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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."

15 of 136 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Should be standard by ZiakII · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Embedded cameras might help prevent package loss too

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

  2. Re:Dont try it at home. by BenSchuarmer · · Score: 5, Funny

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

  3. Re:Should be standard by Leif_Bloomquist · · Score: 4, Informative

    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/

  4. Re:Looks like a bomb... by Forge · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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).

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  5. Re:Dont try it at home. by show+me+altoids · · Score: 3, Interesting

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

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    I feel sorry for people that don't drink, because when they get up in the morning, that's as good as they're gonna feel
  6. God is their routing agent? by Thud457 · · Score: 4, Funny

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

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    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  7. Hmmm by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 5, Insightful

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

    --

    Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

  8. Re:Old news... by ganjadude · · Score: 4, Insightful

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

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  9. Re:Looks like a bomb... by steelfood · · Score: 4, Funny

    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.

    --
    "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
  10. Re:Looks like a bomb... by geoskd · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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?

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  11. Re:Old news... by FilmedInNoir · · Score: 3, Funny

    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."

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    Sig. Sig. Sputnik
  12. Re:Accelerometer by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

  13. Re:Should be standard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    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?

  14. Re:Dont try it at home. by Algae_94 · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

  15. Direct link to the video. by antdude · · Score: 3, Informative
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