Sramana Majumdar

"Violence, Identity and Self-determination: Narratives of conflict from the Kashmir Valley" 4:15 PM, Monday 18 Nov Room 239, BYC Bryn Mawr College

Exposure Index

Tired of paper and pencil questionnaires about integration and intergroup contact? Try the new and improved EXPOSURE INDEX (click tab above on this page).

Preflight Turbulence for Commercial Drones

The article examines the “moral hazard” of drone surveillance: airplane surveillance is expensive, drones significantly decrease that cost-effectiveness barrier.

Remote-Controlled Model Helicopter Fatally Strikes Its Operator

Accidental deaths of this sort are a certainty as UAVs become more popular. Previous accidents such as the German drone near-collision with an passenger liner in Afghanistan are avoidable with improved integration and air traffic control methods – unfortunate accidents of this sort are far less avoidable.

Self-driving carmakers will have to pry steering wheel from some cold, dead hands

Even if the technical challenges were to be solved overnight, it appears the cultural problems would delay widespread driverless car usage for a very long time.

Drones Take Off in Silicon Valley

The company featured in this article compares its product to an operating system, providing a level of abstraction and ease of use for users of unmanned vehicles. This is a popular idea right now, though it remains to be seen which version, if any, take off.

Drone wars hit the states

This article points to the recent activity on unmanned vehicles related legislation in state governments. Almost all of the activity is focused on privacy fears.

Ex-Lawyer in State Department Criticizes Drone Secrecy

Part of the problem with the secrecy is that most of the laws and court decisions regulating the use of drones are also classified. It’s hard for citizens to trust when it’s impossible to verify – or to even know what standards drone use is supposed to be tested against.

Falcon UAV Puts Deer Trail Colorado on the Map…..Literally….Sort of….

In the continuing saga of Deer Trail, Colorado, the proposal for bounty on drones will go to a special vote for all residents. Falcon UAV is trying to turn this into a PR coup by showing residents (and those watching the town) how useful drones are. It remains to be seen whether this effort is […]

Paul finds drone he likes

Even Rand Paul can appreciate a drone if it does something for him and isn’t invading his privacy. This example underscores how truly necessary it is for unmanned vehicles to not be restricted to military/police uses.

Some surveillance drones, but not all, grounded under N.C. law

With privacy concerns mounting as domestic drones become reality, North Carolina took pre-emptive steps to prevent public outcry. Depending on how drones are used, this could be seen as either anachronistic or prescient.

CIA Refuses to Acknowledge Drone Targeted Killings

The use of drone strikes is public known, extensively documented, and – bizarrely – still classified and officially secret.