Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

NYC Mayoral Inauguration bans Raspberry Pi and Flipper Zero alongside explosives

blog.adafruit.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 236 posts

Re: NYC Mayoral Inauguration bans Raspberry Pi and Flipper Zero alongside explosives

#131

Post by jweir »

0x1ch wrote: post #102
billy99k wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop and frisk reduced crime rates. It should be brought back.

An unmarked car pulls alongside you, all men are masked inside and the windows tinted. You're ready to fight back or run, but then it turns out it's the police attempting to harass and bully you. Wonderful.

Look up Sean Bell - not a stop a frisk, just an open fire.

Once, my wife and I were stopped, but not frisked, and cited for riding bikes, on a sidewalk at 2AM on a stretch of Atlantic Ave that would kill you to ride on. It made no sense, until I found out that my neighbor and his friend had been murdered at a street party. There was a drag net out trying to find the killer and they stopped anyone for anything.

A tough city.

Re: NYC Mayoral Inauguration bans Raspberry Pi and Flipper Zero alongside explosives

#132

Post by tehwebguy »

geerlingguy wrote: post #34

Guess I'll have to bring my Arduino then... lol, what a weird thing to add to the list. It's like someone watched Mr. Robot and determined their list of additional hacking tools from asking ChatGPT what tools Elliot would use.

Over under on cops just calling anything with an exposed circuit board is a Raspberry Pi anyway (à la grandparents calling any video game Nintendo)?

Re: NYC Mayoral Inauguration bans Raspberry Pi and Flipper Zero alongside explosives

#133

Post by crazygringo »

whatshisface wrote: post #60
afavour wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sibling comments have good points but in addition: there are a great many legitimate reasons to bring a phone to the inauguration and many fewer legitimate reasons to bring a Raspberry Pi. These guidelines aim to reduce risk, not remove it entirely.

> are a great many legitimate reasons to bring a phone to the inauguration and many fewer legitimate reasons to bring a Raspberry Pi By that logic, I assume they've banned ski masks, skis, fake snow and pinecones. ;-)

Is this a reference to something?

Re: NYC Mayoral Inauguration bans Raspberry Pi and Flipper Zero alongside explosives

#134

Post by wslh »

afavour wrote: post #59
Apreche wrote: post #35

The cops made this list. The idea that a smartphone can do everything a Raspberry Pi can do, and more, is a concept so far beyond their level of understanding that the discussion is pointless.

Sibling comments have good points but in addition: there are a great many legitimate reasons to bring a phone to the inauguration and many fewer legitimate reasons to bring a Raspberry Pi. These guidelines aim to reduce risk, not remove it entirely.

I think someone or a group really motivated to cause harm will laugh at these rules.

Just an anecdote but I was screened several times in the airports (more after 9/11 because of... face) but never caught a pepper spray or other prohibited non obvious items carried accidentally.

Re: NYC Mayoral Inauguration bans Raspberry Pi and Flipper Zero alongside explosives

#135

Post by whatshisface »

kingkawn wrote: post #111
whatshisface wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> are a great many legitimate reasons to bring a phone to the inauguration and many fewer legitimate reasons to bring a Raspberry Pi By that logic, I assume they've banned ski masks, skis, fake snow and pinecones. ;-)

I bet ski masks are, in fact, banned

Since NYC repealed its anti-mask law during Covid, that's no longer something that can be taken for granted. In another thread it came out that radio jammers weren't banned. It would fit in with the humor of it all if ski masks weren't banned.

Re: NYC Mayoral Inauguration bans Raspberry Pi and Flipper Zero alongside explosives

#136

Post by ssl-3 »

throwup238 wrote: post #57
Etheryte wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not really accurate though. Both a Raspberry Pi and a Flipper Zero can easily and readily be turned into a signal jammer or spammer with off the shelf parts and nearly no technical skill. Modern smartphones are generally both more locked down and also don't come with an external antenna option.

> Modern smartphones are generally both more locked down and also don't come with an external antenna option. There are USB On-the-Go compatible SDRs [1] that you can hook up to an Android phone that cost like $50 (don't know if there are any that would work with iOS though). [1] https://www.nooelec.com/store/sdr/sdr-receivers/nesdr-nano-t... (this one doesn't support wifi frequencies, but this was off the top of my…

The device you linked does not, and cannot, transmit RF.

Like a General Electric AM/FM clock radio from 1983, and also my purple bike: It jams nothing.

Re: NYC Mayoral Inauguration bans Raspberry Pi and Flipper Zero alongside explosives

#137

Post by dmitrygr »

hnlmorg wrote: post #33
dmitrygr wrote: post #2

You’ve really made it to big time when you are causelessly banned by the gov. Congrats to flipper and Pi!

They’re not banned by the government. They’re just not allowed at the NYC Mayors inauguration party.

Not allowed = “banned”

By Government security apparatus = “by government”

Re: NYC Mayoral Inauguration bans Raspberry Pi and Flipper Zero alongside explosives

#138

Post by dmitrygr »

afavour wrote: post #105
billy99k wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop and frisk reduced crime rates. It should be brought back.

Crime rates reduced during the time stop and frisk was implemented. But when it was removed, crime rates remained low: https://www.brennancenter.org/media/5670/download Strongly suggests correlation but not causation.

Or… criminals were caught and remained incarcerated leaving rates low. A large part of crime is committed by repeat offenders. Catch and imprison them and crime drops. This is well supported by data.

Re: NYC Mayoral Inauguration bans Raspberry Pi and Flipper Zero alongside explosives

#139

Post by whatshisface »

crazygringo wrote: post #103

It's not like they're banning them across all of NYC... it's just security at the inauguration event. "Large bags" are banned too. > When a policy bans specific devices rather than behaviors or capabilities, it creates ambiguity for people on the ground. To the contrary, how the heck is someone working security at the entrance supposed to check for a device's "behaviors or capabilities"? This is a quick visual inspec…

>Presumably, the cops are aware of previous disruption with these specific devices, or threats thereof.

You're presuming a lot for a single board computer that's less powerful in every way than your laptop - even as a blunt object. Sometimes authorities make arbitrary and capricious rules: that's why they are celebrating an inauguration, not a corination. If things like this never happened, we would have no need for regular elections. :-)

Re: NYC Mayoral Inauguration bans Raspberry Pi and Flipper Zero alongside explosives

#140

Post by ssl-3 »

crazygringo wrote: post #103

It's not like they're banning them across all of NYC... it's just security at the inauguration event. "Large bags" are banned too. > When a policy bans specific devices rather than behaviors or capabilities, it creates ambiguity for people on the ground. To the contrary, how the heck is someone working security at the entrance supposed to check for a device's "behaviors or capabilities"? This is a quick visual inspec…

There's no legitimate purpose in bringing crayons and a coloring book, or a box of paperclips, either.

We should probably see to it that nobody brings any of those things in, as well.

Post reply on HN