Booze Tattoos: This New Wearable Device Calls The Cops If You Get Too Sauced

Woohoo!  It’s the weekend, and you want to hit the bars / clubs / speakeasies / after-hours / diners that serve booze / brunch / bars again, etc.  Go crazy!  But be careful not to get written up for driving under the influence, because now, robots will be able to rat you out if you grab another round...

If you're going to have enough money to do this,
also have enough money for a cab.
(Image courtesy usnews.com.)

Prints To Convince: 3-D Printed Fingerprints To Be Used In Murder Case

3-D printing is experiencing a boom across a fascinating variety of sectors.  It can be used for construction, creating artistic foods arrangements, making clothing, or even fashioning spare parts for the International Space Station.  Now, cops have used it to help gather evidence…but is it ethical?

Every other part of you can be cloned, why not your fingerprints too?
(Image courtesy dhgate.com.)

Bomb 'Bots Vs. Bad Guys: How Explosives And Xbox Controllers Can Take Down Terrorists

We may joke a lot about the impending horrors of how robots are coming for our jobs, but many times, for the most part, these replacements ultimately will bode well for the labors of the industrial or commercial world.  More importantly, at the top of the line, in each of these instances, the robots are being deployed by human beings capable of critical thinking and (theoretically) feeling emotions.  Now, we will find ourselves being increasingly placed in difficult situations where there are strong arguments both for and against the usage of robots in delicate human-induced situations…

A bomb robot in Arlington, TX, during the 2011 Super Bowl.
Will more such machines quell our quandaries?
(Image courtesy qz.com.)

Uploaded And Shut Down: Japan's First Virtual Reality Porn Fest Cancelled Due To Crowds

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Fight For Your Rights With Megabytes: New "Robot Lawyer" Appeals Parking Tickets For You

We all know by now that there are apps to help aid and abet all sorts of daily occurrences in life...but what if they could help out with run-of-the-mill legal troubles as well?  No, you're not likely to have a robo-attorney for your divorce or murder case anytime soon, but when it comes to appealing the obnoxious - in this case, traffic tickets - a souped-up chatbot might now help you win your case.

Your honor, my client is but a dirty human meatbag,
and clearly cannot park a car as well as we robots.
Verdict:  NOT GUILTY!
(Image courtesy legalcheek.com.)

Iran, And You Can Run Too: New Iranian App For Avoiding Morality Police

In much of the world, apps can provide amusing diversions or helpful little bits of information for daily life.  However in Iran, one app has achieved a new level of importance regarding an issue that few Westerners would (hopefully) never have to worry about...

How would you like to be fined and forced to sign a confession of repentance
just for not covering your hair?
(Image courtesy bbc.com.)

Eagles Vs. Drones: Fight In Flight

It's no secret that drones are becoming more and more ubiquitous, both from a law-enforcement perspective as well as hobbyists and aerial Peeping Toms.  But what can you do when a drone is infringing on your airspace and you don't think firing weapons or fireworks at it is a safe and/or sane option?  One word:  birds.

Uncle Sam must be very conflicted about this match-up.
(Image courtesy howstuffworks.com.)

Shot Through The Art, And You're To Blame: New Tattoo Recognition Software Spots Evildoers By Their Ink

We all know that the encroaching insidiousness of facial recognition technology is getting harder and harder to thwart.  This can be somewhat of a good thing, like when it actually catches criminals or finds your lost dog, but for the average citizen, you can't even skip church without getting compiled into a face database (dataface?) these days.  No matter how much weird makeup you use to try to obscure yourself, there's just too many cameras out in the world attempting to capture your likeness.  Now, the technology has been refined to include the art on your body in addition to your body itself...

Just in case you didn't make it this obvious.
(Image courtesy creativefan.com.)

Trail/Blazing: California Scientists Collaborate On A Breathalyzer For Bud

In the words of author and noted drug user William S. Burroughs, "A man under the influence of weed is completely unfit to drive a car."  Now, with cannabis use exploding in the United States, and rules on its legality constantly shifting, a quantitative measure to ensure road safety for reefer-heads is being undertaken by technology...

Rolling stoned?  You might get no satisfaction.
(Image courtesy theweedblog.com.)

If You Suspects Something, Text Something: New Anti-Terror App For New Yorkers

Are you remaining vigilant in these trying times, citizen?  Well just in case you were thinking of keeping to yourself and minding your own damn business, the government doesn't want you to, and there's a new app to abet that.

Your activism needs no more than the swipe of a finger.
That should probably be worrisome, right?
(Image courtesy ny.gov.)

Found By Sound: Kidnapper Located Via Spotify Sign-Ons

The information superhighway has a lot of vehicles on it, and you might be followed without even realizing it.  Such was the case with one woman who thought she could escape the law, but didn't count on the law looking in on what she listened to, and where...

If Bonnie and Clyde here are jamming Spotify while fleeing the law,
they're gonna get caught!
(Image courtesy musictimes.com.)

Police Tape: New App Records Cops Gone Wild; Instantly Submits Clips To ACLU

As the tensions regarding civilian/police interactions heat up faster than the nice weather, it's good to know there are ways of keeping your cool.  One such method is a new app from the ACLU, designed to document and immediately report unethical police action...

Fire at will.
(Image courtesy 10news.com.)

Aviation Vs. Incarceration: Drones Delivering Drugs Into Prison Yards

Drones!  Is there anything they can't do?  They help to fight fires, deliver contraceptives, bomb insurgents, and don't even require an endless supply of pharmaceutical-grade speed to keep their pilots awake!  Now, they've added a naughty new skill to their flying functions...

"OVER HERE!  DROP THE WEED OVER HERE!"
(Image courtesy nativemonster.com.)

Home, Home On The Range-R: Military-Grade Radar Scanners Can Help Police Spot You Through Walls

Big Brother isn't just watching - he's digging your moves, and he's not about to let something like legality or a concrete, windowless wall get in his way.  "Thanks" to Range-R radar technology, cops can sense motion inside a space without even having to kick down the doors.

According to USA Today, over the last two years, some 50 law enforcement agencies across America have adopted this technology, because search warrants take time and randomly breaking and entering sometimes gets bad press.  With no concern for privacy other than the privacy of the device itself (no notice of the technology nor its intents were released to the public), agencies from the FBI to the U.S. Marshalls to possibly your hometown cop-shop can now track you with the high-tech scanners.

It allows for that extra few seconds of pondering before the strike team swarms the building.
(Image courtesy policestateusa.com.)

When placed against an exterior wall, the radar use radio waves to penetrate up to 50 feet indoors and snitch if there's a person inside, where they are, and if they're mobile.  The devices are even sensitive enough to detect breathing, so basically, you have nowhere to hide.  They can "see" through concrete, dirt, adobe, wood, stucco or brick, and are even drone-mountable for you pesky apartment dwellers (or maybe just for the extra-lazy lawmen.)

While plausibly for use in hostage scenarios, firefighting emergencies, or search-and-rescue (according to the manufacturer's website), the Range-Rs have already been used over such inanity as parole jumping.  Originally invented for use in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the devices, made by the L3 Communications company, cost $600 apiece.  Some $180,000 has been quietly spent on them since 2012.

While legal issues surrounding the use of the devices remain tricky, the Supreme Court specifically noted in a 2001 ruling that it was Constitutionally unsound to have police scan the exterior of a building with a thermal camera, and that the ruling would also apply to future radar systems.

"What?  We're just checking to make sure they're breathing...before we put a stop to that."
(Image courtesy freethoughtproject.com.)

So far, this ruling has gone unrecognized, as police maintain they are using the devices for the usual "security concerns."  That tight security apparently precludes even mentioning that the Range-Rs exist.  William Sorukas, a former supervisor of the Marshals Service's domestic investigations arm, even went as far as to say, "If you disclose a technology or a method or a source, you're telling the bad guys along with everyone else."

Well, now the bad guys DO know.  And the good guys too.  Neither side should be happy about it.  What happened to doing police work to catch criminals, instead of stooping to their level and committing crimes to summarily execute "justice"?

Your security is just as important as national security.
(Image courtesy reason.com.)

Hold Onto Your Hat: New Bulletproof Caps Can Help You Keep Your Mind In One Place

It's a dangerous world out there, but who can plan to wear a helmet everyplace they go?  Now, you don't have to sacrifice fashion for security thanks to a new kickstarter endeavor,  the Bulletsafe bulletproof cap.

Unfortunately they are not yet available in Stetson style.
(Image courtesy alcalas.com.)

Bearing a 7-oz. hard ballistic panel that sits in the front of the cap to protect the wearer's forehead and frontal lobes, the caps appear to sit as normally as your favorite baseball teams' would.  The caps are not only a fraction of the weight but also a fraction of the cost of a full SWAT helmet, which would be around $400, compared to the Bulletsafe's $129.

A Bulletsafe cap with its internal armor removed.  33% head coverage might not sound like a lot, but it's better than 0% when it comes to your brain.
(Image courtesy cnbeta.com.)

Offering "Protection Without Intimidation" is another major feature, alleviating the need for police or other security personnel to be overtly armored.  This aids not only in covert operations but also for keeping relative overall peace thanks to the appearance of a non aggressively-militarized force.  Maybe, just maybe, having officers look a little less threatening might make everyone act in a similar fashion.  Riot helmets, consciously or not, presuppose riots.

Despite the obviously bad idea, you probably want to fight this guy more than some random dude in a ballcap.
(Image courtesy opticsplanet.com.)

Interested parties can aid the Bulletsafe's development by pledging various amounts, including a special startup price of $99 per cap.  If you have absolutely no need for such gear but appreciate the idea, for $50 one can aid in the donation of a cap to a Detroit-area police officer.  Your name will be written inside so that the recipient can appreciate their "guardian angel."

"Aww gee thanks, CopsSuck420!"
(Image courtesy dailymail.co.uk.)

The product has successfully completed prototype testing and is aiming for NIJ Level IIA security ratings for the headwear.  This means the hat is capable of stopping .40, 9mm, and .38 caliber rounds, which is a considerable achievement for what by all appearances is a lightweight, normal baseball cap.

Can the appearance of peace help the people and police?  Let's hope 2015 doesn't have to find out the hard way.  But, like firearms themselves, a little discreet security can go a long way when it counts.

Check out Bulletsafe's kickstarter for more information!

For an additional donation, you can get one embroidered for your specific job, such as "POLICE", or if you're really daring, a Boston Red Sox logo for your trip to Yankee Stadium.
(Image courtesy guns.com.)

Shots Fired? New "Yardarm" Device Reports Police Weapon Use And Location In Real-Time

Police violence, no-knock raids, SWAT invasions, traffic stops gone wrong...all sorts of issues seem to arise these days between citizens and those who supposedly "serve and protect."  Weaponry, which has been made available to local police departments on an unprecedented scale, plays a major role in this.  Since America's glorious Constitution isn't about to let guns go out the window for police nor citizens, it's imperative that a middle ground be reached where our taxpayer-endorsed police forces can be held accountable for their firearm actions with official evidence (and the "body cameras" seem to keep mysteriously losing batteries.)  So, meet the Yardarm.

The Yardarm chip, shown in green, is a witness who can't lie.

Currently in development in Silicon Valley, the Yardarm is a startup venture that could start a serious new trend of keeping cops in check.  Installed in the butt of a pistol, the Yardarm's Bluetooth sensor connects to an officer's smartphone, then notifies police dispatchers when and where an officer carries, draws or fires their weapon.  It can even deduce the direction of the discharge, which could be important later in court for all parties involved.  In the officers' aid, it could help alert dispatchers when a cop is under fire but cannot immediately radio their situation or location.

Yardarm's website states their technology is "designed to seamlessly integrate into existing computer aided dispatch (CAD) and real-time crime center (RTCC) solutions", which provide maps for a dispatcher to track progress on. This could enable more accurate data regarding crime-infested areas and ultimately prove safer for everyone.

Unfortunately, there are no current plans to make Yardarms for nightsticks.

Your Phone Is Your Own: Supreme Court Forbids Warrantless Phone Searches

In a major breakthrough for privacy rights, the Supreme Court of the United States has decided that cell phones are among the effects that are Constitutionally protected against warrantless searches.

Yesterday in a unanimous ruling, the court made it abundantly clear that warrants are required before any search of a citizen's cell phone can take place, with some speculation as to what will follow if a person was arrested on charges not pertaining to the vast amount of information a cell phone could contain. Justice John Roberts was quoting as saying, “A phone not only contains in digital form many sensitive records previously found in the home; it also contains a broad array of private information never found in a home in any form—unless the phone is.”

The Constitutional verbiage of the Fourth Amendment, partially reprinted here via www.msnbc.com, guarantees that citizens shall be “secure in their persons, houses, papers or effects." Phones of all types (from brick to smart) are covered under the ruling.  

Image courtesy www.aclu.org.

New Blood-Alcohol Content Breathalyzer App Wants To Party With You

New app startup Alcohoot is turning around police-grade technology into an app that wants to improve your lifestyle. The device, which costs $99 and plugs into the headphone jack of a smartphone, not only calculates your BAC, but offers a "morning after" ranking system with reviews of how you felt your night went for further analysis.

The device is being created in partnership with major alcohol conglomerate Pernod Ricard. Their President and CEO Bryan Fry claims that "Alcohoot engages people and has the potential to change behavior."

Learn more about Alcohoot and other BAC-calculation apps here.

The NYPD's Internal Smartphone App: Big Brother is Watching

The NYPD has been experimenting with a smart phone app that allows officers to track, and surveil citizens and communities in real time.  Excerpt:

The Police Department has distributed about 400 dedicated Android smartphones to its officers, part of a pilot program begun quietly last summer. The phones, which cannot make or receive calls, enable officers on foot patrol, for the first time, to look up a person’s criminal history and verify their identification by quickly gaining access to computerized arrest files, police photographs, and state Department of Motor Vehicles databases. 

The technology offers extraordinary levels of detail about an individual, including whether the person has ever been “a passenger in a motor vehicle accident,” a victim of a crime or in one instance, a drug suspect who has been known by the police to hide crack cocaine “in his left sock,” according to Officer Donaldson. 

The app provides:

access to the names of every resident with an open warrant, arrest record or previous police summons; each apartment with a prior domestic incident report; all residents with orders of protection against them; registered gun owners; and the arrest photographs of every parolee in the building. The officers could even find every video surveillance camera, whether mounted at the corner deli or on housing property, that was directed at the building. 

If police are going to have access to this kind of information on the taxpayer's dime, then the public should have access to it as well.