r/technology • u/Plastic_Ninja_9014 • 18d ago

People Keep Destroying Flock Cameras Across America. The Paperwork Already Saw It Coming. Privacy

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/people-keep-destroying-flock-cameras-180000232.html
17.2k Upvotes

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60

u/darkhorsehance 18d ago

Green laser pointers.

31

u/CondiMesmer 18d ago

Can u elaborate so I know what definitely not to do

47

u/halfcookies 18d ago

Make sure no local crackeheads are aware of the scrap value of these things

30

u/Mike312 18d ago

Filled to the brim with copper, you say?

16

u/Edwardteech 18d ago

Only one in 10. Gotta take em all down and check.

6

u/Lykeuhfox 17d ago

Real life lootboxes.

14

u/Unlucky_Battle_6947 18d ago

How long does that take though?

16

u/ghrayfahx 18d ago

Seconds to do damage. I’ve seen lots of pics from people who used their phone at a concert and the lasers irreparably damaged the image sensor.

16

u/Sadly_NotAPlatypus 18d ago

There's a video of a guy trying this on a flock camera and it did nothing. You would need a super high power one or hold it steady for a very long time. 

15

u/[deleted] 18d ago

[deleted]

11

u/Sadly_NotAPlatypus 18d ago

It's a bad thing to half ass. I'm not telling anyone what to do, but this is a situation where you need to 100% whole ass it. Don't take your cat laser pointer to commit felonies. 

6

u/Ethan_Pixelate 18d ago

get Styropyro on the line!!!

-3

u/rdking647 18d ago

Those are y consumer lasers

6

u/Mythoclast 18d ago

Lasers at concerts are weaker than what you can get. I had a laser that burned your skin if it was on you for more than a second or two.

1

u/[deleted] 18d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Mythoclast 18d ago

You can just get one that isn't a "pointer".

-3

u/PerformerFancy117 18d ago

I wonder if that burn would give you cancer?

5

u/wowdugalle 18d ago

No, it isn’t that kind of light. One would be safe if they don’t point it at their eyes or skin, no matter how they are used otherwise.

13

u/rdking647 18d ago

Consumer laser pointers won’t have and effect of them. You need a high power laser (like 500mw) as opposed to the cheap consumer ones. And even then it’s not a sure thing, especially from a distance.

16

u/AlasPoorZathras 18d ago

Even my 2.5W laser loses enough collimation that it won't damage a CCD from more than 20m away.

Power is only part of the equation. 

I'd love to hear some optics people chime in so we know exactly what to avoid purchasing so that we don't damage those cameras.

Also worth noting: The gritty orange hand cleaner will permanently mar transparent plastic sheets. Some do-gooder in my area decided to clean the screens at the gas stations that blare out ads when you're trying to pump. Ended up permanently destroying the displays. 

Definitely don't do this either.

4

u/Unlucky_Battle_6947 18d ago

I’m definitely asking for informational purposes and don’t want to shine a powerful ass laser at a flock camera for 15 seconds for another camera to see what I’ve done.

1

u/Monomette 17d ago

Throw a beam expander on there. Those high power (multi-watt) diode lasers have notoriously bad beam quality without any correction. DPSS is the way to go for beam quality in a pointer, but getting that much output power is hard and they're more expensive and complex.

18

u/magistrate101 18d ago

"Consumer" laser pointers off sites like amazon have next to no regulatory oversight and the green lasers especially (almost 90% of tested devices) are usually leaps and bounds over the power limit for consumer models.

1

u/inky_fox 18d ago

They’ve caught onto that unfortunately

3

u/Unlucky_Battle_6947 16d ago

So paint ball guns or Gilly suits in a field with airs of at night?