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 Blogs
Friday, December 28, 2012 While the events of September 11 brought substantive changes to the public sphere, private industry has been quick to capitalize on the increase in surveillance technologies. Public attitudes toward the government's heightened security measures were initially acquiescent, but there is little indication, then or in the years since, that the events of September 11 changed public opinion on privacy rights in the workplace or the realm of commerce. The federal government's attitude toward extracting private information from private organizations has nonetheless provided something of a moral sanction in the use of private information for purposes of validation in the commercial sector. > moreFriday, December 21, 2012 An increasing number of theorists are advocating transparency (i.e., the relinquishing of protection over information on every front, from individual to governmental) over against our existing privacy intuitions as a result of new technologies and their impact on traditional expectations and protections. Privacy is a highly desirable product of liberty. If we remain free and sovereign, we may have a little privacy in our bedrooms and sanctuaries. As citizens, we'll be able to demand some. But accountability is no side benefit. It is one of the fundamental ingredients on which liberty thrives. > moreSaturday, November 24, 2012 By combining an excellent MP3 player and active noise-canceling earphones in an affordable one-two punch, Sony's latest NWZ-S710F Walkman MP3 player series takes a new approach to creating an ideal portable listening experience. Offered in 4GB ($149) and 8GB ($199) capacities, the Sony NWZ-S710F series is a phenomenal value for those looking to carve out a quiet moment in their daily life for experiencing great music. Design The Sony NWZ-S710F has a lightweight all-plastic body with a rounded feel that's comfortable in the hand and pocket. Although its 0.5-inch depth feels chunky compared with the iPod Nano, the Walkman's 1. > moreMonday, November 12, 2012 For a long time, the Iriver Clix stood alone as the highest-scoring MP3 player on CNET (it is now tied with the iPod Touch). This is both good and bad for Iriver: good, because it helped to sell more units, but bad because now the company has a stellar player against which all of its future offerings will be compared. The E100, Iriver's first true U.S. release since the second-gen Clix, falls a bit flat, but it's not the worst budget option on the market. We certainly appreciate the competitive pricing--$109.99 and $159.99 for the 4GB and 8GB models, respectively--and plethora of features, but the player suffers from irksome controls, an uninspired user interface, and sound quality unbefitting to the Iriver reputation. > moreThursday, November 1, 2012 The attacks of September 11, 2001 have left a mark on Western consciousness that eclipses the shells and empty space where once stood the World Trade Center. These attacks ignited worldwide responses in both practical and political realms that reflect concern over loss of life, loss of property and loss of face before the global community from the threat of similar attacks. While related incidents were experienced on a smaller scale in England and Spain in the years following, the wound to a collective identity has been felt most poignantly in the United States, and the response has been unsurprisingly commensurate. > moreTuesday, October 23, 2012 Home appliance and electronics manufacturer Haier America leapt into the portable media player market last year with the 30GB Ibiza Rhapsody, a jack-of-all-trades device that came loaded with features, including Wi-Fi music downloading. Even at the time, hard-drive-based MP3 players were a dying breed, so it's no surprise that the Ibiza was followed up by a flash-based sibling of the same name. The flash Ibiza Rhapsody offers most of the impressive array of extras found in its slightly larger family member, but comes in a different array of colors and with either 4GB ($199) or 8GB ($229) of memory. > moreSunday, October 7, 2012 The movement toward rationalization and control of the workplace through surveillance is part of a larger trajectory in modern institutions, progressing toward more subtle, nonphysical means of effecting social control. But this movement is only fully realized in the absence of preventative legislation and when technology provides a fundamentally transparent and nonphysical means to acquire information on employees. It is the transparent forms of surveillance which pose the greatest challenge to employee privacy. Ironically, the nonphysical threats of technology have provided the greatest difficulty for lawmakers to address in protecting the right to privacy. > more
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