Ethical Companies – The Blog

“It’s funny. All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they’ll do practically anything you want them to” – J D Salinger

Steve

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As you may well recall I have published a number of posts here on my blog concerning Google’s Street View software (you might want to check the older posts if you’re not too familiar with the software). Yesterday I spotted the following article on the Daily Mail’s website, which presumably appears in the actual newspaper as well:

Mother’s fury after Google Street View publishes naked picture of her son, three, online.

A woman has told of her horror after Google published a photograph of her young son naked on the internet. Claire Rowlands, 25, was stunned to see the image of Louis mears playing on a sunny day in his grandmother’s garden in Walkden, Greater Manchester.

We can see where this is going can’t we ? A Warholesque fifteen minutes of fame, a bit of “publicity” in the media (somewhat not surprisingly the Daily Mail) and can’t you just smell a whiff of compensation demands coming on ?

Louis, three, had been snapped by Google’s controversial ‘camera car’ as it took pictures of every road in Britain for the search engine’s Street View service. The company blurred out the registration plate of a car on the drive of the house – but the image of Louis, who was wearing nothing but his shoes, was uncensored. In another image, taken seconds later, Louis’s face was clearly identifiable, but his modesty was preserved by a fence. Shocked Claire, who lives on the same road as her mother, said she had no idea the pictures had been taken and accused Google of invading her son’s privacy. She said: ‘I just felt sick to my stomach when I saw the naked picture of Louis on the internet. I’m angry, disgusted and upset about it – they should be checking every image before it goes up. ‘They should be extra careful on warm days because this is what children do – he was just playing in the garden and we didn’t expect in a million years he’d have his picture taken and put on the internet for anyone to see. ‘It’s such a clear image, I see it as an indecent photograph – my concern is that paedophiles could see it and there’s no way I ever wanted my son to be seen naked all over the world. ‘Louis was on private property. Surely residents should be asked if they’re happy to have their pictures taken before this is allowed to happen.’

We can argue the privacy issue surrounding Google Street View until the cows come home. However, in my opinion these are “images” anyone could have seen walking down the street in Walkden, Manchester. It’s a nice sunny day, if I walk around my town long enough I’ll probably find a naked child if I look at people’s gardens …. I was at Astbury Mere the other day (it’s a lake near Congleton with sandy “becahes”, very popular when hot outside. There were loads of small children around in various states of undress, as well as a number of women in limited “dress”. I saw nobody learing out of the bushes ogling the children, perhaps it’s time we laid this “every other man is a paedophile” myth to rest ? I don’t deny that such people exist, but I doubt it’s anywhere near as common as the media might have you believe. Besides why scour Google Earth/Google Street view for such images ? I’m not a paedophile, but I’m aware there’s far easier ways of finding images of naked children than this.

Google has now apologised and said it has blurred the image. The company’s software automatically obscures car number plates but does not detect human bodies. A spokeswoman said: ‘We take issues around inappropriate content in our products very seriously, and we removed the image in question within an hour of being notified. For us, privacy and user choice remain paramount. ‘This is why we have put in place tools so that if people see what they believe to be inappropriate they can report them to us using the simple tools and the images will be quickly removed. We apologise for any inadvertent concern this may have caused.’ Privacy groups have already blasted Street View, which they branded a ‘burglar’s charter’ when it was launched last year. Alex Deane, from the Big Brother Watch group, said: ‘This is not the first time this has happened but the excuses are wearing thin. ‘Google still needs to take greater responsibility for people’s personal privacy and introduce stronger safeguards to the system.’

Google has done more enough concerning this issue as far as I can see. As for Alex Deane …. Big Brother Watch ? Surely there’s better on television to watch ?

So yet more people moaning about Google Street View ….  I still can’t see what all the fuss is about, I consider it to be a great piece of software, and very useful.  The final word on naked bodies (children or otherwise):

“If you don’t want people to see you naked when outdoors, then KEEP YOUR CLOTHES ON, it’s not rocket science is it ?”

Steve

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Capt. Hans Geering: “Do you not see? That if you kill him with the pill from the till by making with it the drug in the jug, you need not light the candle with the handle on the gâteau from the château”.

René: “Simple plots are always the best”.

Ah the truly hilarious Allo’ Allo’.  Ok so it’s a bit dated (and a bit sexist what with the stockings and suspenders malarkey) but it is funny ….

Ah what the heck, let’s have another one:

Lt. Hubert Gruber: “Madame Edith has an unusual voice, René. Was it trained ?”
René Artois: “Oh, yes… But it escaped and returned to the wild”.

And another one:

René: “This is my wife, Edith. I have told her everything”.
Michelle Dubois: “Will she talk ?”
René: “Incessantly. But not about anything important”.

Steve

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Well a mixed review this time …. Tenko is the story of a group of women (mostly British or Dutch) from Singapore who are captured by the Japanese in World War 2 and imprisoned in a camp, a sort of POW camp for civilians. Series 1 starts to set the scene and establish a number of key characters as they go about their lives in Singapore (a great place by the way, but I digress), through their capture, imprisonment and events that occur in the camp. Series 2 is …. Well more of the same, more about life for the women in the camp. Then series 3 deals with their release and events following. Tenko Reunion special …. Well you can work it out I am sure, it’s not rocket science.

The biggest “stars” in the series are undoubtedly Bert Kwouk, Stephanie Cole and Stephanie Beacham. Bert plays the commandant of the camp, but you may remember him as Cato, Inspector Clouseau’s man servant in the Pink Panther films who used to attack his “master” when he returned home, or as Entwistle in Last Of The Summer Wine. Stephanie Cole was of course Diana Trent in the superbly funny Waiting For God (interestingly Daniel Hill who plays Harvey Baines in Waiting For God also appears in Tenko). Stephanie Beacham went on to star in Dynasty, The Colbys and Seaquest DSV (hey I liked Seaquest DSV, wouldn’t mind watching it again actually). Stephanie Cole’s role is (in my opinion) the “biggy”, where she plays Dr Beatrice Mason who battles against the odds to keep the prisoners alive, despite limited medical supplies.

So, how does it rate ? This is actually a tough one. Series 1 and 2 are superb, 9/10 without a shadow of a doubt. However, series 3 (and the dreaded reunion special) “drag”. As series 3 onwards deals with the women’s life after release it becomes rather mundane and basically boring, series 3 and the reunion are mediocre at best in my opinion, only 6/10 material. Therefore I am not giving an overall rating for Tenko. However, I do recommend watching it, if only to see some good drama and some superb acting.

As for the DVDs, well it’s not cheap. The individual series appear to be deleted, but the “complete” boxset comes in at over £100, so you might want to borrow/rent it someplace:

Steve

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That is absolutely the last time I EVER watch a game of football  Biddulph 5-a-side plus my dog Molly in goal could have done better.

Steve

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Congratulations to my former work colleague Stella on her wedding yesterday.  I wish her and hubby John all the best.  Keep in touch love, I might be off to Suffolk myself soon, and I understand that’s where you’re off to.

Steve

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Watching England play football is painful.  I’m off to do some blogging instead ….

Steve

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“Seems there’s not going to be much business happening today, what with England playing football today” – Steve

“Doubt there’ll be much football happening either ….” – Jean

If England VS Slovenia is anything like England VS Algeria was then she has a good point methinks ….

Steve

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“What was that ? That was diabolical” – Boris Johnson (discussing the England VS Algeria match Fifa World Cup 2010 resulting in 0-0)

Steve

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As many of you already know I am not a big fan of advertising.  I see the need for advertising and marketing BUT in my opinion it’s tedious, irritating and repetitive advertising that really grinds my goat; especially car insurance advertising (yes Meerkats I’m talking about you and that irritating GoCompare stuff).  Anyway, in a moment of internet usage this morning I came across a blog that basically deconstructs advertisements and analyses the “message” and discourse behind them.  I found it because I was contemplating Evony’s intrusive and overpowering internet advertising campaign, but it does detail a variety of ads, and may interest some of my readers.  My apologies for the “bad language” ….

Advertising B******s

Steve

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