I always feeeel like, somebody's Watching meeee...

...and I got no privacy, woh-oh-oh.

Exhibit A, the Bat Drone.

Cheap like borscht.

With its 12-foot wingspan, the low-flying Bat, which maxes out at 70 miles per hour, was able to jam radar during tests. That means the Pentagon will soon have the option of deploying a flexible, largely undetectable drone with radar-jamming capability to protect manned aircraft against radar and surface-to-air missile guidance systems.

It also has a smokin' camera, the FLIR type you normally see mounted on helicopters and Predator drones. The thing is, those aircraft cost millions of dollars to buy and tens of thousands to service every month. The Bat Drone costs about the same as a decent car or small plane, and maintenance would be in the hundreds to low thousands every month. It launches off a truck from literally anyplace you can drive a truck, and you can recover it with a standing net off a soccer pitch or even a roadway. Its also autonomous, making it a fire-and-forget system.

In other words, its frickin' cheap and easy to use, so cops and others like the EPA will be LOVING this. Need eyes in the sky for something legit or just to stake out your cheatin' wife? Launch the Bat Drone, Alfred!

Exhibit B, night vision for your phone.

Snooperscope. Sticks to your phone.

Launching a crowdsource funding campaign starting tomorrow on HWTrek.com, Psy Corporation is aiming to raise $60,000 to help bring the Snooperscope to fruition.
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The Snooperscope connects to your phone via a secure peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connection and uses the screen to provide you with a look into the darkness draped world that your eyes could otherwise not see.
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If it is funded via HWTrek, the Snooperscope will retail for $100. But early birds that help with the crowdfunding campaign can score one for $40 if they act fast.

Basically an add-on lens and infrared filtering module with infrared LEDs to provide the light source, it will let you take pictures at night invisibly. Unless somebody else has night vision tech, then it will look like a flashlight in the dark. But if the builders are smart, they will let you turn the LEDs off and just use the lens/filter passively. Won't be FLIR, but better than stubbing your toes.

What do these technologies mean for Joe Sixpack? It means the dark of night is no longer sufficient cover if you want to sneak off for a quickie with the GF. On the other hand, you can watch the watchers.

The Phantom