Social Engineering Blogs

An Aggregator for Blogs About Social Engineering and Related Fields

In Case You Missed It…

Take a look at Dr. Matsumoto’s Interview on ABC News where he talks about microexpressions, nonverbal and verbal inconsistencies and gestures.

Click here to view the embedded video.

See more videos like this at Humintell’s Youtube Page.

Deception Robots

Surveillance has been power boosted to a new level.

Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Laboratory has developed a “spybot”.  Ieee spectrum inside technology has the scoop.

Lockheed’s new robotic creation knows how to operate incognito around humans.  It actually listens for humans, guesses where they might be looking and then finds itself a hiding spot.

How can it be so sneaky, you ask?  It is equipped with a 3D laser scanner.  It also has an array of acoustic sensors that allow it to localize footsteps and voices.

Lockheed Martin’s robot is not the first of its kind; however, it is on technology’s cutting edge.  Georgia Tech also created a “spybot” , which uses deliberately deceptive tactics to fool other robots and humans.

Is covert robotics now emerging as power field of engineering?  This technology is unique because these robots can build a computer program of their surrounding s, incorporating information on line of sight so that it can covertly map its environment in 3D.

According to NewScientist.com , Brian Satterfield, lead engineer, stated that the robot was designed to operate within four constraints:  “ Avoiding visible detection by sentries of known locations, avoiding potential detection by sentries whose positions were unknown, avoiding areas in which the robot would have no means of escape and as this robot was designed to run at night, avoiding areas that were well lit”

Video of spybot:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Angry Emotions

The universal emotion of anger is often seen as a negative social norm.  If someone “loses” their temper in public many people find that unacceptable especially for an adult.

Of course, everyone gets angry at least once in a while.  However, society views people who remain “calm” do not show outward signs of anger, as displaying acceptable and in some sense, revered behavior.

According to PBS’s This Emotional Life website, not expressing anger is not as great or beneficial as one might think.  They suggest that society sees angry displays as uncomfortable and less acceptable than expressing sadness or anxiety.  This makes more people try to mask their anger.  Well, the down side of that could be an explosive “temper tantrum”, which never solves any problem.

This was the case in a recent episode of the Apprentice when Meatloaf lost his cool with Gary Busey.  What that video clip does not show is that Meatloaf later sincerely apologized to Gary and accepted full responsibility for his actions.

As a result of not fully expressing our anger, we do not learn how to handle our anger constructively.  Anger can be managed correctly, TEL website purports, and can be a force for reflection and perhaps a breakthrough in how we feel and live our lives.

So the questions are why do we get angry, and how can one get over their anger issues and become a happier person?

Well, first accept your anger and express yourself (appropriately of course).  Second, reflect on your anger don’t suppress it. The other thing you can do, according to The Emotional Life website, is to surround yourself with happy people and you in turn will be happier.

Take a look at the video below about social networking and happiness.

Watch the full episode. See more This Emotional Life.