Within ONE Year: Tens of Millions Will Eagerly And Willingly PAY To Relinquish Their Privacy

Within ONE Year: Tens of Millions Will Eagerly And Willingly PAY To Relinquish Their Privacy

What do George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, movie makers The Wachowski brothers all have in common?

Well... It appears that each of them had a piece of the jigsaw puzzle that foretold the world we now ( or soon will ) live in. Orwell with his masterworks, Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm. Huxley with his genius Brave New World And the Wachowski brothers famous Matrix movies... All factor in to the following in their own way.

Neo; let me tell you about the brave new animal farm you live in....

We are all aware that there are bad people in high places who seem to despise and/or resent the fact that we have individual freedoms. Each freedom we are afforded, take, or maintain control of is one less device for them to use against us in their own, vainglorious agendas of wealth, power, and ego. This has been the balance, and the war, for a very long time. They use wealth and position to try and seize our rights. We use our numbers, wills, and ingenuity to keep as many of them as we possibly can.

Over the generations they've chipped away at those rights. But only chips. The idea of turning us into a herd of braying sheep is still just a glint in the eyes of the power mad. This has been the case for longer than any of us have been alive.

There is an ebb and a flow to this process... a pendulum that swings... power to the people... power from the people. History records it. We can open a book and see the pattern in civilization after civilization, culture after culture. Unfortunately we are able to do this and to see these patterns because of perspective. Hindsight is, as they say, always 20/20. So what has already happened is clear for most to see and understand.

It is the present and the future that are the tricky things to get into focus. In the moment we naturally lack objectivity and overall view. This is a weakness that they have been aware of and have sought to exploit since the very beginning. This is the battlefield we live in today. It is a place of carnage where the weapons are propaganda, information control, information saturation, ommission, deceit, manipulation, distraction, trust, betrayal of trust, opinion, pride, envy, lust, ego, and greed. On this field the tactical nuke is media. In this regard, they are the superpowers, because they control the nukes.

Technology - as it makes our lives more enjoyable and easier - is giving them the upper hand.

Our weapons are more modest, to be sure. But, because of our numbers, are effective nonetheless. Whether it be a basement printing press, a blog, or a website like this one, we fire our shots in the war for our minds. We exercise critical thinking ( hopefully ) and we fight our way, tooth and nail, through the walls of their lies... through the battlements of their propaganda... and onward toward the truth and the retention of our rights and our inherent individual freedoms.

But they persist. They always persist. Enough is never enough. No amount of wealth or power can sate whatever drives these men... these little tin gods who occupy high offices and make sacrifices to their own egos for reasons I cannot even begin to understand. They expend vast fortunes and lifetimes, one after another, seeking to take away what little the masses have. I guess, for some, having is not enough. It must be the thought of making sure others do not have that drives them.

Realizing that I have very personal and well defined ideas about this subject, I present the following. Make of it what you will.

Ladies and Gentlemen... I Give You: Here! Take My Money AND My Privacy! Please Mr Big Brother Sir!?!?!

Who doesn't love an Xbox? Right? I mean, C'MON! What is more fun than sitting down for fifteen minutes, with a controller in hand, only to find youself next thinking "Oh, darn. I've been sitting here for 27 straight hours. Haven't I?" I think that, with few exceptions, just about all of us here have done this, to varying degrees. Maybe it's a Playstation, or a Nintendo... or even just the solitaire game that came with your operating system. Heck, let it be "Minesweeper"... the point is we've just about all done it. And we love it! It's relaxing, distracting, all sorts of brain chemicals get involved in some complex achieve/award wiring inherent to the human animal - and it's a great way to make the time pass.

In war, this love we have for these things could be called a situational opportunity - put politely. In blunt terms. It's an unguarded and open flank. And they know this.

Sometime, most likely in time for Christmas shopping next year, in 2013, Microsoft is releasing the next generation Xbox system. The system, currently, is being referred to by several code names, online, including "720", "Durango", and "Loop". This is awesome news for gamers, serious and casual alike. In a world where reports are coming out saying that the upcoming movie The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is said to be so sharp, immersive, and hyper-realistic that watching it can make some people to feel motion sick - the idea of a next-gen game platform is certainly exciting news! The more realistic and immersive the game - the more distracting and involving it is.

To those ends, this next-gen Xbox seems, according to early leaked specs, to be a dream come true.

In fact, you'll probably hear it here first, Microsoft has taken out a Patent that would allow their game system to project images into the room you are in, thus creating an even more immersive experience:

According to a patent document, Microsoft is working on technology that will enable its next-gen videogames console to project 3D game environments onto the walls of a room. The tech is linked to the forthcoming Kinect 3D glasses - rumoured to be called Fortaleza - which will presumably allow players to see the environments in 3D.

The tech has been described in Microsoft's patent reads: “Interactive media experiences, such as video games, are commonly delivered by a high quality, high resolution display. Such displays are typically the only source of visual content, so that the media experience is bounded by the bezel of the display.”

“Even when focused on the display, the user may perceive architectural and decorative features of the room the display is in via the user’s peripheral vision. Such features are typically out of context with respect to the displayed image, muting the entertainment potential of the media experience...”

...“Further, because some entertainment experiences engage the user’s situational awareness (e.g., in experiences like the video game scenario described above), the ability to perceive motion and identify objects in the peripheral environment (i.e., in a region outside of the high resolution display) may intensify the entertainment experience.”

The patent also includes the image below.


Source

Mind blowing stuff! Truly. If that were all there was to this story, I might be suspicious. I might also be excited at the prospect of such a brilliantly nuanced variant on the concept of virtual reality. But, still, any thread I might be tempted to write about that would be in the "Off Topic" ( BTS ) section of the forum. So why is this on the ATS side? Because when one combines all of the above, with what I am about to talk about - it starts to seem really, really suspicious and scary.

In America, We Don't Watch TV... TV Watches US!!!

Microsoft's Xbox 720 will unveil a new version of Kinect, a Blu-ray drive, and an A/V port for watching and recording broadcast TV, at least according to details leaked by Xbox World.

Other features will include directional audio, an input and output for watching and recording TV shows, and an "innovative controller," noted gaming news site ComputerAndVideoGames.com (CVG). Last February, Xbox World said that the redesigned controller would come with a built-in HD touch screen.

Codenamed Durango, the new Xbox would be powered by a CPU with "four hardware cores, each divided into four logical cores" and 8GB of RAM.

Source

Sixteen cores! Geeks, get your geek on! Amazing! But that's not where our focus needs to be. We need to pay attention to the part about "a new version of Kinect". That's the important part of this.

For those who are not familiar Kinext is a camera based, motion sensing game controller - something like a webcam - that can track a persons movements and interpret them as commands for whatever game a person might be playing. Currently it's a fairly basic and innocent enough technology. Many are familiar with the dynamic now thanks to the popularity of the Nintendo Wii console. Basically speaking, you move, and the game sees it, translates it, and makes your game character, on the screen, move as well.

Just for reference, about Kinect, Wikipedia tells us:

Kinect is a motion sensing input device by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 video game console and Windows PCs. Based around a webcam-style add-on peripheral for the Xbox 360 console, it enables users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without the need to touch a game controller, through a natural user interface using gestures and spoken commands. The project is aimed at broadening the Xbox 360's audience beyond its typical gamer base. Kinect competes with the Wii Remote Plus and PlayStation Move with PlayStation Eye motion controllers for the Wii and PlayStation 3 home consoles, respectively. A version for Windows was released on February 1, 2012

After selling a total of 8 million units in its first 60 days, the Kinect holds the Guinness World Record of being the "fastest selling consumer electronics device". 18 million units of the Kinect sensor had been shipped as of January 2012.

The Kinect

The upgraded version of Kinect is what troubles me.

But a company document leaked in June touted a higher level of accuracy, stereo imaging, better voice recognition, and the ability to track four players at once.

Source

Kinect 2 so accurate it can lip read

Microsoft plans to release a next-generation Kinect device so accurate it can lip read, sources have told Eurogamer.

Kinect 2 will come bundled with future Xbox consoles, we understand.

The intention is that Kinect 2 will offer improved motion sensing and voice recognition.

One development source told Eurogamer that Kinect 2 will be so powerful it will enable games to lip read, detect when players are angry, and determine in which direction they are facing.

Kinect 2 can track the pitch and volume of player voices and facial characteristics to measure different emotional states.

Source

The above article goes on to state that the current Kinect technology is limited because of how Xbox's deal with multiple USB connections ( the controllers, and so forth" which keeps the data speed low. But making the machine with an internal, already installed Kinext? That speeds things up considerably...

"It can be cabled straight through on any number of technologies that just take phenomenally high res data straight to the main processor and straight to the main RAM and ask, what do you want to do with it?"

From the above source as well

That need for raw computing power ( the all seeing eye, as it were, attached to the next gen Xbox... the one that can hear you, distinguish up to four unique voices, and read your lips? Yeah, that one. ) might explain the following seeming disparity:

The Xbox 720, on the other hand, may be “the most powerful of all the next-gen consoles.” Gaming Bolt said that the new Microsoft console may be 4-6 times more powerful than the Wii U and 2-3 times more so than the PS4/Omni. A soft launch is rumored to kick off in November 2013, with the actual release taking place in the summer of 2014.

Source

That last link, BTW, about the raw power advantages of the next-gen Xbox over its competitors? It's from yesterday. It is news.

Putting It All Together

We have an environment where Governments and Corporations are partnering, on several fronts ( just click my username and start reading the threads listed there if this statement doesn't feel or sound right - it's true ) to control just about every facet of our lives - especially in the areas of policing us, controlling our information in and outflows, and keeping us "safe" from one another. An age where what one posted to Myspace, even a decade ago, can now land you unemployed or even in prison - or worse ( think Gitmo )... And a western style of government that seems to be trying to meet China "in the middle" regarding freedom and human rights issues.

We have a population that is increasingly in need of distraction, diversion, and relief from the ever increasing stresses and strains of a crippled economy, the constant barrage of endlessly bad news and doom, and who are more and more willing to part with large sums of money in order to achieve this level of relief.

Now mix it all together with a whole mess of well meaning geeks who just want to make their WoW experience even more intense - and who have genius level IQ's - oh and who also tend to work for companies that are both private entities and defense contractors ( Read - military gets first dibs on the good stuff, and the option of using the rest against us if that works out ). Oh, and throw in a pinch of NWO, elitist agenda, insatiably power hungry control freak meglomaniacs. In this pursuit of the best gaming experience possible - these well meaning geeks create a technology that can use motion and voice capture to spy on four voices at a time and read lips?

Add it all together, package it into a machine that is very likely going to be the "must have" thing next year and will probably break all previous sales records for an electronic device.

Seeing it yet?

So many of us make statements like "The day they come to take my rights and infringe upon my privacies, will be the day I meet them, on my porch, with my rifle in hand." That is a very common sentiment in this day and age - especially in environments like ATS.

In the past I've caught some level of static for saying things like "FEMA camps are BS. The government doesn't want to put you in a camp, where they'll have to feed and clothe you. They've already GOT YOU in a camp where you feed, clothe, and guard yourself. Not only that - but you also voluntarily work and will happily inform on all of the other inmates." I've also been accused, from time to time, of giving "Big Brother" a little too much credit... for seeming to overstate just now incidious and capable of an enemy Government and those in power are. Sometimes people tell me to ignore the Great and Powerful Oz and to start paying attention to the small man behind the curtain.

Maybe I am wrong in my beliefs. Maybe I am right.

Whatever the case... the fact that many of these "I'll meet you on my porch, with my rifle", freedom loving people, within a year of me writing these words, will find themselves enthusiastically standing in line to spend between five and six hundred dollars on a machine that is quite literally straight out of books meant to warn folks against such things....

Well... it makes one wonder if the battle is already lost and the true stupidity that I am guilty of is failing to already see it.

~Heff

You can't just convince people to allow a camera to be put in their homes like in "1984", however, tie it into a electronic entertainment system and all of a sudden it's kosher.

Imagine if the technology did take the dive and get used like in the books you mentioned. I'm not sure if the writers would have been terrified or entirely happy, because they were right..

We have absolutely been conditioned to not only accept intrusions of privacy but to actually welcome these intrusions.

Most of our rights are illusions and have been for a very long time. This is one of the most difficult ideas to accept because not only does it show just how precarious our positions are, it also lays the responsibility on ourselves, in that we have not only allowed this to happen, we have encouraged it.

This was a very good read.

Great thread dude
But I must admit it does look pretty cool and I can always turn the camera off and put a hanky over it when not using it.
I mean the only thing they will see is me playing a video game.
Just a quick question does it have to be plugged into the net to play it?

reply to post by boymonkey74


That info hasn't been released yet, that I can find. But it's a great point to bring up. Xbox users typically LOVE the online connection and I would imagine ( though nothing says so yet ) that common sense would dictate the next-gen will be WiFi capable.

~Heff

reply to post by Hefficide

Things like that make me glad I'm not a gamer and that I don't feel the need to go out and buy every new gadget that comes along. I read another thread that discusses the next gen of DVRs that can spy on people; don't have a DVR either.

Sometimes the kids pick on me and their dad for being so "old school" and "out of touch". One day they may wish they had listened to our warnings a little better.

S&F Heff- keep spreading the word!

Well it's a good darn thing I'm slightly paranoid, and a member of ATS, so I won't be having any part of it.
Unfortunately, my oldest son will be all over it.
I'll throw a towel over any electronics or gaming system when I visit. He already knows I'm crazy!

Very interesting and informative thread!!!

Thank you!

My partner just today was telling me a co-worker heard at another truck terminal that their company is thinking of putting cameras inside of the truck and front bumper. He is so agitated. Apparently, a company has already tested this and has terminated the employment of a few people. I was going to research this for him to see where the money flows.

I am betting this is another form of taxpayer funded security BS.

The reason I bring this up,it is the young drivers that don't find a problem with this. They think it is OK

Thing is Heff in a odd way you just sold me one lol.
I didn't even know a new one was coming and the features do look great. I bet some hacker dudes will take all the spy stuff out it.

Im not much for playing games but the technology of having the scenery around you when you play really blows my mind. Interactive gaming with others will reach a new dimensions. It will make people more and more addictive also more vunerable.

Surely we should be careful when we let TPTB play with our brains.. brainswashing masses will be available to them easily.. living in matrix will be real.

Adrenaline junkies are a great target inteed..

Great Thread !!!

I heard about this on the radio this morning, so I did a quick search.
I believe that it is relevant to this discussion. A cable box that watches you, senses what you are doing and tailors TV commercials to who is in the room/what they are doing.

Daily Mail

I know, it is the Daily Mail.

Here is a link to Verizon's US Patent Application:
US Patent Application

reply to post by Hefficide


Heff? Buddy? Puddin? Didn't you vote for this? Didn't you ask for this political "agressiveness"?

Are the chickens coming home to roost?

Not to lay the blame at your feet only. I voted for Bush., I'm just as guilty.

The question is, what do we do to inhibit it?

let me tell ya something about the kinect, it can & does power itself on when the console is off. I was on my PC playing games& I heard gears & such, my Xbox hadn't been on in over a week I couldn't for the life of me find where that odd sound was coming from then I look on top of my tv ( where the kinect was mounted) and it was on & scanning me! I took all of it out & boxed it up end of story! if I ever play video games again it will be PC games ( I know what a pc can & can't do)

Well in the other hand it will make people to move more and loose few extra pounds willingly.. see the bright side

reply to post by Hefficide


I think you should add Ray Bradbury to your list as well with his 1953 novel "Fahrenheit 451".

His novel talks about "parlor walls," enormous interactive television screens that distract the public from the freedoms they lose every day. The MS patent diagram shown is the parlor walls - designed to distract us from the truth.

Learn more: en.wikipedia.org...

Good description of only the parlor walls: www.enotes.com...

The question is, what do we do to inhibit it?

reply to post by beezzer

Personally, you can opt out.
As a group, I'd say we're 'effed'.
If you want to opt out, I'd say pitch the iPhones, Droids, iPods, iPads, gaming consoles, cable/satellite boxes.... IOW all the stuff we just 'have' to have.
If enough people pitch them, they'll be forced to install the technology in our refrigerators and stoves.

reply to post by Hefficide


I'm already holding a computer right now that has camera and mic on it, but konnect sounds so much worse, and most people won't bother unplugging it after every play. Ever since technology got beyond the "this device does one thing" area, I've been on the lookout for these things to be sneaked in.

When you carry around computers everywhere that you go, that can always be tapped into... Really people?

The Power of Wifi.. We are paying for the beasts nervous system.. Everytthing that comes out now has the ability to be tapped into through wifi. Wouldn't be surprised if my Fridge started telling my insurance (if I had any) that I ate 4 hot dogs today, while my laptop shows my anti government stance while also showing my room as it listens in to me talk about the Army...

It's not going to be one company knowing your information..

Just wait till they get that super computer a completely learning based mind set... That will single us out... "Hey this guy doesn't have a cell phone!" send in the "enforcers"

"Sir your cell phone is on the way, we have already docked your pay from your chip. Oh and you've been scheduled for detox.. Too many sulfates in your urine.."


Meanwhile conpsiracy theorists talk about all this in open forums as a test group to find out which areas we would automatically oppose, and which areas we will call hoax... Then they just focus on those areas that are the most easily accepted...


You know how I first noticed this was world wide and it really is the NWO?

They never back down from a plan.. It always keeps moving forward, one way or another, even through amazing financial loss, and public outcry they stick with it... There was always a predetermined goal out there..

Like ATT says: "Your World Delivered." People are just too dumb to understand that line isn't aimed at them. I even allow the alien or demon theories.. My brain cannot comprehend human evil at such a ridiculous level spanning generations like it seems to today. For my own sanity I have to leave the alien option open, but could it really all be hubris?

Thanks Heff, now I have my depression dose for today, time to go pet my kitty, while wondering why I was supposed to be here, instead of "dying and starting over." Silly soul games.

Originally posted by beezzer
reply to post by Hefficide

 

Heff? Buddy? Puddin? Didn't you vote for this? Didn't you ask for this political "agressiveness"?

If I could have voted for Xbox? Given the choices we had? I possibly would have.

Jokes aside, if Mitt Romney would have one, this thread would still be here, worded identically. These issues, I am afraid, are much more complex than the two party illusion. Mountains have many routes up them, and many vistas... but only one peak. Somewhere, above all the noise, there are people with singular and undivided motives. Partisanship only works for those of us below the summit.

Originally posted by beezzer

Are the chickens coming home to roost?

Not to lay the blame at your feet only. I voted for Bush., I'm just as guilty.

The question is, what do we do to inhibit it?

That is a question I don't have an answer to yet. The bell curve on technology is so sharply inclined currently that keeping up preemptively is, IMO, impossible. The good news is that organic adaptation does seem to occur pretty rapidly with these sorts of problems. One can suppose ( and hope ) that a new tech comes out to combat this tech. Think affordable home signal scramblers or something along those lines. Or some sort of exploit will be discovered that the manufacturer cannot compensate for - and thus which will then leave those with malicious intent out of luck - until the next.next.gen comes around.