Smartphone apps: Is your privacy protected?
Smartphone apps can do more than provide you with entertainment, information or useful services -- they can also invade your privacy. Apps can trace your Web habits, look into your contact list, make phone calls without your knowledge, track your location, examine your files and more. They can also automatically send information such as location data to mobile ad networks. In addition, apps can gather the phone number and the unique ID number of each type of phone: the Unique Device Identifier (UDID) on the iPhone, the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number on the BlackBerry, and (depending on the make) the IMEI or the Mobile Equipment Identifier (MEID) on an Android phone. It's not as if you weren't warned. But do you actually pay attention to what's gathered? In this article, we'll detail the kind of privacy threats you face when using mobile apps, offer advice on ways you can protect yourself, and take a look at possible legislation that may -- or may not -- help.
Repressive desublimation
Repressive desublimation is a term first coined by philosopher and sociologist Herbert Marcuse in his 1964 work One-Dimensional Man, that refers to the way in which, in advanced industrial society (capitalism), "the progress of technological rationality is liquidating the oppositional and transcending elements in the “higher culture.”[1] In other words, where art was previously a way to represent "that which is" from "that which is not,"[2] capitalist society causes the "flattening out"[3] of art into a commodity incorporated into society itself. As Marcuse put it in 'One-Dimensional Man, "The music of the soul is also the music of salesmanship." By offering instantaneous, rather than mediated gratifications,[4] repressive desublimation was considered by Marcuse to remove the energies otherwise available for a social critique; and thus to function as a conservative force under the guise of liberation. Origins and influence[edit] Subsequent developments[edit] Criticism[edit] See also[edit]
Aporia
Aporia (Ancient Greek: ἀπορία: "impasse, difficulty of passing, lack of resources, puzzlement") denotes in philosophy a philosophical puzzle or state of puzzlement and in rhetoric a rhetorically useful expression of doubt. Definitions[edit] Definitions of the term aporia have varied throughout history. In George Puttenham’s The Arte of English Poesie (1589) aporia is “the Doubtful, [so] called...because often we will seem to caste perils, and make doubts of things when by a plaine manner of speech we might affirm or deny [them].” More modern sources, perhaps because they come after the advent of post-structuralism, have chosen to omit the rhetorical usage of the term. Etymology[edit] The separation of aporia into its two morphemes a- and poros (‘without’ and ‘passage’) reveals the word’s rich etymological background as well as its connection to Platonic mythology. Ultimately, aporia cannot be separated from this etymological and cultural history. Philosophy[edit] 1. Rhetoric[edit]
Develops Ultra-sensitive Human-detecting Sensor Technology Capable of Detecting Minute Movements, including Human Breathing
Targets security and monitoring applications TOKYO, October 9, 2012 -- OKI (TOKYO: 6703) recently developed a human-detecting sensor technology capable of distinguishing between large movements (for example, a person walking about a room) to minute movements like breathing. This technology can detect even the minute movements of otherwise motionless persons, making it suitable for use in various applications, including advance warnings of health problems. OKI is currently seeking to apply this technology to areas ranging from security to the monitoring of elderly or people requiring long-term care. Comparative example with existing technology: A daily life situation Detection when a person enters an empty room and sits in a chair: Identifies changes in behavior. Use of pyroelectric infrared human-sensing sensors(*1) continues to grow for a wide range of applications involving the detection of humans in fields from security to monitoring and energy conservation. Typical applications Glossary
Psychology
11 "Modern Antiques" Today's Kids Have Probably Never Seen
Even though I'm fairly ancient, I've never seen a Model T outside of a classic auto show. So I realize that there are many things that have been obsolete since the elastic waistband was invented and would confound anyone under age 70. But what about some common items that have come and gone within the last 30 or so years? See how many of these you recognize, and how many of them would puzzle your kids or grandkids. 1. 45 rpm Record Adapter Seven-inch singles produced in the US had a large half-dollar size hole in the center, unlike the tiny hole punched in LPs that fit conveniently onto a turntable spindle. 2. Those good ol' fashioned metal roller skates that strapped onto your shoes were useless if you didn't have a skate key on hand to adjust them. 3. Many a barbecue and tailgate party was ruined in the pre-pop top days when it was discovered that no one had remembered to bring a church key to the proceedings. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
Moving People Changing Places - Every object tells a story
Everyone has objects that are dear to them: objects which have been handed down through the family, have survived a journey, been given by a loved one or kept to commemorate an important time. They hold meaning for their owners who tell stories about them based on their personal significance or importance to the family or community. Some objects acquire great symbolic significance for diaspora groups. The menorah or seven-branched candelabrum is an iconic representation of the Jewish people, their religion, their experiences in exile, and the state of Israel. In the Hebrew Bible or Torah, it appeared in the account of Moses’ time in the Sinai desert when he received divine instructions on the construction and design of a tabernacle or sanctuary and menorah. The suitcaseA common object associated with travel and migration is the suitcase. Another suitcase was shown in a museum exhibition in Rotherham in 2007, this one constructed from the memories of a young British Pakistani woman.
Robot Readable World. The film.
I recently cut together a short film, an experiment in found machine-vision footage: Robot readable world from Timo on Vimeo. As robots begin to inhabit the world alongside us, how do they see and gather meaning from our streets, cities, media and from us? “The things we are about to share our environment with are born themselves out of a domestication of inexpensive computation, the ‘Fractional AI’ and ‘Big Maths for trivial things’ that Matt Webb has spoken about. and ‘Making Things See’ could be the the beginning of a ‘light-switch’ moment for everyday things with behaviour hacked-into them. This film uses found-footage from computer vision research to explore how machines are making sense of the world. For a long time I have been struck by just how beautiful the visual expressions of machine vision can be. Of the film Warren Ellis says: “Imagine it as, perhaps, the infant days of a young machine intelligence.”
