No one likes a Glasshole because they are usually unpredictable in their actions. The big question is, what to do if one has the feeling to turn a Glasshole's day upside down? Quite simple, really -- jam their Wi-Fi connection.
Without a good Wi-Fi connection or none at all, Google Glass is just another pair of glasses with a camera attached. This is why Berlin-based artist Julian Oliver has come up with a neat idea to block Google Glass users from accessing Wi-Fi. The program he created for this task runs on a Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone minicomputer. It has the ability to emit a beep that will signal folks nearby that there's a Glasshole in the vicinity.
We understand the program works via a USB network antenna, and it uses Aircrack-NG to impersonate the network the Glasshole is connected to, after which it can send a command to block the Wi-Fi connection of Google Glass.
"To say 'I don't want to be filmed' at a restaurant, at a party, or playing with your kids is perfectly OK. But how do you do that when you don't even know if a device is recording?" Oliver tells Wired. "This steps up the game. It's taking a jammer-like approach."
We're not sure how blocking the Wi-Fi connection of a Google Glass device will impair it from recording. We know the Glasshole won't be able to record a live stream, but if he or she wants to upload video data to the Internet, then they will simply wait until they are home.
Google Glass, as it stands, is still in the early stages with a long way to go. Google will have a hard time convincing the world it needs to accept people walking around with a camera on their face. We don't think the message will get through, unless Glass comes out with something that covers the camera.
Users of Glass are not taking the treatment they are getting lightly. Recently, a Glass user rallied others to give the restaurant negative reviews after she was asked to remove her device from her face.
What she did was very foolish, and it shows that some Glass users lack the basic principle of thinking rationally, or they are just ignorant. Yes, Glass has a LED light that indicates that the camera is in recording mode, but with a simple root hack, a user can record with Glass with the light off.
Furthermore, some might argue that cameras are everywhere in the form of smartphones. That is true, but with a smartphone it is easier to tell when someone is pointing a camera on a person and recording his or her actions. The same cannot be said for Glass.
It's quite baffling the amount of people who are willing to throw away privacy for new technology.
