I was reading about the Priceline guy and his scheme to make America safer by installing thousands of webcams at public facilities and training folks to watch from their homes for suspicious looking interlopers. The Wall Street journal called this a "moderately effective way to keep teenagers from getting stoned at the levee" but admired his ability to think out of the box.
The problem is that terrorists are tricky, other folks might show up who are unknown (eg: Al the Maintenance Man) etc. This approach would be much better suited to a less urgent type of security: nursing home abuse. I propose that this basic principle be changed to nursing homes. Webcams would be posted not just in resident rooms, but all around the place. Watchers would keep an eye out for folks getting abused, then report them to the authorities. Of course, some residents would not want surveillance in their private rooms - these would opt out.
This principle could be extended to state hospitals for the disabled, mentally ill, etc. It could also be extended to daycare and even, on a subscription basis, to private homes - a nannycam monitored by strangers. Even if someone was not dedicated to staring at a particular room 24 hours a day, the knowlege that the camera was on and someone might be watching should be enough to dissuade many wrongdoers.
Folks could work from home with this, if they chose. In this plan, occasional acts of abuse would be staged to see if the grannycam monitor catches them. Bonuses and special honors would be delivered to the vigilant.-- bungston, Jul 07 2003 Priceline Guy's Scheme http://www.msnbc.co...8428.asp?cp1=1#BODY [bungston, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] I forsee a worrying traffic spike at bed bath time.-- my face your, Jul 07 2003 This is quite Baked: many nursing homes, as well as schools and other institutions, have been allowing concerned parties to monitor their loved ones via web cams. Reportedly has led to a significant decrease in incidents of abuse at participating homes.
There was an article not too long ago in the NY Times or the Wall Street Journal, but I can't find any links - too many false hits on "webcam".-- DrCurry, Jul 07 2003 Hey, if I wanted to watch my Grandmother, she wouldn't be in a nursing home!
Uh-oh... she's looking right at the camera. She can't see me through this thing, right? Hi, Gramma!-- Amos Kito, Jul 07 2003 Read "The Transparent Hand" by David Brin.-- ato_de, Jul 08 2003 Briliant!
people put their elders in nursing homes to keep them as well preserved as possible without freezing them so they dont feel sad about them dieing. by letting people check in over the internet to see them without actually visiting they can continue to pretend they care!
i say put it in high schools. you can be sure of 24 hour survalance by perverts, keeping your childeren safe from eachother.-- HalfwayHebrew, Jul 26 2003 I like the cheese part.-- bungston, Feb 06 2004 random, halfbakery