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300 Drones Formed a QR Code That Rick Rolled Dallas on April Fools' Day
- surbas 5y agoAn interesting phishing method… i.e. the new “leave a usb drive in the parking lot” trick.
- piyh 5y agoReminds me of the "Do not look at the moon" writing prompt. "Do not scan the QR code in the sky" https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/8aec6t/wp_its_3_am_an_official_phone_alert_wakes_you_up/dwyf04b/ https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/8aec6t/wp_i...
- yreg 5y agoThanks for sharing, such a good prompt and story!
- shagie 5y agoThere's a "solution" posed in Different Kinds of Darkness ( https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/different-kinds-of-darkness/ https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/different-kinds-o... ) - some of the background of the world is https://www.nature.com/articles/44964 https://www.nature.com/articles/44964
- thatguy0900 5y agoAnyone else hope they just die before the night sky itself is commercialized. We already got rid of the stars at least leave the darkness behind
- cryptoz 5y agoIt's not entirely clear to me that this was legal in the first place - surely there are light pollution laws in Dallas? And also 'disturbing the peace' laws, etc. I wonder if there are any chance of legal consequences for stunts like this.
- oh_sigh 5y agoThe company that did it is a real company that puts on real drone shows. Presumably they are familiar with the laws relating to their industry.
- jaboutboul 5y agoI would hope that people got a good laugh out of it before things like this become commonplace and then made illegal/enforced.
- dEnigma 5y agoWay to make my thoughts turn to darker things again! I was just enjoying the prank aspect of it, but you pulled me back into reality. While a small part of me feels like drone displays in the sky would be awesome, it would of course be awful in practice (after the novelty wears off).
- ge96 5y agoIf they don't figure out holograms, seems like this is how they'd pull off those megacorp holographic displays of ads you see in media like Blade Runner/Cyberpunk 2077.
- verdverm 5y agoI'm more worried about this with smart glasses. Hopefully we don't get personalized, dynamic, moving ads covering everything or everywhere.
- throwaway81523 5y agoSurgical implants with ads that you can't turn off.
- lp0_on_fire 5y agoI see you haven't been on the internet lately. But in all seriousness, despite it breaking my heart, there will likely be a market for a ublock origin type product for smart glasses.
- Bayart 5y agoI'm not too worried, at least where I live. Light pollution has become a talking point in the EU.
- blhack 5y agoMy city has already started installing high powered parking-lot style LED streetlights all over the city. IMO the battle is already lost. It's legitimately heartbreaking.
- wildmanx 5y agoOther parts of the world have realized that this is impacting insects and birds and have started cutting down on light pollution.
- adrianmonk 5y ago> already got rid of the stars Coincidentally, there was an episode about this yesterday on NPR's Shortwave: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1089593627 https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1089593627 Apparently, despite having a population of 140,000, Flagstaff, Arizona has decided to become a "dark sky city" and succeeded well enough that you can see the Milky Way from downtown. And there are people working to preserve areas that are currently dark and reclaim night sky darkness in other areas.
- ASalazarMX 5y ago2024: You're having dinner after a long day, winding down. An unexpected red flash comes from the window, an explosion? No, the blast never came, and now there's more red flashes, as if coming from the sky, oh please let this not be a meteor! You get to the window, and cautiously look up... TURNING RED 3 COMING TO DISNEY++ THIS SPRING SCAN THIS TO BUY LIMITED STREAMS AVAILABLE
- aaron695 5y ago
- FredPret 5y agoImagine being the rights holder to this song
- ouid 5y agoImagine being Rick Astley, who is not the rights holder
- mxuribe 5y agoI imagine he is now invited to perform at live Rickroll events...like i remembar was done once at a previous Macy's Thanksgiving's Day parade. So, my hope is that he is able to make a nice living off of his music (assuming it is his music).
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- themodelplumber 5y agoAnybody know if there are considerations or plans for things like: - Mandatory periodic ID transmit (via RF) by drones at specific altitudes or in specific areas - Standardized visual marking schemes for drones by class, for example municipal, commercial, federal, etc. Just wondering because for example my city announced that they'll be using drones for power pole checks, which will include a lot of backyard operation. I'd like to be able to identify them if needed.
- jaboutboul 5y agoThere are. See things like: https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/remote_id/ https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/remote_id/
- walrus01 5y agoIf your city or local electrical grid utility is using drones for power line inspections they'll be operated by a FAA part 107 licensed remote pilot, who is familiar with all the legal requirements. No need to be overly concerned about it. https://www.faa.gov/uas/commercial_operators/ https://www.faa.gov/uas/commercial_operators/
- TaylorAlexander 5y agoI gathered that the point of the question is whether one would be able to distinguish between a power company drone and some random person flying in their back yard.
- walrus01 5y agoSome companies do use things like a mavic 2 pro for inspections, which consumers also purchase, there are no specific marking requirements (other than strobe if authorized for night operations) that a part 107 operated UAS would have that would be visible from the ground compared to the same hardware operated by a hobbyist. If it's large and expensive the likelihood that it's some random person decreases, it's easy for a UAS with a thermal camera to be $8,000+.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- suyash 5y agothis method can be used or absued by people to bombard people with propaganda message or drop a link to malware at mass.
- Breza 5y agoI don't think it's any more effective than paying someone $15/hour to drive a billboard truck around town. I live in Washington DC, and I saw two of them near church this week.
- julianlam 5y agoI think you mean "en masse", although you might also mean dropping links to malware during a liturgical service. I don't judge.
- sillysaurusx 5y agoIndeed. The people that want to spam propaganda were limited to newspapers and TV. I shudder to think what they’ll be able to do with this newfound QR power. Pretty soon any random person will be able to put a QR code on their car.
- quinnjh 5y agodepending on wether your definitions of propoganda and malware include rick astley, thats exactly what they did
- sethammons 5y agothe new "fly over and drop paper propaganda fliers in enemy territory" - just launch a bunch of drones to share your message and have them disperse before the authorities arrive.
- raydiatian 5y agoMan, drones are scary. This approach could be adopted for a whole slew of malicious techniques.
- tpmx 5y ago2018 CES - I was really impressed by the Intel drone light show over the Bellagio fountain pool area. Thought it was some weird kind of Vegas wire-pulling effect at first. There were no drone sounds, just strings of lights moving in increasingly strange and impressive ways. Kept trying to figure out how they were able to pull such impressive moves until I saw some guy wearing a shirt that said something like "Intel drone team" and the penny finally dropped. Some "magic" is fun once in a while. Edit: This is what it looked like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7HNQ1NBzgg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7HNQ1NBzgg
- mcphage 5y agoIntel did one in Walt Disney World for a short while in late 2016. I was completely amazed by it, and it was nowhere near as elaborate as the ones shown since.
- ant6n 5y agoSo Star Trek's 3d holograms are real now. Didn't think drones was gonna be the technology that would make it happen.
- julianlam 5y agoIt's all fun and games until 300 drones form a QR code that send unsuspecting people (the same people who would scan a QR code for fun) to a phishing link.
- zitterbewegung 5y agoWhy not both? In all serious you would want to do both so that people think it is just a joke still.
- walrus01 5y ago> to a goatse link
- yosito 5y agoWith the resurgence of QR codes, it's only a matter of time until someone starts printing phishing link QR code stickers and sticking them over innocent looking QR codes for restaurant menus and such.
- Breza 5y agoHow would that work? "Please enter your Gmail password to continue placing an order"?
- dylan604 5y agoOr people that are placing sticker QR codes everywhere are disabled when someone pulls off part of the alignment corners or other destructive ways to make valid QR codes unusable. Some of the local city parking lots have switched to mobile app payment systems expecting people to scan QR codes. These have been disabled by making the QR code unreadable. However, it would also be "easy enough" for people to make a payment system that looks like the legit system, and scam unsuspecting people attempting to pay for parking only to find their cars towed because it wasn't a legit payment. There are certain things where QR codes are NOT the answer.
- aendruk 5y agoIt’s been done: https://www.austintexas.gov/news/fraudulent-qr-codes-found-austin-parking-pay-stations https://www.austintexas.gov/news/fraudulent-qr-codes-found-a...
- pavel_lishin 5y agoIF THIS WERE A VIRUS YOU WOULD BE DEAD NOW FORTUNATELY ITS NOT THE METAVERSE IS A DANGEROUS PLACE; HOW'S YOUR SECURITY? CALL HIRO PROTAGONIST SECURITY ASSOCIATES FOR A FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- irrational 5y agoIt's not funny now that Google puts ads in front of every YouTube video. That is the one video they should exclude from ads.
- omnicognate 5y agoI pay for premium so I can still experience a pure, unsullied rickroll.
- dredmorbius 5y agoValues. Word.
- hbn 5y ago> That is the one video they should exclude from ads I wouldn't be very happy about that if I were Rick Astley!
- edm0nd 5y agouBlock Origin will prevent you from ever seeing a YT ad again. Install it.
- irrational 5y agoHmm, I do have that installed. Do I need to set a parameter?
- Shared404 5y agoIn Firefox at least, it's disabled by default in private windows. In Chrome, you may just be out of luck - I don't remember details, but uBo doesn't work as well there.
- edm0nd 5y agoYes, you have to set some custom filters/rules. see: https://github.com/easylist/easylist/wiki/Youtube-Issues https://github.com/easylist/easylist/wiki/Youtube-Issues
- joshcryer 5y agoLove Field is 6 miles from "downtown Dallas" and the article says they just hovered there. Maybe people living next to Love Field saw it but this is more of a marketing stunt than getting permission to fly 300 drones over downtown Dallas. Still, really cool and I click the little heart or upvote on any drone animation videos I see. The tech is super impressive and the article even talks about the kind of support equipment they need (trailers, rigs, etc). I am not downplaying the task, just surprised me with the headline.
- walrus01 5y agothe sort of people who can do a 300 UAS light show know enough not to operate in the class bravo class bravo airspace is shaped like an upside down wedding cake. you can check the free FAA PDFs for VFR operations in the metro area in question if you want to see its tiers.
- Breza 5y agoI attended an aviation camp when I was 15 and I couldn't believe that the FAA allowed any pilot to fly VFR next to an airport. (Then I moved to Washington DC where you can't fly VFR anywhere.)
- dotancohen 5y ago> class bravo airspace is shaped like an upside down wedding cake. Roughly stepped-funnel shaped?
- emerged 5y agoam I the only one who has literally never thought Rick rolling was even slightly funny? It’s so bizarre to me every time it comes up and everyone reacts like it’s the funniest thing they’ve ever seen. Same with the image of whatever football guy with the T-shirt over his head or whatever. Edit: Imagine downvoting this LOL. Get a life
- hgomersall 5y agoI think the amusement value is less about the intrinsic humour in the linking to the video, and more about the cultural context.
- emerged 5y agoYeah I don’t “get it” There are trillions of memes with cultural context that are actually funny, and aren’t replacing a supposed piece of content with nothingness.
- sethammons 5y agoit is a meme for "made you look." "Made you look" is seldom "funny," but it _is_ a thing. Folks have fun with ever increasingly obscure ways for "made you look" in this context.
- deathhand 5y agoAnd thank goodness we got away from the shock sites that were the original "made you look".
- hgomersall 5y agoThat's absolutely it. Insofar as it's funny, it is so because of the lengths taken to achieve the "made you look". It's the same reason why putting an Austin Seven on the roof of the Senate House in Cambridge* is funny, which is to say it isn't funny in any way you can explain, but is clearly hilarious for the pure whimsy. *https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-21604591 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-2160459...
- mkoc 5y agoDecodes to http://www.d52.io/ http://www.d52.io/
- theandrewbailey 5y agoSeeing that first picture, it looks like there might finally be some content for https://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com/ https://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com/
- hrrsn 5y agoThat site has really aged in the last 2 years.
- Mr_Modulo 5y agoIt would be even cooler to have a lot of drones with red, green and blue LEDs. You could have them fly in a grid and coordinate the brightness of the RGB lights to play a video.
- punnerud 5y agoWith one wire for power going through them vertically you could go really high and stay there “forever”. Could also connect them just at the top, so you can have a wire that is not isolated and higher voltage (less loss)
- cookiengineer 5y ago> Could also connect them just at the top, so you can have a wire that is not isolated and higher voltage You could also just hang up an electric wire with light bulbs at this point.
- punnerud 5y agoNot 1024 of them in parallel really high in the sky to show a movie to all of the city
- lupire 5y agoin 32p resolution?
- Cerium 5y agoYes, like this art installation by Jim Campbell back in 2006: https://bampfa.org/program/jim-campbell-home-movies https://bampfa.org/program/jim-campbell-home-movies Only power and ground were supplied through the two wires connecting to each pixel. The pixels were PIC micro-controllers which contained the brightness levels for that pixel, which would play on loop independently. As I remember, the whole array would loose power intermittently to deal with clock drift.
- samatman 5y ago
- crancher 5y agoBest headline I've read in while.
- nojs 5y agoSuper cool. As someone who knows nothing about drones I would love to see a write up on how to do something like this. Where do you purchase that many drones cheaply, and how do you tell them to coordinate like that? How can you get the positioning so accurate?
- dolfje 5y agoI'm founder of https://and-lights.eu https://and-lights.eu and it's not that simple of just purchasing. There are mainly three aspects. First you have the hardware itself, your drones. Best is to create them yourself. As there aren't many of the shelf products and they are mostly coming from China where safety concerns aren't that high valued as US and EU. For example letting them do a return to home, is a nightmare. As they will just fly across your other drones and hit other while doing. We have also incorporated lots of redundancy, so that we have different ways to communicate with the drone. And also a manual override so that you can steer the drone personally into safety. Next you have the software. That will steer the drones. You have two possibilities for that. Either pre-program all drones with a gps path and send a start signal. Or do it our way and realtime manage the drones (ofcourse with backup path if communcation fails). On the lower level of the software we have our red box that does collision avoidance. So even if you ask the drones to go through each other, that box will stop them before they hit eachother. On top of that we have the real route planning that should produce non-hitting paths. Real-time planning is harder to implement. But it makes sure that you can replace drones if pre-flight checks doesn't let the drone fly. And also makes sure you can adapt the show mid-air. For example to sync up with a live performance. And then the 'boring' part. Getting a license. We have already created more than 800 pages of certification and safety procedures. Just to get a license. That is because in a lot of countries drones are certified as airplanes. So procedures are also like airplanes. Flying a normal drone is possible, but for drone shows you have to get 3 exceptions certified. Namely flying at night, flying in formation and automatic flying. And by creating your own drone, you also need to homologate and certify your drone. Hope I gave you a little hint of what is needed ;)
- totetsu 5y agoAre you swapping out batteries of drones mid show?
- annoyingnoob 5y agoIf you are scanning random QR codes in 2022 then you deserve the Rick Roll, or whatever you get.
- jaredandrews 5y agoNah.
- Havoc 5y agoI'm amazed that 300 is enough - especially at distance and at questionable angle / conditions. Just shows how resilient QR codes are
- scotty79 5y agoDoes it even work? QR code made of lights? Or do you need to manually invert a photo before decoding?
- creatonez 5y agoMost software is able to read color-inverted QR codes.
- willis936 5y agoQR border color indicates this.
- selcuka 5y agoIt even works with the photo used in the article.
- franga2000 5y agoIn my experience most modern QR decoders ignore the spec and gladly decode white-on-black codes as well. I guess people just started making them and then got mad when decoders couldn't handle them, so everyone just kind of went along with it.
- withinboredom 5y agoSometimes, I think I’m reading SimCity 2000 news flashes.
- langsoul-com 5y agoChina does the drone light shows and qr codes drones quite a bit now. Surprised it isn't that used in the West