What fun. This is a tech that is rapidly working downwards and there are seve...

Julian Bond - 2012-01-14 08:57:41+0000 - Updated: 2012-01-14 08:57:41+0000

What fun. This is a tech that is rapidly working downwards and there are several hobby groups as well as cheap commercial toys working in this area. So this looks like a severe underestimate:-

And some have forecast that by the year 2018 there will be “more than 15,000 [unmanned aircraft systems] in service in the U.S., with a total of almost 30,000 deployed worldwide.”

Are Drones Watching You? | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Steven Watson - 2012-01-14 09:59:03+0000

There are a lot of times when I think the EFF goes overboard, but this is one cause I could get behind. Like SOPA, I understand the surface need that they tell they public, but the powers are overly broad and to easy to abuse.

There are signs all along I-10 between Tucson and Phoenix that speed can be tracked by air surveillance. If you look along the freeway, you can see lines painted on the shoulder about every quarter mile to help track your spurred from above. I'm pretty sure these used to be manned, but would not put it passed them to use drones.

I once wrote a fictional short story about something similar back when I was in school in the mid '80s. It's kinda surreal to actually see it happen.

Rupert Wood - 2012-01-14 18:34:50+0000

am sure I heard one of the big uk police forces seeking permission to use drones, might have been Manchester?
Also heard architectural surveyors using drones to inspect an old viaduct. saved them weeks, and no need for expensive scaffolding.

Julian Bond - 2012-01-14 18:53:03+0000

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/01/occupy-drones/

Julian Bond - 2012-01-14 18:53:31+0000

http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2012/01/civilian-drones

Julian Bond - 2012-01-14 18:55:00+0000

If drones aren't enough, hacker space satellites.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16367042