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Star Simpson speaks out about how MIT treated her in LED case at Logan

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Re: Star Simpson speaks out about how MIT treated her in LED case at Logan

#11

Post by lsc »

gravypod wrote: post #10

Is this ( http://i2.wp.com/boingboing.net/images/cfa4827569_20070921de... ) the hoodie that Star Simpson was wearing? I could understand the police being a little suspicious. If you are going to do any electronic project, you need to hide anything other than your display/LEDs. I could understand MIT distancing itself from what would have been a PR s tshow because of how obviously threatening that device looks. If any…

I guess I fail to see how that is any more obviously threatening than, say, gluing a bunch of legos to my shirt. I mean, it's weird, and if the point of security is to make us all try not to be weird, that's one thing... but I'm not sure how "weird" has anything to do with "threatening"

Re: Star Simpson speaks out about how MIT treated her in LED case at Logan

#12

Post by lsc »

tehwebguy wrote: post #4

> So, I went directly to the best place I could think of: the very first place I walked to after I was let free, was the Office of the President at MIT. (In loco parentis, right?) But I was stopped at the door. She wouldn’t see me or talk to me. Liability, and all. The potential cost of giving me any legal advice or talking to her directly about anything, would simply be too great. So MIT found the protection it soug…

Yeah, MIT kind of has a rep[1] for being particularly unfriendly to students in legal trouble. Really, it doesn't seem like a very good place for people who want to push the envelope.

It seems like something a student ought to consider, I mean, that MIT seems to be more concerned about it's reputation with the legal community than with it's reputation with students.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz

Re: Star Simpson speaks out about how MIT treated her in LED case at Logan

#13

Post by gravypod »

lsc wrote: post #11
gravypod wrote: post #10

Is this ( http://i2.wp.com/boingboing.net/images/cfa4827569_20070921de... ) the hoodie that Star Simpson was wearing? I could understand the police being a little suspicious. If you are going to do any electronic project, you need to hide anything other than your display/LEDs. I could understand MIT distancing itself from what would have been a PR s tshow because of how obviously threatening that device looks. If any…

I guess I fail to see how that is any more obviously threatening than, say, gluing a bunch of legos to my shirt. I mean, it's weird, and if the point of security is to make us all try not to be weird, that's one thing... but I'm not sure how "weird" has anything to do with "threatening"

To us a bread bored is just a piece of plastic, to the common person it is something scary.

Would you take a suit case with a bread bored, exposed wires, and a 9V battery through security at an air port? How about higher security areas than that?

There is a very, very big difference between what was worn and something that one would associate with being a light up sweeter.

When I heard the story I assumed this ( http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0070/8002/products/g513a-ch... ) was what was being worn.

There is a big difference between exposed wires, batteries, with blinking LEDs stuck together on a breadboards and Legos. When going to an area with elevated tension, security, and crazed guards the gap between "weird" and "threatening" is quickly closed.

Re: Star Simpson speaks out about how MIT treated her in LED case at Logan

#14

Post by lsc »

gravypod wrote: post #13
lsc wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess I fail to see how that is any more obviously threatening than, say, gluing a bunch of legos to my shirt. I mean, it's weird, and if the point of security is to make us all try not to be weird, that's one thing... but I'm not sure how "weird" has anything to do with "threatening"

To us a bread bored is just a piece of plastic, to the common person it is something scary. Would you take a suit case with a bread bored, exposed wires, and a 9V battery through security at an air port? How about higher security areas than that? There is a very, very big difference between what was worn and something that one would associate with being a light up sweeter. When I heard the story I assumed this ( http…

>When going to an area with elevated tension, security, and crazed guards the gap between "weird" and "threatening" is quickly closed.

Yeah, that's kind of my point. Incidents like this aren't about safety, they are about conformity.

Re: Star Simpson speaks out about how MIT treated her in LED case at Logan

#15

Post by DougMerritt »

Nadya wrote: post #7
DougMerritt wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Doesn't matter if it's full body tattoos, 30 body piercings, electronics plastered all over you So not only do you agree she deserved to be arrested, you also claim that anyone with tattoos and/or piercings who goes to an airport should also be arrested? Unbelievable. Civil liberties should not hinge on looking just like everyone else, following the herd, never daring to be creative, etc.

I'm not sure how you read my post and got that message out of it without purposefully being dishonest. >Civil liberties should not hinge on looking just like everyone else, following the herd, never daring to be creative, etc. You even explicitly went out of your way to ignore what I said. >Now before anyone tries to wage some sort of moral war against me for stating how things are. I don't pass any judgement on if t…

> Dare to be creative at hackathons and art conventions - not an airport. Ever heard the phrase "time and place"?

Remove tattoos and piercings at the airport, really?

> stating how things are

Like hell. Your view of things 100% implies that Star was in fact culpable for her own arrest, which isn't true, so I don't believe your disclaimers that you are just neutrally commenting.

> without purposefully being dishonest...

> ...Am I being patronizing enough to make my point crystal clear?

That you're being an ass? Sure.

Re: Star Simpson speaks out about how MIT treated her in LED case at Logan

#16

Post by Nadya »

DougMerritt wrote: post #15
Nadya wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure how you read my post and got that message out of it without purposefully being dishonest. >Civil liberties should not hinge on looking just like everyone else, following the herd, never daring to be creative, etc. You even explicitly went out of your way to ignore what I said. >Now before anyone tries to wage some sort of moral war against me for stating how things are. I don't pass any judgement on if t…

> Dare to be creative at hackathons and art conventions - not an airport. Ever heard the phrase "time and place"? Remove tattoos and piercings at the airport, really? > stating how things are Like hell. Your view of things 100% implies that Star was in fact culpable for her own arrest, which isn't true, so I don't believe your disclaimers that you are just neutrally commenting. > without purposefully being dishonest.…

>Remove tattoos and piercings at the airport, really?

Why are you so stuck on one of several examples? Open carrying is legal in many states. Go for a workout outside a police station while open carrying, let me know how that works out. Just do some jumping jacks across the street. Nothing illegal but it will certainly draw some unwanted attention from the police!

>Like hell.

It's what happened and why it happened. She wore something outside of the ordinary, grabbed unwanted attention, and was arrested. Which part of that is a false statement?

Re: Star Simpson speaks out about how MIT treated her in LED case at Logan

#17

Post by DougMerritt »

Nadya wrote: post #16
DougMerritt wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Dare to be creative at hackathons and art conventions - not an airport. Ever heard the phrase "time and place"? Remove tattoos and piercings at the airport, really? > stating how things are Like hell. Your view of things 100% implies that Star was in fact culpable for her own arrest, which isn't true, so I don't believe your disclaimers that you are just neutrally commenting. > without purposefully being dishonest.…

>Remove tattoos and piercings at the airport, really? Why are you so stuck on one of several examples? Open carrying is legal in many states. Go for a workout outside a police station while open carrying, let me know how that works out. Just do some jumping jacks across the street. Nothing illegal but it will certainly draw some unwanted attention from the police! >Like hell. It's what happened and why it happened. S…

> She wore something outside of the ordinary, grabbed unwanted attention, and was arrested. Which part of that is a false statement?

If that's all you had said, then sure, that's just the facts.

My interpretation of your tone was that you were unsympathetic to Star, while I felt and feel great sympathy to her, and outrage towards the people who mistreated her.

Somehow a lot of idiots in the world have gotten the idea that digital electronics resemble a bomb, which is deeply retarded considering that it only resembles a timer, with no sign of an explosive.

I fault the idiots, not Star, and I am surely going to be upset with anyone who seems unsympathetic to what happened to her.

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