Darpa Turns Oculus Into a Weapon for Cyberwar — video included
Canadian Awareness Network
Oct 29, 2014
A Darpa contractor showing off the Oculus Rift cyberwar simulation at the Pentagon’s Darpa Demo Day. Photo: Andy Greenberg/WIRED
BY ANDY GREENBERG 05.23.14
For the last two years, Darpa has been working to make waging cyberwar as easy as playing a video game. Now, like so many other games, it’s about to get a lot more in-your-face.
At the Pentagon Wednesday, the armed forces’ far-out research branch known as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency showed off its latest demos for Plan X, a long-gestating software platform designed to unify digital attack and defense tools into a single, easy-to-use interface for American military hackers. And for the last few months, that program has had a new toy: The agency is experimenting with using the Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset to give cyberwarriors a new way to visualize three-dimensional network simulations–in some cases with the goal of better targeting them for attack.
“You’re not in a two-dimensional view, so you can look around the data. You look to your left, look to your right, and see different subnets of information,” Darpa’s Plan X program manager Frank Pound told WIRED in an interview. “With the Oculus you have that immersive environment. It’s like you’re swimming in the internet.”
In its demo setup, complete with two motion-sensing Razer Hydra controllers for navigation, the user does more than swim. As captured in the video below showing an Oculus user’s view, Darpa’s proof-of-concept begins with a collection of “missions” to choose from, each of which is represented by a spherical network of computers. Select one, and you’re presented with a planned series of actions to carry out–like scanning a certain network or probing target endpoints for vulnerabilities–and a collection of tools to use, represented by different abstract icons. Then you’re thrown into the network to carry out the mission, while the enemy launches attacks like distributed-denial-of-service bombardments back at the user.
If all of that seems more than a little contrived, Pound admits that the Oculus demo is only a “notional” proof-of-concept, created by the San Francisco design firm Frog Design and the Austin-based simulation software company Intific. But Darpa is serious about integrating the virtual-reality headset into its plans; It’s already shown the Oculus to Congress and to the Pentagon’s Joint Chief of Staffs in private demonstrations, and will be experimenting further with the second developer version of the device set to be released later this summer.
The dark side of social media: Baroness Susan Greenfield says social media is rewiring our brains
news.com.au
Nov 17, 2014
Baroness Susan Greenfield is a brain scientist who says time spent with electronic devices is rewiring the brain. Source: News Limited
WE’RE all guilty of it. We’re at the pub, dinner table or enjoying a fun arvo with a group of friends and, instead of talking to the people we’re with, we’re preoccupied with our phones.
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, video games and — dare I say it — news.com.au all provide endless distractions, as well as more opportunities to share, connect and spout your views than ever before.
But what effect is this having on us? More crucially, how is it affecting our brains?
Renowned British neuroscientist Baroness Susan Greenfield says modern technology is not only changing the way we interact, it is changing the wiring in our brain.
Professor Greenfield, who is also a member of the British upper house, says the hyper-connectedness of today’s youth gives them shorter attention spans and makes them more narcissistic, more susceptible to depression and anxiety, and less empathetic.
“The mid-21st century mind might almost be infantilised, characterised by short attention spans, sensationalism, inability to empathise and a shaky sense of identity,” she told parliament in 2009.
Her interest in the subject has culminated in her book Mind Change, released in August, in which she argues:
● That social media is affecting our sense of identity and ability to empathise,
● That video games are shortening attention spans, and increasing our recklessness and aggression, and
● That search engines are making us confuse information for knowledge.
Prof Greenfield says that the brain is exquisitely designed to adapt to its environment and, because technology has created a vastly changed social environment, it follows that our brains may also being changing in an unprecedented way.
What effect does our addiction to screens have on the way we relate to each other? Source: Supplied
She argues that today’s youth are developing in a world where relationships are increasingly formed online, which means we are less able to rehearse important social skills.
“Human beings love talking about themselves. Nature has developed body language so you can be sure that your interaction is reasonably secure, and you don’t make yourself vulnerable, through eye contact, gestures and pheromones,” Prof Greenfield told news.com.au.
But words — the primary means through which people interact on social media — make up only 10 per cent of the impact made when you meet someone.
“If you are not rehearsing those visual clues, you are going to be at a disadvantage,” Prof Greenfield said.
She said people were much more likely to insult others online because they didn’t have those cues.
“If someone says ‘I hate you’ to someone’s face, they may not say it again because the way it makes that person feel may be extremely hurtful, which can give the person who said it a physiological churning,” Prof Greenfield said.
“Those constraints are not available on social networking. You don’t have that handbrake … That’s what I’m concerned about.”
[…CONTINUE READING THIS ARTICLE]
[hat tip: Neil Sanders]
VIDEO — The Truth About Net Neutrality
Stefan Molyneux
Jul 29, 2014
Advocates say that Net Neutrality means guaranteeing free speech on the Internet. Without it, big telecoms could control what you see and how you see it. But what is the truth about Net Neutrality?
ISIS: Raging on the Internet, but not in the Mosque and don’t blame the web
21st Century Wire says…
[Nov 15, 2014]
How real is ISIS? Is it more real, or less real than al Qaeda?
According to some, ISIS is flourishing more online than it is in brick-and-mortar life…
ISIS INTERNET MARKETING DEPT: The majority of ISIS manpower is working in the virtual space.
Award-winning, veteran Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk poses that very question: “I’m even wondering whether “Isis” – isn’t more real on the internet, than it is on the ground.”
Fisk also goes on to say that the “virtual” has dropped out of virtual reality, and that this generation’s obsession with the truth (as it’s sometimes portrayed) online is the reason ISIS youths are going bonkers for beheadings. We support this supposition in part, but to blame the internet for the ISIS crisis would be one dimensional without factoring in the avalanche of financial and arms support the terrorists are receiving from entities like the US, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
This statement by Fisk, however, is sublime in both its quality and its accuracy:
“The belief, the absolute conviction that the screen contains truth – that the “message” really is the ultimate verity, has still not been fully recognised for what it is; an extraordinary lapse in our critical consciousness that exposes us to the rawest of emotions – both total love and total hatred”.
Yes, the internet is a powerful tool, and it may appear dangerous to some, but if anything is inverted in this 21st century conundrum, it’s not the technology. The minds of its users were more likely warped long before they switched their computers on.
What even worse still, is the amount of free publicity and PR exposure given to ISIS/ISIL/IS by international media conglomerates like CNN, FOX, and the BBC. When the Islamic State’ post a staged jihadist propaganda video on YouTube – you can be certain that western broadcasters will give their videos heavy rotation 24/7. ISIS could not afford the free marketing they get from our media moguls.
Their consciousness was buried by a globalised, corporatised mega-media machine – buried under successive layers of lies, omissions and mistruths coming from “the mainstream” gospel, including TV broadcasters and newspapers. Lies, piled on top of lies – and then shaming the public to accept the lies – leads to a highly dysfunctional and unconscious society, not only in the west (where lying is a celebrated and high art form), but in the Middle East too.
Don’t Replace Facebook, Disrupt It
November 11, 2014 (Tony Cartalucci – LocalOrg) – Facebook is a problem. It is undoubtedly being used by special interests to manipulate and monitor entire populations both within the United States and well beyond. It represents a tool that in no way serves the people actually using it, and instead allows special interests to use the users. It is a dream global panopticon for the abusive dictators that run Western society and presume dominion over what they call an “international order.”
But in order to counter this threat, Facebook cannot simply be “replaced.” It specifically, and what it represents, must be disrupted entirely.
Facebook is a Skinner Box for Humans
Facebook has been at the center of several recent controversies that are increasingly leaving users disillusioned and in search of alternatives. At the center of these controversies is Facebook’s “news feed” feature. Ideally, news feed would work by showing on your timeline updates from those individuals and organizations you follow. There are two options for news feed – “most recent” and “top stories.” Facebook has decided to upend this feature by insidiously controlling what appears on your news feed regardless of which option you select.
Now, you will no longer receive regular updates from accounts you follow, and instead will see a “filtered” version determined by Facebook’s algorithms. Many Facebook users are unaware of this fact and are perplexed as to why they are no longer receiving regular updates from accounts they follow.
Silicon Valley startup unveils Internet-connected smart guns for cops — video included
Canadian Awareness Network
Oct 30, 2014
Real-time data on location, and when weapons are being unholstered and fired.
by David Kravets – Oct 24 2014, 12:30pm EDT
A Silicon Valley startup said Friday that police agencies were field testing its new product: a wireless sensor that transforms officers’ weapons into smart guns with real-time telemetry.
Yardarm Technologies’ sensor is a small device that goes inside gun handles and provides dispatchers with real-time geo-location tracking information on the weapon. The Yardarm Sensor also sends alerts when a weapon is unholstered or fired, and it can “record the direction of aim, providing real-time tactical value for commanders and providing crime scene investigators valuable data for prosecution,” the company said.
The 10-employee company based in Capitola, California, said it was deploying the technology on a trial basis. The first takers have been the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department in California and the Carrollton Police Department in Texas.
“By connecting the firearm to the cloud, we give departments a technology that enhances officer safety, improves operational efficiency, and builds community trust,” Jim Schaff, a Yardarm vice president, said.
The announcement comes as the public is seeking more accountability of officers following the August 9 shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown. The shooting has prompted widespread protests and left some demanding a technological solution.
In response, the Ferguson Police Department began equipping its officers with body cameras so that officers may record their daily patrols. Police departments elsewhere have also started using body cameras, and others are exploring the idea. A White House petition with 154,000-plus signatures is demanding that all police in the US “wear a camera.”
While it won’t capture the details of all of an officer’s interactions with the public, the Yardarm device may provide critical information. Santa Cruz County Sheriff Phil Wowak was highly optimistic that the sensors would bolster accountability. “A law enforcement leader’s ultimate responsibility is to keep their staff and the public safe at all times,” Wowak said. “Yardarm’s technology is a groundbreaking way to do just that, and every sheriff and police chief worldwide should be looking at this product for the future of their department.”
Yardarm is also marketing the technology to private security firms and the military. It hopes to capitalize not just on its hardware but on subscription fees from dispatcher software makers.
The sensors put into gun handles are connected via Bluetooth to a law enforcement official’s smartphone, which sends the data to Yardarm’s servers. The data is then routed to police departments in encrypted form, the company said.
The 18-month-old startup has raised about $1.5 million so far and has radically altered its business model. Initially, the company focused on the consumer firearms market, but it ran into controversy. It was hawking technology that would allow private gun owners the ability to remotely lock a weapon. If a weapon was moved—or stolen—an alarm would alert the owner’s mobile phone. The owner would have the option to remotely disable the weapon from being fired.
But gun rights advocates, like the National Rifle Association, say smart guns could limit Second Amendment rights. “NRA recognizes that the ‘smart guns’ issue clearly has the potential to mesh with the anti-gunner’s agenda, opening the door to a ban on all guns that do not possess the government-required technology,” the group said. Marketing to the police and military would avoid this potential controversy.
Listing image by Yardarm Technologies
Read More Here
VIDEO/PODCAST — Anarchast Ep. 169 Dan Dicks: Press For Truth!
Press For Truth
Nov 11, 2014
Jeff interviews Dan Dicks independent journalist for Press for Truth, topics include: Canada’s growing nationalism and militarism, the North American Union, terrorist threat used to grow state controls, false flag attacks, the importance of unbiased journalism, internet media, old media dying, joining the fight against the new world order, Luke Rudkowski, Anarchapulco media workshop…
[download mp3 of this episode]
PN 