Could a spy satellite identify any of us from our shadow?

Daily Mail 4th September 2008

Spy satellites could soon be able to identify someone from space by looking at their shadow.

They would use a computer program that searches for the movement of shadows on the ground, and then identifies their owners from the way they walk.

The technique - called gait analysis - relies on the fact that someone's walking style is very difficult to disguise.

The satellite or spy planes will detect the movement of people's shadows to identify them

It could be used to monitor known criminals and suspected terrorists using satellites or spy planes. It could even be used in the hunt for Osama Bin Laden.

There is however a significant catch. The system, being developed by Nasa, is useless once the sun goes in.

And, although there has been an explosion in satellite imagery and technology in recent years, it is still impossible to recognise someone with confidence using pictures taken in orbit.

Images from high-altitude aircraft and spacecraft show only the tops of their heads.

Experts say aerial shots are no good for monitoring someone's stride length and walking rhythm.

However, that is not true of shadows. According to Dr Adrian Stoica of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, video from space could provide enough data to confirm a suspect's identity - as long as details of the person's walking pattern were on file.

He has created computer software that can seek out and recognise the shadows of individuals in aerial video footage, reports New Scientist magazine.

It isolates moving shadows and uses data on the position of the sun and camera angle to 'correct' the shadows if they are foreshortened or elongated.

Dr Stoica, who presented his research at a security conference in Edinburgh, said the software then applies regular gait analysis to the corrected images.

In tests on video footage taken from the sixth floor of an office building, the software spotted shadows and extracted information that could be used to identify someone.

The technique is still at the earliest stages of development, and it could be many years before it is used by military, police and intelligence services.

It also has potential flaws. While satellite gait analysis might be useful in countries such as Pakistan and Iraq, trying to identify a suspected terrorist from a shadow in a rainy Manchester is likely to be fraught with difficulties.

The quality of satellite imagery may also not be good enough to reveal a sharp image.

Space imaging expert Dr Bhupendra Jasani at King's College London says the sort of geostationary satellites currently pointing their cameras down to the Earth simply do not have the resolution to provide useful detail.

'I find it hard to believe they could apply this technique from space,' he said.

Aerial surveillance - a key tactic in military spying

Minor differences in gait that can help identify individuals include the length of steps, walking speed, the wiggle of hips and the angles of the knee, ankle and hip.

Aerial surveillance has long been a key part of military spying - ever since 19th century armies began using hot air balloons to observe enemy positions on the battlefield - but in recent years the speed of technological advance has accelerated.

As well as orbiting satellites, spy planes such as the RAF's Nimrod can circle at high altitude watching the movements of individual enemy gunmen on the ground, by day or night, using high definition thermal cameras.

At the same time unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs - ranging from huge jets the size of an airliner to tiny hand-launched drones a couple of feet across - are now widely used in Iraq and Afghanistan, where commanders on the ground increasingly rely on the images beamed from flying cameras to allow them to track approaching enemies or spot dangers in hostile built-up areas.

UK Lockdown point of view
The Military industrial complex is now resorting to spying on our shadows as a means of controlling and regulating our lives, is there no limit to the evil of the psychopathic criminals that control this planet as they continue to use the terror hoax to herd us the sheep into their global police state; apparently they have difficulties with the technology when it's cloudy, if were lucky they might have to stop chemtrailing us once in a while so they can search for terrorists.

Google targets Microsoft with new web browser

Independent 2 September 2008

Google is releasing its own web browser in a long-anticipated move aimed at countering the dominance of Microsoft's Internet Explorer and ensuring easy access to its market-leading search engine.

The Mountain View, California-based company took the unusual step of announcing its latest product last night on the Labour Day holiday after it prematurely sent out a comic book drawn up to herald the new browser's arrival.

The free browser, called Chrome, is supposed to be available for downloading today in more than 100 countries for computers running on Microsoft's Windows operating system.

Google said it was still working on versions compatible with Apple Mac computers and the Linux operating system.

Google's browser is expected to hit the market a week after Microsoft's unveiling of a test version of its latest browser update, Internet Explorer 8. The tweaks include more tools for web surfers to cloak their online preferences, creating a shield that could make it more difficult for Google and other marketing networks to work out which ads are most likely to appeal to which individuals.

Although Google is using a cartoonish approach to promote Chrome, the new browser underscores the gravity of Google's rivalry with Microsoft, whose Internet Explorer is used by about 75 per cent of web surfers.

Google's lead in the lucrative internet search market is nearly as commanding, with its engine processing nearly two thirds of the web's queries.

For the past few years, Google has been trying to take advantage of its search engine's popularity to loosen Microsoft's grip on how most people interact with personal computers.

The assault so far has been focused on a bundle of computer programmes, including word processing and spreadsheet applications, that Google offers as an alternative to one of Microsoft's biggest money makers, its Office suite of products.

Google has tried to make its alternatives more appealing and accessible by hosting them for free over internet connections instead of requiring users to pay a licensing fee to install them on individual computers, as Microsoft typically does.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has tried to thwart Google by investing billions in the development of its own search engine and making an unsuccessful attempt to buy Yahoo for £25bn.

The tensions between Microsoft and Google now seem likely to escalate with Google's foray into web browsing.

Until now, Google had been trying to undermine Internet Explorer by supporting Firefox, a web browser developed by the open-source Mozilla Foundation. Bolstered by an advertising partnership with Google's search engine, Firefox ranks as the second most popular browser, with a market share of more than 10 per cent. Google recently extended its advertising alliance with Firefox through 2011.

Bearing the stamp of Google's renowned brand, Chrome could be an even more formidable rival to Explorer.

Still, Google's name is no guarantee of success. For instance, Google's instant messaging service has not come close to catching up to the market-leading products made by Yahoo, Microsoft and Time Warner's AOL.

In a blog post yesterday, Google touted Chrome as a more sophisticated web browser better suited for displaying the dynamic and interactive content blossoming on the web as people migrate from television, radio and newspapers.

"The web gets better with more options and innovation," Sundar Pichai, Google's vice president of product management, and Linus Upson, Google's engineering director, wrote in the posting.

"Google Chrome is another option, and we hope it contributes to making the web even better."

But Microsoft brushed aside the threat in a statement from Dean Hachamovitch, Internet Explorer's general manager.

"The browser landscape is highly competitive, but people will choose Internet Explorer 8 for the way it puts the services they want right at their fingertips ... and, more than any other browsing technology, puts them in control of their personal data online," he said.

UK Lockdown point of view
The military industrial complex continues to stage the fake fight between it's two main data access control spy companies as google now releases yet more advanced spyware this time disguised as an internet browser, the only winner in this war will be the power elite who control the techocracy (technological dictatorship) that we live in and the losers will of course be the consumers that are now being spied on more than ever before.

Microsoft launches 'porn mode' browser that lets you surf the web without leaving a trace

Daily Mail 28th August 2008

Microsoft has launched a new internet browser that will let people surf the web without leaving a trace of the sites they have visited.

Nicknamed 'porn mode', the InPrivate feature on the firm's newest version of Internet Explorer hides the browsing history from any other people who are using the same computer.

The setting will come as a blow to internet rival Google which relies heavily on users' browsing histories to deliver targeted advertising.

Firms like Google have caused an outcry over the way they gather information about people's surfing habits and then use the information to decide which adverts to show.

Google currently only makes 10 per cent of its money from display advertising but is hoping to increase this percentage in the near future.

The program also covers other footprints, including temporary Internet files and cookies, the small data files that websites put on visitors' computers to track their activities.

Both Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft's current browser, and Mozilla's recently released Firefox 3, already allow users to block cookies. But they can't turn off that collection entirely.

Another feature, known as InPrivateBlocking, stops certain types of ads being seen, which will come as a blow to those smaller companies that rely on this sort of advertising to make money.

A screenshot of the new browser which allows users to keep their browsing history secret

InPrivateBlocking isn't purely an ad-blocker by design, but publishers are still worried, said Mike Zaneis, vice president of public policy for the Internet Advertising Bureau, which represents web publishers.

If InPrivateBlocking were widely adopted by IE8 users, small sites that rely almost exclusively on outside companies to serve ads couldn't survive, he said.

If IE8 blocks programs that track how many times an ad is seen - a calculation that helps determine payments to advertisers and publishers - that could also bring down the web advertising marketplace, Zaneis warned.

'We'll wait and see what the marketplace looks like,' he said. 'I think (Microsoft) realises that it's a beta version, and it's sure to change before it's finalised.'

Users surfing with InPrivateBlocking turned on can review a list of which companies are trying to display or collect data.

Users can also click a link to read more and decide case by case whether to permit certain ones to go ahead.

UK Lockdown point of view
Another good example of how often we are spied on by the military industrial complex, microsoft & google are both central to the technocracy matrix that we live in through their total control of the platforms that we all use to exchange data and information, they are now engaged in a staged fight to pretend they care about our privacy after they already admitted to spying on us and then used the excuse that it was for marketing purposes, just when you think they can't get any lower they still find ways to reach new depths.

'Spy-in-the-sky' paves way for road pricing

Telegraph 18 Aug 2008






The Telegraph can disclose that the Government is pushing ahead with plans for a national road-pricing scheme, including testing "spy in the sky" technology.

Eight areas of the country have been selected by ministers for secret pay-per-mile trials which will begin in 2010 and are expected to pave the way for tolls on motorways.
Motorists face paying up to £1.30 a mile during peak periods on the busiest roads.
Gordon Brown was thought to be against national road pricing, a flagship policy of the Blair administration.
But the detailed level of planning now underway indicates the issue it set to become a key battleground in the next general election – which is likely to coincide with the trials beginning.
It will leave Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, particularly vulnerable as she defends her marginal Bolton West constituency.
The Daily Telegraph has learnt that eight areas - Leeds, North Yorkshire, Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire, south west London, Suffolk and Essex – have been selected for the trials.
Initially, in January 2010, one hundred cars in each area will trial the new technology – in many cases entailing placing black boxes to allow their movements to be tracked - but members of the public will be invited to join the pilots in June 2010.
The Government is close to signing contracts with four companies who will run the national trials, testing not only the technology which will be fitted to the cars, but also the bureaucracy needed to run a system including sending out bills.
In most cases, the trials will involve a satellite tracking a vehicle's movements. Motorists will then receive a monthly or weekly bill which will vary depending on when and where they drove.
Three more companies will be paid to double check the system, ensuring that the charging machinery is legal and that the trials are properly monitored.
Last night, the Conservatives condemned the Government plans and called on Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, to abandon the scheme.
Theresa Villiers, the shadow Transport Secretary, said: "It seems that Labour's unpopular plans for a national road pricing scheme are alive and well.
"They are determined to press ahead with their untried and untested spy-in-the-sky national project even though it looks like an IT disaster waiting to happen. Ruth Kelly should start listening to drivers and scrap these pilots for a national road pricing scheme that is unnecessary and unwanted."
The Treasury earmarked millions of pounds for the pilots in the budget and Chancellor Alistair Darling believes the scheme could be crucial in cutting congestion in the long-term.
However, the disclosure of the trials will raise fears that motorists are set to be hit with another increase in driving taxes, despite earlier assurances from the Government that
The Daily Telegraph has been campaigning for the Government to drop plans to increase vehicle excise duty for millions of drivers and to freeze fuel duty.
British motorists already pay some of the highest taxes in the world and with Government finances under severe pressure the pay-as-you-drive scheme could prove a valuable source of extra revenue for the Treasury.
It is understood that there is greater enthusiasm in the Treasury than the Department for Transport for road pricing.
However it is not known if the scheme would entirely replace existing motoring taxes or be introduced on top of them. Ministers have previously pledged cuts in other duties if the scheme is introduced.
The Department for Transport insists that the pilots are designed "to inform thinking about motorway capacity".

Tony Blair was keen on road pricing and believed that the scheme was crucial to cut congestion by charging lower amounts for those driving outside rush hour. Environmentalists have also supported the scheme as those driving less pay lower taxes.
When the scheme was first floated by the Blair administration 1.8 million people signed a petition on the Downing Street website calling on the Government to abandon the scheme.
Last night, Peter Roberts, who led the initial protests, said: "If the Government was true to its word and was kicking road pricing into the long grass, why is it running trials?
"Ministers have said that national road pricing is no longer on the agenda. So either they are wasting millions of pounds of taxpayers' money or they are not being honest with voters."
The effectiveness of the charging schemes in cutting congestion has been undermined by the London congestion charge. The £8 a day charge has done little to cut congestion in the capital and other cities are now more sceptical about following London's scheme.
Greater Manchester's congestion scheme will shortly be put to a referendum of voters in the 10 participating council areas. Unless it is backed by a majority of those polled in at least seven local authorities, the scheme will be dropped.
Earlier this year Ruth Kelly insisted that charging schemes would be limited to areas where congestion was greatest.
A spokeswoman for the Department for Transport said the trials had been announced last year and did not mean road pricing was going ahead.
She said: "We have been absolutely clear that any proposal for national road pricing would need to address the legitimate concerns people have.
"We're a very long way from that which is why our priority now and over the next decade is on tackling congestion where it is experienced most - in our cities and on our motorways."

UK Lockdown point of view
Not only are the government mis-leaders looking to introduce even more surveillance technology to tighten up the control grid that already restricts the few freedoms that we still have left, to make it even worse we are being forced to pay for the privilege just like with the ID cards and all of the other enslavement technology that is being gradually introduced into our society.

British Olympic delegation issued with snoop-proof phones

Channel 4 News 31 Jul 2008

Channel 4 News has learned that Britain's official delegation to the Beijing Olympic Games will be issued with special throwaway mobile phones.

The measure is designed to avoid any Chinese snooping on their conversations.

There is already an international row over China's refusal to stop blocking free access to the internet. So is Britain being paranoid or taking an entirely sensible precaution?

UK Lockdown point of view
Isn't it Ironic that spy surveillance systems pioneered by the Brutish & USAtan Criminal governments are now being used by the fascist chinese CCP I suppose they got our technology by accident or maybe I'm just a conspiracy theorist, either way what better way to cover up the fact that we the citizens of once free nations now enjoy less freedom than ever before thanks to the very same technology that our criminal governments gave to the CCP so they could opress their own citizens.