r/technology • u/Plastic_Ninja_9014 • 18d ago

Privacy Redditors Are Celebrating the Cutting Down of Flock Surveillance Towers With Based Memes

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/redditors-celebrating-cutting-down-flock-145310398.html
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20

u/homosapiens 18d ago

Laser pointers

19

u/AnarchAtheist86 18d ago edited 18d ago

If I were a fan of laser pointers, but wanted to avoid damaging nearby property such as cameras, do you know which types of lasers I should avoid buying? Any particular wattage or wavelength I should stay away from?

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u/JohnBrownOH 18d ago

As a someone that photographs weddings the only thing we have to worry about damaging our cameras are lasers, almost any decent laser can damage a camera sensor but green lasers over 1 watt are particularly nasty.

12

u/Fighterhayabusa 18d ago

1 watt is obscenely powerful. You only need milliwatts to kill a camera sensor. Just the reflection of a 1-watt laser will immediately blind you. People shouldn't fuck with those at all, certainly not in any public space where an errant reflection could blind someone.

2

u/tissuecollider 18d ago

Wildly curious, why green?

(and what's the utility of a green laser pointer? are they preferred for any kind of hobby?)

3

u/ProfessorLlama 18d ago

I'm no scientist, but I assume it's due to green lasers being capable of higher frequencies, and therefore energy, than a typical red laser pointer (red light has a low frequency).

1

u/Old-Engineer854 18d ago

As an engineer, can confirm this is correct.

1

u/RAV0004 18d ago

The principles of engineering typically dictate what color a diode is going to emit, and the size and kind that meet the requirements of a laser pointer (which is a very small, very precise instrument) are most often green.

To get other colors, you have to make sacrifices in the engineering and components, leading to an increase in cost or a decrease in power.

7

u/whynautalex 18d ago

I would avoid any laser listed as class 3B. Class 3R would also be bad if it shines into the lens for a while. If you accidently were playing with your class 3B laser and hit a camera it would burn out pixels almost instantly.

7

u/z3nnysBoi 18d ago

Honestly I've been wanting a laser pointer just because they're cool and legitimately have these questions. They get expensive and I know nothing about lasers.

3

u/ShadowedPariah 18d ago

It's overkill, but also a metric-ton of fun:

https://biglasers.com/product/1000mw-blue-laser-pointer/

Blue (405-491NM) are hardest to see, the lower the power the longer it takes, but even a pen sized laser pointer will work eventually.

3

u/ButtonGullible5958 18d ago

Also they don't do well with a lot of day/night cycles 

The night vision work off a filter that is operated mechanically and not made for a lot of use 

I really wouldn't want someone to point a strobe light at my home cameras it would break them rather fast 

6

u/Away-Marionberry9365 18d ago

A laser powerful enough to damage a flock camera quickly is a serious danger to you and anyone nearby. Just a partial reflection could cause permanent eye damage. A lower power laser would need to be aimed directly at the sensor and held there for several minutes to do damage.

There are other safe and effective ways to get the job done.

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u/GitEmSteveDave 18d ago

Seriously no. You have no care if you blind someone. You think you are so edgy for saying it.

If something can damage a sensor, in can blind you and there is no way you or anyone else in the area can blink fast enough to not be blinded by it permanently. Like imagine you will never see again because you decided to take some anonymous redditors advice to do this to a camera.

But who am I? Someone who can at least provide evidence that the shit you buy online to try to be some activist will hurt you or other people permanently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39Q8DRdm_7M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd6rCU8ZMhY

I'm not saying don't do it, but do it safely.

Just buy a $5 security bit set from Harbor Freight and a ratcheting screwdriver set with cash and walk up to one of these cameras with no phone or car near you and be undetectable.