9 ms·

The Internet Archive truck has been stolen

229 points by edward 11y ago

gragas 11y ago
Why?
- hvs 11y ago
  Why do people steal things?
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
- the_ancient 11y ago
  Because people are a bunch of bastards https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVSlE28hOgI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVSlE28hOgI
- elif 11y ago
  You can give any number of asterisked replies about how every criminal is different and motivated differently... and you can attempt to take the following argument to its extremes to say that you can never really get rid of theft. Those may both be true, but focusing on the caveats is a diversion from a fundamental societal issue. Because we've chosen to use technology for isolated personal enrichment instead of overall humanitarian benefit, we are advancing at a quickening pace toward wealth disparity. Additionally, we've created a religion out of dollars that holds selfishness as a virtue. It should surprise no one that the selfish actors we've created (and culturally glorified) also behave selfishly when their backs are against the wall.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
hinkley 11y ago
Are you telling me there's a ~station wagon~ delivery van full of tapes hurtling down the highway right now?
- tanderson92 11y ago
  The thief has to return some video, er, storage, tapes.
- stephengillie 11y ago
  Though the latency is incredible, they are getting tons of bandwidth.
- bigiain 11y ago
  I figure that's only, like, a gigabit per second or so, right? (Awful latency tho...)
  - hinkley 11y ago
    And the retransmission delays...
zkhalique 11y ago
Sneakernet thief!
zellyn 11y ago
Can't tell if joking or serious: https://twitter.com/Foone/status/722096054968057856 https://twitter.com/Foone/status/722096054968057856 "@textfiles @internetarchive I just had to move a bunch of floppy disks, I'll have it back by lunch"
- ChristianBundy 11y ago
  Joking.
- foone 11y ago
  That was a joke. Sorry, more than one person thought it was serious.
harryh 11y ago
It's OK. I made a backup. Just need to find the right archive tape...
smitherfield 11y ago
That's unfortunate. If it truly has been stolen it's probably being crushed as I type this (too recognizable to not get rid of immediately).
- sp332 11y ago
  They could just paint over it.
  - smitherfield 11y ago
    Even if it didn't have the "cops look at me!" paintjob, no offense to the Internet Archive people but it doesn't really look like a nice enough truck to even be worth the effort of dismantling for parts (as opposed to just scrapping it), much less repainting it and keeping it around.
    - pg_is_a_butt 11y ago
      more like the "look at me!" inside job for insurance fraud... we can't be lying, we told everyone it was stolen!
    - dredmorbius 11y ago
      Commonplace vehicles with highly interchangeable parts apparently have large value on chop-shop markets. They're liquid. Discussion of this and related concepts on the recent HN discussion of why soap is so frequently stolen from urban markets.
      - justinlardinois 11y ago
        Just liquid soap, or bars too?
        dredmorbius 11y ago
        https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11500471 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11500471 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11501491 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11501491
brador 11y ago
We can real time track the location of every phone in every pocket but tracking a vehicle is still a rare luxery. Why has no startup tackled this?
- theseatoms 11y ago
  https://www.thetrackr.com/ https://www.thetrackr.com/
  - wyager 11y ago
    Car tracking systems should use vehicle power so they last as long as the car does without charging or maintenance.
    - Retric 11y ago
      That gets into cost vs benefit. Arguably, these things are best as part of the standard package from the manufacturer, but being able to remotely track everyone is going to throw up lot's of red flags for people. Also, it's easy to drive a car into a truck with a Faraday cage making these things almost useless if they did become common.
      - jessriedel 11y ago
        It substantially raises the costs and risks of theft.
      - seanp2k2 11y ago
        Geek utopia version: tech-savvy crims install a hidden faraday cage into the back of a nondescript vehicle transportation semi trailer. After observing the target for days, they cease the perfect opportunity to house the car onto 4 wheel dollies, load it into the trailer, and drive off with their ill-gotten booty, laughing maniacally. The poor owner is none the wiser until coming out from a fancy dinner with his trophy wife to find his treasured luxury vehicle missing. Real life: dude in a hoodie presses a fake gun into the back of the owner, instructs him to not turn around or call the cops, takes his phone, wallet, and keys, drives off in car with real key. Has a buyer lined up already. Drives car to location and it's promptly put inside a shipping container, which blocks the cell / gps signals by virtue of being made out of steel.
wnevets 11y ago
is The Internet Archive cursed? Didn't they have a massive fire not that long ago?
- edward 11y ago
  A scanning center attached to the main building and known as the reading room caught fire in November 2013. https://blog.archive.org/2013/11/06/scanning-center-fire-please-help-rebuild/ https://blog.archive.org/2013/11/06/scanning-center-fire-ple...
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
krapp 11y ago
I hate to be that guy but why is a stolen truck relevant to Hacker News? Only because it's the "Internet Archive" truck? Half a million vehicles get stolen in the US every year. There's nothing of intellectual interest here, no new phenomenon to comment on, nothing but the tech version of celebrity gossip.
- seszett 11y ago
  > I hate to be that guy Then don't be that guy. Easy. I like to read news about things that happen to the organisations I care about, and evidently at least 123 other visitors of this website like that too.
- nkrisc 11y ago
  And I'm going to be that that guy and say you didn't have to look at this story, let alone leave a comment. Like I didn't have to read your comment and leave a comment, but I did nonetheless. Are you and I really so different?
  - reality_czech 11y ago
    I remember there was some text on the goatse.cx website that used to read "if the image above offends you, simply don't look at it." Below the... shock image. Yeah.
- cooper12 11y ago
  Even the most mundane stuff can generate interesting discussion. From the current comments I've already learned a bunch about car tracking systems as well as the topic of theft. And yes the theft being related to the Internet Archive is notable because of the contents of the truck, as well as its prominent paint job. Maybe you couldn't find much in the story, and that's okay, but I see the phenomenon of truck theft, of archive services themselves losing data, of the susceptibility of physical media compared to digital, and more. I can't find it right now but I'm reminded of a comic in which a group has to repeatedly watch a video of a politician eating a sandwich, and eventually they become critics of the smallest details like the mayonnaise in a specific frame.
Animats 11y ago
License number and VIN?
marincounty 11y ago
A note to people who steal vechicles in San Francisco, and even the ones who break into vechicles. I'm poor, and it seems like I have gotten my vechicle broken into too many times while parked in San Francisco. You broke a widow to steal a $20 radio. I now just keep my vechicle unlocked when I need to park in that city. Good luck finding the kill switch. Now--my motorcycle is a bit of a problem. I can put a kill switch on it, but you guys are just lifting the bikes into big vans, and trucks. I've given up on motorcycle theft. My main point is I don't care why you steal. I've done some things in like I'm not proud of. Have a little morality in your life of crime? Do you really need to break into poor people vechicles? Wouldn't you feel better if you thought more like Robin Hood?
textfiles 11y ago
Hello everyone! Jason Scott at the Internet Archive. Today, the truck was found abandoned by the San Francisco Police Department, having driven at least once over the Golden Gate bridge during its time away, and is being returned to the Archive tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for getting the word out - it meant a lot. Hopefully the truck didn't suffer too much for its time away and can be back to transporting data and hardware for the archive shortly.

229 points by edward 11y ago

gragas 11y ago

Why?

hvs 11y ago
Why do people steal things?
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
the_ancient 11y ago
Because people are a bunch of bastards https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVSlE28hOgI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVSlE28hOgI
elif 11y ago
You can give any number of asterisked replies about how every criminal is different and motivated differently... and you can attempt to take the following argument to its extremes to say that you can never really get rid of theft. Those may both be true, but focusing on the caveats is a diversion from a fundamental societal issue. Because we've chosen to use technology for isolated personal enrichment instead of overall humanitarian benefit, we are advancing at a quickening pace toward wealth disparity. Additionally, we've created a religion out of dollars that holds selfishness as a virtue. It should surprise no one that the selfish actors we've created (and culturally glorified) also behave selfishly when their backs are against the wall.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

hinkley 11y ago

Are you telling me there's a ~station wagon~ delivery van full of tapes hurtling down the highway right now?

tanderson92 11y ago
The thief has to return some video, er, storage, tapes.
stephengillie 11y ago
Though the latency is incredible, they are getting tons of bandwidth.
bigiain 11y ago
I figure that's only, like, a gigabit per second or so, right? (Awful latency tho...)
- hinkley 11y ago
  And the retransmission delays...

zkhalique 11y ago

Sneakernet thief!

zellyn 11y ago

Can't tell if joking or serious: https://twitter.com/Foone/status/722096054968057856 https://twitter.com/Foone/status/722096054968057856 "@textfiles @internetarchive I just had to move a bunch of floppy disks, I'll have it back by lunch"

ChristianBundy 11y ago
Joking.
foone 11y ago
That was a joke. Sorry, more than one person thought it was serious.

harryh 11y ago

It's OK. I made a backup. Just need to find the right archive tape...

smitherfield 11y ago

That's unfortunate. If it truly has been stolen it's probably being crushed as I type this (too recognizable to not get rid of immediately).

sp332 11y ago
They could just paint over it.
- smitherfield 11y ago
  Even if it didn't have the "cops look at me!" paintjob, no offense to the Internet Archive people but it doesn't really look like a nice enough truck to even be worth the effort of dismantling for parts (as opposed to just scrapping it), much less repainting it and keeping it around.
  - pg_is_a_butt 11y ago
    more like the "look at me!" inside job for insurance fraud... we can't be lying, we told everyone it was stolen!
  - dredmorbius 11y ago
    Commonplace vehicles with highly interchangeable parts apparently have large value on chop-shop markets. They're liquid. Discussion of this and related concepts on the recent HN discussion of why soap is so frequently stolen from urban markets.
    - justinlardinois 11y ago
      Just liquid soap, or bars too?
      - dredmorbius 11y ago
        https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11500471 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11500471 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11501491 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11501491

brador 11y ago

We can real time track the location of every phone in every pocket but tracking a vehicle is still a rare luxery. Why has no startup tackled this?

theseatoms 11y ago
https://www.thetrackr.com/ https://www.thetrackr.com/
- wyager 11y ago
  Car tracking systems should use vehicle power so they last as long as the car does without charging or maintenance.
  - Retric 11y ago
    That gets into cost vs benefit. Arguably, these things are best as part of the standard package from the manufacturer, but being able to remotely track everyone is going to throw up lot's of red flags for people. Also, it's easy to drive a car into a truck with a Faraday cage making these things almost useless if they did become common.
    - jessriedel 11y ago
      It substantially raises the costs and risks of theft.
    - seanp2k2 11y ago
      Geek utopia version: tech-savvy crims install a hidden faraday cage into the back of a nondescript vehicle transportation semi trailer. After observing the target for days, they cease the perfect opportunity to house the car onto 4 wheel dollies, load it into the trailer, and drive off with their ill-gotten booty, laughing maniacally. The poor owner is none the wiser until coming out from a fancy dinner with his trophy wife to find his treasured luxury vehicle missing. Real life: dude in a hoodie presses a fake gun into the back of the owner, instructs him to not turn around or call the cops, takes his phone, wallet, and keys, drives off in car with real key. Has a buyer lined up already. Drives car to location and it's promptly put inside a shipping container, which blocks the cell / gps signals by virtue of being made out of steel.

wnevets 11y ago

is The Internet Archive cursed? Didn't they have a massive fire not that long ago?

edward 11y ago
A scanning center attached to the main building and known as the reading room caught fire in November 2013. https://blog.archive.org/2013/11/06/scanning-center-fire-please-help-rebuild/ https://blog.archive.org/2013/11/06/scanning-center-fire-ple...
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

krapp 11y ago

I hate to be that guy but why is a stolen truck relevant to Hacker News? Only because it's the "Internet Archive" truck? Half a million vehicles get stolen in the US every year. There's nothing of intellectual interest here, no new phenomenon to comment on, nothing but the tech version of celebrity gossip.

seszett 11y ago
> I hate to be that guy Then don't be that guy. Easy. I like to read news about things that happen to the organisations I care about, and evidently at least 123 other visitors of this website like that too.
nkrisc 11y ago
And I'm going to be that that guy and say you didn't have to look at this story, let alone leave a comment. Like I didn't have to read your comment and leave a comment, but I did nonetheless. Are you and I really so different?
- reality_czech 11y ago
  I remember there was some text on the goatse.cx website that used to read "if the image above offends you, simply don't look at it." Below the... shock image. Yeah.
cooper12 11y ago
Even the most mundane stuff can generate interesting discussion. From the current comments I've already learned a bunch about car tracking systems as well as the topic of theft. And yes the theft being related to the Internet Archive is notable because of the contents of the truck, as well as its prominent paint job. Maybe you couldn't find much in the story, and that's okay, but I see the phenomenon of truck theft, of archive services themselves losing data, of the susceptibility of physical media compared to digital, and more. I can't find it right now but I'm reminded of a comic in which a group has to repeatedly watch a video of a politician eating a sandwich, and eventually they become critics of the smallest details like the mayonnaise in a specific frame.

Animats 11y ago

License number and VIN?

marincounty 11y ago

A note to people who steal vechicles in San Francisco, and even the ones who break into vechicles. I'm poor, and it seems like I have gotten my vechicle broken into too many times while parked in San Francisco. You broke a widow to steal a $20 radio. I now just keep my vechicle unlocked when I need to park in that city. Good luck finding the kill switch. Now--my motorcycle is a bit of a problem. I can put a kill switch on it, but you guys are just lifting the bikes into big vans, and trucks. I've given up on motorcycle theft. My main point is I don't care why you steal. I've done some things in like I'm not proud of. Have a little morality in your life of crime? Do you really need to break into poor people vechicles? Wouldn't you feel better if you thought more like Robin Hood?

textfiles 11y ago

Hello everyone! Jason Scott at the Internet Archive. Today, the truck was found abandoned by the San Francisco Police Department, having driven at least once over the Golden Gate bridge during its time away, and is being returned to the Archive tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for getting the word out - it meant a lot. Hopefully the truck didn't suffer too much for its time away and can be back to transporting data and hardware for the archive shortly.