Abnormal behavior detection for early warning of terrorist attack

Many terrorist attacks are accomplished by bringing explosive devices hidden in ordinary-looking objects to public places. In such case, it is almost impossible to distinguish a terrorist from ordinary people just from the isolated appearance. However, valuable clues might be discovered through analyzing a series of actions of the same person. Abnormal behaviors of object fetching, deposit, or exchange in public places might indicate potential attacks. Based on the widely equipped CCTV surveillance systems at the entrance of many public places, this paper proposes an algorithm to detect such abnormal behaviors for early warning of terrorist attack.

Islamism and political violence in the new world order

In the wake of the September 11 and subsequent terrorist attacks, the academic and media commentaries on 'Islam the religion' and 'Islam the basis for political ideology' has received an unprecedented high level of attention. This book deals with such questions as the nature of Islamism, the impact of the 'war on terror' on militancy, and more.

A comparison of Australian and Malaysian views on the use of biometric devices in everyday situations

Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, many countries including Australia and Malaysia have been able to justify the use biometric devices such as finger print scans, retina scans and facial recognition for identification and surveillance of its citizens and others in the name of national security. In addition, biometric devices are increasingly being used worldwide by organizations to keep track of their employees and their productivity, leading to concerns of privacy, the safety, reliability, abuse and misuse of the data collected and violations of civil liberties. Taking the critical theory perspective, this paper will analyse the data collected and report on the findings of a survey carried out in Australia and Malaysia, with respect to the responses provided and opinions expressed to the survey s open ended and other questions
by individuals as to their current use, experiences, preferences, concerns about the devices and the situations in which they think biometric devices should be used, including in their workplaces. This descriptive study uses both quantitative and qualitative data to examine what Australians and Malaysians think about the use of biometric devices in everyday situtions
and compare them as to their similarities and differences. The paper will then critically examine the ethical and civil liberties issues involved in the use of biometric devices in everyday life and argues that regulatory and legal measures should be taken to safeguard the rights of citizens while maintaining national security and productivity, in order to avoid the situation of Michel Foucaults Panopticon becoming an unpleasant everyday reality, which could negatively irifluence socialjustice and create social change due to its effects on individuals in two multicultural societies. The paper will argue about the need to educate the general public as to the issues of surveillance and privacy involved in the use of biometric devices in everyday situations.

A comparative analysis of opinions of Americans, Australians and Malaysians on the use of biometric devices in workplaces for security and monitoring of worker productivity

Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, the use of biometric devices such as fingerprint scans, retina and iris scans and facial recognition in everyday situations for national security and border control, have become commonplace. This has resulted in the biometric industry moving from being a niche technology to one that is ubiquitous. As a result. more and more employers are using biometrics to secure staff access to their facilities as well as for tracking staff work hours, maintaining 'discipline' and carry out surveillance against thefts. detecting work hour abuses and fraud. However, the data thus collected and the technologies themselves are feared of having the potential for and actually being misused - both in terms of the violating staff privacy and discrimination and oppression of targeted workers. This paper examines the issue of using biometric devices in organisational settings their advantages, disadvantages and actual and potential abuses from the point of view of critical theory. From the perspectives of Panoptic surveillance and hegemonic organisational control, the paper examines the issues related to privacy and identification, biometrics and privacy, biometrics and the 'body', and surveillance and modernity. The paper also examines the findings ofa survey carried out in Australia. Malaysia and the USA on respondents' opinions on the use of biometric devices in everyday life including at workplaces. The paper concludes that along with their applications in border control and national security, the use of biometric devices should be covered by relevant laws and regulations. guidelines and codes of practice. in order to balance the rights to privacy and civil liberties of workers with employers' need for improved productivity, reduced costs, safeguards related to occupational health and safety, equal opportunity, and workplace harassment of staff and other matters, that employers are legally responsible for.

A preliminary examination of public opinion in Australia on the use of biometric devices or identifiers in everyday life

Since the September 11,2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, many countries including Australia have been able to justify the use of biometric devices for identification and surveillance of their own citizens and others in the name of national security.

This paper reports on the preliminary findings of a survey that examined Australians' views and experiences with the use of biometric devices in everyday situations in the context of their potential to serve as a 'Panopticon' to keep the nation's citizenry under surveillance. It discusses the adoption of the new communication technology from the point of view of the Justification model that sees technology choice as social
gambling and the pluralist view of technology that sees technology as neutral in itself but as having negative or positive effects on society based on how It is used.

The paper proposes the need for Australian society to balance citizens' right to privacy and civil liberties with the right to stay alive and safe from terrorism and how it may be done with the necessary legal and regulator)' safeguards.

Political Islam and human security

In the wake of the September 11 and subsequent terrorist attacks, the academic and media commentaries on 'Islam the religion' and 'Islam the basis for political ideology' has received an unprecedented high level of attention. This book deals with such questions as the nature of Islamism, the impact of the 'war on terror' on militancy, and more.

Strategic design guidance on tall buildings in the Arab region

Globally, there has been enhanced media -and public interest in tall buildings following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York. In the Arab region, tall buildings have also become an important topic of debate. The Middle East is set to grow significantly over the next two decades. Soaring population and jobs growth will increase demands for the better use of residential and commercial office space. This is a vital issue for the growth in the economy of the region. The number of construction sites for tall buildings in the Arab world is staggering when compared to European developments. A statistical review of tall buildings has shown for example that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by the year 2010 will outnumber UK and Germany together in the number of 30+ floors buildings by reaching (446 UAE) compared to [243 UK(130) + Germany(113)]. Today high buildings are considered flagship developments not only in the Arab World but also worldwide that play an important part in regeneration. Tall buildings are likely to continue to be relevant to the master planning of areas with good public transport access and capacity. A successful tall building must adhere to a set of clear urban design guidelines that affect the following areas: edges, use, public space, urban integration and environmental factors. This paper addresses this issue. The challenge for architects, urban designers, and planners in the Arab world is to provide the right type and quality of new space and new place that won't undermine the question of identity. The paper explores the nature of tall buildings in the Arab region and provides examples of the positive and negative transformation of the urban environments in a number of locales. The paper concludes by drawing some guidelines for future development of tall buildings in the Arab World.

Examining the behaviour of visitor arrivals to Australia from 28 different countries

Testing the integrational properties of visitor arrivals has important implications for policy, for if visitor arrivals are integrated of order one (nonstationary) then it implies that shocks to visitor arrivals are permanent. However, if visitor arrivals are found to be integrated or order zero (stationary) then this implies that shocks to visitor arrivals are temporary. In this paper we examine whether visitor arrivals to Australia are stationary or nonstationary, using the recently developed univariate and panel Lagrange multiplier tests, and the Im, Pesaran and Shin [Im, K.S., Pesaran, M.H., Shin, Y., 1997. Testing for Unit Roots in Heterogeneous Panels. Manuscript, Department of Applied Economics, University of Cambridge; Im, K.S., Pesaran, M.H., Shin, Y., 2003. Testing for Unit Roots in Heterogeneous Panels. Journal of Econometrics, 115, 53–74] panel t-test. Our exercise involves Australia’s 28 tourist source markets. Our main findings are: (1) that visitor arrivals to Australia from 28 tourist source markets are stationary, implying that any shock will have only a temporary effect and (2) the second structural break, which mainly coincides with the September 11 terrorist attacks and the Asian financial crisis, has slowed down the growth rate in visitor arrivals to Australia from 22 out of 28 (79%) of the tourism source markets.

Comparison of Australian and Malaysian views on the use of biometric devices in everyday situations

Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, many countries including Australia and Malaysia have been able to justify the use biometric devices such as fingerprint scans, retina scans and facial recognition for identification and surveillance of its citizens and others in the name of national security. In addition, biometric devices are increasingly being used worldwide by organizations to keep track of their employees and their productivity, leading to concerns of privacy and civil rights violations. Taking the critical theory perspective, this paper will analyse the data collected and report on the findings of a survey carried out in Australia and Malaysia, with respect to the responses provided and opinions expressed to the survey's open ended and other questions by individuals as to their current use, experiences, preferences, concerns about the devices and the situations in which they think biometric devices should be used, including in their workplaces. This descriptive study uses both quantitative and qualitative data to examine what Australians and Malaysians think about the use of biometric devices in everyday situations and compare them as to their similarities and differences within the context of each nation's culture and political systems. The paper will then critically examine the ethical and civil rights issues involved in the use of biometric devices in everyday life and what regulatory and legal measures should be taken to safeguard the rights of citizens while maintaining security and productivity, in order to avoid the situation of Michel Foucault's Panopticon becoming an unpleasant everyday reality, which could negatively influence social justice and create social change due to its effects on individuals in two multicultural societies. the apper will argue about the need to educate the general public as to the issues of surveillance and privacy involved in the use of biometric devices in everyday situations.

Political Islam and human security

Summary: "In the wake of the September 11 and subsequent terrorist attacks, the academic and media commentaries on Islam the religion and Islam the basis for political ideology haves received an unprecedented high level of exposure and attention. The acts of political violence by extremist groups and the omnipresent war on terror have added fresh uncertainties to an already complex global order. Just as terrorism and counter-terrorism are locked in a mutually re-enforcing symbiosis, the sense of insecurity felt by Muslims and non-Muslims alike is mutually dependent and has the potential to escalate. This general assessment holds true for Muslims living in the Muslim world and beyond. The pervasive sense of being under attack physically and culturally by the United States and its allies has contributed to a growing unease among Muslims and re-enforced deep-seated mistrust of the ʻWestʼ. Public articulation of such misgivings has in turn, lent credence to Western observers who posit an inherent antipathy between the West and the Muslim world. The subsequent policies that have emerged in this context of fear and mutual distrust have contributed to the vicious cycle of insecurity. The present volume is anchored in the current debates on the uneasy and potentially mutually destructive relationship between the Muslim world and certain West countries. It brings together leading international scholars in this interdisciplinary field to deal with such inter-related questions as the nature of Islamism, the impact of the ʻwar on terrorʼ on the spread of militancy, the growing sense of being under siege by Muslim Diasporas and the many unintended ramifications of a security-minded world order. This volume deliberately focuses on these issues both at a broad theoretical level but more importantly in the form of a number of prominent case studies including Indonesia, Algeria and Turkey."--Publisher description.

Bauman, strangerhood and attitudes towards immigrants among the Australian population

Through an investigation of the idea of the stranger, this article seeks to blend theory with empirical research. It does this in three ways. First, it engages with a social theory of the stranger articulated in the work of Zygmunt Bauman. Second, it examines data from the Australian Election Study surveys between 1996 and 2007 in order to explore attitudinal changes towards groups of immigrants. The findings from this survey suggests that attitudes towards immigrants in general have fluctuated in Australia, despite the negative effects of economic globalization, the growth in neoliberal economic reforms and terrorist attacks in the West. Third, drawing on Bauman's theory of the stranger we provide an interpretation of these fluctuating attitudes through the idea of the hybrid stranger. Finally, we argue that a more nuanced understanding of these attitudes towards immigrants in Australia is possible when a theory of the stranger is informed by a discussion on the constitution of host self, the influence of the media, the role of government policy, and the impact of class and geography.

Chinese perceptions of Japan's security strategy post-11 September 2001

Looking mainly at the changing nature of the U.S.-Japan security alliance since 11 September 2001, this thesis argues that the recent emergence of a more assertive Japanese security policy has led to a more robust Chinese response to perceived security challenges from Tokyo and Washington.

Carbon nanomaterials in biosensors : should you use nanotubes or graphene?

From diagnosis of life-threatening diseases to detection of biological agents in warfare or terrorist attacks, biosensors are becoming a critical part of modern life. Many recent biosensors have incorporated carbon nanotubes as sensing elements, while a growing body of work has begun to do the same with the emergent nanomaterial graphene, which is effectively an unrolled nanotube. With this widespread use of carbon nanomaterials in biosensors, it is timely to assess how this trend is contributing to the science and applications of biosensors. This Review explores these issues by presenting the latest advances in electrochemical, electrical, and optical biosensors that use carbon nanotubes and graphene, and critically compares the performance of the two carbon allotropes in this application. Ultimately, carbon nanomaterials, although still to meet key challenges in fabrication and handling, have a bright future as biosensors.

Emotional reactions to real-world events in social networks

A convergence of emotions among people in social networks is potentially resulted by the occurrence of an unprecedented event in real world. E.g., a majority of bloggers would react angrily at the September 11 terrorist attacks. Based on this observation, we introduce a sentiment index, computed from the current mood tags in a collection of blog posts utilizing an affective lexicon, potentially revealing subtle events discussed in the blogosphere. We then develop a method for extracting events based on this index and its distribution. Our second contribution is establishment of a new bursty structure in text streams termed a sentiment burst. We employ a stochastic model to detect bursty periods of moods and the events associated. Our results on a dataset of more than 12 million mood-tagged blog posts over a 4-year period have shown that our sentiment-based bursty events are indeed meaningful, in several ways.