This comment section is really disappointing. Should change the name of the site to Anal-Retentive Snobs News.
Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills
321–330 of 553 posts
Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills
#322Related US Mint page for $2 bill sheets: https://catalog.usmint.gov/paper-currency/uncut-currency/?&p... Basically he tells story in a way that average person assume he’s printing fake bills, when in reality he’s just cutting and binding sets of uncut bills into a notepad. Lying to a federal investigator though is a federal crime and one that’s frequently resulted in prison sentences. Worth noting that Jobs & Woz fir…
What's the justification for them charging so much more than the cash value?
Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills
#323> [The Secret Service agent] asked my for some picture ID. I have some fake photo ID's that a friend made for me years before, when we could make realistic photo ID's from our computers. Almost nobody else could do this because printers weren't good enough. But I had an expensive early generation dye sublimation printer and made some fake ID's for fun. I had one favorite fake ID that I'd used for almost every airplan…
He could also just be lying about the story.
People don't always check IDs that well, even people whose job is 90% checking IDs. A friend of mine is a bouncer who has memorized every state's ID (he catches a lot of IDs that scan at other places) and usually gets multiple fakes a night while working.
He got an obvious fake from a blond 6'2" guy. He gave it to our dark-haired 5'7" friend with a very different facial structure and told him to try it at several other bars in the area. Said friend got into every bar.
Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills
#324Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't it pretty irresponsible to commit a felony while you have a daughter and wife to take care of? I find his nonchalant delivery quite jarring. I don't understand what's going through his head here.
The presense of wife actually makes this trick much safer. She is a capable adult and can take care of herself and daughter.
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Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills
#325> [The Secret Service agent] asked my for some picture ID. I have some fake photo ID's that a friend made for me years before, when we could make realistic photo ID's from our computers. Almost nobody else could do this because printers weren't good enough. But I had an expensive early generation dye sublimation printer and made some fake ID's for fun. I had one favorite fake ID that I'd used for almost every airplan…
> 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.
> I'm not a lawyer, I have no idea how criminal law in the USA works, but why would this be a crime?
The US has streamlined this relative to other countries. You don't have to commit a crime, you just irritate a LEO and they find the crime for you.
Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills
#326Earlier quoted context omitted.
When an entire population is far more homogeneous than most modern Western states, the heightened social trust and cohesion permits this kind of harmless fun (among many other benefits). It's one of those sacrifices made to accommodate diversity which is almost impossible to quantify and existentially unsettling to even try.
People often refer to the Scandinavian countries or Japan as examples of low ethnic diversity and high trust. Are there any quantitative studies on this topic? It would be a stronger argument if a clear trend was observable over many countries.
If I was searching for comparisons, I would look at Stockholm and suburbs in 1990s compared with present. I am told there are now areas where those born in .se and the police just avoid due to take-over by gangs of (some) recent immigrants.
Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills
#327Earlier quoted context omitted.
No matter what country you’re in, the military is in a position of authority (except maybe Costa Rica). Generally people consider a lie to be worse if it’s a lie you can use to get power.
And usually a position of sacrifice. Therefore, it’s pretty respected over here and making a false claim is pretty taboo. Definitely taboo enough to get you chewed out, and almost enough to risk a physical altercation.
I once ran a 5K as part of an Army fundraiser. It was for civilians. The Army gave every runner a T-shirt with the Army logo very prominent.
Someone asked me when I was in the Army and not thinking about why they asked I just said I wasn’t.
They almost started to chew me out until I mentioned it was given to me as part of an Army sponsored fundraiser.
Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills
#328Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't even think it's arguable. He intended to deceive a Secret Service officer with fake federal government credentials, and apparently succeeded in doing so. I believe that is a felony. The judge may reduce the charge or throw it out later though because of the obvious wackiness of it.
He’s Woz. A household name. I suspect the secret service agent also noticed it being a fake ID but didn’t want to deal with the litany of paperwork in arresting woz for the crime. Maybe the agent also got a chuckle out of it as well.
Hate to break it to you, but if "Tim Apple" isn't a household name, Wozniak certainly isn't. Steve Jobs _maybe_ is, but even that is likely overestimating the public's knowledge.
Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills
#329Earlier 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.
Giving a false ID to law enfordement? That is a crime. Giving a forged ID to the secret service, the people in charge of detecting counterfeiting? That's just idiocy. Misspelling department of defense doesnt make the ID ok any more than printing a tiny lol in the corner of your fake dollar bills. (Also, falsely claiming a relationship with the military is downright dishonerable.)
> Giving a forged ID to the secret service, the people in charge of detecting counterfeiting?
Well, he was on a thin ice but nevertheless still within bounds of the law. He did not forge or fake the ID, it was a fictitious one like Disney World passport. The ID had his real name on it, no lies there. The $2 bills were legit as well. And mocking federal agent was not a crime.
Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills
#330Earlier 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…
Hacking was aggressively criminalized. We lost Aaron Swartz. There are real threats to people with curiosity these days, and that seems to be an intentional result of the laws and enforcement in the US.
In my personal observation, a lot of what spoiled the zany fun of using technology for rule breaking was the rise of really evil large tech companies. It kind of took the mirth out of it because their evil willingness to do anything to Hoover up more data is always sitting there in the background.