New Video Surveillance System Tags, Tracks and Follows
December 27th, 2011Via: Reuters:
Software developed for closed-circuit television systems can identify individuals and track them across entire networks of cameras. Joel Flynn reports.
Related: Coming Soon: Retroactive Surveillance on Anyone
Power Over Ethernet
December 27th, 2011I’m testing a sort of Gilligan’s Island mobile broadband antenna system here at our place. For whatever reason, the Telecom XT signal here has decreased in recent months. I’ve long known that all I need for a solid signal is more altitude, which I could attain by building a transceiver up on a hill that’s on our property and covering the last leg down to the house over wi-fi. While that solution would definitely work, it would require doing a solar panel/battery rig mounted up and away from the cows, mounting antennas, etc. It’s about 200 yards away from the house.
I thought I’d try something much cheaper to see what kind of results I could get closer to home. I bought a used 3g router for NZ$50. I popped in my mobile broadband modem and got it configured. That router needs 12v DC. I went with the TP-LINK TL-POE200, Power over Ethernet kit which comes with everything necessary to send juice and data over a single length of ethernet cable. I selected 12v output, plugged it all in and it worked perfectly the first time.
Next, I put the router, modem and PoE splitter in a small cardboard box and tied it to thin end of the bamboo stem. I tilted the bamboo up (about 40 feet) into the air and tie strapped the base of it to the clothesline post. I popped the ethernet cable into my switch and (lol) the signal strength doubled, and that was without using my very expensive high gain antenna!
The experiment was a success. Obviously, though, a cardboard box won’t work as an enclosure. I’m trying to think of the lightweight (and cheap) weatherproof enclosure in which to bundle the router, modem and PoE splitter. I’ve seen some Tupperware-type things at the supermarket that seem perfect, but I don’t know if those would actually keep the moisture out. The thing would have to be air tight or condensation will kill the gear.
The American Fascist Sandwich: Indefinite Detention and Internment Camps
December 27th, 2011Via: Activist Post:
It’s time to dispense with semantic subtleties meant to placate and avoid offense. Diplomacy is reserved for those who are worthy. No more time to waste on pandering to, analyzing, intellectualizing or sugar-coating treachery. The State is the enemy of the people. Those responsible for instilling fear, subjugation, humiliation, imprisonment, torture and murder are our own government terrorists–the U.S. Congress, the President of the United States and their minions.
They have betrayed the American citizenry, as they have the rest of the world. They have defiled and destroyed the Constitution. They have committed treason. They are grinding the 99% into the ground with every stroke of the pen; every vote cast in the name of enriching their corporate umbilical cords and bank accounts. They do not deserve respect. They are thieves who have hijacked their positions of power. They deserve exactly what the National Defense Authorization Act will now so freely foist upon the rest of us — to be tossed into a hole to rot somewhere without benefit of charges, trial, or protection from torture and murder, for the rest of their miserable, worthless existences.
One owes no civility to barbarians. No benevolence to fascists. Capitol Hill and the White House have declared war on the American people. Their intent is crystal clear for all paying attention. Conspiracy theory ‘lunatics’ are having the last laugh as their warnings are now bearing fruit. It is no longer outrageous conjecture to believe our own government is intent on our demise.
Cryptogon Readers Send Contributions
December 26th, 2011Thank You.
Oracle Broadcasting $100
CB $25
MW $20
Who Is Behind Mystery Spy Devices Dropped Over Syria?
December 26th, 2011Via: intelnews.org:
On December 14, residents of a small town in northern Syria reported seeing unidentified aircraft circling overhead, and dropping several small items attached to mini-parachutes. Two days ago, one local resident, Adnan Mustafa, posted on Facebook several photographs of some of these items, which were found scattered around the area. The gadgets, pictured here, look suspiciously like surreptitious listening devices. Residents say the question is: who dropped them, and why?
The devices were found in the hills around Afrin, a predominantly ethnic-Kurdish town 20 miles south of the Syrian-Turkish border. Local townsfolk said the flight patterns of the planes observed on December 14 resembled those of previous sightings of Turkish aircraft, which routinely invade Syrian airspace before returning to the Turkish air base in Incirlik, about 100 miles north of Afrin.
Syrian newspaper Al-Hakikah (The Truth), which supports the opposition Syrian National Council, said the suspected spy gadgets weigh about 90 grams each and bear “Made in Germany” labels, as well as “GRAW DFM-06” inscriptions. Graw is a Nuremberg-based German company that produces radiosondes, small radio transmitters used in weather balloons, that measure various atmospheric parameters and transmit them to fixed receivers. But Al-Hakikah reports that the devices found in Afrin seem to transmit GPS coordinates, and appear to have been modified to intercept radio communications.
Documentary About the Failure of McDonald’s in Bolivia
December 26th, 2011I’m lovin’ it.
Via: Global Post:
It’s the country that turned its back on McDonald’s.
The fast food giant added the traditional llajwa sauce to its classic patties, but still Bolivians weren’t conviced.
So after five years, McDonald’s closed its eight branches and left the country in 2002.
Now a new documentary, “¿Por qué quebró McDonald’s en Bolivia?”, explores why McDonald’s failed. Filmmaker Fernando Martinez focuses on social and cultural aspects to explain the company’s lack of success. “Culture beat a transnational, globalized world,” he said.
Minding Your Mitochondria: Dr. Terry Wahls Cured Her Worsening Multiple Sclerosis with Diet
December 24th, 2011This is one of the most astonishing videos that I have ever seen. Please consider sharing this through your networks.
Via: TEDxTalks / YouTube:
Dr. Terry Wahls learned how to properly fuel her body. Using the lessons she learned at the subcellular level, she used diet to cure her MS and get out of her wheelchair.
Related:
Cryptogon Reader’s Family Member Has Multiple Sclerosis
Cryptogon Readers Send Contributions in December
December 24th, 2011Some of Cryptogon’s heavy lifters have been out in force. Thank you.
Eileen $100
CM $100
MS CA$50
CM €10
AF $100
For Bloggers at Risk: Creating a Contingency Plan
December 24th, 2011Via: Electronic Frontier Foundation:
Therefore, all bloggers–whether well-connected or just starting out–should consider creating a plan in the unfortunate event they are detained. That said, there are numerous resources bloggers can use to stay informed when other bloggers in their country are detained, harassed, or surveilled; when their government is monitoring phone conversations or Internet activity; and when detainees are being compelled to give up information, such as passwords, to authorities.
With that in mind, EFF together with Global Voices Advocacy have created a set of questions to consider. This list is by no means exhaustive, but should offer a starting point from which bloggers can develop their own contingency plans.
Research Credit: noncompliant
Smoke Screening
December 23rd, 2011Note: This article assumes the absurd, mainstream dogma about 9/11. Hold your nose if you click through.
Via: Vanity Fair:
As you stand in endless lines this holiday season, here’s a comforting thought: all those security measures accomplish nothing, at enormous cost.
…
As we came by the checkpoint line, Schneier described one of these aspects: the ease with which people can pass through airport security with fake boarding passes. First, scan an old boarding pass, he said—more loudly than necessary, it seemed to me. Alter it with Photoshop, then print the result with a laser printer. In his hand was an example, complete with the little squiggle the T.S.A. agent had drawn on it to indicate that it had been checked. “Feeling safer?” he asked.
