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posted by takyon on Tuesday December 18 2018, @06:52PM   Printer-friendly
from the glitter-lining dept.

Hackaday:

[Mark Rober] was fed up with packages going missing. He kept receiving notifications that his shipments had been delivered, but when checking his porch he found nothing there. Reviewing the CCTV footage revealed random passers-by sidling up to his porch and stealing his parcels. It was time to strike back. Over six months, [Mark] and his friends painstakingly designed, prototyped and iterated the perfect trap for package thieves, resulting in a small unit disguised as an Apple HomePod. The whole scheme is wonderfully over-engineered and we love it.

The main feature of the device is a spinning cup on the top which contains a large amount of glitter. When activated, it ejects glitter in every directions. You could say it's harmless, as it's just glitter. But then again, glitter has a way of staying with you for the rest of your life — turning up at the least expected times. It certainly leaves an emotional impression.

The trap uses an accelerometer to detect movement, geo-fencing to determine when the package has left the property, glitter and a fart spray to make the thief regret it, and smartphones to capture the thief's reaction for the enjoyment of the hacker.

Also at BBC.

See also: Jersey City PD, Amazon work together to catch package thieves
Jersey City PD nabs 12 this week in porch package sting


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Freeman on Tuesday December 18 2018, @08:51PM (13 children)

    by Freeman (732) on Tuesday December 18 2018, @08:51PM (#776038) Journal

    Glitter or Confetti? Here's a good idea, instead of throwing glitter / confetti or the traditional rice (generally for weddings). Try throwing bird seed, generally shouldn't be a problem for the bride, groom, graduate, and won't cause pollution or make the birds explode. Win / win / win.

    --
    Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
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  • (Score: 5, Funny) by archfeld on Tuesday December 18 2018, @09:01PM (10 children)

    by archfeld (4650) <treboreel@live.com> on Tuesday December 18 2018, @09:01PM (#776043) Journal

    My neighbor feeds the doves by the hundreds with birdseed feeders all over her property. She is such a sweet lady but OMG I'm so tired of the bird shit on everything. I have a flat top roof with an observation deck and my telescope there and I have to cover everything and clean literally pounds of dove shit off the deck weekly. I am not normally inclined to hunt doves, the return is too small and entails to much work for a bite and a-half of dove breast, but I am considering it this year for therapeutic reasons.

    --
    For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
    • (Score: 5, Funny) by bob_super on Tuesday December 18 2018, @09:53PM (7 children)

      by bob_super (1357) on Tuesday December 18 2018, @09:53PM (#776065)

      SN holiday joy: come for the glitter bomb, stay for the dove rant

      • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 18 2018, @10:37PM (5 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 18 2018, @10:37PM (#776086)

        Ok I'm lost, what does this have to do with soap?

        • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Freeman on Tuesday December 18 2018, @11:30PM (4 children)

          by Freeman (732) on Tuesday December 18 2018, @11:30PM (#776107) Journal

          Nothing, unless the secret ingredient in dove soap is doves.

          --
          Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
          • (Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 19 2018, @01:21AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 19 2018, @01:21AM (#776136)

            We can only hope, given the recent revelations about baby food and girl scout cookies.

          • (Score: 2) by archfeld on Wednesday December 19 2018, @05:43AM (2 children)

            by archfeld (4650) <treboreel@live.com> on Wednesday December 19 2018, @05:43AM (#776191) Journal

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy6uLfermPU [youtube.com]

            Are Girl Scout cookies made from 100% fresh girl scouts ?

            --
            For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
            • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday December 19 2018, @04:03PM

              by Freeman (732) on Wednesday December 19 2018, @04:03PM (#776354) Journal

              Better read those ingredients carefully.

              --
              Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
            • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday December 19 2018, @05:10PM

              by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday December 19 2018, @05:10PM (#776385)

              Yes.
              They had to adjust the marketing the "fresh", because "100% pure extra-virgin" was causing major supply issues.

      • (Score: 2) by archfeld on Tuesday December 18 2018, @11:10PM

        by archfeld (4650) <treboreel@live.com> on Tuesday December 18 2018, @11:10PM (#776103) Journal

        I am glad to have made you happy :) Hope you have a great holiday season.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG3VcCAlUgE [youtube.com]

        --
        For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
    • (Score: 4, Funny) by hemocyanin on Wednesday December 19 2018, @05:25AM (1 child)

      by hemocyanin (186) on Wednesday December 19 2018, @05:25AM (#776183) Journal

      You could string some electric fencing around your roof near popular roosting spots. Non-lethal (probably though doves are tiny) and I would think a few zaps from that would discourage visitors. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Fi-Shock-2-Mile-Solar-Powered-Electric-Fence-Energizer-ESP2M-FS/205458885 [homedepot.com]

      • (Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Wednesday December 19 2018, @10:01AM

        by Rivenaleem (3400) on Wednesday December 19 2018, @10:01AM (#776241)

        Or you contribute to the evolution of Electricity-resistant Super-dove Overlords (who I welcome wholeheartedly BTW)

  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Wednesday December 19 2018, @12:36AM

    by Bot (3902) on Wednesday December 19 2018, @12:36AM (#776123) Journal

    Then the birds discover the practice and stalk the spouse. Surely memorable wedding footage though.

    --
    Account abandoned.
  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 19 2018, @06:49AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 19 2018, @06:49AM (#776207)

    I'm not sure if they switched to confetti in the meantime, but the practice in romania was to throw wheat (i.e. birdfeed), some twenty-thirty years ago.
    and no, brides were not attacked by birds.