a surveillance system, in the long term, where the use is hidden from view? Like gambling on the good will of a benevolent dictator, some risks are best not taken.

Surveillance: Where we're being watched | OpenFile by ptupperin vancouver

[–]mcantelon 1 point2 points ago

Read about the role of IBM in the holocaust if your knowledge of history doesn't extend to the abuse of information systems by the state.

Surveillance: Where we're being watched | OpenFile by ptupperin vancouver

[–]mcantelon 1 point2 points ago* 

IMO it's largely knowledge of history that scares people about this technology.

FTFY. Throughout history there have been examples about states using crude surveillance tech to spy of dissidents and facilitate ethnic cleansing. Now we've got way more sophisticated tech: facial recognition, license plate scanning.

Surveillance: Where we're being watched | OpenFile by ptupperin vancouver

[–]mcantelon 1 point2 points ago

Yes there are risks involved in CCTV, and I still have mixed feelings about it, but remember that their primary purpose is protection.

Their primary purpose is what whoever has control of them determines it to be.

If American copyright laws can be enforced around the world, why can't American labor and slavery laws be enforced worldwide as well? by ratterbatterin politics

[–]mcantelon 1 point2 points ago* 

The reason globalization has been able to decimate the American job market is partially because other countries have lower labor standards. So as globally promoting copyright treaties promotes the interests of US companies, globally promoting labor standards would promote the interests of US workers.

US workers don't have as strong a lobby as the US companies seeking global promotion of their intellectual property interests, however.

Vancouver Police Department dismisses concerns about dog bites [warning: graphic images] by stephenhuiin vancouver

[–]mcantelon 0 points1 point ago

The plural of anecdote is, of course, not data but the only case I know of personally was a friend (super harmless guy) who got a dog sicked on him when he was doing grafitti. Excessive and uneccessary.

President Obama: "Send me a bill that bans insider trading by members of Congress, I will sign it tomorrow." by mathentin politics

[–]mcantelon -3 points-2 points ago

ohh I get it, its a pointless gesture.

Obama's forte.

This image is so incredibly captivating to me.. by kb1315in pics

[–]mcantelon 0 points1 point ago

tries to make it somehow relevant to all viewers

Noe is very clearly disinterested in making anything relevant to all viewers. Good. Those with certain life experiences and perspectives get his stuff, those without don't which is totally fine.

This image is so incredibly captivating to me.. by kb1315in pics

[–]mcantelon 4 points5 points ago

is the movie worth watching?

It's an amazing film, both from a technical and artistic perspective. The kind of film rarely made because those who have the balls don't have the budget and visa versa.

Need feedback on the git deployment feature I just added to my Node.js service by runvncin node

[–]mcantelon 0 points1 point ago

Ah cool... are you running something, though, that will reset the node process when new code's pushed up?

Need feedback on the git deployment feature I just added to my Node.js service by runvncin node

[–]mcantelon 0 points1 point ago

Really nice deployment system... most streamlined I've seen. Do you have an API for restarting instances?

http://prgmr.com/xen/ is $8/month for a 256MB instance, but don't know if they have an API for spinning up instances like Rackspace. EC2 micros are $14.4/month, but purportedly have 613MB RAM so despite being a bit more it seems they are comparable, in terms of value, to Rackspace instances.

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