bike seat stolen; funky seat key
Apr. 30th, 2002 02:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
guslAs I arrived home yesterday, I noticed that my bike seat was stolen along with the seat post. I was upset. It cost me $70 to replace it, and $50 to get a locking system for the new seat and wheels. Plus tax... about $130 total. Ouch! The thief was lazy, however: he could have made me pay $70 for the front wheel and $130 for the back wheel, essentially leaving me with the bicycle's frame and handlebar.
When surveillance becomes cheap, this kind of theft will be more difficult. People talk about privacy concerns. But why should you be entitled to privacy in a public street? I can see why one might desire the freedom to take a walk in the city knowing that he's not being followed. In fact, there exist anti-stalking laws to protect this right, although it could be argued that anti-stalking laws are meant to prevent other crimes. A similar "crime" is standing in front of somebody's house all day: it's called "loitering" or "prawling". It seems silly to me, although I don't rule out the possibility of a moral justification.
The $50 locking system is ingenious. It consists of custom-designed shaft-and-screws that can only be unscrewed with its "key", i.e. its respective custom-designed screwdriver.
Today I found out that getting a greencard may be a lot easier than I thought, and the harder step is actually similar to what I just went through. See how it all works.
When surveillance becomes cheap, this kind of theft will be more difficult. People talk about privacy concerns. But why should you be entitled to privacy in a public street? I can see why one might desire the freedom to take a walk in the city knowing that he's not being followed. In fact, there exist anti-stalking laws to protect this right, although it could be argued that anti-stalking laws are meant to prevent other crimes. A similar "crime" is standing in front of somebody's house all day: it's called "loitering" or "prawling". It seems silly to me, although I don't rule out the possibility of a moral justification.
The $50 locking system is ingenious. It consists of custom-designed shaft-and-screws that can only be unscrewed with its "key", i.e. its respective custom-designed screwdriver.
Today I found out that getting a greencard may be a lot easier than I thought, and the harder step is actually similar to what I just went through. See how it all works.