surveillance

Samsung unveils “Ballie” SPY MACHINE that rolls around your home spying on everything while controlling your electronic devices

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In a race with Amazon to the bottom, Samsung has unveiled a new spy machine robot called “Ballie” that rolls around people’s homes watching and listening to everything they do while controlling all their electronic devices.

First unveiled back in 2020, Ballie’s latest hypothetical design is roughly the size of a bowling ball on wheels – previously it was only about the size of a tennis ball. The spying device also now contains a built-in projector that can display a virtual work call, a yoga program, or whatever else the user wants projected on a wall or ceiling – the video below shows what Ballie looks like and what it does:

4. AI Robot companion called ‘Ballie’ by Samsung pic.twitter.com/dPV9dn9hsl

— Rowan Cheung (@rowancheung) January 9, 2024

(Related: Previously, Amazon’s Echo device was considered to be the ultimate spy machine to listen to and record everything users do and say.)

Does the world really need another in-home spying device?

At the recent CES 2024 event, Samsung showed off the Ballie in a demo, though attendees were not allowed any one-on-one time with the spherical robot device. In the demo, Ballie’s movements were “obviously tightly scripted and controlled,” to quote Engadget‘s Nathan Ingraham.

Ingraham says the demo “at the very least … gave us an idea of how the company envisions Ballie being used.” In other words, Ballie’s real-life use cases are still all hypothetical as the device is still under development.

An actor at CES 2024 asked Ballie to start a workout routine for him, which prompted the machine to project a workout video on the wall for immediate use, along with music to go along with it.

“Sure, you could just use your TV for that, but when one of the exercises called for laying down, Ballie shot the video to the ceiling so the actor could continue following along,” Ingraham explains.

In another demo example, Ballie displayed a visual representation of the air quality of a home to which it was connected via an air purifier. Ballie displayed not only particulate statistics but also a warning that the filter in the air purifier needed changing.

“The idea here is to show that Ballie can talk to all your smart home devices and display info from them, even if they don’t have a dedicated display,” Ingraham says.

Much like a smartphone, Ballie is also able to display a user’s calendar, place phone calls and even show video footage of, say, the inside of one’s “smart” Samsung refrigerator or the front stoop in the pathway of a “smart” doorbell.

“It’s cute, and it was fun to see Ballie confidently rolling around the floor of the demo area, but I can’t help but think that it’s solving exactly zero real world problems either,” Ingraham further notes.

According to Samsung, the first working Ballie devices will be on sale towards the end of the year, but not everyone, including Ingraham, is convinced it will actually materialize.

“I’m not fully convinced, as we’ve seen a lot of similar projects die in the wind, but I am definitely rooting for the little robot,” he writes.

Reports indicate that the latest iteration of Ballie presented at CES 2024 contains a spatial LiDAR sensor and a 1080p projector, the latter of which has two lenses and allows the robot to project movies, video calls and “greetings” on its surrounding surfaces.

A video shown during the device’s keynote depicted Ballie greeting a user who just returned home from work or an errand by projecting the word “Welcome” on the wall.

Pfizer now pushing ingestible drugs with embedded MICROCHIPS

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Image: Pfizer now pushing ingestible drugs with embedded MICROCHIPS

The globalist agenda of medical control, which began with the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines, is set to hit a new level with Pfizer’s push for oral drugs with microchips embedded in them.

Albert Bourla, CEO of the New York-based drug company, touted the importance of this development during the 2018 World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland. He explained that each tablet would contain a “biological chip” for tracking and surveillance purposes. Authorities would be informed that the drug was taken once the tablet is consumed and dissolved inside the body, ensuring compliance.

“Imagine the compliance,” said Bourla at the time. “Imagine the applications of that. The insurance companies know that the medicines patients should take, they take them.” (Related: FLASHBACK: Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla fantasized at World Economic Forum in 2018 about feeding people Wi-Fi microchip drugs.)

An article on the WEF’s website discussed the chip implant technology, which Bourla is promoting through ingestible microchips that stay in the body.

“As scary as chip implants may sound, they form part of a natural evolution that wearables once underwent,” wrote Kathleen Philips, vice president for research and development at the Interuniversity Microelectronics Center in Belgium.

She added: “Hearing aids or glasses no longer carry a stigma. They are accessories and are even considered a fashion item. Likewise, implants will evolve into a commodity.”

Philips also justified children taking these ingestible microchips, saying: “There are solid, rational reasons for it – like safety.”

Critics, however, pointed out that the WEF article by Philips used a wrong analogy. Glasses and hearing aids are not embedded in the body, and they cannot be controlled by outside forces.

Paul Joseph Watson of Summit News also had strong words. “The article pushes the notion that augmented humans are inevitable and that global elites need to establish a power monopoly over the technology in order to ‘ethically’ regulate it,” he wrote.

“The technology is in need of ‘the right support, vision and audacity,’ which of course will be provided by your technocratic overlords, the same people who are desperately trying to censor the internet so they can’t be criticized.”

WEF CEO promotes microchips

Interestingly, WEF CEO Klaus Schwab has also aggressively promoted microchips, claiming these will be implantable and able to read one’s thoughts.

In his book “The Great Reset,” Schwab promoted what he calls the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the idea of transhumanism. This revolution, he wrote, would “lead to a fusion of our physical, digital and biological identity.”

Israeli intellectual Yuval Noah Harari, a top advisor to the WEF, also said people are already “hackable animals” and “free will is no more” once they receive the experimental jabs.

“COVID is critical because this is what convinces people to accept to legitimize total biometric surveillance. We need to not just monitor people, we need to monitor what is happening under their skin,” said Harari, who styles himself as a “prophet of the new age.”

Visit BigPharmaNews.com for more news about Pfizer and other Big Pharma companies.

Watch this excerpt from “The Stew Peters Show” where Bourla himself admits violation of federal law.

watch the video. URL: https://www.brighteon.com/embed/942a9ee9-c740-4e1f-b8d6-fdd034a6ad32

This video is from the Truth or Consequences channel on Brighteon.com.

No Room for Privacy: Facebook Launches Friend-Spying Feature ‘Nearby Friends’.

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A new feature introduced by Facebook to allow meeting the Facebook friends in real time when they are actually close by has had mixed reactions from its users.

Nearby Friends, an optional mobile application, taps steady stream of location information and makes it possible for friends to track each other in real time and meet up in real life.

  • For example, when you’re headed to the movies, ”Nearby Friends” will let you know if friends are nearby so you can see the movie together or meet up afterward,” says the Facebook newsroom.

When selected, it means one can have information about:

A list of approved Facebook friends who have selected this feature and their locations; number of friends nearby; list of friends with their locations, distance from your location and a time stamp of their visits.

The new application has options that allow you to share your general location with your customized Facebook friends, or close friends, depending upon the settings you select.

To avoid stalking, the location is shared only with people who have installed this feature on their mobile and who have agreed to share their location.

Initially, the feature, available on iOS and Android apps, will work only for a few locations.

A worrisome fact about this proximity sharing feature is that it has a ‘Location History’setting that needs to be left on for it to function properly. This feature continuously gathers details about your whereabouts in the background, even when you are not using this feature to check friends nearby.

  • When Location History is on, Facebook builds a history of your precise location, even when you’re not using the app. See or delete this information in the Activity Log on your profile,” reads the description under the Location History Setting.

Additionally, it says,

  • Location History must be turned on for some location feature to work on Facebook, including Nearby Friends. Facebook may still receive your most recent precise location so that you can, for example, post content that’s tagged with your location or find nearby places.”

Josh Constine, A TechCrunch reporter, sees a catch in this. He says that Facebook still collects location data when necessary whether or not you use the new feature.

When left on, your location coordinates are added periodically to your activity log. He adds,

  • It’s a bit sketchy that these maps don’t show up in the default view of Activity Log like most other actions.  It’s almost like Facebook is trying to discourage use of the Clear Location History button.”

However, the new feature will make your experiences better.

  • Location History helps us know when it makes the most sense to notify you (for example, by making sure we don’t send you a notification every time a Facebook friend who works with you is also in the office),” reported TechCrunch quoting the company.

However, it could be used for advertising in future, said a company spokesperson.

Assessment of volumetric growth rates of small colorectal polyps with CT colonography: a longitudinal study of natural history.

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Summary

Background

The clinical relevance and in-vivo growth rates of small (6—9 mm) colorectal polyps are not well established. We aimed to assess the behaviour of such polyps with CT colonography assessments.

Methods

In this longitudinal study, we enrolled asymptomatic adults undergoing routine colorectal cancer screening with CT colonography at two medical centres in the USA. Experienced investigators (PJP, DHK, JLH) measured volumes and maximum linear sizes of polyps in vivo with CT colonography scans at baseline and surveillance follow-up. We defined progression, stability, and regression on the basis of a 20% volumetric change per year from baseline (20% or more growth classed as progression, 20% growth to −20% reduction classed as stable, and −20% or more reduction classed as regression). We compared findings with histological subgroups confirmed after colonoscopy when indicated. This study is registered withClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00204867.

Findings

Between April, 2004, and June, 2012, we screened 22 006 asymptomatic adults and included 243 adults (mean age 57·4 years [SD 7·1] and median age 56 years [IQR 52—61]; 106 [37%] women), with 306 small colorectal polyps. The mean surveillance interval was 2·3 years (SD 1·4; range 1—7 years; median 2·0 years [IQR 1·1—2·3]). 68 (22%) of 306 polyps progressed, 153 (50%) were stable, and 85 (28%) regressed, including an apparent resolution in 32 (10%) polyps. We established immediate histology in 131 lesions on colonoscopy after final CT colonography. 21 (91%) of 23 proven advanced adenomas progressed, compared with 31 (37%) of 84 proven non-advanced adenomas, and 15 (8%) of 198 other lesions (p<0·0001). The odds ratio for a growing polyp at CT colonography surveillance to become an advanced adenoma was 15·6 (95% CI 7·6—31·7) compared with 6—9 mm polyps detected and removed at initial CT colonography screening (without surveillance). Mean polyp volume change was a 77% increase per year for 23 proven advanced adenomas and a 16% increase per year for 84 proven non-advanced adenomas, but a 13% decrease per year for all proven non-neoplastic or unresected polyps (p<0·0001). An absolute polyp volume of more than 180 mm3 at surveillance CT colonography identified proven advanced neoplasia (including one delayed cancer) with a sensitivity of 92% (22 of 24 polyps), specificity of 94% (266 of 282 polyps), positive-predictive value of 58% (22 of 38 polyps), and negative-predictive value of 99% (266 of 268 polyps). Only 16 (6%) of the 6—9 mm polyps exceeded 10 mm at follow-up.

Interpretation

Volumetric growth assessment of small colorectal polyps could be a useful biomarker for determination of clinical importance. Advanced adenomas show more rapid growth than non-advanced adenomas, whereas most other small polyps remain stable or regress. Our findings might allow for less invasive surveillance strategies, reserving polypectomy for lesions that show substantial growth. Further research is needed to provide more information regarding the ultimate fate of unresected small polyps without significant growth.

Source: Lancet

Ablative Therapy for Barrett Esophagus: Caveat Emptor.

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Cancer can still occur after successful eradication of dysplasia with radiofrequency ablation.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for patients with Barrett esophagus with high-grade dysplasia (HGD) has been clearly established as an acceptable and preferred treatment option for the majority of these patients. In the initial multicenter trial, RFA completely eradicated dysplasia in 91% of patients with HGD (JW Gastroenterol May 27 2009) and in 95% who were followed up for 2 years. Repeat RFA was performed in 55% of patients after the 1-year primary end point — mostly based on the discretion of the endoscopist rather than biopsy indication (JW Gastroenterol Nov 4 2011). No cancers were reported. The inference by some clinicians is that patients who have had successful ablative therapy can be considered cured and can be discontinued from surveillance. However, a new case report provides contrary evidence.

Three patients underwent successful RFA treatment of Barrett esophagus with HGD at tertiary academic centers; procedures were performed by nationally recognized experts in RFA. Two patients underwent endoscopic mucosal resection before RFA. The first patient had five post-RFA surveillance endoscopies during 2 years before subsquamous HGD was detected. The second patient had normal neosquamous epithelium at 3 months but subsquamous esophageal adenocarcinoma detected at 6 months. The third patient underwent two endoscopies at 3-month intervals, and at 9 months, a nodular area was noted and a subsquamous esophageal adenocarcinoma was detected.

Comment: This report emphasizes the ongoing risk for cancer following successful RFA treatment in patients with Barrett esophagus and HGD. These cases clearly demonstrate the need for meticulous surveillance. However, until the optimal surveillance schedule after ablative therapy is defined in national guidelines, experts currently recommend surveillance intervals of 3 months in year 1, 6 months in year 2, and 1 year thereafter. Quadrant biopsies should be taken every 1 cm in addition to separate biopsies of any visible lesions. Although RFA poses less risk than surgery, it is far from a cure.

Source: Journal Watch Gastroenterology

 

American Thyroid Association: Better communication among care team critical for optimal care, surveillance

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Physicians who treat patients with thyroid cancer as part of a multidisciplinary treatment team need specific perioperative information, including results from clinical examination, biochemical testing, and cross-sectional and functional imaging tests, among other sources.

Communication between disciplines is critical, but the American Thyroid Association recognized that there was no universally accepted model for effectively sharing this data among the various care providers. The association’s Surgical Affairs Committee was tasked with identifying critical information that should be readily available to each member of the multidisciplinary team. The goal was to help physicians develop a management plan for each patient that will lead to a rational, risk-based approach to initial therapy, adjuvant therapy and follow-up studies.

The committee identified three distinct types of data that must be shared: preoperative evaluations, intraoperative findings and postoperative data, events and plans. The committee provided several data points in each category such as comorbid conditions and abnormal laboratory values that could influence decisions about adjuvant radioiodine ablation therapy in the preoperative category, extent of surgery and description of gross extrathyroidal extension from the intraoperative findings and vocal cord dysfunction and anticipated after-care plan from the postoperative findings.

“Accurate communication of the important findings of thyroidectomy is critical to individualized risk stratification, as well as to the short-term follow-up issues of thyroid cancer care that are often jointly managed in the postoperative setting,” committee member R. Michael Tuttle, MD, of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues wrote. “Moreover, true multidisciplinary communication is essential to providing optimal adjuvant care and surveillance

Source:Endocrine Today.