Scientists and engineers in Britain are working on swarms of spy flies that can monitor people, military installations and industrial complexes.

From Scotsman.com –

BRITISH military scientists are developing robot flies that can be sent in swarms to spy out enemy positions.

Dr Rafal Zbikowski, the project leader, believes the first machine insects could be buzzing around his lab within ten years. He has already produced a non-airborne prototype that mimics the wing-beats of a hover fly.

Unlike conventional unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), Dr Zbikowski’s tiny drones could operate in confined and cluttered spaces within buildings, stairwells, tunnels or caves.

They would be invaluable for rooting out hidden terrorists, or – with more peaceful roles in mind – helping to locate victims of natural disasters such as earthquakes. Industrial applications might involve inspecting chemical pipes or mines.

The United States military, which is partly funding the research, has even expressed an interest in using the robots to deliver small explosive charges.

Source: Scientists aim to be lord of robot spy flies

Here is an excellent how-to article from Popular Science that shows people how to set up a personal surveillance system that can monitor their front door. With an inexpensive web cam and a wireless device, people can monitor people at their front door, or anyplace else, for around $80.

From the article –

Is that guy at my front door delivering the pizza I’ve been dying for, or is it one of those religious proselytizers who won’t take “no” for an answer? With an audio-equipped networked camera, I can sit at the other end of the house and beg the delivery guy to wait—or release the hounds. And if I’m on vacation in Tahiti, I can find an Internet connection or cellphone and keep an eye on the babysitter.

Networked cameras are like webcams, except that they have their own Web server built in, so they send video over the Internet without a computer. An installation suitable for your front door used to run well over a grand. But now you can get a cam online yourself for as little as $80, while $500 will buy a weatherproof, vandal-proof cam that will pan, tilt, and even zoom by remote control. And as long as you have a router that’s no more than a few years old, setup is typically just plug-and-play. Follow the steps [below], and find the best gear for three common scenarios…

In practice, the tips in this how-to article can be used for setting up a personal surveillance camera anywhere you want. Business owners could even set up one of these surveillance cams in a factory or office to monitor people and employees while they are away.

The full article is available at the link below.

Source: Watch Your Front Door From Anywhere

For people who fear being spied on in private or public places or people who are just generally annoyed by the use of digital and surveillance cameras everywhere, researchers are working on a device that can disable digital camera operations.

A June 2006 article on LiveScience.com discusses the anti-digital camera technology —

Researchers have built a prototype device that disables digital cameras. Future versions might thwart unwanted photo-taking at a specific location and even prevent clandestine videos from being made.

The technology might one day prevent espionage in a building or stop pirating of movies from theaters.

It could even be used to stop Mom from taking pictures of her child with Santa to avoid paying for the professional shot.

The device uses sensors, lighting equipment, a projector and a computer to scan for, find and neutralize digital cameras. It looks for the reflectivity and shape of the image-producing sensors used in digital cameras. Future versions might operate in the invisible infrared range so the neutralizing technology would work unnoticed.

Source: New Device Disables Digital Cameras

Pocket-Lint is reporting that Google is making their internet phone and messaging service, Google Talk, free for everyone.

From the article–

Google has announced that it is now making its Google Talk instant messaging service free for all.

Previously the search engine had restricted its use to Gmail account users only, however from today anyone is able to use the service to talk to others for free around the globe.

Instant Messaging has had a busy week this week with Yahoo and Microsoft announcing that the two companies are to allow their subscribers to chat with each other.

You can access the Google Talk site @ Google Talk.

Source: Pocket-Lint

Roland Piquepaille at ZDNet.com discusses a National Geographic article on the use of fly eyes for helping digital cameras and surveillance systems to “see” better.

From the article –

Even with our sophisticated cameras, we can sometimes get poor pictures. This usually happens because cameras use an average light setting to control brightness. When parts of a scene are much brighter than others, the result is that you don’t catch accurately all the parts. According to National Geographic News, by mimicking how flies see, Australian researchers can now produce digital videos in which you can see every detail. This technique could be used to develop better video cameras, military target-detection systems and surveillance equipment.

Source: Fly eyes for spying cameras