Dangling Conversations

Colour commentary on the world we live in

So Maybe I Am Paranoid....

Posted 19 Oct, 2005 at 14:41 by kael in /Technical | Permanent link

But this article certainly seems a little disturbing. Now, I don't have a colour laser printer myself, but does anyone else have one, or have access to one?

Comments (6 comments so far)
These sorts of things really aren't new. There are a number of examples where the government has mandated things implemented in technology that you don't really know about and are there for your (social) benefit. :) Want to avoid them all? Go find a place in the woods... make sure you're naked except for any clothes which you personally crafted yourself from homegrown, banana plants. And while you're standing there, away from society and the prying technology and control... look up and smile for the satelite passing overhead. And honestly... if the government didn't think of it... someone else would have.
Posted 2005/10/19 21:17:21 by Blue
Yes Kael...big brother IS watching you. Luckily, for the most part, what we're doing is boring enough that he doesn't care...which isn't really all that reassuring. At least we aren't London yet with security cameras every 20 ft. In a way, I guess this is like being able to figure out which typewriter was used in typing a particular note, but it's a bit creepier because they've built it in rather than relying on physical imperfections. I'll bet they still aren't encoding your street address in those little yellow dots.
Posted 2005/10/20 08:30:55 by wendy
Blue: Strawman much?

Wendy: Probably not. OTOH, many people do send in the hardware registration information, so the dots could be connected.
Posted 2005/10/20 12:35:23 by Matt
Matt: Knee Jerk Reaction to 'sensationalism'... I mean... "The logical next question is: what other deals have been or are being made to ensure that our technology rats on us?."

Oooo! They might *already* know all the bad stuff you did when you were 8 years old and be comin to get you. ooo!

Big Brother is watching... but this is nothing new. Name field (see above), IP logging. Credit Card numbers, SIN numbers. Birth certificates, Passports. VIN's, Driver's licence numbers. Your signature. Passenger manifests, public records offices, parish records. Baptism, census, marriage and death records. People have been inventing methods to keep tabs on other people for eons. The techology may change... but in the end, it serves many honestly useful purposes as well. Don't like that someone can identify a printed sheet of paper and trace it back to you? Neither do I. But I sure would like it if someone sent a ransom note stupidly printed on one. Or the ability to prove that some meathead statement didn't come from me. (I make enough of them on my own without having to take the fall for others as well ;) )

Of course, if you are really concerned about your actions being traced to you... find new actions... or find a new way to hide. New ways to hide are being invented daily and always will be.

Posted 2005/10/20 15:45:52 by Blue
"V" is for Vendettasville
Well, I AM borderline paranoid, just at an operational level. Then again, I AM a sysadmin, just in recovery. But, if you read over the headlines of the last 4 years, and compare them to things happening in such absurd comics as "V" is for Vendetta, you might be shocked by how similar it is to things now, especially if you read it, say, 8 years ago and thought it was a little extreme. Or you could read 1984 again.

The point is, with laws being proposed in Canada that propose to broadly expand on the abilities of the government to spy on it's own people without judicial justification while at the same time reducing oversight of the agencies doing the spying, you have to wonder if those national militia nuts in the U.S. are really all that nuts. (Effective, maybe not so much.)

As for SIN numbers, well, that was meant to be only for taxation purposes, when proposed. As Lazarus Long once said (if I remember the quote correctly) "When you need an I.D. card, it's time to move on." Of course, there isn't really anywhere to move too, yet.

Posted 2005/10/20 18:19:58 by Kael
Sure there is! Buy an old oil tanker, re-outfit it and head for international waters. Spawn a race of web-toed... no wait... I saw this movie. Waterworld? ;)
Posted 2005/10/20 18:23:56 by Blue
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Blue has been known to toss a disc around a field from time to time, and thinks that you should as well. He lives either on the Internet or in Toronto, depending on your perspective. Ask him no questions and there's a good chance he'll tell you no lies. [Site]

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