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Convex mirror to mount on screen

post #1 of 10
10/3/08 at 11:44am
Thread Starter 
I have had an idea for a while which I believe is inspired from something I actually saw, but cannot find again.

My idea is this: you know how in public places people tend to spy on your screen? In order to check if anyone is actually watching you, it would be useful to have small convex mirrors (the bulged out wide angle type) on the top two corners of your laptop screen, yes?

I'm sure I've seen mirrors small enough for this (obviously they must be very thin also, some laptops have zero room when closed but my Dell i630m has enough space to fit a small mirror).

Does anyone know where to find mirrors like this? I can't seem to find any made for this purpose. They would have to be less than one inch squared.
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post #2 of 10
10/3/08 at 1:05pm
auto parts store, rear view mirror types?

cheers ...
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post #3 of 10
10/3/08 at 10:30pm
I saw them as a laptop accessory at the dollar store. They had plastic clips to attach them to your screen.
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post #4 of 10
10/8/08 at 11:44am
Thread Starter 
qhn, I know the mirrors you are referring to...sadly they never come small enough, the smallest I can find locally are around 2" diameter which is just too big for this use.

olyteddy, that's interesting...even "professional" shops do not carry this type of accessory around here. I'll have to keep my eyes open in the little shops.

Anyone been able to track anything down for cheap online purchase? Seems like the idea can't possibly be that unusual, I've talked to some people and I have yet to find someone who thinks it's a bad idea....
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post #5 of 10
10/8/08 at 4:07pm
Ever thought about getting one at the auto part stores and have a glass shop resizing it for you? It would be interesting

cheers ...
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post #6 of 10
10/8/08 at 11:22pm
I've also seen rear view sunglasses in Bike Shops...
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post #7 of 10
11/30/08 at 4:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kishkizzle View Post

My idea is this: you know how in public places people tend to spy on your screen? In order to check if anyone is actually watching you, it would be useful to have small convex mirrors (the bulged out wide angle type) on the top two corners of your laptop screen, yes?

Does anyone know where to find mirrors like this? I can't seem to find any made for this purpose. They would have to be less than one inch squared.
Hi, yeah, found one on sale but it's maybe bigger than you want. Think that would tend to discourage snoopers a bit more though.

http://www.safetymirrors.us/safe-spe...se-mirrors.htm

What I can't find, and I know that they used to make them, is the tiny round convex mirrors for teachers to mount on back of their eyeglass lenses to see what the kids were doing behind their backs without being obvious about it.



Would you be able to close your laptop with a convex mirror? Did
a google search and found 3/4" round regular mirrors but they only sell those in a gross.

http://codwholesale.com/mirrors.htm?...FQsQagod7gTkJA

Good luck.
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post #8 of 10
11/30/08 at 5:09am
Thread Starter 
Hmm, thanks. The first one is definitely too big, unfortunately. Regarding if I can close the lid, well, I can close the screen and there is a rather large gap between the screen and the lower half, but since the 'thickness' of a convex mirror is determined by it's width (all is proportional), the mirror has to be less than 1 inch squared roughly, realistically much smaller. I'm not seeking the ability to make out detail, just enough to see if a face is angled towards my computer.

The size of the normal mirror you found in the second link is perfect, however, it is not convex Since my laptop is not particularly large (Inspiron 630m) I would not have a wide enough angled view into the mirror; it would probably show the side of my head and only people immediately behind/beside me.

As for the earlier suggestion about resizing one of the small automotive mirrors, that's an awesome idea really, I just don't really know where to get that sort of thing done. That may also end up being expensive depending on what all is involved in the process.
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post #9 of 10
11/30/08 at 5:10am
Smallest I can find is 2".

http://www.fengshuishopper.com/mirrors.asp?Cat_ID=11

Of course it came up immediately after posting the last reply.
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post #10 of 10
11/30/08 at 10:27am
if it is more important to protect your viewed content from neighboring glimpses, then you can get a filter to install over your screen that narrows the angle of viewability, made by 3M.

if it is more important to detect who is catching views of your screen, then maybe there is instead some program that will record from your built in webcam or monitor it in a corner of the screen. quicktime can do this.
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