In an unprecedented space collision, a commercial Iridium communications satellite and a defunct Russian satellite ran into each other Tuesday above northern Siberia, creating a cloud of wreckage, officials said today. The international space station does not appear to be threatened by the debris, they said, but it’s not yet clear whether it poses a risk to any other military or civilian satellites.

“They collided at an altitude of 790 kilometers (491 miles) over northern Siberia Tuesday about noon Washington time,” said Nicholas Johnson, NASA’s chief scientist for orbital debris at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. “The U.S. space surveillance network detected a large number of debris from both objects.”

More details on CBS site

Tags: collision, iridium, russia, satellite, space, telecom, Telecommunications, USA

Careful, watching to many spy movies and TV cartoons may give you strange ideas.

Neatorama has published the Top 10 strangest anti-terrorism patents. Here they are:

• The Anti-Terrorist Truck
  and its hidden machine gun turret made to surprise terrorists passing by
• The Face Protector Against Poisonous Gas
  certainly made in Gotham city but I have seen some in Pyongyang.
• Biohazard Suit with Built-In Toilet
  to protect these who wear it, or these around ?
• Railroad Missile System
  this one also inspired by North-Korean leader or some 007’s foes
• The Doggie Earphone
  “His Master’s Voice”
• The Airplane Trap Door
  is an option with crocodiles available ?
• Passenger Control System During Flight
  Be all nice, wear the armband has requested… it’s for your own safety !
• Airplane Sleeping Gas System
  Is the cockpit’s door air locked ?
• Explosion Containment Net
  Gladiators ! Gladiators !
• Mobile Crematorium
  “Nice” but what about CO2 footprint ??

Anyone else with such “brilliant” ideas ?

Source: Neatorama via Schneier on Security

Tags: counterterrorism, fightback, gadget, invention, patent, safety, security, terrorism, USA

London police launched on 25th of February a new advertising campaign. Posters and TV ads are urging Londoners to turn in people who might be taking pictures of CCTV cameras.

"Thousands of people take photos every day.

What if one of them seems odd ?

Terrorists use surveillance to help plan attacks, taking photos and making notes about security measures like the location of CCTV cameras.If you see someone doing that, we need to know.

Let experienced officers decide what action to take." 

Other posters target households:

"you see hundreds of houses every day. What if one has unusual activities and seems suspicious"

as well as mobile phone users :

"Thousands of people have mobiles. What if someone with several seems suspicious?"

What's going on in London ? Is the Metropolitan police not busy enough ? did they become completely paranoiac ? or do they need some budget increase ?

Where is this so famous British phlegm ?

As a response, many people have already redesigned the posters to point out the absurdity of them. Some samples are available on BoingBoing.

Tags: 2008, advertising, ATT, attack, blog, camera, civil liberties, counterterrorism, CTU, design, february, fon, ia, ict, im, King, lan, launch, location, london, mobile, mobile phone, nomadcom.net, officer, paranoia, PDF, phone, photo, photographers, Photography, picture, police, post, posters, public, security, snitch, suspect, terror, terrorism, uk, USA, user, wp, www, XP