

DIY Drones Take on Silicon Valley - philipdlang
http://online.wsj.com/video/D45D229F-EF5A-44C7-AAD4-5C35ABD3D65C.html

======
johnohara
I walked into Home Depot yesterday to buy a saw blade. The tools aisle had an
eye level security camera with a proximity sensor that chirped to get my
attention. I looked at it and there I was -- being recorded.

I took it up with the store manager who informed me it was for theft
deterrence. So, y'know, no problem. There was another camera in the electrical
aisle near the bulk wire. Each self-checkout lane had a camera too. I was
recorded three separate times.

The manager could not tell me where or how long my image would be stored or
how it would be used. So now HD has my credit card number, a digital
signature, a photo ID and from overhead, a shopping pattern.

That's more info than I was required to provide the state police for a
background check needed to teach.

The saw blade cost $4.95.

Do we really want all these drones in addition to the millions of cameras
already in place?

~~~
adamjernst
Theft is a real problem for these stores. And theft makes me angry.

I'm willing to trade being recorded _in public_ for a low-crime society.

------
rollypolly
There's so much potential for drones.. for example, I'd love to see traffic
monitors that use drones.

What I mean is, on top of having color-coded maps, I'd like to see a
bird's-eye view just by clicking on the map, that'd be sweet.

~~~
asynchronous13
i'm working on it ;-)

~~~
Atrus6
Would you care to elaborate how you'll be able to power a drone for an
extended amount of time? I was doing some minor research (I was curious about
the pirate bays 'server drone' idea), and the best that I could personally
come up with was flight times of about an hour. That doesn't seem all that
useful to maintain a constant server, or traffic cam, presence.

~~~
andrewflnr
For the traffic cam application, where people aren't trying to shoot it down,
it would be pretty simple to switch it out regularly with one from a nearby
charging station. You might even be able to use a balloon to take off a lot of
the weight, so you can just use the rotors for altitude adjustment. You'd be
slower, but would probably last a lot longer.

~~~
sammyo
I wonder if anyone is looking at a hydrogen balloon/drone hybrid. Small so
it's not a Hindenburg bomb, lots of failsafe, but the power/lift ratios might
give it a significant mission duration.

------
pepijndevos
Am i the only one for who this video is broken in 3 different browsers?

Other video: [http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/diy-drones-take-on-
silic...](http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/diy-drones-take-on-silicon-
valley)

