Computer Viruses Could Cross Frontier Into Biological Realm, Researchers Say

from pcworld.com: Computer hackers could create malicious software that crosses the line from technology to biology, crafting viruses that could spread dangerous epidemics, researchers said at Black Hat Europe. "We are really on the border between the living and the not living," said Guillaume Lovet, senior manager of Fortinet's Threat Research and Response Center, during a keynote speech discussing the similarities between biological and computer viruses. Fortinet was the main sponsor of the Black Hat Europe security conference in Amsterdam last week.

The comparison between computer and human viruses was made to give security researchers a better understanding of why the human immune system is so much better in battling viruses than antivirus systems. "We came to wonder if there can be some kind of convergence between human viruses and computer viruses," Lovet added. "It may sound like a scenario for a bad Hollywood movie, but it is not such a stupid question."

One of the main things that led Fortinet researchers to that conclusion is the similarity between computer and human viruses. In essence they behave the same way, including information coding for parasitic behavior inside a host system. Reasoning along this line of thought, a Denial of Service (DoS) attack can be compared to HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus), because both aim at overloading a system, said Ruchna Nigam, security researcher at Fortinet.

1984 Cold War Incident: Soviet Laser Fired Upon Shuttle Challenger

Clark C McClelland, former ScO Space Shuttle Fleet, writes in a chapter from his book Stargate Chronicles: "Terra-3 Soviet Strategic Space Weapon Was Used to Attack U.S.A. Space Shuttle Challenger Spy Mission," about a volatile incident of Cold War era spying that almost ignited World War III! On Oct. 10 1984, Space Shuttle Challenger was engaged in a spy mission to take photos with a large format camera of the Sary Sagan anti-ballistic installation (pictured) near Lake Balkash in Kazakhstan. The Soviet Defense Minister concerned about American spying, ordered Terra-3 laser fired upon the Shuttle! The laser beam caused malfunctions on shuttle and sickened crew members, and resulted, in a formal diplomatic protest. McClelland summarzes Russian response, "the U.S.S.R. recognizing that the order given by their Defense Ministry under the watchful eye of the KGB had caused a very dangerous international incident and quickly responded to the angry United States protest by saying that the response taken by their government was only an action to annoy the crew of the space shuttle during their spy mission over sovereign Soviet territory. It was not meant to harm anyone on board the spacecraft. Of course it wasn’t, yeah, sure!" The former NASA employee also shares opinions on possible sabotage involved in NASA tragedies. You won't see sabotage in the mainstream press, so it's worth the read!

CIA TV: Surveillance Made Easy By 'Connected Gadgets'

People will be bugging their very homes with web-connected devices, if they haven't already! A Mail Online article reports on claims made by CIA, "...it will be able to 'read' these devices via the internet - and perhaps even via radio waves from outside the home." CIA director David Petraeus says, "web-connected gadgets will 'transform' the art of spying - allowing spies to monitor people automatically without planting bugs, breaking and entering or even donning a tuxedo to infiltrate a dinner party...'Transformational’ is an overused word, but I do believe it properly applies to these technologies.'" Petraeus met with a venture capital firm recently to discuss adding new technologies to previously "dumb" home appliances.  It's a concept referred to as the "internet of things."   The article concludes with an ominous Brave New World tone, "futurists think that one day 'connected' devices will tell the internet where they are and what they are doing at all times - and will be mapped by computers as precisely as Google Maps charts the physical landscape now."  TV will be watching you more than you watch it in the near future.  Television will no longer be referred to as the "Boob Tube" but rather the "Spook Tube."

St. Patrick's Day Aurora in Sweden

Does it get any more colorful? Neal Cheeseman of Arvidsjaur, Sweden shares picture of St. Patrick's Day Aurora. It's total eye candy! Thanks goes out to SpaceWeather.com for the pix!

Truth Leaking Out About Khandahar Bloodbath

Is Staff Sergeant Robert Bales a scapegoat for military adventure - very similar to what took place in Vietnam reminiscent of the 1968 My Lai Massacre? The early press threw out possible contributing factors as a fourth deployment or a prior brain injury for public consumption. RT provides article much closer to reality, "Up to 20 US troops behind Kandahar bloodbath – Afghan probe." The probability is on side of Afghan investigator's comment, "'we are convinced that one soldier cannot kill so many people in two villages within one hour at the same time, and the 16 civilians, most of them children and women, have been killed by the two groups,' investigator Hamizai Lali told Afghan News." Bales is presently in solitary confinement at Fort Leavenworth, reports SOTT, "...the only maximum security correctional facility operated by the defence department." Is this a warning to other soldiers who disagree with their treatment?

Apollo 11 Moon Landing Site - Now Seen in Unprecedented Detail

The Daily Galaxy details in article repeated attempts to provide public with hi-res images of original 1969 Moon Landing. First, images provided by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) are hyped:

"The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera snapped its best look yet of the Apollo 11 landing site on the moon. The image, which was released on March 7, 2012, even shows the remnants of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's historic first steps on the surface around the Lunar Module.This image of the Apollo 11 landing site captured from just 24 km (15 miles) above the surface provides LRO's best look yet at humanity’s first venture to another world."

A viewer is soon disillusioned, however, with images as there's signs of Photoshop editing. Northerntruthseeker does excellent job arguing for a continued Apollo hoax. A You Tube video, "the proof that the LRO photos are photoshopped," shows what images actually look like and credible observations about editing. Apollo believers can take solace in case made by Bad Astronomy blog. It's all in the image, whether you believe it's real!

#DataDump: Homeless Hotspots, Phonehacking, Hollywood

Turning the Homeless Into 4G Hotspots at SXSW*

FBI says paying cash for coffee is a sign of terrorist intent*
FBI 'Communities Against Terrorism' Suspicious Activity Reporting Flyers*
New Arrest In UK Phone Hacking Probe*
DARPA’s Director Quits to Take Executive Slot at Google*
Digg's Kevin Rose Will Join Google*
Google Exec Joins Microsoft, Trashes Google*
Europe's Robotic Cargo Ship to Launch to Space Station Next Week*
Could a Nuke Stop an Asteroid After All?*
Video: Straight out of Hollywood: Supercomputer models atomic bomb saving Earth from massive asteroid*
@NASA is scheduled to launch 5 rockets within 5 minutes early morning March 15*
Update: NASA Five Rocket ATREX Mission Rescheduled*
Update: Dharun Ravi found guilty in Rutgers webcam spying trial*

US Soldier Executes 16 Civilians, Burns Bodies: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or Mind Control?

Kevin Hayden of Truth is Treason asks question, "US Soldier Executes 16 Civilians, Burns Bodies – PTSD or Mind Control?" Hayden relates facts: "...a soldier went off the deep end, and walked over a mile from his base in order to massacre 16 civilians, including small children. He then dragged all the bodies into one room and set them on fire. Mind control? PTSD? Simply evil? Who knows… but there has been a strange frequency of events that turn the locals into mobs." Is Hayden on the right track? Are the Koran-burnings and mass murder mishaps in Afghanistan engineered events?

Climate Change or Weather Warfare?

The specter of catastrophic weather gets our attention when seemingly incomprehensible events strike. Two weeks ago, an unusual spawning of tornadoes - dozens of them - stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. This wide swath of destruction fits the category of atypical or unusual event and deserves closer examination. Is it weather warfare induced by HAARP? It's not a tinfoil hat question, only a rational one. You may view a great series of short videos here: "HAARP: When the Weather is Your Enemy," Part 1 reveals efforts to find how lightning is triggered. Are we treated to a continual program of unusual weather to condition us to accept it as "normal"? The plausible deniability of "natural weather" makes HAARP a near-perfect weapon.

Dancing With the Devil: Google/NSA Partnership

The All-Seeing Eye is the watchful vigilance of Google and the NSA. In an INFOWARS.COM article, Steve Watson relates recent efforts to sweep under the rug an important partnership in the United Security States of America: "The Department of Justice will ask a federal court to uphold the secrecy that surrounds the working relationship between Google and the National Security Agency in a hearing that is scheduled for next week." The article also reviews the past decade of spying on Americans. A reader shouldn't harbor any doubt - your Google searches are thrown onto hard drives at server farms in anonymous industrial parks across the country. The information may prove useful if you become a problem. You've been warned - with every search you dance with the devil!

Electromagnetic Pulse: Not If, But When

from the foundry: “Electromagnetic Pulse and American Security,” a recent article by Eric Hannis, executive director at Etherton and Associates, is a welcome contribution to the discussion about U.S. vulnerability to electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attacks. Hannis points out that, despite the severe consequences of a single attack, “few people even know that this threat exists.” An EMP attack is a high-intensity burst of electromagnetic energy caused by the rapid acceleration of charged particles. These particles, if strong enough, cause a destruction of electrical circuits. This affects cell phones, computers, vehicles, airplanes, and even the power grid. In the case of a successful EMP attack, transportation systems would be halted, communications devices would be rendered useless, and grocery stores would be unable to preserve or restore food supplies. “The result would be starvation, disease, and lawlessness on a scale not experienced in modern times,” Hannis says.

'Laser Rifle' Is Latest US Weapon Against Enemies

from smartplanet.com: Last month, a British defense company demonstrated how a non-lethal laser weapon can be used to ward off pirates. Now, American researchers have created a laser gun that sea bandits really wouldn’t want to mess with. While the crystalline Neodymium Yttrium Aluminium Garnet laser canon, developed by BAE Systems, can temporarily disorient an assailant with a pulse of blinding light, another prototype called the TR3 Threat Deterrent Laser Rifle is compact and the laser settings can be adjusted to inflict some serious pain... The TR3, developed by Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems and SPA Defense, can deliver a pretty intense 3-watt green laser at targets stationed up to one and a half miles away when operated at night. The rifle’s re-chargeable lithium-ion battery allows for up to 30 plus minutes of continuous firing. David Crane of DefenseReview.com got to test out a prototype during the recent Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show and Conference or SHOT show... A company-produced video of the TR3 in action may exist and Crane plans to upload footage if he ever gets his hands on it. The TR3 is intended for military and defense markets only.

400 Years of Magnetic North Pole Shift

A Polar shift has been underway for some time, map (pictured) shows 400 years of migration of magnetic north. A ModernSurvivalBlog entry shares some startling facts: magnetic pole shift has more than doubled every 50 years since 1860, pole shift has been in same direction for past 150 years and during past 10 years amount of polar shift accounts for nearly half of shift in past 50 years. In other words, the polar shift is increasing in large chunks, and heading directly towards Russia averaging 35 miles per year. The Blog entry remains wary of massaged data offered to public by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which trends mainly in direction of minimizing change.