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CIA Shows Off (Formerly) Super-Secret Spy Goodies

Posted by timothy on from the gov't-spy-porn->-gov't-cheese dept.

Velcroman1 writes "Last week, [the CIA] launched a revamped website with links to YouTube and Flickr containing Agency historical videos and picture galleries. 'The idea behind these improvements is to make more information about the agency available to more people, more easily,' Director Panetta said in a statement. 'The CIA wants the American people and the world to understand its mission and its vital role in keeping our country safe.' In terms of pure coolness the Flickr stream takes the cake — including never-before-seen gallery of special agent supergadgets."

17 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. Congratulations by RLiegh · · Score: 4, Funny

    Everyone whose viewed those pictures and videos is now on a watch list.
    Along with those who didn't.

    1. Re:Congratulations by FriendlyLurker · · Score: 4, Informative

      'The CIA wants the American people and the world to understand its mission and its vital role in keeping our country safe.'

      The CIA is trying to regain some credibility/reputation which has rapidly gone downhill since the Iraq war. News and leaks from Wikileaks and other sources keeps throwing their smelly shit into the fan for all to see. It seems to be nearly every day now we hear of a new scandal, or some gross misuse of our taxpayers funds. But never fear, they have a plan: Apart from this new "Spy goodies" for geeks section to woo us with pretty trinkets, they have also thought of the children - adding games and quizzes to their website - helping them become your all American family-friendly organization again. Further, soon there will be no more bad news thanks to the CIA teaming up with the Democrats to clean out those with faulty moral compasses - so we can all live safe and ignorant again.

    2. Re:Congratulations by Kokuyo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What makes you believe that the info the CIA shares in meetings neither you nor I are invited to is the very same you and I get to see from them?

  2. Yes, trust us. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    After all, we're kinder, gentler spies. /sarcasm

    1. Re:Yes, trust us. by Vitriol+Angst · · Score: 3, Insightful

      How about simply saying; the maximum "earnings" someone can get, is 1,000 times minimum wage?

      So, those that get the most, have no upper limit, as long as they advocate for what the LEAST get.

      $20 an hour vs. $20,000 an hour does NOT seem like a burden on innovation to me.

      How many steaks and yachts does some asshole need? If you are making so much that you have to hire an army to defend it -- you could NOT have gotten it merely by making the world a better place -- likely, you've pillaged a few companies, you've destroyed a few lives. I always hear people lauding the greatness of the uber wealthy, but the examples of people who've gotten there, have to gloss over a lot of back-door deals and buying of politicians in most cases. I'd argue, that you CANNOT get to be the biggest bank, or military contractor, or oil company, WITHOUT doing a hell of a lot of evil.

      But, before anything like that can work -- there HAS TO BE, more transparency required of people with power. People with power and wealth have to be thought of as privileged, only BECAUSE they are of benefit to society as a whole -- and so they must give up privacy. Having video cameras in every bathroom, and firing teachers, and forcing people into serfdom with 40% fees on Credit Card debt -- well, that's only necessary to KEEP the status quo and protect the very powerful FROM RESPONSIBILITY.

      The religion of "personal responsibility", means that PEOPLE have no rights, and any corporate conglomerate has no responsibly. Obviously, our goals in such a world is to become a holding company of one, and to screw everyone else.

      --
      >>"ad space available -- low rates!!!"
  3. The point of this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The point of this isn't to be more open. The point is to make people think about what the CIA can do with today's technology if they could do that with the technology of yesteryear. Making the enemy overestimate your power is an important principle in deterrence.

    1. Re:The point of this by omni123 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The point of this isn't to be more open. The point is to make people think about what the CIA can do with today's technology if they could do that with the technology of yesteryear. Making the enemy overestimate your power is an important principle in deterrence.

      Oh shi. I'm sure Mossad saw the revamped CIA website and were like "OH DAMN, IMAGINE WHAT THEY CAN DO NOW. THEIR WEBSITE IS TOTALLY AWESOME. RUN. HIDE YOUR CHILDREN.".

      Because foreign intelligence services don't have more reliable ways of determining technology in the field at present time then some guestimation based on 50 year old photos in a flickr album.

  4. Whaaaaaat? by guspasho · · Score: 4, Funny

    Are they crazy? Leaking this information could put lives at risk!

    1. Re:Whaaaaaat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Are they crazy? Leaking this information could put lives at risk!

      And we can't have any national secrets reveled either! Considering how I've seen everything on the list (they've all been mentioned before - most are WWII era and some not even our own! Enigma CIA?!?!), I find this pathetic. Old news - very old news.

      How about releasing the SR-71's real top speed? Why is that still classified?

      The best guess I've seen from aerospace guys is that they think it could hit Mach 4.

    2. Re:Whaaaaaat? by II+Xion+II · · Score: 2

      They clearly were trying to preempt Wikileaks.

    3. Re:Whaaaaaat? by Sulphur · · Score: 2

      Mach 4 is a razor blade.

      --

      Is that CIA hat yours?
      Of course, I bought and paid for it.

  5. SR-71 top speed by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The flight manual is online at sr-71.org, and has a chart showing what speed at what external air temperature stays within the design limit for compressor inlet temperature. (At least that's where I think I saw the chart). To keep the CIT below 427 Celsius, you'd better have a really cold day in the stratosphere to go much over Mach 3.2. The manual doesn't permit going over 3.3.

    If the air going into the compressor is over 427 C, by the time you burn fuel in it you're hitting the design limits of the turbine blades.

    It's possible that nobody ever found out what the top speed was. After McNamara ordered the tooling destroyed, the planes were irreplaceable.

    1. Re:SR-71 top speed by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 4, Informative

      OK, found the links. The chart of CIT-limited speed versus outside temperature is at http://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/manual/5/5-10.php. There are envelope curves at http://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/manual/5/5-9.php which you could imagine extrapolating past the limits in the manual.

    2. Re:SR-71 top speed by PitaBred · · Score: 2

      The single time one of them went mach 3.2, it destroyed the Mig's engines. Just like it would with the SR-71.

      --
      My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
  6. Spy Museum by Sir+Holo · · Score: 5, Informative

    This all looks like stuff from the "Spy Museum" in Washington DC. Very cool gadgetry there, and much more of it than this paltry slideshow has. Better-written commentary, too.

    Go there!

    1. Re:Spy Museum by trollertron3000 · · Score: 2

      If you want to see another cool, but not as well known, spy museum drive up to Fort Meade and checkout the NSA SIGINT/Cryptological museum off of the GW parkway, about 30-45 mins by car out of DC or you can take the Metro to close by and ride a bus over:
      http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/museum/virtual_tour/museum_tour_text.shtml

      --
      Tiger Blooded Bi-Winning Machine
  7. Unclassified sightings by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 2
    The "seismic detector", actually a camo vehicle and troop movement detector, went on to the military surplus market at one point. So, you could buy a plastic poop with a radio transmitter in it via mail-order. This must have been about 30 years ago.

    The D-21 drone is in the Research Hangar at the Air Force Museum. You can get a bus trip to that hangar from the museum and walk around for about 50 minutes, but there are ID requirements.

    --
    Bruce Perens.