3 ms·

Berkeley professor's camera caught student allegedly sabotaging another student

33 points by justin66 11mo ago

progbits 11mo ago
https://archive.is/09tyU https://archive.is/09tyU Without the email-wall
OkayPhysicist 11mo ago
What a stupid way to piss away all the time spent on a PhD.
ge96 11mo ago
[flagged]
- thih9 11mo ago
  What is this referencing? I found a song called “Bernie smells a rat”[1], is that it or is it something different? Edit: apparently there was a line in The Incredibles, a character Bernie Kropp shouts: “Don’t ‘Bernie’ me! This little rat is guilty!”. [1]: https://genius.com/Sarah-lynch-bernie-smells-a-rat-lyrics https://genius.com/Sarah-lynch-bernie-smells-a-rat-lyrics
  - ge96 11mo ago
    Yeah from Incredibles
kitsune1 11mo ago
[dead]
OutOfHere 11mo ago
Overall I think we need a lot more cameras in a lot more places. Their presence should be the default, but their feeds should not be monitored if there isn't a reported crime or a suspicion of one. I am not saying that the government should have default access to these feeds either. A camera also helps exonerate someone who is not guilty, which is not an unimportant benefit.
- ale42 11mo ago
  It sounds great until someone starts abusing. And the room for abuse seem very ample in such a case.
  - IAmBroom 11mo ago
    Counterpoint: cops. A society that abides by its own laws should require police to keep their bodycams operative, under severe penalty. We aren't that good, but being videotaped by civilians is moving the needle slightly, making them more accountable. It's the reason George Floyd's murders were (surprisingly) convicted.
    - ale42 11mo ago
      Cops are working for the public and should be accountable for what they do. Exposing what cops do is not problematic, except maybe in some specific cases like a cop infiltrating some drug-dealer network.
    - kitsune1 11mo ago
      [dead]
  - OutOfHere 11mo ago
    Law enforcement can abuse more if a camera is not present. Often a camera is what exonerates a person, setting them free.
- koeng 11mo ago
  “The Panopticon is good”
  - deleted 11mo ago
    [deleted]
- thih9 11mo ago
  While I like the positives of that (easier to catch some criminals), I fear the abuse potential and the negatives overall way more.
charcircuit 11mo ago
This strategy doesn't make sense. What was the end goal? To have the other person keep buying new computers.
- readthenotes1 11mo ago
  You can't logic your way out of a crazy box. Trying to understand the root cause motivation of people with mental illness is usually futile and almost always fruitless
- OkayPhysicist 11mo ago
  The goal was definitely to impede the other researcher's work, and I can imagine a few possible reasons for that. In descending order of probability, interpersonal conflict (in my experience, graduate students in the same lab tend to either become best friends or hate each other, with little in-between), trying to beat the other student to the punch w.r.t publication, or good ol' schizophrenic delusions that the person's work needs to be stopped (mid 20's is a pretty standard age for onset in men).
  - amypetrik8 11mo ago
    > interpersonal conflict low probability in this case because this guy seems a repeat offender but absolutely things can get that toxic and ugly > trying to beat the other student to the punch w.r.t publication, this is my highest suspicion. Why is anxiety. Deep anxiety. Anxiety about failing. Anxiety about the other guy beating you. Sabotaging other guys's computer alleviates the anxiety so thusly becomes a repeat pattern. Anxiety can be quite insidious and nasty and is more pervasive in more ways than many are aware. > good ol' schizophrenic delusions that the person's work needs to be stopped possible but more rare
- palmotea 11mo ago
  > This strategy doesn't make sense. What was the end goal? To have the other person keep buying new computers. I would assume it was to interfere with the other student's research. That other person almost certainly had data on the destroyed computers that he either lost completely, or had to do extra work to recover when they failed.
mingus88 11mo ago
Sounds like a USB kill style device. Something you can easily plug in and blow the circuit https://hackerwarehouse.com/product/usb-kill-v4/ https://hackerwarehouse.com/product/usb-kill-v4/ > When plugged in power is taken from the USB power lines, multiplied, and discharged into the data lines, typically disabling an unprotected device.
burnt-resistor 11mo ago
Photo for posterity so people can choose not to make the mistake of hiring this criminal: https://web.archive.org/web/20251209222458/https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/mediastore/IEEE/content/freeimages/63/10599945/10559753/zou-3403670-small.gif https://web.archive.org/web/20251209222458/https://ieeexplor... via https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37089387158 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37089387158

33 points by justin66 11mo ago

progbits 11mo ago

https://archive.is/09tyU https://archive.is/09tyU Without the email-wall

OkayPhysicist 11mo ago

What a stupid way to piss away all the time spent on a PhD.

ge96 11mo ago

[flagged]

thih9 11mo ago
What is this referencing? I found a song called “Bernie smells a rat”[1], is that it or is it something different? Edit: apparently there was a line in The Incredibles, a character Bernie Kropp shouts: “Don’t ‘Bernie’ me! This little rat is guilty!”. [1]: https://genius.com/Sarah-lynch-bernie-smells-a-rat-lyrics https://genius.com/Sarah-lynch-bernie-smells-a-rat-lyrics
- ge96 11mo ago
  Yeah from Incredibles

kitsune1 11mo ago

[dead]

OutOfHere 11mo ago

Overall I think we need a lot more cameras in a lot more places. Their presence should be the default, but their feeds should not be monitored if there isn't a reported crime or a suspicion of one. I am not saying that the government should have default access to these feeds either. A camera also helps exonerate someone who is not guilty, which is not an unimportant benefit.

ale42 11mo ago
It sounds great until someone starts abusing. And the room for abuse seem very ample in such a case.
- IAmBroom 11mo ago
  Counterpoint: cops. A society that abides by its own laws should require police to keep their bodycams operative, under severe penalty. We aren't that good, but being videotaped by civilians is moving the needle slightly, making them more accountable. It's the reason George Floyd's murders were (surprisingly) convicted.
  - ale42 11mo ago
    Cops are working for the public and should be accountable for what they do. Exposing what cops do is not problematic, except maybe in some specific cases like a cop infiltrating some drug-dealer network.
  - kitsune1 11mo ago
    [dead]
- OutOfHere 11mo ago
  Law enforcement can abuse more if a camera is not present. Often a camera is what exonerates a person, setting them free.
koeng 11mo ago
“The Panopticon is good”
- deleted 11mo ago
  [deleted]
thih9 11mo ago
While I like the positives of that (easier to catch some criminals), I fear the abuse potential and the negatives overall way more.

charcircuit 11mo ago

This strategy doesn't make sense. What was the end goal? To have the other person keep buying new computers.

readthenotes1 11mo ago
You can't logic your way out of a crazy box. Trying to understand the root cause motivation of people with mental illness is usually futile and almost always fruitless
OkayPhysicist 11mo ago
The goal was definitely to impede the other researcher's work, and I can imagine a few possible reasons for that. In descending order of probability, interpersonal conflict (in my experience, graduate students in the same lab tend to either become best friends or hate each other, with little in-between), trying to beat the other student to the punch w.r.t publication, or good ol' schizophrenic delusions that the person's work needs to be stopped (mid 20's is a pretty standard age for onset in men).
- amypetrik8 11mo ago
  > interpersonal conflict low probability in this case because this guy seems a repeat offender but absolutely things can get that toxic and ugly > trying to beat the other student to the punch w.r.t publication, this is my highest suspicion. Why is anxiety. Deep anxiety. Anxiety about failing. Anxiety about the other guy beating you. Sabotaging other guys's computer alleviates the anxiety so thusly becomes a repeat pattern. Anxiety can be quite insidious and nasty and is more pervasive in more ways than many are aware. > good ol' schizophrenic delusions that the person's work needs to be stopped possible but more rare
palmotea 11mo ago
> This strategy doesn't make sense. What was the end goal? To have the other person keep buying new computers. I would assume it was to interfere with the other student's research. That other person almost certainly had data on the destroyed computers that he either lost completely, or had to do extra work to recover when they failed.

mingus88 11mo ago

Sounds like a USB kill style device. Something you can easily plug in and blow the circuit https://hackerwarehouse.com/product/usb-kill-v4/ https://hackerwarehouse.com/product/usb-kill-v4/ > When plugged in power is taken from the USB power lines, multiplied, and discharged into the data lines, typically disabling an unprotected device.

burnt-resistor 11mo ago

Photo for posterity so people can choose not to make the mistake of hiring this criminal: https://web.archive.org/web/20251209222458/https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/mediastore/IEEE/content/freeimages/63/10599945/10559753/zou-3403670-small.gif https://web.archive.org/web/20251209222458/https://ieeexplor... via https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37089387158 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37089387158