December 2009
53 posts
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Smart CCTV learns to spot suspicious types →
Samurai is designed to issue alerts when it detects behaviour that differs from the norm, and adjusts its reasoning based on feedback. So an operator might reassure the system that the person with a mop appearing to loiter in a busy thoroughfare is no threat. When another person with a mop exhibits similar behaviour, it will remember that this is not a situation that needs flagging up.
Obviously,...
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“This has long been the nightmare scenario within Pentagon cybersecurity circles:...”
– On the topic of Insurgents Intercepting Drone Video
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“Meanwhile, law enforcement and the intelligence community don’t want faces...”
– Paul Spinrad guestblogging on Boing Boing on the topic of how pervasive surveillance could change society.
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RFID Chips can be uniquely identified with radio... →
… automatic surveillance here we come! An information system where you at any time know where exactly everything produced in the world are (via Eclipse Phase)
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Pimp My Gun →
Flash tool to design your own weapon! Let’s hope next version can send the design to a 3D printer ;)
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Fear detector to find terorrists →
The future airport, where border patrols use fear detectors (and subqequently, terrorists are remote controlled or just robots).
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Murderer now celebrity (Issei Sagawa) →
Japanese man kills and eats Dutch student, is arrested, sent to Japan, released on technicalities and is now making a living as a semi-celebrity. At some point, murder is just another way to get famous. (via Dark Roasted Blend)
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Defensetech: Invididual Shot Detection Systems →
A system that detects direction and distance of incoming fire. Won’t save you from the first bullet, but perhaps from the next. We need to re-imagine future gunfights to be a battle of sensors, not a battle of guns.
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Perfume made from dead celebrities' DNA →
I believe the next step would be cosmetics made with fat and tissue from cloned parts of dead celebrities. Want to up that ante?
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Climate warming to spur a new "cold" war? →
Consider this when building future geopolitics: how can action against global warming, or lack of action, create wars? (via @warrenellis)
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“When the tech behind Avatar is commonplace, most movies will have virtual...”
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“The potential drone vulnerability lies in an unencrypted downlink between the...”
– Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones - WSJ.com (via quietbabylon)
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Eradicate cruelty: “reprogram” predators →
I find it highly post-cyberpunky (and dystopic) to have a world where cruelty and predatorial instincts have been genetically removed from all animals (does that include humans?). Welcome to the lion petting zoo!
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Latest weapons tech from Milipol exhibition →
There is stuff here I have not yet seen in cyberpunk games - time for us writers to start visiting Milipol? The Gizmodo article includes gadgets such as “less-lethal pistol”, riot control robot, mini drug-tester and supersticky gloves!
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Economics Of The Singularity →
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Racing on Carbon Fiber Legs: How Abled Should We... →
An interesting read from Gizmodo’s theme This Cyborg Life. Amputee and proto-cyborg Aimee Mullins brings a number of interesting things to the table, such as:
- In swimming, is it cheating to reduce breast size for faster times?
- The famoust story how carbon fiber legs were rejected for the olympics
- The fact that Tiger Woods depend heavily on two LASIK surgeries giving him best...
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Long-range Taser →
Maybe we will have whole wars fought with “non-lethal” weapons in the future? (via Gizmodo)
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Open Source Sentry Gun →
DIY guide to building your own sentry gun. Time to include this in the standard street gear kit for even the poorest cyberpunker (via Gizmodo)
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Emotionl-detection bracelet to stop bankers from... →
A well meaning suggested invention from Philips and ABN-Amro, but also a key technology for any megacorp wanting to keep emotions out of the equation: send a signal to the Emotional Stability department whenever an employee becomes emotional, dispatch therapists and cut off employees access rights for a “cool down” period. Sounds nice, eh? (via Futurismic)
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Global warming to create wars - particularily in... →
An interesting tidbit for any future-builder taking climate warming into account.
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In news: Gang 'killed victims to extract their... →
It’s gruesome, and I keep wondering how us dystopian future writers can come up with more gruesomeness than the the real world already produces (via Warren Ellis)
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Ericsson's 2020 Vision →
A comprehensive although shallow prediction of 2020, mentioning a number of typical companies, devices and people of that time. Perhaps realistic, certainly a bit too politically correct, but well worth a look.
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Gatonets
In Rio de Janeiro, the grey/black market of providing cable TV and internet access in lawless favelas have been given the slang name of “gatonets”. As this article on “The New Market Machines” explains it:
A gato (“cat”) is an illegal or unauthorized hookup to the power or information grid, from the expression puxar um gato (“yank a cat”). Tapping a power box or signal...