Stories I've noticed while sott's been down

[Cyre2067]

These are all the stories that have caught my eye while sott's been down:

Most New Yorkers Want To See Criminal Charges In The Death Of Eric Garner
_http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/27/eric-garner-poll-daniel-pantaleo-quinnipiac_n_5725328.html?&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067

Mystery glow over the Pacific Ocean: Pilots left baffled by strange orange and red lights spotted in the dead of night
_http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2734573/Mystery-glow-Pacific-Ocean-Pilots-left-baffled-strange-orange-red-lights-spotted-dead-night.html

ISIS Terrorists post a self with John McCain
_http://www.tpnn.com/2014/06/20/isis-terrorists-post-a-selfie-with-john-mccain/

US Police Shoot Suspect and TV Crew Member
_http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2014/08/us-police-shoot-suspect-tv-crew-member-201482721343207611.html

Israeli-trained police occupy Missouri after killing black youth
_http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/rania-khalek/israel-trained-police-occupy-missouri-after-killing-black-youth

Flashback: How Israeli Occupation Forces trained US police for coordinated crackdown on occupy protests
_http://exiledonline.com/max-blumenthal-how-israeli-occupation-forces-bahraini-monarchy-guards-trained-u-s-police-for-coordinated-crackdown-on-occupy-protests/

Heavy rain cancels Burning Man
_http://www.thewire.com/business/2014/08/burning-man-canceled/379101/

I also really enjoyed Jason's piece on violence and culture, my phone cached a copy of the page so I was able to finish reading it. Really well written and sourced. The citations were also hilarious.

Adding:
Federal Cybersecurity Director Found Guilty on Child Porn Charges
_http://www.wired.com/2014/08/federal-cybersecurity-director-guilty-child-porn-charges/

 

[mabar]

Good thinking, Puck, I had some others.

Fighter jets escort Cuba-bound flight back to Toronto after mid-flight disruption
_http://www.cp24.com/news/fighter-jets-escort-cuba-bound-flight-back-to-toronto-after-mid-flight-disruption-1.1980221#ixzz3BeCL9LQN

FBI Examining Whether Russia Is Tied to JPMorgan Hacking
_http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-27/fbi-said-to-be-probing-whether-russia-tied-to-jpmorgan-hacking.html

U.N. says pro-Russia rebels in Ukraine murder, kidnap and torture
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/26/us-ukraine-crisis-rights-un-idUSKBN0GQ1TA20140826

Explosion at BP refinery in Whiting, Indiana
_http://wgntv.com/2014/08/27/explosion-at-bp-refinery-in-whiting-indiana/

Oil spill in Mexico -images
_http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/slideshow?articleId=USRTR43ZDB#a=1

This one is from mid August, but I heard it in Mexico yesterday:
Mexico Says Mine Firm Lied About Chemical Spil
_http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mexico-sues-mine-acid-spill-rivers-25030278

 

[Aiming]

Some 500 earthquakes hit Iceland volcano within hours

_http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2014/08/28/some-500-earthquakes-hit-iceland-volcano-within-hours/

August 2014 – ICELAND – Around 500 earthquakes have rocked a rumbling volcano in Iceland since midnight, adding to fears that an eruption could be sparked at any moment. The country has issued an orange aviation alert – the second highest – warning of possible disruption to air traffic should the Bardarbunga volcano blow. The Met Office had warned that magma under Bardarbunga may be moving into another nearby volcanic system. (...)

Mental health crisis: Cases of suicide and self-harm soaring on NHS wards
_http://rt.com/uk/183128-suicide-nhs-wards-crisis/

1,400 kids sexually abused in UK town, council turned blind eye over 'racism' fears
_http://rt.com/uk/183104-rotherham-sexual-abuse-children/

 

[H-KQGE]

Google's at it again, and they're still pushing the "relief aid" narrative... with a fleet of the things to come. There's a video (no audio) showing their prototype and a second one - a report from last December featuring the drones at the Paris air show. In the vid (I wasn't aware of this) it states that some models are cheaper than a smartphone.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28964260

Google tests drone deliveries in Project Wing trials
By Jack Stewart
BBC World Service Radio, Los Angeles

Google has built and tested autonomous aerial vehicles, which it believes could be used for goods deliveries.

The project is being developed at Google X, the company's clandestine tech research arm, which is also responsible for its self-driving car.

Project Wing has been running for two years, but was a secret until now.

Google said that its long-term goal was to develop drones that could be used for disaster relief by delivering aid to isolated areas.

They could be used after earthquakes, floods, or extreme weather events, the company suggested, to take small items such as medicines or batteries to people in areas that conventional vehicles cannot reach.

"Even just a few of these, being able to shuttle nearly continuously could service a very large number of people in an emergency situation," explained Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots - Google X's name for big-thinking projects.

Australia tests
Google's self-flying vehicle project was first conceived of as a way to deliver defibrillator kits to people suspected of having heart attacks. The idea was that the drones would transport the equipment faster than an ambulance could.

"When you have a tool like this you can really allow the operators of those emergency services to add an entirely new dimension to the set of tools and solutions that they can think of," said Dave Voss, incoming leader of Project Wing.

The prototype vehicles that the company has built have successfully been tested by delivering packages to remote farms in Queensland, Australia from neighbouring properties.

Australia was selected as a test site due to what Google calls "progressive" rules about the use of drones, which are more tightly controlled in other parts of the word.

Dual mode
Project Wing's aircraft have a wingspan of approximately 1.5m (4.9ft) and have four electrically-driven propellers.

The total weight, including the package to be delivered, is approximately 10kg (22lb). The aircraft itself accounts for the bulk of that at 8.5kg (18.7lb).

The small, white glossy machine has a "blended wing" design where the entire body of the aircraft provides lift.

The vehicle is known as a "tail sitter" - since it rests on the ground with its propellers pointed straight up, but then transitions into a horizontal flight pattern.
This dual mode operation gives the self-flying vehicle some of the benefits of both planes and helicopters.

It can take off or land without a runway, and can hold its position hovering in one spot. It can also fly quickly and efficiently, allowing it to cover larger distances than the more traditional quadcopter vehicles available commercially.

The vehicles are pre-programmed with a destination, but then left to fly themselves there automatically.

This differs from many military drone aircraft, which are often remotely controlled by a pilot on the ground, sometimes on the other side of the world.

Eventually Google said it could use unmanned flying vehicles to deliver shopping items to consumers at home. That's a use that retail giant Amazon has already stated an interest in, with its proposed Prime Air service - the announcement of which generated headlines at the end of last year:

Amazon has asked the US Federal Aviation Administration for permission to conduct outdoor tests.

"The things we would do there are not unlike what is traditionally done in aerospace," said Mr Voss.

"It will be clear for us what level of redundancy we need in the controls and sensors, the computers that are onboard, and the motors, and how they are able to fail gracefully such that you don't have catastrophic problems occurring."

Other unusual vehicles have been investigated for humanitarian aid, including flying cars and hoverbikes, with the same aims of reaching cut-off areas quickly.

"We will have to see what kind of specific technology works best within the aid landscape, and if the new technology can integrate positively in the local context," said Lou Del Bello from news site SciDev.net, speaking about the category in general.

"It will need to demonstrate it can be cost effective, and respond to actual needs of local people."

You can hear more about Google's self-flying vehicles on The Science Hour this weekend on the BBC World Service

Out of the goodness of their hearts. Making them like the old "boys toys" radio-controlled from back in the day will insidiously enter the minds of kids and parents to see them as normal, ("mummy/daddy I want one!") and I wouldn't put it past Google to then corner the market on planes and 'copters kiddy toys... even adult enthusiasts. Can't forget about the HD video technology that could be installed surreptitiously (and enhanced audio?) in potential toys too. But hey, that's just my cynical imagination doing its thang....