Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
In-Home Surveillance For 20K Brit Families
England's Children's Secretary intends to put 20,000 "problem families" under 24-hour in-home surveillance using super-vision CCTV.
Ministers hope the move will reduce the number of youngsters who get drawn into crime because of their chaotic family lives, as portrayed in Channel 4 comedy drama Shameless.
I seem to recall the topic of 24-7 in-home surveillance used in Pournelle and Niven's 1981 novel Oath of Fealty. In the massive Todos Santos arcology, every resident had the option of complementary in-home surveillance by security guards. And they loved it! You never know when some little problem might come up in the pantry while you're in the living room.
Update:
For fans of George Orwell's 1984, there's an interesting sidenote on the use of telescreens in the houses of the "proles" or common people.
End Update.
Via Daily Express.
They will be monitored to ensure that children attend school, go to bed on time and eat proper meals.
The great majority of proles did not even have telescreens in their homes. Even the civil police interfered with them very little. There was a vast amount of criminality in London... but since it all happened among the proles themselves, it was of no importance. In all questions of morals they were allowed to follow their ancestral code... They were beneath suspicion. As the Party slogan put it: "Proles and animals are free."
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 8/3/2009)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 4 )
Related News Stories - (" Surveillance ")
Flock Stymied By 'Adversarial Fashion'
'Forget the head atop it, the legs below, feet, arms, hands. It compels erasure.' - William Gibson, 2010.
China's 'Magpie Drone' Ornithopter
'Midges have many capabilities. To the untrained eye, they look like sparrows.' - Greg Bear, 2007.
FTC: Says Ring Employees Illegally Surveilled Customers
'Then she looked up with a smile and moved closer to the camera.' - Pournelle and Niven, 1981.)
Perching Ambush Drones
'On the chest of drawers something was perched.' - Philip K. Dick, 1956.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'
Epirus High-Power Microwave Defeats Drones
'...the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and Then one toppled and fell. Then another.'
Cloud Of Space Rubbish From China's Long March Rocket
'Within seconds the material was spread out over fifty yards, in a matter of hours it might occupy several cubic miles of space...'
Biomimetic Tendons From Rochu Robotics
'... the curious parallelism to animal motions.'
Living Human Neuron Biological Compute Rack
'The men are dead, but their acquired wisdom lives on and I am the beneficiary.'
Martha Stewart Approves Ojai 'Living Room On Wheels'
'Young people found the driverless car admirable for petting.'
ESA's Draco To Study Heat Of Reentry
'...a synthetic which air-friction would erode.'
Buy A Galaxy? Maybe Start Smaller
'The sky is the limit' just got higher.
The United States Space Academy Is Official
'Is our orbit to Space Academy clear?'
Is There A Global Problem With Who Is Having Children?
'After twenty generations of shillyshallying...'
You Will Eat The Cookies Made From Plastic...
'Our planes are going to start bringing in bales of discarded plastics...'
It's A Giant Robot! You Reporters Have Been Warned!
'... completely forgetting the ship at sight of the awesome figure and great head of the giant Gaut...'
Birds Learn To Sing Pictures ala Frank Herbert's Distrans
'We will fight in the time of fighting.'
ElectionSim: China's 'Ender's Game' Battle Sim, Or Lem's 'Kingdom In A Box'?
'So, Ender, we will now begin your education.'
Tactile Skin Supplier Map
'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!'
Flock Stymied By 'Adversarial Fashion'
'Forget the head atop it, the legs below, feet, arms, hands. It compels erasure.'
