Musings of a Technonerd

There's going to be a new London style camera based surveillance system installed in NYC. Hundreds of cameras and license plate readers will be installed to "keep tabs" on things in the Big Apple. I somewhat expected this to happen eventually, but I'm a bit surprised it's happening this soon. Perhaps I shouldn't. After all, the announcement is coming at a time in our history where more and more people seem willing to give up personal freedoms in the name of "safety and security." If they do indeed start nabbing people with the use of this system, expect it to be challenged. Eventually, this is gonna end up in shrub's handpicked supreme court, so expect it to be supported and become a part of our everyday lives. Wonder when they'll start installing cameras in our homes, "for our own safety?"

Years ago, while still single, my brother was living with me. He used to come home, turn the TV on but leave the sound down, and listen to music on the stereo. This really bugged me. I asked him how he could keep track of what was going on without listening to the sound. He told me "You don't need to listen to the sound to tell what's happening." So I started watching with him, and damn, you know what? He was right!! (I hate that when that happens!) I was able to keep up with the show, even "get" the jokes without listening to the script. Try it sometime. You'll be amazed. It'll also make you realize how vapid and empty most of TV is these days.


A body was found in the nose gear well on a United Airlines flight from Shanghai China. These types of "hitchhiking" rarely end well. About 75% of these attempts usually end in death. If they're not crushed by the gear as it's retracted, then they either die from the rarefied air at 30,000 feet (5.6 miles) or freeze to death from temps between -40 to -50 degrees. A terrible way to die for certain. But, putting that aside, what does this say about security at these airports? This was an inbound flight to the USA and that body could just as well have been a load of explosives.