Global War on Terror...at Home

Back when I was about 16, and first had access to the internet, I remember being extremely excited that I could download SETI@home, which was a screensaver that used your computer’s latent processing power to search through interstellar radio signals, analyzing for any sign of alien communication. In retrospect, it’s kinda lame, but back then I thought it was a great way to become involved in the search for Wookies. Now the US Military is purchasing new ‘killer-drones’ that are able to basically fly themselves.

“Defense News notes that "unlike Predator, the ERMP will be able to take off and land automatically" -- handing off the trickiest parts of piloting a drone to a computer. Which means that the ERMP can be flown by young enlisted men, instead of by the ex-fighter pilots, who now operate the Predator fleet.”

I can’t wait for the day when I can download GWOT@home, a screensaver that will use the latent processing power of my computer to run a killer drone in search of terrorists. In between looking at inappropriate pictures on the internet, I can play with the drone and turn Abu Fundamentajad into a oily smear. But truthfully most American teenagers would just fly the thing around and then crash it. Or shoot at each other while looking for alien spaceships. I would like to chase some confused cattle around the Sahara for a bit. I'd just get lost and end up flying my killer-drone around canada, shooting at igloos. Teenage-powered long-range killer-drones - hm, perhaps this isn't such a good idea.