I've left this blog in the shade for quite awhile. There's really no reason for it, as the role of drones in our world hasn't diminished. But I am inspired to post here again thanks to an email from a great website called Five Books, which periodically asks some author or teacher about a subject they have special knowledge on. Today's featured guest was Hugh Gusterson a professor of anthropology and an expert on nuclear security. His interest in drones developed out of that background. He discusses five books on the subject with interviewer Alec Ash HERE.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Another local use for drones
A local blogger here in Santa Cruz and former County Supervisor here as put up a blog post that has finally galvanized me to make another entry here. It's entitled Drones Against the Homeless about a local effort to buy a drone to find illegal camping spots here. Homelessness is a big and divisive issue in Santa Cruz.
To paraphrase the famous Martin Niemöller speech: First they sent drones against the homeless, and I did not speak out...
To paraphrase the famous Martin Niemöller speech: First they sent drones against the homeless, and I did not speak out...
Monday, October 6, 2014
Close Encounters of the First Kind
I've been putting an infrequent post or two about drones for a couple of years now, but last Monday was the first time I actually had an up close and personal encounter with one. A friend and I were walking along the lovely West Cliff Drive here in Santa Cruz and had stopped to sit down on a bench, when one came hovering by. I don't if it was the same guy who shot this video, admittedly quite beautiful, but I think we basically had the same kind of reaction that Rambro had in a recent post here--annoyance. Frankly, they are rackety, and the idea that they're filming you doesn't help anything. Although I'm not actually a violent person, there is kind of a visceral reaction that makes you want to pick up a rock and see if you can knock it out of the sky.
Obviously, I didn't. Good thing too, because according to this Slate article, I would not have been within my rights.
Obviously, I didn't. Good thing too, because according to this Slate article, I would not have been within my rights.
Friday, September 19, 2014
When 3-D printing and drones come together
Come on, you knew it had to happen. Advances in both 3-D and drone technology have now collided, or so says this interesting piece at Wired Magazine's Danger Room. Jordan Golson who wrote the piece says:
"The design can be modified—and reprinted—easily, to be bigger or smaller, carry a sensor or a camera, or fly slower or faster. The plane can be made in 31 hours, with materials that cost $800. Electronics (like the tablet-based ground station) push the price to about $2,500. That’s so cheap, it’s effectively disposable, especially since you can make another one anywhere you can put a 3-D printer. If one version is flawed or destroyed, you can just crank out another."
O brave new world.
"The design can be modified—and reprinted—easily, to be bigger or smaller, carry a sensor or a camera, or fly slower or faster. The plane can be made in 31 hours, with materials that cost $800. Electronics (like the tablet-based ground station) push the price to about $2,500. That’s so cheap, it’s effectively disposable, especially since you can make another one anywhere you can put a 3-D printer. If one version is flawed or destroyed, you can just crank out another."
O brave new world.
Monday, September 15, 2014
NYT piece on drones and democracy
Very interesting piece in the New York Times yesterday entitled Drones and the Democracy Disconnect by Firmin Debrabander. Connects the dots in many ways on our current war policy.
"How do drones affect the nation that endorses them — overtly, or, as is more often the case, tacitly? Are drones compatible with patriotism? With democracy? Honor? Glory? Or do they, as I fear, represent — and exacerbate — a troubling, even obscene disconnect between the American people and the wars waged in our name?"
"How do drones affect the nation that endorses them — overtly, or, as is more often the case, tacitly? Are drones compatible with patriotism? With democracy? Honor? Glory? Or do they, as I fear, represent — and exacerbate — a troubling, even obscene disconnect between the American people and the wars waged in our name?"
Friday, September 12, 2014
Sotomayor weighs in on drones and privacy
A short piece at Slate by Lily Hay Newman talks about Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor's concerns about what I guess you'd call our naiveté about drones in the private sphere. It's not just government surveillance we should worry about--it's anybody's surveillance. And some of those anybodies have our best interest at heart a lot less than government does, though I admit that that can be a low threshold. Check it out HERE
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Rambro
I found an article at Slate a few days ago about the encounter between a drone and an angry ram. I could put the YouTube up here, but I think I'll just send you to the piece by Lily Hay Newman. It's probably worth noting that the ram in question is owned by the drone operator, and in fact is a 'rescue ram'.
Still, you can kind of see the future, can't you? Kids with time--and drones--on their hands. Innocent hikers out to enjoy the beauty of nature when suddenly they hear an annoying whirring sound over their heads. If that scenario plays out, just remember that you don't have to be a ram to take action...I predict a new vogue for sling shots.
Still, you can kind of see the future, can't you? Kids with time--and drones--on their hands. Innocent hikers out to enjoy the beauty of nature when suddenly they hear an annoying whirring sound over their heads. If that scenario plays out, just remember that you don't have to be a ram to take action...I predict a new vogue for sling shots.
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