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From the Quotation of the day mailing list, 2013-09-21:

"Data collection and video surveillance will continue to grow as ubiquitous computing pervades almost all areas of our culture, either harnessed to our body or hovering over cities to monitor people from the sky. As technology moves to the nano scale, wearable devices will be both on us (e.g. smart glasses and other head-mounted displays, devices connected to the smartphone in the fitness and sports environment) and in us (e.g. a nanorobot navigating through the human circulatory system or shielding the human body against pathogens).

"Therefore the question is: do we want to live in a surveillance society that might ensure justice for all, yet privacy for none? Are we ready to live in a "City of Control" or do we definitely cherish a "City of Trust"? Would we accept a panopticon -- a scenario in which the "few" see everything without ever being seen, while the "many" are totally seen but never see who is watching them -- or would we prefer an openspace/synopticon a scenario in which individuals are fully empowered to define borders of their own personal space?"

-- Gerald Santucci, head of the European Commission's Knowledge Sharing Unit, from the essay Privacy in the Digital Economy: Requiem or Renaissance?

[ http://www.privacysurgeon.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Privacy-in-the-Digital-Economy-final.pdf]

(submitted to the mailing list by Terry Labach)

Today is the autumnal equinox (in the nothern hemisphere anyhow) -- enjoy the start of fall! For us nitpickers, it happens at 16:44 EDT (20:44 UTC).

Today is:
Gregorian: 2013 September 22
Julian: 2013 September 09
Hebrew: 5774 Tishri 18
Islamic: 1434 Dhu al-Qa'dah 17
Persian: 1392 Shahrivar 31
Mayan: 0.0.13.0.0.13.15