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thefordie

Listed below are comments made by thefordie between Thursday, 15th May 2008 and Tuesday, 28th April 2009.

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The retailers' dilemma 2:10pm on 28 Apr 2009 I've just realised the guy in the program wasn't Richard - I'm referring to the chap that described himself as something like "a 6ft fluorescent gnome"
The retailers' dilemma 2:08pm on 28 Apr 2009 When I was in my late teens & early twenties I worked in retail security for a number of retailers including Woolworths, Superdrug & B&Q.

Obviously there are certain things that set a store detective or guard's senses tingling (large bags being one) - however one thing you learn quite quickly is that there is no point in just sticking to stereotypes when looking for thieves. I arrested a wide variety of people over the years; young kids, foreign students with their teacher, drug addicts, a rent boy & even a 70 odd year old man who was out with his neighbors kids.

Retail theft pushes prices up for everyone & shops have to deter it. I agree that having a guard follow you is not a desirable experience, but if you're not doing anything of interest to him he should soon get bored and move on to someone else.

Maybe the answer is for stores to employ more plain clothes security staff. When I was in the job we had a far higher detection rate than our uniformed colleagues, which is obviously better for the retailer & if a plain clothed security officer is doing his job properly you won't even know you're being followed.

Anti social behavior orders being used to punish shoplifters is clearly madness. Repeat offenders should be dealt with appropriately, including custodial sentences. Retailers should be encouraged to make greater use of Civil Recovery Schemes.

Lastly can I suggest to Richard that perhaps he dress less conspicuously when he's out shopping, from what he said in the program I wouldn't be at all surprised if he was being followed because the security staff thought he looked out of place more than anything else.
CCTV: Be part of an experiment 1:45pm on 28 Apr 2009 @ conradcosta unfortunately cameras are not yet discerning enough to be able to ignore people who are "probably not doing much wrong". fortunately, I imagine most CCTV operators are far too busy to take any notice of people that are just going about there daily lives.

Frankly I'd be amazed anything ever happened to you as a result of your being caught on camera (or having your DNA on a database for that matter), assuming you're not doing anything you shouldn't.

I suggest you have a nice cup of tea and find something else to worry about, it looks like it might rain.
CCTV: Be part of an experiment 09:48am on 20 Apr 2009 @MartinPacker What's the difference between a policeman or PCSO in the street or a member of staff in a shop watching you do something & a remote CCTV operator?

As for privacy, do you think you are invisible to the human eye & only detectable by camera when you're out? The addition of cameras to the street does not affect how private your actions are.

Besides, if you're just going about your lawful business do you really think that you are going to be of any interest to a CCTV operator? I don't. Even if you did something that amused an operator enough for them to want to take a closer look, they don't know who you are; privacy through obscurity.
CCTV: Be part of an experiment 09:02am on 20 Apr 2009 I fail to see what all the fuss is about. What is Conrad Costa doing that he doesn't want to have filmed?

I don't see any problem with the council or police filming in public areas or with companies filming on their property. The vast majority of the time the footage is never reviewed, but if there's a chance that the presence of cameras can help solve or even deter crime & disorder I think it's a good thing.
Mapping in the time of cholera... 2:10pm on 27 Oct 2008 No problem, funny enough I was listening to a recording of Jeffery Veen (ex Google) at another conference (@media) talking about data visualistaion, and who was one of the people he said inspired him? Have a guess!

http://huffduffer.com/samsoir/172
Mapping in the time of cholera... 09:25am on 27 Oct 2008 I first heard about Dr Snow's mapping exploits at this years "d.construct" web development conference where Steven Johnson used it as an example of social mapping. It made up a large chunk of his talk which you may be interested in listening to here: http://dconstruct.s3.amazonaws.com/2008/podcast/dConstruct2008-Johnson.mp3
Hearsay... 1:44pm on 23 Sep 2008 Eddie if you want to know what people on twitter are overhearing check out http://overheard.it/
Whose internet favourites would YOU like to see? 10:30am on 15 Jul 2008 William Shatner! (obviously) Failing that, prof. Patrick Stewart. Tim Berners-Lee, Eddie Mair, Jeremy Clarkson
Trapped in a lift 1:16pm on 15 May 2008 the link to 41hours.com is broken, it's pointing to 14hours.com!

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