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Former NASA Engineer Designed Glitter Bomb Trap To Avenge Amazon Delivery Theft Victims (cnbc.com)
They say revenge is a dish best served cold. But for Mark Rober, it's much sweeter served smart, smelly and covered in glitter. From a report: The former NASA engineer-turned-YouTube star has received plaudits online after designing a booby trap to avenge all those who've fallen victim to a new wave of neighborhood crime: doorstep delivery theft. Rober spent six months combining GPS tracking, cameras, fart spray and glitter in an elaborate and amusing mechanism after discovering thieves had stolen an Amazon delivery from his doorstep.
In a video posted on his channel, the 38-year-old, who helped design the U.S. space agency's Curiosity Rover, said his engineering experience left him well-placed to "take a stand" after dismissive police left him feeling "powerless." "If anyone was going to make a revenge ... package and over-engineer the crap out of it, it was going to be me," said Rober, who spent nine years with NASA.
In a video posted on his channel, the 38-year-old, who helped design the U.S. space agency's Curiosity Rover, said his engineering experience left him well-placed to "take a stand" after dismissive police left him feeling "powerless." "If anyone was going to make a revenge ... package and over-engineer the crap out of it, it was going to be me," said Rober, who spent nine years with NASA.
Why do people find it acceptable that valuable packages are just left on the doorstep ? Where I live, the delivery guys ring the door bell, hands over the package, and takes my name and signature as proof of delivery.
What happens if the package gets stolen ? Does UPS pay you back ?
The only thing I could think of to make it better would be to have a small CO2 canister (like for BB guns), which sends the glitter flying everywhere rather than just around the box.
Other than that, maybe something even more smelly.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
he could always claim he left it out as a prank for a friend, and the thief got in the way
Not any more he can't.
He should sell these on Amazon.
Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
Others would have rigged some tear gas canister or an explosive device with a few handfuls of shrapnel. Glitter and fart spray is effective enough and at the same time whimsical enough to get away with it.
He has 4.4 million subscribers. He is a YouTube star, he's not just attempting to be one.
The device he created for distributing the glitter was a work of genius. Watch the videos, it is an amazing and beautiful creation.
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
Maybe shouldnt be stealijg peoples packages then.
What if the package that was stolen had peanut butter in it and the person was deathly alergic ? Think they are going to be able to sue then ? No. THEY STOLE IT !.
You break the law, live with the consiquences.
In this particular case, worth it.
Though I wish that there was a practical means of spraying out ground-up crayon wax, something that would embed itself into the fabric and melt into place. Unfortunately it would probably congeal while sitting on the porch.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
The glitter being thrown about the car is definitely a danger to eyes as well as the respiratory system,
A valid complaint, although much lessened by the use of a thrower instead of a gas capsule.
the chemicals in the fart spray could trigger anaphylactic shock.
[citation needed]
I know this is a problem with some ingredients, and with some propellants... show us that it's a credible threat in this case.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Why would he bother faking it? It's easier to actually have a package stolen than it is to convince somebody to willingly cover their car in glitter.
Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
I have to admit, when I see a “YouTube star” claiming to be a “former NASA engineer”, my first assumption is he actually shlepped technical drawings around between departments - or was in charge of keeping their monitors clean.
His Wikipedia page suggests he's a proper engineer: he has a Mechanical Engineering degree and a Masters (presumably in a related field), and he worked at JPL for 9 years, 7 of which were spent working on Curiosity.
Prior to this video, my wife and I had stumbled on a handful of his videos over the years. He's clearly a smart guy who is interested in making science and technology more fun and accessible to a wide audience. The sort of person who is capable of inspiring kids to pursue STEM. While we don't subscribe to his channel or seek his videos out, we've enjoyed the videos of his that have popped up as recommendations.
Deliberate ignorance is the dumbest ignorance.
"Old man yells at systemd"
Because it wouldn't work properly and they wouldn't have footage plus they would lose the device each time which would cost them way more than $50. Damn, people are so naive. Most of Youtube is take. "Why would he bother faking it?". Because money.
How is this "negligence"?
And (b) You think any of those people are going to go to the police to explain what happened?
No sig today...
More booby-trapped packages in general might dissuade casual thieves. Ditto for law enforcement.
Meanwhile, thanks for doing the hard work and getting the publicity, Mark. Now, all I have to do to discourage theft is to put up a sign that says "Warning: packages may explode" with suitable graphic.
Seriously, what happened to the police's "broken windows" policy? I thought they were now supposed to investigate and prosecute small offenses like this to a) create a culture of obeying the law, and b) make citizens feel like the cops have their backs so they don't go vigilante. Which is what happened in this case.
I love that nobody seems to be annoyed that the thieves really have no legal risk, whereas Mr Rober is extremely vulnerable.
It seems to me with as much reach as he does, he could at least make single statement about that.
"Congrats on finding someone who lets you penetrate their holes"
Well, you're obviously not married!
The faces were probably pixelated because YouTube will take-down any video which features someone who did not agree to be in it -- if they lodge a complaint.
I've had this happen to one of my videos because someone, who was being a real arse, didn't want to be seen being a "real arse" so they complained.
No point in making a viral video if someone in it can have it pulled with a single complaint.
The real genius of this device is that it was designed to be funny without causing any kind of serious injury or damage. In fact you can hear some of the thieves on the video laughing. The glitter spreading mechanism is pretty lame; it's like shaking a box of litter around the edge of the box. He could have used a can of compressed air or some kind of pyrotechnic squib to distribute the glitter, and it would end up everywhere, but that includes peoples' eyes.
There are going to be the inevitable suggestions for how to make the device more damaging or dangerous; and the reason this guy didn't do anything like throwing dye or shrapnel isn't that he wasn't clever enough to see the possibilities. He was clever enough to see the weak point in his plans: the thief-turned-victim has your home address. Get too nasty and he might return the favor with a molotov cocktail or even a bullet.
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I wonder why he "pixellated' the faces out of the criminals he caught on film here?
[...]
Sham he couldn't put something a bit more punishing in there than glitter and fart smell.
He pixelated their faces for the same reason that he can't spray them with purple dye — their commission of a crime doesn't excuse his. They are innocent until proven guilty in court, and showing their faces would create bias and is also a use of their likeness without their permission. While it seems to me that he would have a defense against such claims, IANAL and also why set yourself up for potential legal hassles beyond what's already possible due to glitter and farts?
perhaps even the lazy police might even have recognized a few of them.
Probably not, but if that's your goal then you send the video straight to the PD. He can mail them the original video on a DVD or something. I don't know about anyone else, but though I've taken the optical drive out of my primary PC for additional airflow, I've kept a couple of USB ones around and some media as well in case I want to send some data to someone else, through the mail.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Except if you watch Rober's other videos, he actually debunks other fake videos on YouTube that go viral. I guarantee you this video is legit. He is an engineer superhero.
Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
> that he has set himself up for a huge lawsuit by whomever took the package.
And that is precisely why America is FUCKED.
Victim: I got tired of MY packages being stolen so I booby trapped them
Thief: I'm suing for emotional distress.
Victim: WTF!?
I think with the above argument there is the idea the Revenge is Justice.
If a thief broke into my house and is stealing $1000 worth of goods, I catch him, and hurt/injure/kill him. Then that is normal self defense, because this guy is unlawfully in my house, I an unable to calculate his risk to my immediate safety.
However after he leave my house with those goods, I cannot hunt him down and hurt/injure/kill him and I would then be guilty of a crime. Because my safety is currently secured, and I would be able to calculate the risks of such actions. And having the criminal arrested and sentenced to court for a Judge to impartially figure out what is Just for the actions.
So he stole my Laptop, I may want to kill him. However this loss of my laptop is a minor inconvenience to my life, and with calmer minds, would realize that and punish the criminal for the crime and not me gut feeling.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
What law do you claim he violated? I can't think of a single law that states that it is illegal to spray theives with glitter. In some states it is legal for him to shoot and kill the theif. Also, this is a design, which is protected by the first amendment. He could design a nuclear bomb and post it and be well within his rights ,(I am assuming US jurisdiction because NASA is a US agency.) IOW, do you put any thought at all into your words before you write them?
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
Good luck winning that case. No jury would award you a dime after you stole a package and it blew up on you.
Yeah ... He could claim that. It isn't as though there is any evidence widely available that he designed it specifically as retribution against theives. (As usual, you are an idiot saying phenomenally stupid shit.)
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
While I applaud Mr. Rober, I would think that he has set himself up for a huge lawsuit by whomever took the package.
Had you read his design info you would know he is more than fine with that.
If you watched the video even you would hear him imply that is desired.
To press a civil suit, the thief would need to admit to a felony criminal act and would be punished, which is all this guy wanted in the first place.
He also spent significant time building the thing. It's perfectly reasonable he would be willing to spend at least up to that much time going to the court to defend himself since that means the thief is 100% going to jail now. Again, that was the original goal.
Then the separate issue that having glitter delivered to you isn't a crime, so wouldn't be his fault the thief was exposed to it.
Commercially sold "fart spray" has never done anything like you just made up about it.
The onus is on the thief to show medical documentation such a thing is even possible, and if it was possible and there was such documentation the stuff wouldn't be on the market anymore.
At all but a city level this guy committed *no* crimes, but even if he chose to do so, if the police don't feel property theft is a worth while crime to peruse, now you know exactly the level of crime you can do and have it ignored too.
Just avoid crimes with higher punishment levels, as then you risk doing something the police *would* investigate.
But clearly he is already thinking along those lines, so will be fine there. After all, he could have stopped at the GPS tracker level and just gone over to assault the thief if he didn't care about breaking laws.
The faces were probably pixelated because YouTube will take-down any video which features someone who did not agree to be in it -- if they lodge a complaint.
Complete BS.
Otherwise every person in just about every news story seen on youtube must have signed a release. Which they clearly didn't.
GP: "if they lodge a complaint"
You: "they must have signed a release"
Point: above head
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
The law states that one cannot benefit from one's criminal actions. If the perpetrator were to sue, the perpetrator would be confessing to theft, possibly grand theft, and any attendant crimes and would then have to go before a jury and say "I am a shitball thief who stole a booby-trapped package and I want you to reward me for my criminal behavior so you can be my next victim!" and, in the unlikely event the perp wins, Rober can counter sue for theft and intentional infliction of emotional distress and get all that money back.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
I do remember reading an article a while back about thieves stealing what turned out to be a radiation source for medical equipment. Eventually it was found and had apparently been opened and put back together. They said the thieves would only likely live a few more days as opening the container without protection would've given them a fatal dose.
Or they were pixelated because it was all staged, and they were his buddies who agreed to act in his film.
FUCK THEM. They are the one's that stole the packages. They're lucky that's all that happened to them. I applaud the guy!
These people have already been beaten, or they wouldn't have wound up as thieves. Let's find a way to help them before they fall to this level instead of beating them down afterwards.
Bull fucking shit. A lot of people are just bad regardless of what happened to them (or didn't), their socio-economic status, etc. Some people would rather steal than earn something. Quit pretending that everyone who does this was somehow a victim first -- that's naive nonsense at best. This isn't anywhere remotely like the "stealing bread to feed my starving family" cliche -- it's opportunistic twats cowardly stealing from others who are out working. Anyone who does this absolutely deserves a solid ass kicking, at a minimum.
You should be able to beat them with, say, up to a broom-handle.
These people have already been beaten, or they wouldn't have wound up as thieves.
They look pretty well-off to me. Have you even seen the video?
Let's find a way to help them before they fall to this level instead of beating them down afterwards.
What level? They're smartly dressed, have $1000 bikes in their houses and drive non-fucked-up cars.
I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
but his copy cats will probably be dumb kids. I've already seen folks doing this with small explosives in order to get a loud "crack" and scare the person. If that keeps up sooner or later some dumb ass is gonna put an M-80 or something in a box and kill somebody.
And yes, this is why we can't have nice things. People are stupid on both sides of the isle.
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in a car. e.g. if it happened when a person was driving and caused in accident.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
Because most people live in populated areas, and in any population there's always a few assholes willing to steal, especially if it's easy and doesn't involve confrontation with the victim or breaking and entering.
Thanks! I'd have counted myself fortunate to simply meet someone of such outstanding character, beauty, integrity, humor, and intellect as my wife. Instead, however, I got to marry her. Not only that, but she's from a wonderful family. How many people actually get to say that they have great relationships with their in-laws and look forward to when they visit? Not many, from my experience, yet I'm able to do so. I'm an incredibly fortunate man.
I don't drop "my wife and I" into every post, like you're suggesting, but I do drop it into the posts where it adds something or acknowledges her role in something, just as I would with "a coworker and I" or "a friend and I". For instance, the fact that my wife and I both enjoyed videos from this YouTuber would suggest that they have a broad appeal, given that she's a "normal", not a nerd. Alternatively, if I didn't do something by myself, it only makes sense that I acknowledge the role that others played in doing that thing, rather than trying to suggest that I was capable of doing or thought to do it by myself.
So, essentially, you get your stuff stolen and can do nothing about it.
Also, Mr. Rober did not send the package trough the mail, he just put a fake shipping label (even addressed to the two thieves in Home Alone) and placed it on the steps to his door.
What looks more weird to me is that the delivery people would just put your item in the open, no need to sign for it etc. In my country, if the item is delivered to the door, someone from that address have to pick it up and sign for it. If the item is sent trough the post, it would either be delivered to the door (and someone has to sign for it) or I would have to go to the post office to pick it up, show my ID card and sign for it.
https://www.cnn.com/2013/12/04...
Unless you live in California where criminals have more rights than you or I do, any judge you bring this to is going to laugh you right out of court. Then they are going to arrest you.
Yes, your honor, I not only tresspassed upon private property, but I also engaged in criminal behavior by stealing items from said location.
Upon opening the package, I was covered in glitter against my will and the inside of my car smells like shit.
I would like to press charg. . . why are you laughing at me ?
Yes, your honor, I understand had I not engaged in the aforementioned criminal activity we would not be having this conversation.
How DARE someone pick on the poor criminals after the police told them ( even with video evidence ) that it wasnâ(TM)t worth their time.
Also, since Banks use exploding dye packs for the idiots dumb enough to take them, I have serious doubts anyone is going to take your glitter issue seriously.
Personally, I would have used a smoke bomb / pepper gas combo. Both non-lethal ( thus not considered a booby trap ) but far more effective.
TLDR: No one is going to have any sympathy for thugs.
I see we have a neo-liberal mod out modding everything down as troll here. Don't have to bring race into though as I've seen plenty of webcams where the thieves are white. This one was.
It's not trolling, it's historically accurate. Most civilian recourse against any kind of home invading criminal is treated as vigilantism and is often viewed more harshly than the original crime, by bleeding hearts judges. You can't booby trap your own property. And there are a lot of messed up people out there who think it's no big deal if this guy gets his packages stolen because he's so well off and "privileged", they see some twisted kind of Robin Hood metaphor in it.
I guarantee if someone does something like this again, and there is now a high likelihood there will be copycats, they will eventually be charged with a crime of some sort. I'd put money on it.
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.