Print PDF
Favorite
Email
Dead drops is a project by Aram Bartholl that seeks to create "dead drops" which are cloudless offline storage that anyone can access.
This instructable goes over how i set up a dead drop right in downtown san francisco, hopefully with these instructions you can do you own, anywhere.
This instructable goes over how i set up a dead drop right in downtown san francisco, hopefully with these instructions you can do you own, anywhere.
Remove these ads by
Signing UpStep 1Concept
From Deaddrops.com:
‘Dead Drops’ is an anonymous, offline, peer to peer file-sharing network in public space. USB flash drives are embedded into walls, buildings and curbs accessable to anybody in public space. Everyone is invited to drop or find files on a dead drop. Plug your laptop to a wall, house or pole to share your favorite files and data. Each dead drop is installed empty except a readme.txt file explaining the project.The term dead drop comes from an old spy term where some information would be passed from one person to another, usually party a would leave something for party b to pick up sometime later. This project takes that same concept and turns it into a peer to peer system where people can share all kinds of random files or ideas.
| « Previous Step | Download PDFView All Steps | Next Step » |
Depending on how liberal you want to be with the spirit of USB dead-drops, this could easily be expanded to vehicles such as trains, buses and other types of mass transit. The added twist of having to locate the right train/bus/ferry, then right seat. Sort of like e-geocaching.
Is there a method to ensure the readme and manifesto stay on the drive and aren't removed by some cyber-hooligan, or is it just maintenance by users/you.
As for viruses... WHO CARES! The real problem is that you have chosen to use the 1 operating system that is plagued by viruses. People who choose not to use MSFT software don't share your concerns.
The device is concealed inside something and when you arrive, you power it with your wireless power adapter. A logo or some other marking would indicate the device's location.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_USB
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/wireless-power.htm
Perhaps a Altoids Mint tin type project.
Seal the container, then epoxy it in place. You could stick it almost anywhere and mark the spot with a sticker or other sign.
Maybe a small skull and cross bones with the USB image on the forehead?
Although moisture in a sealed concrete wall is probably not too big of an issue, Teflon tape is probably about as effective as tissue paper, like jerkey said, it is not at all designed to seal water. Specialty RF seal tape is probably the best way to go with this. One brand of tape is Coax-Seal ( Not a plug or testimonial but just to make it easy to search for, had to go Google diving for a bit to get the right set of search terms). It says tape, but a more accurate description would be a strip of road tar mixed with silly putty. After a couple of days, the individual wraps sort of "melt" together creating a more or less perfect seal, the only thing that damages the seal is direct sunlight, so inside a wall, this could realistically outlive the data retention of the flash chips. At about 2 dollars a roll, you'd probably have enough for 4 or 5 drops, and if you are putting drives in walls, extra 0.50$ a piece isn't significant.
Other thoughts on waterproofing the connection:
-Is there anything other than a few dollars stopping the Dropper from getting a female-female adapter so the jack is of the female type? It could be mounted flush to the wall reducing the chance of accidental damage or direct weather. As well as male-male USB cables are more common for any given random user to have.
-Force a glob of dielectric grease directly into the female connector (stole this one from a friend who does quite a bit of DIY car maintenance). Everything is totally sealed until a mating connector is pushed into the port. Each of the pins shear the grease out of the way and the contacts....well... contact each other. When the cable is removed, the grease smears out and re-coats any open surface.
*note*
Sorry, but the preview isn't working right for me. Please forgive the half dozen edits this will probably need to get the formatting right.
tape -- seal -- tape
i have found that the seal will run in the sun if you dont put the outer layer of tape
BTW very interesting idea
As for avoiding viruses, if you're a PC person, use some decent antivirus, if you're Linux (go Tux!!), you're generally good. Sure they'res viruses out there for Linux and Mac, but they're few and far between.
These could also be shared via word-of-mouth-only to limit who knows about them, thereby lessening the bad stuff.
--GoDoggie
um how about decent av software on the laptop you plug into it !!!!!!!!!!
thats like having a handfull of condoms and saying what protection is there from std's
if you dont like the idea dont do it , simple
AV won`t stop it.
I am not sure off the top of my head what the command is, but if you google 'autorun.inf commands' you should be able to find it.
I got a CD for pics from target and it had autorun on it. The file type was .inf and the code is this:
[Autorun]
open=filename\filename.exe
[AUTORUN]
SHELLEXECUTE =README.txt
This is what some of you guys are thinking about. I like this idea, and have made a few myself. Enjoy!
until the last few years or so, there wasnt hardly any, if any at all, good software for macs. there still is a much bigger market for good software for windows