What else can we say? The concept here is pure genius, and it totally makes those pricey security systems seem way pointless (okay, slightly less critical). The FakeTV is a strobe that sets up in an occupied room at night and flashes up beams of light. From the inside, we can imagine it looks fairly curious, but from the outside, it gives prospective
burglars the idea that someone is actually awake and watching a television program. It promises to produce the effects of "scene changes, fades, swells, flicks, on-screen motion and color changes," just like they were generated by a bona fide set. We can't speak for how well (or not) this thing actually works, but at just $49, we'd say it's a solid buy if you're the paranoid type.
[Via
BoingBoing]
posted May 21st 2008 11:41AM
Why not just turn your TV on?
I mean the "going green" notion is lost once you consider the electricity this uses plus the manufacturing costs (electricity, materials, shipping, etc)
Wear and tear on your TV... more energy usage...
what if the perp busts in with rap3 on his mind and then realizes there is no one there - so he steals everything?
Flashpoint, an excellent point there. Although it must take a criminal to think like that.
lol @ Flashpoint... once in a blue moon, you do entertain.
Damn. When Flashpoint said rap3, I thought he was talking about the unit model or something for this thing. I finally got it after more searching in the article then I would like to admit.
its something they call electricity i believe.. yea thats the reason. this obviously... would use far less electricity than turning on your tv whenver u leave the house, not to mention the tv's wear n tear.
Yes the answer to burglars is to make them think every room in your house has tvs, then the day you forget to turn them on, a whole set of burglars come and steal all your goodies.. At that price you could buy some wireless CCTV camera webcam things, yes?
I don't think the idea is to put one in every room. The whole idea is just to convince a potential burglar that SOMEONE is home
Wouldnt a room that was filled with nothing but a sofa, but you left the curtains open all the time, stick the 360, big telly and all that upstairs and your laughing, everyone thinks your poor, while your rolling in it.
:D
So you catch them on camera but then they steal your cameras and whatever HD you have the video going to...
I don't think the idea was to put one in every room.
what if the burglar uses the wall climbing robot (posted on Engadget earlier today) to check if anyone is *actually* inside?
It's like leaving your lights on - unless they've been watching your house for awhile and know everyone is gone, they'll just avoid your house and move onto the next where the lights are off or it looks like no one is home. Sure, there probably isn't anyone home either way, but why take the risk with so many other unlit targets?
I know how much American's are into their TV's, so I'd be more likely to break in if I was a burglar.
"Don't mind me. Don't let me interrupt your show. You just sit there and be lazy and eat you midnight Big Mac."
The real question is...which house will they rob when all the houses in the neighborhood have these?
It boggles the mind!
Cool i like it. I'm still one to set light timers.
Or, you could, y'know, just leave your TV on? Identical and more convincing effect.
Interesting concept, reminds me of what my family used to to when we'd go on vacation-- Lamp by the window, plugged into a timer that would turn the light on and off on a cycle.
Too much pink will make it look like a porno
That might actually attract the burglar inside...
I would turn it on and go to sleep, and pretend my girlfirend is watching porn behind my back.
@ Spass
There is always someone that kills the fun here on Engadget...
@Technex:
I know. Just stop replying and everything will be fine.
Or you could just leave your TV on.
And accidentally burn your house down?
Brendan, you need a new TV.
or...
buy a real tv from a pawn shop for LESS money and have a more realistic, cheaper effect.
oh, and it'd be somewhat useful outside of thwarting criminal.
what a dumb product!
I don't ,know why all the common sense objections are getting Low-Ranked. But they are right. You'd have to run your TV for 10 years to make this idiotic product cost-effective.
Leaving a radio on is also incredibly cheap and effective.
As is a light timer.
This is just a really, really stupid product.
Lights on schedule only work once, if your away for a while (week or so) and your home is staked out, well your screwed. I think the concept is briliant, only thing they need to add is a feature that would make a shadow of a 7 foot dude walk across the screen :p
Like in Home Alone!! Does that shit really happen?
Nah you just need some party music and cardboard cut-outs
Two dogs at about 200 lbs. for when we are not home and a Glock .45 and .40 for when we are home have served us well so far...
We're all living in amerika, amerika, amerika.......
Oh, I'm Canadian. ;)
+1 Thats the way to do it.
Sorry, we're not all drug dealers.
hrt: +1 for the Rammstein allusion.
Active Denial System would be nice to protect my house... Even better is forced tracking implants in criminals... if they are not at their designated area, send in the swat team... Anyone who breaks into my house is free game... nice and legal...
@TC Shame you have to live in Fear where you are.. such a shame..
BTW - The picture of the burglar is hilarious!!
@psxp
It isn't fear, it is called reality. When you have experienced someone trying to harm your family talk to me.
and I like dogs and the reality is that homes in my city are broken into all the time. I would own handguns either way but they work much better than my 9-iron.
So if somebody were to break into your house, do you think TC would be more afraid than you? Doesnt sound like fear, sounds like he's prepared "in case"
Don't sweat it TC. The "you're a scared little baby" argument is all these liberals have on self defense topics. He'll change his mind once the government gives him something worth stealing and it gets stolen or when one of his loved ones is hurt by a criminal.
This guy probably thinks that the cops and/or government are obligated to protect him despite the court decisions that hold the cops have no duty to you even when they have expressly promised to protect you from a particular situation.
PSXP,
Do you wear a seat belt when driving?
Do you wear a helmet when riding?
What a shame it is that you live in such fear.
Helmets, seat belts, firearms.... you never need them until you NEEEED them.
wow, I didnt realise I would cause such a storm with my comment.
In NZ, where I am from we dont get a lot of violent home breakins.. hell, the cops dont even carry guns!! I never heard of "home invasion" until I travelled to Nth America.
Not saying we dont have crime, or shootings, but gun violence is very little.
its the guy from invisible man
@andy
Do seat belts kill people when used?
Do helmets kill people when used?
Do guns kill people when used?
@ddub
You're doing it wrong?
Do seatbelts save lives?
Do helmets save lives?
Do firearms save lives?
/fixed
@StrangeBum
Your missing the point. You can't compare seatbelts and helmets to guns. There's no risk involved in wearing a helmet (although maybe some street cred).
@ddub:
Yes, both seat belts and helmets take lives when used improperly, same as firearms. Good job shooting yourself in the foot (pun intended).
On a side note, my father worked for the fire department for over 30 years, and saw seat belts take more lives than he saw them save. The same cannot be said of firearms. Take that for what it's worth.
You don't *have* to shoot someone to protect yourself with a gun. The point is that these three things can all protect you from harm. Disecting for the differences is a non-issue..
@ddub
Helmets, when used properly, can cause fatigue, and can cause visibility issues, while providing very little protection at high-speed.
Seatbelts, when used properly, trap people in vehicles causing further injury upon accident.
Guns, when used properly, prevent crime and protect people from harm ;)
@Eric
Helmets and seatbelts don't take lives. They may just fail from saving your life. A gun is designed to take lives.
"saw seat belts take more lives than he saw them save. The same cannot be said of firearms"
Both of those claims are BullS**t. Show me some actual evidence of this and I'll shut up forever.
So from fake tv lights, we have now gone and established that seatbelts and helmets kill people....greaaat.
@JD
You mentioned the downsides of seatbelts and helmets, but you failed to mention what happens when guns are used improperly.
Guns don't always save lives when used properly. If an intruder in your house uses his gun more properly than you, i think your in trouble.
PSXP,
You're fortunate not to have the low-lifes that we do.
But we have them, and we refuse to properly remove them from society, so we have to deal with them.
You shouldn't speak on topics that you don't understand. How can you discuss self protection when you admit you've never had the need to think about it?
By the way, I don't beleive that you don't have low-lifes there. I beleive that you're sugar coating it and that your low-lifes use knives or bats instead of guns. All tools of the same trade, they just get the job done in a different fashion. I also think that saying you're quite young and just trying to do the fashionable thing and make pokes at the US, but stepped in a little deeper than you meant to would be pretty accurate.
My neighbor would have died in a car crash had he been wearing his seatbelt. He got ejected and that saved him. There is some evidence that sometimes, seatbelts don't help.
Just because your paranoid, does not mean that they are not out to get you.
"The FakeTV is a strobe that sets up in an occupied room..."
Isn't the whole point to put it in an UNoccupied room?
...someone help me understand why someone who wants nothing more than to steal my possessions and possibly harm me and my family should be able to see another sunrise.
personally, I call it evolution.
1. Why not just turn the TV on?
2. Wouldn't this just make burglars believe that you have additional TVs worth stealing?
Neat idea. Does it have speakers? Or is the assumption that burglars don't get close enough to hear the tv once they see the flashing lights?
I'm thinking this thing might be good for parties too. And acid trips.
everyone watches porn without sound, it's common knowledge...
...or headphones!
what porn without sound? the grunting is the best part!
I don't see how this will work since most residential burglaries happen during the day, for the most part this will give folks a false sense of security and sadly those same folks will think they can leave a door unlocked or a window open. Also, there have been many reports of people being burglarize even when they are home. Sh-t, home invasion robberies are through the roof, if a guy wants to get in your house he will get in your house.
yeah he'll get into my house and meet me and my shotgun saying "welcome to Texas, bitch"
(actually i'd probably use the 9mm - easier to patch the walls and less blood splatter)
I have no doubt that YOU probably will shoot someone, but for the most part there are folks who have weapons and are either too afraid to use it, don't know how to use or the intruder gets hold of it and uses the weapon on the home owner.
pure myth. The number of times a handgun is turned on its owner is minute compared to the number of times its used to defend the owner.
Coffee, I'd love to see your statistics because all I've seen has been the opposite.
Scott, sounds like you still play with your toy soldiers in the bath tub.
Or it could look like Doctor Who is fighting some aliens in the house and everyone should stear clear.
So, from the photo, this device will repel Doogie Howzer from breaking into your house?
I'm confused.
Actually if you really look at the picture...
I think he's looking at the neighbors house, so if you want someone to rob your neighbor, buy one of these!
For all the "just turn the TV on" comments consider this. If you own an HD set over 20" they still pull a LOT of juice. Even more so if it's a plasma. This thing looks like it has a couple of ~75watt strobes in it. On top of the electricity used the MTBF of your set is diminished as well.
My plasma doubles as a space heater.
"OMG just turn your tv and dont buy this!"
"If it doesnt come with sound then its stupid"
God you people are the biggest punch of whiny babies! My best friend is a police officer and I just showed this to him and he says its the perfect deterrent to a criminal. As soon as they "think" someone is home they decide to move on to another home. And the fact that your TV uses WAY more electricity then this thing is reason #1 to not just leave the TV instead of buying this thing..also wear and tear on the tv istelf you stupid idiots.
Bingo. The whole point here is that it's easier for them to just go break into a different home that doesn't look like anybody is there than to risk breaking into a place with a home owner who might pop a cap in their a**.
Obviously if someone has been casing your home for weeks and knows you aren't home because they saw you drive off, etc, then this won't do you much good.
It's still better than nothing, and it still shows that the person who came up with this has more brain cells to rub together than the typical engadget reader who is good at screaming "stupid" or "photoshop" because they don't have any analytical thinking skills whatsoever.
I actually think this is a really cool idea and would consider buying one of these. It's been shown again and again that nothing deters a thief better than simple things that make them think someone is at home to interrupt their robbery.
The burglar in the picture looks confused. Maybe he's stoned. I bet he'll try and break in anyway because of that, only to find you, stone too, rolling in front of your blinkenlights device, droolin, then giving you good company—them lights are flashy dashy man, I mean brrright!
telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl
You, it really is interesting that typically white people are used in these burglar photos. You don't see minorities nearly as often.
because the advertising company would be sued for stereotyping
I had one of these once, but it got stolen.
Badum-ching.
"we'd say it's a solid buy if you're the paranoid type"
Finished with my security because it couldn't keep the crooks away
So I got a FakeTV and fake TV is what it plays
*dundundundundundundundundundun DUN DUN DUN *
DANG, I've gotta stop playing rockband...
I love all the people here and their oh-so-macho talk of guns. How is a gun supposed to fire if you aren't home? The point of this product is to make it look like someone is in the house when they really aren't.
Haha - point well-made.
For those of you who love your guns, the stats just don't hold up I'm afraid. Of all gun discharges that happen in the home, something like 80% end up killing a family member, not an intruder. Guns make you FEEL safer, in reality you're more likely to die or be seriously injured if you own a firearm.
These are the same people who think driving an SUV makes them safer. Statistically, they are more likely to die... so we do have some hope.
OK but how many of those discharges in the home are in response to an intruder vs. accidental discharge due to morons not handling/storing their weapons properly?
Who let the canadians in?
You are kinda right but I will take a link on that 80% while you are at it.
Regardless, firearms in the home have to be treated with the upmost repsect. I don't have kids currently but if I did the way firearms are handled and stored would be COMPLETELY different. In addition to this, too many people go buy something they have never used or actually learn to use/handle/store it.
I grew up in the south so I was taught gun safety since I was about 6 years old. I am not here to say that firearms are the solution to this issue for everyone. They are for me but I know how to handle/store them and have a plan if someone were to break in while we are home. As a kid, I was actually home in the middle of the night when someone tried to break into our house. We lived not in the city at the end of a dark road on the marsh and it would take the cops forever to get there. I realized that night that there are people that WILL rob you, that WILL hurt you and your family and I made the decision to prepare myself in case it ever happened again.
Whether it is a dog a light or whatever... use whatever you like to protect your home and family.
Scott, Canadians have far more guns per person than Americans but know how to use them better, as shown by their significantly lower rate of gun-related deaths.
TC, ZA
You guys are both correct. It's all about the people, not the tools. If you respect and know how to use firearms, you're perfectly safe. If you don't know how to use them and/or don't keep them away from kids too young to understand them, then you're an idiot and bad things happen.
Like almost every problem in modern society, it goes back to parent either teaching their children, or not. There is a small problem with this in the US now as the gun and hunting laws/fees have gotten so ridiculous that it's hard to teach your kids about guns. Canada as I understand it is better in this regard which probably helps out in their statistics.
sounds like this refers to a study done a while back. it was widely discredited in academic circles because it was so shoddily done and didn't control for other factors: the three counties in WA (out of the 5k+ counties in the US) studied also had well above-average rates of substance abuse and domestic violence.
But anti-gun folks still trot it out because it sounds good.
back to the gizmo at hand. pretty good idea! we used to put a radio on a timer during the day... and something like this at night would be great.
or you go life with 2 mates and all work different shifts.. game on 24/7
I just leave a stereo in my garage loud enough to make it audible from outside. Plus, like someone else mentioned, daytime is the No.1 time for break ins so this device is useless.
Conservative Talk Radio, a Liberal and Criminals biggest fear, my best security system besides ADT.
Hey, great idea - pitch it to Rush...
Hook this up to a timer and it's an awesome out of town deterant.
Is the burglar in that picture scratching his head with his crowbar?
Oh great. Once thieves get wind of this they'll just start barging in on people who are actually watching TV!
What if this guy is a stalker who plans on you being home.
Imagine his surprise when he breaks in only to find that you've tricked him!
Guess, he'll just wait in the closet 'til you get back.
I guarantee though that he will not be a happy camper.
My house was robbed a while back...theives do not rob you while you are there. They rob you when you are at work. Even when you have an alarm..no guarranty that anything would happen if someone rob you, damn police are so slow to get there.