Archive for the 'Rise of the Machines' Category
California to Set Thermostats via Remote Control
January 6th, 2008What could possibly go wrong? For example, hackers will never figure out how to take control of these systems. Oh no. That won’t happen. * chuckle * Via: American Thinker: In the proposed revisions to Title 24 is the requirement for what is called a “programmable communicating thermostat” or PCT. Every new home and every […]
Mobile Labs to Target Iraqis for Death Using Biometric Data
December 18th, 2007Years ago, when the news broke that U.S. Forces were collecting biometric data from Iraqis, I was so shocked by the program that I made an effort to archive audio from an NBC news piece about it. Now we know that the data is being used, in part, to draw up execution lists. Remember that […]
Military Releases Heavily Redacted Report on Directed Energy Weapon Accident
November 10th, 2007Don’t microwave me, bro! Via: Wired: Seven months after an airman was burned in a test of the nonlethal heat beam, the Air Force has released a heavily redacted version of the mishap report that reveals few details about what happened. The military has bent over backwards to demonstrate to the public that the Active […]
Giggling Robot Becomes One of the Kids
November 6th, 2007Via: New Scientist: Computers might not be clever enough to trick adults into thinking they are intelligent yet, but a new study shows that a giggling robot is sophisticated enough to get toddlers to treat it as a peer. An experiment led by Javier Movellan at the University of California San Diego, US, is the […]
iRobot Warrior X700
October 19th, 2007Via: Army Times: iRobot has unveiled a 250-pound, weapons-firing, stair-climbing, ammo-carrying military robot that will one day run a four-minute mile, iRobot developers said. Early versions of the multimission iRobot Warrior X700, the latest offering from the Burlington, Mass.-based robot makers, are slated to be ready by the second half of next year. “It is […]
Robot Cannon Kills 9, Wounds 14
October 19th, 2007Via: Wired: The South African National Defence Force “is probing whether a software glitch led to an antiaircraft cannon malfunction that killed nine soldiers and seriously injured 14 others during a shooting exercise on Friday.”
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 […]
U.S. Robots Deployed for Ground Combat in Iraq
August 3rd, 2007It’s not quite up to ED-209 standards (from Robocop), but it’s getting there. Also see, Deal of the Century. HAHA Via: Wired: Robots have been roaming the streets of Iraq, since shortly after the war began. Now, for the first time — the first time in any warzone — the machines are carrying guns. After […]
Robot Air Attack Squadron Bound for Iraq
July 15th, 2007Via: AP / MyWayNews: The airplane is the size of a jet fighter, powered by a turboprop engine, able to fly at 300 mph and reach 50,000 feet. It’s outfitted with infrared, laser and radar targeting, and with a ton and a half of guided bombs and missiles. The Reaper is loaded, but there’s no […]
