5 ms·

I remember this! I got finger printed at some event where police had a booth next to the fire dept (who were espousing bike helmets and teaching kids how to pro

I remember this! I got finger printed at some event where police had a booth next to the fire dept (who were espousing bike helmets and teaching kids how to properly wear one etc, actually useful safety info). It wasn't until I was a teenager when my first car was broken into and the speakers stolen that I realized how useless that endeavor must be. The officer who responded (my first time calling the police, not running from them!) was pretty upfront with me. As he took finger prints from the area where the door was jimmied, I was like "cool, finger printing!" and he told me this wouldn't likely lead to anything. First he said "You'll never get your speakers back, even if we found them we wouldn't call you, they'd probably be in a lot of all kinds of other stolen stuff and it's impossible to sort through and return stolen items." Bummer number one. Then he explained that the finger prints would only be useful if the thief got picked up for doing something else, he wasn't going to go run the prints and try to find the person etc like I was probably imagining (I was, I admit, thinking that's what happened when they took finger prints - thanks TV). Standing in my driveway I flashed back immediately to that finger printing booth where my parents were told it would help if I got kidnapped, and thought "Oh great, I'm in the system." Not that I had a life of crime in mind, but the internet of the early 90s really gave me a healthy distrust of being tracked, logged, etc. (Oh if we only knew the hellscape ahead.)

xen2xen1 4y ago
I suspect running fingerprints is much easier now, depending on how long it's been. It's very automated now.
dredmorbius 4y ago
There's a science-fiction short story I've been trying to remember for quite some time. I'd all but certainly read it in an anthology during the 1970s or early 1980s, probably one of the award compilations (Hugos, Analog, etc.). A computer programmer and his boss are working on a large data tracking system that is about to be activated, in which everyone's identification and personal information are entered. The boss gives the programmer the choice of opting out of the system. The programmer opts out. For the life of me I cannot remember the rest of the story, the author, year, etc. But it's stuck with me, and comes to mind often as a slew of ever-more-invasive online information systems (ISP email, some early LinkedIn-type start-ups, MySpace and Facebook, Google Gmail, Google+, etc.) have come on to the scene. If anyone can remember what story this was, or others reasonably similar to it, I'd be grateful.
- ahazred8ta 4y ago
  three short stories by Roger Zelazny - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Name_Is_Legion_(short_story_collection) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Name_Is_Legion_(short_sto...
  - dredmorbius 4y ago
    Thank you!!!
  - dredmorbius 4y ago
    And yes, that does seem to be the piece / include the scenario. (There may well have been others.)
- libraryatnight 4y ago
  I saw someone posted the story, appreciated the comment/connection - going to read that one!
xg15 4y ago
> "You'll never get your speakers back, even if we found them we wouldn't call you, they'd probably be in a lot of all kinds of other stolen stuff and it's impossible to sort through and return stolen items." Wait what? So police simply keeps stolen goods with no option for the original owners to get them back? Because civil asset forfeiture isn't enough I guess?
- MacsHeadroom 4y ago
  The police don't keep stollen goods, don't be silly. They auction them off and use the profits to buy tanks and grenade launchers.
trafficante 4y ago

xen2xen1 4y ago

I suspect running fingerprints is much easier now, depending on how long it's been. It's very automated now.

dredmorbius 4y ago

There's a science-fiction short story I've been trying to remember for quite some time. I'd all but certainly read it in an anthology during the 1970s or early 1980s, probably one of the award compilations (Hugos, Analog, etc.). A computer programmer and his boss are working on a large data tracking system that is about to be activated, in which everyone's identification and personal information are entered. The boss gives the programmer the choice of opting out of the system. The programmer opts out. For the life of me I cannot remember the rest of the story, the author, year, etc. But it's stuck with me, and comes to mind often as a slew of ever-more-invasive online information systems (ISP email, some early LinkedIn-type start-ups, MySpace and Facebook, Google Gmail, Google+, etc.) have come on to the scene. If anyone can remember what story this was, or others reasonably similar to it, I'd be grateful.

ahazred8ta 4y ago
three short stories by Roger Zelazny - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Name_Is_Legion_(short_story_collection) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Name_Is_Legion_(short_sto...
- dredmorbius 4y ago
  Thank you!!!
- dredmorbius 4y ago
  And yes, that does seem to be the piece / include the scenario. (There may well have been others.)
libraryatnight 4y ago
I saw someone posted the story, appreciated the comment/connection - going to read that one!

xg15 4y ago

> "You'll never get your speakers back, even if we found them we wouldn't call you, they'd probably be in a lot of all kinds of other stolen stuff and it's impossible to sort through and return stolen items." Wait what? So police simply keeps stolen goods with no option for the original owners to get them back? Because civil asset forfeiture isn't enough I guess?

MacsHeadroom 4y ago
The police don't keep stollen goods, don't be silly. They auction them off and use the profits to buy tanks and grenade launchers.

trafficante 4y ago