Mark of the Beast
"Fundamentally, these RFID devices were designed for inventory management and not security applications. The biggest issue with RFID technology is that anyone with an appropriately equipped scanner who can get near enough to the chip can 'wake it up' and read its contents. What is 'near enough' will depend on the design of the antenna and the electronic characteristics of the chip. Careful design of a high-gain antenna may enable the device to be read or at least detected from considerable distance.

Privacy groups raise the concern that even being able to 'wake up' the chip is an invasion of privacy. Someone, such as a foreign intelligence organization or criminal group, could easily setup an antenna and would be alerted to any passport they "see". Even if they could not read the data from the chip, they would be able to detect the passport and its unique signal structure (referred to as a signature) that would likely identify the issuing country of the passport."
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I Was a Teenage Implant
"Amal has two RFID implants, one in each hand. His left hand contains a 3mm by 13mm EM4102 glass RFID tag that was implanted by a cosmetic surgeon using a scalpel to make a very small cut, into which the implant was placed. His right hand contains a 2mm by 12mm Philips HITAG 2048 S implant with crypto-security features and 255 bytes of read/write memory storage space. It was implanted by a family doctor using an Avid injector kit like the ones used on pets. He can access his front door, car door, and log into his computer using his implants, and has written a book called RFID Toys, which details how to build these and other RFID enabled projects."
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(x-rays)

Coming To An Area Near You
"NEW YORK - Along a gritty stretch of street in Brooklyn, police this month quietly launched an ambitious plan to combat street crime and terrorism. But instead of cops on the beat, wireless video cameras peer down from lamp posts about 30 feet above the sidewalk.

They were the first installment of a program to place 500 cameras throughout the city at a cost of $9 million. Hundreds of additional cameras could follow if the city receives $81.5 million in federal grants it has requested to safeguard Lower Manhattan and parts of midtown with a surveillance "ring of steel" modeled after security measures in London's financial district.

Officials of the New York Police Department _ which considers itself at the forefront of counterterrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks _ claim the money would be well-spent, especially since the revelations that al-Qaida members once cased the New York Stock Exchange and other financial institutions.

'We have every reason to believe New York remains in the cross-hairs, so we have to do what it takes to protect the city,' Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said last week at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government."

Yeah, constant surveillance of of innocent civilians worked for London, didn't it? Remember, it prevented those subway bombings...
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Why You Should Be Worried
"We are told that surveillance cameras are never abused by their operators, each of whom can supposedly be trusted not to use the awesome technology at their disposal to engage in despicable or outright illegal behavior. But this information is false: camera-operators are not angels; they are subject to the same prejudices, temptations and corruptions that we all struggle with; camera-operators get bored or arrogant and abuse their cameras on a regular basis. To confirm this, one only has to keep up with the news being reported from around the world, which is precisely what we plan to do here, on this page, in chronological order..."
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Courtesy Strictly Enforced
"With its precipitous drops in crime, New York has increasingly been able to turn its attention to policing offensive behavior, from the mere faux pas to outright misconduct that puts others at risk. And that has put it on the front line of a national crackdown on incivility.
Under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the city has increasingly focused on social policies that were once thought to be beyond the realm of government. Mr. Bloomberg was largely responsible for the city's smoking ban, overcoming opposition from the tobacco companies and their lobbyists to clear bars, restaurants and nightclubs of a potential health hazard as well as inconsiderate smokers.

The mayor also overhauled the city's noise code for the first time in three decades, taking aim at loud nightclubs, barking dogs and even that staple of summer, the Mister Softee jingle, all in the interests of keeping the neighborhood peace."
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Maybe 500 fucking cameras on lightposts can correct our incivility...


Back To Stonewall
"(New York City) Gay community leaders want answers from New York police over raids Friday night on seven gay or gay friendly businesses.

Executing warrants simultaneous raids looking for drugs were carried out at Splash, Avalon, Deep, Spirit, View, Speed and Steel Gym.

The businesses were all closed while the raids were conducted. Twenty people were arrested, 13 of them for allegedly selling drugs.

Most of those arrested had already been identified by undercover officers.

The warrants were obtained under the city's Nuisance Abatement Law but LGBT activists are questioning why so much force was necessary when police already knew who they were looking for.

'It's a little chilling when one looks back on history,' Robert Woodworth, a spokesperson for the LGBT Community Center said.

Woodworth said in the minds of many gay New Yorkers, especially those in Chelsea where six of the raids were carried out, it brought back memories of the pre-Stonewall era where police regularly targeted gay clubs."
(more) (still more)


Don't Mess With Texas
"Texas has begun sending undercover agents into bars to arrest drinkers for being drunk, a spokeswoman for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said on Wednesday.

The first sting operation was conducted recently in a Dallas suburb where agents infiltrated 36 bars and arrested 30 people for public intoxication, said the commission's Carolyn Beck.

Being in a bar does not exempt one from the state laws against public drunkenness, Beck said.

The goal, she said, was to detain drunks before they leave a bar and go do something dangerous like drive a car.

'We feel that the only way we're going to get at the drunk driving problem and the problem of people hurting each other while drunk is by crackdowns like this,' she said.

'There are a lot of dangerous and stupid things people do when they're intoxicated, other than get behind the wheel of a car,' Beck said. 'People walk out into traffic and get run over, people jump off of balconies trying to reach a swimming pool and miss.'

She said the sting operations would continue throughout the state."
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There are a lot of dangerous and stupid things people do when they're intoxicated on Power, i.e. passing this scary law. How many more freedoms can they steal before we say, "You know what? Fuck you. Fuck you and your twisted, sick, pre-emptive controls."

Coming To An Area Near You
DENVER - A local security company has been keeping a close eye on recent stories about graffiti vandalism.
Denver businesses, homes and government buildings have been hard-hit recently by taggers.

Digatron Security of Denver sells a security system that it claims stops vandalism before it happens.

Cameras with motion detectors start rolling as soon as a person ventures too close to a building.

A loudspeaker then talks directly to the taggers warning them to get lost. If the prospective tagger is wearing a red shirt, the loudspeaker will say, "Hey you in the red shirt."

An employee monitors the camera at all times.

Company officials say it works in cutting down graffiti. They showed 9NEWS video of the vandals heading for the hills as soon as they're spoken to.

Digatron Security has done a number of federal and state government contracts, including some for the department of homeland security.
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"Hey, you in the red shirt, STOP!"

what the fuck was that?

"You are being recorded. If you do not leave the area, dire consequences could result. Halt."
Blanchard looked around and finally saw it:
a Digatroid, fully automated and armed to the teeth, perched on the rooftop above him.
He slipped on his cloak and went about his business.

"this is your final warning. You are advised to..."
In an instant, Blanchard bolted for the gate.

BLAAAMMM!!!

The Digatroid had fired a warning blast at Blanchard's feet. Nonplussed, he quickly jumped up and scaled the gate, up over the barbed wire and into the compound running.

BLAAAAAMMM!!!

A second, more powerful blast blew the can of gold spraypaint out of his left hand. He looked down and noticed he'd lost more than a can of spraypaint, his arm severed at the elbow.

what the fuck is that thing packing? I gotta get outta here before I bleed to death...

In a final act of defiance, Blanchard lobbed a bug-bomb at the metallic eye-beast, laughing as it crackled and fizzled and smoked. No time to tag anything; he needed to get back home...

"According to Disney spokeswoman Kim Prunty, contrary to some reports, 'We're not keeping a database of fingerprints.' In fact, the company does not maintain a permanent database of scans, as the information is purged from its systems after the individual’s pass expires. Disney has also not disclosed the vendor for its biometric system.
Disney has not seen fit to post information on exactly what is being done when the park patrons are asked to make the peace sign and insert their digits into the reading machine. Most patrons – and even some public interest groups and media covering the developments at Disney - have assumed that the company is fingerprinting park visitors and matching the passholder’s print to the pass – and perhaps even other databases, such as criminal records, sex offender registries, and terror watch lists. This has led some industry observers to criticize Disney for having a corporate communications problem in not explaining the 'why’s' for the use of the technology to its patrons...

Don't worry Timmy - they're not taking our fingerprints; they're just doing a little Hand Geometry. Besides, they destroy all the data after our ticket expires. And we all know that a huge, greedy corporation like Disney would never, ever lie to us, Timmy. Now make a peace sign, kid and I'll buy you some cotton candy...
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Driver's License or National ID Card?

"Motor vehicle agencies must link their databases together, and perhaps implant chips in driver's licenses, as necessary steps to ease the way for a national ID card, the head of a group of motor vehicle officials said..."
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Four accused of plotting to kill classmates at South Jersey high school

"Four teenagers accused of plotting to kill about 25 people in a lunch-period massacre at Winslow Township High School were charged today with terrorism, a crime no one has ever been convicted of in New Jersey.

The boys, between the ages of 14 and 16, were arrested Wednesday after police heard about the alleged plot from administrators at the school, where three of the teens are students. Authorities did not release their names because of their ages.

The boys initially were charged only with low-level crimes and were not eligible to be moved to adult court..."

They're looking at a minimum of 30 years if convicted, even though no weapons were found! This is justice?
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"When a London council decided to locate a CCTV camera in a quiet area of Camden the residents were delighted, especially as its declared purpose was to make the streets safer from muggers, drug dealers, burglars and car thieves. The £25,000 swivelling spy camera made them feel they were at last getting a tangible benefit from Camden’s rising council tax.

But it didn’t take long for them to discover it was going to cost a lot more — in ways they hadn’t expected. The camera proved not very good at identifying suspects lurking in the shadows but it was very good at reading residents’ car numberplates.

Since the Albert Street camera was installed last year its operators have issued 2,558 penalty notices for a range of minor motoring offences, such as double parking to unload groceries or allegedly blocking the flow of traffic..."
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The Clash Spark Terror Alert
The Clash and Led Zeppelin's music sparked a terror alert on an aeroplane, it has emerged. Harraj Mann from Hartlepool was pulled off a London-bound flight at Durham Tees Valley Airport on March 30. He was questioned under the Terrorism Act after it's believed his choice of music made a taxi driver suspicious...

Be careful where and how you listen to yr devil music, kiddies - - remember: Someone's always listening with you! Better off with an iPod.
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Colorado Police Use MySpace to ID Suspects

"...the victim, whose name was withheld, became acquainted with the suspects through MySpace, authorities said.

The group met for a party. 'At some point, the victim was no longer aware of what was happening, and she was sexually assaulted,' Detective Ali Bartley said.

She knew only their first names but their pictures were posted on MySpace.

'Primarily, we pulled up her friends list. It helped us identify some of the players,' said Bartley."
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Sheep Nod In Unison

Use of biometric technologies such as fingerprint- and iris-recognition has got the thumbs-up (pun intended) from UK consumers in a survey of attitudes towards biometrics as a means of fighting ID fraud and their perceptions about issues such as data privacy and the technology's reliability.
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Guilt By Association

"The number of UK prisons biometrically scanning the fingerprints and faces of people visiting inmates is to increase.

In a written statement to parliament on Monday, Fiona Mactaggart, an under-secretary for the Home Office, said around 25 prisons have already introduced biometric systems which record facial images and fingerprints that are used to confirm visitors' identities each time they enter or leave the prison.

And on Monday Mactaggart said 20 more prisons would introduce the technology..."
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Biometrics Go Mainstream: I was into them years ago

"WHAT’S NEW IN AUTHENTICATION? After years of hype, biometrics may be going mainstream! Witness these two recent news release statements, both from Washington Technology, January 2006:

'By Oct. 27, all federal agencies must be ready to issue new identity cards that will be rich in biometrics and other security features...' "
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