drones

[bandwraith at aol.com]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19725990

and

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120926133235.htm

As the Liberty lads o'er the sea
Bought their freedom, and cheaply, with blood,
So we; boys, we
Will die fighting, or live free,
And down with all kings but King Ludd!


-----Original Message-----
From: Kai Frederik Lorentzen <lorentzen at hotmail.de>
To: pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Thu, Sep 27, 2012 4:19 am
Subject: RE: drones

While we're at it: Did anybody here read Kill Decision?

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/07/daniel-suarez-kill-decision/

" ... Right now, we see drones on the news operating solo — a human 
operator hundreds or even thousands of miles away flying one 
remote-controlled, safe and secure away from the enemy. But what would 
happen if instead of one drone, there were hundreds or thousands of 
them, working together, aware of their position relative to one 
another, capable of communicating and assigning tasks among the group? 
And what if all of these drones had decision-making capabilities 
programmed in, capable of making life and death decisions without 
consulting a human operator? And what if these drones were all made 
 from off-the-shelf parts that could not be easily traced back to a 
buyer with any particular affiliation or even country? How would a 
government or military react to an attack from a source that is 
autonomous, overwhelming in numbers, and completely deniable in terms 
of ownership?
These are all questions that are raised in the pages of Kill Decision. 
The story is about a small group of individuals who discover that a 
series of terrorist attacks on US soil are being carried out by an 
unknown organization using inexpensive (relative to fighter jets, that 
is) technology that has been weaponized, programmed to kill, and has no 
perceivable pattern for its attacks. To make matters worse, the 
technology is being controlled by software that is both cutting edge 
and completely unknown to much of the world. And when the people 
responsible for this cutting edge tech discover that their research, 
software, or technology is part of this conspiracy, they are 
immediately targeted and killed to tie up loose ends. The story is part 
chase and part escape, from one side of the globe to the other, as 
those aware of the secret behind the attacks begin to realize not only 
which players are involved but also their motives ..."