Argus: surveillance from above

[cambeul41]

Smile for the nice spy in the sky! Just think of all the uses Big Brother will have for these things!

http://www.youtube.com/embed/13BahrdkMU8?feature=player_embedded

[geronimotwo]

one miiilllliiiooon terabytes per day! per drone!  guess who is paying for that storage/processor combo.

que person of interest trailer......

[birdman]

Its a pretty interesting system actually...and they don't store the entire take.

Besides, its not a million TB a day, compressed the entire take from one is about 15GB/s or -only- 1.5PB per day, which, while still unreasonable to store (that's a whole rack of storage per day)

Also, the resolution isn't that good compared to the narrow-angle stuff like MTS-B

[AJ Dual]

Its a pretty interesting system actually...and they don't store the entire take.

Besides, its not a million TB a day, compressed the entire take from one is about 15GB/s or -only- 1.5PB per day, which, while still unreasonable to store (that's a whole rack of storage per day)

Also, the resolution isn't that good compared to the narrow-angle stuff like MTS-B

I'd imagine that going against a GIS database, or capturing a baseline image of a region, it could be compressed even further than that, only catching the deltas, like cars, boats, and people that move, ignoring structures vegetation and streets...

[birdman]

I'd imagine that going against a GIS database, or capturing a baseline image of a region, it could be compressed even further than that, only catching the deltas, like cars, boats, and people that move, ignoring structures vegetation and streets...

Well, yes...in fact I have a whole group that creates software to do that :)

[AJ Dual]

I'm thinking such information no matter how compressed, it need not even be graphical in nature.

I'm wondering if the statistical analysis of such things in some sort of alphanumeric/integer form is possible, image recognition tossing the pixels away, and generating a string that is shorthand for: "Car (small, red) went westbound on City Avenue, north on HY55, off at 12th st. Parked at Lat/Long XYZ for 12hrs 15 minutes"... the powers that be could data-mine the HELL out of that sort of thing.

Then ignore all the cars moving about in a "regular" way, people regularly commuting, local residents running errands etc. could be filtered out completely with software.  And "anomalous cars/people" moving about in ways not already found to be commonplace in the database stick out like a sore thumb algorithmically. A little cross check with RFID tollway systems, and some traffic cameras/red-light cameras, and accuracy, at least in high density urban areas could approach 100%

I'm thinking when it's "time for the revolution", your cell having access to a delivery truck or something that's always making regular rounds in your AO, and moving people/materials along said route, with those stops in between, will be a really good idea.  

[birdman]

I'm thinking such information no matter how compressed, it need not even be graphical in nature.

I'm wondering if the statistical analysis of such things in some sort of alphanumeric/integer form, a string that is shorthand for "Car (small, red) went westbound on City Avenue, north on HY55, off at 12th st. Parked at Lat/Long XYZ for 12hrs 15 minutes"... the powers that be could data-mine the HELL out of that sort of thing.

Then ignore all the cars moving about in a "regular" way, commuting, running errands etc. could be filtered out completely with software.  And "anomalous cars/people" moving about in ways not already found to be commonplace in the database stick out like a sore thumb algorithmically. A little cross check with RFID tollway systems, and some traffic cameras/red-light cameras, and accuracy, at least in high density urban areas could approach 100%

I'm thinking when it's "time for the revolution", your cell having access to a delivery truck or something that's always making regular rounds in your AO, and moving people/materials along said route, with those stops in between, will be a really good idea.  

You just described "activity based intelligence"...and lets just say its a hard problem, with literally billions being thrown at it. 

[AJ Dual]

Hard is not the same as "impossible".  ...  ...  ...

[Fjolnirsson]

http://mobile.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/03/15/oregon-company-to-sell-drone-defense-technology-to-public This might get interesting...

[just Warren]

Security and privacy expert Bruce Schneier talks about how screwed we are.

On the other hand it will soon be absolutely impossible for an agency to falsely or mistakenly charge you with anything and have it stick as you will be alibied 24/7/365.

Plus, it will also dawn on people that with all this surveillance and so little real crime in most of the country that there are way too many law enforcers at every level.

Finally, with all this information I'm sure that the "authorities" know just what they are up against in case things come to some sort of confrontation and that may stay their hand for a while. 

[lee n. field]

Hard is not the same as "impossible".  ...  ...  ...

Sometimes it is. 

[Tallpine]

What a nightmare 

[birdman]

What a nightmare 

About the same effect as a heavily CCTV'd city...and actually not as bad, as ground level cams can at least ID you rather than simply seeing "a person" or "a car"

[Tallpine]

About the same effect as a heavily CCTV'd city...and actually not as bad, as ground level cams can at least ID you rather than simply seeing "a person" or "a car"

I need to buy a closet full of wide brimmed hats 

[lee n. field]

I need to buy a closet full of wide brimmed hats 

You're in Montana.  I thought you already had a hat tree full of them.

[Tallpine]

You're in Montana.  I thought you already had a hat tree full of them.

Nah, just a couple.

[Ben]

I just figured everytime he put a hat on, the Montana wind blew it away...

[Tallpine]

I just figured everytime he put a hat on, the Montana wind blew it away...

If I went outside today with a hat tied down, I would blow away 

[AJ Dual]

I want a hat with a QR code on top that translates into something anatomically improbable and unflattering about the NRO/NSA...