noPhoto license plate frame foils speeding and red light cameras

Attempting to limit the ability of law enforcement to deliver automated traffic tickets, the noPhoto frame lights up when you need it.

Detailed extensively on a current Indiegogo project, inventor Jonathan Dandrow has developed a smart license plate frame that has the ability to blanket the numbers and letters on your license plate in white light when being captured by a traffic camera. When a red light or speeding camera uses a high-powered flash to illuminate your vehicle, the sensor at the top of the noPhoto frame detects that flash. After quickly analyzing the incoming flash, the sensor triggers two flashes from the xenon lights on the left and right side of the frame. When the lights are active, it’s impossible to see any letters or numbers on the license plate and the driver of the car won’t receive a ticket in the mail based of the photo taken by the traffic camera.

The noPhoto frame is basically designed to overexpose the area around the license plate with too much white light without breaking any current laws about license plates.

According to Dandrow, the noPhoto frame is legal because it doesn’t cover the state name on the plate or the actual identification number. In addition, Dandrow claims there are no laws specifically indicating how much light can cover a license plate at any given time.

If the noPhoto frame is used to successfully thwart a camera, a driver would avoid paying a fine for the ticket in addition to increased car insurance costs over the year. Beyond the obvious financial incentive to using the NoPhoto frame, Dandrow also indicates that there are privacy concerns to red light and speeding cameras. According to Dandrow, a company called Redflex located in Arizona makes the majority of the traffic cameras used in the United States. Each time a photo is taken by a Redflex camera, Dandrow claims a driver’s personal information is being stored in a database. Dandrow fears that information could be sold for marketing purposes at some point.

Beyond specifically using the noPhoto frame to drive recklessly, Dandrow also stresses that red light and speeding cameras can be prone to failure. Faulty equipment can send out tickets to people that didn’t actually break any traffic laws, thus the noPhoto frame would be useful for the law-abiding citizen.

Dandrow is also attempting to market the noPhoto frame to celebrities looking to avoid paparazzi, owners of exotic cars or basically anyone that prefers anonymity.

In order to fully fund the Indiegogo project, Dandrow is seeking $80,000 to get UL certification as well as kick off manufacturing of the noPhotos frames. Dandrow is currently offering the first one hundred noPhoto frames at a price of $199, but the standard price of the frame appears to be $350 according to the main site. The frame is designed to work in all types of weather since the circuity is sealed in plastic within the frame. Dandrow has included a test button on the noPhoto frame to see if the lights are still active. In addition, the firmware of the noPhoto frame can be updated assuming manufacturers of red light and speeding cameras attempt to modify photo timing in the future.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

The Oatmeal raises $1 million, surpasses goal to build a Nikola Tesla museum

The Oatmeal has raised over $1 million on IndieGoGo in an effort to secure Wardenclyffe, the site of Tesla's final laboratory, to build a museum dedicated to Tesla.

Matthew Inman, the lone man behind the comics of The Oatmeal, is at it again on the crowdfunding platform IndieGoGo. This time Inman is asking for contributions that will go into securing the site of Nikola Tesla’s final laboratory in Shoreham, New York, for the future development of a Tesla museum. As of today, Inman has more surpassed his $850,000 goal and cracked the $1 million mark.

Nikola Tesla was many things. He was an inventor, an engineer, physicist, and most notably a futurist, who paved the way for modern technologies that we take for granted, including wireless communication and radio, and alternating current systems. We also Tesla to thank for other nifty inventions like the Tesla coil, which sends visible high-voltage sparks shooting into the air. Today he’s a cultural icon.

In the early 1900s, that Tesla attempted to construct a tower adjoining his laboratory, which would in theory generate electricity and wirelessly transmit it to the world. The tower ultimately failed despite its construction due to two factors. First, Tesla’s initial attempts at transmitting electricity failed due to insufficient experimentation. Second, the Panic of 1910 froze investment in his projects from J. Pierpont Morgan (founder of investment bank, J.P. Morgan). Tesla’s project was indefinitely halted and the site was sold off to George Boldt, proprietor of the Waldof-Astoria, for $20,000 ($400,000 in today’s value) to pay off his overdue rent. The site’s new owners destroyed the tower in 1917 for scrap.

The Long Island science organization has long sought to transform the property into a Tesla museum, while other interested buyers plan to raze the structures and redevelop it. Its current owner, Agfa Corporation, wants $1.6 million for the property. At the site, only the laboratory remains.

Inman’s original goal of $850,000 would buy just half of the cost of the property, but the state of New York has agreed to match contributions, bringing total funds up to $1.7 million. Raising the capital to build a museum from the property will be another cost, but from the looks of it, with 36 days left and having already surpassed the $1 million mark, there should be funds to spare.

You can check out a video of the inside of Wardenclyffe below. Note that the footage taken was the result of individual trespassing and breaking into the laboratory, but it will give you good idea of what the building looks like.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com