The launch of the Agni V on Thursday, which can carry nuclear warheads and has a range of 5,000 km, will thrust the country into an elite club of nations with intercontinental nuclear defence capabilities.
The launch of the Indian-made Agni V, if successful, would be the crowning achievement of a missile programme developed primarily to counter any threat from China.
Only the UN Security Council permanent members – China, France, Russia, the United States and Britain – have such long-range weapons.
The summit runs through the 27th in Seoul. You can see a detailed schedule of events here. The monitor built for this event includes three live streams looking at:
The Summit – Aggregating related hashtags and any mentions of the summit itself.
Nuclear Material Security – Looks beyond the summit to and tweets related to nuclear material security.
Nuclear Programs – Any mentions of nuclear programs. North Korea and Iran seem to be dominating the discussion.
I’ve rolled out an experimental monitor for Syria at syriamonitor.blogsofwar.com that streams live tweets on a few different aspects of this conflict. The monitor is designed for high-resolution widescreen displays with 1680×1050 probably being optimal. The categories are certain to change but it is currently streaming:
Opposition Groups – Tweets about the Free Syrian Army and Syrian National Council
Bashar al-Assad – Commentary on the President of Syria
Homs – the Syrian city at the heart of the Syrian uprising and the site of much bloodshed
Syria and Russia – Russia is a key supporter of the regime and an obstacle to any attempts to moderate Assad’s actions
Syria and the UN – The United Nations producing “expressions of concern” at a furious pace
Video – Links to videos related to, or shot in, Syria
Photos – Tweeted photos from the uprising
There are certainly other aspects of the conflict which are not being isolated here such as Syria’s relationship with Turkey, the GCC, and other entities but this is a start and modifications will definitely occur. You can still get most of this information aggregated in the current production Syria monitor at http://syria.blogsofwar.com
Robot swarm in the battlespace may not be as far off as many think. Sure, many obstacles remain but we’re advancing at an amazing pace. Imagine these weaponized – with just enough intelligence and payload to find and kill a human target within a mile or two. The effect on battlefield tactics will be profound but it may have an even greater impact on policy. Going to war is only going to get easier – as long as the robots are on your side.
“NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission is preparing to set down a large, mobile laboratory — the rover Curiosity — using precision landing technology that makes many of Mars’ most intriguing regions viable destinations for the first time. During the 23 months after landing,
Curiosity will analyze dozens of samples drilled from rocks or scooped from the ground as it explores with greater range than any previous Mars rover. Curiosity will carry the most advanced payload of scientific gear ever used on Mars’ surface, a payload more than 10 times as massive as those of earlier Mars rovers. Its assignment: Investigate whether conditions have been favorable for microbial life and for preserving clues in the rocks about possible past life.”
I’ve monitored a number of noble stands against cartel corruption over the years – most of which ended in murder. What Barrett Brown and Anonymous are doing with #OpCartel feels more like grandstanding than sacrifice for the greater good and will likely trigger the same ugly response.
Mr. Brown is of course free to risk his life. That is precisely what he is rather needlessly doing with this op and silly video. My primary concern is the number of innocent people who could get caught in the Anonymous-Cartel crossfire and die as a result. Identifying a cartel member or collaborator will almost certainly trigger reprisals and cartels have this really nasty habit of including all manner of innocent family members, associates, neighbors, and bystanders in their targeted killings.
It’s difficult to have faith that Barrett Brown and the anons will release this information in any sort of responsible manner when the first acts of #OpCartel feature them blowing their OPSEC all to hell. And it’s not just their own security that they’re compromising. They have potentially endangered the personal security of innocent bystanders just by announcing their intentions in such a public and clumsy manner.
ProTip: When declaring war on some of the most dangerous, highly trained, connected, and well-funded psychopaths on the planet DON’T TELL THEM YOU’RE COMING.
Recommended on Twitter: @BarrettBrownLOL. Barrett Brown’s work has appeared in The Guardian, al-Jazeera, Vanity Fair, HuffPo, New York Press, Skeptical Inquirer, Skeptic, McSweeney’s, American Atheist, others. Unofficial Anonymous spokesman.
Related: Krypt3ia has a good, and rather blunt, post on this.
