[LINK] One-eyed documentary maker - inserting camera

[Craig Sanders]

On Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 12:34:51PM +1100, Roger Clarke wrote:
> At 11:57 +1100 12/3/09, Jan Whitaker wrote:
> >http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2009/03/12/1236447354395.html
> >A one-eyed documentary filmmaker is preparing to work with a video
> >camera concealed inside a prosthetic eye ...
> Jan continued:
> >This seems really not right. Not telling people he's recording them?
> >What happens in men's rooms? [I'm assuming he wouldn't be in women's
> >toilets.] Bedroom? Change rooms? Private homes?

it's inevitable. the technology is getting cheaper and smaller all
the time. 

and frankly, the next time i have a cop crack me over the head[1] and
jab me in the guts with a baton and then deliberately push me under a
horse[2], i'd really prefer to have video of the murderous bastard doing
it.

digital cameras and memory cards are already so small that i'm surprised
that there isn't already a mainstream consumer product combining glasses
frames with a miniature camera + microphone, with 24+ hours recording of
everything you see and hear.

i.e. primitive 1st-gen "gargoyle" kit, to use SF author Neal Stepenson's
terminology.




[1] with no warning, provocation, or reason - apart from the fact that i
was there, and protesters were obviously regarded as declared fair-game.

[2] horses' hooves aren't normally something you think about unless
you've had the experience of rolling around on the ground trying to
avoid getting your head crushed by them.



> [I rate David Brin's 'The Transparent Society' as depending heavily 
> on 'novellist's licence' too.  Police won't knowingly permit 
> souveillers inside their control rooms (etc.), don't facilitate 
> recognition by wearing name-tags, and do wear kit that masks their 
> faces - for physical protection *and* obfuscation of identity.]

and they take off their badges as part of their preparation for beating
the crap out of protesters. they've known the importance of hiding their
identity for decades. they know they're never actually going to be
charged with assault (or any other crime), but they'd rather avoid the
minor inconvenience of an inquiry.

craig

-- 
craig sanders <cas at taz.net.au>