Saigonauticon @ Saigonauticon @voltage.vn

Posts

5

Comments

453

Joined

2 yr. ago

The camera part would work as a normal camera, sure. However, the fact that it would turn on whenever it detects the 'don't record me' signal is an additional feature that provides context to the video recordings and also logs all times the signal is detected and used.

So similar to the way other popular security cameras provide new features, e.g. a camera that only records when motion is detected.

Anyway it's something I literally just thought up in 15 seconds. Obviously it would be unreasonable to expect a polished, viable, feature-complete product idea. Which are a commodity in any case :D

I'm some sort of mercenary science hermit. So take any statement I make about human beings with a grain of salt :D

Sure, why not? It would probably be good fun to talk product development with the CEO of Apple.

Then maybe I can take a look at their implementation and see if I can secure it (standard consulting rates apply). Apple has a lot of good engineers, I bet they already know about the trivial stuff, so I could get right into the interesting problems.

I mean, a naive implementation uses bluetooth LE, but presumably users could just turn bluetooth off (among other problems). I can think of better implementations that don't require radio or internet to work. I think a smarter approach would be optical or audio encoding. That would make it reliable in concerts (where lighting and sound are tightly controlled), but not reliable enough in most police-state contexts (where lighting and sound are not tightly controlled). Fine tuning it further to ensure that it only works in the context of concerts should be pretty easy.

I haven't read the patent though, I don't presently have access to BBC.

I used them as a sort of thin client into a system that I had root on, so I could do whatever Science demanded of me without asking for access. Permitted, but certainly unexpected!

I would carry a USB stick that just had a VNC client on it. My home server was built from high-end scrap, and was leagues faster than anything the department had at the time, at least for student use.

I also had a Sharp Zaurus I had jury-rigged WiFi into, so I could run data analysis whenever I thought of something. It ran VNC or SSH. This was in the early days before it was called "machine learning" or even "big data". So we take this sort of thing for granted now (hello Google Cloud), but at the time it was magic superpowers to have immediate access to a machine with 4 physical CPUs from a handheld device.

Haha, what a great idea! I love it! Sending me a signal about things you don't want me to record!

I would build two things. First, an antenna that detects and (using multiple copies) locates these signals on a real time, public-access map.

Second, I'd build a security camera with a wide angle lens that turns ON whenever this signal is received.

Sure, 90% of people don't know how to do these things -- but I do, and I can put them in a store and the results on a website. Most people know how to buy a thing and plug it in, or access a website!

Then I'll manufacture a ton of them at a factory here in Vietnam, and you will be able to buy them at a reasonable price. I'll make a tidy sum, pay a bunch of taxes that will build highways and schools, and you'll have more freedom than you started with.

We all win!

Three. This one, one as admin of my instance (so I don't have to log in as admin all the time), and a bot account.

The bot only responds to DMs to add some fun new features. It's not online yet.

I have zero accounts for NSFW, because I am always at work.

I build various random number generators, and then use them in elaborate practical jokes.

Solid-state particle detectors, zener avalanche noise, etc. Many failed designs (or failed... So far).

Sometimes I put them in sinister looking cases. Sometimes behind an API. Sometimes I design a coffee maker that brews coffee in a quantum superposition of caffeination states.

I'm working on one that is a Lemmy bot. It won't be done particularly soon though.

I use JPEGs in a PDF. They can be mediocre quality. Using an OK scanner makes a big difference. It's good enough!

I'm required by law to keep physical paper copies for 35 years. So my parallel solution is a cursed filing cabinet, and several crates that describe the content of the filing cabinet. Its ugly, but saves me tons on data archiving, I guess?

Yeah that's what I thought too. Needs a hundred more mouths filled with sharp teeth. All screaming at once in a shattering howl that will darken your dreams for decades.

And eyes, eyes everywhere. Rolling in pain, or the deeper ecstasy of madness.

Haha then there's the other extreme: "It works, but I can't explain how in a reasonable span of time".

I immigrated to Vietnam in 2012. Even though government and society was much more welcoming than this case, the overall experience was... not that different!

Maybe immigration is just a pretty awful experience overall.

Maybe someday, but it's exhausting. I would probably be much happier if I just closed shop and went to do a PhD. I might even be able to afford to, in a couple of years.

Then maybe teach engineering in some unknown university in the countryside. Or run a machine shop that helps artists make things. Or just build alarmingly large robots for no reason at all.

Haha...yeah. I'm an academic at heart and my first few years at running a business were a complete disaster. I've since graduated into being a mediocre businessperson, which is probably about as far as I intend to get.

I mean, it would have been better if they didn't go out of business, and paid my invoices. Barring that, at least I'm left with something to laugh about!

There are a few started on different servers, but I set one up locally. Normally I spend some time on Reddit answering questions from travelers &c as a bit of a public service, but with Reddit becoming boring, I figured I'd give that a try over here.

Vietnam is a friendly but notoriously opaque place, so there is usually no shortage of questions 😄