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YouTuber Admits Aspects of Viral HomePod Glitter Bomb Video Were Faked (appleinsider.com)
New submitter ArchieBunker writes: A viral video featuring a booby-trapped HomePod box that pranked package thieves with a glitter bomb has been criticized for faking some of the reactions of the would-be "thieves," who were in fact acquaintances of friends of the video's creator. The video, "Package Thief vs. Glitter Bomb Trap" by former NASA engineer Mark Rober, featured the creation of a device constructed inside a HomePod box that spread out glitter once the HomePod box was opened, with four smartphones used to film the event and subsequent reactions from all angles. Clips were shown of people claimed to be package thieves, opening the box and being covered with glitter, before throwing the contraption away.
One thief's vehicle was found to have a number of similar features to one parked near to the house of a friend of Rober, used to film some of the illicit acquisitions, suggesting it was acquired by someone who lived nearby. Another person used Google Street View and Zillow to analyze the third thief's video from inside her home, and determined the side yard and outdoor area bore a striking resemblance to the home next door to the friend's house. Posted to Imgur, the thread of evidence led to others questioning Rober on some of his later edits to the published video, including deletion of small sections and blurring out details. According to Rober, he offered to provide the box to people who were willing to place it on their doorstep, with the offer of financial compensation for successful recoveries of the package, and one "friend of a friend" volunteered to help. Rober has since confirmed that two of the five reactions used in the video were suspicious, and were subsequently removed, but insists the reactions for times when the box was stolen from his doorstep were genuine. "I'm especially gutted because so much thought, time, money, and effort went into building the device and I hope this doesn't just taint the entire effort as 'fake,'" writes Rober in text placed underneath the video. "It genuinely works (like all the other things I've built on my channel) and we've made all the code and build info public."
One thief's vehicle was found to have a number of similar features to one parked near to the house of a friend of Rober, used to film some of the illicit acquisitions, suggesting it was acquired by someone who lived nearby. Another person used Google Street View and Zillow to analyze the third thief's video from inside her home, and determined the side yard and outdoor area bore a striking resemblance to the home next door to the friend's house. Posted to Imgur, the thread of evidence led to others questioning Rober on some of his later edits to the published video, including deletion of small sections and blurring out details. According to Rober, he offered to provide the box to people who were willing to place it on their doorstep, with the offer of financial compensation for successful recoveries of the package, and one "friend of a friend" volunteered to help. Rober has since confirmed that two of the five reactions used in the video were suspicious, and were subsequently removed, but insists the reactions for times when the box was stolen from his doorstep were genuine. "I'm especially gutted because so much thought, time, money, and effort went into building the device and I hope this doesn't just taint the entire effort as 'fake,'" writes Rober in text placed underneath the video. "It genuinely works (like all the other things I've built on my channel) and we've made all the code and build info public."
At first I had to think "How much of an attention whore do you have to be, before you spend thousands of dollars designing and building a device like that, which just as likely as not will be smashed to pieces by an angry thief, just to get views on YouTube?", but then I read this, and I have to conclude: this so-called 'ex-NASA engineer' has brain problems. What was he fired from NASA for? Behavioral problems?
What struck me is that someone basically doxed the guy, posting details of his home from Google Maps and some house data site on Imgur, and then lots of other sites amplified the doxing and no-one seems to have stopped to think about it.
Also kinda sad that people even thought this was real in the first place. Does it not look like something professionally shot and edited on commercial grade equipment by professionals? Did the fact that his channel has 5.6 million subscribers and revenue to match not tip people off that he might be more than just an amateur at this point?
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SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
In this era of sensationalist news and politicians being pilloried for stuff that was actually said on SNL...I can't agree. And this WAS in the 'real' news. It's unacceptable. I mean, the video is kind of irresponsible to begin with. What if people copy the idea, and an actual thief who knows where their victim lives realizes they're holding something that can land them in jail? Package thieves aren't exactly career astronaut types.
And it turns out it fabricated people and reactions. What if people look at the ethnicity of most of the "thieves" and they have some very unfortunate beliefs reinforced? I know that might sound like a hysterical example, but it's not particularly my point. This video was thoughtless AND a lie. What respect do his ideas deserve? I wish the guy absolutely no harm, but he deserves to be a pariah and ignored from now on.
Oh and then the YT guy went and retrieved the package, right? Even though the package was squirted with "fart gas", right. But the thief wouldn't do that. He would just leave it. But the YT guy would go and get it. I mean really, how dumb are you?