cobysev

Flock is a private security company which has been making contracts with city and state governments all over the US to put up their cameras in public spaces. These cameras use AI to monitor the public and report any potential crimes to law enforcement.

Unfortunately, AI is in its infancy and highly fallible. So most of the “crimes” reported are false. Just hallucinations by the AI. However, this doesn’t stop police from responding to every report and treating innocent civilians like criminals before they’ve done a proper human assessment of the situation or any real detective work.

On top of that, police (and government officials) are using these cameras to spy on American citizens and stalk them. Harassment of “suspected criminals” is at an all-time-high thanks to these cameras, and biases (read: racism) are being encouraged. Especially with all the issues with ICE going on right now.

The cameras aren’t even encrypted properly, and some more tech-savvy folks are finding it easy to connect to the Flock camera network and browse cameras themselves without any actual credentials or authorization. You never know who is actually looking at you through these cameras.

The issue with your phone being scanned is a whole different thing unrelated to Flock cameras. Law enforcement can set up fake relay “towers” for cell phones in a mobile van, which your phone will connect to automatically while searching for the nearest strong signal. Then they can track all data that comes and goes from your phone, effectively watching everything you do on your device.

The problem is, they can’t pinpoint specific phones to connect to, so everyone in the area will automatically connect to their relay and they can effectively collect data on dozens of wireless devices all at once. It’s a short-range relay, so it’s not like they’re tracking everyone in the city. But if they’re looking for someone in particular, everyone in the area will have their private data accessed without their knowledge.

Can someone scan your phone and remotely access all of your data? Yes and no. With the right equipment, software, and skill, your phone can be remotely hacked. But no one is just pointing a device at your phone and stealing data that way. Especially not Flock. Their AI is just (falsely) reporting on what their cameras detect. They’re not actively scanning signals in the area and attempting to hack them.

Most hacked devices are either random (hackers scanning networks until they find an unsecure device), targeted attacks by someone with a purpose, or just a regular person accidentally clicking on a bad file or website link that installs a virus on their device that allows hackers to access it.

Firefox has tons of extensions to remove/hide/block AI overview in Google searches. Just search “Google AI” on their extensions page and you’ll get nearly a dozen extensions to choose from.

Novel Bond is very different from Movie Bond.

Novel Bond is described by the author, Ian Fleming, as an “extremely dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened; I wanted him to be a blunt instrument.” He picked the name “James Bond” from the author of the book, “Birds of the West Indies,” which he thought was a very boring, average name.

This Bond is a loveless, depressed alcoholic who only lives for the next mission. He doesn’t really have a personal life and throws himself completely into his work as a distraction from his terrible life. He knows spies tend to live short lives, and he secretly hopes the job will be the end of him one day.

Movie Bond was spiced up to be a charming, handsome womanizer, who drinks and smokes socially (attractive traits at the time) and always has clever one-liners. This Bond is the hero who saves the day and gets the girl every time. He lives an extravagant lifestyle, funded by MI6, and loves his work. He’s a sex icon for women and an ideal role model for men. At least, back in the '60s where he originated.

I will say that Daniel Craig’s version of James Bond is the closest on-screen adaptation we’ve ever had to Novel Bond. I thoroughly enjoyed his run as the character, even if some of his movies weren’t all that good.

But I highly recommend reading the original novels. They’re very different from the films, even though some films borrowed novel titles occasionally. For instance, the Moonraker novel is about a nuke being aimed at London while James Bond tries to stop its launch; whereas the Moonraker film is about a guy planning to kill off everyone on the planet while creating his own human “ark” in space, to repopulate the planet with his own chosen specimens. Wildly different stakes.