Skynet is coming.

ladajo · Post by **ladajo** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 3:45 pm

They are also working on an afloat version for ship to ship and ship to shore movement. The leading use of helicopters afloat these days is logistics. Warfighting and ISR take a backseat to moving bodies and boxes.
The current idea is to have one manned and two (or more) unmanned aircraft per CRUDES platform. Lots of improvement to tactical flight hours as well as cost reductions. Training and maintaining manned vehicles is a very large expense in both hours and dollars.

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 7:15 pm

NYPD, Feds Testing Gun-Scanning Technology, But Civil Liberties Groups Up In Arms

Police, along with the U.S. Department of Defense, are researching new technology in a scanner placed on police vehicles that can detect concealed weapons.

“You could use it at a specific event. You could use it at a shooting-prone location,” NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly told CBS 2′s Hazel Sanchez on Tuesday.

It’s called Terahertz Imaging Detection. It measures the energy radiating from a body up to 16 feet away, and can detect anything blocking it, like a gun.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/01/17/ ... echnology/

GIThruster · Post by **GIThruster** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 9:10 pm

Will never make it into regular use since it has already been demonstrated to be a health hazard.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/24331/

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 10:16 pm

GIThruster wrote:Will never make it into regular use since it has already been demonstrated to be a health hazard.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/24331/

Thanks for pointing that out to me. I did not know that.

GIThruster · Post by **GIThruster** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 12:17 am

Curious NYPD would use it given the data. I suspect it won't be long until there are serious law suits.

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 12:05 am

Tiny Tunable Terahertz Beam Could Enable Real Handheld Tricorders

Electromagnetic waves in the terahertz range, known as T-rays, are used in highly sensitive security scanners, some prototype medical devices and a host of other technologies. Like X-ray scanners, T-ray scanners can penetrate where optical light cannot — through paper, clothing, and you. They can also sense any molecule, because every one has a unique signature in the THz range, according to researchers at Imperial College London. This makes them useful as drug sniffers or medical imagers — they could sense molecules associated with cancer or other diseases, for instance. But THz imaging devices, like quantum cascade lasers, require huge amounts of energy and must operate at low temperatures, so they’re expensive and therefore not very common.

http://www.popsci.com/technology/articl ... tricorders

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 5:03 pm

This story is a twofer in my opinion.

Google announces privacy changes across products; users can’t opt out

Google will soon know far more about who you are and what you do on the Web.

The Web giant announced Tuesday that it plans to follow the activities of users across nearly all of its ubiquitous sites, including YouTube, Gmail and its leading search engine.

Google has already been collecting some of this information. But for the first time, it is combining data across its Web sites to stitch together a fuller portrait of users.

Consumers won’t be able to opt out of the changes, which take effect March 1. And experts say the policy shift will invite greater scrutiny from federal regulators of the company’s privacy and competitive practices.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ ... _comboNE_b

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 5:27 pm

Red Spotlights to Mark ‘Precrime’ Suspects

In a glowing review of the rising prevalence of high-tech big brother surveillance gadgets in police force use, the Associated Press reports that East Orange, New Jersey plans to cut crime by highlighting suspects with a red-beamed spotlight– before any crime is committed– a “pre-crime” deterrent to be mounted on nearby street lights or other fixtures.

http://www.infowars.com/red-spotlights- ... e-suspects

http://www.brasschecktv.com/videos/offe ... em---.html

Skipjack · Post by **Skipjack** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 7:14 pm

Google announces privacy changes across products; users can’t opt out

And Microsoft celebrates!

http://gizmodo.com/5879163/how-will-goo ... affect-you
http://gizmodo.com/5879015/how-to-escap ... nd-for-all

choff · Post by **choff** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 5:03 am

I can see how shining a red light on an innocent person devoid of a criminal record engaged in ordinary activities could lead to a defamation suit.

Imagine you end up in a youtube video with your name and a red light projected on you. Harm to your reputation, could cause loss of business, friends turn on you, cops could have a nasty lawsuit to pay off.

choff · Post by **choff** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 5:20 am

Another scenario, man walking innocently down the street 20 yards behind another guy headed in the same direction. Cops shine red light on innocent guy thinking he could be a mugger. Guy in front turns around, observes red light shining on guy behind him, pulls gun and shoots him because he thinks he's about to get mugged. Who's to blame?

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 7:40 pm

choff wrote:Another scenario, man walking innocently down the street 20 yards behind another guy headed in the same direction. Cops shine red light on innocent guy thinking he could be a mugger. Guy in front turns around, observes red light shining on guy behind him, pulls gun and shoots him because he thinks he's about to get mugged. Who's to blame?

There are a lot of ramifications to giving big brother government a better ability to spy on and control the population.

Lenin and Stalin would have LOVED the modern technology.

ladajo · Post by **ladajo** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 9:15 pm

choff wrote:Another scenario, man walking innocently down the street 20 yards behind another guy headed in the same direction. Cops shine red light on innocent guy thinking he could be a mugger. Guy in front turns around, observes red light shining on guy behind him, pulls gun and shoots him because he thinks he's about to get mugged. Who's to blame?

Nice Lawyer Grenade.

Betruger · Post by **Betruger** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 11:15 pm

I'd definitely say police takes majority of blame.

In practice it ought to not be a guarantee your life's about to be threatened - a red light ought to, above all, only trigger "maximum vigilance / assessment mode" in people near red light's target. Not trigger automatic, active & preventive self-defense. IE threat is all but shot at, or gun is all but pointed at threat.

In practice I'd say this is a problem that's best treated like... Sports fouls. Maximum surveillance footage is optimal for any after the fact assessment.

Police takes majority of blame unless conventions of red light use are ubiquitously understood as the red light only being a potential risk instead of confirmation of imminent danger.

TDPerk · Post by **TDPerk** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 2:23 pm

ladajo wrote:Nice Lawyer Grenade.

You mean enough lawyers in one place to be worth a grenade?