[HN Gopher] 300 Drones Formed a QR Code That Rick Rolled Dallas ...
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300 Drones Formed a QR Code That Rick Rolled Dallas on April Fools'
Day
Author : jaboutboul
Score : 268 points
Date : 2022-04-05 18:19 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.dallasobserver.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.dallasobserver.com)
| FredPret wrote:
| Imagine being the rights holder to this song
| ouid wrote:
| Imagine being Rick Astley, who is not the rights holder
| [deleted]
| mxuribe wrote:
| I imagine he is now invited to perform at live Rickroll
| events...like i remembar was done once at a previous Macy's
| Thanksgiving's Day parade. So, my hope is that he is able to
| make a nice living off of his music (assuming it is his
| music).
| surbas wrote:
| An interesting phishing method... i.e. the new "leave a usb drive
| in the parking lot" trick.
| piyh wrote:
| Reminds me of the "Do not look at the moon" writing prompt. "Do
| not scan the QR code in the sky"
|
| https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/8aec6t/wp_i...
| shagie wrote:
| There's a "solution" posed in Different Kinds of Darkness (
| https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/different-
| kinds-o... ) - some of the background of the world is
| https://www.nature.com/articles/44964
| yreg wrote:
| Thanks for sharing, such a good prompt and story!
| themodelplumber wrote:
| Anybody know if there are considerations or plans for things
| like:
|
| - Mandatory periodic ID transmit (via RF) by drones at specific
| altitudes or in specific areas
|
| - Standardized visual marking schemes for drones by class, for
| example municipal, commercial, federal, etc.
|
| Just wondering because for example my city announced that they'll
| be using drones for power pole checks, which will include a lot
| of backyard operation. I'd like to be able to identify them if
| needed.
| jaboutboul wrote:
| There are. See things like:
| https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/remote_id/
| teeray wrote:
| > Mandatory periodic ID transmit (via RF) by drones at specific
| altitudes or in specific areas
|
| Remote ID in the US will be in effect September 2023. It
| functions like a license plate: you won't be able to identify
| the operator, but law enforcement will be able to. It will
| broadcast the location of the drone, the altitude, and the
| operator's position.
|
| All drones that need to be registered will also need Remote ID
| unless they're flown in a (yet to be designated) FRIA zone (so
| sub-250g flying recreationally are exempt)
|
| > Standardized visual marking schemes for drones by class, for
| example municipal, commercial, federal, etc.
|
| None, unless it's something required by their Certificate of
| Authorization, which a municipality may be operating under
| (otherwise it's Part 107). Realistically, if such a requirement
| were stipulated it would likely be lights of a certain color /
| pattern.
| the__alchemist wrote:
| > Remote ID in the US will be in effect September 2023.
|
| Not if RDQ can help it -
| https://www.racedayquads.com/pages/faa-legal-battle-to-
| save-...
| dredmorbius wrote:
| If those IDs are fixed, then third parties will be able to
| collate identities and owners or operators over time.
|
| Do you have any details / references on the specification?
| teeray wrote:
| There's a randomization aspect to it to thwart that. The
| specs haven't been finalized, but they've been given to
| ASTM to flesh out. The Federal Aviation Regulation
| basically spells out the requirements at this point.
|
| I believe this is a draft [0] (it could be final too at
| this point). From there, here's the specific ID
| randomization:
|
| > UTM (UUID): A UTM-provided unique ID traceable to the
| Registration ID that can act like a "session id" to protect
| exposure of operationally sensitive information.
|
| [0] https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eoDownloadDocument?pu
| bId=&...
| Mountain_Skies wrote:
| Wonder how long it will take for a project similar to
| FlightAware to pop up from the people who have SDRs set up to
| monitor RF in their area.
| 14 wrote:
| Batman has something to say. Joking aside it would be
| interesting to see this used my a malicious actor leading
| people to a malicious website.
| annoyingnoob wrote:
| Seems like an obvious use. Not getting caught doing so while
| managing a large number of drones may be a different matter.
| walrus01 wrote:
| If your city or local electrical grid utility is using drones
| for power line inspections they'll be operated by a FAA part
| 107 licensed remote pilot, who is familiar with all the legal
| requirements. No need to be overly concerned about it.
|
| https://www.faa.gov/uas/commercial_operators/
| TaylorAlexander wrote:
| I gathered that the point of the question is whether one
| would be able to distinguish between a power company drone
| and some random person flying in their back yard.
| walrus01 wrote:
| Some companies do use things like a mavic 2 pro for
| inspections, which consumers also purchase, there are no
| specific marking requirements (other than strobe if
| authorized for night operations) that a part 107 operated
| UAS would have that would be visible from the ground
| compared to the same hardware operated by a hobbyist.
|
| If it's large and expensive the likelihood that it's some
| random person decreases, it's easy for a UAS with a thermal
| camera to be $8,000+.
| _jal wrote:
| > If it's large and expensive the likelihood that it's
| some random person decreases
|
| We have identification requirements for other types of
| planes that cost significantly more.
|
| On the other hand, I've seen utility-branded work
| clothing at Goodwill.
| HappyDreamer wrote:
| > If it's large and expensive the likelihood that it's
| some random person decreases, it's easy for a UAS with a
| thermal camera to be $8,000+.
|
| Or it's a fake thermal camera for $8 -- just some
| plastics but nothing inside. How is anyone a bit away
| going to know?
|
| Threat modeling wise, these things could be bad &
| dangerous in one, two, three, four, more, different ways
| walrus01 wrote:
| I'd be vastly more concerned about the number of people
| dying from getting shot or in traffic accidents/drunk
| driving every year in the USA than people weaponizing
| hobbyist level drones.
|
| > Threat modeling wise, these things could be bad &
| dangerous in one, two, three, four, more, different ways
|
| you could say that about a Toyota Camry
| Mountain_Skies wrote:
| You can be concerned about gingivitis even though heart
| disease continues to exist.
| moioci wrote:
| Especially because of heart disease:
| https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-
| conditions/gum-d...
| teeray wrote:
| You won't be able to do this, even once Remote ID is in
| effect. Only the FAA and law enforcement will be able to.
| [deleted]
| dymk wrote:
| How would you distinguish a rando with a clipboard and
| high-viz vest from a city worker with a clipboard and a
| high-viz vest?
| macksd wrote:
| The city worker carries credentials and is usually
| driving a marked government vehicle. Neither one gets to
| be in my backyard without talking to me first.
| dymk wrote:
| Do you have power poles literally in your backyard, on an
| easement or something?
| quinnjh wrote:
| Are you suggesting a drone inspecting power poles would
| be unable to see over a fence?
| dymk wrote:
| Are you suggesting a person on a power pole is unable to
| see over a fence?
| thedanbob wrote:
| It's pretty common. My first house was connected to a
| pole in my neighbor's backyard, and my current house has
| one in the front yard.
| macksd wrote:
| No, but I have underground pipes managed by a metro
| district. I've had people come by who were supposed to be
| inspecting a meter and they do have reasonable
| requirements for giving notice that they're entering or
| doing work. I've also had people come by to mark
| utilities who didn't realize they weren't in the right
| place until my dog's presence in the back yard made them
| talk to me first, so this is an expectation I care about
| maintaining.
| emerged wrote:
| am I the only one who has literally never thought Rick rolling
| was even slightly funny? It's so bizarre to me every time it
| comes up and everyone reacts like it's the funniest thing they've
| ever seen.
|
| Same with the image of whatever football guy with the T-shirt
| over his head or whatever.
|
| Edit: Imagine downvoting this LOL. Get a life
| gwbas1c wrote:
| Because when you see the "Rick roll" video you know it's a
| joke. If it's some other random video it'll take awhile to get
| the joke.
|
| That's why the joke is popular almost 15 years after it
| started.
| emerged wrote:
| I'm glad people enjoy it but man when you don't enjoy it,
| it's just flat out annoying.
| hgomersall wrote:
| I think the amusement value is less about the intrinsic humour
| in the linking to the video, and more about the cultural
| context.
| emerged wrote:
| Yeah I don't "get it"
|
| There are trillions of memes with cultural context that are
| actually funny, and aren't replacing a supposed piece of
| content with nothingness.
| sethammons wrote:
| it is a meme for "made you look." "Made you look" is seldom
| "funny," but it _is_ a thing. Folks have fun with ever
| increasingly obscure ways for "made you look" in this
| context.
| hgomersall wrote:
| That's absolutely it. Insofar as it's funny, it is so
| because of the lengths taken to achieve the "made you
| look". It's the same reason why putting an Austin Seven
| on the roof of the Senate House in Cambridge* is funny,
| which is to say it isn't funny in any way you can
| explain, but is clearly hilarious for the pure whimsy.
|
| *https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-
| cambridgeshire-2160459...
| deathhand wrote:
| And thank goodness we got away from the shock sites that
| were the original "made you look".
| nojs wrote:
| Super cool. As someone who knows nothing about drones I would
| love to see a write up on how to do something like this. Where do
| you purchase that many drones cheaply, and how do you tell them
| to coordinate like that? How can you get the positioning so
| accurate?
| [deleted]
| suyash wrote:
| this method can be used or absued by people to bombard people
| with propaganda message or drop a link to malware at mass.
| julianlam wrote:
| I think you mean "en masse", although you might also mean
| dropping links to malware during a liturgical service. I don't
| judge.
| sethammons wrote:
| the new "fly over and drop paper propaganda fliers in enemy
| territory" - just launch a bunch of drones to share your
| message and have them disperse before the authorities arrive.
| sillysaurusx wrote:
| Indeed. The people that want to spam propaganda were limited to
| newspapers and TV. I shudder to think what they'll be able to
| do with this newfound QR power.
|
| Pretty soon any random person will be able to put a QR code on
| their car.
| quinnjh wrote:
| depending on wether your definitions of propoganda and malware
| include rick astley, thats exactly what they did
| thatguy0900 wrote:
| Anyone else hope they just die before the night sky itself is
| commercialized. We already got rid of the stars at least leave
| the darkness behind
| ASalazarMX wrote:
| 2024: You're having dinner after a long day, winding down. An
| unexpected red flash comes from the window, an explosion? No,
| the blast never came, and now there's more red flashes, as if
| coming from the sky, oh please let this not be a meteor! You
| get to the window, and cautiously look up...
|
| TURNING RED 3
|
| COMING TO DISNEY++
|
| THIS SPRING
|
| SCAN THIS TO BUY
|
| LIMITED STREAMS AVAILABLE
| adrianmonk wrote:
| > _already got rid of the stars_
|
| Coincidentally, there was an episode about this yesterday on
| NPR's Shortwave:
|
| https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1089593627
|
| Apparently, despite having a population of 140,000, Flagstaff,
| Arizona has decided to become a "dark sky city" and succeeded
| well enough that you can see the Milky Way from downtown. And
| there are people working to preserve areas that are currently
| dark and reclaim night sky darkness in other areas.
| Bayart wrote:
| I'm not too worried, at least where I live. Light pollution has
| become a talking point in the EU.
| cryptoz wrote:
| It's not entirely clear to me that this was legal in the first
| place - surely there are light pollution laws in Dallas? And
| also 'disturbing the peace' laws, etc. I wonder if there are
| any chance of legal consequences for stunts like this.
| oh_sigh wrote:
| The company that did it is a real company that puts on real
| drone shows. Presumably they are familiar with the laws
| relating to their industry.
| jaboutboul wrote:
| I would hope that people got a good laugh out of it before
| things like this become commonplace and then made
| illegal/enforced.
| dEnigma wrote:
| Way to make my thoughts turn to darker things again! I was just
| enjoying the prank aspect of it, but you pulled me back into
| reality. While a small part of me feels like drone displays in
| the sky would be awesome, it would of course be awful in
| practice (after the novelty wears off).
| ge96 wrote:
| If they don't figure out holograms, seems like this is how
| they'd pull off those megacorp holographic displays of ads
| you see in media like Blade Runner/Cyberpunk 2077.
| verdverm wrote:
| I'm more worried about this with smart glasses. Hopefully we
| don't get personalized, dynamic, moving ads covering everything
| or everywhere.
| lp0_on_fire wrote:
| I see you haven't been on the internet lately.
|
| But in all seriousness, despite it breaking my heart, there
| will likely be a market for a ublock origin type product for
| smart glasses.
| throwaway81523 wrote:
| Surgical implants with ads that you can't turn off.
| dwighttk wrote:
| Oh did you want the premium ad-free eyesperiance?
| blhack wrote:
| My city has already started installing high powered parking-lot
| style LED streetlights all over the city. IMO the battle is
| already lost.
|
| It's legitimately heartbreaking.
| wildmanx wrote:
| Other parts of the world have realized that this is impacting
| insects and birds and have started cutting down on light
| pollution.
| mkoc wrote:
| Decodes to http://www.d52.io/
| theandrewbailey wrote:
| Seeing that first picture, it looks like there might finally be
| some content for
| https://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com/
| raydiatian wrote:
| Man, drones are scary. This approach could be adopted for a whole
| slew of malicious techniques.
| irrational wrote:
| It's not funny now that Google puts ads in front of every YouTube
| video. That is the one video they should exclude from ads.
| edm0nd wrote:
| uBlock Origin will prevent you from ever seeing a YT ad again.
| Install it.
| irrational wrote:
| Hmm, I do have that installed. Do I need to set a parameter?
| omnicognate wrote:
| I pay for premium so I can still experience a pure, unsullied
| rickroll.
| dredmorbius wrote:
| Values.
|
| Word.
| lostgame wrote:
| I pay for premium, so I wouldn't notice - but holy crap, that
| would certainly put a dent in the whole gag, for sure.
| hbn wrote:
| > That is the one video they should exclude from ads
|
| I wouldn't be very happy about that if I were Rick Astley!
| joshcryer wrote:
| Love Field is 6 miles from "downtown Dallas" and the article says
| they just hovered there. Maybe people living next to Love Field
| saw it but this is more of a marketing stunt than getting
| permission to fly 300 drones over downtown Dallas. Still, really
| cool and I click the little heart or upvote on any drone
| animation videos I see. The tech is super impressive and the
| article even talks about the kind of support equipment they need
| (trailers, rigs, etc). I am not downplaying the task, just
| surprised me with the headline.
| walrus01 wrote:
| the sort of people who can do a 300 UAS light show know enough
| not to operate in the class bravo
|
| class bravo airspace is shaped like an upside down wedding
| cake.
|
| you can check the free FAA PDFs for VFR operations in the metro
| area in question if you want to see its tiers.
| annoyingnoob wrote:
| If you are scanning random QR codes in 2022 then you deserve the
| Rick Roll, or whatever you get.
| tpmx wrote:
| 2018 CES - I was really impressed by the Intel drone light show
| over the Bellagio fountain pool area. Thought it was some weird
| kind of Vegas wire-pulling effect at first.
|
| There were no drone sounds, just strings of lights moving in
| increasingly strange and impressive ways.
|
| Kept trying to figure out how they were able to pull such
| impressive moves until I saw some guy wearing a shirt that said
| something like "Intel drone team" and the penny finally dropped.
|
| Some "magic" is fun once in a while.
|
| Edit: This is what it looked like:
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7HNQ1NBzgg
| mcphage wrote:
| Intel did one in Walt Disney World for a short while in late
| 2016. I was completely amazed by it, and it was nowhere near as
| elaborate as the ones shown since.
| ant6n wrote:
| So Star Trek's 3d holograms are real now. Didn't think drones
| was gonna be the technology that would make it happen.
| crancher wrote:
| Best headline I've read in while.
| Mr_Modulo wrote:
| It would be even cooler to have a lot of drones with red, green
| and blue LEDs. You could have them fly in a grid and coordinate
| the brightness of the RGB lights to play a video.
| punnerud wrote:
| With one wire for power going through them vertically you could
| go really high and stay there "forever".
|
| Could also connect them just at the top, so you can have a wire
| that is not isolated and higher voltage (less loss)
| cookiengineer wrote:
| > Could also connect them just at the top, so you can have a
| wire that is not isolated and higher voltage
|
| You could also just hang up an electric wire with light bulbs
| at this point.
| punnerud wrote:
| Not 1024 of them in parallel really high in the sky to show
| a movie to all of the city
| Cerium wrote:
| Yes, like this art installation by Jim Campbell back in
| 2006: https://bampfa.org/program/jim-campbell-home-movies
|
| Only power and ground were supplied through the two wires
| connecting to each pixel. The pixels were PIC micro-
| controllers which contained the brightness levels for that
| pixel, which would play on loop independently. As I
| remember, the whole array would loose power intermittently
| to deal with clock drift.
| samatman wrote:
| That isn't a Rick Roll, though, it's just mass deployment of
| the Ludovico Technique at that point.
| julianlam wrote:
| It's all fun and games until 300 drones form a QR code that send
| unsuspecting people (the same people who would scan a QR code for
| fun) to a phishing link.
| zitterbewegung wrote:
| Why not both?
|
| In all serious you would want to do both so that people think
| it is just a joke still.
| walrus01 wrote:
| > to a goatse link
| reaperducer wrote:
| _It 's all fun and games until 300 drones form a QR code that
| send unsuspecting people (the same people who would scan a QR
| code for fun) to a phishing link._
|
| 2032: Elon Musk puts a giant QR code on the moon.
| yosito wrote:
| With the resurgence of QR codes, it's only a matter of time
| until someone starts printing phishing link QR code stickers
| and sticking them over innocent looking QR codes for restaurant
| menus and such.
| dylan604 wrote:
| Or people that are placing sticker QR codes everywhere are
| disabled when someone pulls off part of the alignment corners
| or other destructive ways to make valid QR codes unusable.
|
| Some of the local city parking lots have switched to mobile
| app payment systems expecting people to scan QR codes. These
| have been disabled by making the QR code unreadable.
|
| However, it would also be "easy enough" for people to make a
| payment system that looks like the legit system, and scam
| unsuspecting people attempting to pay for parking only to
| find their cars towed because it wasn't a legit payment.
|
| There are certain things where QR codes are _NOT_ the answer.
| Nextgrid wrote:
| Why steal the money completely? I bet it would last way
| longer if you just skim a bit off the top but then use the
| rest to pay for their parking so they're not towed and
| don't have reasons to question anything.
| aendruk wrote:
| It's been done:
| https://www.austintexas.gov/news/fraudulent-qr-codes-
| found-a...
| Sebb767 wrote:
| This is not a flaw of QR codes, though. If they used an URL
| or a phone number instead, people could replace it with a
| phishing one just as easily.
| dylan604 wrote:
| No, it's just a flaw in people using QR codes poorly. Too
| many people assume the best out of other people which is
| nice and all in lalaland kind of way, but in the real
| world, people actively look to get one over on people. QR
| codes are just way too susceptible to being interfered
| with by anyone with just enough knowledge and inclination
| to do so.
|
| If the app payment system is the way to go (why not? not
| expensive onsite equipment), then it needs to be
| something other than a QR code that is easy to
| manipulate.
| ASalazarMX wrote:
| Only a matter of time, but that time is now already.
|
| https://www.bitdefender.com/blog/hotforsecurity/us-police-
| pa...
| meemo wrote:
| A gas station near me has stickers on pumps with a QR code
| that supposedly links to a rewards app. I may be wrong, but I
| think it says something about paying through the app. Seems
| perfect for phishing.
| pavel_lishin wrote:
| IF THIS WERE A VIRUS
|
| YOU WOULD BE DEAD NOW
|
| FORTUNATELY ITS NOT
|
| THE METAVERSE IS A DANGEROUS PLACE;
|
| HOW'S YOUR SECURITY?
|
| CALL HIRO PROTAGONIST SECURITY ASSOCIATES
|
| FOR A FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION.
| [deleted]
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(page generated 2022-04-05 23:00 UTC)