Talking Barbies are ushering in a new era of mass surveillance

Blacklistednews
Source:  The Atlantic

One of my great pleasures in life is attending conferences on fields I’m intrigued by, but know nothing about. (A second pleasure is writing about these events.) So when my friend Kate Crawford invited me to a daylong “Listening Machine Summit,” I could hardly refuse.

What’s a listening machine? The example of everyone’s lips was Hello Barbie, a version of the impossibly proportioned doll that will listen to your child speak and respond in kind. Here’s how The Washington Post described the doll back in March: “At a recent New York toy fair, a Mattel representative introduced the newest version of Barbie by saying: ‘Welcome to New York, Barbie.’ The doll, named Hello Barbie, responded: ‘I love New York! Don’t you? Tell me, what’s your favorite part about the city? The food, fashion, or the sights?’

Barbie accomplishes this magic by recording your child’s question, uploading it to a speech recognition server, identifying a recognizable keyword (“New York”) and offering an appropriate synthesized response. The company behind Barbie’s newfound voice, ToyTalk, uses your child’s utterance to help tune their speech recognition, likely storing the voice file for future use.

And that’s the trick with listening systems. If you can imagine reasons why you might not want Mattel maintaining a record of things your child says while talking to his or her doll, you should be able to imagine the possible harms that could come from use—abuse or interrogation of other listening systems. (“Siri, this is the police. Give us the last hundred searches Mr. Zuckerman asked you to conduct on Google. Has he ever searched for bomb-making instructions?”)

Schools scanned students’ irises without permission

RT

Parents in Polk County, Florida are outraged after learning that students in area schools had their irises scanned as part of a new security program without obtaining proper permission.

Students at three facilities — an elementary school, a grade school and a high school — had their eyeballs scanned earlier this month as part of a ‘student safety’ pilot program being carried out by Stanley Convergent Security Solutions.

“It simply takes a picture of the iris, which is unique to every individual,” Rob Davis, the school board’s senior director of support services, wrote home to parents in a letter dated May 23. “With this program, we will be able to identify when and where a student gets on the bus, when they arrive at their school location, when and what bus the student boards and disembarks in the afternoon. This is an effort to further enhance the safety of our students.The EyeSwipe-Nano is an ideal replacement for the card based system since your child will not have to be responsible for carrying an identification card,” he added.

Parents at Daniel Jenkins Academy, Bephune Academy and the Davenport School of the Arts received the letter from the school board on May 24 informing them of the EyeSwipe-Nano program and that their child’s principal should be notified if they don’t want their son or daughter to participate.

But elsewhere in the letter, the board explained that the program would begin last Monday, May 20. By the time the letter was received on Friday, iris scans had already been completed at the three area schools without a single student opting out, Angel Clark wrote for The Examiner this week.

Because Memorial Day landed on May 27, parents were unable to receive confirmation from the school until this Tuesday, nearly one week after the scans began.

In the letter, Davis described the scanning as a safe and noninvasive way of collecting students’ biometric data as a way of ensuring the safety of pupils in the Polk County school district. Parents are appalled that they weren’t informed of the program ahead of time, though, and are calling it an invasion of privacy.

“It seems like they are mostly focused on this program, like the program was the problem. It's not, it's the invasion of my family's Constitutional right to privacy that is the problem, as well as the school allowing a private company access to my child without my consent or permission,” one concerned parent wrote in a Facebook post that has since been shared hundreds of times. “This is stolen information, and we cannot retrieve it.”

When the parent reached the school on Tuesday, she was told that the program was suspended.

Reporter Michelle Malkin caught up with Davis on Wednesday and he apologized for the board’s actions and confirmed that the data had been destroyed.

“Davis told me that ‘it is a mistake on our part’ that a notification letter to parents did not go out on May 17,” she wrote. “He blamed a secretary who had a ‘medical emergency.’”

Polks planned to install EyeSwipe-Nano units on 17 local school busses starting next year. The scandal comes just months after a high school student in Texas was suspended for refusing to wear an identification card to class.

Naked Citizens

YouTube

Increasing numbers of 'terror suspects' are being arrested on the basis of online and CCTV surveillance data. Authorities claim they act in the public interest, but does this intense surveillance keep us safer?

"I woke up to pounding on my door", says Andrej Holm, a sociologist from the Humboldt University. In what felt like a scene from a movie, he was taken from his Berlin home by armed men after a systematic monitoring of his academic research deemed him the probable leader of a militant group. After 30 days in solitary confinement, he was released without charges.

Across Western Europe and the USA, surveillance of civilians has become a major business. With one camera for every 14 people in London and drones being used by police to track individuals, the threat of living in a Big Brother state is becoming a reality.

At an annual conference of hackers, keynote speaker Jacob Appelbaum asserts, "to be free of suspicion is the most important right to be truly free". But with most people having a limited understanding of this world of cyber surveillance and how to protect ourselves, are our basic freedoms already being lost?

The 'Robocop' headset that lets police see through walls and identify suspects just by LOOKING at them

Daily Mail

A headset computer promises to give police officers and other emergency services Robocop-like abilities.

The Golden-i device, similar to the Glass project being developed by Google, offers the ability to see through walls thanks to infrared technology.

It is operated by voice commands and head movements and allows the wearer to access vital information without using their hands.

Golden-i has been developed by U.S. company Kopin Corporation, but software solutions tailored to police, firefighters and paramedics have been created by Nottinghamshire-based firm Ikanos Consulting.

It was shown off at the CES 2013 show in Las Vegas last month, although the firm says it is 'too early' to give a price.

It is set to be trialled this year, and could go on sale before Google's Glass project, which is a far more compact headset the search giant also plans to release this year. The Police Pro application provides real-time situational awareness in the field by allowing officers to record incidents for later analysis and view live video feeds from other Golden-i headsets.

The system can also identify suspects using facial recognition, receive alerts from motion sensors, scan licence plates instantly, monitor basic vital signs and call up floor plans and GPS coordinates.

The Firefighter Pro application allows firefighters to call up floor plans and GPS coordinates, see through walls using infrared technology, monitor crew and surroundings, navigate through unknown environments and provide on-site video streaming.

The Paramedic Pro application allows first responders and paramedics to share multiple video and data feeds over a private network, enabling critical information to be shared instantly across multiple devices, improving decision making and safety. They can also access medical records, stream live video, discuss options with associates and view maps or use GPS.

Office workers can also benefit from the technology with the Ikanos-created Lifeboard application. This system enables you to customise up to 6 different screens to meet personal working preferences and manage your day.

The Golden-i unit features an inertially stabilised 14-megapixel camera with optional infrared camera for thermal and night vision.

A 1080 HD detachable camera for recording or sending real-time video can also be added.

Selected Golden-i devices come pre-loaded with a set of core Gi-OS applications, including E-mail Center, Ask Ziggy, Web Browser and File Explorer. The Golden-i platform will continue to evolve as the developer community works together to build voice-controlled augmented reality applications for Golden-i. The Golden-i hardware and software developer kit is expected be released by the summer, while a consumer version is slated for later in the year.

Scoop the nuts

Mentally ill roundup plan after train pushes
by JAMIE SCHRAM and LARRY CELONA

The city is making a major push to sweep the streets of dangerous, mentally ill New Yorkers — and has even compiled a most-wanted list, The Post has learned.

The measure follows a pair of high-profile subway-shove fatalities from December allegedly involving mentally ill individuals.

The city has already drawn up a list of 25 targets, sources said.

“After the Queens subway attack [of immigrant Sunando Sen], the [city] decided to take a proactive approach to track down the most dangerous mental-health patients that currently have mental-hygiene warrants” out for them, a law-enforcement source said.

Those warrants mean that the patients are not wanted for a crime but instead are being sought because they are not getting their court-ordered treatment.

There are a handful of cops assigned to the detail, which began working in the past few weeks, the source said.

Cops in the NYPD’s Real Time Crime Center are using high-tech methods to first track down the individuals, and detectives on the street have been assigned to then go after them and take them to hospitals, law-enforcement sources said.

In the past, the city Department of Health would ask cops for help finding mentally ill people who aren’t taking their court-mandated meds so they could be taken to clinics. But that only applied to those who had known addresses — and patients who went off the grid were rarely pursued, the sources said.

The city is now concerned it could be liable if one of those people goes off the rails and hurts someone — or themselves, the sources said.

And that’s prompted the Health Department to seek more help from the NYPD. These patients could, of course, be dangerous, health officials noted.

Now, “you have a family member who goes to the Department of Health and gives them the information. Then they go to the Police Department, and together, the DOH person and the police go out and try to track down these people,” said a city official. “They’re just trying to get these people help.”

“All of these patients are receiving treatment for mental-health conditions,” said Department of Health spokesman Sam Miller. “If they do not receive sustained treatment . . . they could pose some risk to themselves, family members or others.”

But tracking them down won’t be easy. “There’s no rhyme or reason to their craziness,” said a law-enforcement source.

“You might find yourself looking all over the place for one of these kooks who rides the subway back and forth.”Such craziness includes homeless man Naeem Davis’ alleged Dec. 3 fatal subway push of a Queens father — Davis has claimed voices guided his deadly act — and the horrifying shove of Sen allegedly by accused Muslim-hating maniac Erika Menendez.

Menendez told The Post in a rambling jailhouse interview that she likely would not have killed the hard-working man had she smoked weed that day — she uses it to self-medicate for bipolar disorder.

She also has allegedly told authorities that she killed Sen, a Hindu, because of 9/11 — not because so many people died, but because of the destruction of the buildings.

She has been found fit to stand trial.

Student expelled for refusing to wear RFID tracking chip badge

ZDNet

After a student protested a pilot RFID tracking system in San Antonio, lawyers are now moving to stop expulsion.

John Jay High School sophomore Andrea Hernandez was expelled from her high school after protesting against a new pilot program which tracks the precise location of all attending 4,200 students at Anson Jones Middle School and John Jay High School, according to Infowars.

Under the "Smart ID" program, ID badges have been issued with a tracking chip, which students must wear when attending school. The school badges, worn like a necklace, contain a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip and links to their social security number. This allows the school to track the student's location after leaving campus and for as long as the badge is on the student's person.

The scheme is now in full swing and all students must wear it, according to a letter sent by the school district to the student's parents and made public. The notice says:

"This "smart" ID card will transmit location information of students to electronic readers which are installed throughout the campus. This is so that we always know where the students are in the building.

After all, parents, you expect school staff to always know where your children are during the school day." However, Hernandez continually refused to wear the ID badge -- which led to the school's administration offering a deal. She would be allowed to comply by wearing a badge that had the chip removed.

If the student accepted these terms, then her location would be untraceable, although the badge's barcode would still remain as an identifier. However, this would also still seem like she was complying with the project simply by wearing the badge, and so Hernandez refused. The result? Expulsion.

Civil liberties lawyers at the Rutherford Institute have told Infowars that in retaliation to the expulsion order, they are going to file a temporary restraining order petition to prevent the school from forcing Hernandez to attend another school.

"What we're teaching kids is that they live in a total surveillance state and if they do not comply, they will be punished," John Whitehead, Rutherford founder said. "There has to be a point at which schools have to show valid reasons why they're doing this."

Schools are often within their rights to expel students who refuse to conform to dress codes, which makes the student's reasons for not adhering to a non-chipped badge less effective. However, the student -- backed by her parents -- refused to wear the RFID-chipped accessory to due to a "violation of religious beliefs" and privacy infringement, which is something other parents and students are beginning to take a stand for.

Some students are objecting to the chips, and at another pilot school using the technology -- Anson Jones -- some parents "are taking out their kids, because they said, 'we don’t want to be part of this,'. That’s what they’ve reduced our children to -- inventory." Mr. Hernandez told the AFP.

In addition, activists from We Are Change/San Antonio and We Are Change/Texas Hill Country have helped the student's parents gain over 700 signatures to show there is opposition to the tracking technology.

In another new development, according to the AFP, two new bills filed in Austin, H.B. 101 and H.B. 102, would control the use of RFID in education statewide. The first would ban the use of RFID technology in school districts across Texas, and the second would allow it, as long as there is an opt-out program without detrimental consequences for the student.

Police Chief Uses Unique Method To Control Homeless Population

CBS Sacramento

NEVADA CITY (CBS13) – A police chief says he’s found a one-of-a-kind way to manage a growing problem in his city, and it’s putting the homeless on the hot seat.

A new law would give Nevada City the power to hand out permits to a small group of homeless, which would give them permission to sleep in public. While the new ordinance would give some homeless a place to stay, it would tell others, mostly the troublemakers and the criminals, to stay away.

“I come down here every fall,” said Bob Barton, who chooses to be homeless in Nevada City.

For Barton, the new ordinance that would essentially identify law-abiding homeless and reward them is music to his ears.

“The goal is to start managing the homeless population within our city,” said Chief James Wickham.

Wickham asked council members to pass a no-camping ordinance.

“It just basically means you can’t set up a tent. You can’t live in your vehicle. You can’t live in the woods in Nevada City,” he said.

That is unless you have a permit.

The chief says his program is one of a kind, making only a select few of the city’s homeless population an exception to the law, like William Peach.

“There’s some of us out there like me who try to blend in with the community,” said Peach.

However, others who come to Nevada City to commit crimes or with a criminal history won’t be so lucky.

“Those are the ones we really don’t want in our city and that we’re trying to keep from camping in our city,” said Wickham.

“We’ve seen a huge upsurge in homeless people,” Teresa Mann said.

Mann, who owns a business in downtown, says it’s about time. And so do the homeless who stay out of trouble and want trouble to stay away.

“If they’re homeless and heartless, hey, we got a place for them,” said James, who is homeless. “It’s called county jail.”

For now, the police chief will give out about six to 10 permits. He’ll check back in six months to see if the program is working. If it is, that’s when he says he’ll give out more.

Wickham says he’s identified at least 60 homeless in his community, and 500 homeless countywide.

How-To Fool Facial Recognition Tracking Systems

Higgins Blog
Here’s a predicament: you don’t want the government using high-tech face scanning technology to track every inch of your walk to the post office, but you also don’t want to take a sledgehammer to your neighborhood surveillance camera. What do you do?

Don’t worry, concerned citizen! Big Brother may indeed be watching, but that doesn’t mean you have to make his unwarranted surveillance mission easy to operate.

Although little news has developed as of late in regards to TrapWire, a global surveillance operation that RT blew the cover off of nearly two weeks ago, opposition waged at the world-wide intelligence network is still rampant. Now in one of the newest videos uploaded to the Web to make people aware of TrapWire, a person claiming to be involved with Anonymous is trying to spread a YouTube clip that offers helpful suggestions on how to rage against the machine, properly and peacefully.

Last week, hacktivists proposed several campaigns aimed at eliminating TrapWire feeds by rendering the equipment thought to be linked to the intelligence system completely useless. In lieu of smashing camera lenses and spraying surveillance gear in sudsy liquid, though, a new video, “Anonymous – Fighting TrapWire,” offers instructions on how to prevent the acceleration of the surveillance state by means of passive resistant.

“Many of you have heard the recent stories about TrapWire,” the video begins. “Constant video surveillance is an issue we presently face. However, there are a number of ways that you can combat this surveillance.”

From there, the clip’s narrator offers a few suggestions and helping the average American avoid getting caught in TrapWire without resorting to the destruction of property.

“Wearing a mask is a common way to keep your identity hidden,” the voice explains, “However, a mask does not protect against biometric authentication. In addition, this can also cause problems depending where you want to go.”

“Another way to avoid facial recognition is to tilt your head more than 15 degrees to the side,” the clip continues. “Due to limits in their programming, they will not be able to detect that a face is present, though there are very obvious cons to doing this. Using a similar method, you can distort your face through elaborate makeup. This method also takes advantage of software limits as the computer will not be able to detect a face. But these are tiresome ways that tend to draw attention to yourself. Surely there are better solutions to avoid being added to a database.”

The narrator also explains that laser pointers have been documented to disrupt the powers of surveillance cameras and that, “With nothing more than a hat, some infrared LEDs, some wiring and a 9 Volt battery,” it’s a piece of cake to render oneself completely invisible. By rigging a DIY system of small lights affixed to a baseball cap, the video claims you can create a device that “guarantees complete anonymity to cameras while appearing perfectly normal to the rest of the world.”

“While the government may be hell bent on watching us at every moment of every day, we are not helpless. There are always ways of fighting back. Let’s remind them that 1984 was not an instruction manual,” the video concludes.

Proof Smart Meters Are Being Used to Spy On Us

Globalist Report
by Andrew Puhanic

IF you have ever wondered if your smart meter is being used to spy on you, well now there is proof that governments and private organisations are using data collected from smart meters to spy on you.

Information about power usage, which can be used to identify when a home is being occupied, is being shared with third parties of which includes government agencies, private organisations and off-shore data processing centres.

This unethical breach of privacy was discovered on the website of one of Australia’s largest electricity retailer, Origin Energy.

Electricity customers, who sign up for an online service that provides the account holder with detailed information about their electricity usage, are unwillingly agreeing to share their private information with third parties.

A 496 word Privacy/Consent policy form explicitly states that customers who wish to sign up for the service that provides them with information about their electricity usage, must agree that the following organisations have access to their private data:

Government authorities
Electricity installers
Mail houses
Data processing analysts
IT service providers
Smart energy technology providers
Debt collection agencies
Credit reporting agencies

A spokesperson for the electricity company (Origin Energy) responsible for this revelation was recently quoted as saying “the additional information requested about each household adds to the richness of the Origin Smart experience” (Source: The Age).

One private organisation that is being given personal information of Origin Energy customers is Tendril, a self-described consumer engagement application and services provider and an organisation that believes smart grids can help fight climate change.

Alarmingly, Tendril’s own website doesn’t explicitly state how it uses data gathered by its clients and for what purposes the data can and cannot be used for.

What implication this has for Australian residents is unknown.

There has been an overwhelming opposition to the roll-out and installation of smart meters around the world.

Smart Meter opt-out coalitions are present in almost all major municipalities that have smart meters present. Unfortunately, in many municipalities an opt-put option is not available.

The author (Andrew Puhanic) was forced to have a smart meter installed on his property, with the only notice given about the installation being a letter informing the ‘month’ that the smart meter would be installed.

The greatest concern with smart meter data being shared with third parties is the fact that the third-party organisation could easily identify (over time) a pattern of when you do and do not use electricity.

This information could fall into the wrong hands and could be used to determine when your home is un-occupied.

In Australia, the erosion of privacy was escalated further by a new proposal to force internet and telephone companies to retain customer records for more than two years. For more information about this proposal, click here.

Households that are forced to have smart meters installed must be assured that the information their electricity company collects is not shared with third parties.

Ultimately, smart meters are designed to collect information about household electricity usage and now there is proof that electricity companies are openly sharing information collected by smart meters.

So what happens when a tyrannical government or criminal has access to your electricity usage records?

UPDATE:

We ran a poll and asked “Should governments give home owners an option to opt-out from having a smart meter installed?”

We received over 125 votes and the result was 100% in favour of governments giving home owners an option to opt-out from having a smart meter installed.

In Melbourne Australia, we’ve just discovered that all smart meters will be turned on soon and home owners will be given a choice to either be charged on a 2-tier tariff or a higher priced 1-tier tariff system. So what does this mean? Well, what it is mean is that If you want to save money on your electricity bill, then you will be forced to do all your washing and power intensive activities between the hours of 2am and 8am. I wonder how many parents (like myself), elderly and shift workers will take to this announcement.

US military surveillance future: Drones now come in swarms?

RT

A small insect or a mosquito over your ear may now be much more than simply annoying. Those could easily be micro drones which now come in a swarm of bug-sized flying spies.

In an effort to create a hard-to-detect surveillance drone that will operate with little or no direct human supervision in out of the way and adverse environments, researchers are mimicking nature.

The University of Pennsylvania GRASP Lab showed off a network of 20 nano-quad rotors capable of agile flight, which could swarm and navigate in an environment with obstacles.

This is another step away from bulky heavily armed aerial vehicles or humanoid robots to a much smaller level of tiny remote-control devices. While current drones lack manoeuvrability, can’t hover and move fast enough, these new devices will be able to land precisely and fly off again at speed. One day the military hope they may prove a crucial tactical advantage in wars and could even save lives in disasters. They can also be helpful inside caves and barricaded rooms to send back real-time intelligence about the people and weapons inside.

A report in NetworkWorld online news suggests the research is based on the mechanics of insects, which potentially can be reverse-engineered to design midget machines to scout battlefields and search for victims trapped in rubble.

In an attempt to create such a device, scientists have turned to flying creatures long ago, examining their perfect conditions for flight, which have evolved over millions of years.

Zoologist Richard Bomphrey has told the British Daily Mail newspaper he has conducted research to generate new insight into how insect wings have evolved over the last 350 million years.

“By learning those lessons, our findings will make it possible to aerodynamically engineer a new breed of surveillance vehicles that, because they are as small as insects and also fly like them, completely blend into their surroundings," the newspaper quotes him as saying.

The US Department of Defense has turned its attention to miniature drones, or micro air vehicles long ago.

As early as in 2007 the US government was accused of secretly developing robotic insect spies when anti-war protesters in the US saw some flying objects similar to dragonflies or little helicopters hovering above them. No government agency has admitted to developing insect-size spy drones though some official and private organizations have admitted that they were trying.

In 2008, the US Air Force showed off bug-sized spies as "tiny as bumblebees" that would not be detected when flying into buildings to "photograph, record, and even attack insurgents and terrorists."

The same year US government's military research agency (DARPA) conducted a symposium discussing 'bugs, bots, borgs and bio-weapons.'

Around the same time the so-called Ornithopter flying machine based on Leonardo Da Vinci’s designs was unveiled and claimed they would be ready for roll out by 2015

Lockheed Martin's Intelligent Robotics Laboratories unveiled "maple-seed-like" drones called Samarai that also mimic nature. US troops could throw them like a boomerang to see real-time images of what's around the next corner.

The US is not alone in miniaturizing drones that imitate nature: France, the Netherlands and Israel are also developing similar devices.

Big Brother talks back – Is 1984 here?

Russia Today

(RussiaToday) – The city of Chicago is the most watched city in the U.S., with a network of tens of thousands of security cameras. But Big Brother won’t stop at that — new street lights with a twist about to be put in place in Chicago and several other cities — are able to speak to people, as well as record conversations. RT’s Anastasia Churkina reports.

The Genetic Social Network: Facebook has your Personal Information; Now Google wants your DNA

Old-Thinker News
By Daniel Taylor

Facebook has amassed a gigantic database of human intelligence from its millions of users. This information has been used by police in the arrest of suspects, and is milked by marketers. What if a similar system gathered genetic information?

In 2005 it was revealed in a book called The Google Story that Dr. Craig Venter, known for his creation of synthetic lifeforms, was in discussions with Larry Page and Sergey Brin [founders of Google] to:

“…generate a gene catalogue to characterize all the genes on the planet and understand their evolutionary development. Geneticists have wanted to do this for generations… Google will build up a genetic database, analyze it, and find meaningful correlations for individuals and populations.”

Google has been funding a program to do just that called 23 and me. In 2006 the organization was co-founded by Anne Wojcicki, the wife of Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google.

Will the general public be acclimated to share their genetic information online as they were with Facebook to share personal information? Facebook has altered the public perception of privacy. As Time magazine reported in 2010, “The willingness of Facebook’s users to share and overshare — from descriptions of our bouts of food poisoning (gross) to our uncensored feelings about our bosses (not advisable) — is critical to its success.”

A recent article from Discover magazine pointed out that:

“Many researchers believe that personal genomics will really not hit the biomedical sweet spot until you have on the order of a million people sequenced. But even then in the American system how to get a hold of all that information is going to be problematic, since it will likely be decentralized.”

What this article fails to point out is that it has become known that the DNA of newborns has been secretly collected in America for decades. Samples have even been provided to U.S. Military labs. Also present in this issue is the prospect of who own the copyright your DNA.

If the government already has a database of millions of people’s DNA, what function could an organization like 23 and me fulfill?

Managing public perception is perhaps where the answer can be found. Having your DNA in a database to share with your friends in a familiar social network setting is a good way to introduce the masses to the idea. Also, Google is an extension of government agencies. As Facebook has proven, it is much easier to have the general public willingly volunteer their personal information.

The Yale Scientific Magazine announced earlier this month that with the 23 and me genetic social network, “…it is easier than ever for people to find out their genetic risks for diseases, as well as connect with others who share parts of their genome.” It remains to be seen whether 23 and me will become a widespread success like Facebook, but it certainly has a powerful backing. As of last year, 23 and me reached 125,000 users who have submitted gene samples.

Google founder Larry Page met with Craig Venter in California at the Edge billionaires meeting in 2010. Also present were representatives from the State department, Bill Gates, Anne Wojcicki, Bill Joy and dozens of other tech company CEO’s and scientists.

The Edge billionaire meetings have discussed the future of genetic engineering, biocomputation and re-designing humanity. Physicist Freeman Dyson described the individuals leading this group as having god-like power to create entirely new species on earth in a “New Age of Wonder”. He describes them as:

“…a new generation of artists, writing genomes as fluently as Blake and Byron wrote verses, might create an abundance of new flowers and fruit and trees and birds to enrich the ecology of our planet.”

The technological elite are engaged in a mission to attain full spectrum dominance over life and its complex processes, and in the process re-write the genetic code of the planet. The harvest of your genetic information brings this vision a step closer to reality.

‘Big brother’ lamp posts can hear, see and bark ‘Obey!’ at you

Libertarian Review

America welcomes a new brand of smart street lightning systems: energy-efficient, long-lasting, complete with LED screens to show ads. They can also spy on citizens in a way George Orwell would not have imagined in his worst nightmare. With a price tag of $3,000+ apiece, according to an ABC report, the street lights are now being rolled out in Detroit, Chicago and Pittsburgh, and may soon mushroom all across the country.

Part of the Intellistreets systems made by the company Illuminating Concepts, they have a number of “homeland security applications” attached.

Each has a microprocessor “essentially similar to an iPhone,” capable of wireless communication. Each can capture images and count people for the police through a digital camera, record conversations of passers-by and even give voice commands thanks to a built-in speaker.

Ron Harwood, president and founder of Illuminating Concepts, says he eyed the creation of such a system after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the Hurricane Katrina disaster. He is “working with Homeland Security” to deliver his dream of making people “more informed and safer.”

Powerful Senators Demand Giant Spy Blimp

Wired

The massive Blue Devil airship, next to an 18-wheeler truck. Photo: Mav6

It’s a story so convoluted, only Washington could serve it up. Eighteen months ago, the Pentagon’s chief ordered the Air Force to start building a king-sized blimp that could spy on whole Afghan villages at once. That blimp is almost ready for flight testing. But the Air Force doesn’t want to deploy the thing, for reasons both sensible and not. So now a pair of influential senators are demanding that the Air Force send the blimp to the skies above the warzone.

“We believe it would be a significant failure to stop work and not deploy this much needed platform to Afghanistan,” Senators Thad Cochran and Daniel Ionuye complain in a Feb. 14 letter to Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter (.pdf), obtained by Danger Room.

Just two small problems. These senators, though powerful, are pretty famous on Capitol Hill for backing some rather wacky and useless projects. Oh, and there’s a second giant spy blimp that is also scheduled for a flight test soon, and also promised to the generals in Afghanistan.

The airship that’s attracted the senators’ attention is known as Blue Devil Block 2. At 370 feet long and 1.4 million cubic feet fat, it is one of the largest blimps built in this country since World War II. All that size allows it to stay in the air for days at a time at 20,000 feet. And it enables the airship to carry an enormous array of cameras and eavesdropping gear — enough to keep tabs on at least four square kilometers at a time. No other singular eye in the sky could track insurgents for so far around.

Homeland Security: Pretty Much All Bodily Movement is an Indicator of Potential Terrorism

by Madison Ruppert
Intel Hub, Mar. 21, 2012

If you thought the criteria for suspicious activity in terms of potential terrorism couldn’t get any more broad and ludicrous, prepare to be taken aback.

The culture of citizen spying and pervasive paranoia in the United States is getting to the point of patent absurdity, yet somehow many American nonsensically seem to continue to treat it as gospel.

According to a document entitled “Terrorism Awareness and Prevention: Participant Guide” distributed by the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security Preparedness (which you can see embedded below), almost every single action should be treated as suspicious.

These include glances, wide open eyes, cold penetrating stares, trance-like gazes, exaggerated yawning when engaged in conversation, protruding or beating neck arteries, repetitive touching of face, tugging on or covering ears, increased breathing rate, panting, excessive fidgeting, clock watching, head turning, pacing or jumpiness, trembling, unusual perspiration, goose bumps, and/or rigid posture with minimal body movements and arms close to sides.

In other words, if you’re late for something or in a rush (“excessive fidgeting, clock watching”), you might be a terrorist. If you’ve been exercising (“increased breathing rate, panting,” “protruding or beating neck arteries”), you might be a terrorist.

On the other hand, if you’re tired (“trance-like gaze,” “exaggerated yawning”) you also might be a terrorist. Yet, if you’re energetic or perhaps drank too much coffee (“wide open ‘flashbulb eyes,’” “pacing or jumpy,” “trembling,” “unusual perspiration,” “excessive fidgeting”), you might also be a terrorist.

You’d better not be too energetic, too tired, in a rush, plagued by a wide range of medical conditions, returning from exercise, or generally display almost any bodily behaviors as someone might consider you a suspicious person and report you for possible terrorist activity.

But it doesn’t stop there! Other suspicious activities when it comes to vehicles are “unusual behavior,” which is undefined and could mean just about anything, “signs of fear or stress,” or “refusal or disregard of directions.” It gets even more insane when they go over signs which make a vehicle itself suspicious. These include, “Unusual items clearly visible inside or attached to the outside [of the vehicle],” “stopped or parked in strange or out-of-place locations,” “parked close to agency assets such as terminals, rail lines and bridges,” “missing or altered license plates,” “visibly overloaded or sagging.” This means that the ultimate potential terrorist might be someone who has a brand new truck with temporary tags overloaded with paint removal equipment or anything else “unusual” or with an off-road driving kit on the outside who happens to be stopped in an “out-of-place” location, perhaps in order to go hiking, or maybe parked near a bridge, perhaps to remove graffiti.

Keep in mind that I – and I’m sure most other thinking people – could come up with hundreds of different situations that fit all of the above criteria yet are wholly innocuous. Also, any “unexpected mail from a foreign country” should be treated as suspicious, along with any packages with restrictive markings like “personal or confidential” and anything which is “poorly printed” with “excessive tape or string” and “misspelled names,” among other laughable indicators of suspiciousness.

Continuing on with some ridiculous examples of “suspicious activity” are people who are “drawing or taking pictures in areas not normally of interest,” “taking notes or annotating maps,” or even just “sitting in a parked vehicle.” Some choice tools used by terrorists for surveillance, according to the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security, are: “Cameras – video, still or panoramic,” “laptop computers or PDA’s (Personal Data Assistants),” “diagrams or maps,” “binoculars or other vision-enhancing devices,” and “GPS (Global Positioning System) Devices.”

Apparently, the government even considers “Staring or quickly looking away from personnel” and “Vehicles entering parking areas or leaving designated facilities” to be indicators of possible terrorist activity. The document encourages people to report everything they see and they make a point of emphasizing that, “Staying alert is NOT paranoia.”

Contrary to all of the information they give previously, they claim, “No one is asking for block wardens who log every activity in their neighborhood or workplace. No one wants you to spy on people. This isn’t about informing on ‘disloyal’ Americans or people who are ‘different’ or don’t fit in.” That is, of course, unless you display any of the massive list of behaviors which marks you as a possible terrorist.

Hilariously, they even claim that if a UPS truck drives down a street three times during the holidays and they have several delivery trucks making different deliveries, it might be a terrorist. They cite Timothy McVeigh who allegedly rented a truck to carry out the Oklahoma City bombing, even though McVeigh’s vehicle was allegedly a rented Ryder truck, not a UPS truck which is not available for public rental.

So, if you’re lost or trying to find a parking spot in a truck, you’d better be aware of the fact that someone might report you as a potential terrorist. With this culture of voluntary surveillance expanding into the world of smartphones, it will only be easier for the government to encourage people to report any and all activity as suspicious and potential indicators of terrorism. If you come across similarly ludicrous guidelines and recommendations, please do not hesitate to send them my way so I can cover them.

This article originally appeared on End the Lie

Enhanced Driver’s Licenses can be Scanned by up to 30 Feet

HotBed Info

An episode on Global TV aired Sunday, January 25, 2011 about the dangers of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips found in Enhanced Driver’s Licenses, Passports, and Credit Cards.  The episode showed how anyone can put together simple electronics found online for a few dollars to grab your detailed information from as far as 30 feet away!

What is an enhanced driver’s license?

They are dual-purpose documents designed for the user’s convenience. In addition to serving as a typical driver’s license or ID card, they may be used to re-enter the U.S. at its land or sea ports when returning from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda or the Caribbean. This flexibility speeds your passage back across the border. They verify your identity and citizenship – no other proof is needed. Enhanced driver’s licenses and ID cards are among the federally approved border-crossing documents when entering the U.S. required under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.






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Air Force developing tiny drones disguised as birds, bugs

Wired
Jonathon Terbush

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Actually, it’s sort of both.

As Wired’s Spencer Ackerman reported Tuesday, the Air Force is working on a new line of miniature espionage drones designed to look — and move — like birds, bugs, and other flying creatures.

At a “micro-aviary” at  Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, researchers are testing models based on critters as small as hummingbirds and dragonflies. Using motion capture sensors, they’re are able to track vehicles’ movements within a tenth of an inch, according to Greg Parker, one of the lab’s researchers.

By charting those minute movements, they then hope to design, “very, very small flapping-wing vehicles” that could easily pass for the real life creatures, making them invaluable spy tools.
Check out the video from the Air Force Research Laboratory below:

Beyond Surveillance: Darpa Wants a Thinking Camera

Wired
By Spencer Ackerman

It’s tough being an imagery analyst for the U.S. military: you’re drowning in pictures and drone video, with more pouring in endlessly from the tons of sensors and cameras used on planes, ships and satellites. Sifting through it to find roadside bombs or missile components is a time-consuming challenge. That’s why the Pentagon’s blue sky research arm figures that cameras ought to be able to filter out useless information themselves — so you don’t have to.

Darpa announced yesterday that it’s moving forward in earnest with a program to endow cameras with “visual intelligence.” That’s the ability to process information from visual cues, contextualize its significance, and learn what other visual data is necessary to answer some pre-existing question. Visual-intelligence algorithms are already out there. They can read license plates in traffic or recognized faces (in limited, brighly-lit circumstances). But the programs are still relatively dumb; they simply help collate data that analysts have to go through. Darpa’s program, called Mind’s Eye, seeks to get humans out of the picture. If it works, it could change the world of surveillance overnight.

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Mobile Surveillance Towers coming to a town near you. Surveillance society.

These are cropping up in Walmart and Target parking lots. Future prison yards?