Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/07/31/just-dont-have-a-face-2.html
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That gif is very Star Wars’ish, so say I.
do these guys have some sort of anti regime manual for protesters or are they the ones writing it?
I’d like something like that for license plates
Finally, the Star Wars has begun! How do I join the Empire? They really have the coolest uniforms.
This has “YAY! . . . oh wait.” written all over it.
Aren’t these lasers, like, military grade weaponry in some minds? Aren’t these cheap but dangerous lasers capable of causing instant blindness if mis-handled? Isn’t a mob, perhaps, the worst place to deploy such a weapon? Sorry to be a party-pooper . . . again.
They must have read Little Brother.
You don’t need to permanantly damage the sensor, just mess with the image enough to prevent facial recognition software.
Not the Mandalorians?
Nope.
There is no peripheral vision in those stormtrooper outfits and all that plastic armor can’t even protect from stone age arrows.
So, did this actually work, or would a mask of some sort still be the smarter move?
It’s not great but they are looking for anything to keep the police at bay that isn’t expressly a weapon.
A safer alternative might be some high wattage spotlights possibly made with IR LEDs to hide what they are doing from the naked eye a bit. Set them to keep switching on and off. That way the sensors on the cameras keep overloading and trying to adjust and never get a clear picture.
I had the same thoughts as you. If somebody knows why this won’t harm the police offers, I’d love to hear it.
The cynic in me thinks that maybe permanently blinding the cops is intended.
It depends on the wattage and class of laser in the pointer. It’s hard to tell what class or wattage they are, but the use of green ones is troubling. Those can be more dangerous to the eye. But most likely the blink reflex will kick in fast enough and there won’t be any permanent damage. Definitely discomfort and temporary flash blindness given they are doing this at night, though.
You gotta be born a Mandalorian … unless I appropriated the culture?
lol ants don’t stand a chance!
They need to have some electrical engineers read this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flicker_vertigo
$30 worth of parts, a few minutes with a soldering iron, and bob’s your uncle.