Bop Spotter: “a box high up on a pole somewhere in the Mission. Inside is a crappy Android phone, set to Shazam constantly, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s solar powered, and the mic is pointed down at the street below”

https://walzr.com/bop-spotter

@technology

  • @solrize
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    2 months ago

    Jeez, we have surveillance hobbyists now.

    • @betterdeadthanreddit
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      212 months ago

      If you want to see someone who really deserves that title, check out Brendan O’Connor’s talk about the CreepyDOL project at DEFCON 21. Nice reminder of how much information most of us are leaking in the RF spectrum for anybody interested in listening and piecing things together.

    • @[email protected]
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      42 months ago

      Been a thing for all long time. See police scanners. Unfortunately going the way of the past as cops hide their coms with encryption to be even less accountable.

        • @XeroxCool
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          12 months ago

          The pizza boy union filed too many reports about closed roads and having to find another way home

  • @MeatsOfRage
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    452 months ago

    I love this. I feel like the internet used to be full of these crazy little art projects.

  • 👍Maximum Derek👍
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    222 months ago

    Now that it’s a thing, UMG is going to find that corner and start shaking people down for performance royalties.

  • Troy
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    202 months ago

    Scrolling through the list. The timestamps are too regular, meaning it is interpreting a lot of ambient noise as music.

      • Troy
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        22 months ago

        Very possible. But wanted to presume bad coding over outright falsification.

    • @[email protected]
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      32 months ago

      You can listen to the recording of each entry by clicking on it. Sometimes it does seem to be only noise but maybe the machine has better hearing than I do…

  • @[email protected]
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    72 months ago

    This is right on the line of creepy surveillance and interesting public art project. I kind of like the idea but not a fan of the fact that it’s recording in stealth. I wish it were more transparent about it. Most people wouldn’t care anyway and it removes some of the discomfort of listening in on a bunch of strangers.

    • @pixely
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      12 months ago

      I have no issue with the stealth part given that it can only recognise audio which is already publicly available. If you don’t want people to know what you’re listening to, just don’t play it loudly in public.

      This project also wouldn’t be possible if people were aware of it (it would just be gamed and certainly removed).

  • @[email protected]
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    22 months ago

    Scroll down and listen to the recording for Never Gonna Give You Up. Someone knows where that box is.