Sunday, December 13, 2009
Dumbing down security
As if that were even possible ... New Superstitionist reports on a new "smart" pattern recognition system that claims to help spot suspicious or terroristic people from security-camera views.
Oh, goodie. So we don't need to worry about dangerous people now, because they never take jobs in the places where they intend to commit their crimes.
Jesus. If you're too PC to think of the baggage-handling jihadis at Logan Airport or the Army psychiatrist at Fort Hood; if you can't consider them as threats because they're Mohammedan and therefore guaranteed angelic pacifists; go back a ways. Think of Lee Harvey Oswald, who worked at the Schoolbook Depository to give himself a non-suspicious way to spend time on the top floor.
This system might be able to detect a totally crazy dude, but you don't need a computerized system to detect a wild-eyed maniac. You just need a milligram of common sense and the freedom to distinguish good from evil, which is now strictly prohibited by law. ¶ 12:42 PM
[The system] is designed to issue alerts when it detects behaviour that differs from the norm, and adjusts its reasoning based on feedback. So an operator might reassure the system that the person with a mop appearing to loiter in a busy thoroughfare is no threat. When another person with a mop exhibits similar behaviour, it will remember that this is not a situation that needs flagging up.
Oh, goodie. So we don't need to worry about dangerous people now, because they never take jobs in the places where they intend to commit their crimes.
Jesus. If you're too PC to think of the baggage-handling jihadis at Logan Airport or the Army psychiatrist at Fort Hood; if you can't consider them as threats because they're Mohammedan and therefore guaranteed angelic pacifists; go back a ways. Think of Lee Harvey Oswald, who worked at the Schoolbook Depository to give himself a non-suspicious way to spend time on the top floor.
This system might be able to detect a totally crazy dude, but you don't need a computerized system to detect a wild-eyed maniac. You just need a milligram of common sense and the freedom to distinguish good from evil, which is now strictly prohibited by law. ¶ 12:42 PM
