I have worried for some time about the possibility that consumer-grade drones could be used not to deliver weapons but as weapons. With even cheap drones coming with GPS navigation and autopilot capabilities, a swarm of explosive-laden drones programmed to converge on a single point in a kamikaze-style attack could prove a potent weapon. Now, it seems like at least one … [Read more...] about Drones Carry Out Precision Guided Kamikaze Attacks
Emerging Tech
Two Cheers for the Cyber-Technocrats: The Politics of Expertise in Cybersecurity
In the last three years, we have seen an increasing amount of public discussion about cybersecurity, part of which has involved an ongoing debate about what counts as expertise, credibility and legitimacy in cybersecurity. Last week, Trevor Butterworth of Forbes.com entered the fray. He lamented that "few mainstream journalists covering this beat are armed with sufficient … [Read more...] about Two Cheers for the Cyber-Technocrats: The Politics of Expertise in Cybersecurity
WaPo's new "TimeSpace" News Visualization Tool
Check out the new visualization tool being offered by the Washington Post. It shows images, videos, and news stories on an interactive map. You can also filter entities by time. Check it out:UPDATE: Well, as usual, as soon as I say something is cool, it turns to crap. Hence, as you can see, the embed code from TimeSpace is currently not working … [Read more...] about WaPo's new "TimeSpace" News Visualization Tool
In Case You Need to Study up on Surface-to-Air Missile Sites…
A guy at the site, IMINT & Analysis, promises to provide "Open source military analysis, strategic thinking, and Google Earth imagery interpretation." Mainly it looks like he has used open source information, along with Google Earth, to pinpoint SAM (and other missile) sites around the world. Very interesting stuff.Technorati Tags: SAMS, OSINT, IMINT, … [Read more...] about In Case You Need to Study up on Surface-to-Air Missile Sites…
Got an Insurgent Problem? YouTube and Wikipedia to the Rescue!
Could viral video and wikis be the key to successful, 21st century counterinsurgency? RAND thinks so! Byting Back -- Regaining Information Superiority Against 21st-Century Insurgents: RAND Counterinsurgency Study -- Volume 1.Chapter Five, "Embedded Video," and Chapter Six, "A National Wiki," look particularly intriguing. Of course, by "intriguing" I mean … [Read more...] about Got an Insurgent Problem? YouTube and Wikipedia to the Rescue!