[HN Gopher] The walk signs in Crystal City, VA are just repeatin...
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The walk signs in Crystal City, VA are just repeating "Change
Password"
Author : Shank
Score : 121 points
Date : 2022-03-14 18:00 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (twitter.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (twitter.com)
| mark-r wrote:
| I was completely mystified by this post, watched the video
| multiple times to try to figure out what point they were making.
| Didn't realize I needed to turn on the sound.
| isx726552 wrote:
| This[1] reply on Twitter explains and includes a link and quote
| from the manufacturer's manual for these signs, indicating the
| message will play if they have not been set up properly (i.e.,
| default out-of-the-box password still in place unchanged). This
| seems like the equivalent of the old blinking "12:00" on a VCR
| clock.
|
| [1] https://twitter.com/hyperplanes/status/1503275823360585735
| bpodgursky wrote:
| Amazing to think that this speaker, which has never and will
| never say literally anything other than "BEEP" and "WALK", in
| fact reaches out across the internet every day to fetch that
| message.
|
| What a world we have built.
| micromacrofoot wrote:
| it doesn't actually reach out to get that message, it's
| preprogrammed to get the installers to change the default
| hoistbypetard wrote:
| They say "Wait." and "Walk sign is on to cross 23rd St. South"
| too. These are in Amazon's neighborhood.
| pessimizer wrote:
| A world of centralized control and surveillance. A great world
| if you own it.
| notatoad wrote:
| is there any reason to think that this is a message from the
| internet rather than something built into the machine?
| 0des wrote:
| Cross signals in the city often say the names of streets and
| other words
| jerf wrote:
| Unless they are located in the stairwells at Hogwarts, it
| does not seem like those names would change often enough to
| necessitate adding a network connection as a point-of-failure
| for this sort of technology. (Which I consider the most
| important aspect. This is life-or-death tech for a subset of
| our population, and networks are fundamentally unreliable
| even _if_ you get the security 100% correct.)
| SweetLlamaMyth wrote:
| Is there an actual indication that these are connected to a
| network? Depending on how these devices work, some failure
| may have caused them to get reset to a factory default,
| requiring a password to be set before accepting settings
| like a message.
| pessimizer wrote:
| Why would they all fail at the same time unless they're
| networked? Exactly the same bug triggered by the system
| clock?
|
| They shouldn't even know the time. All they need to do is
| count to the same number over and over.
| thesh4d0w wrote:
| Cities do all sorts of syncing / timing of lights in
| order to optimize traffic patterns, to do that they need
| a network connection.
| pessimizer wrote:
| Makes sense, but I'm replying to a comment that wondered
| if the assumption that the lights were actually networked
| was a good one. I thought it was, because they all went
| out at the same time.
| SweetLlamaMyth wrote:
| > Why would they all fail at the same time unless they're
| networked?
|
| Because temperature swings in the area over the weekend
| caused some physical issue in the devices? Because
| someone figured out how reset them, and reset a bunch for
| laughs? I agree that network is a likely root cause, but
| it's also an assumption.
| zaphod12 wrote:
| If you're ever in the flatiron district of NYC, I adore the
| signals at 23rd street. "The walk sign is on across 23rd
| street," is a simple message, but the gentleman who recorded
| it sounds like they remembered at the last minute and pulled
| whoever from the install team wanted to do it (as opposed to
| some voice actor or something). The gravelly queens accent
| makes you feel right at home in the city.
| herlitzj wrote:
| Love this one. There is a similar one in Charlottesville,
| Va to cross Water Street, which has a delightful southern
| accent. Pronounces it Wooter and everything :)
| GauntletWizard wrote:
| https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/07/nyregion/a-new-york-
| voice...
| Animats wrote:
| NYC once bought some street sweepers that played a feminine
| voice saying something like "Please get out of the way of
| the sweeper". This was replaced with a gravelly voice
| saying something like "Move it, sweeper coming through".
| mbg721 wrote:
| It's been a few years, but I thought NY's subway voice
| was more sarcastic-sounding than other cities, and I
| figured that was because it was more effective. "Please
| stand clear of the closing doors (dumbass)".
| u2077 wrote:
| Imagine a future where the city allows companies to book ad slots
| in these.
| lmkg wrote:
| It's not hard for me to imagine. The closest gas station to my
| house has ads on all the gas pumps.
|
| The worst part is that the sound from all the pumps are
| slightly out of sync from each other. Which I assume will
| happen with these things as well.
| thih9 wrote:
| Meanwhile some cities introduce stricter rules for ads in
| public places. The billboards and logos are either taken down
| or have to stick to a toned down color palette and cannot
| exceed certain dimensions. I'm a big fan of this trend. Maybe
| it will expand and maybe we'll see fewer ads in public spaces
| everywhere.
| AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote:
| Can we instead imagine a world where everyone who ever
| seriously considers such an idea is rounded up and put in a
| rehabilitation facility far away from the general population
| for the good of human society?
| gedy wrote:
| You mean the Bay Area? ;-)
| colejohnson66 wrote:
| "While waiting for the walk sign, please enjoy this message
| from our sponsors!"
| jtsiskin wrote:
| "Amazon Prime members receive 50% shorter wait times! Please
| press with your registered palm"
| u2077 wrote:
| Come to think of it, no different than some gas stations
| already.
| BitwiseFool wrote:
| I've already made it a point to stop using those gas
| stations. As soon as it starts I stop fueling and let the
| station get charged the credit card fee on 45 cents worth
| of gas. Advertisements playing at the fuel pump make me
| want to smash the screen.
|
| Yes, I know I can mute them but I don't care. I hate it.
| dragonwriter wrote:
| > Yes, I know I can mute them
|
| Most places I've seen them, they cannot be muted.
| reaperducer wrote:
| Damn shame if a bit of the gasoline "accidentally" got on
| the screen. Solvents and plastic generally don't mix.
| throwaway0a5e wrote:
| I would pay an extra $0.05/gal if it forced the next person
| using the pump to listen to marketing from the political
| party of my preference. $0.10 if it couldn't be muted.
| GrinningFool wrote:
| Okay, I'm stumped. /Why/?
| throwaway0a5e wrote:
| Probably because I'm a tiny minority in my effectivly one
| party state and annoying people who vote the other way is
| about the best I can realistically accomplish.
| lupire wrote:
| You are asking why people pay for advertising?
| clove wrote:
| Yes, I too wish to live in a society in which the rich
| can leverage their wealth to force others to listen to
| their propaganda.
| beamatronic wrote:
| How much does the ad-free version cost?
| tialaramex wrote:
| "Didn't you have ads in the 20th century?"
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPGgTy5YJ-g
| lucb1e wrote:
| Ironically that video is behind a tracking-for-ads 'cookie
| wall'. (I assume most people don't make google not track them
| and thus don't notice this wall at all anymore.)
| tempestn wrote:
| That's far too easy to imagine.
| adhesive_wombat wrote:
| Pfft next on your slippery slope you'll be making silly
| predictions about adverts in ridiculous places like the Start
| menu on Windows computers.
| u2077 wrote:
| Why do you think they won't let us fill the menu with pins?
| adhesive_wombat wrote:
| Windows users can't be trusted with more than a few sharp
| items at a time?
| u2077 wrote:
| Hence the rounded corners.
| lucb1e wrote:
| Don't tell Xiaomi or other vendors that ship a device with OS
| bryanrasmussen wrote:
| I mean I can totally see this as a great way to make money
| while also making the world worse, but only a little worse. And
| maybe somebody would like to know that there is a McDonalds on
| the other side of the street they're going to cross right now?
| I mean maybe I would actually be providing a useful service for
| some people, and only be making the world a little worse for
| most while I was getting rich, rich, rich!
| mindslight wrote:
| Yet another reason to avoid touching the button and just
| crossing during the appropriate traffic phase.
| zp333 wrote:
| In some cases if you don't press the button the light will
| never change, like a small side street intersecting a major
| road.
| colejohnson66 wrote:
| Not to mention that blind people exist
| mindslight wrote:
| And people that are mobility impaired, such that they
| cannot get across the street in a shorter amount of time
| or be agile enough to dodge vehicles that behave
| unexpectedly. But that's not really relevant to the vast
| majority of people being goaded into using walk buttons.
| Many times, it's just a disservice to yourself and a
| disservice to vehicles.
|
| And yes, ideally we'd use our collective political will
| to stop further dystopian developments like advertising
| at traffic lights for everyone. But when that fails
| (which would be likely given how saturated our society is
| with advertising), it's still important we exercise our
| individual ability to reject it, even if not everybody
| can.
| kn0where wrote:
| I assume some grey-hat realized the crosswalk computer used a
| default password and decided the only way the city was likely to
| fix the problem was this.
| flatiron wrote:
| https://neil.fraser.name/news/2019/Polara%20Operations%20Man...
|
| "The EPBS will compare the system security code with the code
| entered on the E-Configurator. If the code matches, you will
| have an opportunity to change the code. Press NO to continue on
| without any change. Press YES if you want to change to a new
| security code at this time. Entering a new code uses the same
| technique just described, using the Left/Right and Down keys.
| It is necessary to use a security code different from the
| default AAAA. Failure to change the code will cause a periodic
| message to play - "CHANGE PASSWORD"."
|
| they just didn't RTFM and that password is still set to AAAA
| lupire wrote:
| So when the device is deployed insecurely, it broadcasts
| itself to the public to invite a takeover? Why wouldn't it
| just decline to operate at all until the password is set?
| moltke wrote:
| > just decline to operate at all until the password is set?
|
| This truly is the right way to handle PSK auth. The "UX"
| for it isn't as nice as some people would like though.
| JPKab wrote:
| Completely unacceptable. See my other post in this thread
| talking about the high concentration of blind/visually impaired
| pedestrians in Crystal City. This is far more dangerous than if
| done in other places. I doubt the knucklehead grey-hat realized
| that.
| mbg721 wrote:
| For context, is Crystal City much more than an enormous
| mall/office building and a Metro stop? It's not great to have an
| accessibility failure, but that doesn't strike me as a place
| where it would make that much difference.
| lallysingh wrote:
| It's right across from the Pentagon.
| mbg721 wrote:
| I thought Pentagon City was right across from the Pentagon,
| and Crystal City was in this no-man's-land after the
| immediate Pentagon services stopped but before you really got
| into walkable Arlington.
| jffry wrote:
| What do you mean by "walkable Arlington"? If you mean a
| more house-and-sidewalk residential neighborhood, then
| neither Pentagon City nor Crystal City meet that mark. And
| Crystal city is fairly walkable even before you account for
| the underground part.
|
| They're both mixed-use urban developed areas with large
| towers, although Crystal City actually seems to have more
| of those. Both are in the same place, south of Interstate
| 395 and west of the airport (the Pentagon is just north of
| 395).
|
| edit: and for reference Wikipedia says: "Crystal City
| includes offices of numerous defense contractors, the
| United States Department of Labor, the United States
| Marshals Service, and many satellite offices for The
| Pentagon. It is also the location of Ronald Reagan
| Washington National Airport."
| exhilaration wrote:
| All true, but I'd like to add that - after having stayed at
| Crystal City Doubletree - that hotel is full of service
| members and what appears to be higher ranking Pentagon
| staff.
| bobthepanda wrote:
| Blind people have jobs and shop.
|
| The point of accessibility is to enable citizens to have a
| normal life.
| mbg721 wrote:
| While that's true, my memory of Crystal City is that it's
| meant for you to get inside the complex first, and _then_
| walk six city blocks or so.
| JPKab wrote:
| A far, far higher percentage of pedestrians than normal are
| blind/visually impaired in Crystal City. I lived there for
| several years, in a high rise that had numerous blind people
| living there.
|
| There are several offices/agencies there that employ
| blind/visually impaired professionals. It was a fluke for me to
| walk the few blocks to work and NOT encounter at least one
| blind pedestrian. Hell, taking the elevator in my building had
| a high chance of a blind person (red tipped cane and all) being
| on my elevator.
| snowwrestler wrote:
| A lot of people live there; quite a few of the buildings are
| condos and apartments.
| tabtab wrote:
| It could be worse: hacked to tell unsighted pedestrians to walk
| even if there is through traffic. There was an X-Files episode
| with a guy causing car accidents by messing with traffic
| lights. However, it was via ESP instead of digital hacking.
| silicon2401 wrote:
| > unsighted
|
| funny that this is ostensibly being used as a positive
| euphemism for blind, when all it does is put the emphasis on
| what blind people lack. the euphemism treadmill never ends
| dredmorbius wrote:
| https://nitter.kavin.rocks/JosephPolitano/status/15031310053...
| JPKab wrote:
| I lived in Crystal City for several years (in the high rise right
| above the Buffalo Wild Wings on 23rd and Crystal Drive).
|
| This is actually a pretty big deal, and far more so than in other
| urban areas.
|
| Why?
|
| Because Crystal City has a far higher percentage of
| blind/visually impaired workers than other urban areas. It's the
| home of numerous Federal contractors and also government agencies
| with offices dedicated to employing visually impaired
| professionals. The vast majority of my walks to my office
| included at the very least 1, if not 3 or 4, encounters with
| blind pedestrians. Several lived in my building, including my
| weed hookup back then, who was legally blind although he had SOME
| peripheral vision. (In 2014 Virginia, weed was most definitely
| NOT legal, lol)
| ramesh31 wrote:
| How is no one calling this out as an obvious cyberattack smoke
| test? It's literally across from the Pentagon.
| djtriptych wrote:
| I wouldn't say obvious cyberattack, but I'll bet Pentagon
| security is aware of this.
| snowwrestler wrote:
| Do you know how many things are across from the Pentagon? Why
| would anyone bother smoke-testing a crosswalk?
| mikestew wrote:
| Because the much more likely and believable explanation is that
| it is mis-configured. Someone upthread even posted a link to (I
| assume) the manual, and it calls out the conditions under which
| one will hear "change password". One of these days I'm opening
| that website that sells nothing but varieties of double-edged
| razor blades, which I shall brand as "Occam", because sometimes
| simpler is better.
| 0des wrote:
| I guess its better than "Meow Meow" but I feel bad for the blind.
| drawfloat wrote:
| Anything is better than meow meow, but it was still fun in
| 2009.
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