Monday, July 7, 2008

The Social Impact Of Camera Phones: Value And Voyeurism

Compact and practical, digital cameras have become a primary feature on many modern cell phones. First introduced commercially around 2002, camera phones allow users to take (and share) photos quickly, easily, and unobtrusively. While this is highly convenient for many, the availability of such powerful technology does raise certain privacy concerns.

The near-omnipresence of these devices has had a profound social impact, as taking someone's photo is no longer an easily identifiable act. Camera phones allow people to take photos without drawing attention to themselves, as they may appear to be talking, browsing the Web, or otherwise merely using their phone. With such information so easily gathered, shared, and sometimes made public, an impact on privacy is inevitable.

Because of these issues, certain organizations and places have, on occasion, placed bans or restrictions on the use of cell phones. Government organizations, schools, and certain companies where personal or credit card information is viewed on a daily basis, often have outright bans on the use of camera phones. Unfortunately, such bans are very difficult to enforce, as cell phones are often small and easily hidden or disguised.

Impact Overseas

In South Korea and Japan, all camera phones are required to make a clearly distinguishable sound whenever a photo is taken, to help alleviate concerns about surreptitious photography. In the United States, camera phones have often been used in industrial espionage, as well as by the paparazzi to take photos of celebrities. One of the primary advantages (and problems) with camera phones is that even if their use is prohibited, photos can often be taken in secret -- and, with the ability to share or send pictures instantly and wirelessly, even if the photographer is discovered, the "damage" is already done.

A Positive Note

Not all camera phone use is abusive, however -- far from it. In 2007, New York mayor Bloomberg announced a plan encouraging people to use their camera phones to document crimes in progress and send the images or video directly to 911, making the camera phone a potentially valuable tool in crime prevention. Images of the 2005 London bombings were shared instantly and even featured on CNN, and some predict that journalists both amateur and professional will be using camera phone footage more frequently as time goes on.

As with any emerging technology, the camera phone is neither good nor evil, but depends on how it is put to use. While the potential for abuse and invasion of privacy certainly exists, the potential benefits of such rapid information-sharing are also considerable. When laws, courtesy, and basic etiquette are respected, the camera phone can become a powerful and positive tool.

Daniel Swensen is a freelance writer who covers websites like Wirefly and Icine.

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Night Vision WiFi Cameras - Extremely Useful And Versatile

The Grand WiFi Camera Pro Model II Night Vision camera is an extremely versatile system with the ability to serve as a webcam, security cam or to record multimedia content.

The camera is totally wireless and can be used to monitor or watch a baby from anywhere in the world. It can do the same for a door, or barn or swimming pool, to help deal with children sneaking in to use private pools and prevent drownings or other injuries. The camera sells with everything needed for installation to a network and the manual is downloadable from the internet.

The camera is compatible with wireless LAN 802.11g (54Mbps), and also supports 802.11b (11Mbps). The camera can support 640 x 480, 320 x 240, and 176 x 144 formats. The camera will also easily switch from USB to IP cam modes with provided cables for IP mode and a button on the camera itself.

The bundled software allows MPEG 4 capture, automatic replacement of the oldest saved video files when space is no longer available and a motion detector which can sound an alarm when motion is detected.

The camera does have requirements. These are a router (with DDNS or PPPoE function), 10Base-T Ethernet or 100Base TX Fast Ethernet, Intel Pentium3 800 MHz, AMD 800 MHz or Faster processor, 64M RAM or above, VGA card with 8MB memory or above, Microsoft DirectX 9 and Internet Explorer 5.0 or above. The system does not come with a self contained power source, and thus requires a power connection.

There are six infrared LEDs to allow the use of the night vision mode.

The camera currently sells for $136 and ships around the world. The camera operates in Operating Systems in several languages, English, Spanish, Dutch, German, Italian, Russian, French, Japanese and Traditional Chinese while the manual is available in English, German, Dutch and French.

The obvious uses of the camera include serving as a movable security camera, as part of a web conference system to allow the camera to be moved easily about a physical conference room to facilitate the view of people at other sites or even as a means of keeping an eye on something from far away, from the baby mentioned above to a display at a zoo or even a soft drink machine. These cameras can be used to watch outdoors pets at night, or farmers can use this system and a signal repeater to keep watch on barns or fields. For webconference use, this camera appears desirable due to the ease of moving around a conference room, allowing the users to switch from one location to another for the convenience of the off-site participants.

In theory, a user can even use this camera to create a home security system, not up to professional standards, but certainly capable of seeing what is stealing the dogfood or knocking over the trash cans at night. It might even be used to see how squirrels are breaking into the squirrel-proof bird feeders.

Practical Solutions provides complete GPS, mobile navigation/mapping and other hi-tech solutions! Check us out at: http://www.ps-gps.com

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