Posted on 05/25/2010 11:58:30 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Techies alter sign on Palmetto
Electronic road sign hackers generally like to warn motorists of zombie and raptor attacks, but in South Florida, the signs are apparently being used to fuel the immigration debate.
A highway sign flashing "NO LATINOS NO TACOS" greeted drivers on the Palmetto Expressway in Northwest Miami-Dade, after hackers managed to alter it early Tuesday morning.
The sign was in the northbound side of the 826, right near the Northwest 25th street exit. It's unknown how long the sign had been flashing the message, but by 6 a.m., members of the Florida Highway Patrol and a road crew had turned the sign away from the highway and were working to erase the message.
Officials said the signs are password protected, but that generally does little to stop hackers intent on changing them.
Last year, a string of road sign hacks were made in three separate states.
In Austin, Texas, a sign cautioned drivers to the "ZOMBIES IN AREA! RUN." Another in Collinsville, Illinois said "Daily LANE CLOSURES DUE TO ZOMBIES." And another in rural Indiana read "RAPTORS AHEAD - CAUTION." Reaction to the sign, posted on the "Today in South Florida" Facebook page was mixed.
"Wow someone has a lot of time on their hands to think up of how they can belittle and disrespect a group of people who help keep this country going," said Luly Cueto-Belot. "Greatest thing I ever saw...let's take this country back dammit!!!..south will rise again mother---er!!" said David Pines. The sign is owned by a company called, Highway Technologies, based out of Illinois. Gil Joseph, a spokesman for the company told NBC Miami that it is using all its resources to investigate how the sign was tampered with and who is beind it. "The hacked message was offensive and vandalistic. We had nothing to do with the message and we find the message both appalling and discriminatory," said Joseph.
Highway Technologies is renting the digital roadway sign to a construction company that is working on a nearby project.
Joseph says they have filed a police report for vandalism of the company's electronic sign.
I love to eat tacos but not latinos.
/b/tards...
Latinas taste. . oh wait. Family website.
I was driving north on I-95 one day heading to Charlotte. Crossed over the Georgia - South Carolina line and there was one of these signs that was flashing:
GO COCKS!!!!!
I’m sure it sent a few into a tizzy :-)
Yep. The subconscious of the internet.
Probably done in 2 minutes and probably an inside job.
That would be a fun one to coordinate in San Diego, LA, Dallas, Houston etc. You’d need to get a bunch of friends together, so you could change several signs on major highways or high-use surface streets simultaneously. Time it to happen right at morning rush hour.
You can always count on government employees to properly address and squash politically incorrect signs as it is a TOP priority. I wonder who got car jacked while the FHP was messing around with signs? South Florida, pre-dawn hours? Guaranteed there was a murder or car-jacking DURING that time south FL.
GOOD ONE
I remember seeing one of those signs in my area in suburban eastern Massachusetts flashing “Mountain Lion Spotted” “Use Caution”. It wasn’t a joke, some cops had reported seeing a mountain lion. It was probably a bobcat, but I don’t blame them, I’ve seen one in the area and they are scary enough.
This is why it would be better to take control of the permanent traffic condition signs. They can’t be turned away, only off, and are not as easy to shut off quickly, as there are more people that have to get involved.
Just damn! Who will give me my occasional bout of food poisoning when they’re gone??
Latinos and illegal aliens are not necessarily the same thing.
I have no problems with Latinos who are American citizens.
The Miami area Cuban refugees (who became citizens) are some of the staunchest conservatives in the country.
Thus, I don’t find the signs all that funny.
Yeah, it’s really cute. A real laugh.
Unfortunately, my tax, gasoline, license, insurance fees go towards paying for these signs to reduce accidents, congestion, and keep a driver alert.
This is vandalism and damage to public and private property. Period. It is not right.
However, I can see a benefit. It teaches us not to put all our ‘faith’ into signs. Terrorists could put this ‘sign-hacking’ to good use, if they thought we would mindlessly obey.
Ping?
TRUE. The issue is not your ethnicity,race, or heritage.
The issue is this:
If you won't bother to follow the law in order to get into the country, why would we want you as a citizen?
So, the real question is, was the hacker a US hacker, or an illegal immigrant hacker (based on the message)?
lol!
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