“An appeals court this week put the brakes on an FBI surveillance technique that turns an automobile driver’s on-board vehicle navigation system into a covert eavesdropping device,” according to SecurityFocus. “The case arose from a 2001 FBI surveillance operation in Las Vegas, in which agents obtained a court order compelling a telematics company to secretly […]
From the monthly archives:
November 2003
550 miles per hour is too slow. And a 1,500-mile range just isn’t big enough. The Tomahawk cruise missile may seem fast and far-reaching. But Pentagon planners want more. Late last week, they handed out contracts to 10 firms to start designing a hypersonic missile that can outrun the now-retired Concorde, and can hit a […]
The American counter-insurgency in Iraq is reaching new heights, the New York Times reports. In Saddam’s hometown, Tikrit, “commanders called in AC-130 gunships, A-10 attack planes and Apache helicopter gunships, as well as Air Force F-16 and F-15E fighter-bombers with 500-pound bombs, the military said, in the largest bombardment in the area since President Bush […]
The infamous “terror futures market” may be on its way back. Starting in March, 2004, Net Exchange — the private firm that was one of the contractors on the initial Darpa project — will begin taking “investments” on world events. This time, however, no government money will be involved. And “violent acts” will be taboo, […]
“If you’ve got a good idea” for how to take on terrorists, Darpa and the influential Defense Science Board write in e-mailed pleas, “turn it in as soon as possible because we’ve got the money” for new anti-evil doer technology. Two areas are of particular interest, Aviation Week notes: detecting the improvised explosive devices being […]
