Berlin artist Simon Weckert used 99 phones and a handcart to create a “virtual traffic jam” on Google Maps

  • wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    6 months ago

    There’s some security researchers that have done this before as well, and some “grey hats” that reportedly used this technique to get Google to route traffic away from them during their commute by spinning up a whole bunch of phones in their car like this.

    • PseudorandomNoise@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Do you recall any of the names? I’d love to read those papers and see how effective it was. Depending on the city and the route, people might have no choice but to go over a bridge like that regardless of traffic reports.

      • RedBauble@sh.itjust.works
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        6 months ago

        While I don’t remember his name, I remember there was a Darknet Diaries episode about the researcher who first investigated the problem. The episode was very thorough, I liked it a lot. I also don’t remember the name of the episode, so I guess this comment is kinda useless

        • KnightontheSun@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          I guess this comment is kinda useless

          Props for self-awareness and yet still smashing that “reply” button, but I still think your comment is slightly useful. I often just click the “cancel” button once the “useless comment” realization hits me.

          Edit: I am wrestling with it now, just after I clicked reply.

        • scrion@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Your comment was not useless. I learned about a new podcast that I checked out, plus you got to talk about something you liked in a way that made me go look for the episode - haven’t found it yet, but found some other, interesting things along the way.

      • Anti-Antidote@lemmy.zip
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        6 months ago

        Black hats are typical hackers, white hats are ethical hackers. So grey hats are just morally ambiguous hackers

        • witx@lemmy.sdf.org
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          6 months ago

          Typical hackers

          Screw that, go check the original definition of hacker. Those who do bad business with computers are “black hats” not “typical hackers”

          • perishthethought@lemm.ee
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            6 months ago

            Of course you’re right, historically. But since the word hacker came to mean both good and bad in the general publics mind, this is where we are in 2024. We can’t fight it.

            • lud@lemm.ee
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              6 months ago

              And not just in 2024 grey hats and white hats have existed for quite some time now.

    • jqubed@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      I remember an old post about someone seeing a neighbor doing that, I think in Brooklyn or someplace like that.

    • sneakybells
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      6 months ago

      That’s clever. Just have a bunch of hidden buckets of phones on battery banks on your preferred route.