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That video was taken from far distance because the drone had to operate unnoticed in enemy territory; pretty sure that they had much better optics and transmiss

That video was taken from far distance because the drone had to operate unnoticed in enemy territory; pretty sure that they had much better optics and transmission capabilities even back then, but it had to be very far from action. The distance can be roughly measured, if the bullets speed is known, by counting the time between the shots audio (assuming it's properly synced) and when they're seen hitting the area. Today police drones could look at your backyard from a few dozen meters, and the same qualified immunity that let them execute people in the streets would prevent you to do anything against them; those drones wouldn't even need to hide themselves. ps. Upvoted because I noticed you were downvoted, probably by a flesh drone programmed to quench any reference to Wikileaks and the Assange cause, without whom that video would never become public.

bbarnett 6y ago
One thing which bothers me is satellite imagery. In the 80s, 30+ years ago, license plates were discernible from orbit. I often wonder, what if you had two distinct lenses, each with separate transmit? EG, both operating at once. Or multiple lenses? Now you could do things, potentially, such as use a high-fidelity lens to tag individuals. EG, license plates. Facial recognition. That sort of thing. Once tagged, another lens, one which records the entire surface of the continental US, would track objects the size of vehicles, or even people. Determining who or what each was, would not be vital. Only high probability tracking, and those other lenses coming into play for closer viewing, to tag. Now you're just tracking dots as they move. And once someone is tagged (phone, or license plate), they don't need to be retagged. If not already being done, it won't be long until it is done. And once tagged, you'd never shake that tag easily. We're all familiar with facial recognition tech used by SV giants, and we know of many things, such as gait recognition used in China. Yet what amount of tagging, facial recognition could be done, when budget was of absolutely zero concern. If computing power was of zero concern. All you need at the images from the satellite. Ground based computing power can do the rest. What if you had trillions in computing power to throw at this? Well. Regardless. If it isn't a problem now, it will be a problem eventually.
- 082349872349872 6y ago
  In one of the local traditions, the voters in the state all assemble in a town square to vote in person. (this year they exceptionally used ballots) https://www.ai.ch/politik/landsgemeinde https://www.ai.ch/politik/landsgemeinde In the old days, every voter was given a special sword, and admission to the gathering was conditioned upon possession of the sword (my former landlord still has his, it might still be a requirement). Would it be possible to develop some sort of equivalent, but as an antenna rather than a sword, reflecting on wavelengths illuminatable from the ground and observable from the air, that would allow popular votes to be taken via spy imagery? Presumably confirmation would involve multiple independent drone captures...
- asdff 6y ago
  Do we even have capabilities to prevent another nation from just doing this on American citizens? They are probably doing everything you've described right now in China on people in China, but I wonder how long it will be until the Chinese point there cameras at Americans as well, if they haven't already.
  - 082349872349872 6y ago
    > if they haven't already Gary Powers was shot down in 1960.
- ohazi 6y ago
  > In the 80s, 30+ years ago, license plates were discernible from orbit. This is absolutely false.
  - bbarnett 6y ago
    https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/12/top-secret-your-briefing-on-the-cias-cold-war-spy-satellite-big-bird/250629/ https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/12/top-s... It was also known by the likes of William Safire that our satellites could "read the license plates on the cars of Kremlin officials." -- If untrue, please provide a counter source to many of the like statements as cited above. (You may be right, but it seems that many believe you are wrong)
NovemberWhiskey 6y ago
>That video was taken from far distance because the drone had to operate unnoticed in enemy territory That video is not taken from a drone at all. It's from an AH-64 Apache, a manned attack helicopter with a flight crew of two.

bbarnett 6y ago

One thing which bothers me is satellite imagery. In the 80s, 30+ years ago, license plates were discernible from orbit. I often wonder, what if you had two distinct lenses, each with separate transmit? EG, both operating at once. Or multiple lenses? Now you could do things, potentially, such as use a high-fidelity lens to tag individuals. EG, license plates. Facial recognition. That sort of thing. Once tagged, another lens, one which records the entire surface of the continental US, would track objects the size of vehicles, or even people. Determining who or what each was, would not be vital. Only high probability tracking, and those other lenses coming into play for closer viewing, to tag. Now you're just tracking dots as they move. And once someone is tagged (phone, or license plate), they don't need to be retagged. If not already being done, it won't be long until it is done. And once tagged, you'd never shake that tag easily. We're all familiar with facial recognition tech used by SV giants, and we know of many things, such as gait recognition used in China. Yet what amount of tagging, facial recognition could be done, when budget was of absolutely zero concern. If computing power was of zero concern. All you need at the images from the satellite. Ground based computing power can do the rest. What if you had trillions in computing power to throw at this? Well. Regardless. If it isn't a problem now, it will be a problem eventually.

082349872349872 6y ago
In one of the local traditions, the voters in the state all assemble in a town square to vote in person. (this year they exceptionally used ballots) https://www.ai.ch/politik/landsgemeinde https://www.ai.ch/politik/landsgemeinde In the old days, every voter was given a special sword, and admission to the gathering was conditioned upon possession of the sword (my former landlord still has his, it might still be a requirement). Would it be possible to develop some sort of equivalent, but as an antenna rather than a sword, reflecting on wavelengths illuminatable from the ground and observable from the air, that would allow popular votes to be taken via spy imagery? Presumably confirmation would involve multiple independent drone captures...
asdff 6y ago
Do we even have capabilities to prevent another nation from just doing this on American citizens? They are probably doing everything you've described right now in China on people in China, but I wonder how long it will be until the Chinese point there cameras at Americans as well, if they haven't already.
- 082349872349872 6y ago
  > if they haven't already Gary Powers was shot down in 1960.
ohazi 6y ago
> In the 80s, 30+ years ago, license plates were discernible from orbit. This is absolutely false.
- bbarnett 6y ago
  https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/12/top-secret-your-briefing-on-the-cias-cold-war-spy-satellite-big-bird/250629/ https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/12/top-s... It was also known by the likes of William Safire that our satellites could "read the license plates on the cars of Kremlin officials." -- If untrue, please provide a counter source to many of the like statements as cited above. (You may be right, but it seems that many believe you are wrong)

NovemberWhiskey 6y ago

>That video was taken from far distance because the drone had to operate unnoticed in enemy territory That video is not taken from a drone at all. It's from an AH-64 Apache, a manned attack helicopter with a flight crew of two.