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Delivery for Mr. Assange
- Mithrandir 14y agoWow, I was just thinking how cool it would be to watch a package be delivered online. Anyone know how the images are being transmitted?
- thefreeman 14y agoProbably a cell phone
- contingencies 14y agoCopy that. I wrote something like this over bonded GSM links (1G) in Australia circa late 2000/early 2001. Also carried a GPS feed. 10 seconds was about normal then for a CIF JPEG over 2 x ~8kbps links (very lossy and unreliable though). This is higher res, but then data speeds have improved.
- gesman 14y agoHow does it holds internet connection? Police will definitely notice it for Julian - and will x-ray it. Then they'll see wires and circuitry inside. Bomb? Would be interesting to see progress...
- dmix 14y agoIt's possible it won't be detected. Parcels sent locally don't go through nearly the level of security as customs puts foreign packages through.
- joejohnson 14y agoIsn't it technically a foreign package travelling from the UK (I presume) to the Ecuadorean embassy, which is Ecuadorean soil?
- mayanksinghal 14y agoIt is not actually their soil :) [1] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_mission#Extraterritoriality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomatic_mission#Extraterrito...
- tptacek 14y agoContrary to popular belief, embassies are not in fact foreign soil.
- w1ntermute 14y agoYeah, I'm pretty surprised that Her Majesty's government hasn't already raided the Ecuadorian embassy, taken Assange into custody, and handed him over to the Swedes. Ecuador is a pretty insignificant country, and it's not like they'd catch any flak from the American government for such a move.
- derrida 14y agoThe diplomatic fallout in the event of a raid would be huge. There was a meeting of all foreign ministers of South America who issued a joint statement to condemn the UK for threatening to raid the embassy.
- w1ntermute 14y agoWould it be that big of a deal? South America (with the possible exception of Brazil) isn't exactly that economically or politically influential.
- injnhb 14y agoYou're suggesting that England - one of the most powerful countries in the world - should throw away all ties with an entire continent of countries, just so they can arrest a man to be questioned about sexual assault allegations? Yes, it's obvious the real reason they want to get to him, but come on.
- clauretano 14y agoIt'd be surprising if a high profile place such as an embassy didn't have its own off-site mail sorting facility. Many high profile non-government places already do this. It's fairly easy to evacuate a mail facility full of contractors (from Pitney-Bowes or other) every time you receive a suspicious package or your systems detect harmful chemicals; to do the same with your corporate HQ would be far more disruptive.
- objclxt 14y agoFor the US Embassy yes, but there can't be more than a dozen people working at the Ecuadorian embassy (I believe it's physically located inside a block of flats). Diplomatic missions for poorer, or smaller, countries tend to be relatively mundane affairs.
- thefreeman 14y agoSimplest way would be a cell phone + app I'd think.
- chris_mahan 14y agoWe'll see a policeman's face with a look that says "I wonder what this little hole is for."
- Pinckney 14y agoAlternatively, it is a bomb, and one cleverly prepared to maximize the likelihood that it is opened by its intended target. (Somehow I imagine Mr Assange is careful about opening unsolicited packages these days -- but if he becomes aware of this one, he might relax that standard). Perhaps my tinfoil hat needs adjusting.
- unimpressive 14y agoNo, it doesn't.
- joshguthrie 14y agoDoes not. That's the first thing that came into my mind when I saw it. At least now we all know who gave this crazy idea to some secret agent agencies if this indeed happens.
- denzil_correa 14y agoThis looks straight out from a Hollywood movie. Now, this makes me curious. Who is behind this?
- gesman 14y agoMust be someone anonymous :)
- cynwoody 14y agoGoogle for !Mediengruppe Bitnik. They are a "media collective" based in Zurich[1]. And this is not their first hack. [1]https://sites.google.com/site/kabkinteractivemediadesign/opportunities/workshopmediengruppebitnik https://sites.google.com/site/kabkinteractivemediadesign/opp...
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- gesman 14y agoAlso audio feed would be interesting as well. Is there somewhere array of saved images kept?
- mikle 14y agoScroll TFA down. More. Past the Tweets. Bingo.
- thefreeman 14y agoIf you scroll down the main site, all the previous pictures are listed with mouse over captions
- JosephRedfern 14y agoExample URL: http://54.243.29.30/public/ASSANGE/2013/01/16/20130116204737.jpg http://54.243.29.30/public/ASSANGE/2013/01/16/20130116204737... The filename s in the form YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.jpg - you could probably guess the path to past images if you wanted to, or even knock up a script that would download them all.
- benevolinux 14y ago"knock up a script that would download them all" That doesn't seem to end well for people lately.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- state 14y agoIt's a package outfitted with a camera and an internet connection that periodically uploads photos en route to Julian Assange. The page updates with each image and contains a record of all the images.
- NanoWar 14y agoDoesn't load for me :( Edit: Seems a bit overloaded and only slowed down.
- Mithrandir 14y agoHere's a saved version: http://archive.is/lIwe8 http://archive.is/lIwe8
- kilroy123 14y agoHmm... sending a device into an embassy, that is recording data (video), possibly sound, and transmitting it. Isn't this an act of espionage? While cool, this seems like a bad idea to me.
- jpdoctor 14y ago> Isn't this an act of espionage? I'm no spook, but I'd be surprised if the usual protocol for such situations is to advertise the presence of a camera on a high-traffic website.
- cyanbane 14y agoI agree, very ballsy art. I don't believe I have ever explicitly seen a law here in the US (I know this is UK, just comparing) forbidding cameras within a package, but I would think there would be some law on the books somewhere they could apply (not saying that is a good thing, esp in light of recent events).
- fnordfnordfnord 14y agoCFAA, wire fraud. It fits any crime.
- sesqu 14y agoGeneral espionage / covert surveillance should cover it better.
- damian2000 14y agoA reason it might not be allowed is due to fire risk - anything operated from batteries is supposed to be turned off, and with the battery terminals isolated ... these are guidelines from the postal services ... http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/ship/packaging/guidelines/batteries.html http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/ship/packaging/gu... http://www.royalmail.com/despatch-inward-mail-services/hints-and-tips/restricted-goods http://www.royalmail.com/despatch-inward-mail-services/hints...
- 14y ago
- jamesjguthrie 14y agoDefinitely think this is a bad idea. If the Royal Mail find out they might destroy the package.
- enneff 14y agoAnd that's a bad thing? I don't think they're concerned about property damage. They're doing it to see what happens.
- jamesjguthrie 14y agoI'm not 100% sure but it does sound to me like it might be illegal as it's passing through and taking unauthorised photographs of Government offices (the Post Office) and the Ecuadorian Embassy.
- australis 14y agoCan be followed on twitter as well https://twitter.com/bitnk/ https://twitter.com/bitnk/ also, e-mail sent to Assange informing him of the parcel: http://pastebin.com/44m5UViP http://pastebin.com/44m5UViP
- damian2000 14y agoI didn't get this part ... > There are over 9000 identical parcels! So, if the first parcel fails to reach you, we will undertake a second and third attempt. Surely they haven't made 9000 camera parcels?
- eurleif 14y ago"Over 9000" is a meme, so don't take it literally.
- damian2000 14y agoOk thanks! http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/its-over-9000 http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/its-over-9000
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- moolcool 14y agoI bet it's some viral marketing thing. Assange is about to learn about the crisp, refreshing taste of Bud Light.
- MrJagil 14y agoCan anyone explain the URL to me?
- entropie 14y agoIts not an URL. Its an IP.
- arcatek 14y agoWell, even if it's an IP, it is still a URL.
- geuis 14y ago"a URL". One doesn't say "an uniform resource locator".
- sturmeh 14y agoIt is a URL, the host component is simply provided as an IP address instead of a Domain, so that the domain cannot be stricken from DNS records in order to take the site down.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- jayzalowitz 14y agoAnyone else want to see assange giving a thumbs up and rapping at the end of this?
- RKoutnik 14y agoKnowing the internet, he'd probably sing "Never Gonna Give You Up"
- nvr219 14y agoI want Assange to open the package while doing the gangnam style elevator guy dance and then closing the package and sending it off to its next adventure.
- BrokenPipe 14y agoHe forgot the rapping but he did give thumbs up!
- rapind 14y agoYou may want to follow this on twitter instead of using the IP Address given in the link. I only say this in case it's just one server behind this IP address, and the camera / phone is posting it's images to it as well. Viral traffic could potentially ruin the entire experiment.
- state 14y agoI can no longer edit the post, but if a mod wants to switch it to a Twitter link I agree that would be a good idea. I didn't expect this to be so popular.
- spoiledtechie 14y agoPretty Awesome little technique. Any chance we could do this for presidents?
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- A1kmm 14y agoInteresting experiment. Some of the Twitter posts say where the parcel is, but there is no EXIF data on the images posted. I would guess that either the images were geotagged but are processed to remove it, or the author separately uploads GPS data along with images. Any chance of providing a time series of the parcel's location?
- koenigdavidmj 14y ago>Any chance of providing a time series of the parcel's location? Let's do that /after/ it arrives.
- xxpor 14y agoIt appears the ec2 instance has died. They should put an ELB in front of it (I assume you can get static ips for elbs).
- jwilliams 14y agoELBs are accessed via a CNAME as it's on scalable/changable infrastructure - you can't get a (reliable) static IP.
- SvenAndersson 14y agoAwesome! But I hope they have some plan to fix this: "!Mediengruppe Bitnik @bitnk moving again. but: USER IS over daily photo limit: bitnik!" edit: Nvm, seems it was only a photo limit on the pic.twitter.com service.
- youngtaff 14y agoIt's going to get opened... You've only got to look at the xray image on the bottom of this site to see why - http://archive.is/lIwe8 http://archive.is/lIwe8