4 ms·

This idea could scale if you also had a network of people on the lookout for stolen stuff. E g an app on their phone that constantly scans for wifi networks mat

by abraae 5y ago

This idea could scale if you also had a network of people on the lookout for stolen stuff. E g an app on their phone that constantly scans for wifi networks matching your STOLEN pattern (not sure if actually possible on Android/apple). The searchers could get a bounty of they helped find a stolen object. Their app could also connect to the device (using a single well known password) and could switch it into fast mode where it transmits constantly instead of once/day. Making it even easier for someone else in the network to find it.

teachrdan 5y ago
If I were a thief, I'd sign up for the service, find the item that's snitching on me, and search it until I found all the devices on it that were broadcasting its location.
- abraae 5y ago
  Then the system would have a record that you (the bounty hunter) had had contact with the stolen item (the bike). You might get away with it once or twice but as a habitual thief this creates quite a trail of evidence about you.
  - teachrdan 5y ago
    The guys described in the article weren't exactly rocket scientists. And the cops only intervened because the tag's alarm was going off right in front of them while the writer showed them the device info on their screen. It's easy to imagine that, if the thief--who may not even be the store owner--had immediately destroyed the tag, the cops would never have intervened and the guy would never have found their scooter.
timonoko 5y ago
> not sure if actually possible on Android/apple. As it happens I already have similar Burglar Alarm running on Android Termux. So easy it is. This warns when one ESP wakes up and appears on local Wifi. import os,json,time os.system("termux-wake-lock") os.system("termux-wifi-enable true") while True: r=os.system("ping -c 1 192.168.1.59") if r==0: os.system("termux-volume music 15") os.system("termux-tts-speak -l en YOUR GARAGE DOOR IS OPEN!") time.sleep(60)

by abraae 5y ago

teachrdan 5y ago

If I were a thief, I'd sign up for the service, find the item that's snitching on me, and search it until I found all the devices on it that were broadcasting its location.

abraae 5y ago
Then the system would have a record that you (the bounty hunter) had had contact with the stolen item (the bike). You might get away with it once or twice but as a habitual thief this creates quite a trail of evidence about you.
- teachrdan 5y ago
  The guys described in the article weren't exactly rocket scientists. And the cops only intervened because the tag's alarm was going off right in front of them while the writer showed them the device info on their screen. It's easy to imagine that, if the thief--who may not even be the store owner--had immediately destroyed the tag, the cops would never have intervened and the guy would never have found their scooter.

timonoko 5y ago

> not sure if actually possible on Android/apple. As it happens I already have similar Burglar Alarm running on Android Termux. So easy it is. This warns when one ESP wakes up and appears on local Wifi. import os,json,time os.system("termux-wake-lock") os.system("termux-wifi-enable true") while True: r=os.system("ping -c 1 192.168.1.59") if r==0: os.system("termux-volume music 15") os.system("termux-tts-speak -l en YOUR GARAGE DOOR IS OPEN!") time.sleep(60)