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posted by Fnord666 on Friday August 02 2019, @12:52PM   Printer-friendly
from the blinky-blowup dept.

Animated arduino powered graduation caps are pretty common, but perhaps not in Florida. When one recent Florida grad placed such a device on his mortar board, the police incited a (minor) bomb scare, confiscated the cap mounted display, and the bomb squad destroyed it. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/student-causes-bomb-scare-at-graduation-with-decorative-ensemble/ar-AAFchE5

Can Cevik, a computer engineering graduate, said he was just trying to be festive earlier this week when he taped a battery-powered digital device to his graduation cap, displaying the message "FIU 2019." ... "Just to clear things up, my cap had an Arduino Uno with a 7-segment display on it and was powered by a 9V battery; it was not an explosive," he said. ... They eventually cleared him to enter the venue, but only after providing him with a new -- plain -- graduation cap. ... Police then called the bomb squad and destroyed the original cap. ... FIU Police Captain Delrish Moss told local reporters that officers acted out of an abundance of caution.

"While that seems very innocent and looks very innocent, it also has the potential to scare people," Moss told local Fox affiliate WSVN. "A police officer spotted it and took the necessary precautions."

This article has a picture of the cap (which appears to be a pretty low effort affair). https://www.waaytv.com/content/national/513449462.html


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by The Archon V2.0 on Friday August 02 2019, @01:29PM (6 children)

    by The Archon V2.0 (3887) on Friday August 02 2019, @01:29PM (#874605)

    Yep, if I was going to smuggle a bomb into a graduation ceremony, I'd stick lights on it and put it on my head, rather than in my clothing. Hell, pop in and get your robe then make an excuse to go back outside and you could smuggle in anything smaller than a compact car.

    We have learning nothing since the Mooninite invasion of '07.

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by BsAtHome on Friday August 02 2019, @01:39PM (2 children)

    by BsAtHome (889) on Friday August 02 2019, @01:39PM (#874610)

    Everybody knows that bombs tick and beep and have a timer display. I saw it in the movies!

    • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 02 2019, @01:57PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 02 2019, @01:57PM (#874616)

      Was it ticking?
      Actually throwers don't worry about ticking 'cause modern bombs don't tick.
      Sorry, throwers?
      Baggage handlers. But, when a suitcase vibrates, then the throwers gotta call the police.
      My suitcase was vibrating?
      Nine times out of ten it's an electric razor, but every once in a while... it's a dildo. Of course it's company policy never to, imply ownership in the event of a dildo... always use the indefinite article a dildo, never your dildo.

    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by ikanreed on Friday August 02 2019, @03:17PM

      by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 02 2019, @03:17PM (#874657) Journal

      Obviously the terrorists want us to be in suspense, not merely surprised.

      We are now having a very innocent little chat. Let's suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, "Boom!" There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but prior to this surprise, it has seen an absolutely ordinary scene, of no special consequence. Now, let us take a suspense situation. The bomb is underneath the table and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware the bomb is going to explode at one o'clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions, the same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: "You shouldn't be talking about such trivial matters. There is a bomb beneath you and it is about to explode!"

      In the first case we have given the public fifteen seconds of surprise at the moment of the explosion. In the second we have provided them with fifteen minutes of suspense. The conclusion is that whenever possible the public must be informed. Except when the surprise is a twist, that is, when the unexpected ending is, in itself, the highlight of the story.

  • (Score: 4, Informative) by nitehawk214 on Friday August 02 2019, @02:46PM

    by nitehawk214 (1304) on Friday August 02 2019, @02:46PM (#874644)

    I believe you have just given police an excuse to have all graduation ceremonies naked.

    --
    "Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 02 2019, @07:28PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 02 2019, @07:28PM (#874799)

    The POLICE are the teerorist in this conversation.

    They showed the complete stupidy and then follow through to show yup it was BOMB so the public be scared.

    The police are saying, "Change your ways! All people with X ARE TERRORIST! See we AHD TO DESTORY A BOMB!".

    Define a "terrorist"? Their goal is to make you change your ways.
    BUSH2 was terriorist. He force America to not fly for 4 days. Be scare of people that are different.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by driverless on Saturday August 03 2019, @04:05AM

    by driverless (4770) on Saturday August 03 2019, @04:05AM (#874984)

    Hey, why do we need actual terrorists when we're doing such a good job of terrorising ourselves?