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Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

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Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

#191
post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can’t help but shake my head at most of these comments. There was a time when we celebrated anecdotes like this here on Hacker News. I’ve seen this story circulated many times but this is the first time I’ve seen this sort of reaction. These aren’t rose colored glasses, anyone can look up threads of old in which we cheered such defiance toward authority. People are frothing to frame this story with 2023 glasses and…

That was before we knew that real people suffer after pulling similar stunts. We all know of someone who did something stupid and has faced a lifetime of consiquence. Nobody dares put a fake bomb in a school locker (Woz did that) or give false documents to police for fun. Such things are no longer jokes. They screw up entire lives. I used to ride fast motorcycles. I know people who ran from the police for fun. Better…

I’m really unsure whether doing the same thing now would have a high risk of “screwing up” your life. It’s not like he showed anyone a counterfeit ID. What he did is the same as showing a random company ID. Not exactly grounds for arrest especially if he can provide a driver’s license if asked to.

Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

#192
post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can’t help but shake my head at most of these comments. There was a time when we celebrated anecdotes like this here on Hacker News. I’ve seen this story circulated many times but this is the first time I’ve seen this sort of reaction. These aren’t rose colored glasses, anyone can look up threads of old in which we cheered such defiance toward authority. People are frothing to frame this story with 2023 glasses and…

That was before we knew that real people suffer after pulling similar stunts. We all know of someone who did something stupid and has faced a lifetime of consiquence. Nobody dares put a fake bomb in a school locker (Woz did that) or give false documents to police for fun. Such things are no longer jokes. They screw up entire lives. I used to ride fast motorcycles. I know people who ran from the police for fun. Better…

[deleted]

Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

#193
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No less irresponsible than charging a man with a felony over an obvious joke.

How is using fake IDs to board airplanes a joke? Only because we are mostly sure this particular man is an innocent manchild, but how exactly does that generalize?

Your word choice of "manchild" is really really weird. I don't see anything childish about the story, he's just a playful man.

Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

#194
post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can’t help but shake my head at most of these comments. There was a time when we celebrated anecdotes like this here on Hacker News. I’ve seen this story circulated many times but this is the first time I’ve seen this sort of reaction. These aren’t rose colored glasses, anyone can look up threads of old in which we cheered such defiance toward authority. People are frothing to frame this story with 2023 glasses and…

That was before we knew that real people suffer after pulling similar stunts. We all know of someone who did something stupid and has faced a lifetime of consiquence. Nobody dares put a fake bomb in a school locker (Woz did that) or give false documents to police for fun. Such things are no longer jokes. They screw up entire lives. I used to ride fast motorcycles. I know people who ran from the police for fun. Better…

I don't know why this is downvoted, it's correct. Social media means that pranks are no longer ephemeral, and we can also be more aware of how badly wrong it could go.

Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

#195

Lots of timid, humorless folks having trouble imagining not being a sheep and always coloring inside the lines. I for one wish there were more real people around, living life for liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Like we were intended to live.

And I, for one, am glad that society as a whole doesn't behave this way. Imagine how obnoxious it would be if every other social interaction was somebody messing with you. Wonderful.

Imagine how obnoxious it would be if you were detained by a federal agent for totally legal behavior.

Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

#196
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No less irresponsible than charging a man with a felony over an obvious joke.

How is using fake IDs to board airplanes a joke? Only because we are mostly sure this particular man is an innocent manchild, but how exactly does that generalize?

I don't recall if it was specifically 9/11 that it changed, but I definitely recall that you did not used to have show to ID to get on a plane at all.

And at some early points when you did, it was more just like kind of informally showing you were the ticket-holder, not really about security. His "fake ID" saying he was a "laser inspector" is really just an employee ID for a very unsuccesful business he started, right? If they take an employee ID, what's the difference. it just... wasn't actually a big deal back then.

But yeah, in general... it's kind of painful to remember how much less we interacted with security checkpoints 30 years ago, and how much we've gotten used to living in a security state. The phrase "show me your papers" used to be a kind of shorthand for the idea that in a "fascist" state threatening law enforcement is always asking you for ID, but in "America" we can live our lives without interacting with such security apparatus. I doubt people think about it like that, as we live it now too, it's totally normalized.

that the reader may find it hard to believe that you didn't really have to show official ID to get on a plane, or that you could use a homemade employee ID... just demonstrates how normalized and forever-seeming the security state has become.

Although last I checked, you could actually still fly without ID, you need to fill out a form and get extra screening/pat down. Don't know if the "Real ID" stuff has changed that or what.

Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

#197
post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can’t help but shake my head at most of these comments. There was a time when we celebrated anecdotes like this here on Hacker News. I’ve seen this story circulated many times but this is the first time I’ve seen this sort of reaction. These aren’t rose colored glasses, anyone can look up threads of old in which we cheered such defiance toward authority. People are frothing to frame this story with 2023 glasses and…

That was before we knew that real people suffer after pulling similar stunts. We all know of someone who did something stupid and has faced a lifetime of consiquence. Nobody dares put a fake bomb in a school locker (Woz did that) or give false documents to police for fun. Such things are no longer jokes. They screw up entire lives. I used to ride fast motorcycles. I know people who ran from the police for fun. Better…

"Such things are no longer jokes. They screw up entire lives." But should they screw up lives? Why should we put up with authorities that can't take a joke. This is the foundation of the culture of defiance that hacking was all about expressing.

Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

#199
post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was the mid 80's, well before 9-11. Airport security was far more lax. Everything was far more lax. There was no way to easily verify ID anyway.

Yes, it was a very different world than it is now. I had a 22 caliber rifle when I was a tween. That wasn't uncommon because I lived in the country, and you pretty much needed such things to scare coyotes and wolves off the yard without hurting them. Obviously it can kill them, but you don't actually shoot them - you shoot close enough they understand the sound from your gun, and the sound on the ground right in fron…

This is still a thing in some places. I am in a very rural area. It is not uncommon for hunters to get out of their vehicle at the gas station here with their rifles to reposition their gear. It would probably be unsettling to a tourist.

Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

#200
post #149
post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It probably amounted to a real crime. I'm not a lawyer, I have no idea how criminal law in the USA works, but why would this be a crime? He didn't fake a Department of Defence ID, he created an ID for a fictional Department of Defiance, it may look similar, it may appear as a "real" ID because it's not just a piece of paper, but it's about as real an ID as a gym membership card.

But you wouldn't board an international flight with your gym membership card.

I would if I could..
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