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The intelligence community was hunting RF emissions with trucks during WWII. Three quarters of a century of top-dollar aerospace and electronic warfare R&D later... I’d be surprised if they didn’t have this capability by the 70s. What do you think the National Reconaissance Office is ?
Pirates, and maybe terrorists, and definitely lots of ordinary people spuriously prosecuted under anti-terrorism laws.
Or just people they don't like and eventually everybody. I think in a few decades the surveillance infrastructure of 1984 will look benign and quaint. Winston Smith actually could hide for a while.
Actually, he couldn't. He thought he could hide. But we find out in the ministry of truth and room 101 that everything he did "secretly", like writing in his diary or his rendezvous with julia, were known to the authorities.
But I agree, unless we wake up, I think a mix of 1984 and Minority Report style of dystopian future awaits us.
The intelligence community was hunting RF emissions with trucks during WWII. Three quarters of a century of top-dollar aerospace and electronic warfare R&D later... I’d be surprised if they didn’t have this capability by the 70s. What do you think the National Reconaissance Office is ?
The intelligence community was hunting RF emissions with trucks during WWII. Three quarters of a century of top-dollar aerospace and electronic warfare R&D later... I’d be surprised if they didn’t have this capability by the 70s. What do you think the National Reconaissance Office is ?
I don't think the NRO puts much effort into finding illegal fishing, or other kinds of activity that don't impact US national security.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or just people they don't like and eventually everybody. I think in a few decades the surveillance infrastructure of 1984 will look benign and quaint. Winston Smith actually could hide for a while.
> Winston Smith actually could hide for a while. Actually, he couldn't. He thought he could hide. But we find out in the ministry of truth and room 101 that everything he did "secretly", like writing in his diary or his rendezvous with julia, were known to the authorities. But I agree, unless we wake up, I think a mix of 1984 and Minority Report style of dystopian future awaits us.
Pirates, and maybe terrorists, and definitely lots of ordinary people spuriously prosecuted under anti-terrorism laws.
It's much more practical for figuring out where ships which have their transponders turned off are.
Same goes for current generation state of the art optical satellite data, which is mostly useful for pretty pictures and environmental trends, but might be just about enough to prove you didn't park your car where you said you did if you're really unlucky. (This, admittedly, is the bit that might improve rapidly in ten years, but it's still not going to be particularly useful for targeted tracking of individuals, never mind dragnets)
There has been a good amount of progress, but it really stalled for a while when ICBMs seemed to negate the importance of aircraft. The US had the quite sophisticated Northern Early Warning Line at one time to monitor all airspace in the North Pole. It’s very hard, even today, to get good satellite tracking there because it is a Pole.
The craziest thing I’ve heard is what the British tried before radar was invented. A Hoover Dam like wall 200 feet high that was supposed to amplify the sounds of planes approaching from Germany that would alert a human operator.
http://www.andrewgrantham.co.uk/soundmirrors/locations/denge...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Winston Smith actually could hide for a while. Actually, he couldn't. He thought he could hide. But we find out in the ministry of truth and room 101 that everything he did "secretly", like writing in his diary or his rendezvous with julia, were known to the authorities. But I agree, unless we wake up, I think a mix of 1984 and Minority Report style of dystopian future awaits us.
Not disputing this outcome, but what is your solution for violent piracy and it's effect on shipping?
Europe now finally gets back what it created... same with refugees driven into desperation by European agriculture and textile exports under the guise of "donations" which essentially wiped out the local industry. Hard to compete with "free".
Pirates, and maybe terrorists, and definitely lots of ordinary people spuriously prosecuted under anti-terrorism laws.
To be fair, they are Vikings, which probably counts as both pirate and terrorist, though I'd say it is a bit of a delayed response as the Icelandic haven't gone a'viking in simply ages.
As an aside, I have run into a few people recently who claim to be both vikings and anti-immigration, which I cannot help but find really funny.
Tracking / Signal Hunting technology for planes and boats has always seemed to generate the most fantastical ideas. There has been a good amount of progress, but it really stalled for a while when ICBMs seemed to negate the importance of aircraft. The US had the quite sophisticated Northern Early Warning Line at one time to monitor all airspace in the North Pole. It’s very hard, even today, to get good satellite trac…