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> Big Brother is Watching, More Aztec ... I mean Wal-Mart stuff
ludomastro
post May 29 2007, 04:11 AM
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Check out this link:

Wal-Mart Spying on Lots-o-people

F3.0 - Merged redundant threads. Thanks for shopping at Kong-Wal-Mart!

This post has been edited by fistandantilus3.0: May 30 2007, 02:52 AM
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ludomastro
post May 29 2007, 04:11 AM
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Check out this link:

Wal-Mart Spying on Lots-o-people
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Kagetenshi
post May 29 2007, 04:19 AM
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Resolution: use more flesh tone on web sites.

~J
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Wounded Ronin
post May 29 2007, 04:45 AM
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What does Wall Mart want with all that information? I think that some exec with too much money is playing Walter Mitty spy games with the company resources.

QUOTE

According to Gabbard, Wal-Mart began beefing up its electronic call surveillance after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in response to government requests to employers in general to help find terrorist cells. Gabbard says he was directed by two former FBI agents working for Wal-Mart to set up a system that could track any calls to and from Syria, Yemen and Iran, among other countries. The search was unsuccessful, only flagging an apparent call from Iran that turned out instead to be from an Indian jeweler, according to Gabbard.


See? Walter Mitty games.
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Wounded Ronin
post May 29 2007, 05:30 AM
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Here's another article:

http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/local_story_148015054

QUOTE

A Globe request for information about the Jane data center was referred at Wal-Mart headquarters to Carrie Thum, a senior information officer and former lobbyist for the retailer.

"This is not something that we discuss publicly," Thum said. "We have no comment. And that's off the record."


We should make like Shadowrun and hire a ninja to sneak into the compound and record what's in there.
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fistandantilus4....
post May 29 2007, 05:34 AM
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So nice to see that Wal-Mart has spies working for it. I feel vindicated. No real reason. And no, I won't really tell you what I feel vindicated about, because I don't really know. I just hate Wal-mart is all. Hopefully, one of their spies will see this, and they'll assing "a guy" to watch me. That would be swell.
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knasser
post May 29 2007, 08:04 AM
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For UK residents, Walmart owns ASDA. I know someone who used to work there before and after it was taken over. She says the change was rapid and very obvious and not for the better - staffing levels, working conditions, etc.

I try to purchase what I can from local suppliers. Only way to stop the money being sucked out of the local community to London (or the US in ASDA's case). Walmart are just nasty.
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WearzManySkins
post May 29 2007, 11:32 AM
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I agree I try not to use Wally World, does bad things to the economy all around. :(
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pbangarth
post May 29 2007, 02:21 PM
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I don't know if Walmart sells role playing games, as I don't shop there myself, but we as a community could do our bit to slow down the reification of the imaginary world in which we play by buying Shadowrun materials elsewhere.

Ohhh, now I've gone and done it. Azzie agents will be on me in no time.
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nezumi
post May 29 2007, 02:48 PM
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Seriously? So what. They're watching what happens on their networks, which they're responsible for. They told people not to use personal e-mail on the work system and they're enforcing that. They pay for your time, they get to do what they want with it. I would be concerned about their wiring someone who went to join the anti-wal-mart group. I believe we have a law against recording people without their consent. Ultimately though, the thing that really worries me is this:

QUOTE
The list included proposals from a Boerne, Texas, religious group; the New York City controller's office; and Sydney Kay, an 85-year-old retired science teacher who submitted a resolution requiring that board nominees own at least $5 million in Wal-Mart stock, and his 93-year-old sister Hilda Kaplis.


Why do they require board nominees own 93-year-old Hilda Kaplis? And what does Hilda have to say about being a possession of these nominees? Odd...
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pbangarth
post May 29 2007, 03:40 PM
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It's not the oversight of their employees per se that worries some, but their employment practices in general, such as part-time versus full-time, benefits etc., which benefit the share holders but harm the social fabric in which their employees live.

Underpaid, insecure workers holding multiple part-time jobs to make ends meet tend not to buy other goods, stay healthy or contribute as much time to their children's upbringing or their community. Google 'Walmartization' for references.
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nezumi
post May 29 2007, 08:21 PM
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Walmart pays above minimum wage, which is better than a lot of places, and everyone is welcome to get a job elsewhere. I mean, Target isn't that far of a drive, is it?
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pbangarth
post May 29 2007, 09:29 PM
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There are more people than paying jobs. If that were not the case our whole Western capitalist economic system would collapse. The term 'Walmartization' was coined because Walmart is the biggest, and hence the most far-reaching in its effect, not because it is the only corporation to practice the behaviour.

And Target could be a far drive if you can't afford a car.
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Demon_Bob
post May 30 2007, 12:36 AM
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Talk about being over paranoid. Its Wal-Mart! Not a top secret research facility.

Perhaps they should stop worrying so much about watching disgruntled employees and start looking at the reasons for their anger
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fistandantilus4....
post May 30 2007, 02:50 AM
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I feel bad because I started the general rant, but please make this a more SR realted rant. Perhaps add in Kong-Wal-Mart before the "I hate what they do", then something about how the corp swallows the soul of the lesser SIN people, and feeds off the labor of the sweat shop SINless?
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Kagetenshi
post May 30 2007, 03:14 AM
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QUOTE (nezumi @ May 29 2007, 09:48 AM)
They pay for your time, they get to do what they want with it.

This idea is poisoning society.

(Also poisoning SR society!)

~J
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Angelone
post May 30 2007, 03:31 AM
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QUOTE (Kagetenshi)
QUOTE (nezumi @ May 29 2007, 09:48 AM)
They pay for your time, they get to do what they want with it.

This idea is poisoning society.

(Also poisoning SR society!)

~J

I gotta put that in a game. A bigshot walks into the atore the characters happen to be at. Makes all the employees line up and do embarassing things for his amusement while saying, "I pay you do as I want. DANCE, YOU the fat one slap yourself." It will end with one of the employees refusing and getting "liquidated" infront of everyone.


Pbangarth, the last time I was in a Wal-Mart, roughly 2 years ago, they did not sell Shadowrun materials or gaming materials in general. I don't see why a company would need all the information they are trying to gather (in SR or RL).

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Ravor
post May 30 2007, 08:07 AM
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And here I thought that was the entire concept of wageSLAVE in the first place. :cyber:




Oh and no, Wal-Mart doesn't have RPG Books, they have just about everything else, but not those.

And I guess I'll be in the minority here and say that Wal-Mart may or may not be a nice place to work, but I love shopping there. :smokin:
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Demon_Bob
post May 31 2007, 12:00 AM
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QUOTE (Kagetenshi @ May 28 2007, 10:19 PM)
Resolution: use more flesh tone on web sites.

What does it matter what a Salaried Employee in a AA Corp. looks at during his downtime, as long as it does not damage the company.

There's only one "Flesh Tone"?

QUOTE (Nezumi @ May 29 2007 @ 09:48 AM)

They pay for your time, they get to do what they want with it. 


Aren't there were several laws against this?
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nezumi
post May 31 2007, 01:24 PM
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QUOTE (Demon_Bob)
QUOTE (Kagetenshi @ May 28 2007, 10:19 PM)
Resolution: use more flesh tone on web sites.

What does it matter what a Salaried Employee in a AA Corp. looks at during his downtime, as long as it does not damage the company.

If you're using their equipment and doing it on their time, it is a problem. Clearly, if my job is to lick envelopes, and I spend the day sitting back and looking at porn, that's an issue. If, on my lunch break, I check out porn and it threatens the security of my computer or the network, that's an issue. If, on my lunch break, I look at porn and it alienates other people in the work place, that's an issue. That's pretty standard accepted business practice.

Debatably, if I had a knowsoft link and an imagelink, and I looked at porn that goes straight from a chip in my head to my HUD, which doesn't threaten company equipment, doesn't reveal to anyone else what I'm doing and I'm not doing it during work hours, I would have a right to do that under the premise of having a right to the goings on of my own body. Of course, if the corporation bought that equipment for me and/or has more than a standard contract for my work, that becomes questionable. It's my brain, but it's their imagelink. Who wins? Probably depends on how important I am.

QUOTE

QUOTE (Nezumi @ May 29 2007 @  09:48 AM)

They pay for your time, they get to do what they want with it. 


Aren't there were several laws against this?


In the modern day, there are some limits. They must pay a certain amount for your time (if it's paid), can not force you to do certain things, mostly relating to your rights to privacy and control over your own body. Beyond that, I'm not aware of much. If your employer pays for you to spend 8 hours staring at a wall, you can spend 8 hours staring at that wall or he can justifiably fire you. If he sets up a camera to make sure you do your 'job', that is his right to insure his investment. You do not have a right to privacy outside of your body and off-time life when on the job (in other words, if they want to search your pockets, watch you on cameras or put you through a metal detector, they can, but they can't strip search you).

In 2050, the laws have changed. Renraku law probably does NOT have provisions for protecting your privacy, and if they do, they certainly have exceptions. They don't have a balance of power. The employer is the police, so if they ask you to bend over and spread your cheeks, they have a 'right' to do so, in that they are enforcing security and protecting the lives of other employees. If they watch you 24/7 with cameras, they can, again for the same reason. If you don't like your life, leave it (life, I mean, not the corporation. They own your corpse, have copyrighted your DNA and still hold your family.) I don't see what the big fuss is all about.
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