Gorgon Stare

[phantom power]

I wonder if they named it after the fictitious weapon system from Charles Stross' "Laundry Files" novels.

I cannot tell you how much this creeps me out:

Though strikes on suspected terrorists and the resulting civilian casualties get the headlines, the lion's share of remote piloting consists of quieter, more shadowy work: hour after hour of ISR—intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. Sitting in ergonomic chairs in ground control stations—essentially souped-up shipping containers—RPA operators coordinate with ground intel to identify human targets, then track them with high-powered zoom lenses and sophisticated sensors. (A nine-camera sensor nicknamed Gorgon Stare is capable of streaming full video with enough resolution to discern facial expressions.)

"It might be little things like a group of kids throwing rocks at goats, or at each other, or an old man startled by a barking dog," says Mike. "You get a sense of daily life. I've been on the same shift for a month and you learn the patterns. Like, I'll know at 5 a.m. this guy is gonna go outside and take a shit. I've seen a lot of dudes take shits."

I always thought that being in prison would be the worst thing i could imagine because of the lack of personal space and privacy. I think it would make me feel crazy to know that someone was watching me all the time. But you can see the outlines of a world in which it's always possible that someone is watching you take a shit.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-eye-in-sky.html

[pscot]

1. You get a sense of daily life

and then you kill them. Why should this remind me of Stanley Milgram's little experiment?