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Was thinking the same thing. Leaving stuff in public that resemble known consumer electronics will guarantee they perform disappearing acts ASAP. Ideally, you'

Was thinking the same thing. Leaving stuff in public that resemble known consumer electronics will guarantee they perform disappearing acts ASAP. Ideally, you'd want something firmly attached to a wall, something that looks industrial/enterprisey, like it's an important part of the building alarm, water, power, HVAC or network system. Then people won't fuck with it. And when you're installing it, wear a brightly coloured safety vest, helmet, badge, clipboard, safety boots and a tool belt around your waist. That way you look super official and nobody will question you and I just made this stuff up, no guarantee that it'll work IRL :)

proxysna 5y ago
Anything that looks like it is attached to wall or just hidden from eyes, will have a lot more chances to avoid being stolen/reported. When i see one of the usb outlets with exposed screws in public the only thing that comes to mind is to partially disassemble the oulet and power the device from it leaving the device inside. There is much less of a chance that someone will report a partially malfunctioning USB outlet than someone snatching a free power brick. Never done anything like that with a public outlet, did something similiar with my personal hardware. Regarding size, Lichee Pi [0] comes to mind. [0] https://www.licheepizero.us/ https://www.licheepizero.us/
Wulf_ 5y ago
:( it's the second time today I've read the 'F' word on HN. I usually don't encounter it here which makes me like this community more. I'm not a leader of this community so my opinion doesn't matter but as a fellow human I'd like to request that you use another word to express yourself. I know this is subjective but I wanted to share this with you. In any case, I hope you have a good day :)
- peterangular 5y ago
  Cursing is pretty common on here. Just re-read the guidelines and there's no rules against inappropriate language like the "f-word"... Especially when considering such a benign usage as the parent comment, ie: just replacing the verb in "mess with" which is not targeting the language at anyone/anything. It may not be as common as other platforms, but casual conversation does happen here which includes the occasional curse word. Just trying to inform - I'm sorry you're sensitive to it.
  - Wulf_ 5y ago
    Thanks for letting me know, I really appreciate it :)
    - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
      Keep in mind that you're not allowed to use any sort of colorful language when disagreeing with whatever the mainstream take on an issue is. Those people get down-voted and a bunch of "y u so mad" (but in better more relevant words, this is HN, not youtube comments) replies. Hooray for double standards.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
    - dang 5y ago
      folkhack is correct - I'll just add that this has been the case for a long time on HN: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=by%3Adang%20profanity&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... - indeed it's always functioned this way. We care about people not being mean to each other, but profanity isn't that. No doubt there are downsides and I'm sorry that it's disagreeable to you.
- a1369209993 5y ago
  Die in a fire, politically-correct scum.
  - Wulf_ 5y ago
    lol I hope that gets you through your day
  - dang 5y ago
    I'm going to assume that this was a low-quality joke rather than a literal attack, but since we've had to warn you before not to attack other users on HN (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25309677 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25309677), it would be better not to go there.
marcosdumay 5y ago
The police on my city arrested this week 3 people that stole ~4tons of cable, on daylight, in crowded streets. They did exactly that. Got a very visible vest, with a company logo, closed part of the walkway, and dig the cables without anybody suspecting anything.
Deinos 5y ago
Agreed. I was thinking something like a GFCI Outlet Tester would have a better chance of sticking around... Make it seem like the electrician forgot to retrieve it but will be back for it in a few.

proxysna 5y ago

Anything that looks like it is attached to wall or just hidden from eyes, will have a lot more chances to avoid being stolen/reported. When i see one of the usb outlets with exposed screws in public the only thing that comes to mind is to partially disassemble the oulet and power the device from it leaving the device inside. There is much less of a chance that someone will report a partially malfunctioning USB outlet than someone snatching a free power brick. Never done anything like that with a public outlet, did something similiar with my personal hardware. Regarding size, Lichee Pi [0] comes to mind. [0] https://www.licheepizero.us/ https://www.licheepizero.us/

Wulf_ 5y ago

:( it's the second time today I've read the 'F' word on HN. I usually don't encounter it here which makes me like this community more. I'm not a leader of this community so my opinion doesn't matter but as a fellow human I'd like to request that you use another word to express yourself. I know this is subjective but I wanted to share this with you. In any case, I hope you have a good day :)

peterangular 5y ago
Cursing is pretty common on here. Just re-read the guidelines and there's no rules against inappropriate language like the "f-word"... Especially when considering such a benign usage as the parent comment, ie: just replacing the verb in "mess with" which is not targeting the language at anyone/anything. It may not be as common as other platforms, but casual conversation does happen here which includes the occasional curse word. Just trying to inform - I'm sorry you're sensitive to it.
- Wulf_ 5y ago
  Thanks for letting me know, I really appreciate it :)
  - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
    Keep in mind that you're not allowed to use any sort of colorful language when disagreeing with whatever the mainstream take on an issue is. Those people get down-voted and a bunch of "y u so mad" (but in better more relevant words, this is HN, not youtube comments) replies. Hooray for double standards.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
  - dang 5y ago
    folkhack is correct - I'll just add that this has been the case for a long time on HN: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=by%3Adang%20profanity&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que... - indeed it's always functioned this way. We care about people not being mean to each other, but profanity isn't that. No doubt there are downsides and I'm sorry that it's disagreeable to you.
a1369209993 5y ago
Die in a fire, politically-correct scum.
- Wulf_ 5y ago
  lol I hope that gets you through your day
- dang 5y ago
  I'm going to assume that this was a low-quality joke rather than a literal attack, but since we've had to warn you before not to attack other users on HN (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25309677 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25309677), it would be better not to go there.

marcosdumay 5y ago

The police on my city arrested this week 3 people that stole ~4tons of cable, on daylight, in crowded streets. They did exactly that. Got a very visible vest, with a company logo, closed part of the walkway, and dig the cables without anybody suspecting anything.

Deinos 5y ago

Agreed. I was thinking something like a GFCI Outlet Tester would have a better chance of sticking around... Make it seem like the electrician forgot to retrieve it but will be back for it in a few.