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all 94 comments

[–]ssergei 199 points200 points ago

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Facebook lets you set your location to anywhere.

[–]douglasr007 83 points84 points ago

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You can also use apps that fake your GPS location as well.

[–]undstudent 58 points59 points ago*

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If you do it this way though, Facebook won't let you "check in" if your movement between two places is physically impossible for a given time frame.

Edit: This is what happens if you try to.

[–]redditsusernamelimit 132 points133 points ago

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What if I'm an SR-71 pilot? Is Facebook discriminating against our soldiers?

[–]henryroo 70 points71 points ago

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It's no longer used. TAKE THAT

[–]TheJBW 81 points82 points ago*

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So they're discriminating against our soldiers who hijack experimental hypersonic aircraft from museums? THOSE BASTARDS.

[–]iLama 33 points34 points ago

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The SR-71 wasn't an experimental aircraft (U.S. military experimental aircraft are typically designated with the letter X), nor was it a hypersonic aircraft (it was supersonic).
Just thought you should know.

[–]ikillbambis 3 points4 points ago

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It also has nothing to do with the Autobot Jetfire. FUCK YOU Michael Bay!

[–]executex 5 points6 points ago

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Michael Bay discriminated against the SR-71 by portraying it as old! We will not stand for this Michael Bay, we demand 3 Megan Fox look-alikes in his next movie as an apology.

[–]TheJBW 1 point2 points ago

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I'm well aware, but there was no word that flowed as well. I'd criticize you, but I tend to be a Melvin too.

[–]Party_Ninja 8 points9 points ago

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I believe it's because they're actually Transformers. THEY'RE STILL BASTARDS.

[–]Anm2k4 -1 points0 points ago

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NASA still uses them iirc

[–]JelloLegs -1 points0 points ago

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NASA'S SR-71 Website

If they still use them, they shouldn't put this under "Past Projects" ;)

[–]frailty 10 points11 points ago

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your Phone's GPS wouldn't work, because it's legally required to shut down after reaching a certrain speed (I think it was close to 1000km/h) to prevent being used as a missilie guide.

[–]madreus 2 points3 points ago

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Source? This is fucking interesting.

[–]picklepete87 2 points3 points ago

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Source, and it was posted on Reddit here.

[–]madreus 0 points1 point ago

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Thank you sir.

[–]antena 0 points1 point ago

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But, but.... if I have the know-how to build a missile, I damn well will know how to disable this function, or at least build a GPS unit without it....

Also, source?

[–]ericfromtx 2 points3 points ago

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Not only SR-71 pilots but astronauts that are on the ISS.

[–]domcolosi 2 points3 points ago

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What if I'm an SR-71 pilot

Well, then, she may not be miss right, but she'll do right now.

[–]undstudent 4 points5 points ago

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I'm guessing that they take the average speed of your typical airline flight and just use that.

[–]docpepson 9 points10 points ago

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untrue, I was trying to check into my daughter's school in Indiana and mistakenly checked into a city with the same name in Texas. When I noticed this, I then checked into the correct place within seconds.

[–]undstudent 1 point2 points ago

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You're not using GPS to check in then, you're just typing the name in. Trust me, it's true.

[–]docpepson 0 points1 point ago

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While I don't have a screenshot, perhaps it's a OS thing then? I'm on a iPhone.

[–]shortyjacobs 0 points1 point ago

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OK....serious question.....what the fuck is "Checking In"? I'm a 28 year old male, I was raised in tech, I was on facebook before they even allowed most universities on facebook, and I still have no clue what the fuck it means.

[–]contrarian_barbarian 14 points15 points ago

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OK....serious question.....what the fuck is "Checking In"?

"Checking in" is the practice of posting to everyone on the internet that you are, and will be for the near future, far enough away from home that any robbers in the area know they can safely root through your personal belongings and get away before you have a chance to return home.

[–]IamSuperCereal 66 points67 points ago

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"raised in tech"

Doesn't know how to google

[–]noughtagroos 24 points25 points ago

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"Checking In" is how you let criminals know that it's safe to rob your house/apartment, because you aren't home.

Use this when you only want a few things stolen. When you want to have the place emptied, set an auto-reply "on vacation" away message on your email.

[–]joesb 11 points12 points ago

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Quit adding criminal as your friends!!

[–]Kancho_Ninja 0 points1 point ago

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noughtagroos is currently enjoying a drink with friends at a local pub.

Sounds like a good time to pilfer through his possessions to me!

[–]wingman182 0 points1 point ago

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Sounds like a good time to pilsner through his possessions.....

FTFY

[–]TracerBurnout 10 points11 points ago

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Checking In is the act of publishing a status on FB, twitter or any other social media that allows your subscribers/followers/the public to know where/what/when you are doing. Its analogous to calling your mom from your friends house after school to let her know where you are.

[–]undstudent 4 points5 points ago

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I think the intended idea is to have someone say "Oh hey, TracerBurnout is getting lunch, I should join him!" but I think most people just use it to show off if they're somewhere special like an airport or something.

[–]dzhezus 3 points4 points ago

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It's also how the cool kids say what show they're at

[–]ungoogleable 2 points3 points ago

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I'm pretty sure it's just a way to get people to spam their friends with free advertising.

[–]peaknuckle 5 points6 points ago

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It's to let people know that you can't catch them at home throwing a brick through your sliding glass door.

[–]nickb64 2 points3 points ago

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"checking in" is a great way to tell people whether or not you're at home and if they should come burgle your house.

[–]jsims281 2 points3 points ago

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Why do you have burglars on your friends list?

[–]nickb64 1 point2 points ago

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a lot of crimes are committed by people you know, unfortunately.

especially if you have nice things.

[–][deleted] ago

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[deleted]

[–]kinematografi 2 points3 points ago

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If you haven't read it, and this is a subject that interests/angers you, allow me to recommend this book.

[–][deleted] ago*

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[deleted]

[–][deleted] ago*

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[deleted]

[–][deleted] ago

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[deleted]

[–]DankasaurusRX 1 point2 points ago

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It just lets your facebook friends/ the rest of the world know where you are or have been. It used the gps to find locations around you. For example... Alan just checked in at (Great Lakes Movie Theater, Beaver Creek Ski Resort, The Marriott in Down Town Chicago). Basically so all the teenie boppers can let others know where they are taking daddy's car. Its really lame if you are poor and don't go anywhere... feels bad man

[–]kinematografi 1 point2 points ago

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(Actual answer, because even though you "really don't give a shit, and you should know how to google things by now, it's important to share knowledge with one another.)

It is a marketing/surveillance scheme. You "tell your friends" where you are on facebook, google places or foursquare. You can gain points or coupons in some iterations, giving the act the illusion of a game or monetary savings. But the systems are, in fact, almost exclusively used for data mining and surveillance purposes.

[–]docpepson 0 points1 point ago

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It's basically publicly stating where you are. There's something called foursquare that has made a game out of it. It can be fun or annoying depending on how you look at it.

[–]allonymous 0 points1 point ago

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It's just a way of posting on facebook where you are. So if i went on your facebook page it would say: "shortyjacobs is at the library" or wherever you are checked in at.

[–]jamierc 1 point2 points ago

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Shortyjacobs is in his parents' basement

[–]douglasr007 1 point2 points ago

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That's odd. I mean foursquare has no problem with this even if you're hoping from plane to plane.

[–]undstudent 1 point2 points ago

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Well Facebook doesn't either for flights, I've never had a problem checking in at different airports during layovers.

[–]MuseofRose -1 points0 points ago

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Facebook wants your exact true personal information.

Real Name and all that jazz.

They also try to deter you from deactivating you account.

[–]quarktheduck 1 point2 points ago

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Today I posted a status on facebook from my desktop and it like it usually does (as it should) said "near Orlando" but an hour later when I posted a link it said "near Atlanta" and I have no idea why.

[–]PSquid 2 points3 points ago

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This comment (from elsewhere in the thread) might well explain it - given that you're on your desktop, there's no actual location data available, just data they can make a guess from (such as your IP, which can be reassigned if you haven't been issued a static one).

[–]quarktheduck 0 points1 point ago

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One of my friends suggested that as well, but I have my Facebook account set up to send an email when any previously unrecognized devices log into my account (or attempt to). The first time I logged into my Facebook from this computer was three months ago, and in the initial email it said my IP had me in Orlando. Since then it hasn't requested I name the device again when I log in, which it does for every new IP that logs into it. Yesterday was the only time it's ever done it, too.

[–]madk 0 points1 point ago

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As a side note, Google Latitude detects your air travel by checking your and end locations versus airport locations. If you check your history it even lists your flight trips.

[–]okiyama 62 points63 points ago

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You can set the location information on a server to anything. There are proxy servers that make it so that all the dating ads online say "Want to meet hot singles near North Pole?"

[–]KajiKaji 32 points33 points ago

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Even without a proxy my dating ads are 70 miles off.

[–]Brak710 27 points28 points ago

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It's basically the ZIP code of where your ISP registered the IPs as.

[–]shadowblade 0 points1 point ago

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Not true, its wherever you ISP happens to route your traffic through. For example, I live in Michigan and most GeoIp services say I'm in Chicago as that's how Charter's (my ISP) sysadmins decided to do routing.

[–]DtownAndOut 0 points1 point ago

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Hmm, I always thought it was where the CO was. It would make sense that ISP gives an IP the same zip code as the CO.

[–]Fhajad 7 points8 points ago

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But then they'd have to register what IPs are handed out of what COs and keep the DHCP pool open enough, etc etc.

It's more work and it's not worth it.

[–]DtownAndOut 0 points1 point ago

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I agree with you, makes total sense. I had honestly never thought about it before though.

[–]frymaster 0 points1 point ago

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it can depend. I'm in the UK on cable; it generally zeroes in on the facility in the city that all cable in the area goes through. For ADSL, sometimes it can be the right city, and sometimes it'll be London because that's where the company is based.

A lot of the databases these guys use draw information from a variety of sources.

[–]okiyama 8 points9 points ago

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That's because they use geolocation based off of your IP address which is quite rough.

Particularly if you are not in a major city.

[–]PotentChili 1 point2 points ago

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Sometimes those ads know I'm in Alaska, other times they think I'm in Nevada or Kentucky.. I must have a strange IP address or something. Also my ISP is incompetent as fuck.

[–]LiquidBlack 6 points7 points ago

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[–]ksj 4 points5 points ago

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There's a relevant XKCD for everything.

[–]koobaxion 1 point2 points ago

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Yes, I want to meet them if they're hot, it is so fucking cold up here.

[–]EndymionAwake 1 point2 points ago

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You coulda gotten so much more if you had gone with "Want to meet hot single in low earth orbit?"

[–]okiyama 0 points1 point ago

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I unfortunately have only completely memorized 70% of XKCD.

My karma would be thousands higher right now, if I had only practiced a bit harder before hitting the big time.

[–]rasterized 16 points17 points ago

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All my FB post say I'm in Pyongyang.

[–]lbft 6 points7 points ago

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Nice try, Kim Jong-un...

[–]spoolio 2 points3 points ago

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He learned it from his big bro. That's how you keep everyone from wondering where you went when you sneak out to go to Tokyo Disneyland.

[–]zagman76 7 points8 points ago

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[–]EverydayMuffin 7 points8 points ago

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You can never trust location services, just the other day my phone told me I was here, which is strange, because I live in Ireland... Automatically changed my timezone and everything!

[–]bobzor 48 points49 points ago

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Maybe you really live in North Korea, but in a small town that pretends to be Irish to keep their citizens content. Also they get their wifi from China.

[–]EverydayMuffin 1 point2 points ago

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Maybe! Haha. Well New Ireland isn't too far off, so I'll let it slide this time.

[–]g33n 3 points4 points ago

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I was tracking a bike ride one night, and for a short period under a highway overpass my phone reported me being 13 miles away (really fucked with my fitness stats).

Someone broke it down for me like this: when your phone doesn't know where it is via any other services, but can see wi-fi, it'll compare the last known location of that router with your current location. In this case, whoevers' SSID I was picking up had recently moved from the Bronx to Queens, and my phone decided to source my location off of it.

So maybe someone in Ireland recently moved from China or something.

[–]Fhajad 0 points1 point ago

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It can assume off wifi, or it's usually a triangulation in the rough area of cell towers. Like if my GPS isn't working, I'm suddently in a 10 mile circle of "not sure but somewhere in here".

[–]poiro 0 points1 point ago

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Who do you use as your ISP? I get similar results with Sky broadband, I've actually never checked my IP address and got the right city

[–]EverydayMuffin 1 point2 points ago

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I'm with Vodafone, same happened to my friends iPhone the same time this happened to me. Said he was in Madrid. I also know someone and their IP address registers to Limerick as opposed to Dublin. That shit is wack.

[–]jejemonster 3 points4 points ago

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Well, someone has to take your order and bring your meals to you.

[–]AdamLynch 15 points16 points ago

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Old trick...Did this to guantanamo bay and Google's HQ, and zuckerbergs house.

[–]Douces 2 points3 points ago

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TOR?

[–]erbat[!] 2 points3 points ago

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These happened to be caused by someone updating their Timeline feed on Facebook. Each updated location is subsequently added to their wall as a post without the context of them doing work elsewhere on the site.

[–]defyallodds 1 point2 points ago*

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Considering that Walt Disney World sits on about 30,000 acres of land, it might as well have its own zip code and a dedicated location.

[–]Ricktron3030 0 points1 point ago

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I'd be surprised if it didn't.

[–]country_hacker 0 points1 point ago

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I understand how this guy did it, but to directly answer the OP, what a great use for a RasberryPi! Duct tape it to a battery pack, find an unused ethernet port at $target_company, and walk away, letting the intrusion software/SSH tunnel/whatever run on their network.

And sure, there'll be competent IT departments who do stuff like MAC filtering and such, but for $35 you can afford to do some testing.

[–]kevin19713 0 points1 point ago

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When I was at my friends house in Maryland for the holidays my Facebook app on my phone said I was in the country of Andorra. I was using her WiFi so I guess it was something messed up with the ip address. I only turn on my GPS when I need directions.