So much for keeping your eyes peeled

from here (image source)

This guy seems better at catching Z's than catching perps. Security guards shouldn't let their guard down so easily.

TSA Agents, What's The Funniest Thing You've Found In Someones Luggage?

Watch on YouTube

I guess this is just a text-to-speech engine reading out Reddit posts, but there are still some interesting stories in there.

Clever girl

from here and here (image source)

Living off the land and using natural materials to help conceal yourself can work well, but only if you don't lose sight of the fact that other things might be drawn to what you're using.

Secret compartment hair

found on Reddit

Sadly, without any hair of my own (at least not on my head) this is no longer an option for me, but I'm sure there are plenty of people who already had dreads that could do this. It doesn't even have to be for a "stash", you could put some kind of data storage media in there quite easily.

Methinks he doth protest too much

from here

I don't entirely buy the claim that Hacking Team is dead. It would be great if it were true, but it seems to me that they're trying a little too hard to make the world believe it. If it's really dead, why bother announcing the fact? Why would it matter what anyone thought at that point?

Keeping an eye on the building

found on Reddit

It's often not enough to simply have a surveillance camera. You need to have someone watching the footage too, or you won't know when something like this happens.

You forgot them laws like you've amnesia

from here and here

Since TikTok is basically a Chinese company, maybe they don't really care about privacy. Maybe the lip service they pay to privacy is nothing more than that. Maybe they have no intention of complying with the laws they're breaking.

Bracelet Flask

Product Page

I think this is a pretty cool idea for hiding a private stash of booze, but part of me can't help but wonder - how many can you wear before it stops being discreet?

If you need another reason to wear a mask...

from here and here

Now you might be thinking that what's going on in the UK is just a temporary thing, and to the extent that the pandemic is hopefully only going to be temporary that might be true, but the idea of developing face recognition technology that works without seeing most of your face? Pull my other leg.

Ad blocker, block thyself

found on Reddit

Sometimes the people who were supposed to protect us seem to go over to the dark side.

M-I-C K-E-Y More-Of-You-I-See

from here and here (image source)

Steamboat Willie is in the past. The future is CCTV Mickey.

Accidental anti-theft measure

found on Acid Cow

From the right angle, that looks like someone nobody wants to steal.

It's too short

from here and here (image source)

If I had a 10 foot key I might be able to unlock that door, but nothing shorter will do.

Mark Angel Comedy: The Password

Watch on YouTube

Although the punch-line wasn't exactly a surprise (wifi passwords are fertile ground for jokes), the execution of this gag was still quite good.

More than just sticky fingers

from here (source article)

Well, it's good to know at least one of these melon-heads has already been arrested. I'd hate to find out something as ridiculous as melon masks actually worked as a disguise.

Public transportation needs signs like this

found on The Fail Blog

Not only would people (hopefully) keep their banking details to themselves, but the rest of us would have a quieter morning commute.

Maybe they didn't notice

from here

Y'know, a good meme isn't just a funny picture or video on the Internet. Sometimes it's a different way of looking at things, of thinking about them, of framing them. I think the FBI's continued attempts to get backdoors in iPhones deserves something like that.

Anti-Malware phone case

Product Page

No, this isn't a case that actually fights malware, it simply depicts the fight against malware. it's certainly a creative design. I especially like the little details around belt-level on both of the figures.

Just place it over there with the rest of the dirt

from here

I'm pretty sure for a threat like this to work, the dirt has to matter. They seemingly had info about many celebrities, and even released some already, but for their threat they chose the one person for whom dirt doesn't seem to matter at all. That's a fail.

There must be easier ways to appear absent

found on The Art Of Trolling

I feel like this subversion of office surveillance was meant to show nothing was wrong, except the guy couldn't be in two places at once in order to take a picture of himself sitting at his desk.

That's not what contact tracing means

from here

Violating privacy is a weird way to look for love in a pandemic. That's not what the information was meant to be used for, and doing that sort of thing is going to create a disincentive to cooperate with something that is very important for public health right now.

Every damn time

found on Izismile

It's surprising that they haven't worked out a solution to this yet. I mean they gather so much information about us, no matter what device we're using, you'd think they could tell it was still us on the second device..

Never underestimate your adversaries

from here and here (source article)

Who knew you could have a bright future in security by the 2nd grade? I wonder if they'll hire the kid to fix the problem or if that would be considered child labour.

Jake Vale: Predicting People's Passcodes

Watch on YouTube

Just like there are commonly used passwords, there are also commonly used phone passcodes (the most common being none, apparently). Using common passwords or passcodes makes it easy to predict what it is, which makes it easy for crooks to get into things they shouldn't.

The tape may come off but the charges will still stick

from here (image source)

Clearly, when you want to take your van to the grocery store and not be outed as a predator, you need to find a way to make your lure more temporary. So long as nothing gets stuck in the adhesive residue left behind, this person may be able to make their van blend in after removing the tape - but they probably won't be so lucky.

Natural camouflage is amazing

found on Reddit

The only problem is that it's going to really stand out when the pine cones are still immature and green.

I Spy Groot

from here and here (image source)

Surveillance is getting sneakier and sneakier. At a casual glance there's a good chance I'd miss these cameras - yes cameras plural; did you miss the lower one the first time you looked too?

US Department Of Security Theater mug

Product Page

While this isn't the only security theater design I've seen, it does seem to be the one that's most readily available to acquire and either wear (on clothing) or use.

I see what you did there

from here and here (image source)

Given the placement, you might be able to cover the hole with your leg when you're sitting on the toilet, but who wants to have to think about that when they're doing their business?

Do you have any other routers I could try?

found on Reddit

If you ever find a router with this kind of "writing" on it, good luck.

Surely there are easier ways to get your fix

from here and here

On the one hand it's good to know they never did anything malicious with their botnet, but on the other hand - have they never heard about bittorrent?

Hacking the grid

found on Know Your Meme

If hacking critical infrastructure were as easy as they make it look on-screen, we'd all be in big trouble.

Teach 'em when they're young

from here and here (image source)

I don't know how many times I've seen bikes where the lock was simply draped over the bike, or was wrapped around something that wasn't tall enough, or that could be easily moved. On the other hand, this kid gets it.

Why pet authentication is important

Watch on YouTube

Who knew pets could steal each other's identities so convincingly?

Come to think of it, this cat might make an excellent guard dog.

Your commander can't come out and play right now because he's grounded

from here

I'm not sure how the group members could miss the fact that their leader was only 13. It's not like he was hiding in a corner where no one would notice him, he was their leader so they would have been hanging off his every word. How can a 13 year old pretend to be an adult that convincingly? Were they relying on him for the bomb-making expertise? Did it amount to putting dry ice in a water bottle? They may have been planning to plant bombs but I have serious doubts about their competence as real threats to society if they can't tell that their own leader is a child.

Maybe CAPTCHAs weren't such a great idea after all

found on Huge LOL

When the machines take over, do you know what you'll do for your robot overlords? It's not just CAPTCHAs this is good for, you know. It's also how they'll defeat biometrics.

Secure or insecure?

from here

When you hear a movie villain say that connections make you vulnerable but you know they're not talking to you personally.

Antivirus Face Mask mask

Product Page

I was excited to learn that one of those online t-shirt companies was branching out into face masks, so I hat to check it out. Then I found this, and it was just too meta to pass up. Unfortunately at the time of writing all the masks are out of stock, which is a shame, because I'm still using a cut up t-shirt.

Who was that masked man, anyway?

from here and here (image source)

It doesn't surprise me that face recognition systems can operate with less than complete faces, but if you keep obscuring more and more there comes a point at which the computers can no longer be said to be operating on facial data. I don't doubt that you can recognize someone by just their eyes (that's what iris recognition and retinal biometrics are all about) but I really don't think you can call it face recognition at that point. It's a different technology. A face recognition algorithm that tried to operate with that little data would be more appropriately called a face guessing algorithm because it would be guessing what the face looked like and then deriving the identity from that.

You know you're in a bad neighbourhood when ... they steal the hook

found on The Art Of Trolling

I'm kind of surprised they didn't steal the sign while they were at it, but I suppose the hook has more uses than the sign.

Come at my landline, bro

from here

While the current attacks target the iPhone, that's just this time. Don't assume other mobile platforms haven't or won't face something similar.

A deterrent by any other name...

found on Izismile

The obvious goal of this is to get you to slow down, and it might even work when you see it in the distance, but I wonder how many people would speed up purely out of spite once they realize they've been tricked.