No Surprise With Robot Eyes: Microsoft Awarded Patent For Emotion-Revealing Glasses

It's no surprise anymore that things in this brave new world can't remain private.  Your papers, property, and person are one thing, but what happens when you willingly enter the public eye, and that public eye is now equipped with glasses that can read your emotions?

Uh, future?  Can we just go focus on space travel or something?
This is creepy.
(Image courtesy dailymail.co.uk.)

"Clear" For Takeoff: New App Removes All Of Your Objectionable Social Media Posts

If you have some kind of a social media account, chances are you've at some point made a statement or posted an image there that you're not particularly proud of.  Maybe you've let it get buried in a tidal wave of tech and time, but if it still exists, it can still be found...and possibly used against you.  Take this power away from your enemies with a new app...

(Image courtesy failbook.com.)

Bugs, Drugs, and Thugs: DEA Phone Tap Protocol From 1992 Onward Paved Way For Current NSA Programs

Many compelling arguments have been offered as evidence to stop the NSA and other agencies from spying on American (and others') phone calls.  Constitutional rights infringement, invasion of privacy, and simply wasting time and manpower are all noteworthy points that the programs should be stopped.  However, nothing justifies the removal of this century's scaled-up security state better than history itself:  powers-that-be have been monitoring calls for decades, and it didn't stop terrorists one bit...

It didn't really stop drug dealers that much, either.
(Image courtesy anyclip.com.)

ACLU: None Of NSA's Phone Surveillance Stopped "A Single Terrorist Attack"

While the NSA has been monitoring all of our phone calls, it seems they've been phoning it in regarding any hint of actually stopping terrorism.  According to a report released by the ACLU this week, none of the NSA's "intelligence gathering" via phone records have helped to thwart a single terrorist attack...

Positively Fourth Amendment: The Department Of Justice Wants In On Your Info, Anywhere

Thanks to a new initiative to amend the Constitutionally-sound rules regarding search and seizure, the United States Department of Justice seems to want to practice anything but.  Currently the D.O.J. is seeking  the authority to hack computers anywhere in the world...

This isn't cool and never will be, regardless of what the Department of "Justice" thinks.
(Image courtesy watchdog.org.)

Keeping Quiet? Better Buy It. AT&T To Charge For Online Surveillance Opt-Out

So it's come to this.  We're now "afforded" the option to bribe companies out of spying on us...

The Safest Secrets In The World: Swiss Systems Allow For Super-Secure Data Storage

As privacy concerns escalate in our ever-observed lives, steps are now being taken to ensure that precious data can be held as securely as gold or other valuables.  Switzerland, a nation known for its strict privacy in the banking business, is at the forefront of this mission.

According to phys.org, Switzerland has some 61 data-banking centers that deal in information storage.  During the last five years, over a billion dollars have been invested by folks looking to keep their most important information safe from anyone else.

Even their pocketknife USB has a fingerprint scanner and major encryption technology.
No, seriously.
(Image courtesy gadling.com.)

The investments in data storage are surging despite Switzerland's ever-eroding laws concerning banking privacy. Due to the formerly overabundant nature of banking privacy in the nation, it was known as a haven for shady dealings to be neatly numbered and accounted for, without oversight from pesky things like the law. Although that's now changing, the element of the pervasive privacy is now being well applied to data security.

Franz Grueter, the managing director of the data storage firm Green.ch, explained, "Clients need confidence, discretion, reliability and stability. These have been the country's hallmarks forever." He also noted that, "Data storage is the new Eldorado for Switzerland. It's a real boom." (Green.ch has posted 30% annual growth since its inception in 1995.)

Though Switzerland is Europe's fifth-largest data hub, it wants to be known as the nation that takes data security the most seriously. In Switzerland, personal data is legally classified as a "precious good" that requires a judge-issued order before it can be observed by any outsiders. Thus, digital assets, in the form of proprietary secrets, intellectual property, invention schematics, sensitive plans, or other critical data can be safely stashed with the Swiss.

Even email services established in Switzerland are more secure.
(Image courtesy totaldigitalsecurity.com.)

One such information cache, known as Deltalis, is situated in an underground Cold War-era bunker that's protected by biometric scanners, armed guards, and four-ton steel doors that were built to thwart a nuclear attack. Its exact location is not publicly known, and critical IT developments will be handled only by those who act in strict accordance with Swiss law. As far as privacy goes in the modern world, this is as safe as safe can be.

With leaks everywhere from government to Hollywood to personal cell phones occurring, it's good to know that somewhere, secrecy is being taken seriously. One big leak, from renowned whistleblower Edward Snowden, hinted that international spies had their eye on cracking into the Swiss system. They'll have to be the best in the world to make the attempt, though...digitally, physically, and legally, the Swiss have more layers of data protection in place than useful tools on one of their pocketknives.

Your weirdest nudies are safe here.
(Image courtesy photoromanzoitaliano.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.)

E-Emotional Rescue: Computer Programs That Deal In Your Feelings

Experts say that your computer is a better judge of your personality than even your closest family and friends.  It knows your preferences, correspondents, written words, tastes in imagery, secrets kept and deleted, and more.  But what happens in the possibly-near future when machines begin using all of this information to actually UNDERSTAND you?

When it comes to emotional intelligence and your computer, what constitutes too much information?
(Image courtesy singularityhub.com.)

According to the New Yorker, this may be happening more quickly than we expect.  Computers can already attempt to determine moods from vocal pitch and intensity, while simultaneously analyzing any attendant videos for evidence of micro-expressions or gestures that could reveal even more about an interaction.  Even the placement of words in a sentence can be taken to imply other things, indicating how angry, passionate, or spectacularly talented certain authors are.  Now, computers can not only be aware of these elements, but use them to temper their own responses or advice.

Rana el Kaliouby, an Egyptian scientist who runs the Boston-based company Affectiva, is on the forefront of this mecha-emotional leap.  Affectiva's most prominent software, Affdex, is trained to recognize four major emotions:  happy, confused, surprised, and disgusted.  Breaking down the user's face-image into deformable and non-deformable points, the software analyzes how far certain parts of one's face will move (such as a smile or frown raising or lowering the corners of the mouth) in relation to other set points on the face (such as the tip of the nose.)  Things like skin texture (where wrinkles appear, or not) also factor in.  These metrics are analyzed into computing what you feel.

Based off the research of 1960s scientist Paul Ekman, the idea behind this technology stems from a simple, universal concept:  all humans, regardless of race, gender, age or language barriers, have at least six specific facial expressions that register particular emotions.  Ekman broke these expressions down into their constituent movements and wrote a 500-page epic called FACS (Facial Action Coding System) on the subject.  The work has been considered the preeminent treatise on this topic for decades now.

Other companies are on the e-emotional bandwagon too, with names like Emotient, Realeyes, and Sension.  Companies who rely on videoconferencing could now have a useful extra line on what their clients and associates are thinking.  Emotions, which have been found to be closely neurologically related to decision-making and common sense, now can be deduced from faces and choices with a degree of accuracy that seems like mind-reading.

We're less unique than anyone thinks.
(Image courtesy thewaylifeis.com.)

While useful (and now predominantly operational) in business, Kaliouby also spent time researching if this specific recognizance could act as an "emotional hearing aid" for those with autism.  The National Science Foundation offered Kaliouby and her mentor nearly a million dollars to develop this idea.  This proved successful, but the idea was almost immediately extrapolated by businesses from Pepsi to Toyota in the interest of learning more about their consumers' preferences.  These requests overwhelmed the scientists, leading to the creation of Affectiva.  The company, which claims to have refused requests to use the software for espionage (corporate and personal), wanted to generate revenue from investors to augment their autism-relating research.

Thus Affdex began testing users' response to advertisements, giving the promotions industry a leg up on what consumers would be feeling when exposed to their sales pleas.  More than two million videos from eighty countries lent the program an unprecedented amount of information, all adding up to more accuracy in prediction from the program.  Affectiva now deals in these negotiations and improvements full-time.  In coming years, with more "smart" devices and internet-enabled items out there for our interaction, emotional electronics could use their ever-increasing knowledge to hopefully make our lives better.

These programs have our attention, which is a valuable resource.  Now, can that be used to hold our interest, connect us more completely, and/or improve our circumstances (even just by knowing we need the room temperature raised a little?)  Or will it simply serve as another metric to keep tabs on a passive populace?  Will we have the right to know when and where we are being emotionally analyzed, and will we be able to thwart such advances if desired?  Kaliouby maintains that there must be an overall altruistic tilt to the usage of the program, explaining to various advertisers that, “In our space, you could very easily be perceived as Big Brother, as opposed to the gatekeeper of your own emotional data—and it is two very different positions. If we are not careful, we can very easily end up on the Big Brother side.”

Whether we'll end up selling our attention to gain happiness points to sell for more happiness remains uncertain.  But the fact remains that the market for your emotions is vast and lucrative.  Companies will want to know you're happy if it makes them feel they're doing something right.  Other more insidious organizations may be tickled to learn that you're feeling deeply unsettled and on edge (right where some of them want you.)  Will the future be made of humans wearing constant poker faces, lest we be called out by computers?  Will there be surcharges for extra super-sized doses of happiness from certain places or products?  Or should we maybe turn the lens in on ourselves, and understand the nature of our own feelings, before we release them into the wild to be tagged and tracked...or hunted?

And remember, all of this information is taken from imagery alone.  We're not even really "plugged in" yet...
(Image courtesy rdn-consulting.com)

We See What You Did There: Edward Snowden Given Human Rights Award By Sweden

While the United States remains steadfast in putting Edward Snowden in the "whistleblower spy" archive of history, other nations consider his efforts a laudable fight against the subtle tyranny of the surveillance state.  This week in Sweden, Snowden was awarded the Right Livelihood award, a humanitarian recognition of his work to free Americans (and others) from the zoo of Big Brother's surveillance amusement.

And we, in good conscience, shouldn't let them.
(Image courtesy garymvasey.files.com.)

According to the Guardian UK, Snowden was not physically able to attend the ceremony, as he considered it a threat to his safety (he is wanted on charges under the Espionage Act in the United States, whose notorious record of "renditions" would have rightly worried Snowden.)  However, he spoke with the committee via teleconference from Moscow, where he is currently living in exile.  In a show of solidarity for Mr. Snowden's deplorably alienated circumstances, none of his family members would accept the award in his absence, noting only that someday Snowden himself should be able to do so.

Informed and angry.  He's not wrong.
(Image courtesy reddit.com.)

The award jury noted that Snowden was being commended “for his courage and skill in revealing the unprecedented extent of state surveillance violating basic democratic processes and constitutional rights."

No one cares you have nothing to hide.  Something can be used against you.
(Image courtesy car-memes.com.)

President Barack Obama, who did not comment on Snowden's award, had previously campaigned with a strong intent to protect American whistleblowers.

They spelled Obama's name wrong, but everything else about this is sadly correct.
(Image courtesy csnbbs.com.)

This Message Will Self-Destruct: CIA and Homeland Security Seek To Officially Destroy Thousands Of Emails

When you delete your emails, it's likely just to remove clutter, liberating your inbox from constant coupons, ads, e-pleas, etc.  But when the CIA and Homeland Security want to delete emails, considerably more eyebrows are raised.

According to engadget.com, two of our most totally-not-shady Big Brother organizations want to delete all of their emails that are seven years or older, as well as the emails of all CIA employees who have been retired for 3 years.  A plan of action was shown to the National Records and Archives Administration (NARA) that indicated this intent, with only 22 top officials' correspondence to survive the digital culling.

History now seems to be written by the digital winners.
(Image courtesy news.yahoo.com.)

For two organizations who thrive on intelligence (one where it's in the very title of the company), this seems like a bad idea.  Numerous senators, including Dianne Fenstien (D-CA), are actively opposing this plan, fearing the expunging of evidence.

The motion was made by the CIA as part of an effort to help streamline its email collection for better management, a mission that NARA had asked of all government agencies to figure out a plan for.  Homeland Security's excuse was that it would free up valuable server space ($50 a terabyte per month) and that deletion could also possibly thwart the intended intelligence-gathering of Einstein, their government-website traffic-tracker.

They can stash endless info on regular citizens, but heaven forbid their own emails get retained.
(Artwork by Will Varner / Image courtesy twistedsifter.com.)

While this would be a win for private privacy, the overarching scope of government intel is something that people don't want to be able to simply vanish like so many extraordinary renditions before it.

Lee Tien of the Electronic Frontier Foundation told Gizmodo, "It's kind of sad. I want to applaud the government for choosing to discard unnecessary data about people. But we have good reason to question the government's reasons because of what we've learned about what we've NOT been told."

If you think the government shouldn't be doing the modern equivalent of shredding countless files and burning the confetti, you can tell NARA right here.

Uh...thanks but no thanks.
(Image courtesy reanimatedresidue.wordpress.com.)

Roving Robot Security Guards: Safety Or Just More Surveillance?

Surveillance robots are a fact of modern society.  Whether they be drones in the sky, surreptitious cameras discreetly hidden in public, or even the wiles in the wires of your own computer turned against you, they are out there.  Now, Silicon Valley has upped the robot game with new five-foot multi-sensory patrol droids.

Every day they risk their microchips and processors, just to keep you safe.
(Image courtesy businesswire.com.)

These "Knightscope" robots, according to the Daily Mail, are intended to use their arrays of microphones, sensors, and cameras to spot and report intruders.  They don't have trigger fingers (or even weapons) like humans do, so they may be thwarted in a fight, but they will record you severely in the process (possibly even using their LIDAR laser ranging to make a 3D map.)  Thermal imaging and even an odor sensor complete the observational package.  That's right, the robot could incriminate you just by your human-stench alone.

Truly a service droid, the Knightscopes operate and charge autonomously thanks to a combination of of laser scanning, wheel encoders, inertial measurements, and GPS.  Eventually, their creators hope to send them out to patrol various neighborhoods or businesses, where they can operate indoors or out.  

Yes, it is very much like an R2 unit.  C-3PO not included.
(Image courtesy urbantimes.co.)

A button on the top of the robot's head allows for humans to interact with a live person (not inside the robot) in case of emergency.  This is a feature perhaps intended to endear the robots to humans, which seems to be part of their creators' mission, as they ask, "Imagine a friend that can see, hear, feel and smell that would tirelessly watch over your corporate campus or neighborhood, keep your loved ones safe and put a smile on everyone passing by..."

So we're supposed to "smile" at our new robot "friends."  With all those cameras and sensors, they'll surely know about it and get mad if we don't.  So, which gang is going to start knitting robot blindfolds?

Don't start trouble in the wrong neighborhood of Silicon Valley.
(Image courtesy fusion.net.)

Grounding Big Brother: Amnesty International Releases Anti-Government-Spyware Detection Software

Are you a closet revolutionary who is constantly aware of the deterioration of society and informs themself on ways it can be fixed?  Are you a casual bystander who once googled a song by a band that prided themselves on questioning authority?  Are you just paranoid as hell that the Man is out to get you?  Now, you can stop governmental cyber-peeping for sure, thanks to new technology released by Amnesty International.

As reported by the BBC, it is no secret that governments use "sophisticated spying tools that could grab images from webcams or listen via microphones to monitor people." Amnesty International knows how wrong that is, and has released the Detekt software to combat Big Brother's unsavory advances. Detekt scans your computer for government-grade spyware that might be missed (or intentionally looked over) by other more mainstream virus or malware detectors.

They're not this overt, but they are this unpleasant.
(Image courtesy wpremedy.com.)

Created through a collaboration between Amnesty International, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Privacy International and Digitale Gesellschaft, the free software is designed to operate on Windows (the platform which most spied-on people are apparently using.) Its availability should be helpful in putting a damper on the $5 billion international government spyware market.

That's your tax money, getting spent to indiscriminately spy.  Kill the idea that this could ever be acceptable.
(Image courtesy betanews.com)

"People think the uses of spyware by governments are isolated cases. They are not," said Claudio Guarnieri, the German creator of Detekt. "Their discovery is isolated...Spyware is becoming the final solution for surveillance operations to overcome encryption.

"The real problem is nobody really asked the public whether that's acceptable and some countries are legitimizing their use without considering the consequences and inherent issues."

One of those inherent issues being that average civilians shouldn't be covertly spied on by their government.  Better fire up the Detekt, we probably just got put on a list.

There is nothing noble about blindly swinging a cyber bat at peoples' computers, hoping a pinata of prosecutable info will explode.  Even if it did, that candy is probably supposed to be helping the people.
(Image courtesy thehackernews.com.)

Droneland Security: Predator Aircraft Guard Mexican Border; Canada Next

Drones...they're gaining popularity for everything from firefighting to delivering burritos.  Yet it is their sociopolitical applications that currently seem to have the most attention.  Perhaps it is because they will help save the lives of military and law enforcement, or perhaps it is because of their manageability.  Now, they have been tasked with acting as border patrol agents, but with mixed results.

As reported by arstechnica.com, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) now uses drones to patrol over half of the U.S.-Mexico border.  Using Predator B-type drones, videos are taken over certain areas, and then subsequently re-shot several days later.  This enables CBP to examine the photographed terrain for noticeable changes, such as vehicle tracks or footprints from humans and livestock.

One major benefit of drones is that they'll patrol the desert as readily as a nice beach.
(Image courtesy student.societyforscience.org.)

"Law-abiding people shouldn't worry" and "cameras are unable to capture details like license plate numbers and faces on the ground," Lothar Eckardt, CPB's executive director of national air security operations, told the Associated Press. This is not as reassuring as the actual results of the program.

A mere 2% of the missions indicated evidence of illegal border crossings, and those areas were then secured by more thorough "ground sensors" by CPB. Another 2% were inconclusive, and 4% were false alarms. It is difficult to determine if the drones simply didn't find any evidence or were not able to look hard enough.

Nevertheless, the program is set to move up to the Canadian border in 2015.  The original "change detection" program over the U.S.-Mexican border was launched in 2013.

Does anyone else want to see a buzzard or vulture pick a fight with a mountain-region drone?
(Image courtesy deadlinelive.info.)

Pew Report: 90% Of Americans Feel They've "Lost Control" Over Data Privacy

It's no secret that most civilian information in the United States is not secret.  But just how bad has the encroachment on our privacy gotten?  In a new Pew Research Center report, it seems that the cognitive dissonance of the American Dream is frustrating, but still not something people feel ready to fix...even though it is more critical now than ever to stop the erosion from the invasion.

It's not just a feeling.  It's their first move.
(Image courtesy mb.com.ph.)

The Washington Post reports that a recent study indicated Americans were very aware of the "privacy dystopia" they were living in, with 61% stating that they "would like to do more" to protect their online information.  Over 90% were aware that they had "lost control" over how private organizations were able to obtain and utilize their personal information.

Unfortunately, 55% were admittedly willing to trade personal information for free services online, which doesn't seem to be in line with most peoples' stated desires for privacy (yes, it DOES require sacrifice of some things, unfortunately, but perhaps someday with effort, that could be changed.  Cognizance of this is the first step to correcting it.)

Whatever this is, it isn't worth your security.
(Image courtesy news.softpedia.com.)

Other data from the report included some interesting findings:

-60% reported that revealing data to companies over the internet did not significantly improve their online experience

-88% did not trust advertisers the majority of the time

-82% did not trust the government all or most of the time

-Only 24% felt they could be easily anonymous online

-Perhaps most importantly, over 60% disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement "it is a good thing for society if people believe that someone is keeping an eye on the things that they do online."

Cell phones, land lines, and social media site security were also assessed, but the overall results were clear:  the snooping needs to stop.  And until we cease squandering our own operational security or surrendering our data for the benefit of fleeting internet fun, this is going to be difficult to change.  It is no longer enough to disagree with privacy-violating practices - consumers and citizens must make the powers that be stop shamelessly snooping and selling our security.  Big Brother has become a bully, and it's time to fight back.

More technological shutters must be closed to block a variety of prying eyes.
(Image courtesy nypost.com.)

Reverse Undercover: Get The Full Picture With "Sousveillance" Jacket

It's no secret that a variety of devices and their masters are going to be watching you every time you leave the house.  Instead of being infuriated or marginalized by this, why not use their own powers against them?  Now you can shoot first (well, photos, at least) with the new Aposematic Jacket.

As reported by wired.com, this new wearable technology protects not just with surveillance, but with the threat of it as well.  Welcome to the world of "sousveillance", taken from the idea that you are watching from below, not being watched from above (the "sur" in "surveillance.)  The Aposematic's South Korean creators, artists Kim Yong Hun and Shin Seung Back, stitched four working cameras (and eight dummies) onto a regular black blazer, daring any passersby to mess with the wearer.

The Aposematic, spotted in the wild.
(Image courtesy mashable.com.)

The Aposematic is named for the bright frogs and other creatures who use their overt threat of danger to ward off predators.  These days, too much information can sting worse than a dose of too much poison venom. Four cameras are triggered from a discreet button hidden in the Aposematic's sleeve, immediately offering a panoramic image which can be beamed to a website for realtime extreme exo-monitoring.  It's the ultimate selfie, plus a sort of security.  “Cameras make people act ‘properly,’ ” Kim says. “Once someone’s behavior is recorded, it will exist beyond time and space so that will have the possibility of being ‘judged’ by others anytime and anywhere.”

What're you lookin' at?
(Image courtesy pinterest.com.)

Kim raises serious questions about the state of our society and how surveillance/sousveillance now acts as a built-in behavior modifier.  He ponders, “How will people act when everything is recorded all the time? Will people have to always behave themselves? Or will we have to re-invent the concept of the ethics of humanity?”

Even though the Aposematic is an art project rather than a fashion movement, it makes it neatly known that accountability is for everyone.  We must first observe and affect our own surroundings before we can hope to do so with others.  We must be the checks and balances that the surveillance of the powers-that-be lacks.  Hopefully the changes that are enacted as we progress further into a surveillance society aren't just because someone is watching...they'll be because some people should have been acting better all along, and will shape up in a world where they have nowhere to hide.  And now, that includes the watchers too.

Bling bling, sousveillance is a thing.
(Image courtesy de.wikipedia.org.)

Can't Do Math? With This App, Your Problem Is Solved

Even some of the world's most intelligent minds balk when it comes to making numbers work.  Math equations filled with letters and strange symbols just don't add up for some people.  Now, for the numerically-challenged, a new app has been invented to be your own personal number-cruncher.

According to einfolive.com, the PhotoMath app works by analyzing a picture that you take of a printed equation.  It then shows you step-by-step how the equation should be properly dealt with, demystifying the mathematical process so that the user eventually may be able to apply the same principles sans smartphone.

For those without "A Beautiful Mind", now you can fake it.  Russell Crowe not included.
(Image courtesy theguardian.com.)

The process PhotoMath uses is called Optical Character Recognition.  First, it scans the desired text.  Then, it filters and enhances the equation's text, removing anything not required for the solution by extracting the equation's features.  Finally, the characters will be recognized by the app, and solved as you follow along.

The app works on a variety of math problems, including regular arithmetic, fractals, decimals, exponents, roots, and simple linear equations.  It cannot currently solve equations that are hand-written, but is able to deduce text coherently from standard printed pages.

PhotoMath works on Windows and iOS phones, with an Android version launching in 2015.  Ironically, the PhotoApp's amazingly useful features were created by MicroBlink, who were otherwise involved in developing photo recognition software that many malign as invasive and creepy when used for surveillance.  At least one good thing has come out of this cyber-scrutiny:  the ability to teach a useful life skill in simple steps.  If only all of technology's evil plans had such a good side.

It's basically this, except inside your phone.
(Image courtesy theoldrobots.com.)

Fall's Hot New Look: Antisurveillance "Dazzle" Camouflage

Camouflage takes many forms, some in plain sight, some you've maybe never even spotted (by design.)  In today's world of ever-encroaching surveillance, one can't be too careful around cameras, both overt and hidden.  If you're trying to keep your face out of the electronic archives, one way to dodge the documentation is to use some good old-fashioned dazzle camouflage. 

In WWI, battleships were painted like hipsters (shipsters?) to confuse enemies.

Based on the premise of actual military warpaint used on planes and boats, CV Dazzle is a new means to break lines of vision while simultaneously breaking your monotonous old look.  According to the CV Dazzle website, "Since facial-recognition algorithms rely on the identification and spatial relationship of key facial features, like symmetry and tonal contours, one can block detection by creating an “anti-face."  Avant-garde, Surrealist, and cubist designs all contribute to the various elements of CV Dazzle.  

Arts AND sciences!
(Image courtesy cvdazzle.com.)

Some ideas for your new radar-revolting look could include:

-Long, facially-obscuring bangs in a variety of lengths and colors

-Facepaint including large "pixel"-style blocks 

-makeup that contrasts with your skin tone and doesn't enhance specific features

-obscuring the nose bridge (a key indicator in facial recognition software)

-obscuring the size and shape of the head

-covering or altering the perceived appearance of the eyes (size, shape, color)

-developing an overall asymmetrical facial presentation

The CV website offers styling templates and a host of look ideas to ponder, if you need to take your anti-surveillance look to the next level.  Would a mask also work?  Sure, but you might look cooler with blue bangs.

Of course, if you're not inclined to wear facepaint or weird bangs, you can always just anonymize your face in photos with the Face Dazzler app.  It'll take you right out the running for all the "tags" you don't need to be found in.  Privacy never looked so pretty!

Dazzle camouflage still works in modern times, as shown by this Dazzle-inspired yacht painted by Jeff Koons.  Yes, that is a real boat.

Steal Your Face: The FBI Is Storing Your Dimensions, Fearing Criminal Intentions

If you value your privacy, you may want to stock up on extra Halloween masks this season. The FBI has recently announced its state-of-the-art new facial recognition system, and it is creepier than any macabre mask a citizen can don.

According to gizmodo.com, six years of development and a billion dollars of taxpayer money have led to this biometric facial recognition software system. If you're getting a visa, going to prison, or otherwise being photographed by any grabby arm of the government, your identifying facial dimensions are sure going in there. It's called the Next Generation Identification program, and you are getting forced into this future.

But why stop at the shape of your skull and surrounding tissues? They did spend a BILLION of your dollars, after all! Scars, tattoos, fingerprints and other major identifying characteristics will also be included in your (totally safe and secure, we're sure) recognition profile. This shared database, known as the Interstate Photo System, is only going to get more insidious as ubiquitous surveillance camera resolutions improve.

The FBI, of course, loves their new toy. They were proud to report, "Since phase one was deployed in February 2011, the NGI system has introduced enhanced automated fingerprint and latent search capabilities, mobile fingerprint identification, and electronic image storage, all while adding enhanced processing speed and automation for electronic exchange of fingerprints to more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies and other authorized criminal justice partners 24 hours a day, 365 days a year."

It wouldn't be surprising if ninja-style outfits of obscurity became fashionable in the next few years...

So by FBI logic, the best masks are now the ones with no facial characteristics whatsoever.

Sink "Fin Fisher": Wikileaks Combats Spy Platforms By Releasing Software To Public

It's no secret now that governments routinely spy on their citizens, for reasons ranging from interest in actual criminal activities to simply wanting to try to intercept naked selfies.  However, now the team at Wikileaks has released the exact software used to spy on you, hoping that once it is more completely understood, it can be more effectively stopped.

As reported by engadget.com, Julian Assange and his colleagues have openly posted the FinSpy PC and Fin Fisher spy platforms in an effort to spur developers to update more thorough privacy measures against them.  The Wikileaks team also hopes to make it more difficult for governments to abuse the technology to root out whom they consider undesirable.  Australia, Italy, Pakistan and other nations have been proven to use the software against "dissidents" on their turf, regardless of what computer platform the suspicious party is running.

Although keylogging and webcam monitoring are among the elements of the revealed software, it is hoped that these will not be abused by the masses and if they are, that a quick antidote will be available soon.  Now we know what weapons the powers-that-be have chosen, we can fight them more intelligently.

Sometimes the surveillance state needs a faceful of e-mace.