Drone Shows Thousands Filling Hong Kong Streets [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Q919bQOThvM#t=10

by notjackma • 12 years ago

103 27 12 years ago

STRML• 12 years ago

Hong Kong was my home base for the last year and a half; I just missed these protests. It is really a shock to see the main streets filled with people; streets I used to walk or ride buses through nearly every day.

Hong Kong is a hugely underrated, beautiful, vibrant city with extraordinarily friendly people, almost no crime, and one of the best transportation systems in the world. There's almost no place you can stand within Hong Kong that doesn't have an incredible view of something. It's also becoming a major hub for technology businesses this decade.

I wish them the best of luck; it would truly be a shame if China is able to exert more major control and turn HK into yet another unlivable Chinese megacity.

Mikeb853• 12 years ago

Don't forget that Hong Kong is also a major financial hub, with the 6th(?) largest stock market in the world, and when the HK-Shanghai Stock Connect goes live in the coming weeks it'll be the second largest exchange in the world. Many western banks also do business in Hong Kong.

The worst thing that would happen to Hong Kong is for the financial sector to leave - HK currently enjoys an average income 5X higher than mainland China, and higher than many western cities even.

dosh• 12 years ago

It's hard to grasp what's really happening over there over paragraphs and few photos, but this video delivers the atmosphere in a very effective manner.

rayiner4• 12 years ago

The whitewashing of places like Hong Kong and Singapore among the globalist set is shameful.

pkinsky• 12 years ago

...okay. Could you provide examples and a clear argument? I guarantee you'll convince more people of your viewpoint.

rayiner4• 12 years ago

The Milton Friedman set is enamoured by freedom of the market in places like Hong Kong and Singapore: http://www.chicagobooth.edu/magazine/fall97/hongkong.html. They paper over the fact that this comes at the cost of democracy: the government uses its monopoly on violence to protect the wealthy (property rights, etc), but the people are not free to vote for protections for themselves (labor laws, etc).

tvanantwerp• 12 years ago

I've lived in Hong Kong. It's a wonderful place full of wonderful people. To express no sympathy for Hong Kong's people--and to imply that no sympathy is deserved because some unnamed "globalist set" seems to like the place--is shameful.

rayiner4• 12 years ago

Globalists like Hong Kong as it is: where the government enforces laws to enable the market, but where people cannot vote on other laws they want. Its the globalists that lack sympathy for Hong Kong's people, not me.

lnanek2• 12 years ago

Should be interesting to see if the Chinese government brings in the tanks again, like Tiananmen Square.

guard-of-terra• 12 years ago

Hong Kong is an island and the part they occupy seems to be very inclined. Even if they manage to bring tanks in somehow, all they'll get is many expensive high-rises damaged, roads destroyed and many tanks lost (since they're trivial to immobilize).

Will look like authoritarism fail.

Kenji• 12 years ago

Awesome footage. I wasn't aware of the scale of this protest. My only nitpick, if that drone malfunctions (or the batteries run out) and falls down, it'll kill someone.

jewel• 12 years ago

It is irresponsible, but I think you're overstating the risk. This looks like footage from a gopro (due to the wide angle shots). This only requires a small drone to carry, like the DJI Phantom. The total weight for the phantom and camera is going to be something like 2.5 lb, and that weight is spread across a device that is rather large.

I wouldn't want to get hit on the head by one, of course, but I don't think it would be possible to kill someone since its terminal velocity is going to be pretty slow.

viraptor• 12 years ago

It doesn't have to be about the weight/speed. Unless it actually crashes in a fail-safe way, it may keep the blades spinning. It's very unlikely to kill you, but can easily cause pretty deep cuts.

I play with rc planes usually and would really like to see some docs on failure modes / failure rates of typical *copter drones. My planes / controller failed enough times that I'll probably never fly any toy over people. Maybe the newer models are much better. I'd like to know if that's the case.

robomartin3• 12 years ago

No, you are wrong. From that altitude it can do anything from severely disfigure, paralyze or, yes, kill someone. Did you see that shot where it flies right by that crane? Irresponsible doesn't quite describe it.

I've been deeply involved in RC flight for over 30 years. I cannot imagine how these people think it OK to fly toy-grade products over people like that. A DJI with a Gopro is a toy. I have $10,000 RC helicopters and planes. They are fucking toys. Having seen the range of failure modes I have over the years I can only characterize these people as irresponsible morons. I also say this from the context of having designed and manufactured high quality electronic products for the RC and military targetting drone industries.

araes• 12 years ago

Maybe I'm crazy, but in my judgement, the risk of occurrence for the ultra-bad (somebody dies) is low enough that its outweighed by the good (the world gets to see dramatic and illustrative views of how big a protest this is). Even the minor-bad (somebody gets cut or bruised) is still pretty low occurrence risk (its so slow and low that the crowd see, and is waving at the drone)

We used to be chased by wild cats, twice our weight, in tall grass, and now we limit use of anything that might even scratch someone else. Society's great and all, it provides a good support net and enables a lot, but its trend towards conservatism is frustrating sometimes.

turar• 12 years ago

First thought that occurred to me while watching. Even if Americans wanted to march in a protest of similar scale, it would be physically difficult. There would be nowhere to park all their cars.

robomartin3• 12 years ago

You are missing a very important cultural difference: something of this scale in most American cities would be accompanied by theft, vandalism, murder, rape, burglaries and all sorts of other displays by culturally deficient members of our society.

I have been in large protests in other parts of the world where the cultural contrast is nothing less than astonishing.

istjohn3• 12 years ago

I just want to point out that first, rioting does not occur more frequently in America than it does in many other parts of the world, and second, those "culturally deficient members of our society" you speak of are also generally wealth, education, and opportunity deficient due to the apathy of our society writ large.

Drone Shows Thousands Filling Hong Kong Streets [video]

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