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Cake day: July 15th, 2023

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  • I hope you’ll forgive me being sceptical that “used these systems” is enough authority to be able to speak for every make and model on the market… I’ve also used a few CCTV systems over the years and they’ve all been absolute lowest-bidder no-name dogshit that were packed full of weird idiosyncrasies.

    I encourage skepticism! yes, the software were developed by the lowest bidder and every single one of them all had weird shit slapped in that got in the way of core functionality. I suspect part of that weird shit was that they were trying to keep people from accessing the files without their software. (As if the DVR didn’t save it as h.264 or whatever.)

    I’ve been in contract security for over a decade now- and my first post way back ages ago was “slow” to get rid of theirs in 06. (they had ordered their VHS’s in bulk so they wanted to go through them first. I think they cracked open the last pack around the time I was hired.)

    I’ve used more systems than I care to count or name; and usually became “the guy” that knew how to actually get it to do “the thing”. The worst part of that is most of the people selling the software clients would go tits up in a few years, which gets sold to another dev what doesn’t bother to learn the lessons from last time anyways. They just wanted one thing from the code or they had an idiot project manager that thought starting from failed code would be a good way to go.

    In any case, because of how the multiplexing VCRs worked, the video playback was always choppy. they’d record using NTSC or PAl at 30 or 25 fps; just like any standard VCR, except that each camera would record each frame in sequence. a 4-chanel (four cameras) would reduce the NTSC’s 30 FPS to 7. which looks like this. a 16 channel system would go down to 2 fps. Given the nature of the facility, I would assume they’re using 16x systems.


  • so, speaking as someone whose used these systems for decades, DVR files don’t work that way.

    The old, old school multiplexing VCRs did, sure. Those were recording to VHS’s, and basically everyone swapped over by the early 2k’s. What’s hilarious is the reason. VHS tapes are expensive and wear out inside a few months- they’ve usually only got about six hours of recording, after which the rewind and overwrite. The high-end tapes purpose built for that might last four or five. back then, depending on how much data you had going, DVRs basically paid for themselves inside of a couple years (and the disks were expected to last a decade or so.)

    In any case, modern DVRs have no gaps. They continuously record in a rolling loop- typically 7, 15, 30, or 90 days. The DVR is actually a server running on a network, and the server manages the data stream coming in, and maybe streaming to a client wherever the security office or whatever is. (or clients, even. It’s all just software on the user end.)

    there might be a system with digital storage tapes, and not hard disks, but that’s really just a question of what digital media the data is stored on, and was relatively short lived. the digital tapes were used for very-large numbers of cameras.

    For the record, the fact that we have a single camera that was released and not an array of cameras (or video cropped out looking like a blown up thumbnail,) is because it was a modern system.


  • there’s actually a lot of things I don’t get with the video, so yeah, I’m not really taking anything off the table or fixating. But there being more time removed/spliced just makes more sense.

    But it almost certainly wasn’t a multiplexing VCR. For one thing, the video looks like a bog standard export from a DVR-based networked system. (Which uses client software to access a server to play back video records. VHS tapes got dumped back in the very-early 2k’s because everyone saw the writing on the wall. They only last a few months in a record-rewind loop- four at most, and only if you buy the really expensive kind.

    Further the black shadowbox around it is from the way they exported it off a modern dvr- the client they used to export it from added it. (probably also added their own shitty player to the file. the player is basically windows media player but even more useless.)

    which… really just makes this whole thing shockingly incompetent. But then, that’s the problem with conspiracies. It’s the details that bite you in the ass.




  • They are unconscious in less than 10 seconds (sometimes almost instantaneously) and they aren’t going to wake up the moment you release. Similarly, ask any climber to tie a quick figure eight (or bowline if they are old or european) and they can do that blindfolded, in the rain, in like 10 seconds.

    So assuming even two killers? Yeah, a minute is more than enough time.

    You, eh, ever try to lift 150-200 pounds of dead weight? while trying to make it look like that dead weight did it himself?

    it’s not just the fight. It’s not just the struggle. just for the record the camera was in the hallway outside and not in the room. a minute is barely enough time to get in, kill him, and get out.

    To also then string him up, and remove whatever you need to, to make it look like suicide? three minutes is pushing it, even with 2 guys- and remember, the more guys you add the more potential you have for some one talking.


  • Probaby the only way to do so, is to set up your own criteria for what “ethical” means and then evaluate companies on your own. There’s really nothing more than the ETF’s you’ve already mentioned, and those are usually superiscially about one issue.

    Also, just for the record, I don’t see where Burry is particularly concerned with ethics or social issues, but honestly I don’t know much about him beyond the whole permabear and/or predicting the housing crash.

    Honestly, once a company gets onto the stock market, it’s pretty hard to make an argument that any of them are really as ethical as they should be. Remember, being a publicly traded company means putting short-term profits above all else. (at least, in the US.)




  • which, yeah, I don’t disagree with that. The problem is that they’re actively working against their own interests. Blatantly so. They don’t want to take programs that would give them financial security (or all the other forms of security that would give, like stable housing, access to good and healthy food, a good education, etc.).

    Some of it is that they’re primed to do that. But a lot of it is, they’re lashing out. They don’t want to feel safe, as an example, because then that removes their excuse for lashing out at people they want to harass and torture.







  • What you might deal with is heat soak if the fans can’t move enough air over the condenser core. But modern vehicles are immensely more efficient than even 10 year old vehicles.

    You’re point?

    They’re not designed to idle for extended periods, and doing so puts strain on the systems. that the cars are “more efficient” doesn’t change that.

    the AC compressor isn’t a significant load, no. But it’ expects a certain engine RPM coming into it, and it’s designed at that. It’s significantly less when the engine is idling because that’s below it’s designed range. There’s a reason the manufacturers tell you not to idle your car for extended periods (mine says more than 10 minutes, my last one said 5.) and this is part of it.

    the increase in RPM modern cars do isn’t for the AC system. it’s to keep the engine from stalling and running smoothly… the compressor is still not designed to operate at that RPM.


  • However, disagree with the statement that a climate control system is not meant to be operated while idle. That is an old myth that I expect came from back when there was fewer electrical components in the car so not turning the ac /off/ before turning the vehicle off would risk damaging the cars electrical.

    that’s not actually a myth. The car is functionally not designed to be left on idle for extended periods. (Note, I’m saying extended periods. Warming/cooling your car at idle is normal. idling at a stop light is normal. Five minutes while waiting to pick some one up is normal. Leaving it to stay cool for 2 hours is outside that design window.)

    When an engine is idling, it’s turning at a lower RPM than when moving. of particular note here is that the alternator and AC compressor are both driven by the serpetine belt directly connected to the crankshaft. The lower RPM makes both less efficient. For the compressor, what this means is that the AC system is turning more slowly than it normally would, reducing the total amount of cooling. For the alternator; it produces less electricity and may cause the battery to be discharging. Depends on some things, including how hard the AC is having to work, etc.

    Further, because the car is not moving, there is less air moving around the engine compartment (or wherever the radiator for the engine and the AC is located.) This equates to higher operating temperatures for the engine, as well as yet more reduced ability for the AC system to remove excess heat from the cabin.

    just because an AC can be run at idle for extended periods doesn’t mean it’s designed to, and doing so, especially on old or poorly maintained systems, in excessive heat, is likely to cause it to crap out where it wouldn’t have normally. Is it a particularly high probability? Not really. Is it still too high considering it’s a life-safety system? fucking absolutely.