
The Blank Box – When lifted, a 12-gauge shotgun blank goes off (2017) - bookofjoe
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/12/19/this-angry-inventor-has-a-special-gift-for-package-thieves-revenge/
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_ph_
Instead of constructing all those "traps" recently shown on the internet,
wouldn't it be more efficient just to build a deposit box for the packages,
which, like a letter box can recieve parcels, but not take from?

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majui
Or the post office can have a secure storage house where undeliverable
packages are held for up to a week, and they leave you a notice to come pick
it up.

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RyanRies
You're skating on legal thin ice by setting booby traps.

If the idea of someone stealing packages off of your porch pisses you off,
just wait until they do that and then also sue you.

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bookofjoe
Video: [https://youtu.be/otKc7zzd4fA](https://youtu.be/otKc7zzd4fA)

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jamescostian
After the guy with the package has the girl who tried to steal come back to
his porch, he tells her to get a job while weilding a gun and she lists off
excuses why she doesn't. Perhaps she made excuses for her own self-
preservation, but I feel like that part really shows how they practically live
in different worlds. It's scary, and I know people who feel similarly to her.
I wonder, what structures exist to help such people get into the workforce?

To be clear: I'm not excusing her actions (they were very deliberate and
wrong), nor am I saying thieves are all just victims of circumstances. But I
do think that bridging the gap between those two worlds would be helpful for
both of them.

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stevenicr
Still think we need a jobs board that can someone parse all of the available
jobs in each city that do not do drug tests. (and ones that hire even if you
have felony record)

Along with added info for bus routes to this job, daycare near this job with
hours, closest place you could afford to live if you had this job. Government
assistance you qualify if you had this job, how long it takes to get all that.

there is obviously a need for workers and a need for employers. Job board tech
has gotten better in a few ways, yet it still does not serve the undeserved as
well as it could.

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dscpls
Why would a tech solution change matters? I mean yeah having it all in one
place helps, but it's all out there already.

What else is needed to make.it actually work?

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stevenicr
A tech solution would help the same way that google maps having info right
there in app and visible for options for bussing / rideshare , etc helps
people using maps to get around.

It's all out there already? Is it though? I am not aware of any source of jobs
that do not test for drugs or felony. Maybe there is a reddit thread or forum
somewhere I am not aware of? I have not looked for that specifically, only
looked at the main job finding resourcing on the first page of google in my
area.

So to make it work, I think first a need to find all the jobs that people can
actually not waste time reading about and applying for - only list jobs that
do not test.

Have additional options for selecting distance, transportation, childcare,
which programs they will not qualify for based upon checkboxes like felonies -
and all that that becomes barriers would be helpful as well.

I have engaged beggars / homeless in our city many times over the years (and I
do not engage purposely most of the time). When I find challenges I don't know
the answer to I look up what I can find.

Some things are hard (won't sleep / eat at the mission due to a real conflict
with the forced religious sermon) - I get that. Some things are easy when you
have broadband, a big screen, the mental capacity to search and call and find
and put together pieces of the puzzle...

Easy for me to look up things does not make it easy for others to put it all
together - and I have not seen any resource that adds a checkbox to filter
options based upon drug test passabl-ity, felony on record, things like that.

One guy down the street says he can't get food stamps and similar things
because of felony.

I'd love to be able to point to a resource and save time for people. At the
moment I can't think of any resource that lists jobs people can get without
tests. Even good resources like indeed which give you nice location based
results, you still spend tons of time scrolling through things that sound
great until you get to the bottom of the listing and the requirements, and
most don't even list all the requirements (tests for example).

Certainly the bigger problem with people feeling they need to steal in order
to eek out a living in the US society is going to take more than tech to fix -
but here is something that should be simple to add some solution to the mix,
and yet it's still not done - for many reasons I'm sure.

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hprotagonist
_It’s very loud but technically harmless, Barrow said._

A 12ga shotgun round, when fired, emits a sound of about 165 dB SPL, re 20
uPa.

That is more than enough to cause immediate and permanent damage to anyone
close by who is not wearing hearing protection, so I’m calling BS on this
claim.

This is not so much a prank or deterrent device as it is a very justified
lawsuit waiting to happen. I’ve watched the assembly video and there’s no
evidence of any baffles or other noise intensity reduction devices, so this
sure looks like someone’s getting the full noise level whenever it goes off.

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freedomben
Blanks are significantly quieter than regular rounds (not sure if the dB level
you posted took that into consideration or not). In fact, you don't really
need hearing protection with blanks at all. In the military we trained with
blanks all the time without hearing protection, and they are anal about OSHA
standards.

But I agree, it's a lawsuit waiting to happen. I would not recommend anybody
do this.

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hprotagonist
hmm. A starter pistol is ~145 dB, and that’s a .22 blank.

i’m guessing you’re still well into “OSHA says there’s no safe exposure
duration” territory... but i have not found a source for a shotgun blank sound
intensity.

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mgarfias
He’s using a 209 shotshell primer, not a “blank”.

A .22 blank and a 209 Shotshell primer are not significantly different in
volume.

~~~
hprotagonist
Thanks for the data.

Sounds like something you don't want to be 18" from when it goes POW, then.

~~~
mgarfias
Eh. It’s not that bad. Firecracker like.

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atomical
What's the reason behind rewriting the URL to
"[https://www.washingtonpost.com"](https://www.washingtonpost.com")? Something
to do with the paywall?

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westondeboer
Article from 2017

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complector
The publicity for all this nonsense is getting a little bit silly. Especially
considering all the fanfare of the drone delivery vaporware announced prior to
Holiday/Christmas 2016 season, which still has only extremely select, limited,
niche pilot zones, mostly taking advantage of weather and isolation in
desertified areas.

So we're arriving at a place where usage saturates norms beyond their capacity
for civilized utility, much like in 1999 when file sharing suffered, all
because the unprepared entertainment industry unleashed a violent backlash and
counter campaign against Napster. From which, arguably, file sharing in
general has never recovered (due to willful poisoning with malware, and
fear/doubt spreading with highly publicized, yet rare child pornography
pursuit and prosecution, which was then subsequently incentivized with paid
informant programs leading to evidence fabrication, and perpetrator/suspect
framing, no less), was destroyed, and now, we have a handful of centralized,
moderated, controlled streaming services instead, all watching our every move.

So, what will this drop-off delivery arms race bring? Glitter bombs? Shotgun
shells? Partially automated remote control (and over-hyped) quad-copter
delivery? What else?

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idclip
This thread is trippy man.

Happy holidays everyone.

