odious indeed
Use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad
171–180 of 252 posts
Re: Use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad
#172how does this work? is he using stark's card balance to buy a new starbucks card?
Re: Use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad
#173Sam is such a great guy. I'm sure he donates all of his earnings to charity and doesn't own a single luxury, so he's definitely qualified to judge how "yuppies" spend their money.
On a slightly darker note: He sure seems proud of himself for donating to a charity that keeps children barely alive, just long enough for them to have more children that no one can provide for. It seems slightly counter-productive to me.
Re: Use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad
#174Earlier quoted context omitted.
yuppies buying each other coffee: a goodwill fund.
Why not? Care to give your definition of goodwill? Or are you just going to repeat things and not justify your apparent condescension?
Sure, it's goodwill... just the really empty kind of goodwill that makes everyone feel good but nobody actually better off.
Sorry, I probably came off more condescending than I intended. I'm only trying to inject a measure of perspective. People (yourself included) are acting like this was a "miserable" and "disgusting" thing to do. He could have stolen the money and never said a word (which would have been lame), but he played within the bounds of the experiment by reporting his contribution.
Re: Use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad
#175Earlier quoted context omitted.
Close - they bought one gift card, and then used Starbucks' website to transfer the money from Jonathan's card to their own.
And how did he get the Card Security Code (PIN)?
As he states here in the google plus comment thread:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/113956160418597123621/posts/MAqh...
"to transfer the money off the card I had to do it IRL, at a Starbucks location"
Re: Use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad
#176I'm Starbucks illiterate. How did they transfer the value from Jonathan's card to theirs?
My guess would be that someone wrote a script to figure out the pin number. Starbucks pin is just 8 random digits. There is no captcha if you put an incorrect pin. One should be able to figure out the pin pretty quickly like this. Once you have the pin you can transfer the money onto your own account or write a script to automate the process.
"to transfer the money off the card I had to do it IRL, at a Starbucks location"
https://plus.google.com/u/0/113956160418597123621/posts/MAqh...
Re: Use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
This isn't anything like "exposing a security vulnerability." Everyone understood that the card COULD be misused. That doesn't make the misuse of it okay.
But at the same time, if Jonathan knew that the card could be misused, he either should have attempted to provide some security or disclosed that problem up front to the community, to let them make an informed choice.
No one is surprised that someone was able to take advantage of it. Everyone immediately recognized it was possible and easy to take advantage of. People made an informed choice.
Just because it's easy doesn't mean it's okay. I can reach in and grab $50 from the tip jar at a restaurant while the cashier's back is turned. I can walk into most stores, stuff something under my jacket, and walk out.
Just because it's easy doesn't make stealing okay.
Re: Use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
It was stated that this was a social experiment. Given the fact that everyone knew what would happen, I hardly think this constitutes abuse. Diverting the money to a more worthy (in his view) cause, as some people were using it to buy food for the homeless, should have been an expected outcome.
As a social experiment, if I leave my bike on my front lawn over night for weeks, eventually it will be stolen. Everybody expects this to happen eventually. Does this excuse the thief?
Nope, but if you say "here is my bike, anyone can use it for whatever they want. Really, whatever. Go nuts." and then having someone say "I know, I'll send this bike to kids in Africa who don't have a bike!" doesn't count as theft.
Re: Use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
Did you read his comment? His point was that the OP seems to think we can't indulge ourselves occasionally and must always work towards solving those big problems. We're human. We should allow ourselves to have some fun once in a while.
That's not the context of the quote. He's wondering if people will bid over the face value of the card, or if no one thinks that charity is more important than caffeine. He's not dissing on Jonathan's Card, he's wondering about his auction.
If people don't bid it up, I'd say the appropriate conclusion to reach is not that people don't think charity is more important that coffee, but that people don't trust a thief.
Re: Use Jonathan's card to buy yourself an iPad
#180Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why not? Care to give your definition of goodwill? Or are you just going to repeat things and not justify your apparent condescension?
Sure, it's goodwill... just the really empty kind of goodwill that makes everyone feel good but nobody actually better off. Sorry, I probably came off more condescending than I intended. I'm only trying to inject a measure of perspective. People (yourself included) are acting like this was a "miserable" and "disgusting" thing to do. He could have stolen the money and never said a word (which would have been lame), bu…
"People (yourself included) are acting like this was a "miserable" and "disgusting" thing to do."
I am not acting like it is, I am saying that it is.
And yes, I know that I am doing that... since I am doing it. Regardless of wither or not it was within the bounds of the experiment it was an asshat thing to do.