Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet • Hacker News Board

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#61

Post by rtempaccount1 » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 5:08 PM UTC

cortesoft wrote: post #26

> Obviously, some students thought that fee was ridiculous – just like paying for parking at a university where you’re already paying a hefty tuition fee I hate parking fees as much as the next person, and totally appreciate the creativity of the people who defeated this device. However, how should we handle distributing a limited number of parking spaces when there are more people who want to park than available spa…

Wouldn't it make sense that the university, that is charging the students all this money, ensure they have enough parking spaces to satisfy likely demand?

Doesn't seem unreasonable for universities with very high tuitions, to provide amenities like reliably available parking.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#62

Post by jcims » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 5:09 PM UTC

chrisseaton wrote: post #45

legohead wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They wouldn't have to resort to any shenanigans if parking on campus was free for students.

Why are these people driving to college in the first place? Take public transport.

To a person, everyone that i know that commutes to school lives outside the metro area served by public transport.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#63

Post by salawat » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 5:11 PM UTC

It is downright amazing how much information asymmetry is seen as a prerequisite to maintain law and order.

For instance, implementation details of devices being leaked are a surefire way of obviating any mitigatory measure employed to coerce cooperation out of an uninformed population.

The irony of this happening at a University, an Institution centered around equipping people with the tools they need to overcome information asymmetry, is not lost on me.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#64

Post by Scoundreller » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 5:12 PM UTC

barnaclebuster wrote: post #30

Scoundreller wrote: post #15

This is just a bunch of unverified reddit/Twitter reposts. I’m sure the defrost trick works in winter, but it won’t work as well in summer.

I suspect in warm climates, the sun will save you the trouble of the defroster, especially if they fit it in the morning when it is cooler and you come back in the late afternoon when the car is at its hottest to reduce the vacuum pressure and the seal rubber at its most pliable due to the heat.

If parked outdoors.

One of the OU pictures in the article shows indoor parking.

I’m the wacko that leaves the windows open a crack if it’s sunny enough and not going to rain.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#65

Post by acdha » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 5:13 PM UTC

teej wrote: post #33

chrisseaton wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is everyone in this thread celebrating people who park selfishly?! Taking up spaces with abandoned cars is a particularly miserable thing to do that makes the original underlying problem worse!

Because using scrap cars to exhaust the barnacle supply is a hilarious way to hack the system for the benefit of other students.

How does this “benefit” other students? They're the ones who are being inconvenienced by scofflaws and if it's like most other places quite likely endangered: the same people who park illegally tend to be cavalier about blocking bike lanes and curb cuts, speeding, rolling through crosswalks, etc.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#66

Post by jjeaff » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 5:14 PM UTC

Scoundreller wrote: post #15

This is just a bunch of unverified reddit/Twitter reposts. I’m sure the defrost trick works in winter, but it won’t work as well in summer.

I doubt the defroster trick is as much about expanding what little air is left under the suction cup and more about making the rubber plyable enough to lift an edge enough to break the seal. So summer should be quite a bit easier.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#67

Post by geofft » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 5:14 PM UTC

chrisseaton wrote: post #28

awillen wrote: post #6

"a user who found out his campus only had 12 wheel boots to go around and bought and illegally parked 12 scrapyard cars that could be “sacrificed” so everyone else could park however they wanted." Not all heroes wear capes.

Why is everyone in this thread celebrating people who park selfishly?! Taking up spaces with abandoned cars is a particularly miserable thing to do that makes the original underlying problem worse!

We're not celebrating people who park selfishly, we're celebrating people who use a clever hack to defeat a harmful solution to the problem of people parking selfishly.

The point of DeCSS and qrpff, for instance, was not that piracy is a good thing but that DRM is a bad thing.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#68

Post by acdha » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 5:15 PM UTC

legohead wrote: post #43

chrisseaton wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is everyone in this thread celebrating people who park selfishly?! Taking up spaces with abandoned cars is a particularly miserable thing to do that makes the original underlying problem worse!

They wouldn't have to resort to any shenanigans if parking on campus was free for students.

Why should the campus subsidize the car-owning students? If those students want exclusive use of a public space why not let them pay market rates for it?

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#69

Post by thaumasiotes » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 5:15 PM UTC

gonehome wrote: post #52

cortesoft wrote: post #26

> Obviously, some students thought that fee was ridiculous – just like paying for parking at a university where you’re already paying a hefty tuition fee I hate parking fees as much as the next person, and totally appreciate the creativity of the people who defeated this device. However, how should we handle distributing a limited number of parking spaces when there are more people who want to park than available spa…

If if I was trying to solve this problem and actually cared about the students I would do some capacity based pricing. Almost always free, as you approach parking capacity price increases. You could probably also set up a system to text people who have been there more than X hours that they will start to be charged due to high capacity.

> You could probably also set up a system to text people who have been there more than X hours that they will start to be charged due to high capacity.

Your plan is to have pricing that is not knowable in advance, and assess it against the students retroactively?

I'm not sure it's possible to come up with a worse plan.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#70

Post by xyst » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 5:16 PM UTC

WarOnPrivacy wrote: post #18

Learning to solve IRL problems - that absolutely need solving - is why we send them to college. I couldn't be more proud.

meh - one can argue with the advent of the internet the entire college system is a farce. College at this point is just for building your network and securing that “dream job” because employers like to check off those boxes instead of actually finding qualified applicants.

Although there is one thing that you can’t teach or learn which is having common sense or the ability to apply theories in practice.