What is square and 150x taller than Mt. Everest?

1.2 BIllion Biometric ID cards. One for every citizen of India.

http://apabritabasu.instablogs.com

This story is #22 in Project Censored 2011

The project will cost an estimated $3.5 billion...that's not bad considering they will be issued to 1.2 billion Indians, providing them with a proof of identity. That means that each card will only cost them about $2.92 to make!

600 million indians will receive a sixteen-digit identity number by 2014 in the first phase of the project.

Aside from the sheer scale of the project, the fact that many Indians possess no existing documentary proof of ID creates a huge problem. Less than 7% of India's population are registered for income tax while voting lists are far from reliable, partly as a result of political corruption.

"The database will be one of the largest that ever gets built,” Guru Malladi, a partner at Ernst & Young who was involved in an earlier pilot scheme, said. “It will have to be impregnable. This large scale database system will be prime target for hackers who steal identities. It contains over 20 different categories of information about the person (none of which is religious).

Currently the people of India have separate cards for all of the categories that apply to them.

independent.co.uk

Uses could be anything from monitoring bank account transactions, cell phone purchases, retina and fingerprint data, to land purchases and movements.

Without proof of Identity the Indians are not able to take advantage of the large government schemes that exist to eliminate or aid poverty. They are treated like temporary migrants. The government has large funds behind these programs that could make a huge difference in their lives.

The Largest Census in the History of Mankind

Why so Censored?

Critics are saying that the project will turn India into a Orwellian police state that will spy on

citizens private lives.

Usha Ramanathan, a lawyer who has written and lobbied against the project says:

"Information about people will be shared with intelligence agencies, banks, and

companies, and we will have no idea how our information is interpreted and used."

Civil liberties campaigners fear the ID card will become a tool of repression.

Your Profile, Accepted...Or Rejected?

NOTE: Never Post Anything On Your Social Networking Pages You Wouldn't Want Your Grandmother To See...

Colleges are now using social networking sites to recruit students by posting appealing pages about their university. The asmissions team at universities set a goal to reach out and get the top notch students and create a strong student body that will positively represent their intsitution. Keep in mind that when you are making your decisions as to where to go to college and are doing the Facebook search for potential school's, they are doing the same for you.

robbyslaughter.com

<---Don't be "that" girl!

Every time you post something on your wall or post pictures to your networks, majority of the time, they are capable of seeing it. Just like you research college sites, they do the same for you! For some students, this can be the acceptance point...or not.

There can be advatages to schools checking in on these sites too. Schools look for a diverse and specific audience that appeals to them. If you create and maintain your social networking in a positive way, and demonstrate skill and/or enthusiasm, you could actually impress some admissions!

REMEMBER: IF YOU CAN SEE THEM, THEY CAN SEE YOU.

DO YOUR RESEARCH: If you're not sure who is friend requesting you, look into it, and if it is a college, update your networks to look professional :)

TAKE ADVANTAGE: look into schools who have social networking, they might have information on there that will make or break your decision.

Script 1 : FEED IN 60 SECONDS

Good read: Feed by M.T. Anderson http://www.amazon.com/Feed-M-T-Anderson/dp/0763622591

After reading it you will better understand. This is a short script my classmates and I wrote in 15 minutes to advertise for one of the main "hang outs" based in the story.

Alex: Hey fellow units! Come catch some low grav with me at the Ricochet Lounge. Where the slamsuits are killer and the juice is always floating. Come before the sun gets set and you'll get Richochet Lounge bargain banners all night. You don't want to miss it.

Bethany: Hey, Calista here...last time I was at the lounge it was meg cheap and meg brag. I met my boyfriend there last weekend, and we're still together so...

Jaime: Yea. The boys are meg hott so If you're looking for someone hott to meet, fly up to the moon, but bring your crash helmets unettes...some of the boys slam way hard.

Bethany: Oh... and no riot wear. That's so last weekend.

Alex: Just follow the mass of people when you get to the moon. The lounge is between the Wheatherbe and Crotch and the Hault and Buy. Meg close to the hotel, too.

Jaime: "GET YOUR INFLATABLE SWEATERS WHILE THEY LAST AT BIG Z, WE'LL ONLY HAVE THEM FOR THE NEXT 5 MINUTES! IMMEDIATE SHIPPING AVAILABLE..."

Bethany: Sorry... my feed is on overload with banner bargains right now, gotta go! See you tonight at Ricochet!

BK King vs. Jacob Black ?

The good old days..look at how far we have come in product placement!




Now, Shameless advertising...


New Moon & Burger King. Why do you think New Moon chose Burger King to represent their newest big release? They don't seem to have much in common in my opinion...

http://www.newmoonmovie.org/2009/11/its-a-new-moon-at-burger-king/

Cordial Me

I was born in Burlington, Vermont, but spent most of my schooling years growing up in Greenwich, Connecticut.

I listen to Pandora almost constantly in my house, and especially for the holiday season, I love to be surrounded by the holiday spirit. As I was listening to Pandora, a commercial came on in between songs. This commercial was an ad for Google Chrome and It was a mind stimulating experience. To briefly describe it it was a fast paced fill-in-the-blank flashing before your eyes. I did not find out what the ad was for until the end of the it, and realized how much it had just made my mind go to work! Ahh...the blatant truth before our eyes...media knows that we know what we are becoming.

Pretty cool huh?

There are up's and down's to all technology. One thing that I like about my 21st century media culture is instant gratification. I am a huge fan of knowing what I want to know when I want to know it. Something as simple as the weather or what church street looks like to the minute over the web.

One thing that I do not like is the dependency that comes along with this gratification. After a while of getting used to always being able to find the answers to your questions, and that access of information if removed from my life it makes me feel frustrated and as though I might be missing out on important information. This creates a feeling of dependency on the media that is not necessary to live your life, and sometimes makes you forget the important things.

As for my future, first things first...I see myself with a Bachelors degree in Public Relations! I hope to create a solid background of work experience for myself over the next couple of years and eventually have the choice to move wherever I want and start my own firm.