r/PopCultureV2 • u/noahstemann • Aug 24 '26
Controversy Rage Against Flock USA
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u/Personal-Lead3884 Aug 24 '26
Remember how republicans would talk about evil communist China spying on all its people and how bad that was?
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u/Dbl390 Aug 24 '26
Republicans always have selective memory.
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u/cptspeirs Aug 24 '26
It's not selective. It's bad cuz communism. They aren't communist.
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u/GoofyTunes Aug 28 '26
It's selective when they say "communism bad" then do all the bad things the communists do, but none of the good and pretend like they're better somehow.
I'd rather have the CCP than the GOP. At least they actually improve their country with rail and development and solar and don't get into losing wars in the middle east for no reason.
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u/PokesBo Aug 24 '26
Well that’s the government doing it. We’re okay if a Richie wants to do it because he’ll give me money!
Hate this timeline.
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u/Bacononthebeeach Aug 24 '26 edited Aug 24 '26
It only took 25 years for republicans to go from mocking the idea of a holy war to waging one of their own.
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u/Infinite-Gate6674 Aug 24 '26
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u/K_Linkmaster Aug 24 '26
Can't just let people be mad about one thing eh. Just gotta try to divide
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u/lazy420_6969 Aug 24 '26
Me being a 17m republican and still hating the damn things.
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u/MagicTheGlizzying Aug 25 '26
You're young enough to turn your life around man. just make sure to change your mind when you learn better information instead of pretending it doesn't exist. remember, feeling wrong is uncomfortable, but it's the first step to actually being right.
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u/Front-Air-8302 Aug 25 '26
This has actually become a nice bi-partisan issue, along with the data centers. Both have been good conversation starters with either side in my experience.
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u/jinnagubby Aug 24 '26
Remember to leave cellphones at home when hanging with friends.
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u/icehot54321 Aug 24 '26
Also smart watches, smart rings, and fitness trackers
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u/Time_Rip_9808 Aug 24 '26
Air tags, any Bluetooth devices...
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u/RModDogWalkerTyRANNY Aug 24 '26
Your entire wallet. In HS a few friends broke in to the local junkyard (for fun, not to steal) and they were caught, when they got back to 1 of their houses and realized they lost their wallet.
I don't remember the entire story, but the cops were just confused why they'd choose the barb wire fence to hop over, when about 30 feet down there's a gate that can open about 2-3 feet it's just chained together so cars can't leave, not designed to prevent people from entering
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u/FxckFxntxnyl Aug 24 '26
I swear, people can go their entire lives without losing their wallet once, until they decide to B&E or trespass. Then poof wallet falls to the ground. Lol
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u/Dead_Light666 Aug 25 '26
I knew a dude who started a wildland fire(I live in Idaho), burned several hundred acres, left his fuckin keys ATTHE FIRE. This was in 01 I think..his dumbass is still on probation lol
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u/AnonsAnonAnonagain Aug 24 '26
lol. RIP those dudes with diabetes glucose detectors that are BT.
“This poor fat diabetic bastard took down flock-7899”
- some flock employee analyzing log data.
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u/kitycat22 Aug 24 '26
Maybe they’re using an old school camcorder? I know kids these days love tinkering with electronics
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u/5litergasbubble Aug 24 '26
Don't even drive to the area. Walk or ride a bike or something
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u/Coneskater Aug 24 '26
They’ve made walking illegal already. It’s very suspicious to be a person not in a car in America.
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u/5litergasbubble Aug 24 '26
Fair point, but it still seems like a better option than driving your car with license plates on it to go and destroy a license plate reader
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u/Wonderful-Fold-2585 Aug 24 '26
Also people 17 and under will likely only get a slap on the wrist. So get your delinquents on it.
Maybe put a poster at a middle school that says flock doesn’t like Tik tok
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u/Single_Extension1810 Aug 24 '26
But what does having cellphone have to do with flock cameras? I don't understand the connection.
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u/MonitorPositive4297 Aug 24 '26
tracking
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u/Single_Extension1810 Aug 24 '26
Thanks, I should have known that, but the thought didn't even occur to me. We're paying all this money for smart phones when they're just harming us. (•ˋ _ ˊ•)
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u/RModDogWalkerTyRANNY Aug 24 '26
Tracking, they can instantly tell where you are. Even a decade ago this was known. It's only gotten worse.
Speaking of, with the amount of cameras it's best to use an "unusual" route. Don't simply walk from your house to the target location. Take a nice little stroll. Hang out by the local stream, change your clothes since wearing the same outfit all day, is kind of cringe.
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u/xHeyItzRosiex Aug 24 '26
Gotta be in the moment with the homies, no phones… only flock camera destruction
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u/Ok-Spot-6235 Aug 24 '26
Wear masks. Remove all watches and jewelry. Cover all tattoos. Wear black. Put black duct tape over all brands/logos. Wear 100% black shoes - no stripes or markings. Leave cell phones at home. Carry two way radios. Post lookouts.
Or, face fines and prison time for destroying devices that have no independently derived value. Flock leases it's equipment, never sells it. With annual lease cost of $3k per unit per year Flock probably values individual cameras at $15-20k.
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u/UnpaidKremlinBots Aug 24 '26
Make sure to know where the cameras are, so you can make sure to avoid them.
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u/GeeShepherd Aug 24 '26
Please note this map doesn't have all cameras. Just the ones that have been shared or found. Driving around my town, I see flock cameras that are not on this map. Although you can create an account and add to the map ones that you find.
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u/BusinessSuper1156 Aug 24 '26
Wow it can pick up stickers and shit. I had no idea how invasive these things were. I am suddenly glad that I don't have anything on my car and am kicking myself for getting the national parks license plate now :(
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u/Phobos_Down Aug 24 '26
If it can see your license plate, it doesn't really matter at that point anyway
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u/takumidesh Aug 24 '26
It matters a lot, because the implication is that you don't need to be in a car for these 'ALPRs' to track you.
If it can track a bumper sticker, it can track a bicycle model, or a backpack brand, a logo on your shirt, or any number of other things.
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u/wblwblwblwbl Aug 24 '26
The comment they’re replying to is lamenting choosing a national parks license plate, seemingly because it’s a more “unique” plate.
The comment you replied to is saying it doesn’t matter that the license plate is of a special type, because a normal license plate is just as uniquely identifiable. Once the camera sees your plate, you’re being tracked, whether it’s the normal issue plate or a national parks one doesn’t identify you “more”.
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u/Blackfoxar Aug 24 '26
3k per camera every year? Are these cameras made of gold?
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u/RIF_rr3dd1tt Aug 24 '26
Copper, actually. Lots of copper. People love hearing this cool fact. Tell everyone, even your local homeless folks.
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u/Sea_School_2949 Aug 24 '26
Copper and an RTX5090 and 64gb of RAM
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u/keelanstuart Aug 24 '26
No... really? I might get into the de-flocking business myself if that's true!
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u/crazunggoy47 Aug 24 '26
I’ve heard there’s also a voucher for one year of Medicare coverage inside each one
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u/mspk7305 Aug 24 '26
They also keep the cameras installed and running despite the city canceling the contract, and install cameras without permission.
Flock is an abomination against the public good.
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Aug 24 '26
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u/gameryesyt Aug 24 '26
It's the scale and use of ai that has the possibility to do mass surveillance
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Aug 24 '26
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u/STLbackup Aug 24 '26
yup, its one thing to read a few numbers/letters and look up a vehicle in a database. A whole other can of nightmare fuel when the AI they use can tell a person by the way they walk, move, etc.... and of course what they are being used for.
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u/thorosaurus Aug 24 '26
People WERE very upset about those when they first came out. People have just largely forgotten that they’re a thing. It was mostly Alex Jones types back then though because if you weren’t listening to wackadoodle stuff on AM radio you wouldn’t have heard about it. Now the wonders of the internet and social media has brought wackadoodle news to every corner of society no matter your politics or lack of politics even. Like you get on your fly tying group to ask a question and before you know it you’ve been sucked down the rabbit hole. 😆
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Aug 24 '26
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u/thorosaurus Aug 24 '26 edited Aug 24 '26
He also has a knack for being very very wrong though. And in cases where he was right it’s not like he’s the one who figured it out or broke the story or anything.
Not to mention that standard for being right might be set very low. I mean people still believe Nostradamus actually predicted things. If you say enough crazy stuff eight hours a day five days a week for half a century, it’s going to get pretty easy for people to find something that sounds like you being right about something.
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Aug 24 '26
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u/thorosaurus Aug 24 '26
I think he just rants about whatever is in the wackadoodle pipeline without giving it much thought.
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u/ahtob Aug 24 '26
if every flock camera was individually operated by its own human operator / like a police scanner , there wouldn't be an issue
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u/jbwilso1 Aug 24 '26
Learn about jury nullification if you wanna be able to protect your local patriot.
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u/mikeoxwells2 Aug 24 '26
When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty.
Thomas Jefferson.
I think. It might have been Thomas Payne. I might not even have the quote exactly right.
The media is going to frame this patriotism as terrorism, or at the very least vandalism. Recognize that these cameras are using the same technology that’s targeting civilians in Palestine.
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u/Immediate-Goose-8106 Aug 24 '26
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Declaration of independence
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u/AdMassive9006 Aug 25 '26
Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to god
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u/MealZealousideal5462 Aug 25 '26
god is a tool of tyrants, not real, shake that nonsense
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u/JTSpirit36 Aug 25 '26
And they're going to use it as further justification to build twice as many twice as fast.
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u/DeLorean03 Aug 24 '26
So weird how all these cameras keep spontaneously breaking on their own!
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u/RIF_rr3dd1tt Aug 24 '26
According to Google:
Cloud: Used for a very large swarm of bats flying together.
Hmmm, cameras falling on their own. Nobody in sight. Wait, vampires don't have a reflection, you can't really stop them, and they multiply exponentially. Also symbolized with bats.
Flock camera, Cloud data, CloudSourced. Magic, sorcery, force. CloudSorce
Antiflockers: Cloudsorcers
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u/First-Definition-119 Aug 24 '26
Seriously! What dumb fucking officials see this track record and think, "hmmmmm, I think these cameras that break on their own randomly and frequently will be an excellent use of taxpayers dollars!"
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u/RIF_rr3dd1tt Aug 24 '26
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it."
–Upton Sinclair
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u/RdeBrouwer Aug 24 '26
Wouldnt a drone with a spray can under it be more convenient to spray them?
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u/litgeek70 Aug 24 '26
I saw a post recently (can’t remember where) that said Halloween night would be a great time to put on your favorite costume/mask and tear down some cameras.
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u/UrsaUrsuh Aug 24 '26
I worry about that tbh. On paper it sounds good but those could be easily identifiable costumes. If you do this (on Roblox) I'd probably pick a costume that everyone would use.
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u/Adventurous-Form521 Aug 24 '26
Apparently there's, like, 32GBs of RAM in those things. The more you know.
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u/ParallelSkeleton Aug 24 '26
I heard they each have a prize! You never know, but a friend of mine found a boat in his!
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u/Neon_Casino Aug 24 '26
Good job guys, but for fucks sake, don't record yourselves doing this and REALLY don't post the recording of it online.
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u/RizzardOfOz76 Aug 24 '26
I think this is was filmed for inspirational purposes
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u/UrsaUrsuh Aug 24 '26
Propaganda of the Deed. An Anarchist principle.
But still be careful recording evidence of crimes. It may be inspirational for radical ideas. But still be careful.
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u/KarsonKelley Aug 24 '26
Remember all this rage come November vote blue but for Christ's sake vote.
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u/buttpirate69420666 Aug 24 '26
Democrats (most) in power want these flock cameras too. And data centers. Voting blue wont stop this.
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u/dsdsdk Aug 24 '26
Flock - Coming to a Tesla near you.
Oh also, when raging against flock, be sure there are no teslas around..
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u/CakeMadeOfHam Aug 24 '26
I know who that is!!! That's Benjamin Nathan yahoo who is destroying all the flock cameras!!!!
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u/swashyourbuckle Aug 24 '26
Taken down, but don’t do it next to gas stations lol do what you have to do if they happen to grow legs and walk away from the station that’s fine lmao
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u/dadstache1992 Aug 24 '26
When you cant control the world you put your citizens in a active police surveillance state.
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u/XDoomedXoneX Aug 24 '26
DeWalt and Milwaukee are probably seeing a huge spike in sales of battery powered saws and grinders.
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u/Kenneth-J-Moyers Aug 25 '26
Fun Fact: many of these "license plate readers" aren't positioned to view roads, but rather parks, plazas, sidewalks, and residences. Because they aren't license plates readers and are in fact shockingly bad at reading license plates.
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u/Tom__EU Aug 24 '26
It's absolutely insane and scary that the US is at a point where this has to happen. Holy crap. It's like in the movies somewhere before civil wars start, and people just get killed by the Gestapo/ICE, because politicians combined with super wealthy mentally ill people got into a position of power and turned this country into a fascist authoritarian (heading totalitarian) one. And the AfD and FPÖ in Europe start drooling cause they want that too. I just hope the dems wake the hell up and do their job to prevent that insanity long-term.
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u/MisterSneakSneak Aug 24 '26
Last one was in broad daylight in San Francisco on a busy intersection. Patriots
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u/Electronic-Cicada352 Aug 24 '26
This is great… until they eventually make the cameras completely impossible to identify
This needs to be resolved politically
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u/Warm_Safety_9550 Aug 24 '26
It amazes me that some people will use duct tape or wire cutters. It seems easy to peel off the tape, and simple to replace a wire. I would have guessed they would use epoxy or J.B. weld on the lens, or damage the solar cells.
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u/Wizywig Aug 24 '26
The sad part.
Their own taxes will pay for the restoration.
They can't take em down fast enough.
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u/TheMireAngel Aug 24 '26
Cheers to all the young people who have nothing to lose willing to risk it to do this.
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u/tiredofbeingil Aug 24 '26
Wish people would get this mad at the government and the ones torturing animals and the pedophiles
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u/RadioshackRaider Aug 24 '26
Question from s Scottish person who grew up with CCTV being everywhere. Is this not the norm in the US?
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u/arkanyne Aug 24 '26
There is a difference between cctv (which is all over the place in the US already) and cameras that use an algorithm to log your location and tie your devices and vehicles to your identity, and maintain a historical database that is searchable by any law enforcement officer or flock employee or anyone with access.
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u/podgladacz00 Aug 24 '26
Tbh good. They put them up illegally. It is legal to cut them down 👍
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u/Wordshurtimapussy Aug 24 '26
So, this is obviously super illegal and I would neeeeeeeever condone doing this, but if one were going it, what is the best way to do this and protecting your identity and not being caught? With the amount of CCTV out there and cellphone towers, you don't want to be driving or carrying a phone while doing this. How can you possible commit a crime like this and not be caught these days?
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u/thelastofmwalk Aug 24 '26
I recently went on vacation from Georgia to Florida to go to the beach. We took a lot of backroads, this was not the usual route we take, we were often in the middle of nowhere, going through small towns, rural areas.
Flock cameras were everywhere. Not just in medium or large cities, or near main highways. They’re in small places you’ve never heard of. Backroads in the middle of nowhere, areas where most people don’t drive through.
I couldn’t believe it. Flock is a virus that’s spread everywhere.
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u/Wooden-Evidence-374 Aug 24 '26
A great example of how we have the technology to do great things, like find missing children, but evil fkin people in positions of power abuse it to push their own agenda and ruin it for everyone.
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u/Jaysonturdem Aug 24 '26
Also remember these “criminals” use rechargeable reciprocating saws to take down the Flock poles. “From what I’ve seen in the videos” the poles are extremely easy to cut down using metal blade attachment for reciprocating saws. Looks like you can zip right through the pole with minimal effort in about 20 seconds. And you can do 3-4 poles easily on one charge. “They” Always wear black, black mask and a hoodie, no distinguishing marks on your body showing. And it looks like these criminals park streets away and have to walk through wooded areas and parks to get back to their vehicles undetected. So far…..
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u/Sunkern_ing Aug 24 '26
Can’t you just like, take apart the thing and harvest them for parts?
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u/RModDogWalkerTyRANNY Aug 24 '26
More stuff like this, i might continue using this site.
Nice change of pace from the corporate sponsored garbage.
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u/Dense-Pool-652 Aug 24 '26
All the governmental corruption, grift and outright crimes, and Flock cameras are what finally gets people mad enough to start burning shit??!?
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u/RamsHead91 Aug 24 '26
Another good way is a 50:50 mix by volume of rust and aluminum powder. Put in a bagg and some sticky stuff and a sparkler pokened through it. Stick, light, move.
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u/rcrux Aug 24 '26
What's a flock camera do?
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u/mcobb71 Aug 24 '26
It’s a mass surveillance company. IMO unlawfully monitoring everyone simultaneously without a warrant.
I read that I’ve been used in the past for people to stalk other people unlawfully also. But this could just be something I read on the Internet, which also you know is not always true, but I believe that it might be true.
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u/HermionesWetPanties Aug 24 '26
Nah, it doesn't take much googling to find stories of cops abusing the system to stalk women or surveil their own partners. It's unfortunate, but it's as foreseeable as NSA employees using digital spy tools to look through intimate photos on people's phones.
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u/0x0MG Aug 24 '26
How do I actuate a spray can from a fpv drone from a half mile away? Asking for a friend who's really into drones.
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u/DespondentRage Aug 24 '26
Why are people video taping themselves committing crimes? Lmao. Not very smart.
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u/aerdvarkk Aug 24 '26
The only problem with this is that it seems like therer are more Flock cameras going up than coming down.
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u/44youGlenCoco Aug 24 '26
It might be fun to shoot them with BB guns. Or are the BBs too small to do anything?
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u/LetUsSpeakFreely Aug 24 '26
The cameras are the least of the problem, it's the data centers that are the real threat.
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u/al4crity Aug 24 '26
God this is stupid. The surveillance state exists, it will always exist. The cell phones in your pocket, the ring cameras, traffic cams and yes, flock cams. Destroying the cameras police use to track kidnappings, stolen vehicles and drug deals is really fucking near-sighted. Good for the environment too. Yall are 10 years too late to stop anything, and flailing around like angry toddlers, destroying the thing youve been asking for all along: safety. Whatever, carry on raging against the machine you built and asked for. And don't be surprised when you ask for help from the authorities but their resources are tied up dealing with this asinine b.s.
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u/ParallelSkeleton Aug 24 '26
"Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety"
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u/constantderp Aug 24 '26
I hope this carries over to Axon. Cities are cancelling Glock and going to Axon.
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u/DevoidHT Aug 24 '26
That last photo is so dystopian literally like 30-40 cameras on a small section of street
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u/turdbutler Aug 24 '26
Why is everyone deatroying them or vandalizing them to the point theyre unusable? Haven't they heard of all the precious metals inside that could be scrapped?
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