That droning you hear …

George Rebane

These pages have long covered the advances and uses of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or ‘drones’ for surveillance and interdiction.  My usual examination of new technology in such areas includes its portent as a tool to install and maintain tyranny.  I suppose that suspicion is built into my double helix.  Well, apparently that genetic predisposition is shared by quite a number of people across the country, but it is definitely absent in the progressive elites and their local echo chambers.

This has been made clear in the comment streams on this (e.g. here) and other blogs that report the approaching menace of surveillance drones filling the skies over America.  UAV manufacturers are running over each other in the effort to sell their wares to every imaginable jurisdiction and government agency in the land.  What again did Lenin say about ‘the capitalist will sell us the rope with which we will hang them’?  All of this, of course, goes along with the proliferation of armed enforcement capabilities throughout federal and state governments (e.g. Department of Education buying shotguns and arming their ‘agents’).

Now we read that people across the country are beginning to be alarmed about the next step Big Government is preparing to make sure that we will remain docile and under control.  The 19jun12 online Washington Times reports ‘Talk of drones patrolling U.S. skies spawns anxiety’ that details the concern about this arising in Congress.  In the meantime be prepared for our collective cohorts to start pooh-poohing such concerns, and ascribe those concerned to the dimwitted divisions of the political Right.  ... while we quietly watch and wonder.

Comments

[Ryan Mount]

Why do we need this again? And why would anyone on the Left or Right think this is a good idea?

[Earl Crabb]

No, no...It's not the droning sound you hear, it's the buzzing of the common housefly. Wait!..If you look a little closer you'll notice that it's actually a miniaturized robot, complete with camera. And what about the bedbugs? Will some enterprising soul invent Robo-Raid?

[Douglas Keachie]

Planning and Zoning UAV will patrol, and zero in on any heavy equipment operating or hammers pounding that are not in their database of approved permits. The fines generated will go towards buying even better ones, until we each have our own, watching 24/7/365.

Tunneling will become much more popular.

[Scott Obermuller]

The Earl of Crab is on to something. They brag about how small they can make a drone. Will we be in trouble for using bug spray on a drone mistaken for a common flying pest? "Propane? er, my mistake - I thought it were Raid, me lord!" Small ground to air missiles will be the new high school prank.

[billy T]

Don't kid yourselves, fellas. The tiny drones have been around a long time. American poet Emily Dickerson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) wrote about it in her opening line 'I heard a Fly buzz when I died'. Notice she purposely capitalized the F in fly, thus sending us all a ominous warning. Back then the expression was "What would I give to have my Fly on the wall", but the secret shadow government changed it to "What I would give to Be a fly on the wall". Subtle, simple and clever, yet even then they tried to keep this potentially controversial technology hidden from those that do not have a need to know. They even peddled tiny devices hidden in Roach Motels. A flawed plan indeed as the roaches did unspeakable things to the tiny "bugs". Remember the old graffiti on the bathroom walls in truck stops? "Don't drop toothpicks in the toilet-the craps can pole vault." No offense to Mr. Crabb intended. Mutiple clues to the mystery have been left by many using various seemingly benign methods in hopes those that have ears can hear, those that have eyes could see. Yes, the information highway has finally exposed the shadow government's devious deeds.

[George Rebane]

Let's keep that sense of humor going, it may be all that we will have left.
http://youtu.be/-LOBSje-3x8

[Russ Steele]

Back on a more serious note. Southern CA counties were using, an may still be using, the highest resolution Google earth photos to see if people were clearing brush from around their homes. County staff was issuing citation with outevery leaving their desks. Now Goggle is going to produce 3D photos of even higher resolution. Reason for the upgrade? Public demand according to Google. What public demand, government or businesses?

I saw a demonstration of 3D maps that were developed from aerial photos. The maps were used by drone pilots to pre-fly critical missions, before the actual flight. It was awesome at low level you could almost see into buildings. Now the technology is 15 years more advanced.

[Douglas Keachie]

Next up, robo-snakes, watch for the antenna, not the rattles, in the tail. Robo-fence lizards would be impossible to spot.

[Michael Anderson]

George, I'm not sure I'm finding the comedy in a fake hummingbird coming into my garden to listen to me talking on the phone to my plumber about a leak in the basement.

But I am now mostly scared of pole-vaulting turds, and I have BillyT to thank for that mind image that probably won't go away until sometime tomorrow afternoon.

I hope this comment doesn't make me "The Misanthrope."

[George Rebane]

Bear in mind that someone has to monitor what these UAMs and UAVs see and record. That will require the hiring of thousands of low-level people who can be trained very easily to spot whatever their hiring agency is interested in. Think of it as a full employment opportunity. Sort of like the Stasi in East Germany that had one out of three citizens to keep an eye on and report the doings of the other two.

[Gregory]

Pull!

Be thankful for waste, abuse and wealth transfers, imagine what could happen if we actually had the government we're paying for.

[billy T]

My apologies Gentlemen, especially to Mr. Anderson. Of course this is a grave matter. Thank you for pointing out the grievous errors of my thoughtlessness. I did not mean to use the word "crap" at all. Typo. I mean to say "Remember the old graffiti on the bathroom walls in truck stops? 'Don't drop toothpicks in the toilet-the crabs can pole vault.' No offense to Mr. Crabb intended." I had no intention of being vulgar. Sweet dreams Mr. Anderson. Yes, this is a serious tissue.

[Earl Crabb]

No apologies needed, Billy T. We crabs have thick shells. Being a fan of sci-fi/fantasy, I have always thought that Geo. Lucas had the best line relating to our predicament when Princess Amidala opined "So this is how liberty dies, to thunderous applause." And we all remember Ben "lightning rod" Franklin's warning about trading freedom for security. We do indeed live in interesting times. The problem being that others are too interested in what we are up to behind our castle walls.

[Russ Steele]

The kinds of drones making the headlines daily are the heavily armed CIA and U.S. Army vehicles which routinely strike targets in Pakistan - killing terrorists and innocents alike.

But the real high-tech story of surveillance drones is going on at a much smaller level, as tiny remote controlled vehicles based on insects are already likely being deployed.

Over recent years a range of miniature drones, or micro air vehicles (MAVs), based on the same physics used by flying insects, have been presented to the public. Pictures in the link below:

Details here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2161647/Is-really-just-fly-Swarms-cyborg-insect-drones-future-military-surveillance.html#ixzz1yLMWBUD0

[Douglas Keachie]

Let's not forget that we are getting a gov with a 1,000,000 sq foot server farm almost finished, or at least the decoy is. My guess is that the real one is in a much more hardened site. Take that kind of storage, and add to it AI programs that look for suspicious behavior, and your electronic stasis will winnow the job down to managable size quickly. Back in the late 1980's or so I had heard that it took at least one full time employee to keep a network of 50 computers going. I wonder what the figure is now?

Skynet's hardware is almost in place. I think putting a failsafe nuke in the middle of that complex, operated and protected by strictly mechanical connections to the trigger point, again a strictly mechanically hardened site, would be a damn good idea. And make sure it is all earthquake safe.

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/21/exposed_inside_the_nsas_largest_and

[George Rebane]

For miniaturization of UAVs, please also review link on my 752pm and
http://rebaneruminations.typepad.com/rebanes_ruminations/2012/02/singularity-signposts-nano-quadrotors.html

[Todd Juvinall]

The Obama "press conference" from CABO last night was the latest droning sound. What a joke.

[Paul Emery]

What's new about this? Nevada County has been hiring surveillance flyover services for years without a peep of resistance from the so called conservatives. Hypocrisy to the max for sure.

[THEMIKEYMCD]

Reminder: It was George W Bush who signed the Patriot Act into existence.

It's not the left versus right, it's the State versus the individual

[George Rebane]

PaulE 1053am - you miss the quantum technology advances and its potential uses on two fronts if you see nothing new in miniaturized UAVs. And your unusual charge of "hypocrisy" is addressed in Mikey's 1138am. The potential for state sponsored terrorism on their own citizens is orders of magnitude greater with this technology as is apparent to ideologues of all stripes.

[Ryan Mount]

Mikey gets two points for nailing it.

[Paul Emery]

True George but who cares? The approval of backyard inspection flyovers by county Supes checking for illegal foliage by most Repubs and Conservatives indicates to me that they don't care about government intrusion into our privacy.

[George Rebane]

PaulE 835pm - what the Supes "don't care about", what we voters care about, and the level of intrusion are all orthogonal. Since I don't grow grass and that's what they can tell from orbit, a U-2, or a helicopter flyover, I am not concerned even were there was something I could do about it, because the information about me is limited and not in an area I consider private. (Vertical privacy was lost to us since the 1920s.)

However a small government or corporate UAV perched on a branch outside my bedroom window, seeing and hearing what I do and say is another matter, and something that I will take formal notice of in the protests to my electeds.

[Douglas Keachie]

But of course, George, but first you must have proof that it existed, and is not photoshopped. I would suggest the new Adobe product, "Birdshot Round."

[Douglas Keachie]

Just think how popular how towns would be with tourists if the LE had autoscan cameras that checked every license plate as they came through town, and autochecked the databases for possible ticketing for expired reg, parking ticket scofflaws, etc. Plenty of revenue there until word got out that you could come to Nevada City and get booted...

[Douglas Keachie]

Here's a freebie for our techies who need employment: Patent a device that listened for drones. By building a library of known drone sounds and adding to it monthly, you'd have a damn good revenue stream from those who want to know when electromechanical lurkers are nearby. The premium model would scan and locate, and display the location on your screen. SiperPremium would blind it via laser and deafen it with white noise. Of course you want to locate that part of the device on your neighbor's property, no telling who might show up.

[billy T]

Doug is on to something. I am certain that our enterprising youth can come up with counter measures. We had "fuzz busters" on the market once for those who enjoyed speeding. There are jammers and bug zappers and little devices to shoo away critters. Somebody will come up some electromagnet doo-hickey to confuse the cute little drones or remotely disable their power source and sense of direction. Maybe even a device that will make them chew on power lines like the crispy squirrels do on occasion. Perhaps a whatz-u-call-it device that would make the drone seek and find another drone in a vain attempt to reproduce. Yes, there will be laws written about destruction of government property and all as our lawmakers write more and more laws. I suppose some libertarian will demand to face his accuser in court and not waive his right to a speedy trial, thus confusing the whole legal system. Of course the little drone that was shot, burned, smashed, crushed, chewed on by the dog and fried like a Frito would be evidence and it is doubtful the evidence could stand up in court. I trust the young techies of America to make some wickedly creative fly swatters.

[George Rebane]

DougK 1028pm - Au contraire Doug, there is no need of proof from me for any of this stuff to happen. In fact it is much better if people like you and I don't have any proof, and dismiss the whole thing as feverish photoshopping.

[Douglas Keachie]

Yours in Denial, George.

[Gregory]

No, Billy, there's nothing that could be built to defeat drones that wouldn't run afoul of a number of laws with real teeth from real Feds, starting with the FCC and going up from there. And if you try to jam GPS signals there would really be hell to pay.

Keachie as usual is out in left field. There's nothing patentable there. Signature analysis is old news.

[Douglas Keachie]

Inventions are often concatenations of several old ideas into one new product. That's why ATT doesn't hold the patent rights on cell phones. Greg is the water boy, and obviously doesn't understand the rules of the game very well, despite having a patent or two to his name. I wonder what a court would say about gov microdrones being pounced on by our dogs, who track the circling turkey vultures, hoping that one will land someday.

Someday I'd like to have as big a pack as this:

[Paul Emery]

So George I take it you don't care about the principle involved with flyover inspections as long as they don't involve you. Do then you support "vertical privacy" or in your opinion is this fair game?

[Todd Juvinall]

I am for no flyover to uncover alleged scofflaws unless they are fleeing at the moment. I would expect that any flyover to uncover a pot garden, zoning violation or illicit cavorting in a outside hot tub will morph into a abuse of government as is always the case.

[George Rebane]

PaulE 1040am - No, I'm saying that we lost flyover privacy before I was born, just as we lost 'from the street picture window privacy' since anyone on a public roadway is free to inspect your property for whatever is visible from there.

Being in the sky at a sufficient altitude where it is legal to safely fly is a similar issue, and anything seen from there is also fair game. For example, when I fly my rented DA-20 legally over Nevada County and look down, everything I see in your back yard is 'fair game', and you cannot stop me from reporting whatever was visible to me from that airplane.

Where it gets dicey is when I or the government routinely flies a UAV below tree top levels into your enclosed back yard, and without a warrant looks into your windows when you believe you have privacy. I believe that is the issue we are now discussing as technology advances. Today trying to regain street or sky privacy, even if we ever had it, is a fool's errand.

[Gregory]

George, I didn't know you'd been flying.

Anyone want to go flyover Keachie's house to take pictures? At the appropriate speed (that would be best dwell, about Vy/1.32 for the pilots out there) I can circle for up to about 12 hours before fuel gets low enough to force an end or until the first bladder makes the decision to return to the airport, whichever comes first.

500' is the lowest legal altitude, but I'd want us to stay at around 1000' most of the time.

I can take two or three passengers depending upon weight. I'm not commercially rated and so cannot charge you for the experience, but can legally share the direct expenses of avgas and oil.

Bring extra datacards, you wouldn't want to miss anything.

[George Rebane]

Gregory 900am - This month's WIRED just came, and features miniature UAVs. At the prices these little things can be bought by anyone, I would be surprised if people would let them dwell over their property at below tree top level. I sure wouldn't.

Am not sure why anyone would want to peek in on Mr Keachie. I don't recall that he's reported any interesting projects on his property. Besides, I'd be pissed if someone droned 500' above my house for any length of time.

(Yes, I'm a student pilot at Alpine Aviation in the cross-country phase of training, whose wife does not see the sense of flying around in light airplanes. I was an air qualified observer in the artillery years ago when one of the battalion pilots taught me the elements of flying an L-19 in case I had to land the damn thing.)

[Gregory]

I've heard complaints coming in at the airport when Keachie's rental plane and pilot, supporting his photoshoot, lingered too long and perhaps too low in the same general North San Juan vicinity, and, in fact, using the same plane and professional pilot you rent :)

And then there's my complaints about the constant attacks here and elsewhere from Keach. Including a particularly idiotic one on 22 June 2012 at 08:31 AM.

I think it might be fun. Seats are filling fast. ;)

[Douglas Keachie]

Hey , I'll take a seat, far cheaper than paying Gorden Mills $180/hour. For a final image of Ground based UAV's, try this on for size: http://www.flickr.com/photos/65281423@N06/7315812970/

[Douglas Keachie]

And now, for fun and games with drones: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/327529

[Douglas Keachie]

And finally, "yes Virginia, they can fly inside buildings." http://govtslaves.info/maple-seed-drones-from-lockheed-martin-will-swarm-the-future/

[TomKenworth]

And into your keyboards: http://www.cagle.com/2012/07/u-s-federal-agencies-targeted-employees-with-commercial-spy-software/