Marines test Google's latest military robot

The latest version of a walking, quadruped battlefield robot from Boston Dynamics, the military robotics maker owned by Google X, was tested by U.S. Marines last week. Spot weighs about 70kgs, is electrically operated and walks on four hydraulically-actuated legs. It's controlled via wireless by an operator who can be up to 500 meters away. It underwent trials and testing at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia as part of evaluations by...

Read More

Media group with ties to the CIA and DHS wants to create a 'global fact checking network'

The  Poynter Insitute  claims to be starting up a 'global fact checking network' but they should be a little more transparent about who's really doing the fact checking. The Poynter Institute also claims to be a global leader in journalism education  but works with the Gannett Co., Inc., the nation’s largest news publisher. Kawika Riley is a Fellow of the Poynter Institute and  volunteers to work with DHS. The...

Read More

George W. Bush Tried To Retroactively Declare Illegal, Unconstitutional NSA Surveillance Legal, Because He Said So

When it comes to the NSA, we've been discussing just how dangerous it is when the government gets to put in place its own secret interpretation of laws that, when read by the public, appear to say something quite different than the secret interpretation. Otherwise you have secret laws, and that's no way to run an open Constitutional democracy. For many years, it's been known that in March of 2004 there was a hospital room showdown between...

Read More

2,000 Russian Troops Head To Syria For “First Phase” Of Mission To Support Assad

Initially, it seemed likely that Moscow would go the Ukraine route by providing logistical support and lurking behind the scenes while officially denying – or at least downplaying – its role in the conflict. Over the course of the last two weeks, it’s become increasingly clear that Russia now intends to make no secret of its intention not only to stabilize the Assad regime but in fact to turn the tide completely with the provision of advanced weapons...

Read More

Millions of job seekers' fingerprints will now be searched for criminal investigations, says FBI

For years the FBI has performed federal criminal background checks for employers and state governments, amassing tens of millions of biometric records on people accused of no crime. If you want to be a lawyer, teacher, or even bike messenger in many parts of the United States, you'll need to submit your fingerprints to the FBI. Every single federal employee must submit their prints before employment. Until recently, the FBI claimed it would not...

Read More

Hackers Launch Balloon Probe Into the Stratosphere to Spy on Drones

The group’s DIY probe was built with three software defined radios, three antennae all listening to different parts of the radio frequency spectrum, a Gopro camera, a GPS module, temperature and pressure sensors, a SIM card for communicating with the team via SMS, and an insulated battery. All of that is integrated with an Arduino board, a USB hub, an Intel Edison minicomputer and open-source software. The cheap design is intended to encourage...

Read More

Russia to Start Bombing in Syria ASAP

The Kremlin’s jets have landed in Syria. The drones are flying. And now, Russian combat forces are on the cusp of fighting to save what’s left of the Damascus regime from ISIS. Russian combat operations on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are likely to begin “soon,” three U.S. officials told The Daily Beast. And Russian drone flights to spot targets for potential airstrikes are already underway. That concession by U.S. officials of growing...

Read More