Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

web.archive.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

421–430 of 553 posts

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

#421

Post by zuminator »

monocasa wrote: post #409
lr1970 wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Presenting a fictitious Disney World passport to law enforcement as a real ID would be just as much as a crime as trying to deposit fake money from a child's playset at the bank. It's the action of trying to deceive that pushes it into criminal territory.

If it has his true name and photo on it, it's real identification. It's just not official or governmental identification. What makes a forged ID "forged" is not that it's not state issued, it's that it passes itself off as being state issued.

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

#422

Post by jsnell »

enedil wrote: post #385
jsnell wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think any security breach was demonstrated here. Now, Woz was obviously an amazing hacker back in the day and has a reputation of being a good person. So one would imagine there are stories that show him being really clever that are, you know, actually clever rather than just showing off an information asymmetry about trivia (re: these sheets of $2 bills). Where the punchline is something wholesome, rather th…

I don't get how you inferred anybody was humiliated there.

No deep inferrence needed. The entire discussion with the security guy is about toying with him, eventually he tricks the guy, "scores a point" and is ever so pleased at himself:

> But I had got a big point on him and I was quite satisfied in that

Like, I can sort of understand the humor value of giving away $2 bills as a tip since they're rare and some people don't know about it. But there is literally no value in baiting people as to whether this is legit money or counterfeit, except for Woz to feel superior to them. And it's not an isolated occurence! He clearly does this all the time, so often that he has multiple variants of the script.

This is not a story to celebrate. It is not challenging the status quo, it is not rebelling against authority, it is not a smart hack, or whatever y'all are describing it as. It is an ugly story of a man with a lot of wealth punching down, playing games using the little people as a prop purely for his own amusement, repeatedly, and then bragging about it.

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

#423

Post by KptMarchewa »

ilyt wrote: post #250
JuniorBalleg wrote: post #134

Earlier 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.

Clearly you haven't read or been in any post-soviet country, near perfect "ethnical cohesion", doesn't stop crime or increase trust in any way. Frankly that's arrogant and narrow-minded view; homogenous culture might cause less conflicts and problems when the culture itself is one promoting that in the first place

That's true for countries in which russia directly meddles. Countries that thrown off the yoke, like Czechia or Poland have one of the lowest crime rates in the world.

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

#425

Post by projektfu »

waltbosz wrote: post #342
scarface74 wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Reminds me of a time in 7th grade when I wore a band t-shirt that I had received as a gift. A kid in my class took exception because he doubted that I even owned any of their albums. The kid called me a "poser". It also makes me think of my uncle who is a very proud labor union member. He gets upset if anyone says anything disparaging about labor unions. My point is, it sounds to me like people taking honor in being…

Maybe it falls more under group dynamics/sociology. Interesting question.

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

#426

Post by monocasa »

zuminator wrote: post #421
monocasa wrote: post #409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presenting a fictitious Disney World passport to law enforcement as a real ID would be just as much as a crime as trying to deposit fake money from a child's playset at the bank. It's the action of trying to deceive that pushes it into criminal territory.

If it has his true name and photo on it, it's real identification. It's just not official or governmental identification. What makes a forged ID "forged" is not that it's not state issued, it's that it passes itself off as being state issued.

A reasonable person would interpret it as a department of defense ID. That's the standard that is going to be used against you in court. Identification intrinsically has provenance at the core of it's concept.

Just like you'd be fucked if you tried to deposit dollars for the federal bank of amerigo, your fake country.

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

#427

Post by zuminator »

everforward wrote: post #408
Shraal wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also not a lawyer but AFAIK it often boils down to intent. You could argue that he tried to deceive someone with it.

Not a lawyer either, but this doesn't appear to statutorily require intent. This is the relevant law[1]. I think the easiest way to prosecute this would be under the "authentication features" section: (1) the term “authentication feature” means any hologram, watermark, certification, symbol, code, image, sequence of numbers or letters, or other feature that either individually or in combination with another feature i…

If Sara was 12 when this happened then this occurred around 1998 or so. At that time the "authentication features" provisions of the law didn't exist, as they were added in 2003. (See the "Notes" tab in your link).

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

#428

Post by sandworm101 »

coeneedell wrote: post #267
hueyluey wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean by "dishonerable" here? Is this an instance of how Americans love the military so much that it's difficult to understand for people from other countries (where being a military isn't different from being a shop owner, or carpenter or doctor or whatever)?

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.

Authority isnt the word. Im in the military and that gives me absolutely zero authority in civilian life. It would be a crime for me to even attempt to wield such. But i do expect a modicum of extra respect for people who give up time/money/priviledges of civilian life in order to serve thier country. I dont expect cops to let me get away with speeding, but i do expect them not to detain me by the roadside in uniform for a "random" check.

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

#429

Post by [deleted] »

throw_away1525 wrote: post #417
xeromal wrote: post #404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, the military is actually used for combat operations so the risk of being injured or killed is higher than being "a shop owner, or carpenter or doctor or whatever". The majority aren't but you're still signing up for it when you join so you are given an amount of elevated respect. It's not something you sign up for willie nillie. You're obligated to serve for at least a tour (4 years I believe) and in those…

[flagged]

[deleted]

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

#430

Post by messe »

ajuc wrote: post #402
pell wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>For anybody unfamiliar with Europe, I just want to add that there aren't any checkpoints or border crossings, you just drive through or walk over. Half the time you won't even notice you're doing it. You're just supposed to have your ID on your person when you do. The above is only true in the Schengen zone. As soon as you cross the border to a non-Schengen country or you arrive from a non-Schengen country you will…

> As soon as you cross the border to a non-Schengen country or you arrive from a non-Schengen country you will go through normal border control (with some exceptions) Nothing in EU is as simple, therefore it's not only a Schengen/non-Schengen thing. For example a border between North and "regular" Ireland isn't marked in any way, you just cross a brook or a field.

> you just cross a brook or a field.

Or walk to the other side of the room. The border cuts through a number of houses and businesses as far as I'm aware.

Post reply on HN