Mile i Pod

Watching What You Want to Watch Where You Want to When You Want to

Alright here is something perhaps new for you... Where do your rights start when it comes to where you can watch or surf something on the privacy of your own PED (Personal Electronic Device -- Notebook or Laptop computer; iPod; Portable DVD player; mp4 player; personal video player...)?

American Airlines has an in-flight Wi-Fi service now for passengers which started on some flights August 20th¹ and there are concerns voiced by flight attendants and passengers about people using the service to access porn sites while on flights. An article on Bloomberg.com mentions that there were "a lot of complaints"¹and that the Association of Professional Flight Attendants has brought up the issue with management  They recommend that American filter its Wi-Fi service -- blocking black-listed sites -- in order to block offensive content² as I believe there are plans to screen VoIP service as well³. VoIP is Voice over Internet Protocol which basically is the primary way of making telephone calls by way of your Internet connection. (image to left* from Image*After)

There are a number of issues involved. There are the worries that passengers will complain that their neighbouring passengers are watching objectionable material on their PED. Of course there are also worries that passengers might be disturbed that their ability to access any site they could from home would be blocked in a form of censorship. More seem to be accepting of this in the case of the VoIP¹. Perhaps they can see that is in direct competition with the telephone service the airlines already charge for on flights?

Flight Attendants in addition to not wanting to get an eyeful of something they'd rather not see on someone's PED also do not want to become "moral policemen"¹ and have one more area where they might have to lay down the law. They have their hands full with other aspects of the job and likely don't want to have to settle disputes between passengers -- which might be either "they've got something objectionable on their screen" or "the person behind me keeps looking over my shoulder". Another aspect is people doing lewd things while watching explicit content.

(image to right from Image*After)

This is not something that came up just with the introduction of WiFi and Internet connectivity on airliners. This issue also comes up with whether an airline can prohibit what sorts of DVD or other content a passenger is viewing on their PED. A person can have a DVD with nearly any sort of content imaginable and pop it into a player -- whether computer or not -- and play it with no Internet involved at all. Likewise for video podcasts or even audio ones -- remember the "faked orgasm scene" from "When Harry Met Sally".

Of course these things did not appear with digital electronics. The same problems can be said about explicit magazines. Anyone could flip open the magazine of their choice on the airplane and start "reading the articles". Things like this have been a part of life for quite a while and are not really new.

Anyone who is offering the service of an Internet hookup probably has the right to say what they want to provide or block -- perhaps other than the actual providers? If  coffee shop provides WiFi connection to its customers, they probably can block access to some sites with blocking programs. I know when I go to places that provide such services the first thing I get when I try to access the Web is a screen asking if I accept the limits and risks imposed on me and that I might be exposed to by connecting to the Internet there. I can just imagine someone suing a coffee shop for a virus they picked up on their computer when the were downloading pirated game software.

(Image to left from Image*After)

I am not sure if it is a "non-problem" really. I don't know that it has been a problem with people sitting in coffee shops drinking Latte and watching XXX. For the most part regular people behave themselves in public. The times they don't seem to tend to be the times when they are getting intoxicated or high... and that is an issue on its own whether on land, "see" or airline. Control the booze and you likely won't have to worry  about controlling the people.

(image to right from Notebook Review¹¹)

Of course if you control porn sites, then you'll want to control pirate software sites too. You'll want to screen out any site that would have illegal activity on it. But what about violent video games? ...music with violent lyrics? ...content that might be deemed offensive for racial, religious, or other sexual reasons? What if someone is watching news content from an enemy country? ...or news from a country that has opposing views to your own country? What if one person is offended that the person next to them is watching religious programming?

I think that often the answer given by peace officers is "then don't look" -- though sometimes it is hard when it is presented nearly on your own lap. Luckily nearly everyone has the decency to use headphones or earphones. I think that rather than blocking things, it perhaps should all be taken care of on a case by case basis.

I was remembering back when I was in university and calculators were a novel thing still, but becoming commonplace. There were worries about people cheating by seeing the numbers on someone else's calculator. I think that manufacturers foresaw this because it wasn't very long before calculators -- at least scientific and engineering calculators -- had recessed numbers so that you could only read the display from where you were using it. If you were to the side at all you couldn't read the numbers.

Anti-glare shields that came out for early computer monitors (image to left - image from Ergo in Demand) also had this function and it was considered to be a feature for offices where you wouldn't want confidential information seen by people nearby. With some older laptops it was difficult to see the screen unless you were in front of them. But because many people want to share what they show on their laptop screen, many consider it a bonus to have the screen viewable from a broad range of angles -- otherwise there would be less problem with neighbours seeing what you see.

But there are purposes for such a product for notebooks especially and perhaps there are such products out already... Yup There is a 3M PF14.1 - notebook privacy filter! (image to right - image from CDW Canada)

Perhaps though there might be a market for disposable/resusable "blinders" for computers? Perhaps the airlines might offer them for safe viewing? They could also double as glare shields from the cabin lighting.

Protection provided for your viewing pleasure.

Later!
~ Darrell

135

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¹ "American Air Attendants Urge Fiters to Bar Web Porn (Update3)" Mary Schlangenstein, Sept. 10, 2008; Bloomberg.com: News.

² "Porn on a plane: Flight attendants fret over inappropriate Web surfing" David Carnoy, Sept. 12, 2008; Crave, the gadget bog -- CNET, news.cnet.com.

³ "Airlines planning to filter, censor in-flight 'Net access" Jacqui Cheng, Dec. 24, 2007; From the News Desk -- ars technica.
"Porn on a plane! Concerns raised over naughty in-flight WiFi" Jacqui Cheng, Sept. 12 2008; From the News Desk -- ars technica.

¹¹ "Coffee Shop Laptop Zombies" Andrew, May 23, 2007; Notebook Forums and Laptop Discussion - Notebook Review

* Images of airliners not intended to represent American Airlines or specific airline

Function Creep - Set Tasers on Stun!

Good Ideas That Can Go Bad

When I first took martial arts -- traditional Kung-fu -- one of the earliest pieces of information I recall is that it is very difficult to try to incapacitate a person by hitting them and trying to "knock them out" without actually endangering their life. The discussion about this got on to things like gas grenades and shooting to wound as well. Even breaking limbs has dangers though there are pressure points that can render a person incapacitated in many situations. Grappling and binding is probably the best option... that is if negotiation and discussion fail of course.

It made sense to me. But something that seemed a bit irrational was hearing that while most police -- while they had mandatory fire arms re-testing and practised regularly on the firing range -- were not constantly practising and upgrading their hand-to-hand skills. Those are the skills that would allow them to subdue a felon without resorting to baton or gun or...

Well the Taser (image to right -- image from TASER International) had just come onto the scene -- or at least into the public eye -- with first the cattle-prod sort and then with the stun-gun sort which fires wires. It sounded like a great idea -- a way to incapacitate a violent and out of control subject in a way with little danger to the subject or the person trying to subdue them. There were some risks to the target, but less than being pummelled with a billy club or being kicked or punched and definitely less than being shot. (I guess they smile in fire arms catalogues and gun magazines too...)

The Tasers were only supposed to be used in special situations. At that time there were groups who said that gradually they would be used in more and more situations until they began to replace negotiation or hand-to-hand subduing of the subject. Because the Taser was "nonlethal force" law enforcement officers would be more likely to use it because no permanent damage would be done. (My own opinion) (image to the left from TASER InternationaLaw Enforcement Overview)

Still there are dangers and there are many circumstances where the targets have health issues that compromise them for being safely Tasered -- or at least I am lead to believe that chronic use of a number of drugs can lead to cardiac issues and a good jolt could be bad or fatal.

I wonder if I were to be hypoglycemic and irrational, whether I might be at risk? It would be one condition under which I might find myself facing law enforcement officers while not in my right mind. My own heart is strong, but many diabetics have heart conditions.

I can see that there are many areas that the Tasers are very usefully important. (image to the right US military version, the M-26 Taser - from Wikipedia) But I think that there needs to be constant diligence in training with them -- not just firing range sorts of point and shoot or "here is what it feels like to get hit". I think that there needs to be constant training and upgrading which includes hand-to-hand, Taser, and firearms along side negotiation. Also other new weapons that might come down the line.

I can well imagine the military having valid use for these sorts of "nonlethal" weapons.

There are other "nonlethal" weapons coming down the pipe. The Tera Hertz frequency Active Denial weapons are one of them which can create a burning sensation that leaves little or no mark on the target, but few if any can stand for more than a few seconds. Vehicle mounted ones are in operation (image to left - image from Wikipedia) and more portable ones are coming as new technology allows. (image to right - image from Wikipedia) This might be a very important tool -- but what happens if it might be used for something other than the "crowd control" and keeping terrorists away from sensitive areas? There is potential for using it as a torture device. This is not something I came up with but rather something that the same people who worried about abuse with the Taser came up with.

The safety of the ADS (Active Denial System) has been stated with regards to people not being able to stay within the active beam of the device for longer than a second or two. It only penetrates to 0.4 mm (1/64 of an inch) -- a depth at which nerve endings are located. This is because of the 95 GHz frequency chosen which is absorbed greatly by water and hence can't penetrate deeper. Little mention is of the effect on a subject who cannot flee the effect of the ADS or the effect of the 95 GHz radiation on the cornea or other thin tissues of the body.

I am sure in the case where the ADS is used as it is intended the argument can be made that the person should not be there and the ADS is less dangerous than other means. But, what if it starts to be used in broader ranges and scopes of purpose? What about dispersing crowds at sporting events? What if people do not disperse quite as quickly as Law Enforcement prefer from the scene of an accident or fire? Someone who is a bit of a radical mentions the scenario of police using them for raids where the ADS is used to chase the targets out of a residence to take them into custody. This would use other Tera Hertz tools to locate the targets in the building as well.

What of privacy...

There are THz scanners that essentially can see through anything other than flesh and metal. So that you would stand before them only covered by the zipper on your trousers and change in your pockets... and keys, jewellery, buckles.... but you would be bald er than the day you were born in the image and though in black and white, not looking like an X-ray photo. (image to left - image from BBC News) Now such scanning is optional to avoid longer hand pat downs... also invasive. (image to right - image from BBC News) But perhaps they might be required in more and more places and if you don't submit... well if you are law abiding, what do you have to hide? (image to left - image from Italy Magazine Forums)

I believe the two images are actually using X-ray back scatter technique and do not show quite as graphic detail as the actual T-ray units would show. I also believe that there has been a bit of airbrushing to reduce embarrassment. Somehow I wonder if there are reasons why it is harder to find images of the actual images from the T-ray units? I can only speculate.

Another technology is that of the tracking chip. People might know about the RFD tracking chips that have been implanted beneath the skin of pets for a number of years. They are also used for keeping track of wild animals like crocodiles in Florida or sharks or other animals. You catch an animal or get close to it and swipe a wand over it and record the number of its implanted chip via radio signal generated when the wand passes by and you can then look up information on that animal and record information such as where you swiped it.

The same would happen for people. It could be used as a form of ID. Your ID information would be encoded on the chip -- or at least a code number that could be accessed from a database on a network -- and read with an appropriate device. I believe there have been some trials with people using such implanted chips for Charge Cards and for security in their home and office.

RFD tracking chip from VeriChip. (image to right - image from BBC News)

It is an interesting idea, but... it might be used in more and more situations until people will nearly insist that you use it to use certain facilities. Consider how hard it can be to function without a credit card or a bank debit card. Consider that readers could be easily mounted at entrances to all banks, subway station entrances, airports, or anyplace sensitive. You could be tracked as easily as they can track where you make credit card purchases or cell phone calls... easier in fact.

What if someone has a scanner and gets your code? Can't they code a chip and simply have it on their person and then be treated as if they were you?

If you won't get a chip implanted... why not? Do you have something to hide?

I guess the same goes for surveillance cameras. How they are used and who gets access to them makes a big difference. How the regulation on who gets to change the rules on who gets to access them is just as important. I can understand the concept that the cameras are placed to look at places where you might be seen by a casual passerby. So what you do could be seen by a police officer who is not in uniform as well as that security camera. But it could get a bit creepy if access might be granted to folk you might not think should gain access.

I am not sure I would want a chip implanted... I don't mind the downtown video surveillance cameras or the ones in public places like malls and universities.... Tasers are okay if they actually start training the officers with them... I think there need to be some sort of safe guards before things like the ADS are used outside of war zones. I know of a few other "nonlethal" systems as well...

...what about the stuff we don't know about? Sometimes you have to worry about who they are using for watchdogs on the new technologies or what directions current technologies are taking.

Personally I am not against all of this technology, I am just pointing out the potential of sliding down some very slippery slopes with it.

Later!
~ Darrell

116.

People for the Protection of Fig Trees (PPFT)

Did You Know There Was Nudity In Art?

Back in August 2001 I started a group on YAHOO! Groups called "Photos for Figure Drawing"*. The first message entered was:

Welcome to the Yahoo! Message Board for Photos for Figure Drawing.

Aug 23, 2001
2:31 am

I had been setting things up and pondering things like the name for quite a while and I am a bit of a night owl (insomniac) at heart anyway.

The whole point of the group was to put together an album of pictures that artists could use to draw or paint from. While it is very easy to find erotica and pornographic images on the Internet -- in fact you have to put up filters to avoid it -- finding decent images to draw an paint from might be a challenge if you really don't want to look at inappropriate content.

I had in art classes more than one time heard drawing instructors say that it was easy to find images of naked women in reclining and passive postures in magazines to use to draw from, but very difficult to find active useful poses that artists could use. I wanted to do more than just have pictures of naked women.

I guess this came up because I was wanting to draw pictures with men and women in them and I really had little experience drawing men. Looking for pictures of men kept flinging me to Gay sites with things I really did not want to see. I could only imagine that others felt that way even about seeking out images of women. So I worked putting together my own personal image collection to work from. I realized that putting together a group might be useful to others. I also might not have to do all the work and we might even get some models to actually pose for the images on a voluntary basis.

Now of course I often also looked for just the right clothed pose to work from too so it would not simply be a nude image gallery. In fact an image of someone in a swimsuit or leotard often would work just as good depending on the effect. Actually for many final products you really want someone posing in the appropriate supporting undergarment even if you are creating and drawing in the costume.

Probably nothing will beat having an actual model to pose for you and a large wardrobe to use as well complete with props and adjustable lighting. I think that many amateur artists -- espeically shy ones -- working from home quietly will never have that option.

So I created my group.

I placed the group in an appropriate location in "Drawing and Sketching Groups":

Top > Entertainment & Arts > Fine Arts > Visual Arts > Drawing and Sketching

Then I started adding what images I could trying to stick to images that were fairly available online and useful. I broke them down into categories so that someone could find an album with men-standing-clothed and go through those images when that was what they were looking for.

Then I worried about getting members, because without members the group was pointless. I went to a few other art groups and asked permission to advertise my group and included it on my signature and slowly I gained a membership. Eventually after a point the membership became large enough that it attracted its own members -- when you go looking in the categories the groups with the most members are listed first.

Eventually we had over 2000 members before I started weeding out some of the "dead" accounts. Those were accounts where the messages going to their emails were coming back with messages saying those accounts no longer existed. Those are "hard bouncing" accounts. There is also a category for messages that bounce back with a message like the mailbox is full or temporarily unavailable and that is considered "soft bouncing". I thought it was pretty cool that we had over 1000 members... It did take a number of years though, perhaps 3 as I think it was in April of 2005 that we got a disastrous notice for our group and its growth.

We had been in the top one or two groups in the area we were in for a fair while and all of a sudden we were no longer in "Drawing and Sketching Groups"! We had been moved to:

Top > Romance & Relationships > Adult

That is the area for sub groups such as Crossdressing, Electro Stimulation, Porn Stars, and other such groups... The reason? "Nudity".

Although we had been online in YAHOO! Groups from August 2001 until April 2005 without any issues -- with photos in the albums including nudity -- we were bounced. Perhaps that might not be too bad except now nobody could find us unless they already knew where we were. That was because we were no longer listed in the Drawing and Sketching area where someone looking for such resources might look. Even if they were to do a search for us we did not show up, or very rarely, and I find other groups that have been around a year or two about figure drawing and drawing the nude.

I had always been diligent to remove any photos that might be offensive. I used a fairly broad brush. I considered what nudes I might even have found in my High School library. There were nude pictures there in the form of National Geographic and Photography magazines as well as in books on photography and art. I took into account the sorts of poses that might be in those publications. Granted I was educated in Canada and not the USA and I have come to learn we are much more liberal when it comes to nudity -- conversely we don't care for quite so much violence. (as in censoring movies for prime-time TV) However! I also listened to any private or public complaint and erred on the side of caution. If one person spoke up as being uncomfortable, it probably meant that there were many who did not speak up and I balanced that with the value of the image. Normally the value was not so great.

There were occasions where a person joined and complained about there being any nudity at all -- especially male nudity or frontal female nudity between navel and knee. I did have to draw the line there and would inform the person that there were many warnings that there was nudity in the albums and files. I also mentioned the guidelines being those of National Geographic and Photography Magazines available in public High School I attended in Canada and that her complaint was noted. I also mentioned that the over 1000 other members in the group were not complaining.

However since then the group has really slowed down. There has been very slow growth with little in the manner of posting of message or image. At one time we had models posting modest collections of images of themselves and we had biweekly projects where a pose was chosen and people encouraged to interpret it.

The title graphic for the group is shown here (image to the left -- image from Photos for Figure Drawing*) although I faded it to near non-existence because. Google -- and hence Blogger -- has a policy against nudity. I figure the female torso qualifies. If you wish to see the picture you'll have to go to Photos for Figure Drawing*. Even though it is artwork I have a feeling that Google, like YAHOO! would shoot first and ask questions later not realizing that these were paintings and sketches and the project of an art studio essentially. This montage was the result of one of the drawing projects where we took a pose and members interpreted it. There is even one painting by yours truly.

Currently I am wanting to resurrect the group with it's over 1600 members. Even if only 100 are still active it would be worthwhile. My plan is to open a new group just as a gateway to lead to the actual group. It will be in the Drawing and Sketching area and will be only for minimal discussion or posting of images. Nothing with any nudity of course.

Perhaps I am odd, but I do not see anything wrong in there being art groups with some nudity. Even if they were moved behind an adult screen on YAHOO! Groups that would be okay, but they shouldn't be lumped with the erotica, porn, and alternate lifestyles. I can see there being limits here on Blogger too, but there has been nudity in artwork that has been acceptable in many museums so I figure the smaller than postage stamp sized images on the graphic are okay? Or should I put fig leaves on the paintings and sketches too?

Later!
~ Darrell

101.

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* ---> Warning <---, the links to Photos for Figure Drawing will take you to an "Adult" area of YAHOO! Groups. The Group itself has pictures with nudity in it and there are pictures with the naughty bits showing, but there are no graphic depictions of sex or violence in the group's site. The link "should" take you first to YAHOO!'s warning page in any case telling you that you are going to an adult area of YAHOO! Groups and confirming you wish to go there. I am not sure of the age confirmation they are using at the moment. At one point you needed to have a profile posted with them that included your age and that included a statement that it was your age. The link to Photos for Figure Drawing.