Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Infrared Scans for DC Drivers
October 4th, 2007Full throttle absurdity. Via: Washington Post: Are drivers ready to be scanned like groceries at the supermarket? The answer will help determine whether Washington area commuters use a planned network of high-occupancy and toll lanes, which will start to take shape next year when an expansion of the Capital Beltway is to begin. The lanes […]
Orgiastic Spending on Technologies of Political Control
September 27th, 2007Via: Reuters: Americans are facing a brave new world of post-September 11 technology marvels that could soon find their way into billions of dollars of projected homeland security spending. Gee-whiz know-how — from swarms of tiny airborne sensors to ever-sharper satellite imagery — is being developed by companies chasing potentially lucrative federal, state and local […]
Step Right Up: Public Demonstrations of Raytheon’s Directed Energy Pain Gun
September 26th, 2007Will it re-heat your freedom fries? Via: Daily Mail: “Where do I put my finger? There … OK? Nothing’s happening … is it on?” “Yes, it’s on. Move your finger a bit closer.” “Er … ow! OW!” Not good. I try again. “OWWW!” I pull my hand away sharpish. My finger is throbbing, but seems […]
Tapping Fiber is Easy
September 25th, 2007While some of the people who work aboard the U.S.S. Jimmy Carter might laugh at this, I think it’s pretty interesting. Via: Tech Republic: Copper cable has been known as the easily tapped physical transmission medium for years. Conscientious network and security managers either provided tight physical security for cabling or used fiber as an […]
New Service Eavesdrops on Internet Calls to Display Ads Based on What’s Being Talked About
September 24th, 2007HA I thought, “Who would use this?” The answer came to me seconds later: Drunk college students. They’ll have to program a cunning drunken slur filter. Via: AP: A startup has come up with a new way to make money from phone calls connected via the Internet: having software listen to the calls, then displaying […]
The Department of Homeland Security and Russian Mind-Control Research
September 21st, 2007Via: Wired: The future of U.S. anti-terrorism technology could lie near the end of a Moscow subway line in a circular dungeon-like room with a single door and no windows. Here, at the Psychotechnology Research Institute, human subjects submit to experiments aimed at manipulating their subconscious minds. Elena Rusalkina, the silver-haired woman who runs the […]
U.S. Government’s Plan to Protect You From Terrorist Livestock
September 19th, 2007It’s baaaaaaaaack. Actually, it never left. But we knew that. Via: Alternet: NAIS would compel all owners of such animals to register their premises and personal information in a federal database, to buy microchip devices and attach them to every single one of their animals (each of which gets its very own 15-digit federal ID […]
Who Needs Hackers?
September 13th, 2007Via: New York Times: NOTHING was moving. International travelers flying into Los Angeles International Airport — more than 17,000 of them — were stuck on planes for hours one day in mid-August after computers for the United States Customs and Border Protection agency went down and stayed down for nine hours. Hackers? Nope. Though it […]
Chip Implants Linked to Malignant Tumors
September 11th, 2007Would you like some NutraSweet/aspartame with that? Via: Yahoo / AP: When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved implanting microchips in humans, the manufacturer said it would save lives, letting doctors scan the tiny transponders to access patients’ medical records almost instantly. The FDA found “reasonable assurance” the device was safe, and a sub-agency […]
Indian Software Firm to Outsource to U.S.
September 8th, 2007Before you listen to this, try to think of all the reasons why Wipro would want to do this. There are several. Via: NPR: Morning Edition, September 6, 2007 · Indian software firm Wipro plans to open a big software design center in Atlanta. The Bangalore, India-based firm expects to hire around 500 computer programmers […]
