Katherine Mangu-Ward, a contributing editor to Reason magazine, recently published an editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer with an interesting argument in support of public surveillance, especially the cameras that are appearing more and more frequently in large cities like New York and Chicago.

In an effort to keep their tenuous border with North Korea more secure, the South Korean government has introduced a battalion of 1,000 intelligent surveillance robots to help in patrolling the border.

2007 has been a controversial year for video surveillance in New York City. First, the controversial New York Civil Liberties Union report on public video surveillance and the release of the Surveillance Camera Project, and Katherine Mangu-Ward's counter-editorial on the benefits of public video surveillance.

The town of Kazan, like many other cities in Russia, has been an seat of trade, government and culture for hundreds of years. However, with modern crises like a dense-evergrowing population, street crime, vandalism and a steady traffic flow, maintaining security has proven to be a bit of a challenge.

Warfare has evolved rapidly over the last 50 years - the advent of airplanes, submarines and atomic weapons has forever changed the way that wars are fought, and has made strategy, intelligence and espionage into essential battlefield weapons. One of the latest developments in this new, distant type of war? Unmanned aerial drones.

Illegal immigration. It's one of the most heated and divisive issues Americans face today, and in its wake, has spawned a number of bills and acts, including the REAL ID act of 2005.

Security cameras were recently installed in the Edgar County Courthouse and jail, and the new surveillance systems are already paying off. The purpose of the cameras is to provide building security as well liability protection. For example, in instances where inmates complain of mistreatment, or visitors maintain they were injured on the premises, there will be visual evidence to support or disprove those claims.

In its short, 40-year lifespans, video surveillance technology has brought about many security revolutions. Stores have shifted from man powered security to exclusive camera systems. Cameras are used almost universally in places never thought possible - even 10 years ago. But the cultural implications to security cameras started in 1949, before the age of security cameras, with George Orwell's novel 1984.

Red light cameras have become a great fundraising tool for cities and municipalities everywhere. Tickets for light-runners help police forces focus on serious crimes and not minor traffic infractions. Australian police have taken this principle and expanded it to include freeways and byways in New South Wales - this time using cameras designed to capture license plate numbers.

The Baltimore County Circuit Courthouse was recently outfitted with a comprehensive security camera system to monitor the day to day activities within the facility. This is no small installation. Areas under surveillance within the courthouse include 20 courtrooms and hearing rooms, prison cells, stairwells, hallways, lobbies, entrances and exits. There are also cameras situated outside the courthouse. All told, the surveillance system consists of 80 digital security cameras which are monitored from a control room in the basement of the courthouse. The wide-reaching system allows security personnel to continuously monitor areas of the facility that physically they couldn't possibly patrol simultaneously.