See-Why.Net

So in the last post in my class journal here, I talked about Mouse Manufacturing. It reminds me of a poem by Canadian poet Rita Wong, here’s an excerpt:

nothing comes between me &
the labour of the garment workers
their fifty cents a day sweat
hugs me tight every morning

my auntie’s fingers nimble
with the demands of piecework
how she churns dozens of jeans by dim lamplight
one more casualty for casual wear

The rest is posted on her website (It’s near the bottom of the page, called “denim blues”. To change the situation for computer mice:

nothing comes between me &
the labour of the factory workers
their fifty cents a day sweat
under my hand everyday
as I point and click

ok so I’m not a poet.

We discussed an article about Microsoft and other electronic companies using young and poorly paid, mostly female workers to make their computer mice. The image on the article, and many more on the flicker stream showed the workers sleeping at their factory benches. I think the article was really shocking to many of us in the class because a lot of us are from Chinese descent. Having lived in Canada most of our lives, however we’re not really aware of what goes on in the “homeland”. Although I can’t say I’m really surprised. China never gets huge props in the media for their treating of human rights, they are a communist country after all. And my parents and grandmother all tell me horror stories about working in factories when they were young before they left the mainland… So in 30+ years, China has not changed much.

Someone in class also pointed out that in the photo they looked like they were playing Heads Up 7 Up. Yeah, they do.

learning goals
-10 responsibilities of organizations under PIPEDA
- US privacy like FACTA, FCRA
-there may be purpose to disclosing information
-RFID tags
-Walmart and Wartham
-efficient supply chain
-requires all manufacturers to put in RFID tag in shipment
-save labour, time, cost
-better logistics.
-RFID passports
-need special equipment to read them
5.5 US Legislation
-FCRA, credit records kept for 7 yrs only
-FSMA, security, malware, encryption
-safeguards rule
-COPPA, protect consent
-HIPPAA, health records, prevent discrimination because of health issues
-RQ: why is medical history considered so private?
-ppl don\t have a choice for genetic disorders
-other info not so private
-salaries of public employees.