Archive for the 'Technology' Category
A Third of Vista PCs Downgraded to XP
August 19th, 2008HAR! Via: Register: Vista’s death march picked up some pace yesterday, after a metrics researcher revealed that nearly 35 per cent of PCs built to run the Windows operating system have been downgraded to XP. In a survey of more than 3,000 computers, performance testing software developer Devil Mountain Software estimated that more than one […]
She’s Not Real
August 19th, 2008Interesting, from a PSYOP perspective. Via: Times: Extraordinarily lifelike characters are to begin appearing in films and computer games thanks to a new type of animation technology. Emily – the woman in the above animation – was produced using a new modelling technology that enables the most minute details of a facial expression to be […]
Future Wars ‘To Be Fought with Mind Drugs’
August 14th, 2008This is so 1970s. I’m delighted to learn that Operation Mind Control, by Walter Bowart is now being distributed via BitTorrent. I think that I paid $19 for a photocopy of the book in 1992, and was glad to have it! This book is rare. (Never mind the limited research edition that came out in […]
U.S. Air Force “Long-Range Blowtorch”
August 13th, 2008Via: New Scientist: An airborne laser weapon dubbed the “long-range blowtorch” has the added benefit that the US could convincingly deny any involvement with the destruction it causes, say senior officials of the US Air Force (USAF). The Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) is to be mounted on a Hercules military transport plane. Boeing announced the […]
Has Cheney Been Fitted with a Kill Switch?
August 10th, 2008Dick Cheney’s life depends on a device that can be accessed remotely and commanded arbitrarily with readily available hardware and software. In 2001, Cheney received a Medtronic implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. See: Device in Cheney’s Chest Helps Veep’s Ticker Keep Time: July 2, 2001 — Small technology is at the heart of an advanced pacemaker implanted in […]
Vista’s Security Rendered Completely Useless by New Exploit
August 8th, 2008Put a fork in it. Via: NeoWin: This week at the Black Hat Security Conference two security researchers will discuss their findings which could completely bring Windows Vista to its knees. Mark Dowd of IBM Internet Security Systems (ISS) and Alexander Sotirov, of VMware Inc. have discovered a technique that can be used to bypass […]
Secret EU Security Draft Proposes Sharing Vast Amounts of Intelligence and Information on Europeans with the U.S. to Form “Euro-Atlantic Area of Cooperation”
August 7th, 2008Soviet Union 2.0. Via: Guardian: Europe should consider sharing vast amounts of intelligence and information on its citizens with the US to establish a “Euro-Atlantic area of cooperation” to combat terrorism, according to a high-level confidential report on future security. The 27 members of the EU should also pool intelligence on terrorism, develop joint video-surveillance […]
Biometric Passport Chips Can be Cloned in an Hour
August 6th, 2008Via: Guardian: New microchipped passports designed to protect against identity theft by terrorists and criminals can easily be faked, it was claimed today. Tests showed that personal information could be cloned and manipulated within an hour before being inserted into new chips, the Times reported. The paper said it had exposed “security flaws” in the […]
U.S. Government Seizes Laptops Without Suspicion of Wrongdoing and Shares Personal Data Files with Private Companies
August 1st, 2008Breathtaking. Via: Washington Post: Federal agents may take a traveler’s laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed. Also, officials may share copies of the laptop’s contents with other agencies […]
America’s Army: Free Video Game, Social Engineering Tool, Surveillance Platform
July 27th, 2008This video game is nothing less than an automaton that shapes and then harvests teenage minds so that the U.S. Army can repurpose their bodies years later. I’ve looked at a lot of evil in my days, but this is palpable, murmuring, inky black evil; complete with automated meme delivery and driving, metrics, surveillance. Out […]
