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Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

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Re: Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

#41

Post by rimunroe »

dogleash wrote: post #19
embedding-shape wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I learned that at least in Texas all plates are made by minimally paid prisoners Lol, wasn't slavery outlawed in the US, or were some states still allowed to keep it? That's absolutely bananas if true.

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

For anyone unaware, that is nearly[1] the entirety of the text of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution from 1865. This exception is rather (in)famous. I remember being quizzed on it in an elementary or middle school history or social studies class.

[1] the only excluded bit is the followup "Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." Without this, the power to enforce the 13th Amendment would be left up to the states due to the 10th Amendment ("The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."), which would have slightly useless given the whole war that had just been fought over some states wanting to keep slavery.

Re: Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

#42

Post by Aurornis »

embedding-shape wrote: post #17
reactordev wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> Yes, it’s borderline slave labor I'm sorry, how is it "borderline" slave labour and not straight up forced labour? These people are imprisoned, and I'm assuming forced to do this work, or what happens if they say no? It's quite literally known as "penal labour" and I thought most of the world figured out that we're not supposed to treat people like that anymore.

> These people are imprisoned, and I'm assuming forced to do this work

This is an incorrect assumption, at least in my state. It’s a job that they can apply for and opt in to do.

The debate is about their hourly wage.

There is a possibility of forced penal labor, as I understand it, but it’s mostly things like being forced to do cleaning duties, road cleanup, etc.

Re: Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

#43

Post by komali2 »

I swear I read some case a couple years back where a kid was facing serious prison time for automating requests to w publicly available government website. "Unauthorized access of a computer." I think the author may have just admitted to what the government considers a serious federal crime, as stupid as it is to consider it a crime.

Re: Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

#44

Post by alexfoo »

mdasen wrote: post #20
Svip wrote: post #3

In Denmark, you can buy a vanity plate (ønskenummerplade) for 8'000 DKK (needs renewal every 8 years), and it can be between 2 and 7 characters long; but the best part is that they permit all Danish letters, including Æ, Ø and Å. One could likely write a script quickly to check these platforms for short combinations, such as ØÅ, which appears to be available.

I'm imagining someone driving in England and the police having no way to input those letters into their system. I wonder if the Danish system would prevent ÆØÅ and AEOA from both being registered. Would the Danish system Match "ÆØÅ" if someone input "AEOA"? There are unicode normalization rules, but I wonder if systems would be built to handle that. If you're Danish, you'd just use those letters so it wouldn't be a u…

> I'm imagining someone driving in England and the police having no way to input those letters into their system.

I would assume the UK has worked out a way of dealing with this having had plenty of years of foreign plates being driven around the country.

Any Danish license plate driven in the UK will almost certainly have to a be an EU style plate with the blue band on the left with the "DK" country code. If someone needs to send a fine to the registered owner of this plate I'd guess they'd be handing over the camera footage/images to a contact in the relevant country and letting them confirm what the exact plate is.

(There may be some weird exemptions for old classic/vintage cars that can continue to be driven on their original number plates, in which case you really don't know who to contact.)

The UK is very strict on license plates. I don't think there's any valid reason for driving a car without some form of a license plate on display (cars being driven on trade plates placed in the front/rear windscreens are the closest thing I can think of). I'd expect the UK Police to pull over any car that didn't have plates on it if they spotted it. It's certainly considered very suspicious in the UK if a car is missing either of its plates.

There are plenty of examples of normal ANPR cameras failing to capture plates properly. Or even sillier examples like this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-58959930

This story got referenced by the associated Government body here: https://videosurveillance.blog.gov.uk/2021/10/27/the-camera-...

Re: Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

#45

Post by embedding-shape »

Aurornis wrote: post #37
embedding-shape wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I learned that at least in Texas all plates are made by minimally paid prisoners Lol, wasn't slavery outlawed in the US, or were some states still allowed to keep it? That's absolutely bananas if true.

To be clear, the prisoners aren’t literally forced to do this work. It’s a job they can choose to apply for and do while in prison. (EDIT: In my state, it might be different in other states) The contention is about how much they’re paid per hour.

> To be clear, the prisoners aren’t literally forced to do this work.

Not 100% true it seems, but happy for someone else to correct me.

> Prison labor in the US is mostly optional - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_labor_in_the_United_Stat...

Re: Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

#46

Post by embedding-shape »

Aurornis wrote: post #42
embedding-shape wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes, it’s borderline slave labor I'm sorry, how is it "borderline" slave labour and not straight up forced labour? These people are imprisoned, and I'm assuming forced to do this work, or what happens if they say no? It's quite literally known as "penal labour" and I thought most of the world figured out that we're not supposed to treat people like that anymore.

> These people are imprisoned, and I'm assuming forced to do this work This is an incorrect assumption, at least in my state. It’s a job that they can apply for and opt in to do. The debate is about their hourly wage. There is a possibility of forced penal labor, as I understand it, but it’s mostly things like being forced to do cleaning duties, road cleanup, etc.

[flagged]

Re: Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

#47

Post by rimunroe »

Aurornis wrote: post #37
embedding-shape wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I learned that at least in Texas all plates are made by minimally paid prisoners Lol, wasn't slavery outlawed in the US, or were some states still allowed to keep it? That's absolutely bananas if true.

To be clear, the prisoners aren’t literally forced to do this work. It’s a job they can choose to apply for and do while in prison. (EDIT: In my state, it might be different in other states) The contention is about how much they’re paid per hour.

>To be clear, the prisoners aren’t literally forced to do this work. It’s a job they can choose to apply for and do while in prison.

Sorry, do you have a source for that? The requirement to work is a major point of contention, and a very quick check with this[1] directly contradicts your claim in the federal system: "Sentenced inmates are required to work if they are medically able. Institution work assignments include employment in areas like food service or the warehouse, or work as an inmate orderly, plumber, painter, or groundskeeper. Inmates earn 12¢ to 40¢ per hour for these work assignments."

[1] https://www.bop.gov/inmates/custody_and_care/work_programs.j...

Re: Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

#48

Post by pavel_lishin »

komali2 wrote: post #43

I swear I read some case a couple years back where a kid was facing serious prison time for automating requests to w publicly available government website. "Unauthorized access of a computer." I think the author may have just admitted to what the government considers a serious federal crime, as stupid as it is to consider it a crime.

Arguably the most famous one is this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz#United_States_v._...

Re: Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

#49

Post by jconley88 »

In CO, there isn't an online search. When you apply, you have to list your top options and hope one is available. I'm also not a normal person. I'm an engineer and this was not good enough for me.

I emailed government employees until I figured out who was responsible for license plate records. I submitted a CORA (Colorado Open Records Request) for the entirety of their dataset. I had hoped to get the data on some regular cadence to build a simple online service for others. Unfortunately, they flat out refused and wouldn't discuss options.

When I told my family what license plate I wanted, they laughed at me and said "No one has that, just go get it". And so I did and it worked. I now have what I consider to be the best possible license plate in Colorado: "LCNZPLT"

Occasionally I'll see someone walk by my car, see the plate, think for a few seconds and then start laughing. Mission accomplished!

Re: Using TypeScript to obtain one of the rarest license plates

#50

Post by pavel_lishin »

kijin wrote: post #35
dustfinger wrote: post #8

What we need is a "Little Bobby Tables" vanity plate that exploits a buffer overflow in speed cams.

Unfortunately they seem to filter special characters on input, that is, when you apply for your plate. But don't despair! Depending on how crappy the cam's firmware is, NULL might just do the trick.

Or it might do the opposite: https://www.wired.com/story/null-license-plate-landed-one-ha...
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