Archive for the 'Rise of the Machines' Category
Nevada Approves Regulations for Self-Driving Cars
February 18th, 2012Via: CBS: Nevada is envisioning a day when taxicabs might shuttle fares without a driver, or people with medical conditions that make them ineligible for a license could get around with a virtual chauffeur. The concept took a big step when Nevada became the first state to approve regulations that spell out requirements for companies […]
Animal Rights Group Says Drone Shot Down
February 18th, 2012Via: The Times and Democrat: A remote-controlled aircraft owned by an animal rights group was reportedly shot down near Broxton Bridge Plantation Sunday. Steve Hindi, president of SHARK (SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness), said his group was preparing to launch its Mikrokopter drone to video what he called a live pigeon shoot on Sunday when […]
Britain: TomTom Tech to Set Driver Insurance Premiums
February 9th, 2012Definitely watch, “15 Million Merits,” the second episode of Black Mirror, to see where this economic model is headed. The potential for nightmarish implementations of this is pretty much unlimited. Via: PC Pro: TomTom has signed a deal with an insurance company to use its satnav technology to measure driving ability to set premiums. The […]
Britain: Royal Society Report Discusses Development Neural Interface for Weapons Systems
February 7th, 2012…and much, much more. Via: Royal Society: Neural interfaces can be broadly separated into devices that input into neural systems and interfaces that record activity from brains to predict motor intentions. The most common method of establishing an interface is through the external recording of EEG signals although more invasive methods, such as implanting microelectrodes […]
Congress Passes Bill That Opens U.S. Skies To Unmanned Drones
February 7th, 2012Via: AP: A bill to speed the nation’s switch from radar to an air traffic control system based on GPS technology, and to open U.S. skies to unmanned drone flights within four years, received final congressional approval Monday. … The FAA is also required under the bill to provide military, commercial and privately-owned drones with […]
Britain: Talking CCTV Cameras In Camden To Be Turned Off
February 7th, 2012They need to load the ED209 voice on that thing. Via: Telegraph: Pressure group Big Brother Watch had said that the cameras, which automatically warn everyone they see to leave, were only acceptable in a ‘in a police state’. In a statement issued this afternoon, Camden Council claimed that the camera’s pre-recorded American message should […]
A Swarm of Nano Quadrotors
February 2nd, 2012Via: YouTube: Experiments performed with a team of nano quadrotors at the GRASP Lab, University of Pennsylvania. Vehicles developed by KMel Robotics. Research Credit: jakdmsy
New Military Budget: Fewer Conventional Forces, More Special Forces and Terminator Robots
January 28th, 2012Via: Wired: About 80,000 Army soldiers and 20,000 Marines are getting downsized. Half of the Army’s conventional combat presence in Europe is packing up and ending its post-Cold War staycation. Replacing them, according to the $613 billion budget previewed by the Pentagon on Thursday: unconventional special-operations forces; new bombers; new spy tools; new missiles for […]
Google Admits It Will Track Everything Its Users Do, No Opt Out
January 25th, 2012In other words, Google now admits doing things that Cryptogon readers have known it has been doing for about a decade: Tracking everything. Via: Washington Post: Google said Tuesday it will follow the activities of users across e-mail, search, YouTube and other services, a shift in strategy that is expected to invite greater scrutiny of […]
The Age of Transitions
January 23rd, 2012Via: The Age of Transitions:
