Tag: weapon

The US Is Suspected of Killing a Terrorist In Syria Using Missile With Knife Warhead

pgmrdlm shares a report from Business Insider: A suspected terrorist in Syria was reportedly killed with a rare U.S. missile packed with swords, according to multiple reports. The weapon that shredded the car did not explode. While the driver’s side was torn apart, the vehicle was actually mostly intact. The deadly precision weapon was, according to a report from the Wall…

Apple’s and Microsoft’s 2019 Holiday Ads: Naughty Or Nice?

Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes: In Apple’s 2019 holiday ad The Surprise (YouTube, 11.8M views), the reveal at the end is that two young girls thought to have been frittering away time on their iPads have been making an unforgettable, heartwarming tribute to their recently passed grandmother that brings tears to their grandpa’s eyes. “This is a master class in comfy…

Valve’s Steam Controller Is Dead

Valve has confirmed to The Verge that it will stop making its Steam Controller. Currently, the gamepads are on sale for just $5 — 90 percent off its original price — but once these controllers are gone, Valve doesn’t plan to make any more. From the report: [W]hile I can’t recommend it wholeheartedly like I did when Valve discontinued its amazing…

US Police Already Using ‘Spot’ Robot From Boston Dynamics In the Real World

Massachusetts State Police (MSP) has been quietly testing ways to use the four-legged Boston Dynamics robot known as Spot, according to new documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. And while Spot isn’t equipped with a weapon just yet, the documents provide a terrifying peek at our RoboCop future. Gizmodo reports: The Spot robot, which was officially made…

Smartphone Videos Can Now Be Analyzed To Locate a Shooter

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have found that videos captured by smartphones can be useful for determining the location of a shooter. Gizmodo reports: The Video Event Reconstruction and Analysis system — or VERA, for short — was developed at CMU’s Language Technologies Institute with the cooperation of SITU Research who shared its expertise on ballistics and architecture, and the tool…

‘Doom’ Creator John Romero Explains What’s Wrong With Today’s Shooter Games

An anonymous reader quotes the Guardian: “Give us more guns!” is a common battle-cry among players of first-person shooters, the videogame industry’s bloodiest genre. Doom co-creator John Romero has a rather different opinion. “I would rather have fewer things with more meaning, than a million things you don’t identify with,” he says, sitting in a Berlin bar mocked up to resemble…

Ghost Ships, Crop Circles, and Soft Gold: A GPS Mystery in Shanghai

An anonymous reader shares a report: One night last summer, a ship called the MV Manukai arrived at the port of Shanghai. It would be the American container ship’s last stop in China before making its long homeward journey to Long Beach, California. As the crew carefully maneuvered the 700-foot ship through the world’s busiest port, its captain watched his navigation…

Carrie Fisher Was Originally Going To Be ‘The Last Jedi’ In the Final Star Wars Movie

Luke Skywalker wasn’t going to be the only Jedi in the final Star Wars movie, reports Yahoo Entertainment:
In the original version of the ninth and final installment, The Rise of Skywalker, his sister, Leia (played by Carrie Fisher), was going to emerge as a full-fledged Jedi warrior, complete with her very own lightsaber. That’s according to no less an authority than…

This Is How the US Military’s Massive Facial Recognition System Works

Over the last 15 years, the United States military has developed a new addition to its arsenal. The weapon is deployed around the world, largely invisible, and grows more powerful by the day. From a report: That weapon is a vast database, packed with millions of images of faces, irises, fingerprints, and DNA data — a biometric dragnet of anyone who…