05/09, 10:00pm
USAF can keep drone footage for 90 days
Domestic surveillance is typically the purview of the FBI, and proscribed for the Air Force, the rest of the US military, and the CIA; but a new policy document out from the Secretary of the Air Force opens something of a loophole. According to the policy statement, the Air Force can retain domestic surveillance footage inadvertently captured by spy drones for up to 90 days while it determines whether or not the footage contains information upon which the Air Force is authorized to act.
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03/02, 5:00pm
USAF awards 9.36m contract for iPads
Despite talk that it had cancelled the deal, the US Air Force on Friday pledged itself to a contract to buy up to 18,000 iPads. Air Mobility Command has agreed to a $9.36 million pact that will see Executive Technology give C-5, C-17, C-130, KC-10, and KC-135 crews 32GB Wi-Fi iPads to use as replacements for their paper flight manuals and similar guides. Apple is supplying a volume discount that shaves the price down by $79 to $520.
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12/20, 5:15pm
Computers could use cheap commercial components
The US Air Force is developing quantum computers that use holograms to carry data for calculations. The project is in the conceptual stage, but if practical, could pave the way for future generations of computational devices, MIT's Technology Review said. The technology is also attractive because it holds the promise that the super fast computers can be built with off-the-shelf components.
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