121–130 of 209 posts
> It would not be an overstatement to say walking towards the ticket booth felt like getting off a boat on Normandy. Why do people write things like this. Aside from being crass, that is literally the definition of an overstatement.
As a cyclist, I've worn a hi-vis vest while walking around after riding, and it's been weird how many people assume that I am a repair guy or even a police officer. The thesis of the article matches my experience. If you wear the vest confidently you could probably get into many things free.
I've seen a few cyclists wearing gear that was obviously intended to be mistaken for police uniform at a distance e.g. blue and white checks, and only when you get closer do you realise it says "polite". Presumably this is in the hope of getting away with riding on the pavement or jumping red lights. Joke's on them - the real police never enforce those rules anyway.
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My dad used to work as a technician for a company selling expensive hospital equipment. He says there are countless times when he or with another colleage would go in any hospital and roll out such a device. Nobody asks any questions. At my university there were some actual thefts like this. Someone stole a beamer from a high ceiling in the middle of the day. And another time someone stole a heavy (=unliftable) new s…
You probably mean a projector (beamer is a German word, not English).
The pitch-black side of this phenomenon: In 2011 in Norway, Anders Breivik commandeered a ferry to the Utøya island, was let onboard, heavily armed and with several heavy boxes of ammunition, going on, as we know, to kill 69 people there, mainly youngsters. All this solely on the basis of a sufficient display of authority and an obviously fake police uniform, and despite the ferry having been put on hold after the bo…
The much happier version: Robert Smalls, a slave in the civil war, manages to steal a confederate ship from his master and sail it to union lines by putting on a hat. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cro...
I carefully and quietly walked into an academic building with a pair of bolt cutters and walked out with a pair of bolt cutters and an iMac hefted under one arm (having relieved it of its lock-cable) and nobody seemed to even notice. That said it was my actual job to do this- but I could have been anyone with a pair of bolt cutters!
If you have a pair of bolt cutters and you look like you're aimlessly wandering, people will notice.
If instead, you walk in and go straight into any random office, you're fine.
If you know where the building manager's office is, go straight for that and make it look like you talked to them, people won't question anything you do afterwards. (Source: watched someone do this during a pentest)
As a cyclist, I've worn a hi-vis vest while walking around after riding, and it's been weird how many people assume that I am a repair guy or even a police officer. The thesis of the article matches my experience. If you wear the vest confidently you could probably get into many things free.
It turns out the vest isn't required: if you walk with confidence, you can get in almost anywhere for free without waiting. I've walked confidently into concerts (deadmau5!), sports games, bars, sales events.....
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What did you do with the reasonably expensive camera once you were in the club?
Take photos? The camera can also be used to get close to any bands playing, get on the side of the stage, etc.
I just enjoyed taking the pictures, and people loved chimping themselves. I made a ton of friends.
Coincidentally on Hacker News front page right now ... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18318647 ... a story about being black while legitimately shopping with no intention of stealing. I'm not sure the author of that article could use the hi-viz trick and get away with it ... or have the luxury of even contemplating it as a lark all in "harmless fun". edit: grammar and emphasis
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You probably mean a projector (beamer is a German word, not English).
Unrelated, but TIL why the LaTeX package for making presentations is called "beamer". I guess the author is German.