Box With Hidden Camera Travels Through the Mail

kkleiner writes "The modern mailing system can seem like magic, but the systems in place to reliably get boxes from A to B is a marvel of logistics. Now, a Dutch designer named Ruben van der Vleuten has unraveled the mystery for non-postal employees by installing a camera within a parcel to record the journey."

Comments

Dont try it at home.

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

Some guy who was working on early models of the toy Furby got a friendly call from the FBI. This time it slipped through, but you might not be that lucky.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[Anonymous Coward]

No kidding, the inside of that box looks like a bomb if you were inspecting it through xray.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[BenSchuarmer]

Too bad the FBI didn't stop the Furbies when there was still a chance to do so.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[show me altoids]

As long as it doesn't record the inside of a meat packing plant it'll be fine.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[Anonymous Coward]

Some guy who was working on early models of the toy Furby got a friendly call from the FBI. This time it slipped through, but you might not be that lucky.

I ship crazy electronics all the time, even across borders. Of course, for customs, there's paper work and inventories, but no one really cares as long as it's nothing illegal. The only box I can remember being opened was when some idiot sent us some stuff back and put the value as $0. Of course customs wanted to know why someone would spend hundreds of dollars shipping something worthless. That was a nice crate they opened from the wrong side just to look at some boring antennas.

Where I do have a problem is luggage on airplanes. I've learned to make sure my stuff doesn't look like a bomb. Once I started keeping electronics, wires, and organics (shampoo, etc) apart, the searches stopped.

The box in the story wouldn't look like a bomb on xray, because there's nothing to be mistaken for an explosive, except maybe the battery.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[Anonymous Coward]

How does it look any different than some random piece of electronics? You know, the kind that gets shipped every single day in massive quantities.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[Seumas]

Exactly what I was thinking. In an age when you can be hassled or even arrested for taking a picture of a landmark, you better believe you risk being arrested for "orchestrating a terrorist plot" and using that camera going through the system to help scope out weak-points. Remember, we're no longer a sane society.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you suggesting that the FBI takes an interest in any electronics sent through the mail?

And that electronics that resemble, say, a laptop on an x-ray would escape their interest systematically?

I call bullshit, and name you a believer in authority.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[Sloppy]

Except it's not a bomb. So what's the FBI going to say in their call, "We're stealing your idea?"

Re:Dont try it at home.

[sethradio]

I don't think this was the US Postal Service.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[sethradio]

I'm not so sure. One time I was at the post office, where this guy was trying to mail a cell phone. The people there made him take the battery out.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[rodrigoandrade]

How could this possibly be mistaken for a bomb?? From the picture, I can see: (and I'm no EE)

- a bunch of wires
- a bunch of tape
- an Arduino board
- a capacitor
- all inside what seems to be an acryllic case
- a camera taped to the edge of the box
- a power brick

Where's the explosive charge (C4), timer or radio receiver (with antenna obviously)??

I'm sure the carrier's (USPS/UPS/FedEx) employees are trained to know what to look for if they suspect something is a bomb, which is precisely why they let this package throough.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[Anonymous Coward]

that's because of the Li-ion battery, it's known to be hazardous in non-pressurized airplane cabins. USPS sends small packages on regular ole airplanes in the luggage section. Li-ion batteries under load are known to have problems at regular aircraft altitude in cargo.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[Algae_94]

The Boston PD thought a bunch of LED signs for the Aqua Teen's movie were bombs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_bomb_scare. They had batteries, a PCB, and wires. Even the most well trained employees can be complete morons at times.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[triffid_98]

Apparently the Boston PD never got a 'lite-brite' as a kid, since they locked down the entire city and sent Comedy Central the bill.

Police lock-down and mandatory house to house searches (in violation of the 4th amendment) after the marathon? I'm surprised it doesn't happen there every other weekend.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[Anonymous Coward]

USPS sends small packages on regular ole airplanes in the luggage section.

I didn't think First Class or lesser mail ever left the ground.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[Kiwikwi]

I don't think this was the US Postal Service.

Correct. This is the Danish postal service.

To put things in perspective: Shortly after September 11, 2001, a friend of mine figured it might be a funny joke to send me a "fake anthrax letter" though the mail. When the flour leaked from the envelope during shipping, the entire post office was shut down and evacuated, and my friend was arrested in the middle of the night, prosecuted... and cleared of all charges. Because, y'know, it was just flour. No harm, no foul.

So feel free to try this at home, if you live in Denmark.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[dwye]

Because, y'know, it was just flour. No harm, no foul.

My sister is glutin-intolerant, you insensitive clod!

Re:Dont try it at home.

[Trogre]

Yes, those stupid Boston police for treating widely distributed electronic devices depicting characters [1] giving a gesture that usually communicates the message "fuck you" with suspicion.

How silly of them. Perhaps they'll go after pressure cookers next.

[1] Characters from a television show nobody over 30 at the time would have even heard of, I might add.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[HornWumpus]

Keep batteries out of your luggage and shipping boxes when possible for your own good. They're trained to call it 'the vibrator' not 'your vibrator'.

Find the battery shape is a test of image recognition software for a reason. What needs power in checked baggage?

Re:Dont try it at home.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, those stupid Boston police for treating widely distributed electronic devices depicting characters [1] giving a gesture that usually communicates the message "fuck you" with suspicion.

How silly of them. Perhaps they'll go after pressure cookers next.

[1] Characters from a television show nobody over 30 at the time would have even heard of, I might add.

If they do, they'll be continuing a long practice of locking barn doors after the horses have run off.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[HornWumpus]

An anarchistic friend (yeah friend, that the ticket) liked to mail letters full of metal glitter. It helps to put two pieces of card stock with the curl together so the envelope is inflated when it hits the rollers in the high speed machines. Print the address neatly so it doesn't get hand sorted.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[SpectreBlofeld]

Do they make you pull out a pentalobe screwdriver and disassemble an iPhone before shipment?

Re:Dont try it at home.

[Algae_94]

Although my language was harsh, I didn't intend for my comment to be bashing of the Boston police department. I was just trying to point out to rodrigoandrade that this package could very easily be mistaken for a bomb or other suspicious device, because it has happened before.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[sethradio]

It was a while ago.

Re:Dont try it at home.

[sethradio]

Hardy Har Har

Re:Dont try it at home.

[sethradio]

So feel free to try this at home, if you live in Denmark.

Really? I wonder what would happen if I sent Her Majesty, Margrethe II, a fake ricin letter...

Too bad I live in the (much to paranoid) US.

Accelerometer

[Anonymous Coward]

An accompanying accelerometer would be interesting as well.

Re:Accelerometer

[show me altoids]

Many times frozen items are shipped with an indicator inside that will clearly show if the inside got over the freezing point at any time in its journey. I can't think offhand if I have heard of accelerometers being used routinely, but I'm sure they could be.

Re:Accelerometer

[Neon Spiral Injector]

I've recieved computer equipment with the same ShockWatch stickers that I seen used on Myth Busters.
http://www.shockwatch.com/monitoring-devices/impact-sensor/impact-indicators/

Re:Accelerometer

[ShanghaiBill]

I can't think offhand if I have heard of accelerometers being used routinely, but I'm sure they could be.

Yes, both accelerometers and tilt sensors (for things required to remain upright) are common. They attach to the outside of the box with a big warning sticker saying you should not sign for the package if the threshold indicator has triggered. I have received many packages with these sensors, and more often than not, they are triggered. My experience is that UPS is the worst at abusing packages. We have a security camera on our loading dock, and we have recorded several instances of the UPS delivery guy tossing packages out of the back of this truck onto the concrete, with about a three meter drop from the apogee. When presented with the video evidence, UPS paid for the damage, but the driver kept his job, although now he occasionally glances up at the camera with a scowl.

Re:Accelerometer

[Anonymous Coward]

Like this?

Re:Accelerometer

[Anonymous Coward]

I work for a large (not US) postal administration, and they are, in conjunction with GPS tracking test 'parcels' randomly sent to assess service levels and routes. I'm also fairly sure we have started to use RFID tags as well to track the test parcels through the system. The items arrive and a the complete log is downloaded for analysis, so you get a very complete picture of the item's path, where it was handled, how it was loaded, where the roads were rough etc.

Should be standard

[Hatta]

Once these sensors get cheap enough, this should be standard. Or at least standard if you buy insurance. It would be awfully nice to have accelerometers and GPS tracking on important packages. Embedded cameras might help prevent package loss too.

Re:Should be standard

[ZiakII]

Embedded cameras might help prevent package loss too

How after they loose the package are they going to view the video footage?

Re:Should be standard

[Leif_Bloomquist]

It would be awfully nice to have accelerometers and GPS tracking on important packages.

They sort of exist in a low-tech form. My company uses these on every shipment.

http://www.shockwatch.com/monitoring-devices/impact-sensor/impact-indicators/

Re:Should be standard

[Frosty Piss]

Once these sensors get cheap enough, this should be standard. Or at least standard if you buy insurance. It would be awfully nice to have accelerometers and GPS tracking on important packages.

For big stuff:

http://www.sensr.com/products/shipping-and-logistics/

For small stuff:

http://www.shockwatch.com/monitoring-devices/impact-sensor/impact-indicators/

Re:Should be standard

[Obfuscant]

You mean like the sensors that are in almost every modern cell phone these days?

Instead of the jury-rigged lash-up this guy used, he could have written an app and taped a smart phone to the inside of the box with a hole cut out for the camera. Much smaller, lighter, self-powered, and it could have MMSd a picture back once an hour with GPS coordinates so he knew where it was.

Re:Should be standard

[Anonymous Coward]

As I was watching the video, I was thinking it would be great to see an accelerometer chart right next to the camera image (so you could see which steps caused the biggest spikes).

Re:Should be standard

[denzacar]

By having the camera sending photos/videos to the interwebz.

It could probably already be done in under 100 grams of additional weight. At least for all domestic shipments.
International though...
Not until they come up with a camera-GPS-transmitter-battery combo that can work for a month and weighs 100 grams or less.

Re:Should be standard

[Anonymous Coward]

By having the camera sending photos/videos to the interwebz.

It could probably already be done in under 100 grams of additional weight. At least for all domestic shipments.
International though...
Not until they come up with a camera-GPS-transmitter-battery combo that can work for a month and weighs 100 grams or less.

And find a nice, friendly national cellular carrier that'll let them get away with that sort of communication for cheap...

Re:Should be standard

[show me altoids]

Ah, yes, these look like the same devices they use on Mythbusters fairly often.

Re:Should be standard

[Anonymous Coward]

It would be awfully nice to have accelerometers and GPS tracking on important packages.

They sort of exist in a low-tech form. My company uses these on every shipment.

http://www.shockwatch.com/monitoring-devices/impact-sensor/impact-indicators/

Shockwatch designed, Mythbuster approved. That's the same stuff the Mythbusters use to judge fall impacts on some stuff. Most any fan of the show can recognize the green, red, and yellow stickers with the red shock indicator in the middle.

Re:Should be standard

[cdrudge]

Instead of the jury-rigged lash-up this guy used, he could have written an app and taped a smart phone to the inside of the box with a hole cut out for the camera. Much smaller, lighter, self-powered, and it could have MMSd a picture back once an hour with GPS coordinates so he knew where it was.

And pray that:
- His more expensive smart phone doesn't get lost.
- It doesn't run out of juice because the package took more than the 12-24 hours your average smart phone lasts
- It doesn't get discovered and create a stir why it was it was necessary to send frequent pictures/video of the mail facilities (will someone think of terrorism!1!!)
- It provides you with GPS information that is more accurate then it usually is inside buildings that likely have poor cellular coverage...and really wouldn't tell you much anyways.
- It doesn't take more effort to program a cell phone to take 3 seconds of video every minute and more when it's significantly moving, ultimately still requiring you to reacquire the package to download all the video as it probably was more than what you would want to send via MMS or some other wireless communication method.

Re:Should be standard

[Ultra64]

Well, when my dog gets loose, he usually finds his own way home.

Re:Should be standard

[Anonymous Coward]

That's where the GPS tracking comes in..

Re:Should be standard

[Obfuscant]

- His more expensive smart phone doesn't get lost.

It took a lot of time and effort to build the system in that picture. A cellphone is a prepackaged complete system with battery and sensors and a way of communicating with the outside world so you can track it. If your time is worth nothing, the building hardware over and over again is the way to go.

- It doesn't run out of juice because the package took more than the 12-24 hours your average smart phone lasts

Ok, so you hook a simple battery to the phone that will run it for longer. This is a $20 at most device. Problem solved for less money than it takes to think about it.

- It doesn't get discovered and create a stir why it was it was necessary to send frequent pictures/video of the mail facilities (will someone think of terrorism!1!!)

Why yes, this probem doesn't exist for the lashup in the original story, does it?

- It provides you with GPS information that is more accurate then it usually is inside buildings that likely have poor cellular coverage...and really wouldn't tell you much anyways.

Hmm, let's see. The last good gps fix is outside this large building. Where could the phone possibly have gone? Did I say the system was perfect?

- It doesn't take more effort to program a cell phone to take 3 seconds of video every minute and more when it's significantly moving,

You write the program once and load it into 100 phones, vs. building 100 Arduino systems with cameras etc...

ultimately still requiring you to reacquire the package to download all the video

Well, duh, that might be why I said MMS a picture once an hour and not "send all the video back via live stream".

Re:Should be standard

[Anonymous Coward]

FedEx offers this as a service already: http://www.senseaware.com/

Re:Should be standard

[sacrilicious]

How after they loose the package are they going to view the video footage?

Maybe the notion that some packages have cameras in them will result in better package handling, resulting in fewer lost packages.

Re:Should be standard

[AmiMoJo]

The cops can see which postal employee is a criminal.

Re:Should be standard

[forgottenusername]

They actually already have force burst sensors for packages, for damage liability on expensive item transport. I think some insurance companies require it so they can sue the transport company if need be.

Re:Should be standard

[Anonymous Coward]

If you keep adding stuff like this to your box I will definitely steal it. Can I suggest that you add an HD capable screen?

Re:Should be standard

[Anonymous Coward]

Give it up. This is slashdot. They 3D print Stallman's dick here after spending a year fucking about with lashups like this story. Only to shove it up their ass.

What the fuck is a lashup?

Re:Should be standard

[Joe_Dragon]

or it gets miss routed out side of the usa and you pay $15-$20+ a meg.

Re:Should be standard

[ceoyoyo]

He could have put a $600 cell phone in the box. But instead he used a $20 breadboard setup he made. This is Slashdot. We used to admire that sort of thing around here.

Looks like a bomb...

[ZiakII]

I'm actually surprised this didn't get flagged as it looks like a bomb.

Re:Looks like a bomb...

[Forge]

I'm actually surprised this didn't get flagged as it looks like a bomb.

Bet it doesn't SMELL like a Bomb. (I.e. No fumes from the usual explosive or poisonus chemicals).

Re:Looks like a bomb...

[dkleinsc]

Bedevere: How do you known it is a bomb?
Peasant: Well, it blew me to smithereens!
Bedevere: To smithereens?!
Peasant: I got better.

Re:Looks like a bomb...

[Anonymous Coward]

It would be funny if they discovered the package was dropped a few times, stepped on, thrown through a window, abducted by a UFO, dissected, and eventually returned before finally being delivered to its destination.

Re:Looks like a bomb...

[steelfood]

That's because it didn't have a countdown timer. Everybody knows it's only a bomb if there's a LCD readout of the time left to detonation.

Re:Looks like a bomb...

[geoskd]

I'm actually surprised this didn't get flagged as it looks like a bomb.

It does? What part? It just looks like a pile of electronics to me. Bombs have certain very specific characteristics: This has none of those characteristics. You don't happen to work for the TSA or anything do you?

Re:Looks like a bomb...

[djdanlib]

What do we do with packages?

DROP THEM!

Yes. But what else do we drop?

MORE PACKAGES!

Re:Looks like a bomb...

[Anonymous Coward]

Meh, you Americans are waaay too paranoid.

Here in South Africa the postal service isn't afraid of bombs in the packages. For crying out loud, the contents are written on the bloody thing!

Re:Looks like a bomb...

[Princeofcups]

I'm actually surprised this didn't get flagged as it looks like a bomb.

That's US and UK you are thinking about. A lot of the rest of the world is still sane.

Re:Looks like a bomb...

[sethradio]

Shame.

Re:Looks like a bomb...

[Anonymous Coward]

That package turned me into an envelope!

Re:Looks like a bomb...

[Bigby]

They could always classify it as a "bomb" so they can remove the camera and prosecute the sender as a terrorists. After all, they don't want cameras going through their workplace.

Re:Looks like a bomb...

[Anonymous Coward]

It does? What part? It just looks like a pile of electronics to me.

According to no less an authority than the Boston Police Department, a bomb has "...an identifiable power source, circuit board with exposed wiring, and electrical tape...". This gizmo scores three for three, so it's clearly going to blow up.

ack!

[Anonymous Coward]

perfboard? to-220 linear-looking regulators? Why didn't he just 3D print an embedded computer with cameras?

Tape?

[Anonymous Coward]

Can someone tell that idiot that masking tape is not designed to hold things?

Re:Tape?

[jones_supa]

This. Even for just temporary use, the whole thing is just horribly constructed.

Man From Uncle

[Anonymous Coward]

That idea was part of an episode from the 60's TV show "The Man From Uncle".

Once again, reality follows art.

God is their routing agent?

[Thud457]

Obviously this guy didn't write "Atheist" on the outside of the box, it was actually delivered.

Re:God is their routing agent?

[davester666]

Furbies believe in a god of some kind? Is that why they didn't write 'Atheist' on the shipping container?

"The God of all Furbies" would make an excellent article to read.

Re:God is their routing agent?

[qute]

It's in Denmark. 90% of the people here are Atheists :-)
The 10% don't make too much noise about what 90% think is fairy tales :-)

Except the Muslims that from time to time try to kill people for blasphemy :-(

Re:God is their routing agent?

[Maritz]

Except the Muslims that from time to time try to kill people for blasphemy :-(

Yeah don't worry they do that with everyone.

Re:God is their routing agent?

[Anonymous Coward]

A friend of mine is a heavily armed Christian (Desert Eagle .45, plus several 9mm pistols, as well as a shotgun and an assault rifle) and he advocates the utter extermination of Muslims because they follow a false god. He actually advocates the extermination of all religions that aren't his particular brand, because they follow false gods.

He fails to see irony when he states that his particular faith is a religion of peace.

I thought this was interesting

[k6mfw]

don't know why so many complaints. OK so has been done before, but I haven't seen such video before. However, this package was "lucky" to get good shots (camera could have been pointing mostly at side of another box or at a wall). probably too risky to try in countries like US, China, or Russia as this can get certain attention from authorities you don't want to have.

Re:I thought this was interesting

[Firethorn]

One of the things I would have done is had at least 2 cameras. Preferably 4 or even 6. Still, it doesn't look like he mailed it far, so it's possible that he simply mailed it a few times until he got sufficient footage.

Re:I thought this was interesting

[ninjacheeseburger]

It's one of those videos where it sounds like a really cool idea then you watch it and it's like what did I expect? Parcel goes to depot. Parcel is sorted. Parcel is delivered.

Re:I thought this was interesting

[camperdave]

But weren't you just waiting for it to go down one of those spiral slides off of the conveyor belt... and then it did! Oh! The excitement!.

Hmmm

[Big Hairy Ian]

Can we get the guys at Atheist Shoes to do the same :)

Re:Hmmm

[Anonymous Coward]

That would have been brilliant if they did that.

Re:Hmmm

[Tablizer]

The camera only caught the feet of the worker who tossed it in the trash. The only clue was that he was wearing Jesus Shoes.

Re:Hmmm

[Anonymous Coward]

I was just thinking that same thought. It would be interesting to see where my non-godly shoes end up. Best case I have evidence of mail fraud and worst case I get shoes.

Re:Hmmm

[Odin's Raven]

Can we get the guys at Atheist Shoes to do the same :)

I know, I know - somewhere out there some wannabe genious is chortling to themselves saying "Silly /.er, won't the only cameras they get back be the ones in boxes that were actually delivered? If the box goes missing, the camera inside the box will also go missing!"

Fie upon such notions, I say - fie! This is what your so-called "classical" physics leads young and impressionable minds to believe. Alas, the sorry state of education these days. Woe unto you, sad people with your childish "linear time" and "cause and effect" view of the world. Truly, I weep for the youth of today.

As anyone with even a cursory understanding of quantum mechanics knows (and I speak from experience, for I myself am possessed of a quite cursory understanding of QM), once a package has entered the US Postal system, it can only be described in quantum mechanical terms. True, once it has been delivered you can ascertain its position, thereby collapsing its waveform. But prior to delivery, packages are in a superposition - simultaneously both potentially deliverable and potentially lost. Until the package is observed by the recipient, it's impossible to say with certainty what its current state is. It may be on the delivery truck on its way to your house. It might still be at the post office, possibly propping open the door to the break room for a week or two. It may have fallen out of an airplane in a freak decompression incident and landed in a corn field in Kansas. Oh poor limited "classical" minds - your package either "lost" or "delivered". Marvel at the vast vistas of non-delivery available to the quantumly trained! Our undelivered packages exist in an infinite array of intrigue and adventure, potentially scaling Everest, going 10 rounds in bare-knuckled fisticuffs with a half-man half-shark mutant, sitting under a pine tree at the Time's Square Macey's Christmas display window - all these and more, before potentially appearing on our doorsteps.

Still, there remains the so-called "Atheist Shoe Paradox" - how do you track the journey of a camera in a box when the box has yet to be delivered? Again, with a cursory understanding of quantum mechanics, the answer is obvious. One camera is insufficient. You need two cameras. And two cats. Cats, as we all know, have special quantum mechanical properties. So, attach a camera to the collar of each cat. Next, vigorously rub the cats together, so that they become quantumly entangled. (If they are long-haired cats, they may also become physically entangled, which is undesirable - based on my own experience, I recommend sticking with short-haired felines for quantum experimentation.) Place one cat in the shoebox, seal it (but remember airholes!), and bring it to the Post Office. The second cat remains at your home. (Or, given the possessive nature of cats, you now remain at the cat's new home.) Since the cats were quantumly entangled while wearing cameras, you can now use the camera on your resident cat to view the pictures taken by the camera on the shoebox cat. Voila! Paradox avoided and problem solved.

Solutions like this come from thinking outside the box, even if what you're thinking about is inside a box.

How Soon?

[Anonymous Coward]

How much do you want to bet that soon there will be a law prohibiting the use of active recording devices within packages sent by post?

Re:Old news...

[ganjadude]

you do know not everyone reads every site on the web right?

GPS?

[Anonymous Coward]

Did it include a GPS.

The USPS is such a mess. Once we were delivering something to some location within the next city and after taking so long we tracked it and it somehow wound up in another state all the way across the country. We called the USPS to confirm this and they confirmed that this package that wasn't even supposed to leave the county somehow wound up in another state across the country. A few days later it finally reached its destination (after our customers were getting rather impatient). I believe I've experienced two incidents where something like this happened and a third incident where I ordered something and somehow it simply got lost in the mail. Everyone has experienced these things I suppose, that's why when delivering packages you have to be very careful they are very tightly sealed and taped all over because, their excuse, is that the machine that grabs the boxes may inadvertently rip it open and scatter its contents everywhere and when that happens your package is gone. Oh, it gets sent to a central location where it stays there for a few months and eventually gets auctioned off but I've dealt with them before and they are of no help, your package is gone.

Re:GPS?

[sethradio]

The USPS is a pile of moose droppings. Services like UPS and FedEx are much more efficient. They just seem to cost more because the USPS being funded by taxes!

The Postmaster General is the highest paid federal employee next to the President. See? And then they complain that the USPS is going out of business, and has to stop delivering on Saturday.

Re:GPS?

[femtobyte]

They just seem to cost more because the USPS being funded by taxes!

That would be a great point, besides the fact that it's blatantly false. The USPS is funded by the revenues they make from their sales --- despite being a constitutionally authorized government function, required to provide service even to unprofitable distant rural residents.

Re:GPS?

[Anonymous Coward]

So, USPS is a mess because... you've had 2 packages that took longer than expected (or than they should have) and 1 that got lost. And how many packages have you mailed that had no problems what so ever? Hundreds? More? And where's the comparison to private shipping or any other country's mail service. Are they better? Worse?

Re:GPS?

[Anonymous Coward]

They just seem to cost more because the USPS being funded by taxes!

USPS hasn't been funded by taxes for nearly a century. Their revenue comes entirely from sale of stamps, supplies, and services. Demand for their service peaked in 2005 and the volume of snail mail has been dropping since. They are hemorrhaging money now because Congress prevented them from any rate hikes, layoffs, or branch closures, which the Postmaster General has been begging for six years to be allowed to do in response to the changing business climate.

Instead of giving the Post Office the flexibility to respond the unprecedented drop in demand for mail, Congress passed a law requiring the Post Office to pre-fund future pension plans 75 years in advance. This is absolutely unheard of. No organization in the world, public or private, sets aside cash now to pay employees 75 years later.

This requirement is what is bankrupting the Post Office. Without the 75-year requirement, the USPS would still be above water.

Re:GPS?

[HornWumpus]

Having a dying business pre-fund it's pensions is only sane and the 75 year number is just BS. Nobody (a tiny statistical tail) is earning a pension that far out.

Re:GPS?

[sethradio]

Oh.

It's been done before

[nani popoki]

The camera arrived broken.

Are people that dumb...

[Anonymous Coward]

They don't know how the mail system works?

Unless they see the building with the sorting system they assume the internet delivered the box one bit at a time?

I know there is a bad TRON analogy in there somewhere,,,

Re:Old news...

[Guru80]

I remember when these comments use to be insightful....7 years ago. Now it's just the same old comment rehashed over and over again by AC. The only difference among posts are the sites referenced as being the source of all /. news.

Re:Old news...

[FilmedInNoir]

Well SlashDot's motto use to be "News for Nerds"... now it's blank? Maybe it should be "Vaguely geeky stuff that happened at some point."

Re:MOD ME DOWN!!!

[hierophanta]

If ya dont like this site, or if it isnt meeting your needs what the hell is keep you here?

the fact that /. posts news that might be 2 days old is EXPECTED. that is what a new aggregation site DOES. its not like OP is complaining about months old stories (although that happens here too). what OP wrote is a step down from, 'i just read this in a journal, you guys are so out dated. look at me, i was cool before cool was cool. '

Neat video, bad idea

[GodfatherofSoul]

I can see a government viewing this as a way to probe mail security. Imagine if I'd sent the same video box to my Senator; maybe even with a GPS unit inside and broadcast ability. That would allow me to figure out how Congressional mail is sorted and secured. They wouldn't be happy about that.

Re:Neat video, bad idea

[twistofsin]

I can see a government viewing this as a way to probe mail security. Imagine if I'd sent the same video box to my Senator; maybe even with a GPS unit inside and broadcast ability. That would allow me to figure out how Congressional mail is sorted and secured. They wouldn't be happy about that.

I imagine you'd know where the most strategic place to bomb the mail sorters is, because i'ts not going any further then that.

Re:Neat video, bad idea

[adolf]

Also: Because nobody has thought of this before.

Re:Old news...

[bill_mcgonigle]

And yet somehow we all know that Slashdot is becoming more irrelevant. Weird.

For something timeless like this story I don't really care that it's been posted elsewhere (what is that anyway, aspie or OCD?). I find Slashdot to be a reasonable filter of interesting items, so I keep looking at it and I skip stories I've seen elsewhere.

But at the same time, adding and deleting friends has been mostly broken for at least 5 months. Multiple bug reports and no response or fix - it's not clear to me that there's anybody at Slashdot other than those approving stories.

Did they all get told to go try out Dice.com? If nobody is there, its continued existence isn't in question, it's simply a matter of when. Systems need maintenance to continue to function. I hope that's not the case.

Re:Old news...

[bughunter]

The news that /. is not always timely is old news.

So that would be meta-old-news?

No Pi?

[sethradio]

It looked like he use an Arduino in that box. I wonder if he could have used a Raspberry Pi.

Re:No Pi?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure, makes perfect sense to use something more expensive, unnecessarily powerful and with worse power consumption...

Oh wait. It runs linux...

Re:No Pi?

[ArcadeMan]

I wonder if he could have used a bare ATmega328P instead of a costly Arduino.

Royksopp would be more appropriate soundtrack

[mapkinase]

Royksopp would be more appropriate soundtrack

Re:Royksopp would be more appropriate soundtrack

[Algae_94]

How do you figure. Royksopp is Norwegian. Unless you had a specific song in mind.

Dutch?

[Anonymous Coward]

The video is clearly filmed in Denmark, I recognize many of the places in Copenhagen, and you can see the "Post Danmark" logo on several of the uniforms (http://postdanmark.dk)

Jacob

US Religious Caveat

[ThatsNotPudding]

Make sure the package does not have 'Atheist' writtten on it: http://boingboing.net/2013/03/26/boxes-sealed-with-atheist-tape.html

Danish postal service

[Anonymous Coward]

That's was the Danish postal service. While a camera in a box might be a problem in other parts of the world I doubt that anyone in Denmark is going to be upset about this. Maybe the postal workers don't like being filmed but I don't think anyone will be freaking out about bombs or terrorism.

Great idea and fun video.

Camera angle?

[The Great Pretender]

Why is it that the box nearly always has the best camera angle? The photo looks as though there is one camera in the box, but the video seems to always have the box on the outside of the stack, with the correct side facing out. Was he just lucky or did he do it several times and splice the film?

Re:Camera angle?

[Anonymous Coward]

Mod up -- I too wondered this. Other things:

* There's also no real concept of time shown to the viewer. Given that the camera(s?) recorded for 3 seconds every 60 seconds, a timestamp would have been useful, solely to give viewers an idea of how long something took to get from X to Y and what their parcels went through for such distances. Which leads me to...

* No indication of origin vs. destination. It looks like the parcel got shipped locally, and maybe that's intentional given the need for constant video footage being recorded. My point is that a box going from (example) London to London would get handled (thus treated) differently than if going from London to Los Angeles.

* Country of origin is somewhere in Europe -- yes this matters. I was hoping to see how the USPS shipping/delivery process worked (I've known lots of people who work there but they're always vague on details, just things like "yeah it's pretty boring"). For example, here in the Bay Area, all parcels (even locally delivered (same-city) ones)) go to San Francisco for sorting. So quite literally a package with an origin and destination of Palo Alto, CA goes from Palo Alto to San Francisco to Palo Alto. I don't know if European countries operate the same way -- I imagine it varies.

I say all this with admittance that the video is fun/neat/cool regardless, I just wish I had more actual details of what goes on "behind the scenes".

Re:Camera angle?

[Anonymous Coward]

hi AC, you are correct - the video was made in Europe. The street sign are Danish and the post office where the package is delivered is danish.. I not sure where in Denmark the package was sent to and from - my guess is it was sent from Copenhagen and perhaps to another part of copenhagen

Re:Camera angle?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think it's partly our brains compensating: I watched after reading comments like yours, so I had those oddities in mind and noticed that even though it seemed straight up/down, the box was actually tilted much of the time, sometimes so the image would've been upside-down if it were straight, and there were quite a few brief periods where all we see is brown cardboard, meaningless flashes or blackness.

Re:Old news...

[Anonymous Coward]

But at the same time, adding and deleting friends has been mostly broken for at least 5 months.

Huh? Thank you! I thought it was broken for me because I'd hit the subscriber limit.

Re:Old news...

[camperdave]

you do know not everyone reads every site on the web right?

Then what do they do with their time?

Misread

[wonkey_monkey]

I read:

Boy With Hidden Camera Travels Through the Mail

Now that's a story.

This side up?

[Anonymous Coward]

OK, I'll bite: how come every image is perfectly right-side up?

And how come the camera "just happens" to have a perfect view whenever something is happening? And how come everything is nicely lit?

I've seen the insides of package and mail-sorting operations. Stuff ends up every which way.

Re:This side up?

[jones_supa]

I guess some of that could be explained with editing.

Re:Old news...

[Algae_94]

My critical reading skills must suck. This is the first I noticed that the "News for Nerds" byline is gone. Damn, now countless comments about why an article is on Slashdot will no longer be needed. Which means we'll probably see an increase in the number of "this is old news" comments to make up for it.

Direct link to the video.

[antdude]

https://vimeo.com/59693471

Just another everyday miracle

[mendax]

This video is a wonderful reminder of the miracle of the modern postal service. We get so complacent with it and just take it for granted that if I write a letter (yes, I still do write real letters on real paper and with a real fountain pen), stuff it in an envelope with $0.46 worth of stamps attached, and put it into some blue metal box somewhere in the United States it will get to any other point in the United States (including the territories out in the Pacific) within a week. Most of the time it takes a couple days. E-mail is marvelous but it's really nothing more than just a more sophisticated version analog of the telegraph, the Victorian Internet. But actually getting a physical object from point to point, say from Guam to Puerto Rico or from New York to Nome, Alaska, for about the cost of 1/4 of a cup of Starbuck's coffee is indeed a miracle of efficiency and logistics. Not to bad for an organization that is essentially over 300 years old (if you take the British-operated postal service inherited by the country in 1776). Even though they've slowed things down a bit to save money it's still a marvel. So rejoice and be grateful!

Duct tape.

[HornWumpus]

Masking tap sucks. Duct tape has grades. If RedGreen had the good stuff most of his projects would be successes.

Copenhagen, Denmark

[Anonymous Coward]

Video is from Copenhagen, Denmark.
The first part is on bicycle, at this route. [Google Maps]

Copenhagen, Denmark

[Anonymous Coward]

The first part is on bicycle, at this route.