We find ourselves in a place never before imagined. With the technological boom in the past hundred years the battlefield has changed completely many times over.
From nuclear weapons, to the Cold War, to tanks capable of creating force fields, and lasers that can blind enemies; weâ??ve finally reached the period known as â??shadow wars.â?
Drone technology has advanced to the point where unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can watch any foreign activity and armed drones can eliminate targets with the click of a button. UAV drones are being used for surveillance in Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, and many other countries.
Rising UAV Drone Strikes
During the Bush administration only 47 UAV drone strikes were authorized, while Obama’s administration has carried out an estimated 254 strikes in Pakistan alone.
The public opinion of using UAV drones is mixed. In a recent survey by Pew Research Center it was found that 62 percent of Americans approved of the drone campaign; while more than half the population of 17 out of 21 countries disapproved of U.S. drone attacks on extremist leaders in places such as Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. Although CIA director Leon Panetta described the drone program as â??the only game in town,â? drones often cause many civilian casualties. For example it took sixteen strikes and fourteen months to kill Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud; and between 207-321 additional deaths.
Drones on American Soil
Although the use of UAV drones can be debated indefinitely, there is another emerging problem. There are currently 64 drone bases on American soil. Feds predict that they will authorize about 30,000 UAVs across America in the next 10 years. At the same 300+ local and state police departments are awaiting federal permission to use drones they already own, usually purchased with federal stimulus funds.
Executive vice president of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, Gretchen West, claims the drones would help law enforcement have “more eyes in the sky to help … assist them when they’re going into potentially volatile situations.”
Even though these drones will not be armed they would still pose a very great risk to our privacy. I remember I watched a show a while ago called â??Stephen Hackwingâ??s Sci Fi Master: Home Frontâ? which was about the possibility of armed drones being used on American soil. I recommend for anyone to watch that show because it is very eye opening; not just for evasive drone technology, but also for evasive Big Brother techniques.
At the same time it also makes you realize that humans often make mistakes and that we should work together to make sure our rights are not violated and the tools we employ are safe. Sometimes out of the fear of increasing our own saftey we may comprimise our privacy, and so forth. There is a balance to be found when it comes to such situations; such as UAV drones being used on our soil.
Good people will do good things, and bad people will do bad things. But for good people to do bad things — that takes nationalism. -Sci Fi Masters: Home Front description.
Whether the use of drones can be justified in foreign countries, we have to ask ourselves if this technology is something we would welcome into our own country.
Build Your Own Drones
On the other hand controlling unmanned drones sounds pretty fun to me regardless of all the issues around the use of them. You can build your own (non-armed drones!) by visiting this website diydrones.com Where you can follow instructions on building unmanned planes, copters, rovers, and many other weird creations. Just make sure you don’t end up throwing a UAV drone into your neighbors backyard…
Linux is an open source operating system that was first developed by Linus Torvalds in 1991. Since then Linux has become very popular and is being used by consumers and corporations around the world.
The nature of Linux being open source gives anyone the ability to change the code, update it, and even sell it. This allows the operating system to always be centered on the user and provides the utmost customization.
One of the most popular Linux distros for home users is Ubuntu, which is what this article will focus on. There are other distros out there such as Mint, Fedora, Arch, and Gentoo which are very similar but serve different purposes.
What is Linux
Linux is very different from an operating system such as Windows. It is much more fast and reliable, and uses less system resources. You can change anything to your liking in Linux. The operating system is also more secure than Windows or Mac OS X.
Although Linux is free to use it doesnâ??t necessarily mean it is as awesome as you think it may be. Linux cannot run the same programs that Windows or Mac OS X runs; and there is also a lack of consumer applications. Ubuntu may advertise that it has an impressive market, when it is really not so impressive. Gimp replaces Photoshop, Blender replaces Maya, Audacity becomes your music editing program, and so forth. These programs are all free but free isnâ??t always better.
Designed by Geeks for Geeks
Linux was started as a hobby and creating a new operating system is often the hobby of computer nerds. Although recently many Linux distros have started to offer â??app marketsâ? where you can install apps with one click; Linux still remains hard to use for the average user. Sometimes you will download an application and it will look like this appname.tar.gz. You canâ??t click on it to open it. That doesnâ??t work.
Linux Terminal
Instead you have to go into the command prompt (terminal), navigate to its location, unzip the file using some parameters, and then become superuser and install the application. You donâ??t have to be a computer wiz to find out tutorials for this sort of stuff, but itâ??s so simple and so annoying you will be turned off by it after a while.
Is Free Really Better?
If you want to understand the dilemma of free software, think of a freelancer that wants to work for you for free. He claims he has no portfolio but he will work for free, he doesnâ??t want to intern, just work for free. Sure it sounds great but it makes you wonder about the quality of work you will actually be getting. After all if he is so good then he must be worth your money.
In a similar case when I first started graphic designing I was very inexperienced. When I would submit my work I would often include many variations and other ideas. I would do the same with web designing. Linux is similar in this way because it has more than two different graphical user interfaces. You can download distros in KDE or GNOME GUIs. Since so many people work on Linux distros, and there is no mothership overseeing everything, most of the time many different variations are created and implemented.
Of course I learned that when I submitted my work only one design should be good enough. Same goes with operating systems. Think about iPhones, they have the same distinct look every year rather than the hundreds of non-iPhone products that come out with so many useless variations.
It has long been believed that Linux users make up less than 1% of computer users (statistics agree, but Linux lovers don’t). While I agree with this percentage for consumers, it doesnâ??t really represent the corporate use of Linux. As of August 2011, more than 60% of servers were being run on Linux.
More than 90% of the top 500 supercomputers in the world run Linux.
So who is Linux for?
I would say that Linux is not ready for the public masses and will probably never be. Although it used to be advertised to regular consumers as a ploy to increase Linux users, people just ended up frustrated and reinstalling Windows. In my personal opinion I think Linux is for people that want to experiment with operating systems, need to revive an old machine with a less intensive OS, or are able to put in the work necessary to learn more about Linux. Also if you are only using your computer for music, movies, word processing, photos, and internet browsing, then moving to an operating system such as Ubuntu would make your computer usage more secure.
Linux is advertised as really safe from viruses and malware; although this is true, Linux doesn’t directly control how secure it is. Mac OS X also claims the same thing. The truth is they are secure because only 10% of computer users use Mac OS X, and 1% use Linux. It is called security through obscurity.
Would a hacker waste his time writing viruses that will only work on less than 1 out of 10 machines, or even worse, 1 out of a 100 machines? So for now if you value your security then moving to Linux may be a smart move; but the more the user base grows, the more security will decline. (Please don’t start using Linux in that case 😀 I like not worrying about trojans and what not.)
Everything is made for a purpose and I don’t think Linux is made for the average computer user. There is no question though when it comes to running a server, Linux is superior.
Consider automobiles to understand this concept. The automobiles we have today are much easier to operate than the automobiles of the 1920’s. Today we have electric starters, automatic transmissions, power brakes, and automatic chokes. Also, the manual transmissions of today are easier to use, and today’s cars require much less maintenance.
Linux fanatics might complain that automobiles are designed for idiots who do not want to learn anything about their car, and for idiots who are too lazy to perform work on their car. But a more accurate description is that cars have become so advanced that we no longer need to learn much about cars in order to use one. Today, even a child can drive one.
Young children with no computer skills can turn on a Macintosh and perform useful tasks without much training. Windows is almost [just] as easy to use. However, Linux is so stupid that the users must learn about operating systems and then help Linux function.
It is easy to create software that requires a lots of training and configuration; it takes talent and lots of effort to produce software that is easy to use. -erichufschmid.net
There is something very addictive about sniper games.
Whether you have a bow and arrow in your hands, or an ultra-sophisticated machine gun with which to annihilate your enemies, the strategizing and mind games involved can be extremely engaging. Having a single site like sniper games 365 which has a range of such games available at a click can be very helpful to the avid gamer.
Irrespective of the kind of weaponry you are interested in, there are several free games for you to choose from and you can have your pick of projectile styled weapons to fire with. Also, you have games that will suit every age group and skill set. Here is a site that offers a game for every member of the family.You could start with a Sift Heads World Act 3 â?? the aim of this game is to choose an assassin to be on your side and launch a search for your hero friends. Your enemy is Alonzo and you will be in search of him. The path is fraught with danger and you will have a lot to do with your choice of guns.Get yourself a job at the gun shop in The Gun Game 2. You check out a bulletin board with high paying jobs, get the work done and get paid lots of money to invest in more guns. The more money you have, the better guns you can buy. You could choose to be a jailor in a prison who is now faced with a jail break. All the prisoners are running around and you will need to get into sniper position and fire on as many prisoners as you can get. For every level that you cross, you will be given a fancier weapon to play with.In Sniper Hostile Territory, you are a world class sniper who gets called in to diffuse rough international situations. Every place you go to is highly sensitive and you will need to put all your skills to the test on this one.
Alternately, you could be the world class sniper in the game Sniper Freedom where you are hired to help bust some prisoners out of hail. The main rule of the game is to make the least amount of noise with the guns and to kill nobody. Considering the job on hand, this will not really be easy.
These are just some of the games that you can indulge in on this site. And with the range, you can be sure of having hours of fun with a gun.
Visit our site today here Sniper Games 365, so you can see a lot of very good sniper games.Â
These days, the majority of people use their smartphones to access the Internet, even more than they use a personal computer. This means that a majority of your customers (and potential customers) can best be reached through their mobile devices. Your business needs a mobile app to cater to this sector of the market, and the iPhone app store is one of the best places your business can be seen. While iPhons apps can be designed by anyone who is willing to put some time and effort into learning, you may also want to turn the job over to a professional. If you find yourself questioning where you should design your own business iPhone app or hiring someone, then you should consider these points:
Your options. When it comes to developing your own iPhone app, you have a couple of options: you can build the app from scratch, or you can use a template. Your choice should come down to other factors, like how much time you have to devote to app development, and how much technical skill and coding knowledge you have.
Time. If you choose to use a template to create your own app, then you can expect to spend about a week filling in the template and tweaking the final product to your specifications. Developing an app from scratch can take much longer, depending on how much knowledge and skill you have. If you opt to hire an app developer, you will find that different developers quote different turnaround times, and your best bet is to shop around.
Money. It goes without saying that you can expect to save money if by designing your business iPhone app yourself. But just how much money? Well, if you choose to build your own app, then you can find some free or low-cost templates and DIY app building platforms on the web, and then you will only have to pay Apple a $99 yearly fee to join the Apple app store as a developer. However, if you choose to hire someone to create your app, then you should know that costs can vary drastically, depending on what, exactly, you need out of your app. Expect to pay at least $1000 for a very basic, table-based app, and upwards of tens of thousands of dollars for apps with added functionalities like GPS, in-app purchasing, sharing (social media sharing, for example), and more.
As you can see, there is a lot to think about when determining whether or not you should hire someone to design your app. If you do choose to go it alone, just keep in mind that in exchange for the money savings, you will have to put in a lot of hard work.
About the Author:Â Holly Love enjoys technology and has spent a great deal of tmie looking for an iPhone development company to help her design her first business app. She plans on one day going to school to become a better designer on her own.
A noiseless, undetectable, battery powered weapon capable of neutralizing hundreds of enemies without killing them? Meet the dazzler.
The idea of blinding enemies has always been around. Searchlights were even used to dazzle bombers during WWII. The idea isnâ??t new, but the military weapon that came out of it is. A laser powered dazzler was reportedly first used in combat by the British during the Falklands War of 1982. The dazzlers were mounted on Royal Navy warships to dazzle Argentinian air attacks. The United States has also used dazzlers against Iraqi insurgents in the massacre of Kurdish civilians at Chamchamal.
Weapons that can cause permanent blindness have been banned by the United Nations on 13 October 1995. As long as the dazzler at hand is not designed to cause irreversible and uncontrollable loss of vision it is allowed to be used in the combat field. The thinking behind this is that permanently blinding enemeies is inhuman.
How Do Dazzlers Work?
Have you ever stared into the sun or a light bulb? If so youâ??ve probably experienced something call an afterimage. Focusing on something in front of you is hard when the afterimage is still burned into your retina.
The dazzler works the same way. By using a specific green laser at a specific wavelength (532nm) and megahertz (4-12Hz), a dazzler can effectively burn an afterimage into your eyes. The directed light hits your entire retina and thus the effect is across your whole vision. Your vision does come back after a while, but some adverse effects may also be experienced. Nausea, dizziness, headaches, eye pain, and vomiting are all common symptoms of being dazzled.
Uses
Dazzling gives the military a non-lethal alternative to neutralizing enemies or slowing down unknown motorists. Dazzlers are often used at stop points or on convoys to slow down any suspicious incoming vehicles. The idea behind using dazzlers at stop points is that you donâ??t have to yell at the incoming vehicle to slow down, or translate your message, etc. Being flashed with a dazzler is the universal language for “slow down, we mean business.”
Dazzlers arenâ??t always the safest most reliable weapons. From 2008 to 2009 there have been 45 documented injuries to soldiers resulting from mistakes when using dazzlers. A few years ago a soldier accidently shot himself in the eye through a rearview mirror when trying to aim at an oncoming vehicle. The laser had traveled less than 6 meters when it him in the center of his right eye causing permanent damage. Dazzlers are now being designed with safety features in mind that reduce the power of the laser when the target is too close. Laser training requirements are also being raised to prevent further accidents from happening again.
Buy a Dazzler
If you have enough money or interest in buying a dazzler, you can! The Spider 3 Krpyton is 8,000 times brighter than looking directly at the sun. The range of the Spider 3 is 85 miles! You could probably signal down a commercial airplane with this thing! Wicked lasers, the company who created this awesome gadgets even claims:
‘If the laser was held using a highly stabilized mount (which we do not sell) and precisely in line with a satellite, the astronaut should be able to see a faint green hue,’ says Steve Liu, CEO of Wicked Lasers. ‘This kind of experiment would require explicit permission from that government’s space agency.’
While this guarantee may be real, it is a little unrealistic. On the other hand there have been many accounts of people using dazzlers to blind helicopter pilots.
On September 2009 a 25 year old man was acquitted of intentionally endangering a helicopter by trying to dazzle the pilot. His plea of guilt was:
‘I wasn’t trying to dazzle the pilot. I definitely didn’t mean to cause any hassle. I apologise for wasting police time’
Make your own
If you canâ??t afford buying a dazzler you can also make your own for under $250. Although it isnâ??t going to measure up to more expensive lasers, it can cause all the symptoms intended such as flashblindness, dizziness, and vomiting. The bedazzler is made up of flashing LEDs, and not actually lasers. Naturally its range would be limited, and will not reach 85 miles as the Kryton can!
After looking around at many dazzlers, a recurring thought kept coming back to me. Would a military grade dazzler or homemade bedazzler save you from a bear attack? Could it save you from a pack of deadly wolves and lions? If so I would honestly get my hands on one of these things the next time I go on a safari!
Article written by Octavian Ristea. (He has actually never gone on a safari…)
Sleep paralysis is an experience where you wake up but cannot move your body. It happens in between sleeping stages, but most often when falling asleep or waking up.
It is common for these episodes to last anywhere from seconds to minutes.
If youâ??ve ever wondered what happens to your Facebook® page after youâ??ve gone to that great status update in the sky, rest easy. A number of people are thinking along those same lines.
Legal experts, commentators and even the United States government are among those whoâ??ve weighed in on the subject of social media wills.
A social media will works much like a regular will. The difference is that instead of an executor dividing up property and financial holdings, the appointed caretaker attends to the online profile of the deceased.
Your online executor, or trustee, would take responsibility for the disposition of your email addresses, social media accounts, blogs and other facets of your Internet identity.
Sounds simple, right? Unfortunately, social media wills represent yet another subject where laws and customs havenâ??t caught up with technology.
Privacy concerns never die
Internet providers have reservations about granting a third party access to a customerâ??s email account, even when the customer is no longer around to use it. The main concerns involve privacy and fear of identity theft.
Internet services take considerable measures to protect their customers from hackers and identity thieves. Wireless Internet provider CLEAR, for example, shields information from prying eyes using a combination of licensed frequencies and encoding techniques.
But faced with the idea of a scammer trying to obtain passwords and other sensitive information by posing as an online executor, Internet providers are understandably worried.
Very little legal groundwork
Advocates would say that scams and mean-spirited pranks are exactly what a social media will is designed to prevent. If theyâ??re looking for the government to settle this argument, however, both sides are in for a disappointment.
Connecticut, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, Indiana and Idaho are the only states whose estate laws cover digital assets. And since the concept of managing your online afterlife is still new, firm legal precedents donâ??t really exist.
For the time being, some experts believe you should go ahead and make a social media will in the hopes that the legal landscape will become more settled as time goes on.
The online circle of life
A blog on the usa.gov website recently published a list of tips for writing a social media will. If the federal government has this issue on its radar, then it must be gaining traction.
Look for the trend to continue as the Internet becomes more and more ingrained into our daily lives, from cradle to grave.
During the First World War tanks only had a couple of requirements such as being able to cross an eight foot gap and reaching top speeds of 4mph on flat land. By the time the Second World War began, Allied forces were still using outdated tanks designed for trench warfare; while Germany used their Panzers in the blitzkrieg part of the war.
Germany’s PanzerKampWagen I was capable of reaching 23mph and was armed with only a machine gun. Hitler wanted to avoid the stalemate of the First World War and instead came up with ways to break any defenses that would stand in Germanyâ??s way.
If anti-tank guns were more advanced and the Allied forces had similar tanks we can assume that Hitler wouldnâ??t have moved as fast throughout Europe. In modern warfare battle tanks are an essential weapon and it is only obvious that they must be routinely improved to avoid surprises such as the lighting war Germany employed.
Force Fields
Although this type of technology may sound like fiction, it is has already been invented by researchers from Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aircraft Industriesâ?? Elta Group. The Trophy system is a temporary forcefield that defends against RPGs.
When an RPG hits a tank head on, the warhead blasts a jet of hot copper at 1,000mph. Thatâ??s enough to cut through a foot of solid steel amour! You can understand why it would be very useful to disable a warhead before it hits a tank.
The Trophy system works by creating a temporary forcefield when a rocket is detected. A supercapacitor releases its charge into the metal amour of the tank and neutralizes an RPG in the air; by the time the RPG hits the side of the tank, it is already useless. This technology actually requires the same amount of electricity you use to start your engine on a cold morning. Recharging the supercapacitor is also fast and efficient.
Battle tanks protected by the Trophy system can withstand repeated attacks from RPGs that would usually destroy tanks without this technology many times over. The best part is that there is less than 1% chance of injury to nearby soldiers when RPGs are neutralized in the air. With the use of this technology the weight of tanks will be able to be reduced by 70% over the next decade.
Stronger Armor
By drilling holes into steel armour the Defense Science and Technology Labortory has been able to halve the weight of armor while making it more efficient. This new armor is called Super Bainite Armour steel. With the addition of holes in the steel, bullets are more likely to strike the edge of a hole, causing them to spin and effectively reduce projectile potency.
While the Trophy system can protect battle tanks from rocket grenades and other explosives, Super Bainite armour can better protect tanks from bullets. With the implementation of both technologies, tanks may become very light in the near future.
Infrared Camouflage
Science may not be ready for hiding objects in plain sight, although it is ready for its infrared equivalent. Infrared is used in night-vision goggles and aircrafts that show targets in hot and cold. It is used to identify enemies and vehicles during the night.
Adaptiv is a new battle tank technology developed by BAE and the Swedish Defence Material Administration. By utilizing over 1,000 5.5 inch hexagonal tiles capable of manipulating thermal signals; Adaptiv is able to deceive infrared devices. Adaptiv can completely blend in with its surroundings while stationary or while on the move. It would look a bit dubious if infrared shows nothing in the spot that you heard or saw something; so Adaptiv is also able to give off a heat signature of a car while blending in the rest of the tank.
The way this technology works hasn’t been revealed, though we can guess that the hexagonal tiles probably heat up or cool accordingly to create this illusion. Since the titles are relatively big, the best effect is when the tank is observed from 300 to 400 meters. Adaptiv is also able to give off heat signatures of a cow, trashcan, a crowd of people, and even text.
The best part about this technology is that it can be used on ships, helicopters, and more. Adaptiv certainly looks very promising, except for the fact that it also looks easily damageable.
Fuel Tanks
NuMat technologies recently developed new fuel tanks that are able to store the same amount of gas at one-fifth the pressure. The new material has trillions of pores which absorbs gas. With this new technology the cost of battle tanks and refueling stations could be reduced by 20-30%. A very big improvement when you look at hundreds of battle tanks that require reinforced fuel tanks and fueling stations. This technology is expected to enter the market within five years.
The shopping experience has improved greatly over the years with the introduction of modern and advanced technology.
Thanks to the computer, internet and mobile devices, people now can enjoy utmost convenience in purchasing their basic needs. Who wouldnâ??t be glad about the fact that one can now search in advance for product information and get to know whatâ??s available at the stores before even going there?
The mobile gadgets today are what many consumers find very helpful in their daily lives. While moving around, smartphones in particular enable them to check out information on products and services they like and even purchase them wherever they may be in just a few taps on their portable device.
Did you know that an estimated 80 percent of the worldâ??s population now owns a mobile phone? Around the world, there are currently more than 1.08 billion users of smartphones with 91.4 million located in the U.S. Mobile phones are now in the five billion figure and among them, 1.08 billion are smartphones. Among the platforms, Android is the most widely used at 46.9 percent followed by the iPhone at 28.7 percent and RIM at 16.6 percent.
Majority or 89 percent of smartphone owners use their mobile device throughout the day. They do different things from browsing the internet, checking their emails, sending text messages, playing games, listening to music as well as downloading apps and using them.
Many consumers with smartphones who love to shop online are also excited about the numerous apps they can now use to help them in finding the best deals and purchasing their needs. For instance, a 2012 survey has found that 47 percent of consumers use their mobile gadgets to look for local information including store data, 46 percent search for prices on a storeâ??s mobile site and 42 percent check inventory before shopping. In addition, more than one in three shoppers made one purchase transaction via their smartphone from July to December 2011 while one in four purchased six times or more using their tablets.
Another study done by Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate Research Technologies in 2011 showed that more than 70 percent of iPhone owners used apps to help in their shopping in-store. Retrevo also found that 43 percent of mobile shoppers have downloaded a retail app while Forresterâ??s report revealed that 24 percent of U.S. adult online iPhone users and 21 percent of Android users have used a shopping app in the last quarter of 2011.
With these interesting findings, thereâ??s no doubt that the use of smartphones and apps in shopping will continue for a long time.
About the guest author:
Jessica is a freelancer who writes on retail and business technology. She has been writing for various sites on the increased use of the point of sale software and smartphone apps.
These days, the majority of people use their smartphones to access the Internet, even more than they use a personal computer. This means that a majority of your customers (and potential customers) can best be reached through their mobile devices. Your business needs a mobile app to cater to this sector of the market, and the iPhone app store is one of the best places your business can be seen. While iPhons apps can be designed by anyone who is willing to put some time and effort into learning, you may also want to turn the job over to a professional. If you find yourself questioning where you should design your own business iPhone app or hiring someone, then you should consider these points:
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