Related: Drone Invasion this Christmas
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it fears up to one million unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones, could make their way under Christmas trees this season, according to Aviation Daily.
The U.S. Consumer Electronics Association’s more sober estimate pegs that number closer to 700,000 for the year — which it said would still be an increase of more than 50 per cent in sales from 2014.
Rich’s EMP gun idea sounds better all the time!
Fun, and hilarious.
Well I don’t know about the gun issue, but the drone issue bothers me. There has been a person near me that occasionally flies a drone and literally follows women around with it. It has been reported to the local police. It has happened to my wife and her lady friends many times.
The police say that they can do nothing about it, as they have no precedent in law. As far as they are concerned it’s not in their jurisdiction until some kind of law is made.
My personal feeling is that the person at the control of the drone is a dick. And if I had a way to down his toy, I would. According to the police, I could be arrested for destruction of property. How fucked up is that?
You could be arrested, but the drone owner would have to press charges, in which case he would have to reveal himself for the pervert he is.
Slingshots don’t have ballistic signatures. Just sayin’.
If the drone is small enough and the jerk flies the thing low enough, I suppose it could be snagged with a fishing net. In which case it could be turned into the police with no destruction charge involved and the asshole would still have to reveal himself to claim it.
Depending on how often he did it, it could be considered harassment in many jurisdictions.
I wonder if you could make a small RF-jammer of some sort, though. He goes to be all creepy and his toy slams into the ground or crashes into a tree. Damage couldn’t be linked to anyone.
The neighbors could also band together and buy their own drones. Every time creep-o starts following women, a fleet of drones sits just over his own head.
Extra Credits’ latest video is about China’s social credit system - basically, gamification of social behavior. Interested (and worried) me enough to blog about it. I’ve got to think that the law of unintended consequences is going to pop up in there someplace, and probably not for the better. Even if it doesn’t, a social credit system based on an authoritarian government’s idea of proper behavior isn’t likely to end well.
That is mindblowing and scary as hell. Thank you for posting it.
I struggle with the degree to which we should hold a people responsible for their government. Do they have the government they have earned or even the one they desire? It’s not clear to me. In this case, I wonder if the bulk of the Chinese people will be happier in a society tuned to conformity and obedience.
Yet another drone sighting in the “What Could Possibly Go Wrong” area…drones carrying humans.
Chinese drone-maker Ehang has developed the 184, a prototype of the first autonomous drone that will fly humans.
The helicopter-like flying machine seats one, and after the flier enters the destination, it will require just two button presses from the rider: take off and land. That’s all it takes to pilot the thing.
Now, I actually love the idea of having a little personal helicopter thing to fly around in. But I’m much less enamored of the idea that other people will have them.
True, but we should have some Darwin Award candidates in 3 … 2… 1 as soon as it’s cleared for takeoff. Safer than a car my rosy red bun cheeks.
Hike across the Antarctic solo. What could possibly go wrong?
http://shackletonsolo.org/bio/
It is with great sadness that we can confirm Henry Worsley died on the 24th January 2016 in hospital in Punta Arenas, Chile.
Henry undertook his solo expedition in the spirit of his idol Sir Ernest Shackleton and was delighted to have exceeded his goal of raising a £100,000 for the Endeavour Fund, a charity founded to help the recovery of injured servicemen and women. He was fulfilling his dream of crossing the Antarctic continent, and after having walked 913 statute miles unsupported and unassisted, battling extreme weather conditions, he made the brave decision, in Shackleton’s words, to “shoot the bolt”, 30 miles short of his ultimate goal.
When Henry was picked up by Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions (ALE), he was suffering from exhaustion and dehydration. He was flown to a hospital in Punta Arenas where he was found to have bacterial peritonitis. This resulted in Henry undergoing surgery but in spite of all the efforts of ALE and medical staff, he succumbed.
Is this the ultimate it what could possibly go wrong? A semi-autonomous baby stroller. See if the video doesn’t scare you as much as it did me.
That’s actually pretty cool. I’m not sure you’d get a mother who could walk around without sweaty palms unless they can re-engineer it to be in front, but the possibilities of that tech are limitless. Grocery carts, sports equipment carts, golf bags, I could see a lot of places to use that tech.
I’m all in with the uses you name, but putting a baby inside the thing? Like you say, maybe it would be a little less scary if it were in front.
I’m fairly certain that this would be the last thing you’d want, right? You accidentally set the distance for a couple feet farther than your arms can reach, and then you can never catch the stroller. Which would be hilarious, but probably only until the baby dies of starvation.
There are numerous problems with the stroller being in front. First off, how would you write the predictive algorithm for turning? If the person makes a left turn on a sidewalk while running, how does the stroller respond? I can envision several scenarios, but none very good. A trail position is inherently superior, from a control and locomotion perspective. Certainly not from a monitoring your stroller perspective.
The other thing is that stroller has a high center of gravity, and would be particularly prone to obstacles like roots and branches. That’s a personal preference thing, and one of critical importance to me, as I use our stroller to run with.