new year's eve retrovision: red planet mars

On the precipice of 2012, the year will live up to some prediction simply due to number thrown at us! James Evan Pilato, Mediamonarchy.com host, relates belief in weekly episode 245, the coming year will see further ramping up of Project Blue Beam faked alien invasion propaganda. Cyber/space\war posts document odd trend of formalization of alien contact, "united nations 'to appoint space ambassador to greet alien visitors'" and "earth must prepare for close encounter with aliens." What would really happen if alien contact were made? Would it be an Orson Welles inspired panic as in 1938's "War of the Worlds"? The 1952 Film "Red Planet Mars" starring a youthful Peter Graves, presents surreal resemblance to our present situation! Or, does movie imply how long the agenda has been with us? Wikipedia entry relates plot summary after alien contact publicly announced: 

"This knowledge [of alien contact] leads to political and economic chaos, especially in the West. The American government imposes a news blackout after the first four messages, only to reveal many messages later that Earth's people can be saved if they return to the worship of God. Revolution sweeps the globe, including the Soviet Union. But there remains doubt about the messages being genuine, as an ex-Nazi who developed the original communication device prototype prepares to announce that he has been duping the Americans with false messages from a secret Soviet-funded radio transmitter high in the Andes mountains of South America. The mystery thickens as it appears the messages may have continued even after the secret transmitter was destroyed in an avalanche."

The movie can be panned as a Red Menace propaganda movie with message return to God and Christianity and the Red Scare can be defeated! Red Planet Mars is eerily fascinating and the plot superior to today's formula Hollywood films, admission is free!

auroras fill sky to close 2011 in tromso norway

Solar wind buffets magnetosphere to produce wonderful auroras to close out 2011.  Thanks goes to Hanneke Luijting of Tromso, Norway for images (pictured). These year-end auroras fill the sky and candy for the eyes!

future nightmare: 'recording everything'

An Activist Post entry by Brandon Turbeville reveals how governments will shape dissent in near future.  The Brookings Institute published new report, "Recording Everything: Digital Storage as an Enabler of Authoritarian Governments," makes clear the chilling effect on dissent.  Data storage costs will decline, making it possible, everything will be recorded.  Dissenters, who become a problem, will discover dossiers compiled against them that can reach, well, into the past.  Turnips, who dismiss Orwellian methods as paranoia of "conspiracy nuts", will be forced to reexamine mistaken assumptions of freedom and privacy. You may read other interesting articles by Turbeville here.

12/29 #defcon: ç¥∫´®ßπåç´∑å® - 404 file or directory not found

#2012 watch: the countdown begins*

how the world might end in 2012 (or maybe later)*
top 10 most bizarre tech stories of 2011*
ten plotlines you'll find in science fiction - over & over again*
twin probes to orbit moon, study gravity field*
sen. ron wyden leaps into middle of internet piracy fight*
army 'red teams' test communications security*
epic sues dhs over covert surveillance of facebook & twitter*
video: giant solar flare slams earth, could disrupt phone & gps*

popeye discusses blue force tracking system on oracle

Popeye, the blue force behind Federal Jack website, set to interview Joe Joseph about Blue Force tracking system on Oracle, Thursday night. Popeye guest hosts Bob Tuskin Show so tune in 8/7-10/9p ET/CT, 5p-7p PT for shocker as United States prepares to deploy war arena tracking system at home. Blue is friend, Red for foe, Popeye and Joseph will discuss how system may be implemented. Joseph works in civil service of Defense Department and Popeye is ex-marine; they are both familiar with Blue Force situational awareness as used in Iraq and Afghanistan. Will your hometown be tagged with blue square or red triangle? You can get primed for Joe Joseph by listening to Alex Jones' interview from last week. What is your situational awareness and are you blue or seeing red?

#sopa: how to stop the 'stop online piracy act'

from brasschecktv.com: If passed, the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, will ban the very architecture of the Internet and turn the Internet into basically another form of television. The Internet is interactive. It is infinitely searchable with links that connect the free flow of information and ideas to a system that can be navigated. Without that 'interactivity' the internet is literally just another boob tube. It's all a set-up. The entertainment industry rigged this from the beginning to destroying the Internet. This video explains both how they did it and how to stop them...

flashback: wyden effectively kills internet censorship bill

'anonymous' hack on stratfor the first step in 'master plan'

hackers set to publish emails stolen from stratfor*

from abcnews: The global activist hacking group Anonymous claims to have obtained thousands of credit card numbers and personal information from the high-profile clients of a leading analytical intelligence company, all in the name of charity. Up to $1 million was reportedly stolen from Stratfor, in Austin, Texas, a leading provider of military, economic and political analysis for clients that include Apple and the U.S. Air Force. "#AntiSec plundered 200gb of their mails and more booty," read a tweet by @AnonymousIRC on Saturday.

alexander the great ufo story

Did UFOs intervene in the Battle of Tyre, circa 332 BC? Antonio Huneeus writes article, "Deconstructing  the Alexander the Great UFO Story," which encourages restraint due to lack of credible sources.  It seems, the flying silver shields may have been shields filled with sand and boiling excrement catapulted back at soldiers from the Tyrian fortress?  Sources are equally interesting, "Wonders In The Sky," by Jacques Vallee and Chris Aubeck; also, Yannis Deliyannis' article, "Did Alexander the Great really see UFOs," both, worth checking out!  Most interesting of all, the Alexander Romance genre, something close to medieval fantasy or science fiction.  You'll have to read the article to find out what powered Alexander's flying machine?  It's interesting stuff!

michelle obama helps norad break santa tracker christmas eve record

norad santa trackers have record holiday telling children about big man's location (propaganda pitch included)

from ap: Santa Claus set records Christmas Eve he raced across the globe on his traditional holiday mission. Volunteers at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado say they fielded about 102,000 telephone queries beginning early Saturday on his progress. That broke the previous mark of 80,000. And his NORAD Facebook page recorded nearly 999,000 'likes,' compared with 716,000 a year ago. Twitter followers increased from about 53,000 last year more than 89,000. Officials say the records were likely the result of people passing the word as well as social media interest. The North American Aerospace Defense Command has been telling anxious children about Santa's whereabouts every year since 1955. That was the year a newspaper ad invited kids to call Santa, but the number had a typo, and kids wound up talking to the Continental Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD's predecessor.

astronomycast revisits 1908 tunguska blast

The June 30, 1908 Tunguska blast remains an unexplained mystery.  Universe Today reports Astronomycast responded to requests by devoting episode 243 to the Tunguska event. The speculations are varied as to what happened in Siberia, over a hundred yeas ago. Explanations include the reasonable such as an asteroid or comet to Tesla test firing an energy weapon. Regardless, a fireball split the sky in the early daylight hours with sufficient force to throw people off their feet to land yards away at a distance of forty miles! Victims experienced also intense heat from blast that flattened over 60,000,000 trees in a 200 sq mile area. Astronomycast Episode 243 is well done, and Tunguska, a natural science phenomenon! Please listen to the hosts who provide recent evidence. A previous post on the Tunguska blast can be read here. It's very interesting stuff!

sky at night: 1963 arthur c clarke interview

A lost episode of BBC program 'Sky At Night' from 1963, recovered recently, from African TV station. The program features interview of Arthur C Clarke, who discusses moon bases! Please enjoy lost gem from golden years at the dawn of the Space Age! Thanks goes to SFFaudio for link.

droning on about fighting wars remotely

Is tide turning on sentiment towards fighting wars remotely with robotic drones? Nick Turse, TomDispatch.com Associate Editor, takes closer look at use of drones in HuffPO article, "The Drone That Fell From the Sky," and doesn't feel same uncritical awe, expressed by many media outlets! "Its [drone] technology is fallible and its efforts have often been counterproductive in these last years," concludes Turse.

Recently, the drone has gone into a protective shell. "After years of regularly ushering reporters through drone operations at Creech Air Force Base and getting a flood of glowing, even awestruck, publicity about the glories of drones and drone pilots, this year, without explanation, it shut down press access to the program, moving robotic warfare deeper into the shadows," reveals article. What are reasons behind move? Has security been breached? Joseph Farrell shares his impression in brief Rense article, "The Drone," "...it seems to me that someone wanted Iran to have this drone". Is it also the reason the sky seems to be raining drones lately?

great chinese-iranian drone theft caper

Mike Harris, a Veterans Today writer, provides his take in article, "The Great Chinese-Iranian Stealth Reconnaissance Drone Theft Caper." Harris, technical adviser to a Congressman, who served on House Committee for Science and Technology during nineties, believes caper dates to time United States sent semiconductor manufacturing offshore.  During Clinton-Gore years, military electronics manufacturing standards were relaxed and off the shelf components found way into military equipment.  Harris observes semiconductors, are now, primarily manufactured by China and suspects a firmware backdoor planted in chips.

"In the case of the stolen CIA drone, the hardware with the backdoor was most likely embedded within the telemetry system, which is the multi-function brain of the drone, in fact every system within the drone is routed through the telemetry system, every sensor, every control, everything," writes Harris, "All the Iranians needed was to be able to emulate one of the multitudes of frequencies used for telemetry purposes to trigger the embedded hardware purchased from the Chinese and installed within a US secret drone." Harris calls for thorough review of systems manufactured since 1998!

Brooks Agnew, X-Squared Radio host, interviewed Harris recently, who calls drone theft "intelligence gift of century". Agnew and Harris discuss possibility, Iran hacked US spy satellite to first detect drone's location - interesting stuff!

scud watching from geostationary earth orbit

Mad Scientists at DARPA are excited about prospects for Membrane Optic Imager Real-Time Exploitation (MOIRE) program. "MOIRE will park in space over the earth, and once there will unleash a "micron-thin diffractive-optics membrane" to form a 65-foot super-thin lens to watch a wider swath of ground more closely than anything else before," according to Business Insider. The super-thin membrane lens will "scrutinize an area about 62-miles in diameter; updating its video at about one frame per second, offering a 99 percent likelihood of catching a [SCUD] missile launch." Ball Aerospace has been awarded contract by DARPA to develop MOIRE tech, an Aviation Week article provides more details about technology.  The space telescope will cost about $500 million a copy! A SCUD-watch impresses as a suspect cover story! The real question - what else will be scrutinized?

12/22 defcon: planets, tweets & patents

2 earth-size planets discovered orbiting star*

darpa's new spy satellite could provide real-time video from anywhere on earth*
taliban, US military waging war via twitter: report*
twitter use by shabab in somalia incites US*
apple wins partial victory on patent claim over android*

welcome the winter solstice & turn toward the light

video: earth's northern half plunged into darkness by axial tilt!
will the sunlight ever return?*

from ictmn: The winter solstice is almost upon us. In scientific terms, the winter solstice occurs at the precise moment when the axial tilt of earth’s polar hemisphere is the farthest away from the sun. That moment will arrive...at 12:30 a.m. EST (officially occurring on December 22nd) when the North Pole is tilted 23.5 degrees away from the sun, bringing about the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The winter solstice, by definition, is a term used to describe this single moment when the Earth’s maximum axial tilt to the sun is 23°23’.

ufo encounters live

Are you trolling for a good podcast? You can find it at UFO Encounters Live, hosted by Ronnie McMullen. McMullen talks about spiritual side of UFOs "because noone else does..." You may listen to past shows at ufoencounterslive.podomatic.com. The present writer highly recommends show with guest Charles Hall, who describes encounters while stationed in Nevada with "Tall Whites" and subject of his books, "Millennial Hospitality".

gps spoofing secret to capture of cia sentinel drone

US/Israel-Iran Cyberwar update: Iran engineer claims GPS Spoofing technique secret to capture of CIA Sentinel Drone, according to Mail Online article. Iran has taken it on the chin for nearly three years with assassinated nuclear scientists, an explosion at a missile site and nuclear facilities sabotaged by computer virus. Have Iranians found way to fight back? Will we hear more about GPS Spoofing vulnerability?

bradley manning case: investigators show evidence of wikileaks link

video: manning/assange link found?

from washington post: Prosecutors presented new evidence Monday that appears to link Pfc. Bradley Manning to a massive leak of government material to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, including the existence of computer chat logs between Manning and WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange discussing the exchange of government information. At a pretrial hearing, which is scheduled to continue in a military courtroom at Fort Meade this week, a government witness on Monday described a memory card he said belonged to Manning and contained nearly 500,000 field reports from Iraq and Afghanistan.

corbett report radio #22: false flag scenario - drone attack on US soil

James Corbett suggests next false flag, possibly, drone attack on United States in recent Corbett Report Radio broadcast. Corbett reminds listeners, last year, US Navy drone - a Fire Scout wandered over Washington DC airspace. Also, the recent report that software at Creech AFB, NV running drones hit with virus infection. Iran also reported capture of CIA drone within its borders. Finally, the precedent-setting arrest of US citizens in North Dakota, this summer, after drone assisted in intel gathering. Corbett suspects, along with many others, the table is set for a false flag with any number of varied plausible denials. The denials could range from Islamic attack by Iran with a cloned drone or one hijacked through "software glitch". The present writer can only agree and drones could be in skies above your cities soon! Corbett Radio Report #22 is persuasive and a must listen!

tgfs: terrestrial gamma-ray flashes

Images (pictured) of gamma rays flashes from thunderstorm, captured by Fermi space telescope. Scientists believe this may occur up to 500 times daily. The Daily Galaxy article explains, "a space telescope has accidentally spotted thunderstorms on Earth producing beams of antimatter. Such storms have long been known to give rise to fleeting sparks of light called terrestrial gamma-ray flashes. But results from the Fermi telescope show they also give out streams of electrons and their antimatter counterparts, positrons." A YouTube video from NASA, "Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes Create Antimatter," is rewarding three minutes.

weekend retrovision: cosmos with carl sagan

"Cosmos: A Personal Voyage" on Netflix*

Dr. Carl Sagan, astrophysicist and author of bestselling book Cosmos, starred in 1980 award-winning television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. Sagan did much to make astronomy relevant to the public. Sagan delivered message with an "...ability to capture the imagination of millions and to explain difficult concepts in understandable terms is a magnificent achievement," according to The Carl Sagan Portal. A link to full 13 episodes available here for those, who may have missed tremendous 1980 series. They're free--enjoy them!

12/15 defcon: god's particles, takedown sprees & more

ndaa gives pentagon a green light for cyberwar*

congress authorizes pentagon to wage internet war*
'blueprint for a secure cyber future':
dhs releases cyber strategy framework*
california unveils cyber crime unit*
florida arrests 48 in child computer sex crimes investigation*
cops target climate-sceptic bloggers in three countries*
sopa tweet triggers political explosion, delays vote*
carrier iq meets with feds 'to educate them'*
carrier iq explains secret monitoring software to ftc, fcc*
lockmart delivers gps3 pathfinder satellite to denver on schedule*
judge gives universal music 24 hours to explain takedown spree*
amazon big brother patent knows where you'll go*
'flash gordon' supercomputer powers up in january*
galileo in tune as first navigation signal transmitted to earth*
nearest supernova since 1986 blasts boffin off his chair*
aug24 supernova was a 'white dwarf' star*
dna hackers: synthetic biology weaponized virus, zero-day exploit to infect your brain?*
higgs boson hunters have 'god particle' in their sights*
lhc may have revealed first hints of higgs*
video: boris chertok, russian rocket engineer, dies at 99*

billionaire plans mega plane for space tourism

stratolaunch plane could make space tourism affordable*

from the register: Billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul G Allen has set foot down a path trailblazed generations ago by another eccentric business kingpin: he intends to build the biggest aircraft ever flown. However unlike Howard Hughes' monster "Spruce Goose" 1940s flying boat, Allen's plan appears at least feasible and he has some big names on board.

The scheme is the well-known one of using a jet aircraft high in the stratosphere as a launch platform for a rocket to carry payloads into space. This is already being done - and was used as a means of deploying anti-satellite weapons back in Cold War times - but Allen intends to scale up the concept massively, using a colossal aeroplane to lift bigger rockets than any before launched in mid-air and deliver much larger cargoes to orbit - perhaps one day, even manned spacecraft.

ufo on trailer bed spotted in kansas

Does it count as disclosure? Thirty-two foot UFO spotted on tractor-trailer bed, Monday afternoon, going down US 77 in Winfield, KS! A MSNBC report provided by Brooke Martin of KSNW, supplies details of curious load. Operators admitted freely it's a craft, when they enlisted help of local Sheriff to navigate streets through Winfield, KS. Where did the UFO - wrapped in a tarp - come from and where is it going? Everyone wants to know that answer!

microsoft spins android malware into windows phone giveaway

from computerworld: Microsoft is using the latest malware campaign aimed at rival Android to give away new Windows 7 Phones to the five Android users who tell the best tales of woe. "More malware on Android! Been hit? Share yr #droidrage story to win a #windowsphone upgrade. 5 best (worst?) win!" said Ben Rudolph, Microsoft's Windows Phone evangelist on Twitter late Monday. In his tweet, Rudolph linked to a Monday Computerworld story about Google scrubbing 22 malicious apps from its Android Market. The offer appeared legitimate: An hour after Rudolph tweeted, Microsoft's official Twitter feed noted the deal.

cassini image of five saturn moons

Cassini spacecraft continues to amaze with images returned to Earth! In the image (pictured), according to article at The Daily Galaxy, "...NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured five of Saturn's moons in one image: Janus, Pandora, Enceladus, Mimas and Rhea. Janus (179 kilometres, or 111 miles across) is on the far left. Pandora (81 kilometres, or 50 miles across) orbits between the A ring and the thin F ring near the middle of the image...Saturn’s second largest moon, Rhea (1,528 kilometres, or 949 miles across), is bisected by the right edge of the image. The smaller moon Mimas (396 kilometres, or 246 miles across) can be seen beyond Rhea also on the right side of the image." Enceladus remains a focus of interest in article, because of its volcanic activity. Did you know streaming vapor jets of icy particles from the area of Enceladus' south pole replenishes material in Saturn's outer most ring?

gizmodo, gingrich, emp's & propaganda

newt gingrich is bizarrely terrified of a fake sci-fi weapon
from gizmodo: Moon mining isn't the only thing election and adultery enthusiast Newt Gingrich is worried about - the GOP candidate has repeatedly, publicly, manically claimed that America is on the verge of being hit with an electromagnetic pulse attack. This is crazy. The NYT reports Gingrich's record of EMP hysteria, stretching back through years of public speeches and written fretting - he wrung his hands especially hard in the foreword to a recent sci-fi novel, which ought to be telling. Unfortunately for Newt, an EMP attack is more the stuff of sci-fi and Command & Conquer than pressing defense policy.

video update: is US prepared for electromagnetic pulse attack?

wyden wants answers from dhs over domain name seizures

from threat level: Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) said Friday he would demand answers from the Department of Homeland Security about its domain seizure program known as Operation in Our Sites after it was revealed that the government kept a hip-hop music review site’s name for a year without affording the owner a chance to challenge the seizure. Wyden also wants to know why there was no court record of the case, other than the initial seizure filing a year ago.

hillary tells world leaders "hands off the internet" -
meanwhile, US govt prepares its own censorship regime

drones assist corralling north dakota cattle rustlers

What's the world coming to? Predator B drones called in from Grand Forks AFB to assist in June cattle theft. Three men were arrested by local North Dakota Sheriff Kelly Janke after drone helped locate three family members, suspected in stealing six cows. "As the unmanned aircraft circled 2 miles overhead... sophisticated sensors under the nose helped pinpoint the three suspects and showed they were unarmed. Police rushed in and made the first known arrests of U.S. citizens with help from a Predator, the spy drone that has helped revolutionize modern warfare," as reported in LA Times. "But that was just the start. Local police say they have used two unarmed Predators based at Grand Forks Air Force Base to fly at least two dozen surveillance flights since June,"adds article. The FBI and DEA have also employed drones in their investigations. You can read more coverage at Signs Of The Times, where corporate profits enjoy precedence over public safety in implementing drones in unfriendly skies above a surveillance state. Have we passed by a road sign advising travelers, "Welcome To The United Police States of America?"

dec 10 lunar eclipse pix

Lunar eclipse of December 10 remains alive thanks to images posted on the net. John Harrison took fine shot of moon directly above Golden Gate Bridge (pictured), his picture and others can be viewed at MSNBC website. A boston.com article supplies explanation for moon's reddish hue during eclipse, "...since the atmosphere scatters blue light, only red light strikes the moon, giving it a crimson hue". More lunar eclipse images are available for your enjoyment at Universe Today and Space.com.

tracking the alien menace

Is our government going to lengths to prevent knowledge getting out of alien satellites in our solar system? Clyde Lewis, Ground Zero Live host, implies in "Tracking The Alien Menace," - beyond the given - we're not kept informed, great efforts are taken to ridicule "...anyone who detects something anomalous that is closer to earth." Lewis refers to recent anomaly revealed near planet Mercury, almost immediately dismissed by authorities as imaging artifacts. The talk show host sees a physical resemblance to the mysterious Black Knight Satellite, first spotted in 1960.

A Ground Zero Live November guest, Duncan Lunan is a scientist, who claimed he deciphered signals in the seventies from the mystery satellite.  Lunan said he no longer believes message he deciphered, contributed the following according to Lewis:

"Lunan spoke with us from his home in Scotland on 11-9-11and told us that according to reports that the Space Telescopes at Arecibo Puerto Rico were on alert. While Asteroid YU55 was passing overhead the radio telescopes were prepared for a communication attempt with an unknown force that was in our solar system. Lunan of course shot to some fame when he claimed to have deciphered radio communications dating back to 1927. These transmissions were coming from space probes in our Solar system. Probes that were not a product of NASA or any other country. It was believed that the probes have been carefully placed in our Solar system, Once again it conjured visions of the Black Knight probe and its mysterious transmissions and origins."

The present writer agrees with Lewis, there is likely more to come. Is there something out there originating from Epsilon Bootis - or elsewhere - as Lunan and sci-fi writer Philip K Dick, once believed? Is it, possibly, step 4 of Project Blue Beam, a highly sophisticated psyop perpetrated upon humanity? You may download free John Keel's "Disneyland of the Gods" here, who wrote about the Black Knight satellite. Is it time to consider, our home is under surveillance by agents elsewhere than our government?

a total eclipse of the moon

#lunar #eclipse: dec 10

Astro Bob provides the ultimate weekend guide to the second total lunar eclipse of 2011. The best viewing will be in northwest North America, where maximum eclipse will be reached 6:36am Pacific Time. You may enjoy, in the meantime, some spectacular pictures from the June 15th eclipse here. It's eye-candy!

iran captures cia drone

Iran reports capture of CIA drone, this week, on Iran TV. It appears to be a CIA RQ-170 (UAV), taken into possession by Iran about 140 miles inside its eastern border. A New York Times article also reports, "American officials viewing the video declined to confirm or deny that the aircraft shown was the one that they have said was lost several days ago by controllers in neighboring Afghanistan... The loss of an RQ-170 in Iran is a potentially significant intelligence blow for the United States... In an apparent attempt to explain the aircraft’s undamaged appearance, a Revolutionary Guards commander, identified as Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, said in the video that it 'was brought down by Iran’s military systems with the minimum damage possible'.” Russia and China have asked permission to inspect the captured UAV. Iran attempts to clearly convince the world that this drone capture provides solid proof of America's hostile intentions!

video update: obama appeals to iran to give back downed drone

12/8 defcon: kepler, voyager, zynga & more

new planet an earth-like world, 600 light-years away?*

video: new planet eerily like earth*
nasa spacecraft 'voyager 1' exploring solar system's edge*
video: surfer blood 'voyager reprise'*
iran shows intact drone, boasts of cyberattack*
house cyber panel chair says put dhs over cybersecurity*
on facebook, nypd officers maligned west indian paradegoers*
oregon judge rules bloggers aren't journalists*
video: zynga set to sell 100m shares in huge ipo*

cloaked spaceship near mercury?

Is it a cloaked spaceship (UFO, right frame) near planet Mercury or imaging artifacts? The Stereo spacecraft captured imaging of Mercury, on Dec. 1st, and what appears to be a large object nearby as a Coronal Mass Ejection washes over planet. "According to Russ Howard, head scientist of the NRL group [United States Naval Research Laboratory], and Nathan Rich, lead ground systems engineer, it is simply an artifact left over from the way raw HI-1 telescope data gets processed. Rather than a UFO mothership parked near Mercury, the bright spot is "where the planet was on the previous day," Rich told Life's Little Mysteries," as reported by Science on MSNBC.com. Wouldn't you think the artifact would resemble the shape of the planet? It's interesting video!

.xxx unleashed! internet porn domain goes live

from news24: A new .xxx domain suffix for adult content sites went live Tuesday, in a move which supporters say will help web surfers easily identify pornography sites. All sites using that suffix will also be monitored to ensure they do not contain hidden computer viruses commonly found on millions of sex sites.

Opponents of the new system, including anti-pornography and religious groups, say the move condones smut, encourages the viewing of pornography and makes it easier for kids to find. Some X-rated entrepreneurs also oppose the move on the grounds that it may eventually force all sexually explicit sites to use the .xxx suffix. Currently porn sites are free to keep their current suffixes, even if they have a .xxx site.

About 100 000 porn sites have already registered for addresses on the new top-level domain, according to Icann, the non-profit organisation which oversees the organisation of the internet. ICM Registry, which is managing the debut for Icann, said it was "the most successful launch of any new sponsored top-level domain".

"The internet is home to a wealth of content, suitable for a wide range of ages and values," the company said in a statement.

"The adult entertainment industry has, and always will, account for a large amount of this content and while it is enjoyed by some, it is not suitable, or of interest, to all internet users. Regardless of your views on adult content, it's here to stay, so let's be adult about it."

US study shows teen sexting scare overblown

video: teen sexting rate drops*

from smh: One in 10 American children aged between 10 and 17 has used a mobile phone to send or receive sexually suggestive images, but only 1 in 100 has sent images considered graphic enough to violate US child pornography laws, a new study has found. The results of the study, published on Monday in the US medical journal Pediatrics, are based on detailed telephone interviews with 1560 children across the country. It is one of the largest surveys to look at the prevalence of sexting among minors, a phenomenon that has drawn concern from schools and law enforcement and that has prompted nationwide legislation trying to curb it. An earlier, often-cited study had estimated that as many as one in five teenagers engaged in sexting, but it included 18- and 19-year-olds, most likely increasing the overall prevalence.

hollow earth theory in the 21st century 3d hd

Hollow Earth Theory has fallen into back recesses of the mind save for a few. Dr Brooks Agnew attempted to organize a Hollow Earth Expedition back in 2007, when the previous organizer passed away. The expedition has failed to materialize to date. Rodney M. Cluff, author of ebook,  "World Top Secret:  Our Earth Is Hollow," fascinated in theory since his teens, is also part of expedition.  Dean Dominic De Lucia has written book, "Hollow Earth In The Puranas," and recently interviewed on Red Ice Creations Radio. Hollow Earth Theory refuses to go away, completely.  Above video is amazing and updates a theory hundreds of years old.

ancient aliens: the series - aliens & the third reich

Viewers will catch reports of German scientists admitting on Ancient Aliens: Aliens And The Third Reich they received extraterrestrial help in mastering advanced technologies.  The Vril Society, based on an ability to channel "Vril" energy by descendants of aliens, received plans by means of telepathy and helped direct first saucer projects. In 45 minutes, several relatively unknown technologies are introduced such as anti-gravity Repulsin engine of Victor Schauberger with an appearance on the program by his grandson. Schauberger believed, himself, to have only rediscovered principles of ancient Vimana spacecraft. Igor Witkowski, author of "The Truth About The Wunderwaffe", guides viewers to a forest location in Poland called "the Henge" or "Fly Trap". The Henge is thought to be launching point for Die Glocke or the Bell, a technology to bend time and space. The Bell technology is considered by many to be the Reich's top secret higher than even the atomic bomb. General Hans Kammler is suspected of secreting the Bell out of Germany near end of war never to be seen or heard from again. Americans are brainwashed in belief, Germans only possessed jet, V-1 and V-2 tech and failed in their bomb program. These secret technologies still shape our lives even today! The History Channel's Ancient Aliens The Series is well worth your time.

sunscare: scientists worry more than solar minimum at hand

Is it only fear-mongering over new observations in article at Before It's News, "Shocked Scientists Ask: Is the Sun Dying?" The solar system is, after all, coursing through relatively unknown region of the galactic ecliptic and sun may be affected in unpredictable ways? The article is, still, of great interest as a regional space weather report, offering a sort of local forecast!  Scientists concerns are threefold: 1) sun's core of hydrogen gases is shrinking, and presents concern, helium gases will be used instead as fuel. Helium would transform Sun into a Red giant. Scientists believed, previously, this phase of Sun's lifespan still billions of years in future.

2) The Sun has been cooling since 1979. Scientists were shaken when a predicted warming trend did not materialize in 2007. The cooling trend is drawing comparisons to the Maunder Minimum, a mini-ice age of the late 1700s. David Hathaway of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL sums up agreement among scientists in Scientific American article, "I think we're almost in violent agreement that this is an interesting minimum". The Sun's so-called "Great Conveyor Belt" has slowed to a crawl, which affects future solar activity. The solar wind, is also, 13 percent cooler and 20 percent less dense. The Sun's heliosphere is shrinking, offering less protection from Cosmic rays.

Perhaps, most alarmist of all, 3) Scientists are concerned about radioactive decay rates speeding up and possibility matter itself is being mutated? Wow! The article concludes with a fitting description and picture of a solar system without its first four planets, vaporized by our Red giant Sun! The present writer believes most readers suffer a degree of fear-fatigue and take a flamethrower in their face to get their attention! It's still a very interesting read!

12/1 defcon: sopa, carrier iq & you

comedy of errors led to false 'water-pump hack' report*

flashback: feds deny water utility hack*
hackers target united nations development program website*
crack this code & become a british spy*
sopa on the ropes? bipartisan alternative to 'net censorship emerges*
critics line up to bash maker of secret phone-monitoring software*
does your smartphone run carrier iq?*
'cyber monday' 2011 sets shopping record*
video: 'cyber monday' no longer just a myth*

x-47b av-2 test flight is a success

Northrup Grumman's Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstration program took a step forward with a successful test flight on Nov. 22 of the air vehicle 2 (AV-2). The AV-2 took off from Edwards AFB, CA and landed a half hour later, concluding an entirely pre-determined flight. "The X-47B is a computer-controlled unmanned aircraft system that takes off, flies a preprogrammed mission, and then returns to base - all in response to mouse clicks from a mission operator. The operator actively monitors the X-47B air vehicle's operation using simple situational awareness displays, but does not fly it via remote control, as some unmanned systems are operated," reports Space Travel. The next steps are carrier launches and recoveries in 2013 and "autonomous aerial refueling demonstrations are planned for 2014". A previous post covered the X-47B's maiden flight with video directly available here. The Rise of the Machines is taking place right before our eyes!

related update: x-37b's mysterious mission extended

phobos grunt: lost in space?

The plight of Phobos Grunt spacecraft remains an interesting dilemma. ESA (European Space Agency) ground station in Perth, Australia failed in attempts to signal Phobos Grunt, reveals  Spaceflight Now article. "Outfitted with a feedhorn antenna designed to attenuate the power of its radio signals...[the]...ground station heard signals from Phobos-Grunt twice last week...Perth's 49-foot dish antenna received limited telemetry from the spacecraft...Details on communications attempts have come exclusively from ESA," according to article. Russia requested the Perth station to transmit more orbit-raising commands. However, "the Perth facility only has between six and eight minutes each time Phobos-Grunt flies overhead in sight of the station, providing limited windows for transmitting commands and receiving data," continues article.

The casual observer gets a clearer picture how space communications actually work through space agencies' attempts to overcome failure. What will happen to Phobos Grunt? "Because Phobos-Grunt's altitude is so low, experts say the fuel-laden craft will succumb to the affects of drag and fall back to Earth early next year. Nicholas Johnson, NASA's chief orbital debris expert, said the re-entry may occur in late January or February, but a specific time period won't be known until much later," concludes the article. Is Phobos Grunt forever "lost in space" and Mars a futile destination in light of repeated failures?

cyberwar explodes in syria with state dept-funded software 'psiphon'

from cnn: A familiar digital chime rang on the computer. Someone was calling via Skype from Syria. It was a law student and opposition activist from the city of Homs who uses the pseudonym Musaab al Hussaini to protect himself from arrest. He had fresh reports that security forces were shooting guns wildly in the neighborhood Baba Amrr. Hussaini was calling via Psiphon, an online encryption system he had just installed that morning. He said it protected him from detection by the Syrian security services, also known as mukhabarat.

"Yeah, I feel safe now, because I use software to get an encryption connection to the Internet," Hussaini said. He said Psiphon also allowed him to circumvent government firewalls which block access to popular communications sites like Skype. "If you want to open Skype in Syria today, we cannot, because its blocked. And if it was opened, we would be afraid of everything ... of making a voice call. We are afraid to be recorded by the mukhabarat," he said.

Psiphon is a surveillance-busting networking system designed by a Canadian company with funding from the U.S. State Department. The company's CEO told CNN the software had been "aggressively" introduced to Syria just three weeks ago. Since then, thousands of people had begun using it.

"What we're doing is not much different to what the airwaves provided during the Cold War to provide those citizens living behind the Iron Curtain with an ability to get information which otherwise they were not getting from their state," said Rafal Rohozinski, CEO of two companies involved in developing Psiphon.

"Whereas shortwave radio during the Cold War was very unidirectional ... with the Internet these technologies are by definition bidirectional, meaning that it gives an opportunity for citizens within these states to also communicate amongst themselves and with the outside world."

For the past eight months, Syria has been locked in a bloody cycle of anti-regime protests and violent crackdown. The United Nations accuses government security forces of systematic torture, disappearances and the use of deadly force to crush dissent. More than 3,500 people have been killed since March. The UN's top human rights monitoring commission has repeatedly accused the Syrian regime of carrying out crimes against humanity.

But this bloody test of wills is not only being fought in the streets. Activists, diplomats and IT specialists say there is also a high-stakes war of information being waged in cyberspace.

kinect for windows to offer 'minority report' computer control

from telegraph: A new generation of PCs controlled by gestures is on its way, after Microsoft revealed it is specially adapting its Xbox Kinect technology for Windows computers. The system will allow Windows users to control software with the wave of a hand, as envisaged in the Steven Spielberg film Minority Report. "Building on the existing Kinect for Xbox 360 device, we have optimized certain hardware components and made firmware adjustments which better enable PC-centric scenarios," Craig Eisler, general manager of the Kinect for Windows program said in a blog post.

Kinect has proved a major hit on Xbox. A small device sits on top of the console or television and translates gamers’ body movement in to commands in racing, fighting and dancing titles. The Windows version offers the prospect of users controlling everyday office applications simply by moving their hands.

Microsoft said it has created a new 'Near Mode' for the PC version of Kinect, suitable for capturing smaller movements more accurately, suitable for working at a desk. "'Near Mode' will enable a whole new class of 'close up' applications, beyond the living room scenarios for Kinect for Xbox 360," said Mr Eisler.

Microsoft is already working with software developers on new motion-controlled Windows applications. "We’ve already seen strong enthusiasm for Kinect among developers who have done amazing things with it in countless different ways, from education to healthcare, gaming to art installations, manufacturing to retail," Mr Eisler said in another blog post.

related video update: 'mission impossible 4' shows #nui