techn-o-logy

Unnecessary Taser Use? What do you think?

2006-08-04T04:53:00.000-07:00

Woman protester gets tasered by police after she's wrestled to the ground. Is this excessive force or are the cops justified because she was fighting being handcuffed?

Evolution of Dance

2006-08-04T04:51:00.000-07:00

The funniest 6 minutes you will ever see! Remember how many of these you have done!
Judson Laipply is dancing -
www.evolutionofdance.com

The View - Elisabeth loses her mind !

2006-08-04T04:47:00.000-07:00

Elisabeth Hasselbeck loses her mind when a discussion begins about the "Morning After" pill. Then she gets reprimanded by Barbara Walters who tells her to "calm down". Right wing psycho!

Broadband over Power Lines supported by FCC

2006-08-04T01:33:00.000-07:00

The Federal Communications Commission decided Aug. 3 to reaffirm its stance on the deployment of broadband-over-power-line technology. In a Memorandum Opinion and Order adopted by the FCC today, the commissioners affirmed that BPL providers have the right to provide data access using power transmission lines, provided they don't interfere with existing radio services.

By adpting this order, the FCC rejected requests by several groups, including the amateur radio community, the aviation industry and broadcasters, to either limit the service or to disallow it completely. However, the FCC did adopt provisions to protect some aeronautical stations and to protect radio astronomy sites from interference.

In the statements released by the commissioners, it was clear that the FCC sees BPL technology as a critical move in the effort to reduce the grip of the current broadband duopoly in the United States, and as a vital step toward serving areas of the United States that currently have no broadband access at all, including residents of rural and inner city areas.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said all of the commission members would like to see some non-duopoly pipes bring broadband access to hard-to-reach Americans. "This technology holds great promise as a ubiquitous broadband solution that would offer a viable alternative to cable, digital subscriber line, fiber and wireless broadband solutions," Martin said in his prepared statement.

Dog Training

2006-08-04T01:21:00.000-07:00

Dog training is the process of teaching a dog to exhibit certain desired behaviors in specific circumstances. Some examples are:

Teaching a dog basic obedience commands (part of obedience training)
Teaching a dog to perform tricks casually or for circus acts
Teaching a guide dog to lead the blind
Teaching a rescue dog to find victims of a disaster
Helping a hunting dog learn to perform its instinctive behaviors at appropriate times

The specific behaviors taught in each case are different, but the underlying principles are similar.

In the wild as pack animals, canines have natural instincts that favor training. These instincts are manifested when the dog lives with humans as a desire to please a handler, as a dog would please senior members in a pack in the wild. The handler is simply whoever is working with a dog at the time.

Most dogs, no matter their eventual advanced training or intended purpose, live with people and therefore must behave in a way that makes them pleasant to have around and for their own safety and that of other people and pets. Dogs do not figure out basic obedience on their own; it must be trained.

The hardest part of this process is communicating with your dog in a humane way that he understands. Dogs generally want to make their owners happy, but they do not natively know what their owners want. Communication is possible by praising positive behavior while ignoring or correcting negative behavior.

"Correction" should never include harmful physical force or violence (i.e., no rolled up newspaper) because even if it makes the dog stop the behavior in the short term, it will make your dog fear you rather than want to make you happy by doing what you ask (yes, he wants to make you happy, he just doesn't know how sometimes... training is the process of letting him know what you want and repeating that communication, behavior, then praising his good work). Correction technique varies by individual and among trainers. A simple technique is to attach a collar and "lead" (fancy term for a leash, usually short, 4' is good); JUST AS the negative behavior happens use a command to correct it (i.e., Sparky is jumping up on a guest, say "off" if he's already jumped up, or if you see he's thinking about it say, "down"). If the command is ignored then "correct" Sparky by "snapping" (not pulling/tugging/yanking) the lead to make his collar rattle. Snap from the side, never from above; snapping from above can injure your dog and will make him resist rather than just show him that you disapprove of the behavior.

cutting edge technology: 2006 Qana airstrike

2006-08-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

this is a very interesting article about the horrible airstrike that took place in Qana this week - killing 37 children..

CCTV - Closed-circuit television

2006-08-03T04:58:00.000-07:00

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) is the use of television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific, limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that all components are directly linked, and that the signal is not openly transmitted, though it may employ point to point wireless links. CCTV is often used for surveillance in areas where there is an increased need for security, such as banks, casinos, and airports. They may also have military uses. The use of CCTVs in public places has increased, causing debate over security versus privacy.

CCTV was developed as a means of increasing security in banks. Today it has developed to the point where it is simple and inexpensive enough to be used in home security systems, and for surveillance.

This is what Wikipedia has to say about CCTV.

In fact, CCTV is a major privacy concern, as well. It comes slowly - you can't see it most of the time - but it's there. No matter if it's your ATM making photos of your disappointed face (right after it ate your card) or the Wal Mart round the corner..

Increased security comes at a very high price.. Is it worth it?

if you're interested in security, surveillanceand cctv you should have a look at enjoy-surveillance.org and the surveillance-studies.org blog

comments are very welcome..

A new star is born

2006-08-03T04:48:00.000-07:00

This is the first post to techn-o-logy