by DerWOK on 5/27/20, 4:05 PM with 110 comments
by jjeaff on 5/27/20, 5:37 PM
It's stories like this that can teach us how useless much of the things we think are "secure" are actually not.
I'm always frustrated with the bogus security measure out there that do nothing to stop the criminals and just serve as a hassle to honest people.
Checks are one of those. I have a micr font and a few nice check mockups in Photoshop for "verifying" checking accounts for direct deposit. I'll simply plug in the bank routing number and account number, print it out and write "void" on it. As if that is some kind of security. I also keep some blank checks in case I need to actually print a check. There is nothing special about them except for the number placement (magnetic ink hasn't been a thing for a long while, it's almost all optical now).
Another is a utility bill. I've had several occasions where a utility bill with your name on it is required to verify your location and identity and I either don't yet have the utilities in my name or they are in the name of a roommate. A quick scan, clone brush, and type tool and you've got a utility bill in your name.
I have never had anyone take a second glance at any of this stuff. It always works.
by igotajob on 5/27/20, 5:49 PM
I heard this Podcast a little while ago. I am a civil engineer and found it amusing. I apply for a job in transportation engineering with a big agency and go through the interview process. I passed the written exam and the second oral interview. Next interview is with heads of the organization. They are asking me good questions and I think they like me and my answers. One of them asks how I keep up with news and latest things happening in civil engineering. I mention podcasts as one of the mediums. Then to keep the conversation lively, I tell them about this story that I heard through 99% invisible. They all laughed and found it amusing. It’s a transportation engineering job talking about a sign on the highway. I know my audience. Haha. And I followed up that podcasts are a great news medium and I wouldn’t have heard this story if I wasn’t listening to them. I like to think they liked me from my qualifications but this story pushed them into picking me.
I ended up declining the offer because I got a better offer somewhere else. I’m just glad to know I have a really good interview story.
by acwan93 on 5/27/20, 4:32 PM
That part of the LA Freeway System has always been a mess, with the 5/10/60/101/110 all mashing together in one spot.
by hinkley on 5/27/20, 5:59 PM
For some reason this reminds me of the stories after Manhattan (?) legalized bee-keeping. People started confessing that they'd had clandestine hives for years. My favorite was the guy who made a fake AC unit, installed it on the roof, and bought a stereotypical AC repairman outfit that he wore every time he went to do maintenance work.
by cxr on 5/27/20, 4:39 PM
by zackmorris on 5/27/20, 9:12 PM
I think what's changed today is that due to the national debt etc, most of us know that things are going wrong but we're so disenfranchised/disempowered that we feel helpless to do anything about it, even if we wanted to or knew we wanted to. It's not just that we haven't had a raise in 20-40 years, but that our bosses haven't had one, and neither have their bosses. We've reached chronic, systemic ineffectualism.
It changes things when we go from a "how do we stop those guys" perspective to a "how do we start helping society fix things" perspective.
by Ididntdothis on 5/27/20, 4:30 PM
by livatlantis on 5/27/20, 4:09 PM
"He copied the height and thickness of existing interstate shields, copied their exact typeface, and even sprayed his sign with a thin glaze of overspray of gray house paint so that it wouldn’t look too new."
Of course, not everyone should be doing this, but what a brilliant story!
by barnabask on 5/27/20, 6:57 PM
As users of web applications and freeways, I think we tend to overestimate our expertise in designing solutions to the things that annoy us. This story had a happy outcome because the expert user was careful and competent. Thankfully the barrier to entry for submitting patches is relatively high.
by otterley on 5/27/20, 4:53 PM
by Animats on 5/27/20, 7:34 PM
It was a promotion for the artist, who wanted to sell four more of them.
by GaryNumanVevo on 5/27/20, 6:39 PM
by hammock on 5/27/20, 7:06 PM
by et2o on 5/27/20, 4:24 PM
by lonelappde on 5/27/20, 11:13 PM
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactical_urbanism
There's also a guerilla group that fills potholes in Seattle.
by duxup on 5/27/20, 4:51 PM
I thought about doing something similar, but only as an amusing thought.
Fortunately they fixed the sign a few months later and gave extra indications where you needed to go.
by codazoda on 5/27/20, 7:02 PM
In high school, a teacher told me about an artist who was applying for a job. The application required three pieces of art. The artist included two pieces of art and a note explaining that the third piece was the postage stamp drawn on the front.
by triyambakam on 5/27/20, 6:35 PM
by y-c-o-m-b on 5/27/20, 4:36 PM
There's a location here in Oregon that fails to tell motorists of a major traffic merge coming. If you miss the merge, you exit the freeway. Granted it's not difficult to get back on, but there's no way to know this in advance. Prior to the pandemic - at minimum once a month - there would be a traffic incident here because people don't get any warning this merge is coming up so make drastic changes at the last second.
Here's the location on street view. Notice there's nothing indicating a merge is coming on the far right lane: https://www.google.com/maps/@45.3709178,-122.7485804,3a,75y,...
Once you enter the turn to go right, still no indication of an upcoming merge: https://www.google.com/maps/@45.3703302,-122.7526115,3a,75y,...
Here's the merge, but notice that it's not until further ahead that you're now being notified the far right lane is an exit lane: https://www.google.com/maps/@45.37444,-122.7554676,3a,75y,13...
Result? A daily traffic nightmare and constant near-death experiences.
EDIT: BTW Google Maps makes it look like you have plenty of time to move from the exit lane and back onto the free-way, but it's an illusion. People are flying at high speeds on the left and you only have several seconds to get into the correct lane.
EDIT: Forgot to mention this funny part. Conversely on the other side of traffic for that same freeway (I-205), they DO make use of adequate signage. Here's one that shows a merge is coming up: https://www.google.com/maps/@45.370089,-122.749564,3a,75y,52...
About two miles down, they notify you well ahead of time that the far right lane will be an exit lane: https://www.google.com/maps/@45.373263,-122.7342592,3a,75y,8...
by pieterk on 5/27/20, 6:19 PM
by 1-6 on 5/27/20, 4:23 PM
by becausecombi on 5/28/20, 2:00 PM
by mrfusion on 5/27/20, 8:13 PM