KFUPM PYP-English Technology 1 Podcasts
 
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Technology 1 Unit 6 Crime-fighting and security
 
Technology is becoming very important in crime-fighting and security. At the same time, criminals are finding new ways to use technology to commit crimes such as credit- card fraud (stealing money from other people’s credit cards) and hacking (breaking into computer networks). The threat of terrorism has become greater in recent years. To combat this, devices have been developed to protect airports and other public places, and to check identities.
The pictures on p.34 show the equipment carried by a typical police officer in the UK. This special equipment provides protection against attack, and helps the officer to carry out his or her duties. Handcuffs are used to restrain offenders (prevent them from moving). Firearms or guns are not normally carried in the UK. Instead police are armed with non-lethal (non-deadly) weapons such as an extendable baton. This is manufactured from polycarbonate which can be used to produce very strong mouldings. Police may also use CS gas to incapacitate (or weaken) violent offenders. Some police forces are experimenting with taser guns which fire a dart attached to electrical wires. Tasers deliver a high voltage but low current shock to the offender, which causes temporary paralysis but does not cause long-term harm.
 Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) in combination with electronic chips inserted in credit cards (chip and PIN) have reduced card fraud. Global Positioning Systems (GPS), which can accurately identify a location to within a few metres using signals from earth-orbiting satellites, can be used to monitor the movement of a tag fastened to an offender’s leg. This is much cheaper than sending people to prison for certain offences.
Other crime prevention measures include the use of remote sensors which can detect or measure changes in the environment, such as motion, shock, smoke, etc. High resolution cameras, like Flashcam, can be used to monitor an area continually. If the picture changes, the sensor (in this case a camera) triggers an alarm. The cameras can be rotated (turned) and tilted (moved upwards and downwards) by an operator, sometimes many kilometres away, using radio signals, so that a complete check of the surroundings can be made.
 The science of biometrics, the ability to identify the individual by some unique property such as voice or face, is behind the development of iris scanning (which recognizes someone’s eyes) and dynamic grip recognition (which recognizes the shape of a gun-owner’s hand). Iris scanning is used to identify frequent-flying passengers on airlines to speed up their passage through security controls. The USA has introduced biometric passports to guard against identity fraud (the crime of stealing another person’s identity).
Robots are used in security because they can perform tasks either more cheaply or without risk to human life. They are programmed to perform an activity when they receive a signal. The signal may come from sensors inside or outside the robot. In the case of Rotundus, the sensors (cameras, microphones, heat detectors, and smoke detectors) are all internal.
 
 
 
vendredi 11 mars 2011
podcasst from Oxford English for Careers, Technology 1 Teacher’s Resource Book  Oxford University Press, 2007, by David Bonami; with additional material by Norman Glendinning