Big Brother

To literary types, the term "Big Brother" instantly evokes George Orwell's novel 1984 and its vision of a totalitarian regime that is always observing its citizenry. Big Brother is the figure that is constantly watching and ready to reprimand the populace for disobeying the rules. 

For fans of reality television, Big Brother has come to represent a worldwide phenomenon, a form of televised competition in which contestants must live together for a set period of time with no contact from the outside world. As they spend their days in the "Big Brother house," their every move is observed by cameras built into the walls; viewers can catch up with events on a broadcast TV series as well as through 24/7 feeds sent out via the web. Residents regularly vote each other out, scheming and backstabbing their way toward a cash prize.

The Big Brother TV series began in the Netherlands in 1999, and has since spread to over seventy countries, including the US and UK. Wherever the show is broadcast, fans tend to become very passionate about the game, posting regular updates to message boards about each and every happening on the live feeds. The show has become a ratings hit worldwide due to its low production costs and the ability to air several episodes each week throughout each abbreviated season, usually lasting no more than three months. The success of Big Brother is usually attributed to the voyeuristic tendencies inherent in most of humanity, and to the selection of young, attractive, and frequently stupid contestants. 

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Latest blogosphere posts tagged “Big Brother”

• When Your Boss Wants Your DNA

  
  Blogging the Singularity — Authority: 135
  Last month, Matt Williams, an adjunct professor at the University of Akron, opened an e-mail from his bosses about the school’s new rules for hiring and was “absolutely blown away,” he says, “when I saw the reference to collecting DNA samples.” The university was saying it could ask new workers for a DNA ...
  16 hours ago

• Gonzales Charges Dropped Over Domestic, Warrantless Eavesdropping Program

  
  PuppetGov — Authority: 499
  Alberto Gonzales, pilloried for allegedly misleading Congress about the Bush administration’s warrantless eavesdropping program, has been exonerated — sort of. According to public records and interviews with federal law-enforcement officials, the Justice Department has concluded that there’s insufficient ...
  17 hours ago

• Alberto Gonzales Won’t Be Charged Over Eavesdropping Testimony

  
  NWOTruth — Authority: 484
  Alberto Gonzales, pilloried for allegedly misleading Congress about the Bush administration’s warrantless eavesdropping program, has been exonerated — sort of. According to public records and interviews with federal law-enforcement officials, the Justice Department has concluded that there’s insufficient ...
  18 hours ago

• Police State Punt: NFL’s Fan “Code of Conduct” and Tailgating

  
  PuppetGov — Authority: 499
  “Well, how that’s been described to us, is that they can’t mandate it because about ten of the stadiums in the league are still owned by the cities or the municipalities where those stadiums are so in those cases it’s the city that has ultimate control.”
  18 hours ago

• Researchers Develop ‘Fingerprinting’ RFID Tags

  
  PuppetGov — Authority: 499
  Engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas have developed a unique and robust method to prevent cloning of passive radio frequency identification tags. The technology, based on one or more unique physical attributes of individual tags rather than information stored on them, will prevent the production of ...
  18 hours ago

• Homeland Security Moves To Make Biometric Global Entry Permanent

  
  PuppetGov — Authority: 499
  See back in the day when we introduced you to "self checkout" lanes at the grocery store, it was just another incremental step towards these sort of kiosks. After all, you are a "preferred customer." You are buying "convenience" not us monitoring every purchase or move you make in your "free" life. A toll way pass ...
  19 hours ago

• Big Brother’s Luke Marsden and Rebecca Shiner split up!

  
  Unreality TV — Authority: 572
  In response to constant rumours, Big Brother stars Luke Marsden and Rebecca Shiner have confirmed that they have split. In this week’s Star magazine Luke insisted that their relationship was genuine but admitted that they had grown apart. “Bex told me she didn’t love me anymore,” he said. Earlier this ...
  19 hours ago

• Virtually Unreported: Obama Quietly Backs Patriot Act Provisions

  
  PuppetGov — Authority: 499
  With the health care debate preoccupying the mainstream media, it has gone virtually unreported that the Barack Obama administration is quietly supporting renewal of provisions of the George W. Bush-era USA Patriot Act that civil libertarians say infringe on basic freedoms.
  19 hours ago

• Endemol buys Tiger Aspect

  
  ICM Commercial & Business News — Authority: 434
  Endemol, the Netherlands-based entertainment giant, has bought three of IMG’s companies – Tiger Aspect, Darlow Smithson and Tigress – for an undisclosed figure. The company behind many of the world’s TV hits including Big Brother and Deal or No Deal, said the transaction will help strengthen its global ...
  21 hours ago

• The DNA snatchers: Police arresting innocents just to grab genetic details for Big Brother database

  
  Awaiting A Western Renaissance — Authority: 142
  Police are arresting innocent people in order to get their hands on as many DNA samples as possible, senior Government advisers revealed last night.  The Human Genetics Commission said the Big Brother tactic was creating a spiral of suspicion among the public. The panel - which contains some of Britains leading ...
  1 day ago

• Cheney Blasts Obama Administration for “Very Costly” “Dithering” on Afghanistan, “Big Mistake” in Putting on a New York “Show Trial” for 9/11 Plotters

  
  Gospel of Jesus Christ, The Gift of Eternal Life — Authority: 124
  Former Vice President Dick Cheney came out swinging again against an Administration that seems bent upon doing exactly what the American people do NOT want them to do. This time he aimed both barrels at the Obama Administration for it’s “ dithering ” on Afghanistan , and it’s reckless pursuit of trying ...
  1 day ago

• Raj Kundra ties the knot with Shilpa Shetty

  
  movies, news, photos, gossip, videos - Searchandhra.com — Authority: 159
  London-based businessman Raj Kundra tied the knot with Shilpa Shetty in a lavish ceremony held
  1 day ago

• Giveaway & Review: The Boys Store Pajamas

  
  3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires — Authority:
  Before the twins were born, I use to buy our oldest son Jake clothing and accessories, such as t-shirts and baseball caps, that would match my husbands. Well after Jake became a big brother, the trend shifted to matching clothing for the big brother and little brother. Its been almost three years, but I still buy them ...
  1 day ago

• big brother archive – going to disneyland with slayer

  
  jackassworld — Authority: 138
  Once upon a time the staff of Big Brother skateboard magazine convinced Slayer to go to Disneyland with them to conduct an interview and hang out in the happiest place on Earth. I know, it sounds like yet another fable of the Brothers Grimm just waiting to be dumbed-down, sugar-coated, and computer-animated for the ...
  1 day ago

• Boy George going on Big Brother

  
  Buzz Beyotch — Authority: 131
  Since his lock-up earlier this year, nothing much has been heard about or from Boy George. Still, being back in the spotlight, it looks like the singer feels the need to do something to get back into everybody’s attention… or to make an honest buck, whatever the case may be. So Boy George will be getting into the ...
  1 day ago

• Kim Chiu, Gerald Anderson, and Zanjoe Marudo headline ‘Pinoy Big Brother Magazine’

  
  Chizmizan with Chuva — Authority: 446
  Kim Chiu, Gerald Anderson, and Zanjoe Marudo are on the cover of the Pinoy Big Brother Magazine special. The issue looks back on their days as housemates inside Kuya’s house and recounts their respective journeys to stardom.Kim bested thousands of adolescents to claim the title of Teen Big Winner of the first Pinoy ...
  1 day ago

• On PBB Double Up: Rica, Carol, Jason, Patrick and Rob make up the list of this week’s nominees

  
  Chizmizan with Chuva — Authority: 446
  House B was fortunate enough to win the weekly task, and part of their reward was the opportunity to give an automatic nomination to a housemate from the opposing house. After much discussion, Patrick relayed the house’s decision: Rica, the Math goddess, will be automatically nominated this week. They found her ...
  1 day ago

• Red Alert: The Second Wave of The Financial Tsunami

  
  Pak Alert Press — Authority: 528
  The Wave Is gathering force & could hit between the first & second quarter of 2010by Matthias ChangMany of my friends who have been receiving my e-mail alerts over the last two years have lamented that in recent weeks I have not commented on the state of the global economy. I appreciate [...]
  1 day ago

• Big Brother Zeros in on License Plates

  
  PuppetGov — Authority: 499
  Does the town have an unusually high level of violent crimes? Hardly. From 2001 to 2008, this community of less than 9,000 people saw a total of 47 violent crimes, of which only one was murder. And Marin County is the richest in all of California.
  1 day ago

• British Nanny State Bans the Word Orwellian

  
  PuppetGov — Authority: 499
  Health and safety inspectors are to be given unprecedented access to family homes to ensure that parents are protecting their children from household accidents
  1 day ago

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