Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggests microchipping children

And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Revelation 13:16-17

Reading Biblical prophecies about the end times helped bring me to Christ in 1975; the prophecies seemed to be describing many things that were true at the time, and there was a lot of preaching and writing about the end times. In those days and the years immediately following, I tried to imagine how the prophecies would be fulfilled. It's one thing to imagine how prophecies will be fulfilled in the future, and it's another to live long enough to see them being fulfilled in the present. End times prophecies are more true now than they were in 1975, yet there's a lot less preaching on these scriptures than there was then, despite the fact that the prophecies are increasingly being fulfilled before our eyes--no doubt because it doesn't fit the Church Growth Movement paradigm of Peter Drucker, Rick Warren and company.

It would be ironic if the mark of the Beast were to originate in Israel. With everything else going on these days, you might have missed this item from a few weeks ago, as reported by Leon Sverdlov in The Jerusalem Post, May 8, 2020 (link in original):

Cyber experts slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his proposal to "microchip" children who return to schools and kindergartens as the coronavirus lockdown is lifted, Ynet reported on Friday.

While speaking at a press conference on Monday, Netanyahu suggested the Health Ministry use new technology to help Israel adjust to its new routine as the state is lifting the coronavirus lockdown. "That is, technology that has not been used before and is allowed under the legislation we shall enact," he clarified.

"I spoke with our heads of technology in order to find measures Israel is good at, such as sensors. For instance, every person, every kid – I want it on kids first – would have a sensor that would sound an alarm when you get too close, like the ones on cars," the prime minister said.

"It will be hard to do it to more than a million schoolchildren who return to their educational institutions in order to ensure one student sits at the distance of two meters from another. It is fictional and dangerous," cyber resilience expert Einat Meron told Ynet.

"Theoretically, I get the idea behind it," she said. "But although such distance-sensitive microchips exist in vehicles, it is different in humans." According to Meron, "a beeping sound telling me I got close to someone is not enough. Who says it will change anything? I would have gotten closer either way."

The expert added that "the actual issue is the enforcement, and here everything changes." Meron told Ynet that "microchipping children will not pass any test – both practically and legally." Similar to Meron's notion that notifying citizens on their distance will not affect their actions, many fear the state would make use of the information available from the sensors.

"If the information with the kids' location is uploaded to the internet, a pedophile with some cyber knowledge may invade the system and stalk them outside their schools, follow them and distribute the information on other platforms," Meron said. "Can the state take responsibility for that?"

The Prime Minister's Office responded to the report, telling Ynet Netanyahu's suggestion "is not to be implemented through databases, but through simple technology notifying [the citizens] about their distance. It is a voluntary option that is designed to help children keep their distance, like Mobileye with vehicles."

The office added that the prime minister's suggestion is "an idea that may help maintain social distancing, and there will not be any violation of privacy."

On Wednesday, Walla reported the movements of all vehicles in Israel were tracked by police and stored in an unregulated database named Eagle Eye. A source cited by the media site said the information "may be kept for years on end."

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) reportedly submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act that police disclose the extent of the operations of Eagle Eye, as well as the time the information on citizens' movements is stored in the system.

Israel Police responded to ACRI, saying the system's activity was not standardized internally despite several years of operations. "Either way, once finalized, the procedure will not be disclosed to the public," police added.

In late March, Yediot Aharonot reported a classified Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) database stored information on all Israeli citizens and most Palestinians from the West Bank. The data tracked by the security agency included movements, phone calls and text messages.

Backlog: Schoolchildren are increasingly being prepared to receive the mark of the beast

And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Revelation 13:16-17

When I was in kindergarten in Edmonton in 1966-67, I didn't go to a bus stop. A station wagon with a "School Bus" sign on top, driven by a nice, attractive brunette (who must be in her late 70s now, if she's still alive), stopped at the house of each child, and took us all downtown, where we had kindergarten in the basement of the Seven Seas restaurant, and then took us home afterward. I'll take that over the surveillance technology of the 21st century.

The following article, six years old but still relevant (maybe now just for historical purposes), illustrates that surveillance technology can have positive aspects. No parents want their children to be on the wrong bus or in the wrong school, or who-knows-where. However, it's only a matter of time before an electronically-scanned card today becomes a mark in the right hand or forehead tomorrow. As reported by Andrea Sands in the Edmonton Journal, September 20, 2013:

When five-year-old Jack Rattray gets on his school bus to leave Wes Hosford Elementary School in Sherwood Park, a swipe of his electronic bus pass tells school district authorities he's aboard.

Jack swipes the card again when he gets off the bus at a busy transfer centre at Salisbury Composite High School, where he boards a second bus to his day home with another swipe. On days his mom isn't working, Jack takes a different bus from school straight home.

Jack's mom, Sydney Rattray, can log in at work using an application called My Stop and see on a map where Jack's bus is located and its estimated arrival time.

"If he got confused one day and thought he was supposed to go to the day home, I could find him," said Rattray, a pharmacy technician who does shift work at the University of Alberta.

"It feels safe. You can monitor without being there, without hovering...It does give me peace of mind."

Elk Island Public Schools was the first school district in Canada to use student-scanning bus passes and GPS on all its buses, said transportation director Lisa Weder.

Now, Edmonton Public Schools and Edmonton Catholic Schools are testing similar on-board GPS systems that will let parents locate their child's bus pass on a map.

Elk Island Public Schools started rolling out the technology last year, Weder said.

More than 8,000 of Elk Island Public Schools' 16,500 students travel on about 165 buses running 591 routes across Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan, Vegreville and Strathcona County, she said.

The student-scan and GPS technology, plus an automated system called Checkmate that ensures no child is accidentally left on the bus, are now fully installed at a cost of $275,000, Weder said.

"Because we run so many transfers and we transport kindergarten to Grade 12 students on all the same buses, it really helps us if a student boards an incorrect bus," Weder said.

Last week, a four-year-old boy in Winnipeg was dropped off at the wrong school, where he spent his entire first day of kindergarten before someone noticed the error. Also last week, an Edmonton boy got off his bus at the wrong school when he took the bus for the first time to kindergarten, Global News reported.

A school bus driver with the Northern Lights School District was suspended in January 2012 after a young boy was left alone on a bus for an entire school day.

Mix-ups are most common with new students, and more frequent at the beginning of the school year, said Weder.

"There's a significant number of students boarding incorrect buses. In the first two weeks of school, we probably had, I would say, at least four to five cases a day where students were boarding incorrect buses."

The scanned bus passes allow school authorities to monitor which bus each student boards and leaves and at what time. The data also shows transportation planners exactly how many students are taking the bus each day so they can plan most efficiently, Weder added.

"You could have 70 students registered to a 72-passenger bus, but who's actually riding that bus?"

On-board GPS systems also send data about what the bus is doing to school district staff, Weder said. That means employees can see if a bus is speeding, if it stops completely at railway crossings, if it follows the designated route, if it stops on time and in the proper spots to pick up or drop off children, she said.

Edmonton Public Schools started testing on-board GPS at six schools this fall, said district spokeswoman Jane Sterling.

Chinese government issues 17,000 smart watches to track movements of schoolchildren

With each passing day, conditions are increasingly resembling those prophesied in Revelation 13:11-18. What's "voluntary" today will be compulsory tomorrow. As reported by Sophia Yan of the London Daily Telegraph, July 17, 2019 (links in original):

Beijing -- A local government in southern China has handed out smart watches to nearly 17,000 primary school pupils, capable of pinging their real-time locations and emergency alerts to their parents.

The watches, distributed to students in 60 schools, are equipped with chips powered by BeiDou, China’s own version of GPS, according to the Guangzhou Daily, a Chinese state media outlet. GPS is a system developed and owned by the US government.

“With this watch, Mom and Dad can know where I am, and I can call and voice message them immediately after class,” one enthusiastic fourth-grader told state media.

The smart watch-tracking government program is entirely voluntary and about half of the devices distributed have already come online. Plans are in place to issue another 13,000 smart watches to students, and the authorities will soon begin handing them out to elderly people.

User information will be uploaded to a database maintained by China’s ministry of public security and the ministry of industry and information technology, according to state media.

Cities in China have been getting creative in finding new ways to monitor students and curb truancy with the latest technologies.

In December, more than ten schools in Guizhou and Guangxi provinces began requiring students to wear “intelligent uniforms” embedded with computer chips to track their movements and trigger an alarm if they skip class, according to state media.

Two chips, sown into the shoulders of school jackets, can sustain around 500 wash cycles and temperatures of 150 degrees Celsius.

Facial recognition scanners at school gates match the chips with the correct students, meaning anyone who tries to swap jackets in order to play truant will be caught. Alarms will also sound if a pupil falls asleep in class.

Last May, a high school in Hangzhou installed facial recognition technology to check how attentive pupils were in class.

Movements of students are watched by three cameras positioned above the blackboard, and can pick up seven different emotions, including neutral, happy, sad, disappointed, angry, scared and surprised. If the technology concludes a student is distracted in class, it will send a notification to the teacher to take action.

BeiDou was originally developed by the Chinese military to reduce reliance on the US-owned GPS system, but its positioning accuracy is to within 10 metres while GPS can track down to 30 centimetres.

In efforts to speed up adoption of the system, Chinese authorities have ordered taxis, buses and other vehicles to install BeiDou, and many domestic phone brands including Huawei and Xiaomi are now also compatible with the system.

There are only a handful of other global satellite navigation systems, including Russia’s Glonass and Europe’s Galileo, which has suffered an outage over the last two weeks.

The UK has been involved in developing Galileo, sinking £1.2 billion in the project, but now intends to build its own as part of Brexit fallout.

Radio frequency may replace X-rays in security devices

As reported by Joshua Philipp of The Epoch Times, June 7, 2018 (link in original):

A new device that fits on a cellphone could soon replace X-ray machines in airports and security checkpoints, while being affordable enough for schools and nightclubs.

Rather than using X-rays, which often require heavy equipment, the new device, SWORD, uses radio frequency. The technology can achieve effects similar to X-rays, but in a noninvasive way, and with no more radiation than what a cellphone already emits.

The SWORD platform would help move options for preventing terrorist attacks and mass shootings from being reactive to proactive, according to Barry Oberholzer, CEO of Royal Holdings, which created the system.

“If you look at all the mass shooter and terror attacks that have been happening, we believe this product we develop is proactive and can save lives,” he said. “It’s not reactive like many people are currently pushing.”

Oberholzer said the system was an answer to threats he has witnessed in his work as an intelligence contractor. He has worked with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, Belgium Customs Intelligence Agency, and others to counter criminal operations, including narco-terrorism and smuggling networks.

SWORD works through a specialized smartphone case with an internal processor and antennae that emit radio frequency waves. These waves can scan people and bags, and transmit data back to the phone. It then runs the data through an app on the phone itself, which connects to an AI-driven threat database. It can then give alerts on whether people are carrying guns or explosives, and can do facial recognition to detect if an individual is banned from a location or wanted by authorities.

Oberholzer said the new system would give even security guards at locations such as airports and metro stations the ability to scan individuals and unattended bags for threats, rather than having to call in police, K-9 units, or bomb squads, which can often take hours.

Backlog: Big law firm uses fingerprint-scanning to track employees

As reported by Niamh Scallan of The Toronto Star, November 1, 2012:

The days of sneaking out for three-hour lunch breaks will soon be over at a Bay Street law firm after it decided to install fingerprint-scanning technology to monitor its employees’ whereabouts.

Last month, McCague Borlack LLP announced plans for a revamped security system that will require staff (except lawyers who spend much of their time with clients) to clock in and out of the office with a finger swipe, keeping track of morning late-comers or those who try to jump-start their weekends by slipping out early on a Friday.

“Some people were abusing the system,” said founding partner Howard Borlack, 58. “We had people taking two to three hours for lunch and we had no way of knowing. . . . Some people were complaining.”

Other Toronto firms use security passes and honour systems to keep track of time worked. McCague Borlack, which focuses mostly on insurance law and employs about 200 people, has gone a step further with a system that not only provides office access via fingerprint, but also records employees as they enter and leave.

Come mid-November, when the system is expected to go live, the office will be equipped with finger-scanning machines supplied by Utah-based Qqest, Inc. that will keep a rolling record of the time spent in the office.

It’s mostly about improved building security, said Borlack, a way to keep track of people coming in and out of the office and streamlining administrative tasks. But with concern within the firm that some people are working less than 40 hours a week, the monitoring feature is “a huge bonus.”

“I know we have people who probably work less than 35 hours a week and if I listen to all the griping about certain people, I’m sure it’s well less than that,” Borlack said.

A boon for productivity-conscious managers, the plan has drawn outrage among a group of bloggers who identify themselves as McCague Borlack secretaries.

On their “Finger Campaign” website, the group has accused the firm of singling out secretaries and copy-room staff (by exempting some lawyers from the program), and called the system an “insult to our human dignity” that has had a “very chilling effect on the secretaries’ psyche.”

“The indignant fingerprinting program does not seek to address any security concerns at all,” one post read. “It’s for the ‘mark ’em and track ’em’ purpose exclusively.”

Borlack admitted he “knew it would be uncomfortable” for some employees, but said he was careful to ensure the fingerprint technology would not violate privacy issues. He denounced the “Finger Campaign” as false, noting the new measure was intended mostly for security purposes and most staff seemed to be on board.

Rosa DeFrenza, a receptionist at the firm for five years, said she had not yet seen the “Finger Campaign” website, but said she thought the program could help to standardize work hours among her colleagues.

She added that diligent workers, herself included, had no reason to be concerned about the program. “No one should be working more than anyone else, no one should be working less than anyone else,” DeFrenza said.

But where to draw the line?

Carleton University law professor Michael MacNeil, who specializes in legal issues surrounding privacy and surveillance, said the fingerprinting system is just one example of the way workplaces are using technology to monitor and maximize productivity.

But legislation has lagged behind the trend, he said, leaving more questions than answers over what constitutes an invasion of privacy in the workplace.

“There’s a lot of it going on,” he said. “It’s an area where the law is underdeveloped.”

If a religious group used methods such as those described above, it would be considered evidence of the group's cultic character. Indeed, that comparison has already been made. Mary Otvos, a young woman who was quitting the practice of law after 10 years wrote an article titled Why I'm Leaving Law, which appeared on pages 12-17 of the February 1992 issue of Canadian Lawyer. Unfortunately, the magazine's online archives don't go back that far, and that article doesn't seem to be available online. One of the observations that Ms. Otvos made was that big law firms are like religious cults in their efforts to control their people. That article appeared 20 years before McCague Borlack began using fingerprint technology to monitor their employees' whereabouts; the use of surveillance technology has enabled the cult leaders to be even more controlling.

Church of England court rules that closed circuit television cameras must be turned off during services to protect privacy of prayer

Another sign of the times, as reported by Olivia Rudgard of the London Daily Telegraph, February 23, 2018:

Churches must switch off CCTV cameras during services because prayer is private, a Church of England court has ruled.

The consistory court ruling is believed to be the first made on the ethics of CCTV in church and was made in response to a Canterbury vicar who applied to install two cameras so his church could be left open during the day.

The Reverend Philip Brown, and churchwardens Robin Slowe and Robert Allen, want to install the camera system to deter vandals from damaging the church and to catch the actions of any wrongdoers.

St Mary's Chartham is a Grade I listed medieval building, most of which was built between 1285 and 1305.

Morag Ellis QC, commissary general of the Diocese of Canterbury, said that the cameras should be switched off during services, including regular Sunday worship and events such as weddings.

"Funerals and baptisms, in particular, are examples of occasions on which people are likely to be very sensitive," she said.

Cameras should also be kept away from secluded areas designed for prayer, she added.

"Areas set aside for private devotions seem to me to fall within the especially sensitive category where one would not expect to be filmed while praying.

"Similarly, in any churches where sacramental Confession or other ministries of individual pastoral support, such as healing, are practised, there should be no filming in the part or parts of the church set aside for such purposes," she said.

Church of England churches are encouraged to keep their doors open, with experts advising that such a policy means vandalism is less likely than if the doors are locked.

Ms Ellis, an ecclesiastical law expert who is also married to a Church of England priest, added that the footage should be kept for a maximum of four weeks "because damage and theft in the church, where recordings could be of evidential value, will not always be spotted immediately".

Churches should follow Government guidance which says a CCTV camera's operators must "take into account its effect on individuals and their privacy".

She said the 700-year-old church would not be damaged by the introduction of the cameras as they would be fixed "discreetly" to roof timbers.

A national funding scheme for places of worship was announced in 2016 which allows churches, mosques, gurdwaras and other religious buildings which are vulnerable to hate crime with funding for measures such as CCTV cameras.

U.K. supermarket allows payment by scanning the fingertip veins of customers

And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Revelation 13:16-17

The world is increasingly being softened up to take the mark of the Beast. While the Bible never refers to that mark as good, the world is increasingly promoting the technology that's leading to the adoption of the mark of the Beast in terms of convenience and security for prospective users. As reported by Karen Morley in the London Daily Telegraph, September 20, 2017 (links in original):

A UK supermarket has become the first in the world to let shoppers pay for groceries using just the veins in their fingertips.

Customers at the Costcutter store, at Brunel University in London, can now pay using their unique vein pattern to identify themselves.

The firm behind the technology, Sthaler, has said it is in "serious talks" with other major UK supermarkets to adopt hi-tech finger vein scanners at pay points across thousands of stores.

It works by using infrared to scan people's finger veins and then links this unique biometric map to their bank cards. Customers’ bank details are then stored with payment provider Worldpay, in the same way you can store your card details when shopping online. Shoppers can then turn up to the supermarket with nothing on them but their own hands and use it to make payments in just three seconds.

Finger vein-scanning is a proven technology in Japan #biometric #payments
https://t.co/S4WOvAxdTh pic.twitter.com/eKfsThfPPO
— Sthaler (@SthalerLtd) July 12, 2017

It comes as previous studies have found fingerprint recognition, used widely on mobile phones, is vulnerable to being hacked and can be copied even from finger smears left on phone screens.

But Sthaler, the firm behind the technology, claims vein technology is the most secure biometric identification method as it cannot be copied or stolen.

Shaler said dozens of students were already using the system and it expected 3,000 students out of 13,000 to have signed up by November.

Finger print payments are already used widely at cash points in Poland, Turkey and Japan.

Vein scanners are also used as a way of accessing high-security UK police buildings and authorising internal trading at least one major British investment bank.

The firm is also in discussions with nightclubs, gyms about using the technology to verify membership and even Premier League football clubs to check people have the right access to VIP hospitality areas.

The technology uses an infrared light to create a detailed map of the vein pattern in your finger. It requires the person to be alive, meaning in the unlikely event a criminal hacks off someone’s finger, it would not work. Sthaler said it take just one minute to sign up to the system initially and, after that, it takes just seconds to place your finger in a scanner each time you reach the supermarket checkout.

Simon Binns, commercial director of Sthaler, told the Daily Telegraph: ‘This makes payments so much easier for customers.

"They don’t need to carry cash or cards. They don’t need to remember a pin number. You just bring yourself. This is the safest form of biometrics. There are no known incidences where this security has been breached.

"When you put your finger in the scanner it checks you are alive, it checks for a pulse, it checks for haemoglobin. ‘Your vein pattern is secure because it is kept on a database in an encrypted form, as binary numbers. No card details are stored with the retailer or ourselves, it is held with Worldpay, in the same way it is when you buy online."

Nick Telford-Reed, director of technology innovation at Worldpay UK, said: "In our view, finger vein technology has a number of advantages over fingerprint. This deployment of Fingopay in Costcutter branches demonstrates how consumers increasingly want to see their payment methods secure and simple."

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg visits Pope Francis and gives him a drone

The world moves further toward the mark of the Beast. This blogger isn't on Facebook and never will be, God willing (I've heard that it's very difficult to get off Facebook once you're on it). As reported by Sarah Perez of Tech Crunch, August 29, 2016 (links in original):

On Monday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan met with Pope Francis, as part of Zuckerberg’s trip of Italy, announced following the devastating earthquake that hit the country last week, killing hundreds. After discussing the importance of connecting people in the world without internet access, Zuckerberg presented the Pope with a drone – but, alas, not a working one. Instead, it was a model of Facebook’s solar-powered Aquila aircraft, designed to beam internet access to those areas of the world that are lacking connectivity.

The Aquila drone, which has a wingspan of over 113 feet – bigger than a Boeing 737 – just completed its first official test flight this summer. The drone will fly for 90 days at a time, and can blanket a 60-mile wide area with internet access.

According to a post on Zuckerberg’s Facebook page, the CEO told the Pope how much he admired his message of mercy and tenderness, as well as how he’s found new ways to communicate with people of every faith around the world. (The current Pope uses social media, having followed in Benedict’s footsteps by joining Twitter, and he signed up for an Instagram account just this March.)

In a statement released by the Vatican’s press office, the Pope and Zuckerberg discussed how technology can aid in continuing to spread the Pope’s message.

“Together they spoke about how to use communications technology to alleviate poverty, encourage a culture of encounter, and to communicate a message of hope, especially to the most disadvantaged,” said Vatican press office director Greg Burke in a statement.

As part of the trip, Zuckerberg also met with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to discuss the earthquake, the economy, and technology’s impact on job creation, among other things. The CEO hosted a Townhall Q&A in Rome, which was live-streamed on Facebook, as well.

“I told the Prime Minister I’m especially excited with the work being done across Europe on artificial intelligence,” wrote Zuckerberg on Facebook.

“As part of the Facebook AI Research Partnership Program, we’re providing 26 state-of-the-art GPU servers to research institutions across Europe — including one to the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia here in Italy. They’ve got a great artificial intelligence and computer vision program, and this new technology will hopefully help students and the faculty do even more,” he said.

Fifteen research groups across 9 countries in Europe will receive these computers, which are similar to those at FAIR (Facebook AI Research) with 8 high-end GPU cards each. The computers are meant to help recipients in research areas like computer vision, learning systems, deep neural networks, and more.

Beyond getting face time with the Pope, it’s also interesting to see Zuckerberg taking on the role that’s usually reserved for politicians – that is, touring a country after a natural disaster. While that wasn’t the primary purpose of the visit, it’s clear that Facebook has a larger role to play in the world economy these days, and is working to get key players to buy into its plans to bring the internet to the unconnected masses.

Earlier this year, Zuckerberg went to China, where he held a rare meeting with China’s propaganda chief, Liu Yunshan, to discuss internet development in China, and how Facebook could be included. The site has been blocked in the country, which hosts 720+ million internet users, since 2009.

As reported by Fortune, August 29, 2016:

During his trip to Italy, Mark Zuckerberg made sure to pencil the Pope into his schedule.

On Monday, the Facebook (fb) CEO and his wife, Priscilla Chan, met with Pope Francis to discuss “how to use communications technology to alleviate poverty, encourage a culture of encounter, and to communicate a message of hope, especially to the most disadvantaged,” according to a statement from the Vatican press office obtained by CNN.

Zuckerberg has made it his mission to bring the Internet to those around the world who don’t have access. Last year, he announced a plan to provide refugee camps with Internet access, which is a small part of a larger global connectivity plan he’s working on with rock star Bono. In an op-ed for the New York Times, Zuckerberg and the U2 frontman detailed their plan to get everyone online by 2020, a step they believe is “necessary for development.”

On his Facebook page, Zuckerberg posted a picture of him giving Pope Francis an Aquila—Facebook’s solar-powered drone designed to help the Internet expand to and improve in developing countries. The aircraft successfully completed its first test flight just two months ago.

Italy was hit by an earthquake last week that killed nearly 300 people and injured hundreds of others. Soon afterward, Zuckerberg announced that he would be taking a trip to the country. It’s uncertain whether he’ll visit the cities affected by the natural disaster, though he did host a live question and answer session in Rome on Monday.

During the Q&A, Zuckerberg answered questions about people increasingly looking to social media outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter (twtr) , to get their news. While he said there are “advantages to obtaining information from different parts of the world,” he shot down rumors that Facebook was becoming a news outlet.

“We are a tech company, not a media company,” Zuckerberg said.

Facebook could not immediately be reached for comment.

Click on the link to see To Unite the Earth, Connect It by Bono and Mark Zuckerberg in The New York Times, September 26, 2015. It's worth noting that Bono, who wants to unite the world technologically, is also involved in the Coexist movement, which seeks to unite the world's religions. See my post A false Jesus on Youtube (December 16, 2009).

Use of drones in business is increasing

The following article indicates that drones can have many beneficial uses, but it doesn't take much imagination to envision drones being used for sinister purposes. As reported by Scott Simmie of the Toronto Star, November 16, 2015:

Flying at 60,000 feet, powered by the sun, Facebook’s huge unmanned Aquila aircraft provides an airborne bridge to the information highway — beaming Internet access to people in technologically barren parts of the planet.

At a major construction site, a squad of flying robots hoists and lays bricks with military precision, pausing only for battery swaps or a recharge.

And at Amazon, Walmart, and the Vaughan-based Drone Delivery Canada — tests are afoot to transform the delivery of small packages using robots in the sky.

The common thread is the ubiquitous unmanned aerial vehicle, or “drone.” And the above scenarios, more likely than not, will be realized in the not-so-distant future. The Vaughan company exists (though it’s not delivering yet), demonstrations of intelligent swarm assembly (using foam “bricks”) have been carried out — and a 42-metre wingspan Aquila prototype has been built.

“They’re really now becoming new tools in a company’s toolbox,” says Michael Cohen, president of Toronto-based Industrial Skyworks, or ISW.

It’s one of many firms globally that see massive opportunities in the use of unmanned aerial technology. Flying high-end quadcopters manufactured by Waterloo-based Aeryon Labs (which just secured $60 million in venture capital financing), ISW does everything from inspections of building envelopes through to work in the electrical, telecommunications, and oil and gas sectors. Multiple types of high-resolution sensors can be taken aloft depending on the task at hand.

“If one needs to look at a hard-to-reach place like the top of a telecommunications tower to understand how much rust is on equipment, drones are now able to get this information and we’re able to present it in a valuable way,” says Cohen, who is also an airline-rated captain.

One of ISW’s core businesses is thermal inspections of massive roofs on industrial buildings. The work is carried out at night, and — until ISW came along — had been done by people carrying handheld thermographic cameras. Using a drone is safer and faster.

And — potentially — better at many, many things.

“We’ll see them in everything from deliveries to construction sites to all sorts of other applications,” predicts Cohen.

Such as precision agriculture — where unmanned aerial systems gather ultra-precise data while flying over farms. “A very simple way of thinking of it is optimizing inputs to increase outputs,” says Pat Lohman, VP of Partnerships with North Carolina-based PrecisionHawk...

...In late October, there was news Walmart Inc. had been testing small unmanned aerial systems indoors for months — and had applied to the FAA for permission to take those tests outside.

Reuters reported the application seeks to test drones in “deliveries to customers at Walmart facilities, as well as to consumer homes.”

According to the Reuters report, Walmart plans to use drones manufactured by China’s DJI — a company that has continuously advanced drone technology while simultaneously reducing price. Last year, the company recorded $500 million (U.S.) in sales. This year, it is set to surpass $1 billion.

So stable is the platform that many small entrepreneurs have launched businesses with DJI products. Gateway Data Systems Inc. started with a sub-$2,000 device and accessories. The Etobicoke-based company monitors construction sites and provides high-resolution, date-stamped video progress reports.

“It holds people accountable to their project timeline,” says president and CEO Mike Smith. “Boots on the ground is fine, but to get an actual overview of an entire project you really need a bird’s eye view.”

Smith, an IT specialist, has plans to take his company far beyond progress reports and into the realm of security surveillance. He says he’s already exploring partnerships with academic institutes, hoping to push the artificial intelligence of these flying robots.

He envisions drones triggered by motion sensors autonomously capturing video evidence of construction site theft — even potentially following suspects.

“How do we push that platform — and see how far we can take it?” asks Smith. “How much more can we make it do — and how fast?”

If the progress of the past few years is indicative of the future — the sky’s the limit.

Royal Canadian Air Force doesn't need permission to fly drones in Canada

RCAF drones are absolutely necessary, of course, for national security--and what could possibly go wrong? Another backlog item, as reported by David Pugliese of the Ottawa Citizen, August 17, 2013:

Canada’s air force has determined that, unlike its counterparts in the United States and Europe, it does not need approval from civil aviation agencies to fly drones in domestic airspace and it will operate those unmanned planes as it sees fit, according to newly released Department of National Defence documents.

But the air force acknowledges that flying the drones in domestic airspace shared by civilian jetliners and other aircraft will be challenging.

The issue of whether to allow unmanned aerial vehicles — or UAVs — to operate in domestic airspace is currently being hotly debated in Europe. In June, Germany’s defence officials were accused of wasting more than $1 billion after they purchased long-range UAVs, only to be told by the European Aviation Safety Agency that the aircraft would not be allowed to fly in Europe. The aircraft did not have a proper collision-avoidance system, the safety agency determined.

The debate was further fuelled by the leak last month of two videos to German news outlets. One showed a German military UAV almost colliding with a passenger jet over Kabul, Afghanistan; the other showed German military personnel fleeing from an out-of-control Heron UAV, also in Afghanistan. The Heron later slammed into a military transport plane sitting on the runway.

The Heron is the same type of drone the Canadian military leased for its Afghanistan operations.

Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) planners examining the proposed purchase of UAVs predicted back in 2011 that flying drones in commercial airspace would become an issue, but noted they didn’t have to worry.

The RCAF doesn’t need approval from Transport Canada or Nav Canada to fly the aircraft domestically, according to the documents obtained by the Ottawa Citizen through the access-to-information law.

The RCAF pointed out that the Canadian situation is very different from Europe and the U.S., where civilian agencies set the rules. The air force concluded that it saw no significant risks to routine operation of UAVs in Canada.

But the briefing note also added that “in the domestic environment in both high-use and uncongested airspace regions the employment of military unmanned aircraft will provide greater challenges.”

The Conservative government wants to purchase a fleet of up to 18 medium-altitude UAVs for the RCAF. No specific costs have been released but the project’s price tag is estimated to be over $1.5 billion.

The solution to operating in civilian airspace will be based on air traffic management and collision and avoidance systems, the RCAF has determined. “An autonomous ‘sense and avoid’ capability will be pursued to permit ever increasing access to Canadian Airspace,” the briefing added.

Such technology would allow UAVs to automatically avoid mid-air collisions.
Capt. Holly-Anne Brown of the RCAF noted in an email sent Thursday to the Citizen that while aerospace firms are working on a sense-and-avoid system for UAVs, that is not considered an essential requirement for the Canadian military’s planned purchase of such aircraft.

“The RCAF has procedures in place that will ensure the safe operation of any UAVs we operate,” she added.

Access to airspace for any of the Canadian Forces unmanned aerial vehicles “will be conducted in a deliberate and co-ordinated fashion, and through incremental steps, to ensure the safety of all airspace users,” Brown also stated.

In addition, there is significant co-ordination between the military and Transport Canada and Nav Canada, she added.

But Steve Staples, president of the Ottawa-based Rideau Institute, says the debate in Europe raises serious concerns about UAV flight safety in Canada. “It’s one thing to be flying a drone over the desert in Afghanistan but it’s something else to fly them over Ottawa or Toronto,” said Staples, who is spearheading a campaign against the military’s purchase of armed UAVs.

He said the lack of civilian safety oversight could lead to an accident in the future.

Staples pointed out that the 2011 report from the military’s flight-safety branch acknowledged 10 Canadian UAV crashes between 2007 and 2010. Most of those happened in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and involved engine failures. Since the early 2000s, there have been 42 accidents involving Canadian Forces UAVs.

While the military conducted experiments with UAVs in domestic airspace in 2004, the RCAF briefing note pointed out that “nowhere was civilian approval or permission required or sought.”

Although Canadian Forces UAVs do not routinely operate outside their restricted airspace at this point, that constraint is entirely self-imposed by the military, it added.

Some police forces in Canada operate small UAVs but need special permission from Transport Canada to fly them.

Drones to fly over pipelines in Alberta

Pipelines today, the entire province tomorrow--all for our good, of course. Another backlog item, as reported by Sarah O'Donnell of the Edmonton Journal, August 12, 2013:

Unmanned aerial drones may one day watch over the pipelines that criss-cross Alberta's landscape, and the province is hoping to develop such cutting-edge technology with Nevada's help.

Alberta has signed a new agreement with the U.S. state on developing drones to boost the province's reputation in the aerospace industry, as it pushes for economic development beyond the energy sector.

The three-year deal, signed at the recent U.S. Council of State Governments-West meeting in Las Vegas, pledges the two governments will work together in the developing field of unmanned vehicle systems, commonly referred to as drones.

Though military use of these small aircraft often dominates headlines - particularly last week as U.S. drone strikes continued in Yemen - a growing sector is working to harness the technology equipment for civilian use.

Alberta, home to the Canadian Centre for Unmanned Vehicle Systems in Medicine Hat, is one of the hot spots.

"The technology has been proven in the military applications, but it is moving toward the civilian, commercial, industrial and agricultural applications: things like pipeline surveillance, forestry monitoring and the agricultural sector as well," said Derek Cummings, spokesman for International and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Cal Dallas.

"It's a growth industry," Dallas said. "It's an opportunity to diversify our economy, so there are benefits for us for sure."

About 70 companies, military agencies and educational institutions are working in Alberta on the research, development and testing of these complex systems, the provincial government says.

Other companies are beginning to integrate the technology into their business. Stantec, for example, recently purchased its first unmanned aerial vehicle to help with its mapping and topographical work. The small plane has a wingspan of almost one metre, weighs 630 grams and takes high-resolution pictures.

Still, the sector only accounts for a fraction of province's $1.3-billion aerospace and defence industry. Nationwide, most aviation-related research and development in the country's $22-billion aerospace industry is in Ontario and Quebec.

Provincial officials believe these small, unmanned aircraft have a big future in Alberta, particularly with the Canadian centre of excellence located at Medicine Hat's airport. The federal government also is weighing whether to approve an unmanned vehicle training centre in southeast Alberta near Foremost, with restricted airspace that would allow companies and researchers to fly tests of the equipment beyond their line of sight.

Nevada, meanwhile, has applied to become home to one of six Federal Aviation Administration-approved unmanned vehicle test sites in the U.S.

Officials with ING Robotic Aviation, an Ottawa-based company with thousands of hours experience supporting Canadian troops in Afghanistan with aerial surveillance, said the two jurisdictions are a good fit.

Nevada has a long history of aviation experimentation, said Jeremy Byatt, ING's senior counsel of corporate affairs.

Alberta is a place where there are huge growth opportunities for the sector, such as using the remotely piloted aircraft to help monitor the thousands of kilometres of pipeline across the province. ING, for example, plans to open its first Alberta office in Calgary this week.

No paranoia here: Turkey clears kestrel of suspicions of being an Israeli spy

Another backlog item, as reported by the Times of Israel, July 26, 2013:

A bird captured in Turkey on suspicion of being an Israeli spy was released after a thorough examination revealed that the falcon was not in the employ of the Mossad.

Resident of the Ağın district in the eastern province of Elazığ became concerned after a kestrel, with a tag reading “24311 Tel Avivunia Israel,” ventured nearby, Turkish media reported Friday.

After capturing the winged invader, locals turned it over to Turkish authorities, who had the bird X-rayed at a nearby university, according to the Turkish news outlet Hurriyet.

The bird was apparently registered as an “Israeli spy” by medical personnel.

After determining that the bird had been tagged for research purposes and not snooping, authorities released the kestrel back into the sky.

Israeli use of non-human spies is apparently a large concern in the Middle East. In May of 2012, authorities in Ankara dissected a European bee-eater after becoming concerned that it was carrying an Israeli listening device, and in December an eagle with an Israeli tag in Sudan was captured and touted as a Mossad spy.

In 2010, an Egyptian official said Israel-controlled sharks could be involved in a number of attacks on tourists in the Red Sea.

While the Turks are correct in not underestimating Israeli cleverness and resourcefulness, such willingness on their part to believe in enemy conspiracies is not a recent phenomenon. Submitted for your approval is the following item from The Times of London, April 6, 1920:

"SERLO KOLMS" IN CONSTANTINOPLE.
--------------
THE GENERATION OF A MYTH.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

CONSTANTINOPLE, March 18 (by mail).

...it was with a feeling of resentment that a large section of us, on reaching the landing-stage at Kadikeui to depart for Galata by the most popular morning boat, discovered that something was happening at the European side which we did not understand. The ticket offices were closed. An empty steamer pulled solemnly alongside. The officials, pressed for explanations, remarked that there had been an order for the boats to stop running.

The public nervously watched the other side of the water. One or two, blessed with the eye of faith, averred that they could see Allied soldiers disembarking at Seraglio Point. Forthwith an explanation was found. The Allies were landing troops on the bridge between Galata, and Stambul, and therefore the boats were not running.

PUZZLED CROWD.

The crowd settled down to lounge about near the landing stage, or to sit in the adjacent cafes. Then came the buzzing of a seaplane, which performed various evolutions above Kadekeui and Haidar Pasha. The crowd promptly thickened. It was a lovely day, bright and clear, and the seaplane was worth watching. We became quite interested. Next came a green-grey launch, flying the tricolour of France, and carrying a disproportionately lengthy naval gun; she performed more evolutions on the water in front of us, and suddenly broke off to stop a tug which had apparently trespassed and send it back to Haidar Pasha.

At this all felt that the explanation that troops were landing could not be correct. Something more was needed. It was supplied by the Nationalist Orator, a fearsome gentleman who pounces mercilessly on friends, acquaintances, and comparative strangers on ferry steamers, and expounds the beauties of Nationalism to them in sonorous tones. Having collected a little group around him by artifices such as were used by Mr. Joseph Finsbury in "The Wrong Box," he explained that the patriotic sailors of the ferry company had gone on strike as a protest against the scandalous language used by Lord Curzon and Mr. Lloyd George against Turkey.

For a moment many accepted the explanation which X. Effendi repeated in French for the benefit of Europeans, adding that the sailors had thereby shown "a laudable and patriotic initiative." But he had barely ceased to perorate when a cabman whose Turkish was fluent if he had no French arrived to inform us that no trains were running and that the British had seized Haidar Pasha Station. The strike had hardly accounted for this!

A GREEK "SPELLBINDER."

Presently the crowd began to thin. A great part of it drifted towards a cafe. The writer followed. There sat a happy Greek sailor in his shirt-sleeves. He had seen a great personage, Djemal Pasha, he believed, being marched through the streets in the custody of British soldiers in the small hours of the morning. With vigorous gesture, he described the how and the when in excruciating Turkish mingled with Greek.

I left him spell-binding. That evening I heard more. Yes, it was pretty certain that three Turks had been caught trying to blow up the British general with dynamite bombs. (The general had denied it, but of course there might be political and diplomatic reasons for his denial!)

One of my neighbours who had seen something for himself on the other side found that his servants knew more than he though they had not crossed the water. One had seen captive Nationalists conducted to a launch and British troops occupy Haidar Pasha Station.

"It was very well done," said he; "this time unimportant people were left alone."

"But do you know why?" asked another, who regards the cinema as the greatest educational influence of the age. "The English have brought "Serlo Kolms" (Greeks are as weak over the "sh" as the tribe of Ephraim) out to Constantinople. A wonderful man that! He just puts his nose in the air and smells out evil-doers. How brilliant an idea to employ him!"

Thus do myths arise in the Near East. I shall be surprised if Yanni, grown older and more garrulous, does not one day describe to his wondering and believing friends how he witnessed the dramatic arrest of Djemal Pasha by "Serlo Kolms" on that memorable March 16, 1920.

"Serlo Kolms" is a real being to many frequenters of our cinemas, and recently a newspaper advertising a coming feuilleton published the notice "Sherlock Holmes a Constantinople" in several successive numbers. This was taken literally by certain Greek and Turkish readers, who blamed a rival newspaper for failing to report the presence of this celebrity here! It is now an article of faith with many that Sherlock is here and at work, presumably in the "I" branch.

HT: Hal Lindsey Media Ministries, This week on 'The Hal Lindsey Report', August 23, 2013

Never trust a talking teddy bear

If dogs could talk, it would take a lot of the fun out of owning one. Andy Rooney

As if there isn't enough surveillance already, now you can have a talking teddy bear that gets its information fed to him from the Internet. The potential for further invasion of privacy (it's not to hard to imagine government snooping agencies using the talking teddy to encourage children to provide information about their parents) is ominous--if they ever get it working right (see entire article cited below). As reported by Neil Tweedie in the London Daily Telegraph, August 1, 2013:

Supertoy is a teddy bear that is supposed to hold a conversation. Not a set of pre-programmed “pull the toggle on the back” statements à la Action Man, but a real chat. About anything...

...Questions posed by the bear’s owner are turned firstly from voice into text, then transmitted to a server by a mobile phone attached to the bear and equipped with a special app. The internet is trawled for an answer and the reply sent back to the bear, which speaks his mind.

I particularly like the following comment from someone identified as EnorMouse (August 2, 2013):
Let's see - opinionated, spends its time surfing the net on mobile phone, lacking the ability to evaluate the information it finds but happy to regurgitate it - I think he has invented a teenager - well once he gets it to open a couple of social media accounts anyway :-)

I've interviewed real teddy bears, and they're unanimous in their dislike and distrust of Supertoy. What Mr. Rooney said about dogs is also true of teddy bears, which is why I don't believe the talking teddy will catch on. The "billy possum" didn't sell too well, either--and it didn't talk.

City University in London denies space to Muslim prayer group

Of course, the university authorities and others opposed to the Muslim group mentioned in the items below have no cause for concern, since Islam is a religion of peace--or so we're constantly being told.

As reported by Jennifer Lipman of The Jewish Chronicle, February 22, 2013:

A leading London university has stopped allocating space for a Muslim prayer group after students refused to allow staff to oversee the content of sermons.

The decision by City University to stop offering space on its premises for the Friday prayers has been attacked by students as unjust, but the university said that it was made "despite repeated requests and assurances" for students to "work with the university's Imam to ensure that the process for selecting students is transparent and that the content of sermons is made known to the university in advance and is freely available afterwards for those unable to attend".

"The University needs to be assured of the quality and appropriateness of what is being delivered," said a City spokesman, adding that the university had identified nearby locations off campus at which students could attend Friday prayers.

"The information from those students leading Friday prayers was not forthcoming.

"Whilst this was a disappointment, the university could not continue to condone an activity taking place on its premises where it cannot exercise reasonable supervision."

According to the group Muslim Voices on Campus, which is campaigning against the decision, City restricted the allocation of space at the end of last year. "They requested that khateebs (those delivering the sermon) submit the sermons beforehand to be screened to ensure it 'complies with university policy'," said the group.

"When you start submitting your sermons to be monitored and scrutinised then there's a chance for it to be dictated what's allowed and what's not allowed," the group's leader told the BBC.

The university's action comes three years after a report that revealed that City's Islamic society was promoting a "hard-line Islamist ideology" that led to "the intimidation and harassment of staff, students and members of minority".

The research, by extremism monitor Quilliam, warned that the actions of the ISoc – including comments by its president calling for kaffirs (unbelievers) to be killed and for adulterers to be stoned – had "scared" Jewish students and moderate Muslims.

Ms. Lipman's article about the Quilliam report was published in The Jewish Chronicle on October 18, 2010:

A London university’s Islamic society promoted a “hard-line Islamist ideology” which led to “the intimidation and harassment of staff, students and members of minority”, researchers have revealed.

A report by the counter-extremism think tank Quilliam shows that the behaviour of City University’s Islamic society (ISoc) “during the last academic year “scared” Jewish students and moderate Muslims and “led to increased religious tensions on campus.”

The authors of the report cautioned that “such extremism may increase the risks of students turning to terrorism.”

They found that Saleh Patel, the ISoc president, had called for kafirs (unbelievers) to be killed and for adulterers to be stoned.

Mr Patel told ISoc members that: “Islam believes in defensive and offensive jihad.”
In recordings of Friday prayers held at the university Mr Patel can be heard saying that the Islamic state “teaches to cut the hand of the thief’” and “to kill the apostate.

“This is what Allah and his messenger…have taught us.

“The difference of opinion lies with regards to how he should be killed not as to what he is – a kafir or a Muslim.

“When they say to us that Islam was spread by the sword, and there is no such thing as jihad, we say to them ‘no’.”

At other times members called for women to be forced into wearing the veils and for shari’ah law to be implemented in Britain.

The ISoc also held daily large-scale protests to oppose the university’s provision of a multifaith prayer room and invited Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical pro-al-Qaeda preacher, to a university event.

According to the report, “ISoc members sought to create a globalised ‘grievance-based’ Muslim identity that was hostile to non-Muslims and paranoid and suspicious of outsiders.”

After complaints from fellow students, including members of the LGBT society and the editor of the student newspaper, the university authorities closed the ISoc website and removed some of its privileges.

Lucy James, the report’s author, called the revelation that such ideas were being openly promoted on a university campus “deeply shocking”.

She said that while City University had done its best to contain the problem, “government, civil society groups, students and moderate Muslim organisations need to help challenge these ideologies before they lead to violence on campus or even an act of terrorism.

“Labour failed to effectively take action against campus radicalisation; hopefully the new government will not also ignore this problem.”

The Quilliam report follows the publication of an investigation into University College London’s approach to tackling campus extremism.

Critics called the investigation, launched after the arrest of former student Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, "complacent" and a "whitewash".

Jewish organization in Hungary protests University of Budapest student council's illegal compilation of information on students' religious and ethnic backgrounds

As reported by Jewish Telegraphic Agency, February 20, 2013:

BUDAPEST, Hungary (JTA) -- Members of the student council of the University of Budapest compiled lists of students’ presumed religion, ethnic background including Jewish origins, and political affiliation.

The files were compiled annually on freshmen by the HOK student council, according to a report published Tuesday by the Hungarian television channel ATV, which received a copy of a full list from 2009.

Another column contained the letters I/N --– Hungarian for Y/N, or “Yes/No” -- and is believed by some to be used to indicate whether the student is Jewish, ATV reported. An adjacent column lists in code the political party with which the student is presumed to be affiliated.

Kalman Szalai, managing director of the Action and Protection Foundation -- a new Jewish watchdog on anti-Semitism in Hungary -- told JTA his organization has requested that police investigate the case, since the registration of such personal information is forbidden under Hungarian law.

In a statement, the foundation said the governing board of the student body was “closely linked with the extreme rightist Jobbik party.” A Jewish student from the university approached the foundation requesting that it “initiate all possible legal actions to clarify the case,” the statement read.

“If the information is correct, then this is a grave breach of the constitution and those who contributed in compiling it committed several crimes,” the foundation said in a statement issued Tuesday.

A representative of the student council is quoted as saying that his organization is nonpartisan and the file was a forgery based on an original list that did not contain personal details.

Gyorgy Fabri, a University of Budapest spokesman, said the institution has launched an investigation into the case.

Engineers succeed in miniaturizing T-Ray scanners

Another technological advance for the surveillance society, as reported by Naveen Athrappully of The Epoch Times, February 13, 2013 (updated February 21, 2013):

A pair of electrical engineers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has developed tiny, inexpensive silicon microchips that can generate and radiate high-frequency electromagnetic waves called terahertz (THz) waves or T-Rays that penetrates materials without the ionizing damage of X-rays.

Application of this technology ranges from security and communication to health care and gaming. T-Rays can sense every molecule and so can detect cancer cells, hunt for explosive devices, concealed weapons and drugs and can even measure the fat content in a chicken. “We are not just talking about a potential. We have actually demonstrated that this works,” says Ali Hajimiri, one of the engineers. “The first time we saw the actual images, it took our breath away.”

The problem with T-Ray scanners till now has been that they are huge, requiring lasers and many lenses to focus light, and cooling equipment to keep everything at operating temperatures. But the Caltech duo has managed to miniaturize a T-Ray imager cheaply.

“Using the same low-cost, integrated-circuit technology that’s used to make the microchips found in our cell phones and notepads today, we have made a silicon chip that can operate at nearly 300 times their speed,” says Hajimiri. “These chips will enable a new generation of extremely versatile sensors.”

Hajimiri, a professor at Caltech, and Kaushik Sengupta (PhD ’12) describe the work in the December issue of IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

Silicon chips are not designed to operate at terahertz frequencies, and the team had to harness the collective strength of many transistors operating in unison to boost the strength of the signal. “Traditionally, people have tried to make these technologies work at very high frequencies, with large elements producing the power. Think of these as elephants,” says Hajimiri. “Nowadays we can make a very large number of transistors that individually are not very powerful, but when combined and working in unison, can do a lot more. If these elements are synchronized—like an army of ants—they can do everything that the elephant does and then some.”

The many challenges the team faced were met with a strong determination to see the project through to its end and an ability to view things differently. “We had to take a step back and ask, ‘Can we do this in a different way?’” says Sengupta. “Our chips are an example of the kind of innovations that can be unearthed if we blur the partitions between traditional ways of thinking about integrated circuits, electromagnetics, antennae, and the applied sciences. It is a holistic solution.”

The question that remains is whether we have the responsibility to utilize this new technology in a way that benefits mankind. Or will it be used to further degradation?

The article by Messrs. Hajimiri and Sengupta can be found here, but only a quick abstract is available to non-menbers.

British government tells pet owners to have microchips implanted in their dogs--or else

As reported by Alex Johnston of The Epoch Times, February 7, 2013 (updated February 11, 2013):

All dogs in the United Kingdom must be implanted with microchips within the next few years, authorities said this week, adding that pet owners who refuse to comply will be served up a heavy fine.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said that the microchips, which will have to be implanted in the dogs by April 2016, will allow the animals to be more easily traced back to their owners if they get lost, or could allow owners to be held accountable if the dog misbehaves. Paterson said that the chips would also take the pressure off animal shelters.

“It’s a shame that in a nation of dog lovers, thousands of dogs are roaming the streets or stuck in kennels because the owner cannot be tracked down. I am determined to put an end to this and ease the pressure on charities and councils to find new homes for these dogs,” Paterson said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Microchipping is a simple solution that gives peace of mind to owners. It makes it easier to get their pet back if it strays and easier to trace if it’s stolen. The generous support of Dogs Trust will mean that this valuable service can be offered for free to pet owners across the country,” Paterson continued.

There are some 8 million pet dogs in the U.K., with around 60 percent of them already implanted with microchips. The chips go underneath the skin between the shoulder blades.

By 2016, police will be granted the ability to check dogs to see if they have the chips. Owners who do not get their dogs chipped will be hit with fines for as much as $800.

Paterson said that more than 100,000 dogs are dumped or lost each year in the U.K., costing taxpayers some $89 million to deal with them. The chips will help these dogs be found and reunited with their owners more quickly, he stressed...

When the practice of implanting microchips in dogs started to catch on in the early 1990s, it was promoted as a technology that would be useful in finding dogs that were lost, although not many dogs wander 200 miles away from home (the range of the devices in those days). In 20 years the technology has gone from convenient to compulsory. I don't object to microchips being implanted in dogs--it's the compulsory aspect of it that bothers me. And it's only a matter of time before microchips will be implanted in people, with the authorities claiming that it's for their own good and the good of society.

One of the reasons I believe in a pre-millennial, pre-Tribulation rapture is that it would best explain the behaviour of the Christ-rejecting world of the end times. Imagine if you will, that you're a non-Christian, and a pre-millennial, pre-Tribulation rapture of untold numbers of Christians has just occurred. You won't believe that what has happened is the rapture, because God will send those remaining on Earth a strong delusion, that they should believe a lie (II Thessalonians 2:11). The sudden disappearance, without a trace, of a large number of people at the same time, will possibly be attributed to extraterrestrials, enlightened spirit beings, or perhaps to a "harmonic convergence" of people thinking the right thoughts. Those left behind will likely believe that they are the "good guys," and that those who disappeared were the "bad guys"--narrow-minded fundamentalist Christians whose opposition to the new cosmic consciousness was creating negative vibrations and was preventing the introduction of the New Age. They were taken away either for re-education, or maybe just taken away, period, and now the New Age of peace and harmony can begin.

Whatever the explanation, you'll probably still feel anxiety over the mass disappearance, especially over the fact that there are no clues as to where these people have gone. If only there were some way of tracing their whereabouts...

Of course, there is this microchip technology that has been around for a few decades, and it has been used on dogs, but only a relative handful of people have used it. However, the recent vanishing of a significant percentage of the population makes you think that if it happened once it could happen again, and if it does, you want those left behind to be able to detect where you've gone. You therefore abandon whatever resistance you had to the idea of having a tracking device placed into your body, and decide to accept a mark in your right hand or forehead, unaware that you're helping to fulfil the prophecy of Revelation 13:16.

Portland, Oregon man strips naked to protest airport security--and wins his case in court

As reported by Aimee Green of the Portland newspaper The Oregonian, July 18, 2012:

Portland is buffing its image as Naked City USA with the latest nudity case to grab national headlines...

...a Multnomah County judge Wednesday acquitted 50-year-old John E. Brennan of an indecent exposure charge after he stripped naked at Portland International Airport.

Brennan's friends packed into the courtroom and erupted in applause and cheers upon hearing the verdict. As they filed into the hallway, they heartily embraced a smiling Brennan.

One friend stuck a sticky note on Brennan's chest. It read: "Sir Godiva" -- a reference to the legend of a noblewoman who rode naked on a horse through the streets of England to protest oppressive taxation.

Brennan famously shed all his clothes April 17 at an airport security checkpoint. It was 5:30 p.m. and gawkers didn't hesitate to take smart phone photos and offer them up to the media as Brennan stood for about five minutes before police arrived.

During a two-hour trial, Brennan testified that he undressed because he was fed up with what he sees as invasive Transportation Security Administration procedures -- including body scans and pat downs.

Prosecutors charged Brennan with violating a city ordinance that forbids people from exposing their genitalia in public and in the presence of the opposite sex.

The judge sided with the defense, which cited a 1985 Oregon Court of Appeals ruling stating that nudity laws don't apply in cases of protest.

"It is the speech itself that the state is seeking to punish, and that it cannot do," Circuit Judge David Rees said.

Once again, the news quickly spread far and wide: USA Today, the Los Angeles Times and CNN were among websites featuring the story in their feeds.

Brennan, a high-tech consultant, showed up to court wearing a baby-blue button-up shirt and chocolate-colored slacks. He testified that he was starting a business trip to San Jose, Calif., when he declined to step into one of the TSA's body scanners. Screeners then asked him to step through a metal detector and submit to a pat down.

The screener tested his gloves used in the pat down, and a machine indicated the presence of nitrates, presumably picked up from Brennan's clothes.

Brennan said it was then he knew he was in trouble -- not because he was part of any sinister plot to blow up a plane, but because he would have to wait a long time for TSA to sort out the mix-up and he could get to his gate.

Brennan then calmly disrobed -- a convenient way to show the TSA that he wasn't carrying any explosives, he said.

"I also was aware of the irony of taking off my clothes to protect my privacy," he said.

Brennan said he told authorities that he was doing so in protest, although a screener and a Port of Portland police officer testified it wasn't until police arrived that Brennan made that claim.

Brennan said he wanted to show the TSA "that I know my rights. That you have these machines that can see us naked. ... They're getting as close to seeing us naked as they can. And we are upping the ante."

Deputy District Attorney Joel Petersen argued that Brennan only spoke of a protest minutes later. Petersen urged the judge to recognize that distinction, "otherwise any other person who is ever naked will be able to state after the fact" that it was done in protest.

The city ordinance states that the crime is a misdemeanor. Prosecutors decided to downgrade Brennan's criminal charge to a violation, similar to a traffic ticket. If he had been convicted, he likely would have had to pay a fine.

In Portland, the verdict seems in keeping with the city's posture as a bastion of free expression.

Now that a legal precedent has been established, perhaps increasing numbers of Americans should strip as a means of protest. I suggest that the movement should be led by those with the ugliest bodies; the resulting revulsion might prompt authorities to be less intrusive.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police want national fleet of drone-like helicopters

This is all we need: the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a highly-politicized, scandal-ridden organization (try a Google search using the terms "RCMP" and "scandal"), now wants to increase surveillance of the Canadian people--all for undoubtedly legitimate purposes, of course.

As reported by Jim Bronskill of The Canadian Press, July 17, 2012:

OTTAWA — They may be better known for riding horses, but the Mounties are trading the clack of hoofs for the whir of rotors with their newest investigative tool.

The RCMP is eyeing creation of a national fleet of small, drone-like helicopters fitted with cameras to help probe crimes, reconstruct traffic accidents and assist with search and rescue.

The unmanned aerial machines — which look like dragonflies with spinning rotors on top — have been used since late 2010 on a trial basis by officers in British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

A platform at the bottom of the vehicle holds a remote-controlled camera. A pilot on the ground operates the craft and takes photos using special goggles that visualize what the camera sees. A second Mountie serves as observer, scanning the flight path for power lines and other hazards.

Each pilot must have a special flight operation certificate from Transport Canada.

The aircraft have proven useful for taking high-quality aerial photos and video of accident scenes, observing unfolding emergencies, and helping with major crime investigations, says the RCMP.

A unit tested in British Columbia, the Draganflyer X6 — made by a Saskatoon company — weighs only a kilogram. The craft and accessories cost about $33,000.

Under the federal flight certificate, it is allowed to climb to a height of 175 feet during the day, 100 feet at night.

The same model has also been used by some Canadian and U.S municipal police services, as well as the Ontario Provincial Police.

The RCMP says the images taken with the tiny aircraft are useful for creating two- or three-dimensional representations of collision scenes. In the past, the force had to borrow one of its full-sized traffic helicopters, leading to added expense and delays.

The RCMP currently has about a dozen of the machines from various manufacturers in operation across the country.

Use of unmanned aerial vehicles by authorities in the United States has stirred controversy over possible privacy violations.

The RCMP says their eyes in the sky are not being used for general surveillance of people or vehicles.

The police force is now examining use of the aircraft “from a national perspective,” said Sgt. Julie Gagnon, an RCMP spokeswoman. The RCMP will develop technical specifications, national policy, training standards and, if necessary, privacy requirements, she added.

Gagnon said the RCMP is still in the “initial stages” of considering use of the aircraft, and it is still too early to determine how many the force may purchase in future.

Small Alberta community is the latest testing centre for drones

The surveillance society marches (or flies) on. Of course, drones in Canada will only be used for "peaceful" purposes. As reported by John Cotter of The Canadian Press, July 10, 2012:

FOREMOST, Alta. - A plan to transform a remote southeastern Alberta community into a world centre for testing commercial drone aircraft is getting off the ground.

Transport Canada has given the Canadian Centre for Unmanned Vehicle Systems permission to apply for restricted airspace around Foremost to fly small planes, helicopters and possibly blimps from an airfield outside the village.

Bill Werny, a spokesman for the federally licensed non-profit company, believes cordoning off part of the sky for testing commercial drones would be a first in Canada. The plan is to attract corporations willing to pay to train operators and safely test-fly machines that could be as small as a laptop computer or as large as an ultralight.

"This will ultimately lead to the commercialization of unmanned vehicles in Canada," said Werny, a retired Canadian Air Force colonel.

Unmanned aerial vehicles are increasingly being used by countries around the world for surveillance patrols and in some cases as weapons. Missile-firing U.S. Air Force Predator drones have been used to kill Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.

Now the aerospace industry is looking at the commercial market for a cheap, safe alternative to piloted aircraft for peaceful tasks such as monitoring oil pipelines, wildfires, crops, insect pest infestations and ice floes or in police search operations.

The challenge is to find uncongested airspace to safely test commercial drones.

That's one of the selling points of the Foremost facility, which includes a paved air strip, hangar and control buildings.

There is little air traffic in southeastern Alberta, the land is very flat and the weather is clear more than 300 days a year. Very few people live in the area, which lessens the chance of a drone injuring someone if there were a crash.

The centre would act as host to corporations that contracted to use the facility under the eye of federal regulators.

"We are the catalyst behind it, but Transport Canada is going to be controlling how we conduct business," Werny said.

The centre is also working with Transport Canada and Nav Canada on what area the restricted airspace would cover, he said. Operators want an area big enough for flights that go beyond the line of sight of an operator remotely flying a drone.

The centre expects Transport Canada approval by the fall. Commercial operations could begin by next year.

Alberta hopes a testing facility would bolster and diversify the economy of the region, which largely relies on agriculture...

...The Alberta fund contributed a one-time $3-million grant a few years ago to help the fledgling operation get started. The federal government contributed $1 million that allowed the centre to purchase a catapult device to launch drones.

Like busy pilots in a cockpit, Werny and his colleagues must multi-task if the Foremost testing and training facility is to really fly. That means marketing the facility to get corporations to sign contracts.

The plan is to use the restricted civilian airspace zone as a selling point this November at the Unmanned Systems Canada convention in Ottawa, where corporations from around the world will be gathering to talk drones.

The theme of the convention is how companies involved in military unmanned aircraft can make the transition to civil and commercial markets.

Werny said officials will also be attending industry conventions in Las Vegas and Halifax to promote Foremost.