Archive for the 'Rise of the Machines' Category
U.S. Air Force Converting a Fighter Wing from Manned Combat Aircraft, to Unmanned Ones
August 12th, 2008Via: Strategy Page: The U.S. Air Force is, for the first time, converting a fighter wing from manned (F-16) combat aircraft, to unmanned ones (the MQ-9 Reaper.) The conversion, for the 174th Fighter Wing, has been in the works for three years, and the last combat sorties in manned aircraft were flown last week, by […]
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 […]
Flying Saucers, Tiny Helicopters Compete in British War Game
May 9th, 2008A lot of this reads like a Jackass with a cast of smart kids, but I think that the point isn’t so much the technology, but the social engineering aspect. Get the young ones thinking about serving the homeland. Get them to realize that, “Hmm. Building terminator robots could lead to a good career. Gee. […]
DARPA Building Insect Cyborgs
April 20th, 2008Via: DARPA: Animal world has provided mankind with locomotion over millennia. For example we have used horses and elephants for locomotion in wars and conducting commerce. Birds have been used for sending covert messages, and to detect gases in coal mines, a life-saving technique for coal miners. More recently, olfactory training of bees has been […]
Some Ikea Warehouses Run 24 Hours Per Day, In the Dark, with the Work Being Done by Robots
April 20th, 2008Not so much news, but more of an eerie scene to visualize. Via: CNET: In Europe, some Ikea warehouses utilize robots to “pick the goods,” a term of art for grabbing products off very high shelves. These factories, Marston said, are dark, since no lighting is needed for the robots, and run 24 hours a […]
Armed Robots Malfunction in Iraq
April 12th, 2008It’s tough to know what to believe on this one. The statement below is ambiguous. The Army spokesperson said, “It can take 10 or 20 years to try it again.” But then the piece says, “Fahey expects another armed ground bot to be deployed within the year.” Take your pick. I had been wondering what […]
Brain Computer Interface for $300?
March 3rd, 2008Can this be real? I used to work for a company that designed EEG systems. It was run by top shelf, Big Deal neuroscientists, etc., and those guys would would have viewed the system described below as reverse engineered alien technology from Area 51. That would have been 2000-2001. But in 2008, there will be […]
Automated Killer Robots ‘Threat to Humanity’
February 27th, 2008Top soil depletion is a far more dire threat to humanity, but it is absolutely true that autonomous killing machines are what the military wants, most of all. FYI: Neuroscience is the convenient term for this absurd and dangerous waste of resources on many university campuses. University neuroscience departments exist atop a mountain of Department […]
Microsoft Seeks Patent for Office ‘Spy’ Software
January 16th, 2008You betcha. Via: Telegraph: Microsoft is developing Big Brother-style software capable of remotely monitoring a worker’s productivity, physical wellbeing and competence. The Times has seen a patent application filed by the company for a computer system that links workers to their computers via wireless sensors that measure their metabolism. The system would allow managers to […]
New Power Meters in California Can Ration, or Cut Off Electricity by Remote Control
January 8th, 2008The Nanny State, for-the-children, technocratic control grid thermostat story doesn’t seem so bad, compared to the story below about the “new” new power meters that are being rolled out in California. The state is actually making asymmetric warfare much easier for those who will eventually try to fight. There will be a window of opportunity […]
