NYPD Deploying Drone for First Time To Secure New Year's Party (bloomberg.com) 87
New York City police will deploy a camera-equipped drone above Times Square, along with new "counter-drone technology" blocking other devices from the area, where they expect as many as 2 million New Year's Eve revelers. From a report: The drone technology is the newest innovation developed by the largest U.S. police department as it prepares for an annual event that already features a broad array of anti-terrorism tactics. They will be used along with police airplanes and helicopters as surveillance tools, said Police Commissioner James O'Neill. Police and federal agents have worked with hotel staffs throughout the area in an effort to prevent an incident similar to the sniper who shot to death 59 outdoor concert-goers from a hotel room high above the Las Vegas strip on Oct. 1, 2017. O'Neill said authorities have no evidence of any credible threat of terrorism for New Year's Eve.
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Gatebox is the first step toward holographic assistants/companions.
I just wish Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft realized it. A voice alone is not good enough.
I also hope they'll allow people to customize the avatar of their assistant (both voice, personality and visual appearance) and even work with companies to sell custom avatars (ex: Steam/Valve could sell a GLaDOS avatar, including both the voice and sarcastic personality of the in-game NPC).
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Makes sense, they're cheap. Hopefully a 6-8 prop (Score:3)
It certainly makes sense to use one, or have one available. The cost is trivial given the scale of the event.
I'm guessing that they want a bit better camera system than the typical hobby "drone" (quadcopter) has, so their craft may be a larger than the 10 inches / 250mm normally used by hobbiest. If so, I'd hope they use a hexacopter or septicopter. Quadcopters don't do well when a motor or prop fails. That's not really a problem if it's a little plastic toy like the big box stores sell, but a malfunctiin could be rather inconvenient if their drone is much larger and heavier.
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Numbers a tad off, but still that's why 6-8 (Score:3)
> that $1000 device falls from the sky, hits a few spectators on the head, lawsuit 1-2 million.
The $1,000-$2,000 are just a few ounces of plastic, so not a huge deal if it fell on you. Not *desirable*, you don't *want* to drop it on your head, but I'd rather that than a baseball. If you stick your fingers in the prop at full throttle, it hurts pretty bad for several minutes. Guess how I learned that.
However, as I said, I'm guessing NYPD may use one a bit larger, not the popular $1,000-$2,000 ones like t
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However, as I said, I'm guessing NYPD may use one a bit larger, not the popular $1,000-$2,000 ones like the DJ Mavic or Phantom.
This article [mcall.com] claims the drone will be operated away from crowds and tethered to a building. Essentially, they could've accomplished the same thing with a camera on a pole, but methinks NYPD is just anxious to play with their new toys.
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Fly a big drone over 2 million people.
A heck of a good idea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Decapitation of some random people, anyone ?
It hurts for about 5-10 minutes. RC boat USS Reaga (Score:2)
The military has the Reaper and Predator, aircraft that are commonly called "drones". Toys R Us used to sell the very popular DJI Phantom, an rc quadcopter often used for filming, which also commonly called a "drone".
People don't often confuse a toy store RC boat with a US Navy warship (both "boats"), yet for some reason they do confuse toy store quadcopters (drones) with military hardware or something equally dangerous.
I have grabbed a hobby / filming style drone out of the air by putting my fingers right
Re: Makes sense, they're cheap. Hopefully a 6-8 pr (Score:1)
Times Square (Score:4, Insightful)
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Went to Times Square to see the ball drop a couple of years ago. One of the bigger mistakes in my life. Went three hours ahead of time. Police locked us in to a 50x50 square. If you leave for any reason you cannot re-enter. Very cold, no place to sit. No bathrooms. Worse of all, when the ball dropped only about 10% of the people square in the corner could actually see it.
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Re:Times Square (Score:4)
What's wrong with being a tourist? Is it some kind of crime? Why do New Yorkers take so much pleasure in looking down on people who have come to see their city? You'd think it would be a great compliment.
The OP wasn't saying that being a tourist is bad, but that the Times Square ball drop is an event where tourists think the'll have a great time when in general it is a bad experience.
Not having been there I have no experience, but then again I don't fancy enjoying new years eve with 1 million of my new closest friends.
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Ridiculous.
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Say hi to Alexandria (Score:2)
Say hi to Ocasio-Cortez for me at your next hate rally.
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Ah, see now you're just a clown.
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NYC isn't alone in this. I visited London ~30 years ago, and our taxi driver refused to take us to Trafalgar (thankfully), but we were young and didn't know better. It was easy to be an ignorant tourist before the internet was commonly available.
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>> What's wrong with being a tourist?
Tourist = Terrorist.
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Score: +1000 Common sense.
Fuck parties, especially in apartments.
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That was pretty good. Made me chuckle.
Re:Times Square (Score:5, Interesting)
Times Square on New Year's Eve has always been a shitshow made for ignorant tourists.
I honestly had no idea, but yeah, after reading this [abc7ny.com], it's definitely off my bucket list. Quote from the local NY ABC news:
Officers will also install over 200 cement blocks in addition to more permanent metal bollards in and around Times Square.
More than 50 canine teams will survey the crowds on alert for explosive material.
These teams will include the newly added German Shepherds and Malinoises.
For the first time, the NYPD will deploy its new fleet of drones to keep watch over the festivities.
Those attending the festivities will face multiple screening points. Certain items are prohibited, including backpacks, large bags, umbrellas, and alcohol.
Property may not be left checkpoints. At approximately 11 a.m., attendees will be directed by police officers to gather in separate viewing pens. As the pens get populated, the entertainment from 43rd Street between Sixth and Eighth Avenues will continue to move north up to Central Park, due to the ball drop from the southern end. Please note, attendees who leave before the ball drops will not be able to regain entry to their original viewing area.
Dear God, that is some serious dystopian shit right there. You'll be sniffed by dogs, herded into holding pens, and watched by drones. You can't even celebrate the new year with a glass of champagne. Damn it New York, the movie Demolition Man wasn't supposed to be a how-to guide.
Re: Times Square (Score:2)
This totalitarian dystopia has gone too far. It's time to de-Stalinize America.
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You've been trumped.
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Hard to be "trumped" in a city controlled by the left.
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You've been left to be trumped.
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(bomb goes off / high-speed lorry attack on pedestrians)
"waaaaah! why dosent they protected us? so unfair!"
(bomb doesn't go off / concrete blocks silently deters lorry attack)
"wwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaah! my rights been vileated! total 1984!"
You lazy fucking simpleton.
(captcha: vomited)
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Damn it New York, the movie Demolition Man wasn't supposed to be a how-to guide.
Except for the part where Taco Bell becomes the only restaurant.
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You don't need Freeman. You only need this [amazon.com].
Not me (Score:2)
What? (Score:2)
Only one drone? There's probably going to be more people in Times Square than the population of my small town. One drone will not be enough. How about a dozen ED-209?
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All that is needed as what was the Domain Awareness System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] is getting every face and every license plate.
The drone is just another product. Everything and everyone in and out of NY is already getting tracked.
The US gov is just happy to sit on the information collected for now to keep up the politics of a virtue signalling as a sanctuary city.
When needed the city has everyones moments over time, from face, gait, voice prints, computer us
Whatever you do, don't go to Times Square (Score:1)
I went to Times Square for NYE.
It was *AWFUL*.
There were a bunch of police literally on every block corner, pedestian movement for several blocks from the square was controlled by police and people were fed into holding pens which were staggered up from the Square.
I can understand crowd control given how many people there are. I also saw that the entire area was dead of joy and mirth. Having a dozen cops on every corner, sometimes yelling instructions about what you can or can't do, checking backpacks, it
Re:Whatever you do, don't go to Times Square (Score:5, Interesting)
What could the cops do? Nothing. NYC would be better off if 50% of its police didn't show up to work and didn't enforce anything but violent crimes. There was a time where the NYPD went on "strike" and stopped issuing tickets for "quality of life" and "traffic" offenses. Know what happened? Nothing. Violent crime actually went DOWN that month.
Overpolicing in the US is the problem, not the solution.
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Wait, what? It's not like Times Square didn't have a bomb planted in it 8 years ago, or there haven't been three bombings in NYC (thankfully with few fatalities) in the past two years. It seems like a high profile target, so I totally get bomb dogs.
And you understand the need for crowd control. Yes, it seems miserable, because "move around in pens as directed by police" isn't my idea of fun. But it's hard to imagine an
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There is an alternative to penning people in like cattle -- leave the entire area open and only control entry and exit. Same deal as paid concerts in Central Park or similar events.
As far as people wanting to bomb us -- wouldn't it be cheaper to just give the "terrorists" what they want? Is constant meddling in the Middle East really worth our freedom within the US? Sometimes, isolationism is really the best option...
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Penning may work for a concert, but it's unclear that works for time square. It has a higher person density, etc. And there are other considerations.
As for just withdraw from the middle east, three main issues. First, there is a value in being a global power. Second, who's to say that terrorist are complaining about military involvement in the middle east (e..g. 9/11 was to a very large degree about doing global business in Muslim nations). Third, and most importantly, the majority of terrorist attacks
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Mass shootings are sufficiently rare that they're not worth inconveniencing anyone to protect against. Besides, this bullshit started in the 90s, long before they were a major worry. Over the long term, restrictions on buying guns should be increased to 1990s levels, but for now, non-response is the best response. Sometimes, QUALITY of life is more important than perfect safety.
As far as being a global power, there's no value in it if it makes us less safe and makes government more intrusive in our own c
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I never mentioned mass shootings. We're discussing terrorists with bombs. Those incidents usually have a white Christian conservative guy behind them.
As for being a global power, we just happen to disagree. Having military bases throughout the world gives the US the ability to enforce it's will, which makes us safer. Recall 9/11 happened because we allowed the Taliban to exist and fund bin Laden. And he was upset because of global trade. And if we don't stop China's aggression, you (or your children
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As far as domestic terrorism, the solution is not to be stinking cowards and just accept some level of danger. There were many more domestic terrorist incidents in the 1960s through 80s (remember the Weather Underground), yet no one turned a fun night into a police state because of it.
Authoritarian apologists like you are the ones making America suck since 9/11. 9/11 didn't happen because we "allowed the Taliban to exist." First of all, we gave them a haven in the first place by meddling in Afghanistan i
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I agree with accepting some degree of danger. But you of course are strawmaning. I also think that Times Square for NYE is an opt-in situation, with a high population density. I'm fine with different levels of acceptance for different people and situations. I'm fine with metal detectors and xrays in airports, to enter stadiums, etc.
I think breaking up the Soviet Union was a good thing, and the war in Afghanistan was a big part of it. And, I think we should have been in Afghanistan before 9/11. Religiou
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The problem is with "opt-in" is that it tends to spread like a disease. First it was airports, now it's stadiums, tomorrow it will be supermarkets, train stations, and shopping malls (as is already the case in pestholes like Israel). How long before we can't live life normally without some mouthbreathing security guard pawing through our personal stuff and violating our privacy several times a day?
As far as the Soviet Union, it wasn't our fucking problem, and it likely would have broken up anyway plus or
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2 mio is wrong (Score:2)
Unless the people are stacked on top of each other at a depth of 10 it will not reach 2 mio. Heck, they can only reach 120,000 if everybody is standing shoulder to shoulder and front to back.
Source:http://time.com/5490304/crowd-times-square-new-years/
CLOAK OF ANARCHY BY LARRY NIVEN (Score:2)
Square in the middle of what used to be the San Diego Freeway, I leaned back against a huge, twisted oak. The old bark was rough and powdery against my bare back. There was dark green shade shot with tight parallel beams of white gold. Long grass tickled my legs.
Forty yards away across a wide strip of lawn was a clump of elms, and a small grandmotherly woman sitting on a green towel. She looked like she'd grown there. A stalk of grass protruded between her teeth. I felt we were kindred spirits, and once whe
"good" or "bad" drone? (Score:1)
Re: "good" or "bad" drone? (Score:1)