cctv

Will laws soon stop you from filming your neighbors?

I hate to bring up the subject of people spying on people, but it seems to be entering the realms of an epidemic.

Many no doubt nice human beings are installing closed circuit TV systems in order to protect their properties from marauding anarchists or burglars who want to enter their houses to browse Facebook.

Once they have these systems, they begin to realize that they can use them to snoop on their neighbors -- especially the ones where the husband wears a skirt to greet the mailman.

Now the place that has more cameras than steak and kidney pies, … Read more

Thief caught by CCTV camera he stole

I am loath to describe anyone as stupid.

Principally because I am acutely aware of my own stupidities. They are several and reveal themselves most days -- last night, for example.

However, I feel sure that several people will consider using this hard, unforgiving word to describe the reported behavior of Steven Wardle.

Wardle is a 35-year-old man who lives in the Midlands of England.

As the Daily Mail tells it, he is something of a thief.

His penchant was stealing close-circuit TV cameras -- perhaps, who knows, to re-sell them.

Still, it isn't necessarily easy or wise to … Read more

CCTV operator error has cop chasing himself

Technology can only be as good as the hands and eyes into which it is placed. Those hands and eyes can sometimes be overly aggressive or simply inexact.

Please imagine, then, how those hands and eyes felt when they belonged to a CCTV operator who directed a policeman to give chase to a suspicious person, possibly a burglar.

The way the Telegraph casts its eye on the story, a policeman patrolling on foot in the South of England received a message from a CCTV operator that a suspected burglar was lurking in his vicinity.

That vicinity had endured a few … Read more

See yourself in 12 dimensions with alien collar

Ever wonder how people see you? You could ask them. Or you could strap on the CCTV chandelier, a collar of cameras that hang near your face and let you view yourself from a third-person perspective on nearby closed-circuit TVs.

Of course, if you're wearing this "Virtual Doppelganger Simulator," it's pretty safe to assume any third-person reaction will involve pointing, staring, picture taking, and, in the case of small children, crouching in terror behind parents' legs.

Fortunately for your neck muscles, you probably won't be seeing this alien-looking headdress at Radio Shack or Macy's … Read more

Gadgettes 137: The Fish on a Bicycle Episode

Convergence: The occurrence of two or more things coming together. In this case, cars and couches, shoes and bathtubs, and last but not least, showers and aquariums. Try to wrap your brain around that!

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EPISODE 137… Read more

U.K. police swamped by surveillance TV data

The police cannot deal with the amount of information generated by surveillance cameras, according to the U.K.'s Association of Chief Police Officers.

Ian Readhead, director of information for the ACPO Criminal Records Office, said this week that police are overwhelmed by the volume of such data and that one of his major concerns is that police don't have the capability to track a car in real time using the Automatic Number Plate Recognition System, which is part of the surveillance cameras' functions.

"The problem is the amount of data," said Readhead, speaking at a data … Read more

U.K. turns CCTV, terrorism laws on pooping dogs

The United Kingdom has the most surveillance cameras per capita in the world. With the recent news that CCTV cameras do not actually deter crime, how can the local town councils justify the massive surveillance program? By going after pooping dogs.

In a recent interview with The Guardian, the head of the Metropolitan Police's Visual Images Office explained the failings of CCTV:

"Billions of pounds has been spent on it, but no thought has gone into how the police are going to use the images and how they will be used in court. It's been an utter … Read more