Fighting has killed almost 20,000 Somalis since 2007, and though some semblance of order has been restored, the imposed Sharia law has banned even regular moderate muslims from dancing at weddings, or even playing and watching soccer. If you're having a bad day today, take a moment and remember just how good you actually do have it. [Reuters]

Click for artistic impression of terrorist at CERN

According to French newspaper Le Figaro, judicial sources point that the man—who has been working as a particle physics contractor since 2003—has links to Al Qaeda groups in the Islamic Maghreb. Le Figaro said that he had suggested terrorist targets in French soil. There's word if the target list also included the LHC, however.

In a public statement, CERN was quick to remember that the LHC is peaceful, and no gain can be obtained from it by any terrorist:

None of our research has potential for military application, and all our results are published openly in the public domain.

Indeed. Let CERN work alone in peace and fix the LHC while the rest of us don't do our homework.

One message to all those trying to hurt others in the world, like Osama and Co.: Go f*ck yourself. [Daily Mail]

We're doing some testing on cloud knockdown, sort of a Chernobyl-type [1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant's reactor meltdown, which resulted in a big radioactive billow that reached Northern Europe] event.

That's what Sam White, Evergreen senior VP, says about their Supertanker. Hopefully we will never see in action for this purpose, and it will remain fighting forest fires. Meanwhile, Darpa is testing absorbent gels—like the ones used in diapers—mixed with nanoscale materials designed to clean away contaminants. In theory, these new substances will be able to take out 98% of the radioactive particles in half an hour.

That's good news.

The bad news: They have only tested it on concrete, not humans.

[Technology via Flightglobal]

The city intends to install dozens of the fancy waste receptacles in London's financial district next year. And boy, do they sound expensive!

The technology reduces the shockwave of an explosion — which usually creates devastation by destroying nearby objects such as windows — and because most of the bin is made of steel, it can contain the heat and shrapnel generated. He said that the technology “reduces the peak pressure of an explosion and extinguishes the fireball”.

The green bins will double as an information service called Renew, with large screens on each side of the device relaying the latest news.

Traders walking past on their lunch break will be able to check the latest share prices, but on their way home the screens will display travel information and other news. The authorities will also be able to use the screens to relay urgent security information.

Is it just me or does it seem like every single decision the British government makes hinges on the threat of terrorism? You guys are starting to seem a bit obsessed over there. [Times Online]

Full-motion video can zoom in on people and their behavior in public, from handshakes to kisses on the cheek. Resolution ranges from a foot to four inches, depending on the collection methods and environmental conditions at the time. Existing systems can also track moving targets under forest and other cover. Future collection systems are going to provide even better, more detailed footage. Yep, the government has eyes everywhere—but not enough analysts to make sense of all the info.

That's where the contracts come in. Kitware and its partners are going to figure out an algorithm for activities that the military would be interested in looking into, such as U-turning cars that could be readying to make an attack. That's well and good when it's focused on the battleground, but does anyone else feel a little nervous about this kind of tech being available to be used at home? [Washington Post]

The Act would require a court order to hold a notebook for more than a day, as well as limit when the government can keep, or god forbid, share your life's work of Star Trek slash fiction. Unfortunately, with Congress about to close up for the year, there's not too much of a shot this'll weave through the necessary goalposts to pass, so you'll want to continue leaving the most horrifying aspects of your imagination, line of work or sexual proclivities at home, at least until next year, when the bill is expected to come back at full strength. [Danger Room]

For some reason, alongside these images there was a top secret document containing details on the encrypted computer system used by MI6 agents while conducting operations abroad. Some of the other images were related to this man, Abdul al-Hadi al-Iraqi, a top al Qaeda terrorist captured by the CIA in 2007.

Apparently, the eBay bidder found the pictures after downloading his vacation photos to his computer. The Foreign Office and the police are conducting an investigation, but for now, nobody has a clue about how the camera ended up on eBay. [Daily Mail]

Like the Batman system, the more phones on the ground, the better, since it would be able to triangulate the source of radiation more accurately. Phones closest to the deadly stuff as they pass by would give off stronger signals, pinpointing where it's at, or how it's moving in real time. Also, the larger the scale of the project, the less the system would cost per phone—right now it's around $50-$100 a phone. Blown up to a hundred million phones, the price would plummet.

Obviously, there are some major civil rights issues here, especially if you're legally required to be a constantly lo-jacked, walking bomb detector for the Man. Newsweek suggests a more diplomatic and less creepy solution, where government agencies would pay you to opt-in. I think that's one paycheck I'd have to pass on. [Newsweek]

Just in case you're blanking out, here's some more information, courtesy of the LA Times and the Bush Administration's now not-so-secret Special Ops missions in Pakistan:

As part of an escalating offensive against extremist targets in Pakistan, the United States is deploying Predator aircraft equipped with sophisticated new surveillance systems that were instrumental in crippling the insurgency in Iraq, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials.

Super drones? See through walls? Something even crazier than that? You decide.

Winner gets a visit from men in dark suits and a trip to the Caribbean! [CNN, Bruce Schneier, LA Times]

UPDATE: Lots of legitimate leads (aka not guesses of anti-terrorist iPhone apps) in the comments. The "gadget" may really be a whole combination of technologies and techniques as opposed to some awesome James Bond weapon. Lame!

Yes, cloned Chuck Norris. Quite frankly, more than antiterrorists, they seem to be training to beat the pants out of a whole lot of demonstrators. [Boston Globe]

Let's say someone put a bomb on your bus and it can't go below 50 mph or it will explode. If that were to happen on a NYC bus you would probably be incinerated because the city has installed a new GPS device in thousands of local commuter and tourist buses. If the authorities get wind of a hijacking in progress, they can slowly stop the vehicle and prevent it from restarting via remote control. It may not work for "Speed" style situations, but for conventional hijackings, it could prove to be an effective weapon.

The GPS device is attached to the bus computer system and it relays information about its speed and direction to a dispatcher. In the event of a hijacking, the dispatcher can remotely slow the bus down and prevent it from being restarted—giving cops enough time to get to the scene. Apparently, slowing the bus down gradually is intended to give terrorists extra time to rethink their position before doing something drastic.

Financing for the system has been made possible thanks to funding from the Department of Homeland Security. So far, the device is on 3000 Grey Line double-decker buses, 80 DeCamp buses and plans are currently underway to equip 3000 New Jersey Transit buses. NYC transit is currently in the pilot stage for the program, but they are expected to follow suit with their 4500 bus fleet sometime in the near future. [New York Post]

This software will look for nervous face touching, profuse sweating and various other ticks that passengers do all the time. A guy from UCSD built a similar system, but says it only identifies people correctly 70% of the time and only under optimal conditions, which don't exist in airplanes. Sounds foolproof! [Newscientist via Boing Boing]

"How long is it going to be before the terrorists get in on the act? With the current prices of robot construction falling dramatically and the availability of ready-made components for the amateur market, it wouldn't require a lot of skill to make autonomous robot weapons."

Says the New Scientist:

Sharkey is most concerned about the prospect of having robots decide for themselves when to "pull the trigger." Currently, a human is always involved in decisions of this nature. But the Pentagon is nearly two years into a research programme aimed at having robots identify potential threats without human help.

Arkin suggests trying to design ethical control systems that make military robots respect the Geneva Convention and other rules of engagement on the battlefield... "With a robot I can be sure that a robot will never harbour the intention to hurt a non-combatant," he says. "Ultimately they will be able to perform better than humans."

It's 80 pages long and I am far too busy/lazy to read through the entire thing, but it looks like the general gist of it is that file sharing supports terrorism and corrupts our children. It claims that peer-to-peer networks increase the chances of government workers sharing sensitive data, which is kind of a stupid argument (let's ban phones, while we're at it, so they can't call people and tell them secrets).

An even more backwards argument is that by exposing kids to P2P software they are at a higher risk to pirate music, therefore be sued by copyright holders. The bad news about all this? It will make people protecting their copyrights seem antagonistic. Actually, the copyright holders that are being antagonistic are the ones making themselves seem that way, chief. If any of you out there with too much free time on your hands wants to comb through this beast for some fun quotes, pass em along and we'll post the best ones. –Adam Frucci

Shadowmonkey [via Fark]

Terrorism has scared the shit out of people...literally. While that actually makes no sense, it sort of explains the $100,000 toilet. Evidently a necessary invention in a world filled with terror, the structure is not only bulletproof, but can withstand a 15 ton blast as well. While we don't know of any units in America (yet), Beijing has 8 floating around in their Zhongguancun Plaza. Just wait until the sirens go off and we are all forced to hide in porta-potties. Crap. – Mark Wilson

Translated Page [via bornrich]