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Canon to stop making single-lens camera TOKYO - Japan's top camera maker, Canon Inc., will stop developing new single-lens reflex film cameras as more people abandon film for digital, company officials said Thursday. The Tokyo-based Canon's move followed a similar move by its closest Japanese rival, Nikon Corp., which announced earlier this year it would stop making seven of its nine film cameras and concentrate on digital models. Canon will continue making film cameras already on the market as long as their demand remains. Whether to withdraw from the film camera business will be "decided appropriately by judging the market...

BRITAIN’S most senior policeman Sir Ian Blair is facing a race relations dilemma after the release of figures that reveal almost half the number of people arrested in relation to car crime in London are black. Blair, the Metropolitan police commissioner, has signed off a report by his force’s traffic unit which shows that black people account for 46% of all arrests generated by new automatic numberplate recognition (ANPR) cameras. The technology allows car registration plates to be scanned and automatically run through databases to determine whether a vehicle is stolen, uninsured or has not had its road tax paid....

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is filing a formal complaint with chamber officials regarding what he considers an “unethical” broadcast of an interview with him by a CNN reporter Tuesday. ROLL CALL reports: In an incident that could have repercussions for TV journalists’ access to the chamber, Stevens is furious with CNN correspondent Joe Johns for an interview conducted outside the weekly GOP policy luncheons, but far away from the usual bank of TV cameras set up for such interviews next to the storied Ohio Clock.

In an attempt to tackle gun crime in the UK, researchers from Loughborough University are developing an innovative identification system that will use CCTV cameras to spot individuals carrying concealed firearms. Starting in June, the three-year multi-environment deployable universal software application (Medusa) project aims to develop intelligent software that can detect a person carrying a concealed weapon in real time. While it is difficult to predict if someone is carrying a gun before crime occurs, Professor Alastair Gale, head of Loughborough University's Applied Vision Research Centre and leader of Medusa, said there are a number of cues the CCTV operator...

Unmanned aerial vehicles have soared the skies of Afghanistan and Iraq for years, spotting enemy encampments, protecting military bases, and even launching missile attacks against suspected terrorists. Now UAVs may be landing in the United States. A House of Representatives panel on Wednesday heard testimony from police agencies that envision using UAVs for everything from border security to domestic surveillance high above American cities. Private companies also hope to use UAVs for tasks such as aerial photography and pipeline monitoring. "We need additional technology to supplement manned aircraft surveillance and current ground assets to ensure more effective monitoring of United...

From Anchorage it takes 90 minutes on a propeller plane to reach this fishing village on the state's southwestern edge, a place where some people still make raincoats out of walrus intestine. This is the Alaskan bush at its most remote. Here, tundra meets sea, and sea turns to ice for half the year. Scattered, almost hidden, in the terrain are some of the most isolated communities on American soil. People choose to live in outposts like Dillingham (pop. 2,400) for that reason: to be left alone. So eyebrows were raised in January when the first surveillance cameras went up...

RFID: Europe Wants to Tag You From the desk of Elaib Harvey on Sun, 2006-03-12 20:45 Am I the only one who is a tad concerned about the new RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Devices) Policy for Europe? I hope not. This year data retention legislation was introduced by the European Parliament and now we have the execrable Viviane Reding at a major conference in Hanover burbling about the Commission’s new consultation on the electronic tagging technology. Given that Commission Press Releases are normally bland to the point of ennui the following is quite something, “But their power to report their...

New Yorkers, get ready for your closeup. The NYPD is installing 505 surveillance cameras around the city - and pushing to safeguard lower Manhattan with a "ring of steel" that could track hundreds of thousands of people and cars a day, authorities revealed yesterday. .. The NYPD also has applied for $81.5 million in federal aid to install surveillance cameras, computerized license plate readers and vehicle barriers around lower Manhattan, Kelly said. .. But don't expect the NYPD to install its cameras without battling the New York Civil Liberties Union. The watchdog group's associate legal director, Chris Dunn, questioned the...

(United Kingdom) A motorist has been fined after being caught by a speed camera taking both hands off the wheel to apply make-up while driving near a north Wales town. Pwllheli Magistrates Court heard on Wednesday how Donna Marie Maddock, 22, from Mold, was travelling at 32mph in a 40mph zone earlier this year. She was using an eyeliner with one hand and a compact in the other. Maddock was fined £200 after admitting careless driving. The court heard she was banned last week for drink-driving. Magistrates heard that it was an Arrive Alive mobile anti-speeding van, equipped with a...

You might expect to see cameras taking pictures of beautiful scenic shots at a park. But installing surveillance cameras to prevent lewd behavior would be a first for the city. Last year, nearly 300 people were cited for indecent exposure in various Metro parks. So common are the complaints, it's earned Cedar Hill a reputation. "This is about families taking their children to feed the ducks in the afternoon and being accosted by men doing things that you and I wouldn't even talk about on TV,” said Metro councilman Michael Craddock. But that hasn't stopped the talk at city council...

Testing of Chicago's new speed surveillance SUVs began recently, just as the Illinois State Police debuted their own anti-speeding plan based on high-resolution cameras. The cameras enhance the productivity of troopers who are writing tickets by 16 times, the State Police said. Police in Chicago -- and elsewhere in the state of Illinois -- are dramatically expanding the deployment of stealth cameras to catch alleged speeders. The cameras may be a massive invasion of privacy , however, according to some legal experts who are calling for precautions to be taken with the surveillance data. By Gene Koprowski

George Orwell's classic dystopian novel 1984 opens with a surveillance helicopter chopping its blades menacingly through London, peeking inside apartment buildings. The protagonist, a conscience-stricken state worker with no way to blow the whistle, goes home to a "telescreen" watching and reporting his every word, move and even mood. The totalitarian state apparatus of Orwell's bleak vision was patterned after the world's Communist parties. But many of today's 21st-century Democrat and Republican politicians see no problem with the kind of permanent police dragnet envisioned in the novel. While Orwell's homeland of the United Kingdom is still the most-surveilled on Earth,...

Tuesday night the Santa Monica City Council has given the green light for a new video surveillance system at the 3rd Street Promenade and the Santa Monica Pier. City officials say they decided on the plan after suspicious people took pictures of some of the facilities there. "Some men were videotaping in a manner that was inconsistent with tourist photography. They were photographing access roads and security structures," said Chief James Butts with the Santa Monica Police Department. The system will go online as soon as the cameras and recording system are installed.

Mayor Daley on Monday embraced a radical plan to require every licensed Chicago business open more than 12 hours a day to install indoor and outdoor cameras. "Block clubs, community organizations want cameras. ... They can't walk down the street. ... Their kids have to go around a corner away from the gang-bangers. You can't walk to church. You can't get on the CTA. ... Cameras really prevent much crime. Cameras also solve a lot of crime. The terrorist attacks in London were solved by cameras. The whole incident was solved by cameras," Daley said.

Red light cameras spy on Americans. Same with speed cameras. Many cities have cameras on street corors to spy on us all. But this doesn't threaten our liberety? But NSA uses computers to scan for keywords on know calls FROM a terrorist to an oprative in the US that's a threat...oh my... OK what do you all think. Or should I use the plural "all you all"

TOKYO : Japan's Konica Minolta, one of the world's leading photographic equipment manufacturers, said on Thursday it would stop making all cameras because the market had become too competitive. The company plans to slash 3,700 jobs or about 11 percent of its global workforce by 2007 under a restructuring package that will also see part of its business making high-end digital cameras sold off to Sony. Konica Minolta will also gradually stop making camera film by 2007 to focus on its more profitable optics and medical imaging activities. "In today's era of digital cameras... it became difficult to timely...

Minneapolis' "photo cop" should be the one getting the red light, civil rights advocates said Thursday on behalf of a cited motorist. Daniel Alan Kuhlman, a Minneapolis resident ticketed Aug. 11, claims the system meant to catch red-light runners is unconstitutional and violates state laws, according to a motion to dismiss the case filed in Hennepin County District Court by American Civil Liberties Union volunteer attorneys. Minneapolis' ordinance states it is the owner of the car who drove through the red light who is guilty of a petty misdemeanor — the cameras record license plates, but not drivers' faces, the...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Dec. 13, 2005) -- Family members of deployed Marines and sailors from Camp Pendleton were able to send a very special holiday greeting to their loved ones serving overseas Monday. WesCorp, a corporate credit union, kicked off Operation Best Wishes last weekend allowing servicemembers’ families to record a 10 minute video session which will be archived onto a website where it can be viewed an unlimited number of times. The operation is just one of several ways the credit union is reaching out to the military and giving thanks. “We consider credit union members...

WEST PALM BEACH — Police are rolling out surveillance cameras downtown and in the city's most violent neighborhoods, the first step in an ambitious plan to make West Palm Beach the most closely monitored city in South Florida.In the next month, four cameras are expected to be placed along Clematis Street and in troubled neighborhoods on the city's north side. Able to rotate 360 degrees and read a license plate a half-mile away, they will roll 24 hours a day and can be programmed to zoom in at the sound of gunfire. West Palm Beach police will test the first...

Take notice, Houston motorists: There's a clear picture of the future downtown. It's where the Police Department this morning began testing camera systems designed to catch red-light runners at four intersections. The 30-day pilot program is part of an effort to pick the best private vendor to install the systems at up to 50 city intersections over time. Mayor Bill White and other city officials say the cameras serve two key purposes: reducing serious wrecks at intersections and freeing up an understaffed police force from traffic enforcement. "This is about increasing safety, making people more alert and using the technology...

BLURRY snaps could be a thing of the past with the development of a digital camera that refocuses photos after they have been taken. The camera could be useful for action shots taken by sports photographers or for CCTV surveillance cameras, which often produce fuzzy shots due to poor lighting. In an ordinary digital camera, a sensor behind the lens records the light level that hits each pixel on its surface. If the light rays reaching the sensor are not in focus, the image will appear blurry. Now, Pat Hanrahan and his team at Stanford University have figured out how...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Sensors and video cameras on Southern California freeways could begin recording pollutants spewing from tailpipes by early next year as part of a program to reduce smog levels in the nation's smoggiest region. The program, perhaps the largest of its kind, would measure vehicles entering freeways in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside. The sensors measure pollutants as vehicles accelerate and the cameras snap an image of the license plates. There's even an incentive to getting caught. Owners of smoky clunkers would receive letters informing them that the government would help pay...

There’s a big difference between excuses and arguments. For example, “I can’t do it now, I’ve only seen this part of Roadhouse 612 times” is an excuse for not mowing the lawn. “I mowed the lawn yesterday” is an argument. In the wake of the London bombings, it seems we’re hearing a lot of excuses but not a lot of arguments for why we shouldn’t do certain things. “I just don’t want to” appears to be the animating spirit of opponents to increased preparedness. Take closed-circuit security cameras in public areas, like they have in London. I don’t like the...

Thousands of Surveillance Cameras Helped Crack London Bombing Case Jul. 15, 2005 - Images from some of the 200,000 surveillance cameras in London were key in cracking the July 7 subway and bus bombings there. American cities, too, are hoping video cameras will be important weapons in the fight against terrorism, especially by helping to prevent attacks. Several U.S. cities already use surveillance cameras to fight crime -- there are more than 2,200 cameras in Chicago, 7,000 in New York and 150 in Baltimore. Police officials say they are a major crime deterrent. "You put a camera in a location...

1. End shutter lag. 2. Don't believe the megapixel myth. 3. Ignore digital zoom. 4. Ditch the starter card. 5. Beware the format factor. 6. Do your research. 7. Know your class. 8. Turn off the flash. 9. Turn on the flash. 10. Turn off the screen.

Cameras 'Aim to Deny Criminals Use of the Road' (UK) By Neville Dean, PA Crime Correspondent Police today launched a national network of cameras to deny criminals access to the road by tracking the registration plates of wanted vehicles. The scheme uses automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) to identify vehicles that police want to trace in connection with a range of suspected motoring and criminal offences It was rolled out nationally today after a year long pilot brought about a five-fold increase in the number of arrests made by frontline officers. The system was tested by 23 police forces in...

By Eyewitness News' Jen Maxfield (Brick Township - WABC, March 1, 2005) — A teacher outburst in the classroom - all caught on tape. It all started when a student refused to stand for the national anthem.Voice of Stuart Mantel, teacher: "I don't wanna hear a sound! Not a sound!"Images From The Story Students at Brick Township High School secretly recorded a video in their third period electronics class. The teacher, Stuart Mantel, was yelling at the students to stop fooling around during the nation anthem. But Mantel's angry tirade didn't end there. When one student refused to stand up...

Metropolitan Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey yesterday outlined a plan to expand the District's use of speed and red-light cameras, but was not aware of details to reimburse a private contractor for issuing as many as 103,000 traffic-camera citations a month. Chief Ramsey said the police department is preparing to add at least 10 red-light cameras to the 39 devices already installed at city intersections. He said police also will add several speed cameras, including two new vans to monitor motorists in construction zones. "We are implementing these program expansions with the strong support of the communities who will benefit...

The Virginia Transportation Research Council studied all of the state red light camera programs and found an overall increase in injury accidents. A brand new, exhaustive study of all seven Virginia red light camera programs shows an overall increase in injury accidents has occured where the devices are installed. The study was performed by The Virginia Transportation Research Council at the request of the state transportation secretary. The report also notes a fatal flaw in the Virginia's camera law -- motorists can ignore any ticket received in the mail. Only tickets that are personally served matter (the same thing happened...

The rain is turning to snow on a blustery January morning, and all the men gathered in a parking lot here surely would prefer to be inside. But the weather couldn't matter less to the robotic sharpshooter they are here to watch as it splashes through puddles, the barrel of its machine gun pointing the way like Pinocchio's nose. The Army is preparing to send 18 of these remote-controlled robotic warriors to fight in Iraq beginning in March or April. Made by a small Massachusetts company, the SWORDS, short for Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Detection Systems, will be the first...

INTELLIGENCEMan Is Held After Police Seize Tapes of Buildings and a DamBy ERIC LICHTBLAUPublished: August 11, 2004 ASHINGTON, Aug. 10 - The federal authorities, on heightened alert over the prospect of another Al Qaeda attack, are conducting a terrorism investigation into an illegal immigrant from Pakistan found with videotapes of downtown buildings and transit systems in four Southern states and of a dam in Texas, officials said on Tuesday.Officials acknowledged that they had no direct evidence linking the suspect, a former Queens resident named Kamran Shaikh, to terrorism. But they said they remained keenly interested in determining why he made...

http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/415877|top|07-19-2004::15:07|reuters.html Man Sought for Photographing Texas City Refineries Email this story Jul 19, 2:57 PM (ET) HOUSTON (Reuters) - Law enforcement officials said on Monday they are looking for a man seen taking pictures of two refineries in Texas City, Texas. Texas City, located on the Texas Gulf coast about 30 miles south of Houston, has three refineries including the largest U.S. plant operated by BP Plc., which is the third-largest U.S. refinery, processing 470,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The man, described as white with dark hair, was seen taking pictures outside the refineries, all located on the...

Pakistani in custody had film of Dallas, other cities 12:15 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Federal officials charged a Pakistani citizen with immigration violations and said Tuesday the man was detained last month after being spotted taking videotapes of downtown skyscrapers. A federal affidavit unsealed Tuesday said a review of the tape in Kamran Akhtar's camera and others in his possession showed film of the downtown Wachovia Bank and Bank of America headquarters buildings in Charlote, N.C., as well as film of other major U.S. cities, including Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, Houston and...

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - Millions of Americans who waited patiently for the quality and convenience to leap forward and the prices to roll back are now jumping on the digital-shutterbug bandwagon. A novelty item just four or five years ago, the digital camera is shaping up as the most popular electronics gift in 2004, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. It was runner-up in 2003 to the DVD player, the No. 1 gift since 2000. At age 75, Marilyn Smith discovered a wealth of reasons this holiday season to switch to a digital camera. Snapping away until she gets the...

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Women, beware: Those "eye in the sky" surveillance cameras used by casinos don't just look for card cheats and crooked dealers. Sometimes, they look for low-cut blouses. New Jersey casino regulators fined Caesars Atlantic City Hotel Casino $80,000 Wednesday for using surveillance cameras to spy on female employees and customers sitting at casino tables or riding escalators. On three occasions in 2000 and 2001, Caesars surveillance camera operators "recorded footage of selected parts of the anatomy of several females," in violation of statutes governing the use of clandestine surveillance by casinos, authorities said.

Red-light runners beware: Cameras soon will be watching in Denton. The City Council this week approved a new ordinance for the installation of cameras on some streets to photograph cars that run red lights. The measure, similar to ones in Garland, Frisco, Richardson and Plano, aims to prevent accidents. City officials will search for a vendor early next year to install and operate the system, and cameras will be placed at yet-to-be-chosen intersections by the end of 2005. Violators will be mailed $75 tickets. For people with three or more violations, the ticket is $150. "Hopefully the cameras will cut...

As a freelance reviewer for the Houston Press, Mike Smith listens to a lot of music. Unfortunately for him, much of his listening is done while he's on hold for the Harris County Toll Road Authority's customer service phone line. Not only does the music selection get a thumbs-down (it's "sappy"), so does HCTRA. For two years, Smith has been getting notices that he owes the authority money for illegally driving through the EZ Pass lane. As proof, the authority includes automated camera photos of a 2002 Ford Mustang speeding past the toll booth. The only trouble is, Smith drives...

Texans are generally gung-ho for law and order. They support the death penalty for capital crimes and tough prison sentences meted out to drug users and multiple offenders. That enthusiasm doesn't seem to extend to automated traffic enforcement systems that can videotape cars zooming through red lights and then mail tickets to the vehicle owner later. It's the rare Houston motorist who hasn't narrowly escaped being struck by an impatient driver trying to beat a red light. Police officers joke that Houstonians believe a red light means only three more cars can go through the intersection. Places of business as...

CAMERA-SHY It's time to implement videocam traffic enforcement Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Texans are generally gung-ho for law and order. They support the death penalty for capital crimes and tough prison sentences meted out to drug users and multiple offenders. That enthusiasm doesn't seem to extend to automated traffic enforcement systems that can videotape cars zooming through red lights and then mail tickets to the vehicle owner later. It's the rare Houston motorist who hasn't narrowly escaped being struck by an impatient driver trying to beat a red light. Police officers joke that Houstonians believe a red light means only...

We are Ignoring and excepting what is happing to us in the united states of america. We think it is exceptable to have camera's watching us and to a degree it is ok. I live in a small town though and we have had camera's on every street light put up in our town on our main street, that is posted in every direction.

RICHMOND, Nov. 15 -- Bills that would have allowed some Virginia communities to keep red-light cameras at intersections died in a House of Delegates committee Monday, jeopardizing the state's decade-long experiment with the technology. The patrons of the measures that would have allowed the devices beyond their July 1, 2005, expiration date decided to let their bills from this year's legislative session expire in the face of continued opposition in the Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee. That panel has rejected efforts to extend or expand the use of the cameras for several years. But one of the sponsors of...

November 01, 2004 Live Report From Courtroom A Mr. Jordan was just testifying at the hearing in Daschle's lawsuit to stop poll watching. He worked for Howard Dean in Iowa. He said that poll watchers would "roll their eyes" and make a "negative face" at times and that, in his opinion, this constituted "intimidation" of voters. See SDP for a look at the complaint. UPDATE: Another report on Daschle's first witness, the Howard Dean worker. He's a lawyer from Virginia who works for Lexis-Nexis and has been in South Dakot for 48 hours. He testified to "note-taking" and "faces" being...

Story in Argus Leader now. We can't link, but the address is: http://www.argusleader.com/breaking/Mondayfeature.shtml A hand-picked Daschle judge will hear the case to keep GOP poll watchers from observing tomorrow.

Just announced on fox. Big victory for us!!!

This cause originated upon the filing of a complaint for a writ of mandamus. Upon consideration of relators’ motion for an emergency peremptory writ of mandamus, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that relators’ motion be, and hereby is, granted, and that a writ of mandamus be, and hereby is, granted to compel respondent Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell to reissue and enforce his October 26, 2004 Directive 2004-45 to all eighty-eight counties insofar as it permits, in accordance with R.C. 3505.21 and 3506.13, one duly designated challenger per precinct and, after the polls close, one duly designated witness per precinct,...

Freelance Journalist Arrested After Photographing Voting Lines POSTED: 6:10 am EST November 1, 2004 WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A freelance journalist taking pictures of voters waiting outside the Palm Beach County elections headquarters was arrested after ignoring a deputy's orders to stop, sheriff's officials said. James S. Henry, of Sag Harbor, N.Y., was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence. Sheriff's Deputy Al Cinque tried to stop Henry as he shot pictures of about 600 people standing in line to vote Sunday afternoon. Henry began running away, but Cinque tackled him, the Palm Beach Post reported. The...

Freelance journalist arrested after photographing voting lines Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A freelance journalist taking pictures of voters waiting outside the Palm Beach County elections headquarters was arrested after ignoring a deputy's orders to stop, sheriff's officials said.James S. Henry, of Sag Harbor, N.Y., was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence.Sheriff's Deputy Al Cinque tried to stop Henry as he shot pictures of about 600 people standing in line to vote Sunday afternoon. Henry began running away, but Cinque tackled him, the Palm Beach Post reported.The deputy pinned Henry, 54, to the ground,...

Journalist Arrested After Photographing Voting Lines POSTED: 6:10 AM EST November 1, 2004 UPDATED: 12:47 PM EST November 1, 2004 WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A freelance journalist taking pictures of voters waiting outside the Palm Beach County elections headquarters was arrested after ignoring a deputy's orders to stop, sheriff's officials said. James S. Henry, of Sag Harbor, N.Y., (pictured, left) was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence. Sheriff's Deputy Al Cinque tried to stop Henry as he shot pictures of about 600 people standing in line to vote Sunday afternoon. Henry began running away, but Cinque...

[DNC logo} IMPORTANT LEGAL NOTICE To all Republican Party Election Day poll watchers: Your name has been filed to serve as a poll watcher on Election Day, on behalf of the Republican Party or a Republican candidate. The Democratic Party recognizes the legal rights of poll watchers, under Florida Election Law, to perform their lawful duties. We want to make sure that all poll watchers recognize the importance of their role in this process and understand the repercussions for abusing that role. As a poll watcher, you have the ability to protect one of the most sacred rights of our...

Especially if you live in big cities so we can tape any incidents because mikey will edit out all the rat wrongdoing.