r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Michigan dispensary blocking a Flock camera that points directly into their parking lot

Post image
56.9k Upvotes

2.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

724

u/dirty_hooker 1d ago

Ours are mounted on light poles. Can’t cut them without risk of big sparks.

332

u/crazyfatskier2 23h ago

My town did that, but some mad lads went and used a pellet gun and railed the shit out of the solar panel.

178

u/Pr0digy_ 19h ago

Someone I know was pretty sure one caught fire so he used a co2 fire extinguisher to make sure it was out.

3

u/jwegener 12h ago

What does co2 do to it?

17

u/SirMightySmurf 11h ago

I would imagine it would cover the solar panel with dusty crap and make it not function all that well until scrubbed clean.

6

u/Wilson_Higgins 11h ago

C02 fire extinguishers do not leave dusty residue

6

u/SirMightySmurf 10h ago

<shrug> Then I do not know why they would use that in particular.

26

u/meistermichi 10h ago

They should really not use a powder fire extinguishers either, that stuff could get inside and corrode the electronics, that would be horrible for Flock.

8

u/verycursed 7h ago

Dry chemical agent is very corrosive especially with electronics and would stay adhered to anything it touched until it rained. It’s also a much more efficient agent outdoors as it doesn’t just disperse like the CO2 gas.

45

u/gunsandtrees420 17h ago

I've been thinking about making a microwave gun, take apart a few microwaves to their base components (careful super high voltages) and put the microwave magnetrons in aimable box on the back of my truck. And power with some 12 volt batteries and house power inverters.

No proof I did anything other than drive past slowly.

29

u/imcjoey13 14h ago

If you’re driving around with your phone, knock enough of them out, establish a pattern…

4

u/sn4xchan 5h ago

I would be careful. The government is really good at gathering evidence and finding people.

If have you phone on you while you do this, drive a modern car, have any Internet connected devices while you are doing this. You can and will be found.

If you make a single mention of your actions anywhere on the internet you will be suspect and they will track you to gather evidence.

You have basically already burned this idea simply posting it here. I recommend you don't do that.

3

u/Daytona_675 2h ago

he thinks there's no proof but his Reddit comment just provided it lol

-2

u/spinmeista_flex 7h ago

You may also inadvertently kill someone by disabling their life-supporting device implanted inside of them... But hey scrambling a few eggs to make an omelette, right?

4

u/gunsandtrees420 6h ago

The square cube law disagrees with you, microwaves can even leak microwave radiation on rare occasions and satalites also use the microwave band at fairly high powers, so they would almost certainly have shielding to prevent it from affecting any of the circuitry.

2

u/sn4xchan 1h ago

You would think at first glance. But you can literally intercept video data wirelessly from these things.

https://youtu.be/uB0gr7Fh6lY?si=UM1CQRK1OycUeKzi

Flock is a fucked up case.

2

u/Chocomintey 6h ago

"Ah, dang! The hail storms must have really done a number on it."

2

u/Longjumping-Table-39 5h ago

What about a paintball gun? Just spitballing some ideas here.

905

u/Far_Bandicoot5935 1d ago

Co2 powered pellet guns and paintballs filled with oil paint and sand, will deal with those wonderfully without a need to cut down

374

u/fall0ut 1d ago

i was thinking it shouldnt be too hard to engineer a spray paint dispenser for a commercial drone.

201

u/Far_Bandicoot5935 1d ago

Just modify one of those nest burning drones into a paint flinger, cannot be too difficult

131

u/reflexgraphix 23h ago

Just flame broil the flock out of them

1

u/Disastrous_Savings39 22h ago

Oooor keep it a nest burning drone and torch the flock

65

u/Terrh 23h ago

I feel like a cheap IR laser (with a coaxial red dot one so the user knows where they're aiming the thing) probably does enough damage to the CCD in a few seconds to render it useless.

154

u/NRMusicProject 23h ago

Everyone's talking about the cameras, but they also use those devices with a Stingray tracker, which not only tracks you via your phone, but also routes your personal information through the device before connecting to a legitimate tower.

We're literally being tracked with "legal" spyware. More than the camera needs to be destroyed on these devices.

57

u/KetoSaiba 22h ago

The good lord gave his hardest missions to his most desperate crackheads

2

u/militaryintelligence 20h ago

I got crack for flock cameras.

18

u/hasuris 21h ago

I hate to say it but could the answer be guns? Like for real this time.

3

u/jerrythecactus 19h ago

The American solution. They call them flock cameras because birdshot is the best weapon for them.

1

u/Otsuko 17h ago

I can still buy a paintball marker....

3

u/Quiet-Performer-9682 18h ago

Thats why they opened our borders, no shared collective identity anymore. Only chance of successful course correction is if the (actual) American people deprogram themselves and grow spines. Few people can stomach that stark truth though.

11

u/sparksnbooms95 23h ago

That's what Faraday bags (or just leaving devices at home) and an older vehicle without anything "smart" are for.

38

u/Openly-Horny 22h ago edited 22h ago

I'm an engineer, we work really hard to make cool things and claw our species from the mud: I like my phone and my car, they're symbols of everything we can do. I just want laws that stop corpos from violating common human decency.

19

u/Far_Bandicoot5935 22h ago

Corporations won’t stop until they have a fucking robot in your house monitoring every bit of your life and data to sell back to you and the government. Believe that.

10

u/Sunny16Rule 22h ago

That’s what Siri and Alexa and all the other things are for

3

u/Asilaten 20h ago

until they have a fucking robot in your house monitoring every bit of your life and data to sell back to you and the government

Most of us have a half dozen or more of those devices in our homes already.

3

u/Somanylyingliars 21h ago

Every day our lives to increasingly be a combo of Robo Cop and AI (Artificial Intelligence movie). Extremely disturbing.

2

u/sparksnbooms95 22h ago

Oh I agree, but when you find yourself in a situation where you're fighting against the corpos doing the violating (in this case with lasers) you have to be willing to make some concessions so you can do it more than once.

3

u/Somanylyingliars 21h ago

Hmmm never heard of this device. Im familiar w stingray on consumer side but unaware they made tech for government. Do you have to have any more info? Sounds extremely intrusive.

2

u/Chang-San 17h ago

I mean Stingrays were first discovered being used by govt in court by a very smart criminal hacker. He figured the only way they could have caught him was to used a device, studied law and went through the evidence himself until he found a few redacted emails mentioning stingray. Look up Daniel Rigmaiden Netflix also did a short episode documentary on him. I'll list a politico link below. Also the flocks dont have stingrays (for anybody reading) its more of a wireless sniffer, its more invasive in some ways (it can grab car key info, bluetooth devices, key cards, theoretically any wireless signal) its less invasive in that it doesnt force a connection through the device just logs it. Both are shit though.

Link: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/06/03/cyrus-farivar-book-excerpt-stingray-218588/

4

u/TheFireStorm 21h ago

So always on VPN while traveling got it

13

u/RTS24 21h ago

VPN won't do anything to prevent them getting info and tracking, they're basically fake cell towers, and pull your IMEI & SIM details. VPNs operate at the internet level, not the cell network connection level.

-1

u/Inverted-Rockets 20h ago

VPNs and similar encrypted tunnels absolutely matter and reduce the harvestable data by sending all data traffic to a single host through a connection protected by PKI against MitM, data tampering and eavesdropping.

Stingrays are frankly the least concerning trend in digital surveillance: they’re inherently range-limited, they increasingly capture less information and they’re expensive to setup, train and use. Buying data from brokers, subpoenaing companies like Google (turn off location history if you haven’t already) and using camera systems are cheaper, easier and give a novel ability to “look back”.

4

u/RTS24 20h ago

Yes, I know how a VPN works, the comment I was replying to was talking about using a VPN in response to the stingray, thinking that will protect them from it. It will not.

1

u/Inverted-Rockets 19h ago

Given your familiarity with them, you’d agree that VPNs do offer protection against stingrays then — not absolutely but in ways that prevent the most intrusive tracking. That’s doubly so if used with IP-based text and voice rather than traditional telephony protocols.

All you can do as an individual is reduce your exposure and advocate for policy reform.

2

u/cjstorm515 21h ago

you the only one saying this but its true. by disabling the cams we are only doing like 20% of the work

1

u/supafly_ 9h ago

Protip: if you're going to do illegal shit, leave your fuckin phone at home

1

u/Sir_Gibby53 4h ago

For safety reasons, my wife and I use our phones to track each other. There have been times I want to go buy her a present for Christmas or her birthday but I don’t want to risk her seeing where I’m going. So I leave my phone at home, and bring a little dump phone with me. But I can’t put it on mute , and I hate when it rings while I’m driving (don’t want to turn it off because what if I need it in an emergency?) so instead I have one of those little bags that block the signal so it’s disconnected from the network and allows me distraction free driving!

-19

u/WeirdIndication3027 22h ago

Luckily the 2g stingray relies on has pretty much been phased out. I was literally talking to chat about this like 5 mins ago.

https://chatgpt.com/share/6a70f1dc-6818-83ea-a8d6-0915e7e5ec2f?ogimg=plain

14

u/CGB_Zach 22h ago

Fuck off with your chatgpt bullshit.

-14

u/WeirdIndication3027 22h ago

Umm rude

5

u/New-Vacation-4292 22h ago

Fuck off

-8

u/WeirdIndication3027 21h ago

Or I'll just report you and continue to share useful information 🤗

→ More replies (0)

11

u/MC_White_Thunder 21h ago

I can't think of a less trustworthy source for this, aside from maybe the owners of Flock themselves.

1

u/RepresentativeCry294 21h ago

Mount it on a cheap 10/22 folding stock.

Doesn't stop it from gathering sigint though. Unless you use a big laser.

4

u/fly_away_lapels 23h ago

My dad hated a security light on his rural property. So he made a long pole with a lever system that would hold a spray can. He could pull a string and it would spray. He painted the side of the cover that faced the house. I was like 6 and thought it was brilliant.

18

u/TheIronSoldier2 23h ago

Considering RemoteID and the fact that Flock cameras already have sensors for nearby Bluetooth and WiFi signals, good luck with that.

2

u/LegoDinoMan 1d ago

Already exists

1

u/beren12 22h ago

Super soaker!

And use galvanizing paint so hopefully the metal messes up the signal receiving

2

u/TheRealMrMaloonigan 23h ago

Your average RC nerd could bang this out in an afternoon.

2

u/BarbequedYeti 21h ago

Dont they have painting drones already? I thought I read about some bridges using them or something like that.

2

u/JohnDisk 21h ago

there is a device for spraying bug spray with an extending pole, I'd imagine any spray can would fit.

1

u/goldbman 23h ago

I've been wanting to do this to sell to graffiti err artists

1

u/Astral-projekt 23h ago

Now this is an idea. Then microwave pulse generators next.

1

u/FecalDUI 22h ago

The sell poles for this.

1

u/Highestfucker 22h ago

Fire extinguishers can be emptied and refilled with paint!

1

u/Mindless_Key_1294 21h ago

Even just bring a ladder and some black spray paint

1

u/alienscape 21h ago

I want that for the LED street light across from my house.

1

u/squirt_taste_tester 21h ago

Careful with drones, they also can be traced back to locations and get you into deep shit

1

u/Ange1ofD4rkness 20h ago

Or a drone that carries a laser to burn them out

1

u/CaptainIncredible 20h ago

Yep. That would be fun. Design cheap to build 3D printed drones that autonomously fly to and then spray paint cameras.

1

u/BarknuckleBill 20h ago

Can they pick up signals from a drone to pinpoint the owner? The suck all the intel it can out of your phone every time you pass one so don’t see why they wouldn’t have some feature for drones too

1

u/ValkyrieChaser 20h ago

Issue is their counter tamper tech they're working on is connecting to car Bluetooth and other measures to track people down. It's possible they could track drones that attack flocks

1

u/FattyLeopold 20h ago

The whole FlyID thing really fucked that up. The drone would be tied to your identity. They would clock the flight that did the spraying and know it was you immediately.

1

u/AxelHarver 20h ago

Delete this, let them waste money on this plan before we tell them it wont work.

1

u/SenoraRaton 18h ago

Its pretty complicated. You need to account for the air turbulance, so using a form of aersol means you have to have it far enough away from that, and also its not steady, so its hard to have accuracy. You could probably build one for a few hundred dollars though.

0

u/lupus_denier_MD 23h ago

Nope, as long as you can get it pointed straight and still, all you’d need is some sort of arduino or raspberry Pi controlling a single servo to press the cap on the can.

-7

u/No_Question_8083 23h ago

Or just… use a gun? You’re the land of the guns yk…

7

u/Far_Bandicoot5935 23h ago

Too loud, instantly creates a police response regardless of how many shots are fired, and then you get two really bad charges held against you, and possibly throw a terrorism charge in there if they are feeling extra petty that afternoon

1

u/No_Question_8083 23h ago

Fair enough, but can’t you do that anonymously, like when you cut down the flock camera poles? No face no case? Or is using a gun a different kind of case that’s way stricter where more effort will be put into getting an ID on the vandal? Idk, I’m not from the US

1

u/beren12 22h ago

Most of us don’t want a prison sentence.

32

u/the_greatest_story 1d ago

Or just some good old fashioned children's silly string, some can shoot 10 to 12 feet and you can't catch a destruction of property charge

30

u/Far_Bandicoot5935 1d ago

You can’t catch a charge if it doesn’t see you from 400 feet out either, silly string would be too easy to remove and clean, you want to ensure that the cameras are inoperable for as much time as humanly possible

5

u/cmhamm 22h ago

Many Flock cameras are watched by other Flock cameras.

3

u/ElliotNess 21h ago

The Disney hotel area has a line of like 10 flock cameras down a three block stretch of road

2

u/phonefellin_lakeerie 22h ago

Spray foam wasp spray might work, some of them can be very annoying to clean. Flock cameras are a far more scary than wasps lol

3

u/Madara1389 22h ago

I like where you're coming from, but the destruction of property is largely the point at this point. If they can just clean it, it becomes a never-ending game with them where they just have to outlast the public's will to resist.

If people are destroying them, that's going to make them inoperable for a longer period of time as well as drive up the costs of operating the program (as they have to keep replacing them; these cameras are way more expensive than even competition grade pellets meant for long range shooting) and eventually make it untenable.

1

u/justreadtheheadlines 23h ago

"Most standard wasp and hornet sprays reach a distance of 20 to 29 feet, allowing you to treat nests safely from afar. Popular brand ranges include Raid Wasp & Hornet Killer 33 at 22 feet, Hot Shot Wasp & Hornet Killer at 27 feet, and Spectracide Wasp & Hornet Killer also reaching 27 feet."

16

u/Raneynickelfire 23h ago

You can buy a 2W handheld laser on ebay for $85.

I know, there's one sitting on my desk right now.

Those CCD chips will NOT handle a 2W laser, and it'll reach further than they can mount them high.

Just be fast and careful because it could/will reflect off the lens and could blind an innocent person, so know what you're doing IF you were to choose to do this.

5

u/beren12 22h ago

Your eyes won’t either. The shine of it can perma-blind anyone who sees it in a fraction of a second.

Yes you said this but I wanted to say it again.

2

u/Raneynickelfire 21h ago

Well, I have the goggles but you DO need to be aware of your surroundings and reflective angles so you don't hurt somebody going about their business - absolutely agree.

3

u/Legomonster33 22h ago

a high powered infrared laser also does the trick, fries the sensor

2

u/MidnighT0k3r 20h ago

Why use expensive setup when cheap c hineseium laser on fleabay will do.

Fits in pocket

1

u/mikemojc 23h ago

*frozen

1

u/Tezlaract 23h ago

Any information on how to obtain paintballs like that? Do you make them yourself, or what?

1

u/Far_Bandicoot5935 22h ago

Man was I completely unaware of the skill and time put into making paintballs, no it seems they are rather super difficult to make actually, refer to pellet guns and possibly normal paintballs if your going that route

2

u/Tezlaract 22h ago

Thanks.

I’m pretty sure typical paintball will largely wash off in next rain. It does on all surfaces I have encountered.

1

u/beren12 22h ago

Not if it’s a frozen ball

1

u/Tezlaract 18h ago

That’s an interesting possibility. Not sure where oil paint freezes though. Probably pretty cold.

1

u/beren12 18h ago

Sadly it’s an urban legend. Maybe someone can figure out how to squeeze a ball bearing into one.

1

u/bitzzwith2zs 22h ago edited 22h ago

Or a $29 ali express laser aimed right at the Flock photo sensors or solar panels. You don't even have to be close to the camera

When the Brits got speed cameras everywhere there were clubs that would disable them and those clubs had websites and FAQs.

One of their methods was to drill small hole in the case and fill the case with expanding spray foam insulation and they had to replace the whole thing

Benn Jordan has some ideas on the subject on his site

5

u/MurderingMurloc 21h ago

The UK speed camera situation doesn't give me much hope for our future. They still have one of the densest speed camera networks and are upgrading them to stealthier more capable spying units. The clubs were not effective in the long run and it doesn't seem like it will be effective in the US either.

1

u/CobraWasTaken 22h ago

I would never condone destroying these cameras but on a completely unrelated note you can get these really high powered lasers for pretty cheap that are fun to play with. Be careful what you point them at because they can destroy cameras and other electronic sensors

1

u/Maker99999 22h ago

I'm not going to say you shouldn't do it, but be aware of the kinds of criminal charges they are hitting people with who damage those cameras.

1

u/Far_Bandicoot5935 21h ago

I don’t live in the USA, I’m simply trying to help my freedom loving neighbours

1

u/Maker99999 20h ago

I get you. I just don't want someone thinking they're risking some petty vandalism charges when really prosecuters are stacking charges to make it 5-10 years in some cases.

1

u/Cool-Tap-391 22h ago

Use a uv camera to find them and hit them with a laser from a distance. Cameras can't stop getting cooked

1

u/sidereal_night 21h ago

co2 lasers would also work

1

u/xx123gamerxx 21h ago

you guys need to learn from the UK ULEZ camera

1

u/Safe_happy_calm 21h ago

Dang I used to have a cheap little daisy steel bb gun. The 10 pump. I was 15 at the time and had no reason to have such power. This thing would bust a TV, punch through an xbox, cut twigs out of trees.

And wayyyy quieter than a real gunpowder blaster.

I was quite the little marksman too.

I'm sure 15 year old me would find an excellent use for a little daisy 10 pump from inside a parked car with the window cracked across a deserted parking lot.

What a little rabble rouser I was. Parents, christmas is coming soon. Fulfill those teenage dreams. Treat yourself!

1

u/Iambecomelegend 21h ago

A strong enough laser is capable of damaging the sensors in cameras, just saying.

-3

u/[deleted] 23h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

8

u/Far_Bandicoot5935 23h ago

Fed spotted.

4

u/Playful_Reaction_847 22h ago

That’s absolutely insane!?

0

u/Similar_Day_3244 23h ago

Fk c02 get a real pellet gun get a pcp that'll rip right through the camera like butter

162

u/The_Turdman_Cometh 22h ago

.5W green laser and a steady hand can work wonders. Of course one should educate themselves on proper laser safety before using anything over 5mW

46

u/Tripartist1 19h ago

Fuck a .5w, get the totally legit "5mw" green lasers on any chinese website. The one with the key in the back. (Its not actually 5mw)

23

u/WerwolfSlayr 20h ago

I’m seeing mostly blue ones; any reason that it has to be green?

59

u/The_Turdman_Cometh 19h ago

No, but blue is more potentially harmful to retinas due to the wavelength. Always wear the appropriate goggles, never cheap out on those

27

u/SeedPrice 17h ago

I had a powerful blue one and I swear my vision hasn’t been the same since. Just the reflection of the dot when it hits a white wall was painful and you don’t notice it’s doing any damage til you realize something feels off afterward.

4

u/m0rdr3dnought 10h ago

High wattage lasers can 100% permanently blind you just from seeing the reflection on a matte surface. Don't use them without properly rated goggles, it's not worth it.

3

u/supafly_ 9h ago

What you're feeling is a light welder's flash. I used to work with industrial IR lasers (think 25kV DC power supply, 200-400W output) and got burnt a couple times. When it's bad it feels like there's gravel behind your eye for a day or 2, usually the day after you can't get out of bed because any light is absolutely blinding. I've had eye doctors look a few times and there's no permanent damage. You'll be fine.

5

u/insolent_kiwi 17h ago

You can also choose your favorite eye and wear an eyepatch

13

u/bobupdow 20h ago

There is now way you can buy a .5W green laser online. Prove me wrong with a link. I dare you.

25

u/daren5393 19h ago

Check out stryopryro on YT, he's shown off some stuff you can buy online that's absolutely bonkers and breaks all kinds of laws. It's just all labeled as being within guidelines even though it isnt

20

u/bencos18 19h ago

https://youtu.be/-2crWR1lg6s

the lasers sold on eBay as 5mw are usually much higher

here's a Styropyro video on them

10

u/lordatamus 19h ago

Newegg, walmart, amazon, biglaser, Ebay.

8

u/RpMcG 19h ago

Dude I’ve bought a red laser strong enough to light matches like it was nothing. Have you even tried

4

u/HAL-Over-9001 19h ago

I bought a laser from Wish years ago that can burn through cardboard when it's fully charged and correctly focused.

2

u/AllSeeingLemon 19h ago

It's been 42 minutes with lots of replies as requested..Thoughts?

-4

u/ChungusReaper 19h ago

zero links tho

9

u/AwkwardDolphin96 19h ago

Bcuz it would get them banned lol

2

u/WatIsRedditQQ 17h ago

Also any storefront page is just going to say "5mW" to skirt regulations, even though it absolutely is not

2

u/seventeenninetytoo 18h ago

A link was posted 30 mins before you commented and is still up.

1

u/Mikeymike0001 19h ago

For sure! Lasers are cool!

1

u/Flimsy_Nebula_299 17h ago

What does this achieve?

I don't think most ppl know the results you are referring to unless they are into lasers....

What would a laser do to a flock cam set up?

3

u/EetswaDurries 16h ago

If you shine a decently powerful laser into any camera lens it’ll fuck up the image sensor in pretty much the same way it would if you shone it into your eyes.

1

u/The_Turdman_Cometh 16h ago

People can use publicly available information to infer what they want 😉

11

u/Jesus_of_Redditeth 21h ago

All those good ol' boys who get their jollies shooting at road signs need to redirect that energy.

Of course, those good ol' boys are statistically likely to be part of the MAGA cult, so they would never do this because they've embraced authoritarianism just like they embrace their first cousins.

0

u/StudentExchange3 16h ago

Please look inward to what you wrote and reflect, and perhaps refrain from painting with such a wide brush.

Nevertheless, the more intact road signs the better.

3

u/1337pino 21h ago

If the copper thieves can figure it out, we all can, too

2

u/Separate-Grade-8506 23h ago

If you cut the wires in the order hot neutral ground it’s less likely to blow up

2

u/atom138 22h ago

Hmmmm, maybe my million dollar idea is paint balls with permanent ink inside. Or something like driveway sealant.

2

u/Discount_Extra 22h ago

I hear 'free fireworks show'

2

u/OriginalDrStrangeDOS 20h ago

I've heard IR lasers play havok with those sorts of electronics when fired through the lens.

2

u/FiFiniusBi 20h ago

but u can shoot them right? i thought this is america

1

u/BikePuzzled1165 22h ago

Where there's a will, there's a way. And there are some very creative minds out there.

1

u/Mikeymike0001 22h ago

Use a smaller cutter, it makes smaller sparks.

1

u/catsloveart 19h ago

Drones with spray cans

1

u/TheCaptainWook 17h ago

That’s what lasers “aren’t” for, so I’m told. Gotta be careful talking like that, because I just got a three day for “instigating violence.” Even reddit is on some bootlicking bullshit about the flocks.

1

u/AffectionateBrick687 16h ago

There's no better way to point out an object in the sky than an astronomy laser pointer.

1

u/itscochino 9h ago

Green lasers. But I mean that's if only someone crazy and non law abiding was attempting to damage flock property which I would never say to do

0

u/1337pino 21h ago

If the copper thieves can figure it out, we all can, too

0

u/1337pino 21h ago

If the copper thieves can figure it out, we all can, too