What black helicopters?

However, the enemy doesn't know that its every move is being monitored by robotic insects equipped with tiny cameras, flying overhead. These tiny robotic flyers, called micro air vehicles (MAVs), will be able to buzz over enemy territory nearly unnoticed by the enemy troops below. Few would even look twice at these dime-sized flying robots.

The U.S. Department of Defense is spending millions of dollars to develop these MAVs. They are the perfect way to keep soldiers out of harm's way during reconnaissance missions. Today, gathering reconnaissance during battle typically involves putting either small teams of soldiers or large aircraft in harm's way. At the same time, satellite imagery is not immediately accessible by a ground soldier.

from http://science.howstuffworks.com/spy-fly...
Ruth

"cops" ('fraid they'll always be 'pigs' to me--if you weren't hassled by 'em, rousted by 'em, gassed by 'em, mebbe you can respect 'em; not me) would be on you in a dirty minute...

Me? A Quick Study, But A Slow Learner

with this new design for a cast iron flyswatter.

...consistently misunderstand what is happening these days. These things have been discussed on all the defense tech industry geek sites for years, and most people think you're paranoid if you try to talk about them. I may be paranoid, but I think I have good reasons.

Seriously, someone needs to knock down one of these devices if they can, photograph and publish it on the web.

In detail.

Bear in mind these things are more than just micro cam/ audio feeds. They likely have a GPS locator installed that will work on capacitance for awhile even without a power source. And until you inactivate it, you may be pinpointable.

No Hell below us
Above us, only sky

The BBC one you put up yesterday (?? Recently anyway) about the reporter who was allowed to examine, and test, the "pain ray box" in its little primitive tabletop form. Really and precisely a gom jabbar although they are too wussy, probably fearing lawsuits from the Herbert estate, to call it that.

If you would be so kind. Wish there was some way to search-by-commenter here cuz I have no recollection which post it was attached to but am pretty sure you were the one who put up the link.

Ties in with these "dragonspy" thingies, to cause me to have a Thought. Will expound upon same when I got both links and a block of time to spare.

See here.

The actual gom jabbar link is here. Except the gom jabbar worked by neural induction, according to Reverend Mother Helen Gaius Monihan (and Frank Herbert). This thingie, unlike the gom jabbar, is real, does not test your humanity, and is a projected microwave device.

No Hell below us
Above us, only sky

Certainly if you are the operator.

Granted, that's not part of the specification for the device...

We. Are. Going. To. Die. We must restore hope in the world. We must bring forth a new way of living that can sustain the world. Or else it is not just us who will die but everyone. What have we got to lose? Go forth and Fight!—Xan

The DragonSpies and the prototype Gom Jabaar. Kindly go read both stories if you didn't before, or even if you did just to make sure you have them fresh in your minds.

Now here's my radical suggestion: both of these "items" are essentially vaporware, in terms of actual operational, deployable existence. But these stories are being put out with a very real purpose: what was back in the day called Black Propaganda, or agitprop, or what I used to call the Rovian Red Cape campaign.

They are intended to hitch a ride on the combination of scientific illiteracy, ignorance of factory-floor manufacturing common among the wordsmithing set (specifically including those of us whose contact with technology is mostly computers, from mere users up through programmers) and most importantly the brain-bruise caused by the rapid changes of recent decades which has all of us thinking that Anything Is Possible in technological terms.

I think the "dragonflies" are just barely possible as sheer flying contraptions, capable (perhaps) of propelling through some short distance of air just themselves and their power supplies. To do that is impressive: to do that PLUS carry video gear and either memory or transmission capabilities strikes me as most unlikely. If it were possible at all, the resolution on the images would be so crappy as to be useless for identification purposes.

Likewise the "pain ray." What this reporter was shown was a tabletop box which he had to physically touch with his finger to receive the dose of agony. This is not exactly in the "set phasers on torture" ray that they would like you to believe is all set and ready to deploy with the "plasma-TV sized screens" mounted in the backs of jeeps.

So what's the point of the stories? To scare the crap out of us. To demoralize us. This is a technique used against enemy forces (hint: that would be us) since time immemorial. Hell, it's even used in the animal kingdom: the pufferfish which blows itself up to look more intimidating to something proposing to eat it is using the same idea.

If you want to use an inconspicuous imitation creature to surveil crowds, why not make a mechanical cockroach? Avoid the massive headaches involved in requiring flight. If you can do that you can sure make a device that can walk a lot easier and cheaper, and take advantage of higher-weight components than can be supported by gossamer wings.

Likewise if you put out the idea that a truck carrying what might be--gasp!--an actual plasma TV fer chrissakes is an infernal inescapable magical mystery device capable of causing infinite pain at a distance, crowd control gets a lot easier.

Infiltrate the crowd with your agents. At a given time tell them to get to the front/desired side of the crowd. Roll up the TV-laden vehicles, painted Evil Agent Black of course. Through the bullhorns transmit Orders To Disperse (aka Reading the Riot Act with warnings of apocalyptic consequence if orders not obeyed.

Fire up the TVs with spooky images, which are the signal to your counterrevolutionary finks to go into absolute hysterical shrieking, arm-waving and run-for-their-lives charges right smack back through the crowds, pushing old ladies to the ground and trampling babies as they become available. Result: instant crowd panic and flight even though they have felt nothing in the way of "wave inflicted long distance agony." Just normal behavior-of-crowds with induced panic.

Does any of this sound plausible? At least as plausible as flying-surveilance-artificial-dragonflies and agony-dispensing TV screens? I offer it only as a suggestion and a possibility.

Discuss.

Addenda: Echidne of the Snakes has a very profound analysis of how Fear has been used against us up to this point, and how the fact that the usefulness of "911911911911911" as an incessant fear-producing drone is starting to wear off may mean they are casting about for a new one.

Fear is the mind killer, and you might be absolutely right about these being propaganda disinfo or just a scheme to pocket taxpayer cash, but have you ever seen a microwave oven?

You know, it cooks without heat.

And just in case you're interested, you can still find industry specs on the web for the early unclassified prototypes.

Like I said earlier, fear is the mind-killer, but denial is just another facet of it.

No Hell below us
Above us, only sky

Our government, that is, our rulers, reproducing the fear that causes it to grow all by itself, with none of those external factors like terrrorists (it's autocoprophagy as usual). There's a Hall of Mirrors, self-reflective character to this that I like.

So much better--more profitable and fun--not to drown the government, as Norquist would have to turn it into a malevolent force, that works through mindfuck alone. Cheaper, and more effective, when the monsters colonize the mind.

Disinformation, indeed. (I'm midway between Kelley and Xan. I think such things can exist, but they are likely very expensive and not therefore extensively deployed....)

We. Are. Going. To. Die. We must restore hope in the world. We must bring forth a new way of living that can sustain the world. Or else it is not just us who will die but everyone. What have we got to lose? Go forth and Fight!—Xan

"but have you ever seen a microwave oven?

You know, it cooks without heat."

Um yes, but it was far, far easier to develop. They just had to wait for birds to fly into the RADAR antenna. The hardest bit was making the shielding and microwave frequency radiation generation cheap, I'd think, but the idea had been obvious since WWII.

...and won't routinely be given technological innovations.

But they have to be tested in crowd situations somewhere, and the DARPA/ General Dynamics types feel a lot safer and a damned lot cushier doing field runs in the States than outside the Green Zone.

The WASPs deployed here won't carry napalm defensive weapons. But they will doubtless help the NSA watch specific persons of interest. Incidently the ADS still aren't being deployed because unlike the touted "only 1/64th inch" deep heat they have this tendency to parboil.

This makes its uncover testing a little bit of a problem. Many subjects aren't just made uncomfortable. Depending on what they're wearing and where they're standing, reflective focussing makes some walk away with serious burns.

WGG's observations about a metal pan in a microwave have a whole new meaning if the microwaves are focussed on a gasoline tank in an automobile...

No Hell below us
Above us, only sky