an ominous verb in the process. Protesters on international
news channels shouting “Stop droning us!” want to end
the wanton destruction rained down from above by military
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Various militaries around the
world are now using these flying robot planes to scan the
battlefield and deliver lethal payloads to unsuspecting targets on
the ground, freeing human pilots from the risk of being shot
down.
The American Federal Aviation Authority is coming up with a
ruling on drone usage in cities for commercial purposes, for
police and surveillance. It’s the small copter drones that could be
a privacy nightmare – they run quietly on battery power, they
can hover and hide and with the right innards, they can even
function autonomously. A small drone could be buzzing outside
your window, recording your every move and listening to your
conversation without you even realising it. The paparazzi pack of
shifty characters hunting celebrities with long zoom lenses could
be replaced by a pack of humming camera drones.
But enough with the bad press, I’m more interested in having
fun with these little flying gadgets. For US$300, you can buy an
off-the-shelf Parrot.AR drone that runs on four tiny rotors and
can be controlled through a simple iOS or Android app. There’s
a live video feed from the onboard camera so you can pretend
you’re an annoying gnat buzzing around for the ten minutes the
battery pack lasts.
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