Star Wars or Star Peace? on Today's Mind Set Daily!

Greeting this is Mind Set Daily for Thursday, November 15 - 2012
35 years after George Lucas’s Star Wars was released, there is a greater possibility of a space battle outside the realm of Hollywood. Space has become a central part of the military and defense policies in many of the world’s biggest countries.

Wars of the future are expected to involve a lot of orbiters to ensure a country’s security: satellite reconnaissance, warning, forecasting and targeting systems – objects which themselves will need to be defended and armed. So it is only a matter of time before orbital systems are developed that will be able to independently hit targets in space, in the atmosphere or on the Earth itself.

In space is one of the few areas where there are no borders. Introducing arms to space, will it upset the balance in the world? It would seem that Harrison Ford, who played Han Solo, one of the most important characters in the Star Wars films, was right when he said that the main secret of the film’s success was that it was “not about space, but about people; this is primarily a film about human relationships.”

It is up to us humans to decide whether space shall remain as a peaceful realm or whether it will become another arena for military conflict, just think about it…

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"Brain Implants" on Today's Mind Set Daily!

Greetings! This is Mind Set Daily for Monday, November 5th - 2012
Are you ready to have a microchip implanted into your brain?  That might not sound very appealing to you at this point, but this is exactly what the big pharmaceutical companies and the big technology companies have planned for our future.  They are pumping millions of dollars into researching "cutting edge" technologies that will enable implantable microchips to greatly "enhance" our health and our lives. Initially, brain implants will be marketed as "revolutionary breakthroughs" that can cure chronic diseases and that can enable the disabled to live normal lives. Just imagine the hype that will surround these implants when people discover that you can get rid of your extra weight in a matter of days or that you can download an entire college course into your memory in just a matter of hours.  The possibilities for this kind of technology are endless, and it is just a matter of time before having microchips implanted into your brain is considered to be quite common.  What was once science fiction is rapidly becoming reality, and it is going to change the world forever.

The pharmaceutical companies of the future will include a "bioelectronics" business that "treats disease through electrical signalling in the brain and elsewhere." Diseases such as diabetes and epilepsy and conditions such as obesity and depression will be will be treated "through electronic implants into the brain rather than pills or injections." These implants will send electrical signals to cells and organs that are "malfunctioning".  People will be totally "cured" without ever having to pop a pill or go under the knife.

If a brain implant could cure a disease that you have been suffering from your whole life would you take it? A lot of people are going to be faced with that kind of a decision in future years.

This kind of technology is advancing very rapidly.  In fact, some researchers have already had success treating certain diseases by implanting microchips into the brains of rats. But is it really safe to have a device implanted into your head that can "talk" directly to your brain? For example, Intel is working on sensors that will be implanted in the brain that will be able to directly control computers and cell phones. Even now, some video game makers are developing headsets that allow users to play games using their brain waves rather than a joystick or a control pad. Other companies want to make it possible to directly connect your brain to the Internet.

The possibilities are endless. But so is the potential for abuse. Implantable microchips that can "talk" directly to the brain would give a tyrannical government the ultimate form of control. If you could download thoughts and feelings directly into the brains of your citizens, you could achieve total control and never have to worry that they would turn on you. In fact, you could potentially program these chips to make your citizens feel good all the time.  You could have these chips produce a "natural high" that never ends.  That would make your citizens incredibly dependent on the chips and they would never want to give them up.

This kind of technology has the potential to be one of the greatest threats to liberty and freedom in the history of mankind. At first these implantable microchips will be sold to us as one of the greatest "breakthroughs" ever, but in the end they could end up totally enslaving us. Just think about it...

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Behavior Recognition Surveillance at the RNC

Tampa police will be using behavior recognition surveillance cameras and specialized software at the Republican National Convention. A system known as “AISight” developed by BRS Labs will used to track patterns of behavior, analyze environments and the objects and people within in it.

This system will be build up a memory of these events and then compare the objects and behaviors to past memories to see if anything is out of the ordinary.

Tampa Police hopes that the system encourages protestors during the Republican National Convention to behave since they know they’re being watched and profiled.

Hear more on this news story by listening to my episode of Mind Set Daily here!

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"TrapWire" on Today's Mind Set Daily!

Greetings! This is Mind Set Daily for Tuesday, August 14 - 2012
Former senior intelligence officials have created a detailed surveillance system more accurate than modern facial recognition technology — and have installed it across the US under the radar of most Americans, according to emails hacked by Anonymous.

Every few seconds, data picked up at surveillance points in major cities and landmarks across the United States are recorded digitally on the spot, then encrypted and instantaneously delivered to a fortified central database center at an undisclosed location to be aggregated with other intelligence. It’s part of a program called TrapWire and it's the brainchild of the Abraxas, a Northern Virginia company staffed with elite from America’s intelligence community. The employee roster at Arbaxas reads like a who’s who of agents once with the Pentagon, CIA and other government entities according to their public LinkedIn profiles, and the corporation's ties are assumed to go deeper than even documented.

According to a press release from June 6, 2012, TrapWire is “designed to provide a simple yet powerful means of collecting and recording suspicious activity reports.” A system of interconnected nodes spot anything considered suspect and then input it into the system to be "analyzed and compared with data entered from other areas within a network for the purpose of identifying patterns of behavior that are indicative of pre-attack planning.”

Since its inception, TrapWire has been implemented in most major American cities at selected high value targets and has appeared abroad as well. The iWatch monitoring system adopted by the Los Angeles Police Department works in conjunction with TrapWire, as does the District of Columbia and the "See Something, Say Something" program conducted by law enforcement in New York City, which had 500 surveillance cameras linked to the system in 2010. Private properties including Las Vegas, Nevada casinos have subscribed to the system. The State of Texas reportedly spent half a million dollars with an additional annual licensing fee of $150,000 to employ TrapWire, and the Pentagon and other military facilities have allegedly signed on as well. News of the widespread and largely secretive installation of TrapWire comes amidst a federal witch-hunt to crack down on leaks escaping Washington and at attempt to prosecute whistleblowers.

So those spooky new "circular" dark globe cameras installed in your neighborhood park, town, or city—they aren't just passively monitoring. They're plugged into Trapwire and they are potentially monitoring every single person via facial recognition. It is for our safety and if you have nothing to hide, what is the fear? Just think about it...

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Biometric Identification - Science Fiction Meets Reality

In India, a massive experiment is underway to take a technology that was once a hallmark of science fiction and apply it to solving the nation’s greatest challenges.  A small group of entrepreneurs within the government have set out to identify to every one of their 1.2 billion residents by using biometric technologies, such as iris scans and fingerprints.

In the next few years, each man, woman and child will receive an “Aadhaar” 12-digit unique identification number.  For the poor in India, this would end a vicious cycle where a person cannot prove who they are, and thus they are denied what they are supposed to receive.  Now, using the features of the body, technology can identify someone in a matter of seconds.  There will no longer be a need for passports, driver licenses, or other old school paper based identification.

The goal is to enroll 600 million Indians in four years. Since the first enrollments in September 2010, the government has issued more than 200 million people an Aadhaar number – which is a population larger than any European nation.

Ultimately, the success of the program is not about the performance of technology, but the efforts of the people behind it.  The same systems that can bring accountability and transparency can be used for mass-surveillance and digitized discrimination.  Privacy laws are still outdated and ineffective.  With so many different government agencies now able to store and access personal information, the potential for abuse looms large.   Biometric identification has long been used for security purposes – now India will show the world how it can also be used to offer hundreds of millions their greatest chance at inclusion and a prosperous life.

On display for the world to see and to recognize the benefits of biometric identification and it's multitude of applications. Despite the positive uses we do know that once these technologies are used and accepted by the masses then their is no going back. For our greater good or for someone else's greater control? Maybe people are willing to accept that if it benefits their lives, just think about it...

Citizen Fingerprint Scanner Works from 20 Feet Away

Fingerprinting used to be an affair involving ink and paper and making actual prints. Now there's a new camera that can take pictures of your fingerprints from 20 feet away whether you want it to or not. Researchers are exploring better designs in biometrics to meet business and government demands for reliable identification and verification tools. Fingerprinting continues to be an accepted technique. Fingerprint-matching has been a mainstay in law enforcement but businesses now look toward fingerprinting systems for security management and access control.

A new startup, IDair, wants to make the difference. Its new fingerprint  scanner system (AIRprint) can read fingerprints from up to 20 feet away.

The person waves hand to sensor for identification verification--no stops at checkpoints asking for a ID card; no fumbling around for lost keycards. The machine is described as a touchless scanner. The fingerprint can be photographically captured with enough detail to match against a database. A selling point is that fingerprints are collected at a standoff distance so there is no need for people to touch a scanner pad, avoiding problems in accuracy.

The scenario is simple, in that the company places the scanner device on the door; the person sends prints to the system, which takes a snapshot when triggered and uses pattern recognition, edge detection and sharpening to scan the fingerprint, which is then compared to the database. The system is described as close to the way satellites process ground images. Additional layers of security like facial recognition can be piled on to make up a more robust, complete biometric profile of a person that provides that individual with access without the need for a key or passcode.

One potential use for this is commercial: an AIRprint system could be set up in a store, and instead of having to carry around a credit card or checkbook, you could just literally wave your hand in the air to identify yourself and pay for stuff. Wouldn't that be convient?

The other obvious use for AIRprint is for identifying people from a distance covertly. Heck, someone could have already scanned your fingers and you'd never know. There could be ways to fight the technology, although it's probably inevitable that if AIRprint proves to be a popular tool with law enforcement, it'll become illegal to wear gloves or walk around with your hands in your pockets. Would you have a problem with that? You don't have something to hide, do you? Well just think about it...

Miniature Humanoid Robot That Lives On Your Shoulder

You have heard of the little devil or angel on your shoulder, well how about a Japensese Telepresence Miniature Humanoid Robot? The emerging field of telepresence and telerobotics has produced some fairly out-there forms to carry out their functions, and researchers at Yamagata University in Japan don’t seem to have any problem pushing that envelope. Their concept: a telepresence robot that quite literally is that voice in your ear, that angel (or devil) on your shoulder. The MH-2 (for “miniature humanoid”) is a remotely controlled robot that lives on your shoulder and conveys a person’s gestures and movements from a distance.

The idea here is that the wearer may want to share an experience--travel or a party or whatever--with someone who can’t be present at the time and place. With the MH-2, that person can stand in front of a 3-D immersive display (or, more likely, a television screen) outfitted with a motion capture device (like a Kinect) and remotely embody the robot on the user’s shoulder.

What the robot sees, the remote user sees on his or her screen. Likewise, his or her speech and gestures are translated back to the robot, which uses it’s remarkably plentiful degrees of freedom--seven for the arms, three for the head, and two for the body, plus one for realistic breathing (yes, breathing)--to recreate the remote user’s persona, albeit on a slightly smaller scale. The idea, according to the researchers, is something like the vision below.

The limiting factor here, at least for now, is the huge backpack full of servos and such that enable all those degrees of freedom. Presumably that will shrink as the researchers polish their finished product.

Above us, Below us, inside us and now on our shoulders as well like little angels or devils whispering in our ears. Think about it...

 The idea, according to the researchers, is something like the vision above

Farming with Laser Death Rays

Lasers used in both military and civilian applications are on certainly on the rise as laser technology advances. Have you ever considered lasers being used for farming applications? Well Weed killers and herbicides must be toxic enough to kill the weeds they target. Thus, toxicity concerns -- ranging from protecting the workers using the chemicals to groundwater contamination -- confront any user of herbicides.

Researchers at the Leibniz University in Hannover, Germany, may have an answer: weed-killing lasers.

Farming with Laser Death Rays Sounds like a great idea? But If the lasers used have too little energy, weeds like it. Laser lights of the wrong intensity make the unwanted plants grow like weeds, only more so. The Leibniz team has worked to determine the optimum laser intensity to kill the weeds rather than encourage growth.

The second major obstacle is recognizing which plants to target with the laser death rays. The researchers have developed a system of cameras that film the field, and software that measures the contures of every plant. Algorithms have been developed for recognizing many different types of weeds.

The researchers are currently considering whether robots or drones can bring the equipment into position precisely enough over large areas to effectively recognize and blast the weeds with the laser death ray while leaving the desired cash crop unharmed.

Could we be seeing lasers shooting across the skies soon? From this story it appears that answer will be yes. This story is also a great example of how tracking and laser technology could actually have a beneficial use on society and not just an oppressive one. Though one has to wonder isn't this how these forms of technology are always accepted, by providing a benefit at first? Some also may think using lasers versus pesticides may not be more cost effective at first but is it safer for the environment? That is the key component in the development of this laser technology. Yet another "benefit" think about it...

Self Driving Cars

On Mind Set Daily recently I reported on flying cars well how about a "smart" car that drives itself?! Nevada is the first state to adopt driverless cars and the governor signed a law last year requiring the state to come up with regulations by which to authorize autonomous vehicles. They did, and now the first license to test autonomous vehicles in the state has been awarded to Google’s robotic car.

Google who takes the first licensed test run comes as no surprise, not only because their sensor-laden, robotic Toyota Prius has been the most visible robotic car over the past year and a half, but also because the licenses are largely a result of Google’s own lobby pushing for them. And some of the car’s 200,000 miles have been logged on freeways and neighborhood streets in Carson City, Nevada and – you guessed it – the Vegas Strip.

After reviewing Google’s system functions, safety plans, employee training, and accident reporting mechanisms the Nevada DMV’s Autonomous Review Committee gave Google its license. The license requires two humans to be in the car at all times, with one behind the wheel to take over in case something goes wrong.

So if you live in Nevada be on the lookout. Autonomous cars will have Nevada license plates with red backgrounds and an infinity symbol, to make them easy to spot by citizens and police officers. If all goes according to plan and the test vehicles perform as hoped, the vehicles will be made available to the public, green plates will replace the red, but the infinity symbol will remain.

The Nevada DMV said in a press release that Google may have been the first, but other auto manufacturers have also indicated their interest in filing license applications. So it seems that this is just the beginning, and if all goes well, public acceptance of robotic vehicles is sure to increase dramatically.

Isn't that what all this new technology counts on? Public acceptance? If the technology provides society a benefit and perhaps makes our lives easier than it is more likely to be accepted. Also from this story can you see where things may be headed? A more automated and "connected" society where robots and computers do everything for us including driving us around. These new self driving cars also could perhaps one day work very well with the "smart cities" that we reported on springing up around the globe recently. Regardless of where the technology and our society are headed in this case you don't need to worry, just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Rise of the "Smart" Cities

A better quality of life is something everyone aspires to, and for city dwellers of the future that will mean a heavy reliance on the benefits of technology. We are only 30 years into the age of the personal computer, and yet the changes that computers have made in the way we live are extraordinary. However, one thing we can confidently predict is that city planners are going to be looking to technology to help enable Smart Living for future city dwellers. The focus will be on the use of information and communications technology to create smarter and more sustainable cities, and to help improve overall quality of life. It is projected that by 2050 70% of the world's population will live in cities consuming the vast bulk of the world's resources. This trend is already underway, with new generations of sensor networks in public and private managed physical spaces being developed.

Well get ready for the connected city as London’s Greenwich peninsula is to be the test bed for Urban OS, a ‘smart city’ operating system that’s been developed by Living Plan IT. The main idea behind Urban OS is that buildings, street lights and city systems will all be interlinked and connected. Traffic lights will ‘know’ where pile-ups might emerge and will be able to manage traffic more effectively. Similarly, street lights, monitoring traffic will dim their lights if a road isn’t busy and sensors in buildings will be able to help out in emergency situations such as a fire.

To be launched in time for the London 2012 Olympic Games, a Greenwich’s smart city test bed will feature a cable car, a dock for cruise ships alongside new connected homes and businesses. Living Plan IT Chief Executive Steve Lewis said "We are entering a phase when everything becomes connected, from healthcare to transportation. This is about connecting things that previously never did." Imagine being directly connected to your surroundings for example, There’s potential for smart ‘vests’ that could monitor your heart rate and other life signs and smart heating and cooling systems connected to the Urban OS could come online when your house ‘knows’ you’re coming home.

Another example of this "Urban OS", built on a technology developed by the Formula One team McLaren, and unveiled at a recent conference by the Portuguese company Living Plan IT. They, along with partners such as Cisco and Microsoft, are constructing a futuristic settlement in Portugal to test the viability of the new technology. The aim is to build a city run by one big computerised system. It's a bit like how the operating system on your PC works, but on a giant scale, and with enormous volumes of data being handled. There could potentially be billions of interacting devices in a typical city, and the city being built to test the Urban OS will have around one million high-tech sensors embedded in it. They will monitor all activity and effectively eliminate the need for human management of many areas that affect the quality of daily city living.

Of course, the longer-term goal will be to have smartphone technology interacting with the city-level systems, bringing the possibility of handheld manipulation of home-based systems that manage appliances, heating, lighting, safety equipment, and so on.

Time will tell how well the new urban-style OS might work, but whether people are for or against increased computerisation, it is certain that technology will form the basis of future city management. Cities worldwide are looking for technology solutions to ensure their citizens can work and live smarter, and here some innovations that IBM predicts most cities will be using in the near future:

Disease control: Better IT systems will allow public health officials to predict, manage and control disease outbreaks far more effectively.

Water management: Smarter water management systems will reduce water waste by up to 50%, through avoiding pollution of rivers and lakes, and by increasing drinkable water supplies through improved purification processes.

Green credits: Citizens will be rewarded with tradable online credits for reducing their carbon footprint, thus providing incentives to get involved in efforts to improve the environment.

Emergency responsiveness: Cities will use state-of-the-art systems to collect and share data in real time to improve emergency prevention and response mechanisms.

Of course, one obvious potential barrier to the effectiveness of all these new smart technologies is whether or not city-dwellers will have the necessary skills to make use of them all. As we enter the age of the knowledge-based economy, cities will become more and more reliant on their human capital, the knowledge and skills of individuals, if they want to be successful. So technology awareness and training are likely to feature strongly in the minds of future city planners. It is a clear from this story that our society is becoming more connected with technology all the time. Is this the natural course of human kind and the future of cities? Of course the benefits are countless of being "connected" and integrated into our environments, but how much of a slippery slope are we on? Do the pros out weigh the cons in a smart city? Well we are surely to find out in the not to distant future, that's for sure!

Nanochips in Soldiers

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (D.A.R.P.A.) has announced plans to create nanochips for monitoring troops health on the battlefield. As you might have guessed, this plan has raised a little bit of controversy with the fear that this could turn the Earth into the likes of such movies like "Total Recall".

The sensors would be injected into soldiers and aim preventing illness and disease.  It would be more effective to track them if they got lost. Though it seems like a simple and efficient way to keep soldiers alive and healthy, a number of opponents have come out the woodwork claiming this could be the beginning of computer chips for everyone. The question is, how long will it take governments and big pharma to immerse nano-microchips inside of vaccines to tag and surveil global populations?

All these nano technological advances raise many issues and concerns about the toxicity and environmental impact of nano materials, and their potential effects on medicine, global economics, as well as speculation about government surveillance.

In the popular video game series Metal Gear Solid, many characters and soldiers in general, have "nano machines" in their bloodstream, and are used to block pain, allow members of fire teams/patrols to share sensory information, heal bodily damage, as well as manipulating viruses central to video game's plot line.

Through the use of special effects and computer-generated imagery, several blockbusters including The Matrix Trilogy and The Day the Earth Stood Still, have dramatized how nanobots could effectively take control of their organic and inorganic targets. Regardless of the recurring themes of nanobots in video games, sci-fi shows and movies, nanotechnology is a reality, and nano-microchips are well on their way to being utilized in ways which may be detrimental to human health and freedom on a global scale. Are we simply being conditioned for it? Through video games and movies alike?

The development of nano-microchips are a major thrust of governments and pharmaceutical industries who want the ultimate power and leverage over global populations for more profit and more control. Although nanotechnology manufacturing is currently available on a global scale, before biotech companies are able to initiate mass production and testing of nano-microchips inside of vaccines, they will likely sell the idea to the public. Through various "health enhancement scenarios" they will encourage participation and publicly announce regulatory approval from the same policies and regulatory agencies they helped create. When our brain functions are already connected to supercomputers by means of radio implants and microchips, it will be too late for protest. Think about it nanochips in soldiers today, nanochips in you tomorrow...

Rise of Spy Planes

Back in March on Mind Set Daily I reported about eyes in the sky and how various drones will be filling up American skies soon. Well the FAA was forced to reveal launch sites across the United States. The agency has also released two lists that include the names of all public and private entities that have applied for authorizations to fly drones domestically. There are at least 63 active drone sites around the U.S, federal authorities have been forced to reveal following a landmark Freedom of Information lawsuit. The unmanned planes – some of which may have been designed to kill terror suspects – are being launched from locations in 20 states. Most of the active drones are deployed from military installations, enforcement agencies and border patrol teams, according to the Federal Aviation Authority.

Also 19 universities and colleges are also registered as owners of what are officially known as unmanned aerial vehicles. It is thought that many of institutions, which include Cornell, the University of Colorado, Georgia Tech, and Eastern Gateway Community College, are developing drone technology. There are also 21 mainstream manufactures, such as General Atomics, who are registered to use drones domestically.

Most of the drones are likely to be small craft. Police, border patrols and environmental agencies, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , could use for them effectively. While few would object to vast open areas being monitored for wildfires, there are fears of privacy violations if drones are used to spy over cities. There is a map provided by FAA that shows the locations of drone approved areas, but as far as listing what they are being used for that information isn't available yet. However you perceive drones whether for your safety or not, just know that they are coming. Well perhaps they are already here, above us...

Move over RoboCop!

Forget RoboCop! Robo-guards will be patrolling Korean Prisons very soon! It seems like every week lately we have some kind of robot related story to report. Well prisons in South Korea will be testing a robot designed to guard and patrol cell blocks in prisons.

Robo-guard displays its smarts in the way it interacts with humans: As it patrols corridors containing inmates, it can sense how a person is feeling. If it senses any abnormalities, it will transmit its data in real-time to the control center for further action. Inside, Robo-guard contains a number of cameras (including a 3D one), a microphone, and software designed for analyzing human emotions. Officers can also speak to inmates without having to leave the control room, and even though Robo-guard is autonomous, it can be controlled manually via an iPad. If it determines that an incident may ensue, based on an inmates' behavior, it will alert human officers to come to the scene. The robot can protect inmates against attacks, suicide, and arson.

Developers are hoping to create a prison robot that can also undertake strip searches, but at least until technology supports such functions, Robo-guard's ability to sense trouble is pretty amazing. But now that the cat is out of the bag on this robot can we expect these to sorts of robot guards to be modified for street and city patrols in our home towns someday soon? Imagine a robot like this outfitted with various sensors for surveillance and even weapons for fighting crime. Sound out of the question? Well is it really since we will be having robotic drones outfitted with similar technology flying above our cities soon? I would suggest that it isn't out of the question. The keyword in this story is "testing" meaning that these are only being tested out and that they are surely to be modified and perfected as time goes on.

Would you take orders from a robot? Would you take it serious? I'm sure if it was armed you would. Slowly but surely we are seeing robots take over jobs and tasks normally done by humans in the past. Why are we so quick to relinquish control to these robots? Is it simply because they can make our lives easier and provide an array of benefits? I would like you to make an observation, notice how this new technology is always presented to us first as a benefit then for our safety.

Google's Augmented-Reality Glasses

Google's latest project is augmented-reality glasses that eliminate the need for a smartphone. Google’s venture into augmented reality has finally come out into the light of day. The Android-running device are glasses that aren’t really glasses, but more like frames with one small lens over the right eye and a camera. That lens provides a heads-up-display which overlays the wearer’s frame of view. The glasses have all the features expected from a mobile device: messaging and chat, photo and video, wireless connectivity, GPS and location services, and music. One of the biggest surprises with the glasses design is how unobtrusive they are, a far cry from the clunky headgear that had been previously suggested on a recent report about Google's Glasses.

Back in February it was announced that the glasses would be on sale by the end of the year, but Google has stricken down that timeline. Although this technology is surely to hit the mainstream market soon enough and we all will be walking around with digital read outs in front of eyes. I'm not sure how the user will control these glasses, but this is most certainly an evolution in technology! Will this eliminate the hand held smart phone?

This latest announcement is intended to excite public interest, get feedback, and assess demand along with coming up with strategies to deal with resistance to the technology. It’ll also answer any questions from people wondering what those things are that early Google testers are wearing around town and as they interact with virtual objects in real surroundings. Additionally, Google just might be trying to create a bigger shift in the current mindset about technology.

Though the excitement over the possibilities of this technology also bring a slew of concerns, the least of which is the onslaught of privacy issues. Then there’s the more technological issues, such as durability, sizing, battery life, and, of course, cost. Finally, the word still isn’t out about whether cell phones cause brain cancer, so the health concerns over glasses that might be worn as long as corrective glasses could be enormous. It makes sense then for Google not to reveal any hard details about the device, and keep everything in the concept realm.

Is this is a sign that our society is becoming more connected? The way we receive and process information digitally is ever changing. The internet is no longer just something we can access on our computers and smart devices. The internet will available right before our eyes, literally! So I would say within the next couple years you will begin seeing people with these new glasses on.

Smart Fabrics

We are all used to having tracking and smart technology built into the devices we use daily. From our appliances, smart phones even in and the cars we drive, the grasp of big brother has never been stronger. It seems like this smart technology is being implemented into more of our everyday products and we are being conditioned to accept it. Where is the logical place to start implementing smart technology you may wonder? Well how about your clothes...

Well in the military sector we often see these technologies used first before being introduced to the general public. Think of the GPS technology we all have become accustomed to, well that for example was used for military purposes first. In this story it is no different as UK soldiers could be wearing electricity-storing 'e-textile' uniforms by the end of the year. British military uniforms will soon be getting an upgrade that turns the fabric they're made from into a central battery. The Centre for Defence Enterprise has showcased a uniform made from conductive "e-textiles," which can route power and data through conductive yarn. Intelligent Textiles, which designed the fabric, is planning to field-test the uniforms by May, and may put them to limited use by the end of this year. A more widespread roll out is planned for 2014 or 2015. The uniform could also act as a sort of wearable computer. Intelligent Textiles is currently designing a machine — complete with fabric keyboard — that could be integrated into the clothes.

I can imagine in the future that you will no longer have to carry a smart device, the device will be the actual clothes you are wearing. You will be wearing a computer in a sense and already similar technology is creeping into public use as one school is in the midst of unveiling a program where computer chips are embedded in the shirts of the student uniforms. Called "intelligent uniforms," the chips will track a student's every move and keep both the schools and parents apprised of what children are doing.

Would you wear clothes embedded with microchips? In the future you may not have a choice.

Big Google is Watching You

Google recently was awarded an U.S. Patent known as “Advertising Based on Environmental Conditions." This patent is one of the most troubling advances in the growth of Big Brother Google as it proposes that background sounds, temperature, humidity, light and air composition can all be monitored in order to serve highly targeted advertisements. The patent states that a web browser or search engine which the user is using can actually be used to obtain what could very well be highly private information about the environment surrounding the user.

“Advertisers may specify that ads are shown to users whose environmental conditions meet certain criteria,” the patent states, although it could quite obviously also be used as yet another way to gather massive amounts of private information on Americans.

After all, the National Counterterrorism Center can now hold on to private data belonging to Americans with no known or suspected links to terrorism for a shocking five years. Coupled with the National Security Agency’s new massive data center complex in Utah and the announcement from American internet service providers (ISPs) that they will soon begin to conduct the largest digital spying operation in history, this does not look good.

Google is now even being criticized by some of their former executives, including James Whittaker, who said, “the Google I was passionate about was a technology company – the Google I left was an advertising company.”

However, Google is more of a tool of the Western intelligence community than anything else at this point, and the recent announcement that the director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) would be leaving for Google just reinforces this long-standing relationship.

One of the many troubling aspects of this patent is the claim that it will utilize a computer-implemented method of grabbing environmental data from a wide variety of devices including one or more of the following, “[a] mobile phone, a personal computer, a digital billboard, a digital kiosk, or a vendor machine.” This could incorporate sound, such as speech and background noise, as well as images and video signals, which Google can already hijack through their programs loaded on to smartphones.

The disturbing part of this technology is that, when considered with their new privacy policy, Google could essentially collect data covering just about anything and everything you might do in your life, store it one central location for easy retrieval, all indefinitely and all with no limits to who they can share the information with.

One must wonder if anything is stopping them from rolling out this technology under our noses without actually telling anyone. Something tells me that there is absolutely nothing in their way from doing such a thing, in fact, I would be surprised if they weren’t already leveraging their ability to remotely access cameras and other parts of unsuspecting users’ devices to gather data either for intelligence purposes or advertising.

What do you think? Should people be concerned about this patent approval and the growing tide of Big Brother technology in the United States?

Prototype of the American Police State

New York City has long been celebrated as the cultural capital of the world, renowned for its art, music and film. Presently, however, the “city that never sleeps” is serving as the staging ground for a futuristic police state. Although the NYPD was recognized for its countless acts of bravery during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the department has gained notoriety in recent years for its overt racial profiling, and spying programs.

Boasting a $4.5 billion budget, a counterterrorism unit that includes 35,000 uniformed police officers and 15,000 civilians, and a $3 billion joint operations center with representatives from the FBI, FEMA, and the military, the NYPD operates much like an autonomous Department of Homeland Security—only without the constraints of the Constitution.

The capabilities of the department are astounding. The NYPD has radiation detectors on their boats, helicopters, and officers’ belts. The NYPD also has a $150 million surveillance system, a network of 2000+ cameras, which is monitored by an advanced computer system. This computer system can detect suspicious packages and perform tasks such as pulling up all recorded images of someone wearing a red shirt, thus streamlining the process of tracking New Yorkers. The NYPD’s latest toy is Terahertz Imaging Detection, which allows police officers to peek under people’s clothing as they walk the streets. The NYPD cooperated with the US Department of Defense in creating this portable scanning technology. The NYPD even has the capability to take down an aircraft should the need arise.

Despite the fact that the city explicitly forbids profiling based upon religion, police officers in New York initiated a spying program which includes amassing data on New York Muslims, such as where they buy groceries and which cafes they visit. The NYPD relies on so-called “mosque crawlers” that document the activities at mosques and “rakers” that spy on Muslims in cafes and bookstores within the Muslim community. Outside of spying on innocent people, the NYPD is also infamous for its crackdowns on protesters.

Americans will most likely see the rise of rogue police organizations all across the country as civil liberties are thrown aside in favor of brute government force. One thing is for sure: what’s happening in New York illustrates how easily people are led into the illusion that security should trump freedom. However, as past regimes illustrate, such security measures eventually become tools of terror against the citizens themselves.

Self-Guided Bullets

Precision guided ammunition has it roots going all the way back to World War II. The Germans were first to develop steerable munitions, using radio control or wire guidance. The U.S. tested TV-guided,semi-active radar-guided, and infrared-guided weapons. In 1962, the US Army began research into laser guidance systems and laser-guided weapons did not become commonplace until the advent of the microchip. They made their practical debut in Vietnam in 1972. The first large-scale use of smart weapons came in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm. Some of these "smart" weapons over the years have included bombs, missiles and rockets.

We all know about guided Tomahawk missiles and drones but now smart bullets are about ready for action as in the future U.S. military snipers might not have to worry about missing. Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico has nearly completed a self-guided bullet that aims to kill every time.

Each self-guided bullet is around 4 inches in length. At the tip is an optical sensor, that can detect a laser beam being shone on a far-off target. Actuators inside the bullet get intel from the bullet’s sensor, and then “steer tiny fins that guide the bullet to the target.” The bullet can self-correct its navigational path 30 times a second, all while flying more than twice the speed of sound.

Even with an ace marksman, researchers found that a typical unguided bullet  operating in real world conditions that might include crosswinds or changes in air density would miss a target that was a half-mile away. A guided bullet, however, could get within eight inches of that same target. While the current testing has focused on gun-lased targets, lasing could also be accomplished from one or more unmanned aerial vehicles.  Using  pre-flight range-finding information, a bullet's targeting algorithms could correct around a lased obstacle (say a tree), and be strung around to the next lased target. a researcher speaking to the BBC said that improved ground munitions would be extremely useful to troops, allowing them them not just to hit the bad guys better, but to avoid civilians. If you can be sure your bullet will go exactly where you’re aiming it, you can take the shot and not worry about a pocket of turbulent air nudging your bullet into the house next door.

Smart weapons will only keep evolving and the applications they are used for will keep growing as The Sandia engineers now hope to take the patented design and create a second-generation prototype, by collaborating with partners in the private sector. These four-inch bullets would likely be very expensive and require special hardware to fire, so they’ll be a specialty item for some time most likely.

Eyes in the Sky

In the near future you may start seeing drones over your head as all the pieces appear to be lining up for the eventual introduction of routine aerial surveillance in everyday life. Drones small enough to fly around your window or large enough to hover far above the earth, out of site but watching over miles of land will be used in a variety of ways from surveillance to marketing purposes. Police enthusiasm for military weaponry (and a drone industry salivating over a new market) is driving a rapid spread of domestic law enforcement drones, which are already being used by border agents. In February, the FAA was directed to lay out guidelines opening up airspace for commercial and civil drones by 2015, at the latest; the technology is likely to be embraced by property companies, paparazzi, and totally random people who want to spy on others. (There are also many positive uses, like helping track wildfires or oil spills.)

Would you feel observed, regardless of how or whether the information was actually used? Well I have found a list of spy technologies and surveillance programs, military and civilian, that can take to the air on drones within the next few years.

WiFi and phone hacking: The Wireless Aerial Surveillance Platform (WASP) can break into WiFi networks and hack cell phones. Plus, its antennas mimic cell phone towers, allowing the machine, allegedly, to tap into cell phone conversations and access text messages.

NYPD sensor that sees through clothes: The NYPD, which is not known for its cautious approach to the use of surveillance, announced recently that it was perfecting a sensor that uses radiation to reveal weapons hidden under a person's clothes. I could see them attaching these sensor to drones.

Biometrics: Advances in facial recognition, iris scans and other identifying biometric markers are speeding along, with both police departments and federal agencies. Biometrics like facial recognition (and eventually iris scans) are a natural fit for aerial vehicles, as camera zoom and image quality continue to improve. Meanwhile, government databases are collecting more biometric information from more people, making the technology increasingly useful as an identification and tracking tool. The logical outcome: a zoom lens on a drone could zero in and snap a picture that can be scanned and run through a number of databases.

Video analytics:
Private companies, government agencies and academic institutions are working to improve cameras that can hone in on specific objects or people, figure out location, or pick people out of a crowd.

Sense-through-the-wall (STTW) technology: For about a decade various branches of the military have been working to create sensors that can penetrate walls. DARPA's Visibuilding project is working on "surveillance capabilities to detect personnel within buildings, to determine building layouts, and to locate weapons caches and shielded enclosures within buildings.

These are just some of the uses for the drones that will be cluttering our airspace soon. How do you feel about drones being used more in the civilian sector? Safer? Regardless of what we may think or feel about them, the eye in the sky will be watching.

Laser Guided Lightning

Lightning is a fascinating but dangerous atmospheric phenomenon and for years people have experimented with its power in order to harness and control it. Lightning has already been triggered by launching lightning rockets carrying spools of wire into thunderstorms. The wire unwinds as the rocket ascends, providing a path for lightning. Imagine however if you could harness and control lightning with a laser and redirect it to strike the same place over and over! New research reveals that brief bursts of intense laser light can redirect these high-power electrical discharges.

In a series of new experiments, a French research team sent a laser beam skimming past a spherical electrode to an oppositely charged electrode. Using an experimental apparatus reminiscent of a classic Frankenstein movie, French researchers coaxed laboratory-generated lightning into striking the same place, not just twice, but over and over by using pulses of laser light to create a virtual lightning rod out of a column of ionized gas. This is the first time that these laser-induced atmospheric filaments were able to redirect an electrical discharge away from its intended target. Since lightning tends to follow the path of least resistance, it would preferentially strike the nearest object; in nature, that would be the tallest object. Without the laser, the discharge obeyed this rule and always struck the taller, pointed electrode. With the laser, however, the discharge was redirected, following the filaments instead. This occurred even after the initial path of the discharge began to form.

This is a major development for science and now we are that much closer to harnessing and controlling the power of lightning. Imagine the benefits of what targeted lightning could provide. What are some uses you can think of? Perhaps a benefit is to target lighting from storms to a specific location to prevent damage. Maybe all energy from the lightning could be targeted to a generator and used for power or charging stations. Let's take this deeper and suggest that maybe this harnessed lighting would be used by military forces as a potential weapon. Regardless of how it is used in the future, the potential and benefits of using harnessed lightning is unlimited. Are we one step closer to controlling nature? According to this story, it appears that we are...