Whenever I leave my house for an extended period of time, I have a habit of turning on a radio or a light or a television. It provides me with a sense of security because I know that burglars are less likely to target a house if they think that somebody is inside. Think about it: If you were a petty criminal and you were looking to break into somebody's house, would you target the one with all of the lights off or would you try to rob the house that looks uninhabited?
Introducing the FakeTV FTV-10 Burglar Deterrent, which has come highly recommended on Amazon (for a price of $34.95), as the customer reviews show:
This little gadget can simulate the flickering bright lights that come from a TV. It will bounce different colors around the room, simulating motion, fades and the changing of scenes. This gives outside onlookers the impression that somebody inside is watching a movie or a TV show.
Not only does it project a light intensity that is similar to an LCD HDTV, it also has light sensors that can detect whether it is night or day. This means that it will automatically turn off during the day and switch back on as soon as dusk begins to fall. If that's not good enough, the FTV-10 also allows you to change the settings to "+4 hours" or "+7 hours". Choosing "+4 hours" means that it will run for 4 hours after dusk falls. A perfect option for somebody who gets home from work after the sun has already set. Of course: If you'd rather be safe than sorry, then you also have the option of leaving it "On", which means that it will continue to emit its 12 computer-controlled LED lights throughout the night.
The feedback on Amazon has been great. Out of 382 customer reviews, 294 people gave it 5/5 stars. Its average rating is an impressive 4.6/5. One buyer wrote:
When you unpack it, it is deceptively small. Aim it at a window and it does the trick! I have stood for quite a long time watching this thing in my window and my neighbor watching a real tv. The flashing behavior looks completely real. It screams "someone's home!!"
Another great thing about the FTV-10 is how cheaper it is to run than a regular TV (2W, compared to 160W and up!).
You've probably seen the multitude of dash cam videos on Youtube. Horrific crashes. Lucky getaways. Drunk pedestrians falling over on busy streets. And last but certainly not least, meteorites the size of buses falling from the sky. Dash Cam videos depicting real life madness have been floating around on the Internet for a while now. However, the same question is always left hanging over these videos, simply because an overwhelming amount of them seem to originate from Russia and other Eastern European countries. That question is: Why do so many people in Russia have dash cams? Do they have them so that they can create 5 minute montage videos of people falling over? Obviously not, even though that is probably what we'd all like to believe. Unfortunately, the real reason that a lot of Russian motorists have dash cams is a little more depressing.
Insurance fraud, psychopathic drivers and police corruption.
When people erect cameras on their property, it usually done so for the sake of protection. Whether it is a convenience store or a home, the reasoning is always pretty similar: "I feel threatened by the possibility of somebody shoplifting my goods" or "I am afraid that a burglar might try to break into my house." People rarely setup surveillance equipment because of the off-chance that they might get lucky and record some amusing footage. In reality, cameras are usually setup because of a fear of something that may or may not occur. It is a second insurance policy that only comes into effect if some of our worst fears are realized. The same principle applies to dashboard cameras. If somebody is recording their journey to and from work, then it is safe to assume that he or she has thought of a few worst-case scenarios that they would like to protect themselves against.
Insurance fraud
If you do a quick search on Youtube for insurance fraud in Russia, you'll quickly come across a lot of compilation videos of random pedestrians throwing themselves in-front of slow-moving vehicles. They'll stand on the curb, act as if they're just waiting to cross and then suddenly, they'll make and exerted effort to jump out in front of you. Some of these fraudsters can even be seen on the sidewalk, chatting away as if everything is normal. Then, as soon as their target is close enough, they'll make a bee-line for the car (or in the case of the video shown below, even a bus):
The above compilation is undoubtedly a shocking sight for many of us in the western world to see. Why are these people putting themselves in such danger? Why are they willing to fling themselves into the path of moving vehicles? The answer is depressingly obvious and you've probably already guessed it: Money. The cause and solution to all of life's problems. Get yourself hurt by a moving vehicle and it is usually a simple case of your word versus theirs. Since Russian courts aren't exactly a huge fan of verbal evidence, they'll most likely side with the person who has a broken arm or a busted kneecap. That's if it even reaches the court and the car insurance company doesn't end up shelling out a lump sum, leaving the innocent motorist with a future of higher premium rates to pay.
Unfortunately, Kamikaze pedestrians aren't the only danger that Russian drivers have to protect themselves against. There have also been a lot of reports of vehicles intentionally reversing into the cars behind them while they are stopped in traffic. This is so that they can accuse the driver behind them of driving into the back of their car. If you know somebody that has been involved in a collision where one vehicle drove into the back of the other, then you'll also know that it is always an open-and-shut case of the motorist behind being at fault. It doesn't matter if the driver in front suddenly slammed on his or her breaks. The courts will always side against the person who "didn't leave enough room" between themselves and the car in front. This seems to be a rule-of-thumb that all countries abide by. The problem is: When a car intentionally reverses into the front of your car, who is the court going to side with if there is no additional evidence to support your claim that you did nothing wrong? If it comes down to your word versus theirs, who will the authorities believe? Will they believe that you were just innocently parked in traffic when the crazy guy in front of you suddenly decided to slam his car back into your front bumper? Or will they believe that a momentary loss of attention on your part led to you colliding with the vehicle in front of you?
The look on their faces when he points to the dash cam makes for great viewing.
Crazy Motorists
Russian motorists also have to deal with a significant level of violence on their roads. Traffic gets heavy, tempers flare and before you know it, some pumped up steroid-popping Russian dude is sprinting towards your car with a metal object in his hand. In many of the videos that you will see on Youtube, a lot of the motorists seem to have baseball bats and axes in their vehicles, just in case things "happen to kick off".
According to Russian blogger Marina Galperina:
You best not cut anyone off or undertake some other type of maneuver that might inconvenience the 200-pound, six-foot-five brawling children you see on YouTube hopping out of their SUVs with their dukes up. They will go ballistic in a snap, drive in front of you, brake suddenly, block you off, jump out and run towards your vehicle.
Accident Rates
Lets not overlook the most obvious reason for the large number of dashboard cameras in Russia: Accident Rates. It is no secret that the fatality rates on Russia's roads are higher than what you would expect for a developed country. In 2011, 200,000 traffic accidents killed 28,000 people. According to Wikipedia, Russia has 18.5 road fatalities per 100'000 motorists. This is much higher than the USA's rate of 12.3 and the United Kingdom's rate of 3.59. In fact, it is also higher than the fatality rates in developing countries such as Laos, the Dominican Republic and Indonesia.
Dmitry Medvedev, the current Prime Minister of Russia, admits that the number of road accidents on Russian roads is a glaring issue that needs to be addressed. In one interview, he blamed these statistics on bad weather conditions and the "undisciplined, criminally careless behavior of our drivers".
He is correct about the terrible weather conditions. As shown by the horrific crash video below, they are nothing to be scoffed at:
Police Corruption
According to the 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index, Russia is perceived to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world. One could simply argue that this is based on people's perception of corruption and not any real figures. However, one could also argue that people's perception of the corruption in the public sector in Russia is also a contributing factor to the number of dashboard cameras that are owned in Russia (1'000'000, according to latest figures).
According to an Al Jazeera report on the subject, motorists in the ex-Soviet state "are using technology to crack down on police corruption." According to Russian native Marina Galperina, who wrote a great article about the Dash Cam situation:
The conditions of Russian roads are perilous, with insane gridlock in cities and gigantic ditches, endless swamps and severe wintry emptiness on the backroads and highways. Then there are large, lawless areas you don’t just ride into, the police with a penchant for extortion and deeply frustrated drivers who want to smash your face.
I used to think that this kind of stuff only existed in futuristic spy movies. Fortunately, technology has come a long way and we're now starting to see the benefits of smaller cameras and SD cards that can store a large amount of data. Being bullied in school or at work? Is somebody making threats or trying to blackmail you? Do you like unique gadgets? Wanting to carry out surveillance without letting other people around you know about it? Or are you simply wanting to protect yourself against false claims? If so, then there are a number of glasses that come with hidden surveillance cameras that are more-or-less naked to the human eye.
It is worth noting that while there a lot of great hidden cameras that are setup to work with sunglasses, there are also A LOT of shoddy products out there. Look at the review section of some of the cheaper / low-end products and you'll undoubtedly find a list of negative reviews from unhappy customers! Remember the rule: You get what you pay for. However, that still doesn't mean that you have to eviscerate your wallet in order to find a hidden camera setup that works the way you want it to. Here's a list of some of the stuff that's available out there. I've specifically mentioned the customer feedback for a reason:
Fashion Black HD Glasses
At about $100, these fashion black glasses seem to be pretty good. They offer 1280 x 720 30fps video recording. They use AVI as a video format. 5 megapixel camera for snapping quick photographs. 4GB of built-in internal memory. You can connect them to your home computer via a USB cable (USB 2.0). The battery life lasts somewhere between one and two hours (I am guessing that this is only the case if you are actually recording / have them turned on). Note that they also come with a case and a wipe! Reviews are pretty good as well. Out of 3 reviews, 2 gave it 5/5. Take that with a little pinch of salt though as the low amount of reviews might not be fully indicative of the quality. One of the reviews stated:
Unless the glasses are quite big, its video quality are fine for the job. I use it as a customer service support and was pretty good on my project. It lacks on operation because there is no way to check it's working or not. You have to be sure in follow all steps in manual. I recomend restar before use this cam glasses.
Now we're talking! These guys have received a lot of positive feedback on Amazon! They're also a lot more affordable (in and around $130)! These sunglasses offer 720P HD Video and Audio, which is more than enough! They can snap single-frame pictures at 5 million megapixels! To top it all off, they offer 8GB of internal memory (i.e. the product itself can hold 8GB of video / pictures). In terms of customer reviews: It had about 4/5 stars at the time of writing. A lot of buyers feel as if its one of the best products that you can get for such a low price. i.e. Don't go expecting state of the art quality because you're getting a bang for your buck! The two most negative reviews were based on the fact that it wouldn't work properly with their laptop. Take that with a pinch of salt as some people have absolutely no patience for computer-related issues. If you do get these guys and they don't play nice with your computer, visit one of the many tech help forums and somebody will help you figure it out (most certainly a drivers issue).
If you're a little iffy about spending major bucks and / or you're just wanting to find something that you can give to your kid / teenager as a toy, then this product is by far the most economical choice! At only $20, this one is a steal. Not only are they a good price for something that you want to mess around with, the product has also received good reviews on Amazon! I mean, for $20 dollars, you can't really be expecting state of the art stealth equipment! Can you? These will record up to 20 minutes of footage or 2000 photographs. However, in order to playback the video or view the photos, you'll need to plug them into your computer / laptop via USB. This product also has a rechargeable battery. This is the best one to go for if you're buying for a kid that is aged 8 - 12.
And that's about it! I came across a lot of crap with a lot of bad reviews, so it was kind of difficult to wade through it all and find the ones that were of good value. If you think I'm being dramatic, then you obviously haven't browsed for camcorder glasses before! As one unhappy reviewer stated on one of the less-than-apt products (that didn't make it into this review):
This was the 5th or 6th pair of camcorder sunglasses I ordered from this site (the last couple had to be returned due to malfunction) and what a disappointment.
