I have had a teensy, torn bit of paper taped over the camera of my MacBook Air for years now because even before I knew the FBI could activate that thing without the indicator light, it always bugged me out that someone might be secretly snooping. The teensy, torn bit of paper looks janky as hell, but it works. Nope is a pair of sticky discs that do not look janky as hell.
Nope—which is a Kickstarter, natch—is basically two little magnets. You affix one to your laptop frame with plain old tape directly adjacent to the camera, then the other will hold in place next to that, perimeter to perimeter, via the magic of magnets and orbit around for a little peeping tom peek-a-boo. It's actually pretty great to picture someone puttering around the web on a normal afternoon, then deciding it's time to get weird in front of the laptop; drawing the shades; then sweeping the little circle around for privacy with a breathy: "Nope."
The project promises that the moveable magnet "partially levitates" so as not to scratch your gear—okayyy—and apparently neither is thick enough to interfere when you're ready to log off and close up.
The video—with the gently kicky, ever-so-rousing instrumental over well-lit shots of wholesome folks Living Their Lives Online—borders on parody, but the fact that these are not wildly pricey shows at least some level of self-awareness (six pairs of Nopes will set you back $10).
The concept seems simple and inexpensive enough that it could potentially be a personal DIY project. Right? Plus I really don't know if they would legit stay-put; but it might be easier to test it out with a quick trip to the hardware store than wait for these in the mail.
Regardless, it's made me rethink my tape situation. Not that I'm going to rip it off for good, but maybe just opt for some colorful scented stuff? Or... maybe not. [Nope]
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