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Hacker Makes a Flawless Booby Trap, Strikes Back Against Package Thieves

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

Phoenix666 writes:

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: 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

    Starting Score:    1  point
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  • (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