:: NEWS COCKTAIL aka BlahBlahBlog ::
"Everything is being compressed into tiny tablets. You take a little pill of news every day - 23 minutes - and that's supposed to be enough." -Walter Cronkite, RE TV news. The Web has changed that for many, however, and here is an extra dose for your daily news cocktail. This prescription tends to include surveillance and now war-related links, along with the occasional pop culture junk and whatever else seizes my attention as I scan online news sites.:: 4.04.2005 ::
:: "Spying As a Business" ::
A Wired News report
Whether they're driving through a tunnel or taking a cigarette break, Americans are finding even their most mundane movements captured on video.
The surveillance camera market has swelled to between $5 billion and $6 billion from about $2 billion before Sept. 11 -- and is projected to grow at 25 percent a year.
Nice Systems (NICE), a surveillance company, has seen its share price jump nearly 50 percent in the past five months. Meanwhile, net earnings for thermal night-vision camera maker Flir Systems (FLIR) increased more than 60 percent in 2004.
While privacy advocates have expressed concern and question the cameras' effectiveness in deterring crime and terrorism, they also acknowledge that Americans have become increasingly tolerant of having their movements recorded since September 11th.
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posted by me
:: 1:00:00 PM [+] ::
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