Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Vanishing Point: How to disappear in America without a trace (2012)

skeptictank.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 107 posts

Re: Vanishing Point: How to disappear in America without a trace (2012)

#41

Post by butttransaction »

sowbug wrote: post #30
leroy_masochist wrote: post #8

It's a really interesting topic and I'd say I was disappointed by the article for several reasons: 1. Very outdated in terms of the extent to which people hiding today would leave a digital signature. The article literally suggests leaving no available photographs of you, to the point where acquaintances have to work with a sketch artist to put your picture out. 2. Some very naive suggestions for jobs to take while o…

Not totally on-topic, but interesting. Reconstruct sound by analyzing video of a potato-chip bag: http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_rubinstein_see_invisible_mo...

I think you just gave Light a heart attack.

Re: Vanishing Point: How to disappear in America without a trace (2012)

#42

Post by samstave »

morganvachon wrote: post #18

A nitpick (beyond the spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors throughout): The part about "most states in the Union require 24 hours before reporting a missing person" is nothing but a Hollywood trope. The fact is, most agencies require a missing person to be entered into their respective state's database within a few hours of the report. I can say unequivocally that Georgia has a two-hour window, as I've entered m…

You left out the part where the cops with an IQ Cops are incapable of servicing the greater need any further the system is broken.

Re: Vanishing Point: How to disappear in America without a trace (2012)

#43

Post by seibelj »

samstave wrote: post #42
morganvachon wrote: post #18

A nitpick (beyond the spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors throughout): The part about "most states in the Union require 24 hours before reporting a missing person" is nothing but a Hollywood trope. The fact is, most agencies require a missing person to be entered into their respective state's database within a few hours of the report. I can say unequivocally that Georgia has a two-hour window, as I've entered m…

You left out the part where the cops with an IQ Cops are incapable of servicing the greater need any further the system is broken.

Reddit would be a better place for comments like this. HN is for reasonable discussion

Re: Vanishing Point: How to disappear in America without a trace (2012)

#44

Post by mirimir »

Although it's quite dated, I'm willing to accept the author's claim that he originated much of the "how to disappear" stuff. And so I'd love to give him my $5. But perhaps ironically, Smashwords (the bookseller) only accepts PayPal and credit/debit cards. However, if some kind person would gift it to me, I would reimburse the price via Bitcoins :)

Re: Vanishing Point: How to disappear in America without a trace (2012)

#45

Post by samstave »

seibelj wrote: post #43
samstave wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You left out the part where the cops with an IQ Cops are incapable of servicing the greater need any further the system is broken.

Reddit would be a better place for comments like this. HN is for reasonable discussion

Jesus Christ I'm tired If this, get off your high horse and have the guts to have "a reasonable discussion" on a topic that doesn't fit within your comfort zone.

You are a coward for posting your snide comment on an attempt to look intellectually superior.

The state of the police in the US is a disease... Defend that if you're so inclined.

Your snipey comment to try to quell discourse is abhorrent, and shows you're incapable of actually talking about the issue.

Re: Vanishing Point: How to disappear in America without a trace (2012)

#46

Post by seibelj »

samstave wrote: post #45
seibelj wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reddit would be a better place for comments like this. HN is for reasonable discussion

Jesus Christ I'm tired If this, get off your high horse and have the guts to have "a reasonable discussion" on a topic that doesn't fit within your comfort zone. You are a coward for posting your snide comment on an attempt to look intellectually superior. The state of the police in the US is a disease... Defend that if you're so inclined. Your snipey comment to try to quell discourse is abhorrent, and shows you're i…

The comment you responded to was about the utility of quickly filing missing persons reports. Your response said that people with dementia filed as missing would be lucky to survive an encounter with a police officer. It seems like you have an axe to grind that is completely irrelevant to the topic of discussion. I don't know your political inclinations but your arguments are illogical and confusing.

I said it would be better for reddit, because comments like yours are common there, while fairly uncommon on HN

Re: Vanishing Point: How to disappear in America without a trace (2012)

#47

Post by mirimir »

samstave wrote: post #45
seibelj wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reddit would be a better place for comments like this. HN is for reasonable discussion

Jesus Christ I'm tired If this, get off your high horse and have the guts to have "a reasonable discussion" on a topic that doesn't fit within your comfort zone. You are a coward for posting your snide comment on an attempt to look intellectually superior. The state of the police in the US is a disease... Defend that if you're so inclined. Your snipey comment to try to quell discourse is abhorrent, and shows you're i…

You posted an ad hominem attack on police in America. That doesn't even belong on reddit, although it's more common there.

That said, police in America are stuck dealing with the consequences of many short-sighted policy decisions. They are not properly trained for social work, mental health services, and so on.

Re: Vanishing Point: How to disappear in America without a trace (2012)

#49

Post by aquateen »

mirimir wrote: post #47
samstave wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jesus Christ I'm tired If this, get off your high horse and have the guts to have "a reasonable discussion" on a topic that doesn't fit within your comfort zone. You are a coward for posting your snide comment on an attempt to look intellectually superior. The state of the police in the US is a disease... Defend that if you're so inclined. Your snipey comment to try to quell discourse is abhorrent, and shows you're i…

You posted an ad hominem attack on police in America. That doesn't even belong on reddit, although it's more common there. That said, police in America are stuck dealing with the consequences of many short-sighted policy decisions. They are not properly trained for social work, mental health services, and so on.

http://laurencetennant.com/bonds/adhominem.html

Re: Vanishing Point: How to disappear in America without a trace (2012)

#50

Post by tsotha »

blakeja wrote: post #16
leroy_masochist wrote: post #8

It's a really interesting topic and I'd say I was disappointed by the article for several reasons: 1. Very outdated in terms of the extent to which people hiding today would leave a digital signature. The article literally suggests leaving no available photographs of you, to the point where acquaintances have to work with a sketch artist to put your picture out. 2. Some very naive suggestions for jobs to take while o…

Do you have any good references for your statement about laser surveillance? Generally speaking, although the us government is a wallowing pile of inefficiency, it generally tends to be true that our military technology is a fair bit ahead of where it is thought to be. I didn't even know satellite laser surveillance was a thing, so I am genuinely curious here.

You know the satellite laser thing can't be true. Even in the absence of atmospheric distortion a good satellite resolution is measured in centimeters. And that's for still pictures.
Post reply on HN