Thursday 25 December 2014

Whats's a Covert Earpiece?

Boy. The newest headset is incredible. I mean it is just so beautiful and so sophisticated. I pity individuals who grew up without the earpiece.

A covert earpiece is a miniature earpiece worn by an individual while being effectively hidden from plain view. It operates as a radio accessory in times when a user does not want other people to know she or he is communicating with others using radio earbuds. Also known as an invisible earpiece or a surveillance earpiece, a covert earpiece is often worn by government agents, corporate security personnel, undercover law enforcement officers and corporate as well as government spies.

covert earpiece

While many occupations require the use of a radio headset for communication, a covert earpiece is primarily used in instances where communication is of an extremely private and sensitive nature. This is common in cases of private security details and surveillance projects. Sometimes people also use a covert earpiece to defraud businesses and others. Examples of such instances would include someone using an invisible earpiece to cheat on an exam or to defraud a casino by receiving remote information while playing a game.

On-air television personalities may also use a covert earpiece, which is not distracting to viewers, but allows the person to hear relevant feedback from producers and engineers in order to make sure a taping or live appearance flows smoothly. Individuals may also wear a covert earpiece when making a public speech. By doing so, the speaker can receive important cues or changes in a speech without the audience even being aware that communication is taking place between someone located behind the scenes and the individual delivering the speech.

Some covert earpieces are accompanied by a discreet microphone, which enables two-way communication. These are commonly used by security forces with a need for such communication, particularly during surveillance operations. These types of accessories are not only convenient because they feature hands-free operation, but also because they allow undercover security forces to blend in with crowds without having to use a visible walkie-talkie system of communication.

A covert earpiece does not contain any visible wires and is designed to fit inside the ear without being noticeable to the general public. Some devices are even designed to fit on a pair of eyeglasses while amplifying sound inside a person’s ear. An inductive wire is sometimes worn around the person’s neck, but is covered by clothing so as not to be discovered by onlookers. This wire is not connected to the covert earpiece, but connects to a separate radio device that helps modulate sound.

Thursday 11 December 2014

Tech We’d love to to become able to See: Cities around the Moon

Placing a city (or several) on the moon has long been a dream of science fiction writers, futurists and ambitious scientists. Recently however, renewed public interest in space exploration, together with a growing realization that the world is becoming dangerously overpopulated, has lead some scientists, artists and zealous would-be lunar colonists to start taking this ages-old dream extremely seriously.

Why we want it:

Because it could potentially be one of the only non-genocidal solutions to the eventual overpopulation of planet earth. Also, who wouldn’t want to sit on the moon and watch the Earth rise?

When can we expect it?



A couple of years ago, a group called Moon Capital launched a high profile competition, allowing scientists, architects and aspiring artists the chance to create scientifically plausible scenes of moon colonisation (in the style made famous by super-artist Chesley Bonestell).

The competition had (hypothetical) moon colonisation taking place in the year 2068. This estimate was good enough for the entrants of the competition, so it’ll be good enough for us, too. Hopefully, then, you’ll get your lunar colony in about 55 years time (just under a hundred years after Neil Armstrong took that one small step....)

Of course, the problems posed by such a feat of engineering are many-fold. For starters, the moon is some 380,000 km away from us at any given time, (which is quite a trip for a moving van, even taking speed cameras out of the equation), then there’s the difficulty of actually building a working city in such a hostile environment...

We’ve built space stations, of course, so we know we can construct things in space, but they aren’t exactly desirable places to live. Also, we can get people to the moon and back (we’ve been at it since the 60’s, no matter what the conspiracy nuts tell you), but the trip is still intensely dangerous and requires a great deal of training and preparation.

Finally, we come to the complete lack of breathable atmosphere on the moon; this would require scientists to create some sort of artificial environment (or else speed up development of terraforming methods, but that’s a story for another time).

Oh yeah, there’s no food either, not unless you like your Selenite steaks rare.

Yes, the idea of colonising the moon poses a number of mind-boggling obstacles, but if there’s one thing that we as a species excel at, its overcoming obstacles.

So, while it may seem far-fetched to imagine something like this actually happening, consider this; the first powered flight took place in 1903 and just 66 years later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were hanging out on the moon. Think on that for a second.

Cool Factor: 5/5



Cities on the moon? Now that’s cool.

you can get the original piece here

Tuesday 9 December 2014

Book about Jewel Encrusted Skeleton ‘Saints’ released to vast enjoyment

Paul Koudounaris, who is also known by his nickname ‘Indiana Bones’ in known as an writer, photographer and foremost authority on bone-decorated places and ossuarys. Earlier this year, Koudounaris released a book featuring hd images of the 400-year-old ‘catacomb saints’ of Rome, a group of corpses that was carefully decked with jewels and finery prior to being presented as remains of here to congregations across Europe.

Throughout the Protestant Reformation of that 16th Century, Catholic churches were routinely stripped of their relics, cryptogram and finery. In order to counter this, The Vatican had antique skeletons removed out of the Catacombs of Rome and copiously bejeweled as the remnants of recognized saints.

Although regularly forgotten until Koudounaris published his book, the catacomb saints continue to fascinate concerned parties; they can also still inspire religious zeal. In 1977, the settlement of Ruttenbach in Bavaria labored hard to gain sufficient funds to buy back two of their original saints from private collectors, the ornamental skeletons had initially been auctioned off in 1803.

The book, which Koudounaris has cautiously titled ‘Heavenly Bodies’ sees its author attempt to find and photograph each of the existing tomb saints.

In his glory days (a era that lasted over 200 years before finally coming to a close in the 19th century), the saints travelled everywhere, being transported at enormous expense by the Church. They were respected as things of affection, or conduits for prayer.

Though the saints could appear odd to modern eyes (one Telegraph reporter described them as ‘ghastly’), it is imperative that you remember that people who prayed at the feet of these gilded cadavers were a great deal nearer to demise than their contemporary counterparts. Within the wake of The Black Death (which recurred frequently right through Europe from the 14th to the 17th Centuries), art, literature and worship had come to accept such ghoulish, macabre metaphors.



The remnants were usually decorated by nuns and sometimes placed in different realistic poses, before being protected in glass cabinets. Some of the thorough decoration took as long as five years to complete, with jewelry and costumes being exceptionally grand.

Koudounaris’ book, ‘Heavenly Bodies’ is out there now.

you can obtain the original piece here

Sunday 7 December 2014

Mars Rover Spots UFO...Or Does It?

After much global speculation, NASA has at last put out an official statement regarding the true identity of the ‘white spot’ or ‘UFO’ seen on Mars by the Curiosity Rover on June 20th.

...Sadly, the UFO in question turned out to be only as extraterrestrial as a camera glitch.



Interviewed by The Huffington Post, Justin Maki, the main camera operator for the rover, said, "This is a hot pixel that has been around since we started using the Right Navcam (...) In the thousands of images we've received from Curiosity, we see ones with bright spots nearly every week, these can be caused by cosmic-ray hits or sunlight glinting from rock surfaces, as the most likely explanations."

As any photographer will tell you, ‘hot pixels’ sometimes occur during long exposure shots. Such glitches are usually caused by the camera’s sensors momentarily overheating (although they pose no danger to the camera equipment itself).

Amateur photographers occasionally mistake hot pixels for paranormal phenomena as well. In fact, the ghost website ‘Photographing The Paranormal.com’ actually has a section on these little buggers. It warns potential ghost hunters that,

“A perfectly symmetric small red dot in your picture is probably nothing paranormal, especially if it is at the same spot in most of your pictures. That’s actually called a hot pixel, if you spot one, don’t call the press!”

Older astronomy enthusiasts will no doubt be reminded of the discovery of the ‘Martian face’, a famous image captured by NASA’s Viking 1 orbiter in 1976.

Various theorists hurried to suggest that the ‘face’ was evidence of a long-lost Martian civilization (complete with ‘pyramids’ and everything), but it was actually just a large formation, captured by the relatively low-resolution cameras of the 1970’s, that looked a bit like a face.



Modern images, of course, reveal nothing so grand. The ‘Martian Face’ fiasco is now seen as an example of paraeidolia, a psychological phenomenon that sees people finding recognizable patterns in otherwise random sounds and images, examples of which include The Man in the Moon, Rorschach tests and those times when people see the faces of religious figures in ordinary household objects.

So it seems that there was no reason for us to get excited after all (except that pictures of Mars are unassailably cool).

...Of course, the conspiracy nutters are never going to buy it, but hey, what can you do?

Saturday 6 December 2014

On The Actual Air, Inside The Air Radio and Air Travel, an inseparable Mix

Radios are a Vital Tool for Air Travel. At London Heathrow airport, for example, three hundred companies employ some 80,000 people every day, whilst 65 million people leave from, arrive at, or pass through the airport. In the face of such staggering humanity, fast, efficient communication becomes paramount.

Medical personnel need to be notified quickly in case of an accident. Security guards must be able to respond and react to any potential threat as swiftly as possible. Other, daily issues such as reuniting lost children with their parents, locating missing luggage and the inspection of imported goods, must also be dealt with in a clear and professional manner.

Without areliable network of two-way radios, the entire daily operation of any airport would be next to impossible.

Today, most modern airports have switched from having individual radio networks specific to each company, to the employment of more integrated solutions. In 2000, the engineering firm Arup was employed by BAA to make these changes possible at Heathrow, specifically in Terminal 5. According to the firm’s official website,

“Previously at Heathrow, individual mobile operators had installed their own infrastructure, resulting in duplication and proliferation of infrastructure across the airport, standards of installation that varied, unreliable records, and unsightly clutter to the terminal landscape”.

Eventually, the site continues,

“It was jointly agreed by BAA and Arup that the most appropriate solution for the new terminal was common infrastructure that could be shared by multiple parties”.

The changes at Terminal 5 proved to be a success. These days, most airports follow this model of radio communication. The benefits are enormous. Airports are running smoother than ever thanks to improved cross communication between individuals and departments (everything from catering, flight and cabin crew to cleaning staff, border controls and freight handling).

Two-way radios are superior to mobile phones for these tasks because they are instant. Also, there are very few lapses in signal and they are sturdy enough for use in almost any environment.

Think of your mobile: if you came upon an accident right now and you wanted to call somebody and report it, you would be dependent on a multitude of factors, wouldn’t you? Do you have signal? Do you have credit? Will they even pick up the phone at their end? However, a two-way radio eliminates most of these problems. The operator simply presses the button to talk and awaits the reply. Easy.

Two-way radios cover a large area, can be used on secure channels and are cost effective solutions to communications challenges presented by organizations such as Heathrow.

The benefits of a two-way radio system have been well known for a long time, it is a system used by police, the armed forces, building contractors, security firms and, of course, cab drivers, the world over. Plus, the technology isn’t upgraded too often, so there’s not much risk of your purchase becoming obsolete by the time you put down your deposit.

In a very real sense, airports would struggle to complete one outgoing flight a day without two-way radio technology.

the origin of this post is here

Wednesday 3 December 2014

The Doctor Who Earpiece Experiment

The short answer is ‘no’. Apple Earpods debuted in 2012, a full six years after the ‘Doctor Who’ episode ‘Rise of the Cybermen’ first aired.

Within the context of the series, the Earpod devices were designed as a metaphor for society’s perceived over-reliance on portable technology in the 21st century. The name ‘Earpod’ was a play on words, meant to superficially sound like the word ‘iPod’.

In addition, the fictional earpieces were mainly utilized as a way to re-package classic Doctor Who antagonists the Cybermen for a new audience (who may have been unfamiliar with them following the gap between the show’s cancellation in 1989 and its subsequent reintroduction in 2005). Variations on the Earpod device are also utilized in later episodes from the same series (in particular, ‘Army of Ghosts’).

Whilst it is something of a stretch to imagine that nobody at Apple has ever watched ‘Doctor Who’, the use of the name did not seem to affect the American computer firm’s decision to create and market their own brand of ‘Earpod’, in 2012.

doctor who earpiece

In terms of legality, it seems reasonable to assume that ‘Doctor Who’ created the brand name for satiric purposes, rather than to create an entirely fictional brand/product (such as The Simpson’s ‘Duff Beer’).

Had Apple simply adopted a product name already owned by the BBC, there may have been a legal scuffle between the two corporations, but since BBC’s product was obviously intended as a wry commentary or, at most, a satirical send-up of existing technology (in particular technology made and marketed by Apple), then it is highly doubtful that there was any friction at all.

Apple’s Earpods (which, as far as we know, have never caused anybody to be turned into a cybernetic creature hell-bent on universal obliteration) are available at a fairly affordable price (the Apple site lists them at £25.00 before P&P), but do not have a reputation for being one of the company’s better products. In a particularly scathing review, TechRadar wrote that,

“The tinkle at the high-end is certainly better than before, and there's improved bass as well. So they're more than good enough if sound quality is not something you are bothered about. If you're going to be buying an iPhone 5 or one of the new iPods, you'll be getting some marginally better earphones than you might have expected, so that's a good thing. But for anyone thinking of buying these things separately for £25/$30 â€" forget it. That price is utterly ludicrous. For that money you could bag yourself a decent pair of Sennheisers â€" low end ones admittedly â€" but they would still be head and shoulders better than the Apple EarPods. In fact, we challenge you to find a pair of £25 earphones on Amazon that sound worse than this - you won't be able to”.

All things considered, the Earpod is a pretty basic variation on the standard Apple headphones. It is not even marginally related to the mind-controlling earpieces utilized by the Cybermen. At least, as far as we know...

The long road Home: Radios employed in Transport systems and Fleets

According to the UK Government, there were an estimated 5.2 billion bus passenger journeys undertaken on our roads in 2011/2012. Public and private transportation is not only big business; it is also of massive importance to the smooth running of the country.

Whilst only 14% of the UK’s 25 million commuters travel to work by bus or train, this still accounts for over 1.7 million people. In order for a country this reliant on public transport to survive and thrive, it is absolutely imperative that transport workers can communicate with each other in a quick, efficient manner, fuelling an industry that, by necessity, spans the length and breadth of the nation.



Two-way radios provide the solutions to this monumental challenge.

Rail, bus, here make use of two-way radios in order to keep up to speed with vital information. Drivers and managers can easily contact command and control centres, as well as liaising with depot staff and even customers, all due to using their radios. Together with integrated GPS systems, radios help transport and fleet workers to track deliveries in real time, as well as informing would-be passengers or commuters of any delays or early arrivals.

But it isn’t just truckers making deliveries, commuters travelling to and from work and trains running on time. Public transport is one of the most important aspects of the tourism industry, itself a large part of Britain’s economy. Visitors flock from almost every country on Earth in order to visit popular sites like Stonehenge, The The Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and the beautiful city of Bath. Without a reliable public transport system, our tourism industry would be seriously harmed.

So, in order to keep things running as smoothly as possible, all relevant personnel are equipped with a two-way radio so that they can keep in direct contact with their colleagues, peers and managers. This also allows for speedy customer service, as well as up-to-date and reliable information.



Health and safety is also a huge concern regarding public transport and, since the tragedy of the London bombings 8 years ago, security is also a large issue. Workers specializing in either area find their radios to be among the most vital of their tools.

Transport companies employ a veritable army of security staff, as well as first-aiders all of whom are connected via rugged and reliable two-way radios.

Without radios, the country’s public transport system could very well come to a standstill. The roads and railways of Britain are, at least in some ways, kept in operation via a network of two-way radios.

the origin of this piece is here