Posts Tagged ‘Times Hit Silicon’
When A Family Tragedy Turns Into A Youtube Sensation
It seems an ever-more common scenario: a death is captured in a photograph or video. The images are uploaded onto the Web. Within days, thousands, if not millions, of strangers have pierced their way into a familys griefgawking at the final moments of a life that were never meant to be public. Its a scenario thats ongoing for the family of Nikki Catsouras, the 18-year-old Orange County girl killed in a 2006 car crashher mangled remains leaked onto the Web by two police dispatchers. Now its the latest battle for the family of Dawn Brancheau, the 40-year-old SeaWorld Orca trainer who drowned last month after she was yanked by her ponytail and held underwater by the six-ton whale she trained. The attack happened in front of a number of horrified tourists whod attended a show just moments before.
Brancheaus family announced this week that they would seek an injunction to protect the release of the death imagery, captured by SeaWorlds surveillance cameras on Feb. 24. And though the video has not yet been publicly released, its presently in the hands of the Florida Orange County Sheriffs Office, which is investigating the womans death. (Please note this Orange County Sheriffs Office has no connection to the California Orange County Sheriffs Office responsible for the Catsouras leak.) Under Florida law, however, the tape would be made public once the investigation is completewhich could mean that any number of media outlets, bloggers, or unaffiliated interested parties could release the footage on the Web and elsewhere. We see this a lot, says legal scholar Dan Solove, an expert on privacy and the Internet, because there are a lot of states that havent fully thought through what they do with their public records.
Like the family of Nikki Catsouras, the Brancheaus have said that the public airing of their daughters death would only worsen their grief. And while the images do indeed appear to be fair game under Florida law, there is some precedent to prevent their release. The Brancheau family is working with the lawyer who represented Teresa Earnhardt, the widow of NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt, who was killed in a crash during the last lap of the Daytona 500 in February 2001. In that case, Earnhardts widow petitioned a judge to seal her husbands autopsy records, and Floridas state legislature ultimately passed a law exempting the future release of such photosalong with audio and videowithout the express permission from the victims next of kin.
The Brancheau video isnt autopsy imagery, but it is an issue of free speech and privacyand in many ways, say legal experts, the precedent set by Earnhardt could still apply. Certain speech is not as valuable as other speech, and I think we need to say that, says Solove, the author of The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet. And while [the release of such imagery] may satisfy a morbid curiosity, I dont think it really serves a great purpose otherwise. Thats certainly what the Brancheaus hope the Florida legal system will see.
Source: blog.newsweek.com
Dialing Into The Future, From My Wrist
Cell phones keep getting smaller and smallerand now they’re starting to disappear altogether, as the workings of a mobile phone can be contained in the guts of a wristwatch.
For the past week I’ve been using the W Phonewatch made by Kempler & Strauss. The device is basically a slightly oversize wristwatch with a touchscreen face. You type out numbers on a tiny keypad, and use either a Bluetooth device (your own, or one that comes with the W phone) or the built-in speaker and microphone in the watch itself.
To be sure, the W is far from perfect. It’s tough pecking out numbers on that tiny keypad. Call quality isn’t great. The menu system leaves a lot to be desired. In short, the W Phonewatch definitely won’t replace your primary cell phone. But it costs only $200 and makes you feel like you’ve time-traveled into a futuristic sci-fi movie. Or time-traveled backward and you’re Dick Tracy. Either way, it’s very cool, a great conversation starter.
The W also offers a glimpse of what we might expect in the not-too-distant future from other companies. Korean giant LG Electronics makes a wristwatch phone called the GD910 that’s a bit larger than the W phone and costs about $800. It not only makes phone calls but can also do videoconferencinghow totally Blade Runner is that? Today the GD910 is available in Europe, and is making its way to the U.S.
The makers admit the W Phonewatch is a bit of a novelty item. “It’s an add-on, a gadget that you use occasionally. When you go jogging, or biking, and you want to have a cell phone with youit keeps things simple,” says Mario Cisneros, vice president at Kempler & Strauss, in San Diego.
Cisneros says the company has sold 2,500 units in the two months since the W Phonewatch began shipping. The watch was designed in California and manufactured in China. The phone has a built-in camera that can take still photos and record video (neither in very great detail, but still) plus calendar and contacts software, a micro SD slot and a stereo MP3 player.
You can also send text messages, but this capability might as well remain theoretical, as trying to peck out words on the tiny touchkeys is a good way to drive yourself insane.
In Europe, Kempler & Strauss sells the W Phonewatch via retailers. But here in the States you can only buy one from the company’s Web site. Then you need to get a SIM card from a GSM carrier, either AT&T or T-Mobile.
Kempler & Strauss is a tiny companyjust 10 employees in San Diego, and 20 in Hong Kongso don’t expect an Apple-quality user interface. The software, in fact, can be a bit maddening. Even simple things like setting the correct time can be somewhat frustrating.
But this device could come in handy. My primary cell phone is an Apple iPhone. But I don’t like to carry the iPhone when I’m skiing. Instead, I could set up the iPhone to forward calls to the W Phonewatch, so at least I could be reachable on the slopes.
That, at least, is the argument I would use when trying to explain to my wife why I need this. It’s much easier than telling her the truth, which is that, like most grown men, I’m secretly still a 9-year-old boy, and a wristwatch phone is just so cool that I must have one, right now.
Source: blog.newsweek.com