Comment by phlux | Hacker News Reader

Comment by phlux | Hacker News Reader

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See my comment here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2362592

This is the telling quote:

"Lots of people are trying to create location-based services and using GPS," said Nguyen. "The problem with GPS is that it doesn't work."

This is exactly my pointbelow -- the tech to incorporate all the sensor data you can get from phones has real-world consumer uses -- but it has tons of uses in intel as well.

They will get their patents, they will build the next google of social intelligence and they will license all this to the NSA -- if they havent already.

Sounds cool, yay. But no thanks from me.

Where I said:

"Here is some tinfoil for you...

Assuming they have a back-door API - this could be a freaking BOON for intelligence gathering arms that are seeking to know the surrounds of anti establishment types.

Further - wait until you apply spatial modeling capabilities (what was that MS tech demo called?) where you can start building 3d navigable models of spaces that all the data collected in that 100' radius allows.

Dont think the military is doing CRAZY things with optical intel:

"The system can also be used for general night vision; it can follow bats five miles away in darkness."

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/02/72632

the military now has autonomous robotic helicopters that can visually track bullets in flight.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/02/gigapixel-flyin/

Now they just need the general public to be a part of the larger sensor intel fabric."

I think the "MS tech demo" that you were referring to is Photosynth: http://photosynth.net/

There's something similar in Google Maps, with geotagged Panoramio photos stitched together into a 3D scene.

If the photos are dense enough, there's enough information to stitch together the photos into a scene you can jump around. It's really cool!

EDIT: Here's a scene in Sydney:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&...

It's not like this doesn't already exist. I've specifically read about startups doing this from the carrier side several years ago. Whatever it's in service or not is another question. Unfortunately I can't remember the article but there are a lot of startup in this sector e.g. some of these: http://www.iqt.org/technology-portfolio/index-alphabetical.h...

No, technology doesn't work in that way: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000018.html

Google analyzes tons of data because they have too. As the parent post said, the "NSA analogy" is wrong because it has a very wrong proposition. Users use it because it solves some real problems for them. AT&T doesn't work for NSA, they works for customers and has a fiber to NSA as by-product.

You cannot compare a for-profit organization to a research facility (e.g. MSR). Such thing as you mentioned is aresearch project, which has much limitations and some of them wouldn't possibly be commercialized. It is the same skeptical as I have to hunch.com, but hunch.com solves some real needs whereas Color from what I see, is pursuit a magic ball floating in the air. And should I remind you that selling backdoor API is not a business, it is a crime.

Yep. If Color was launched earlier (which it didn't) and was a hit (which it's not), I imagine what would have happened in Egypt if the protesters were using it to share their movement. Could President "Richer Than MZ" Mubarak buy the data from Color? If they can actually do what they say they can, this is really a company that can change history. Not in the direction that I want, though.

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