CCTV and Security

ONLINE TRAINING COURSES FOR SURVEILLANCE OPERATORS

noreply@blogger.com (CCTVandSecurity) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:53:00 +0000

One thing that I have come to realise is that there is a lot of focus on new CCTV technologies. There are plenty of websites, blogs and companies involved in the installation and manufacture of CCTV systems. This is all very understandable but the system is only as good as the operator. In relation, I have found very few resources for CCTV operators and most of what is available tends towards management or directors.

In terms of surveillance training, there is also very little available, in particular online. Most training in itself is in house, and as we all know, the quality of in house training differs from casino to casino. With this in mind, I have been scouring the internet looking for surveillance training facilities and have found a few but, for a lot of us who can’t make it to the USA or UK to attend the schools there, our next best option is the internet in terms of online courses.

Understandably, there is no generic training or qualification which will allow Surveillance managers to measure prospective operators against, but I am sure that most of them do have that concern regarding the level of training when hiring a new operator. Not all surveillance departments have the staffing luxury to properly train new staff and On the Job Training also has its limitations.

One aspect which quickly became very clear when I started working on cruise ships, is the level of exposure and skills needed. Back in South Africa, by gaming law, operators are not allowed to get involved in the technical side of the operations as much as surveillance technicians are not allowed to be used as operators. On coming to the ships, I learnt new skills in terms of installing and removing cameras, basic VCR repairs/trouble shooting, etc. I reached a stage where I realised that although my technical skills would never rival that of a technicians, I still needed to improve my understanding of the technical aspect of CCTV.

So, once again, back to Google…

I found what appeared to be a fantastic course in the UK, offered by TAVCOM, however, in terms of pricing, that was a little out of my budget. After gaining membership with ASIS International, I was digging through their course offerings when I found an online course for CCTV & Digital Video offered by STAM. The contents of the course seemed comprehensive and the reviews (which I am always sceptical about) seemed positive.

The price range seemed right and they offered discount if you registered for more courses at the same time. Great! First problem I encountered was that when activating the link to the STAM site, there was a discrepancy in pricing. This is usual indicative of lack of site maintenance. On further browsing I was sent to the new STAM Interactive site (www.staminteractive.com), which seemed like the new look site. Fair enough, but here the pricing and discounts offered also seemed a little different to what was advertised by ASIS and by the previous site.

By this stage I was not too keen on applying for more than one course due to all the various pricings. I tried to register for the CCTV & Digital Video and after completing the online form I was given an error message indicating that I had to talk to a sales person. After my third attempt to complete and submit the form I got a tad bit irritated and emailed the contact address.

A few days later, I got a call from a very helpful and concerned sales person and within 10 minutes I was registered for the course, money deducted and all the necessary passwords and usernames issued. The student is also given a 30 day license with the option of extending the license.

The course which I registered for, CCTV & Digital Video, is not going to turn me into a technician. The objective of this course is educating operators, sales persons, etc on the technical aspect of CCTV systems and to give them a greater understanding and awareness of what is involved.

Logging on and getting set up was simplicity itself. The layout, format and presentation of the course are very user friendly and simple. I went through my first modules; Wired vs. Wireless, CCTV Components, Analogue/Hybrid/Digital systems, Scanning and Lighting. Each module comprises of a page, with audio information, diagrams and text. It is all laid out in an easy to understand format. On clicking on various diagrams, further explanations are offered. What I found very useful was that each diagram from the Analogue/Hybrid/Digital systems modules clearly explained the start and finish process – from camera to end user. What was lacking, so far, in my opinion is a more serious look at the disadvantages/weakness of digital systems. It seemed to be hailed as the panacea of CCTV systems.

So far, the course has reinforced what I already know about CCTV systems but has also increased my understanding and cleared up questions that I had been mulling over. I will continue with the course until its completion and hopefully pass the exam/quizzes. A certificate is issued on achieving a certain grade and that is now my objective.

For those who are interested, I will keep you updated via this blog…

KING ROULETTE SCAM

noreply@blogger.com (CCTVandSecurity) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:00:00 +0000

With this second article from my guest writer, Beyers Rautenbach, we look at another significant slot machine scam which had hit all our casinos pretty hard and was proving to be a mystery. When we heard about this scam, we all took turns watching the area in question hoping to catch the scammers in action, so to speak. Beyers and I were on shift at the time, and because Beyers is a very motivated and self driven person, he was hunting for evidence that would catch these slot cheats. Anyway, here is his account of what went down.

King Roulette

We received information that some guys were conducting fraudulent activities on the King Roulette machines; however we were not aware of what they were actually doing. I started working a Graveyard shift in the camera room and because we were short staffed that night I took over the slots console, after relieving the person working on the said console I began with the normal duties such as target reports/ bill dispute capturing and so on.
It was not long after that when I noticed 2 suspicious black males arrive at the said bank of machines and this I saw because I left a camera view up on my monitor to monitor those machines, the 2 suspects sat next too each other and began to play normal. The one suspect was seen trying to lift the cover that covers the monitor but at that time I did not think much of that, it was only about an hour later that I could pay special attention to them because the gaming area was not so busy.

I took control of a PTZ when I saw them playing there and from that time it could be seen that every now and then the 1 suspect would stand up and cover the monitor and because of that I could not see too much so I then got hold of one of the Table PTZ and zoomed it in into that area. I monitored the suspects further and that is when I saw the monitor switch off every time he would cover the screen.
Upon further investigation I noticed that a piece of wire was protruding from under the cover by the monitor and further to that every time the screen would go off the slots on line monitor showed power off and the power on. I then became very suspicious and after zooming the screen I could see that when the ball landed in a number which was not covered by the guest, he would short the screen out and there fore his credits were re-imbursed to him (so he would not loose). When ever a winning bet was won he would not short the machine out.

The suspects where then apprehended and escorted to the interview room where they denied all allegations to them but never the less based on the coverage and the reports from the system the suspects were arrested. The machine was later inspected and it could be seen where their piece of wire was connected to the other piece, which then was able to short the machine out.

Beyers Rautenbach

All credit to Beyers for this! We found out at some stage, that this cheat method had originated from inland and that they were selling plans and kits for conducting the cheat. So, another money making industry.

TOUCH BET ROULETTE SCAM

noreply@blogger.com (CCTVandSecurity) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 06:56:00 +0000

For this article, I enlisted the assistance of a friend and former work colleague of mine, Beyers Rautenbach. We worked together as Surveillance Specialists (Shift Managers) at Suncoast Casino. When I left to pursue my career further afield, he stayed behind and was later assigned to the Investigastions Department, where he is definitely proving his worth. Beyers used to be a slots floor supervisor before coming across to Surveillance as a Specialist and indeed, his knowledge of all things Slots proved to be invaluable to the department.

Touch Bet Roulette (TBR) 27/04/2009

I started working in the gaming industry in January 1999 where I was a slots floor attendant, it was not much long after that I was promoted to Slots Floor Supervisor must have been around 2001. In the late part of 2002 I transferred to Durban in the capacity of a Slots Floor Supervisor where I assisted in the installation of 1350 slot machines for Durban’s Casino.

The Installation consisted different types of manufacturers and brands of machines, some of which I have never heard such as, the Touch Bet Roulette machine never the less I was eager to learn and as the days progressed so did the installation.

The Touch Bet Roulette machine in those days consisted of 8 machines a Roulette wheel and obviously the computer (Mother Board). Once all the machines where installed the casino opened up in late November 2002. I was amazed to see how this Touch Bet Roulette (TBR) machine operated and paid a lot of attention to this. These machines needed a dealer to spin the roulette wheel because at this stage it was manual and the dealer would have to manually spin the ball. These machines operated the same as the roulette table; however there were no physical chips involved as it was all computer generated and the punter would place the bets on the screens where after the dealer would spin the ball and the machine would pay the guest for any winnings.

Obviously as all machines have Ram errors and disputes so did the TBR, this would occur whenever the ball was not registered by the optic on the wheel and there fore the number would have to be re-inserted by a senior person. The Slots Shift Manager or Lead Technician would carry an override key and a password which they would then have to open up the computer and re-insert the previous winning number which would then start the game over and the dealer would re spin the ball. Prior to the senior having to re-insert the last winning number, the guests bets would be credited back to them and the machine tilt/error would be attended to. Whilst it was fixed no bets were allowed to be placed as the last winning number would have to be re-inserted and the machine would look for any payments that still had to be made after the previous number is inserted.

I left Slots in January 2004 and joined the Surveillance Department in the capacity of a Surveillance Specialist (Shift Manager), it was not long after that round about May 2004, I picked up on my first Slots scam which happened to be on the TBR machines and luckily for me, I had some knowledge on these machines.

Whilst I was panning around with one of the PTZ cameras on the Slots Floor, I noticed that one of the TBR machine doors were left open and unattended, this to me was unusual because if a door is open, there should be someone either working on the machine or someone attending to a tilt but this was not the case and after checking the entire bank of machines, I noticed one of the technicians busy in the vicinity of the computer and this to me was very suspicious. At first I just called him and asked him to close the door. From that time on I became suspicious and decided to review tapes.

Upon reviewing the tapes I noticed that a guest had called him over and made a claim that something was wrong with the machine, the technician would make as if he fixed the problem and then for some or other reason he proceeded to the computer. Whilst at the computer he instructed all the other guests to cancel their bets as he needed to re-insert the previous winning number at this stage the guest whom he assisted with an alleged problem, would then place bets all over the previous winning number and after the number was inserted the machine would pay the specific guest.

This I noticed happened on numerous occasions that night, never the less I contacted the Investigation department and an investigation was initiated into this suspicious behavior.

After certain reports were drawn it was noticed that this specific guest and technician where in collusion as the guest would only win on those machines when the said technician was on shift and these amounts ranged anything from R 1 500.00 ($ 168) to R 58 000.00 ($ 6 520).

The technician was then apprehended after the investigation proved that they were in collusion together and questioned by investigations. The technician confirmed all the allegation presented to him and was later arrested for fraud.

Beyers Rautenbach

Surveillance Staff career advancement and development - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (CCTVandSecurity) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:03:00 +0000

Although there are a large number of casinos worldwide, it must be taken into consideration that the relevant surveillance departments tend to have low manning levels. These low staffed departments are generally inherent to the industry and is typical of most CCTV control rooms in terms of manning and staffing levels. With this comes to two headaches; career advancement and career development for surveillance operators.

Career Advancement:

Due to the size of Surveillance departments and their operating shifts, staffing levels are generally low with anything from 3 to 10 operators per shift, depending on the operations and maybe even more in the bigger Macau based casinos.

The smaller the department and, subsequently, the shift; so too are the opportunities for career advancement. It must be considered that everyone has different career needs, some operators are quiet happy to spend their entire working life in front of the monitors and not worrying about anything else, while others need to advance, to be trained or need to be challenged in various ways. That is why a level of advancement is so necessary, because for some, it is a measure of their worth and abilities. Being promoted is seen as a form of recognition and approval by senior management.

Many surveillance departments have entry level positions and the new hires then progresses from this position through to operator, senior operator, shift supervisor and to shift manager. This type of level progression gives those self motivated individuals a series of milestones to achieve and keeps them active. Other surveillance departments only have operators and shift managers, this situation is demoralising for operators as they are reliant on a manager leaving the company. This type of situation gets worse when issues such as affirmative actions and racial proportionality are exercised as by required labour law practices.

One of the hardest issues for an operator to adjust to, when being considered for promotion, is that of seniority. Admittedly the concept and practice of seniority exists in all companies yet, when operators are promoted due to time in service and not on merit, this fosters an atmosphere of resignation where the general thinking is that there is no need to achieve because once you have ‘done the time’ then you get promoted. By following this practise, the potentially good operators are sidelined and motivation, in general, takes a nose dive. Yes, by all means recognise those who are senior but not at the operational expense of the department. Seniority does not equate with experience. And honestly, healthy, ambitious competition between operators is better for the department in any number of ways. I would rather promote someone who has not been with the company for long but has demonstrated the desire to lead, learn and to better themselves and their co-workers than a senior who has shown lack of enthusiasm in developing themselves, others and is reliant on promotion by seniority.

It is also tricky for Department Managers to identify operators for career advancement, just because an operator shows initiative or catches all the cheats, doesn't mean that they are good managers. Department Managers need to have in a place a process through they can identify and promote those who’s motivations, talent and abilities will best advance the department, the operators and their co-workers.

Surveillance Staff career advancement and development - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (CCTVandSecurity) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:44:00 +0000

Although there are a large number of casinos worldwide, it must be taken into consideration that the relevant surveillance departments tend to have low manning levels. These low staffed departments are generally inherent to the industry and is typical of most CCTV control rooms in terms of manning and staffing levels. With this comes to two headaches; career advancement and career development for surveillance operators.

Career Development: This is where I think that the USA has the greatest advantage in terms of offering opportunities for surveillance staff career development in that there is a constant source of seminars, conferences, workshops and other educational facilities. There is also a wealth of consultants, specialists, trainers and the like who are available to train and contribute to the development of surveillance staff as opposed to other countries where such educational resources are often limited and not in high demand.

With this big positive comes a negative, not all staff members are given the opportunities to attend or to better themselves from this goldmine of knowledge. The reasons are many and varied, such as restrictive training budgets, no staff replacements, costs, no appropriate training policies, etc. Other casinos offer in house training or merely send the surveillance staff to sit in and watch dealer training. This in itself is not the answer; the surveillance operator needs to be trained on a different level than the dealer.

On the staff members’ side, many do not have the ambition or personal motivation to better themselves. They see other long term operators being promoted, who are as ignorant as they are but have time in service, and so the mindset for achieving, self enrichment, adding skills and knowledge is dampened. Yes, the company does contribute towards this with their various policies, in that they don’t encourage staff to better themselves.

Many, many surveillance operators do not have current knowledge of their immediate working environment. They are not aware of issues such as new CCTV technology, new card counting camouflage techniques or where to access online surveillance enrichment courses, etc. Surveillance managers are often perceived as not encouraging and developing an environment where their staff, or rather the staff who are motivated, are able to take advantage of training and learning opportunities.

But, at the end of the day, it all boils down to self initiative and personal motivation and this is where the companies response is so vital, they need to recognise those staff who are attempting to better themselves within the industry. Recognising them can take many forms, such as; allowing them first option with promotions, unique training courses or any other opportunity which will allow them to take advantage of their knowledge and in so doing; this will have a positive impact on the rest of the staff.

CCTV Surveillance and Cruise Ships

noreply@blogger.com (CCTVandSecurity) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:34:00 +0000

One question I get asked regularly is if there is a need for CCTV surveillance on cruise ships?

It must be remembered that the majority of malls, hotels, resorts, casinos, retail stores and public facilities all incorporate a level of CCTV surveillance within their overall security system. Bearing in mind, surveillance is not part of security but an independent system which enhances security and is often integrated with physical security measures. Each surveillance system has their sphere of influence and monitoring objectives, which are laid down as per the relevant requirements, restrictions and legal policies.

With this in mind, a cruise ship; and we are talking a decent sized cruise ship with an average of 1 000 crew and 2 500 – 3 000 guests, is a physical entity of a limited size which incorporates restaurants, retail areas, recreational areas, generally a casino, guest accommodation and other critical areas such as the engine room and bridge. Now, if you consider the need for CCTV surveillance on a land based structure, such as a mall, then you will appreciate that having all these various facilities forced into an area the size of the ship would necessitate the need for an effective and carefully well laid out and planned CCTV surveillance system.

So, how does it all work?

Hotel: CCTV Surveillance is needed to ensure guest protection and safety at all times. It is a preventative and dynamic measure and monitoring of all ship based facilities allows the cruise line to ensure that everyone has fun without getting hurt. Reviews are conducted for reports of theft, abuse and other security related complaints and Surveillance fulfils a compliance audit function in ensuring that all policies and procedures are adhered to and practiced, in particular, USPH policies and practices. Living and working in such a self contained environment can lead to various health problems if there is a lack of proper health and hygiene practises.

Security: As mentioned, Surveillance assists with all security related incidents and is instrumental in providing an additional layer of security for access control onto and off the ship and to controlled areas. In various ports around the world, monitoring of the external cameras also ensures a proactive approach to ensuring that no suspicious small craft approach too closely. Surveillance onboard compliments and assists shipboard security in their daily tasks being able to provide critical information on developing situations, etc.

Casino, Bars and retail: We all know Surveillance and casinos go hand in hand, so there is no need to explain this further.
Monitoring of retail outlets and bars is another function of shipboard surveillance. Yes, cruise ship retail outlets do experience shrinkage and theft, however, due to various policies, no effective loss and prevention program is in place. Currently, proactive monitoring of the retail areas is the most effective measure of countering any form of stock theft/shrinkage.
The same applies to the bar outlets onboard, active monitoring and reviewing of functions, etc assists in controlling stock losses.

Safety, compliance audits: A prime function of surveillance is the monitoring of safety and coupled with this is compliance audits. The IMO, ISPS and company based safety management systems are all focused on ships’ safety, including crew, guests, material and equipment. Surveillance is in the best position to record and report any breaches in safety or any threats to the ship, crew, guests, material or equipment. This is one of the primary functions of the surveillance operator, to constantly watch and monitor for any safety issues.

All in all, the need for CCTV Surveillance onboard cruise ships is a real need. The only limitations are budget and the senior management motivation to install such a system, bearing in mind that CCTV Surveillance is a loss prevention system and not revenue generating.

How is Surveillance profitable?

noreply@blogger.com (CCTVandSecurity) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:04:00 +0000

This was a question laid to us by the Fleet Surveillance Manager and after taking it to the various groups in LinkedIn and reading all the responses, I found that my opinion of the question was reinforced by what everyone had to say.

At the end of the day, Surveillance or any other retail CCTV operations, is not a profit making or revenue generating department. We are essentially a loss prevention entity, which safeguards assets and ensures minimal to zero loss through proactive monitoring and implementation of various procedures, policies and measures to minimise any form of loss via theft, fraud, cheater activity, etc.

The problem arises in Surveillance and Security are often lumped into the same pot and treated as such. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Each discipline has its own separate paths and operates on two different and distinct levels. To further exacerbate the situation is the lack of awareness and ignorance that other departments have of Surveillance. As far as they are aware, we just sit and ‘watch TV’ while waiting to answer the telephone. Very few senior managers and department heads make the time and effort to educate themselves about Surveillance, its function, purpose and the benefits inherent to having an active and well managed Surveillance Department.

In many instances, Surveillance is seen as the enemy or some kind of evil entity which should be destroyed at the first available opportunity. The misunderstanding and ignorance of the Surveillance function is readily apparent when staff reductions and budget cuts are being discussed. For many the lack of perceived revenue generated overshadows the money saved in terms of litigation, theft, fraud and money saved through preventative measures.

Most of what Surveillance does is intangible. At times no cost or monetary value can be assigned to the relevant function, how can this be assigned to a preventative function/measure? When cost or monetary value is assigned to a certain incident or function, then this is diligently recorded by Surveillance but once again, a lawsuit saved due to surveillance reporting and footage is not recorded as a ‘win’ for Surveillance. So at the end of the day, the accountants/senior management get reports from Surveillance stating that they have saved X amount of money but what is not recorded is the amount of money saved when at litigation and from implemented preventative measures. It is this, sometimes intangible, amount which goes a long way to show that Surveillance is not only necessary but is needed in retaining the profits made.

This opinion does not even touch upon other facets of Surveillance such as ensuring customer safety, safety at work, etc. The Surveillance department is a powerful compliance and auditing tool which when used effectively and understood properly, goes a long way to enhancing a company and all those who interact with it.

CRUISE LINE EMPLOYMENT – A FEW THOUGHTS

noreply@blogger.com (CCTVandSecurity) — Sun, 11 May 2008 21:59:00 +0000

There was a time when I researched employment on cruise ships in order to find further information about working on cruise ships. I remember coming across a web site, courtesy of Google, where the owner was prepared to, at a price, sell information describing the fun and wonderful lifestyle of working on cruise ships. So much for the free web, but I carried on looking and discovered another site where there were a lot of testimonials and other little snippets about how great it is to live and work on cruise ships. Having read these fragments and after listening to friends who had friends who knew of friends that worked on cruise ships and how their fantastic and hedonistic lifestyles were described in graphic detail, I decided to give cruise ships a skip. Anyway, it is now 2008 and for one reason and another I find myself now working on a cruise ship.

Everyone asks and comments about how great it must be to work on a cruise ship, to see the world, meet new people and so on and so forth…but working on a cruise ship is not as glamorous as it sounds, unless I am just working for the wrong cruise line. Let me make one thing very, very, very clear; if you are not in the “right” job on a cruise ship, then you will work like a slave for your entire contract.

Contracts

Let us start off with this; contracts vary in length and according to profession. Basically, contracts range from three months to 9 months with 3 to 6 weeks vacations. Casino staff, restaurant, hotel and other menial/service positions generally have 9 month contracts. The officers – such as navigators, safety managers, fire fighters, in other words, the professionals – have three months on and three months off. Certain specialised departments, such as surveillance, dancers, etc have 6 month contracts. Contracts can be extended, either voluntarily or due to business requirements (staff shortages).

Vacations range from 3 to 6 weeks or if you are an officer, three months. Once again, you can request an extension to your vacation or a shorter vacation. The company does not look too favourably on you if you keep extending your vacation unless you have a very valid reason, such as getting married or being there for your new born baby, etc.

The company will provide you with paid up flight tickets for both getting home and returning as well as a contract indicating that you have employment on your return. Officers get paid an allowance while on vacation but apart from their allowance, no one is paid for their vacation. So, it is important to budget for your vacation.

Types of Jobs

The biggest employers on a cruise ship are the hotel and restaurant department. Remember, the cruise line industry is intensively customer service orientated and included in this is the constant supply of food. Cruise ships provide a seemingly endless amount of food for the guests’ pleasure and subsequently, a legion or two of restaurant staff are needed to deliver this food. On the hotel side, staff are needed to clean passenger cabins, to wash clothes, to clean, sweep and polish on a hourly basis. Yes! An hourly basis! Guests make mess wherever they go. Food is dropped, drinks spilt, sand dragged off the “tropical beaches”, water dripped from people coming in from the pool deck…you get the idea…and yes, we even have “vomit teams”, rapid response teams, dedicated to cleaning up other peoples puke. So, the ship needs to be cleaned constantly. The reason for this will be explained later on.

There are other departments; casino, photographers, cruise hosts, shore excursions, finance, engine and deck, security, bar, Food and Beverage, chefs, surveillance, port and cruise and IT.

The concessionaires and other members are; musicians, entertainers, spa, fitness instructors, dancers, gift shop, Internet

manager, tattoo artist, art auctioneers and enrichment.

Concessionaires are not hired directly by the cruise line, they are provided through various organisations which are contracted to provide services, an example would be Steiner, Steiner provide our cruise ships with staff for the spa, gift shop and fitness areas. So the beauticians working onboard, are not direct hires from the cruise line but provided by Steiner in order to fulfil contract obligations.

In my next post/entry, I will discuss onboard living and looking at working conditions...

Across the Atlantic in 7 Days

noreply@blogger.com (CCTVandSecurity) — Tue, 06 May 2008 11:09:00 +0000

It is a bit hard to keep up a blog when working two weeks of graveyards...mind you, not having an internet card also compounds the problem somewhat. Anyway, we completed our crossing and reached our final port in Barcelona, Spain. We had a few stops on the way, Corsica, Azores, Villefranche, Civitavecchia and Livorno...it is so good to be back in Europe after the USA/Caribean run.

The down side is that the Euro is much stronger than the US$, this means, for us the crew, that we spend a lot less than what we would usually do in the States. That is the biggest benefit about working out of a USA port; Walmart, Best Buy, Noble & Barnes, GNC and a whole lot of other stores where you can get about anything you want cheap. Europe is a little different in this regard. Basic items such as toiletries are expensive compared to the States or anywhere else for that matter. Accessibility is also a problem There are no Walmarts or other such convenience stores. When you need something you have to go and look for it.

But! The best about Europe is that it is not the States! The villages, countryside and regions are rich in history, tradition, architecture and beauty. It is no wonder that Europe has such an advanced tourism industry and tourism mindset. The tourism market and infrastructure here is advanced, well established and dynamic. This is the problem which the Caribean and Central American countries face as they do not have much to offer apart from sunny skies, sandy beaches and blue, clear water. They do not have too much else to offer. Even the archeological ruins and excavaction sites in Central America/Mexico are not well presented. In this, I speak about the Mayan ruins at Belize and Guatamala, I have not yet had an opportunity to visit the ruins in Mexico.

But anyway, enough of the serious talk...we are heading on our way to Valleta, Malta, to embark passengers and from there we will make our leisurely way to Naples.

Hand in Hand with Linux and the Feisty Fawn

noreply@blogger.com (CCTVandSecurity) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:36:00 +0000

The big step was taken! Let me lay my cards on the table, I am not in any way a techno geek…yes, I occasionally aspire to be one but if this was an RPG game like Oblivion or Baldur’s Gate, then I would be a dual class character – barbarian/cleric or mage – but as this is real life, I am more of a dual class Jock/Techno Geek…but my experience points, skill and attribute points on the geek side are dismally low…but you get the point! So, onward we stumble!
I purchased, from the wonderful Barnes & Noble, a book by Rickford Grant, called “Ubuntu for Non – Geeks 2nd Edition”. The book came with the Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) distribution disc. I read the book through several times and the more I read, the more confident I felt about trying out the Ubuntu Linux version. I had given a lot of thought over the past two years to migrating to Linux but I never had the courage or confidence to try it until now (yes this is all part of my self - enrichment program while working on the slave galleys), the real seller for me was that the disc had the option whereby you could run Ubuntu off the hard drive or off the CD. So, that was the route that I took, I placed the CD in my trusty Gateway note book and booted up Linux Ubuntu from the CD. This was the best because I was able to straight away see the GNOME, fiddle with the layout, run through various applications and other little titbits that were on offer. After restarting into Windows mode, everything was working correctly and nothing appeared to have vanished while I was having a brief affair with Linux.
And so, from dangling my toes at the river’s edge, I decided to go the next logical step and that was to install Ubuntu on a partitioned drive. I made backup copies of everything, especially my pictures, software can always be replaced but pictures can never be replaced. From here I placed the Ubuntu CD into the drive and re-started in Linux mode and I learnt my first lesson…don’t try and install software right after you have come off nightshift and always read the installing instructions in the accompanying book thoroughly. Okay…read the instructions again, word for word and rebooted the system again…this time around, getting to the installation process was the easiest thing. The hardest thing for me was the partitioning drive section, why? Well, I have had a previous traumatic experience with disk partitioning and ended up losing 80 Gigs of mp3s. So with great trepidation and prayers, I partitioned the drive accordingly and after been told that everything is fine and dandy, continued with the installation…cue 20 minutes later…Ubuntu is installed and working!!
And my poor Windows side is still working and everything is still where I left it. Yes, I am still attached to Windows, especially Office 2007, but for now, Windows is basically my safety net in case I screw up Ubuntu royally. But they say Ubuntu is idiot proof…let’s put it to the test.

Broadening the mind at sea?

noreply@blogger.com (CCTVandSecurity) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:16:00 +0000

And so we have set off across the great blue Atlantic to make our way to Europe. Yes, I did not write yesterday as I have started night shifts.

But today, in an ongoing vague attempt to improve myself and to keep my mind functioning in this mind numbing industry that they call the cruise line industry, I have decided to upgrade(?) my laptop to a linux operating system. I have decided to use the Ubuntu distribution as it seems simpler to install and use. I am a wannabe geek but I just lack the patience or is it possibly the intellect? Well, lets leave that question up to the philosphers. Anyhow, for those who are vaguely interested, I will keep you updated on my happy adventures into Linux land.

The great thing about sailing to Europe is that our whole clientele changes. The majority of our guests are elderly, educated and a lot more sophisticated than the general Caribean visiting mob we get. Unfortunately, the casino takes a big hit , because not everyone is here to gamble. The Europeans, in general, do not gamble as much as the Americans. So we are in for a quiet crossing and at some stage in our sea voyage we will lose transmission of Fox News Network!! What a glorious day that will be!

Blogging and Sea sickness

noreply@blogger.com (CCTVandSecurity) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:56:00 +0000

That is the one thing about blogging, while you are an aspiring blogger, you have to write on a daily basis but once you are rich and famous then you can cut back on the blogging because by that stage you would be able to hire a ghost writer, or all you do is just recycle hate mail and comment on that. Well, from the look of it most bloggers write to themselves and hope in vain that someone out there will take pity on them and read their thoughts.
I have done some further research and it is highly recommended that a blogger watch what they write in case something they wrote aeons back rears its ugly head and bites them in the ass (Poor donkey). The USA laws are pretty strict about a lot of things and there have been cases where bloggers have lost their jobs, etc due to some small reference they made on their blog to their company. So, I think I will steer clear of bad mouthing my company for awhile. I will say one thing though, that our company could make a lot more money if the clowns from Miami got their act together; not only that but the crews would be much happier too and with a happier crew, so too will the guests have a much more enjoyable time.
Where are we today? Well, we are approximately 16 hours from New York. The sea is trying to scare us but by now the guests are either too tired or too drunk to care. Last night was really rough and the vomit cleaning team (yes, we have those teams) had a lot on their hands…or should I say, on the carpets, the floors, the tiles…I do sympathise with the sea sick guests, because in my navy days, it was part of the job description that you had to be seasick every fifteen minutes…and for those of you who have had the honour and privilege of serving on Warrior class Strike Craft off the South African coast line, well, you know what I am talking about.
But on cruise ships, with stabilisers and the general size of these floating hotels…there should be no real need for being ill, however, for a lot of people, motion sickness is a common thing and all those funny little anti sea sickness products out there…nope! On a cruise ship, they might offer the vague assurance that a teddy bear offers in the middle of the night, but when it comes to the real seas and working in a tight battle group formation, they don’t. Andrenaline is a good alternative.

A sailing we will go!

noreply@blogger.com (CCTVandSecurity) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:58:00 +0000

So! Here we are once again in fantastic Freeport! But never mind, we are shortly on our way to New York and from there we will disembark our happy tourists and send them all home, tanned, fatter, more tired and drunker than when they first came on board. In essence the cruise line industry can be considered a business of excess. On our ships you will find free food in abundance, plenty of alcohol, lots of sun and time to lie around and do nothing but, for New Yorkers…well…they don’t know how to relax and so, every waking moment for them is an epic struggle and fight in their little lives.

An example of this would be at the lunch time buffet line, here there is plenty of food, enough to feed a small, hungry country but the guest’s battle and push and shove and fight each other just to get a meal. You would think that this was their last meal on earth! Come on people! This is a buffet line, you take, you eat and you come back for more, ad nauseam…but no, they have to stack their plates high with all kinds of food and then rush off to find a table not occupied by a European guest, quietly supping his esspresso while reading, and then to rush back again for more plates of food. Quick! Quick! Winter is almost upon us! We need to stock up on our food supplies!

I have seen guests, make their way down to the casino midnight snacks table and empty the large platters into handbags, hats, etc…really folks! Have you not heard of room service? Room service is the best! No matter what time of day or night it is, you can order up food from the Bell Box and it is delivered faster than any pizza delivery…except of course during spring break or on a rough sea when everyone orders from Room Service and the poor waiters have to run up and down a heaving ship serving food to seasick or drunk guests.

I make no apologies, the American tourist is really not my favourite, but hey! I get paid in the almighty dollar…well, not so almighty now…but in some third world countries, the dollar is still king. So I have no cause to complain that much.

As for the European guests…well, there is a different kettle of fish! But more of that the closer we get to Europe.

A mouse farting into the wind

noreply@blogger.com (CCTVandSecurity) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 05:38:00 +0000

Well, as the title describes this, this is another attempt at a blogging in the seemingly endless sea of bloggers. So I have no real great expectations for this but to see where it takes me.

Right now, we are leaving Nassau, Bahamas and are on our way to the port of Freeport...yes, we are in pirate country but we missed it by a few centuries...thank goodness for that, but it seems as though time has not caught up with parts of the west and east African coast where piracy is still a good days work.

Yes, we are sailing in a huge floating palace called the Norwegian GEM...one of the newest cruise ships around...and instead of parading her where she belongs, we are roaming the small islands of the Caribean. The islands, well, "exotic destinations"...for someone from afield as Europe or somewhere in States, then yes, this could be labelled, at a stretch of the imagination as "exotic". Now, don't get me wrong, some of these islands are incredibly beautiful in terms of beaches, jungles, blue waters and reefs...but for all the beauty there is also the downside.

But enough of that, it is 01h50 in the morning and I am still trying to download some software from our incredibly reliable MTN internet connection. This company is really going all out to bleed the crew dry but that is a story for another day.