Clone Wars category archive
Droning On, No Place To Hide Dept. 0
In the Inky, Margaret Kaminsky wonders whether you can protect your droning from their droning.
The “right to record” is not firmly established; nor is it clear how broad this right might be. So far, the “right to record” has been used by courts to protect people who record public officials acting in public, as a matter of public interest.
It is not clear if the “right to record” can be used to successfully challenge privacy laws that protect private spaces, or private citizens. But several older cases suggest that a person appearing in a public space cannot prevent another person from taking a photograph of them.
Regardless of what courts may find, I expect we can expect to have the eaves dropped on us with regularity. Pretty soon, there will be no cone of silence.
Droning On 0
Expect more like this:
It drove right into Patrick Lewis and two of his friends sitting in the stands.
(snip)
Virginia Beach film maker, Scott Hansen, owns the drone involved in the crash. He says he loaned it out to a pilot covering the event that day. And he says pilot error led to one of the batteries dying, causing it to crash.
Wonder how long it will take for “DUI” to stand for “droning under the influence”?
And don’t get me started on the stupid, dangerous, and cruel faux running of the bulls.
The Surveillance Failed State 0
Writing in Lebanon’s Daily Star, former CIA officer and author Robert Baer opines that we have been sold a bill of goods about the effectiveness of vacuum-cleaner surveillance. In the process, he demolishes the claims of success that are commonly used by the surveillance cadre to trumpet their effectiveness.
My suspicion throughout has been that
- they surveil because they can;
- because they can, they want to;
- because they want to, they need a cover story;
- because they need a cover story, “surveillance works”;
- because “surveillance works,” they can;
- because they can, they want to . . . .
It’s the best catch there is.
A nugget from the article. Consider the rest your weekend assignment.
It’s the Data, Stupid 2
Interviewed on Radio Times, writer Mark Bowden says that what distinguishes today’s drones from yesterday’s model airplanes is not radio-controlled flight; it’s the data pipe.
From the website:
Follow the link to listen.
Whether or not you agree with some of his opinions, if you care about robotic death raining from the sky, you will find the discussion worth your while.
The Surveillance State 0
Bob Cesca points out something that this morning’s headlines about NSA snooping seem to have overlooked.
I mention this not because I’m a big fan of the vacuum-cleaner style “surveillance” instituted under President George the Worst, but because I am not at all a fan of having the vapors over something that anyone who has been paying attention has known about for a decade:
More importantly, this was an internal audit, which means… oversight!
Oh. You say you haven’t been paying attention . . . . Never mind.
Also, see DD’s Law.
Droning On 7
Dan Simpson, writing at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, suggests that uniformed gamers’ raining robotic death from the skies may not be working out quite as intended.
He clutches at his pearls a bit about the recent temporary embassy closings in parts of the Middle East, but, on the whole, his column is worth a look.
Droning On 0
Drones for peace! Drones for industry! (With apologies to The Firesign Theatre.)
Noz is rightly skeptical.
More skepticism at the link.
Homefront 2
At Asia Times, Peter van Buren is not optimistic about happenings in the US, anticipating a security dystopia
Consider, for instance, the rise of the warrior cop, of increasingly armored-up police departments across the country often filled with former military personnel encouraged to use the sort of rough tactics they once wielded in combat zones. Supporting them are the kinds of weaponry that once would have been inconceivable in police departments, including armored vehicles, typically bought with Department of Homeland Security grants.
Droning On: By Their Own Words Ye Shall Know Them Dept. 0
The Guardian reports on a GI gamer who rained robotic death from the skies when he answered the call of duty:
The remarkable insight into the working life of one of the most modern of military operatives is provided in a 30-minute film that will be shown at the Imperial War Museum in London from Monday, the first in a new programme of exhibitions under the title IWM Contemporary.
Droning On in Florida 0
The item doesn’t answer the overriding question in the public mind:
-
In Florida, huh! How long had the left blinker been on?
Video of smoke at a distance at the link.
Droning On 0
The handwritings on the wall–er–train.
The new drone, outfitted with an infrared camera and the company’s red and white logo, will use GPS to document the times and places where vandals are observed, making it easier to prosecute offenders. Flying at an altitude of some 150 meters (492 feet), it will be able to keep watch for more than 80 minutes at a time, quietly whizzing through the sky at up to 54 kilometers (33 miles) per hour. It can also be put on autopilot function for stretches as long as 40 kilometers, the paper said.
A Drone By Any Other Name . . . 0
. . . is something entirely other. The ACLU reports:
More linguistic magic tricks at the link.