Twitter

Of course, I have digressed from my original post, of how to go about publicizing my book.

Well over 100,000 books are published each year. With bookstores jammed from floor to ceiling it seems the odds are stacked against the author’s book becoming that longed for Best-Seller.

How do you get word out that you have written a book? That it’s a great book and entertaining and people will love it?

The first piece of advice I received was to join face-book. That led to me ranting about the surveillance society.

I then started to hear about “Twitter”. It seemed that everywhere I went the word would pop up and every newspaper I picked up had some mention of “Twitter”.

I decided to go on-line and have a look. Find out what it was all about. I opened a "Twitter" account and that was as far as I got. In fact, I forgot all about it.

That is until two days later when I checked my emails.

DowningStreet is now following you on Twitter!

Monday, 16 February, 2009 9:52 AM
From:
"Twitter"

To:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi, judy marks

DowningStreet (DowningStreet) is now following your updates on Twitter.

Check out DowningStreet's profile here:
http://twitter.com/DowningStreet


Best,
Twitter

Oh my God, it’s that damned Big Brother again!!!

"HEADSPACE" by Amber Marks

Many people reading my posts may get the impression that I am against modern technology. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I love technology. I love the advances in medicine. I love the convenience of mobile phones and I absolutely adore the internet.

But what terrifies the life out of me is the steady erosion of privacy and the slow descent, (which in recent years appears to be quickening) into the Orwellian nightmare of 1984.

Supporters of the surveillance society continually bleat “If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear”.

I for one do not subscribe to this. I have my privacy and my liberty to fear for.

One of the best books about the ‘surveillance society’ is HeadSpace, by my daughter Amber Marks.

The book is an investigation into surveillance and especially scent-related technologies.

In the book Amber raises concerns about how our privacy and freedom has been seriously undermined by successive British and other governments.

Amber raises some fascinating legal points, both theoretical and from precedent, as well as raising real and pressing human rights issues.

“Headspace" is genuinely well researched, insightful and investigative writing at its best.

And miraculously, despite it being such a serious subject she manages also to inject humour into the content.

To buy your copy click on the cover below.

To find out more about Amber follow the links below;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_Marks

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/mar/31/internationalcrime

http://www.kbkcl.co.uk/2008/08/amber_marks/

Goodlad

My interest in surveillance has always been large. I suspect because of my long marriage to Howard Marks aka Mr Nice (the infamous charismatic dope dealer).

Before the birth of our children Howard was a fugitive and we lived much of the time with phony passports, driving licenses and bank accounts.

The DEA alleged that Howard at one time had as many as forty-three aliases, eighty-nine phone lines and owned twenty–five companies trading throughout the world.

To find out more buy my book Mr Nice and Mrs Marks: Adventures with Howard

Surveillance today is far more pervasive than in the days of our escapades. The recent House of Lords committee report warns that it “threatens to undermine democracy” and that it “represents one of the most significant changes in the life of the nation since the end of the second world war”.

Civil liberties campaigners have warned about the risks of a “surveillance society” in which the state acquires ever-greater powers to track people’s movements and retain personal data.

Many would argue that surveillance and identity cards were needed to stop the likes of Howard and I continuing in a life of crime.

“There can be no justification for this gradual but incessant creep towards every detail about us being recorded and pored over by the state”

Lord Goodlad, chairman of the House of Lords constitution committee.

Do you agree with Lord Goodlad?

Talking CCTV cameras

Talking Cameras? Dogbook? Catbook?

Is the world going barking mad?

Every Step You Take

Facebook

Unfortunately, shortly before signing the contract for my book I discovered I had breast cancer.

Having to concentrate on writing focused my mind away from lingering on this fact too closely. And with all the excitement of finally having it published and its promotion I barely had time to think.

However, radiotherapy does leave one exhausted. So when I returned to Mallorca I was ready to hide away and concentrate on rebuilding my strength. There were also rather a few other major personal issues taking place in my life.

It never rains but it pours is a cliché that could well describe my life then. But that is subject material for my next book.

While I was convalescing I received an invitation from a friend to join Facebook. He thought it would be a useful tool to help me publicize my book. I accepted and joined. What I saw appalled me.

Many years ago in the mid 1980’s, a friend of mine and Howard’s, Tom Sunde, who had connections with the CIA turned up on our doorstep. He had with him various documents that he claimed he had procured from the DEA. One of these documents named almost everyone we knew, from the family doctor, various dodgy characters to the children’s baby-sitters. The DEA had obviously painstakingly gathered all this information.

Read my book to find out more

Mr Nice and Mrs Marks: Adventures with Howard

As I looked at Facebook this memory came flooding back. No longer would the DEA, CIA or whatever government agencies have to labour away at proving these connections. People were readily supplying huge amounts of data about themselves.

I wondered if users understood how their information could be used or if they understood the limits of any notion of privacy "controls" online.

Many friends of mine have said they know more about their children from facebook than they do from normal family interaction!!

Facebook currently holds the personal information of about 58 million users. For obvious reasons in this post 9/11 age, social networking sites will remain an attractive source for government surveillance and data-mining.

And supposing you have inadvertently listed a criminal suspect among your 800 "friends", would this enable the government to lawfully search, arrest or even charge you with conspiracy.

To watch more videos about facebook go to Youtube.

What are your views?