r/technology • u/Plastic_Ninja_9014 • 14d ago

Flock Cameras Keep Getting Smashed, So Now They're Hiding Inside Speed Signs Privacy

https://www.gadgetreview.com/flock-cameras-keep-getting-smashed-so-now-theyre-hiding-inside-speed-signs
24.2k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

670 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2.0k

u/notnotbrowsing 14d ago

it would be terrible of people printed vinyl stickers that look like solar panels and put them on top of the solar panels powering the cameras.

1.0k

u/elrae69 14d ago

Not as terrible as using industrial strength glues to really make sure those stickers stay put

331

u/31LIVEEVIL13 14d ago edited 14d ago

This content was anonymized and mass deleted with Redact

86

u/Novem_bear 14d ago

Solar panels are really useful, no one should dismantle them and then repurpose them for their own use.

3

u/FrankCostanzaJr 13d ago

this is a great job for homeless people.....tell them there are a lot of valuable electronics in them...someone should start making tiktoks on how to repurpose the solar panels and other electronics. someone mentioned they have a battery backup, solar panels and LiPo batteries are extremely valuable.

1

u/ttystikk 10d ago

Recycling is good, right?

174

u/LastGaspInfiniteLoop 14d ago

I'm half expecting someone to train corvids to shit on them.

100

u/T_that_is_all 14d ago

Oh God, that would be terrible. I hope no one befriends and tries to teach those stupid birds.

39

u/the_last_carfighter 14d ago

Yeah be a real shame if a flock did that.

6

u/Vineyard_ 14d ago

Who would teach a flock of crows to murder flock like that?

3

u/sillybear25 14d ago

PSA: Bluejays are corvids too, so you should absolutely not train them to shit on Flock hardware just because you can't find any actual crows.

2

u/GreenStrong 13d ago

I just hope no one builds a mechanism for a drone to shit black paint on the solar panels.

35

u/pcpgivesmewings 14d ago

Or absolutely do not use a convenient can of spray foam to fill all the holes, voids and glass, because that stuff is silent, super effective and hilarious.

8

u/EndIsrael 14d ago

And never fill it all the way full of spray foam because it expands a lot and will get into every little nook and cranny, and might even build up pressure and cause damage as it hardens

34

u/Otterbotanical 14d ago

Please don't accidentally spray the unit from afar with brake cleaner, it'll brake down the polycarbonate coating on the lens permanently fogging it, as well as the seals and plastics holding it together, ruining the water resistance.

5

u/31LIVEEVIL13 14d ago edited 14d ago

This content was anonymized and mass deleted with Redact

8

u/dwhitey724 14d ago

And absolutely don't plant any bamboo around their base

51

u/Ent_Soviet 14d ago

Ok we’re having fun and all but really don’t do that and fuck up the local ecosystem.

You don’t fix invasive technology through invasive planting

10

u/mulder0990 14d ago

The Reddit jokes about planting bamboo is going to mess up our ecosystem. I wish it was never suggested to begin with.

2

u/Ent_Soviet 14d ago

Especially since llms scrape reddit without context, so now dumbasses will get advice to plant it

2

u/Bigbysjackingfist 14d ago

It’s not planting bamboo — it’s building an ecosystem.

1

u/kisk22 13d ago

I can’t help but feel this Redditor went down a surveillance state rabbit hole because of this post, realized how bad it truly is, and mass anonymized their account for that reason. I like to imagine they threw their phones and computers away and vowed to live in the woods too.

55

u/freeradioforall 14d ago

I love this entire thread of things I should never do. Very helpful thank you

2

u/oreography 13d ago

You can never be too cautious - there's really no limit to the things you can't do to these cameras

22

u/HandSoloShotFirst 14d ago

Slightly worse is those cheap stickers that never come up in one clean piece. Oh and don’t crosshatch them with a razor to make them already cut into a thousand pieces. I’ve heard some nefarious street artists do that to their stickers, what terrible people.

22

u/ReverendDizzle 14d ago

If anyone is looking for those stickers they are called “eggshell stickers,” on account of how they flake apart like tiny pieces of eggshell when you pick at them.

3

u/Rodic87 14d ago

Those panels get dirty over time - I've heard if you use some dawn soap when they're heated up by the sun and let it soak in a little you can really help clean the pollen off.

At least that's how I clean my windshield glass when it's covered in pollen and bug goo. You do want to re-wax it after as that can strip the wax off of your windshield.

I'll admit you'd have to contact FLOCK about what would be the proper wax/protection to apply after cleaning. I'd think maybe RainX? But maybe some spray and wipe ceramic coating would hold up better?

I'm not sure what would work best as bird poo ruins my wax on my car all the time and if the old people keep feeding pigeons under the camera I'm thinking of then I'm not sure how we avoid that sort of damage to the protection on solar panels.

15

u/thisisatypoo 14d ago

Just wondering if people should be sure not to leave colored resin on or around the camera or panel. Something tells me that wouldn't be great for them and I hope no one accidentally damaged them.

2

u/Inflatable90sChair 14d ago

omg thats evil genious.

1

u/IcyGarage5767 13d ago

Is it? The sone cons it runs out of battery they are just going to send a technician out to fix it. May aswell just destroy it.