GeekNights 071011 - Dumpster Diving

xenomouse

Tonight on GeekNights: Dumpster Diving! In the news, blogs dig Digg lists about blogs, and kids cheat at Halo rankings.
Scott’s Thing - Utility Knives


Rym’s Thing - Bargle Bargle!

Viga

Was this brought about by the Freegan question I asked in the Thursday thread?

I would've sold those pegs, but not on eBay. They're so popular in my parts I could sell them at school or in the neighborhood.

Apreche

Was this brought about by the Freegan question I asked in the Thursday thread?

I would've sold those pegs, but not on eBay. They're so popular in my parts I could sell them at school or in the neighborhood.

So Craigslist instead of eBay. In those days, Craigslist isn't what it is today.

xenomouse

I think I may have to raid some dumpsters later today. From my understanding of the legality, things in the trash are public domain, but if the dumpsters are on private property and if you are asked to leave, you need to leave immediately. Is my understanding correct?



Rym's story of dangerous carny rides reminded me of this: Teen Loses Feet in Ride Accident.



p.s. - Those utility knives are pretty expensive. What gives?

Kilarney

The teen who lost her feet lost them at a Six Flags park. On paper, Six Flags is WAAAAY more sage than a carnival ride.

Nice to hear your observation about metal detectors. I've always felt that a lot of hours are wasted in that hobby. Sure, some guy somewhere has found something. For 99.99% of people, though, it's got to be a waste of time.

Apreche

Nice to hear your observation about metal detectors. I've always felt that a lot of hours are wasted in that hobby. Sure, some guy somewhere has found something. For 99.99% of people, though, it's got to be a waste of time.

Metal detecting article I talked about.

Jason

I think I may have to raid some dumpsters later today. From my understanding of the legality, things in the trash are public domain, but if the dumpsters are on private property and if you are asked to leave, you need to leave immediately. Is my understanding correct?

I read dozens of police reports every day, and I've seen several people charged after dumpster diving. I think there is a legal distinction between trash that is collected by a public service or a publicly-purchased service (which would fall into the public domain), and dumpsters that are leased or contracted through private trash removal companies.

For example, trash you put in your tree lawn for the city garbage truck to haul away is fair game. If the city hires a private firm to haul its trash away for citizens, that's also fair game, because it's paid for with tax money. But if Best Buy hires its personal service from Company X, you'd better stay away from Best Buy's dumpsters.

xenomouse

I read dozens of police reports every day, and I've seen several people charged after dumpster diving.How steep are the penalties? It's just a misdemeanor, correct? :)

Jason

It's usually a very low-degree misdemeanor and charged as theft or criminal trespassing. The penalties can range from $100 or so on up, plus court costs.

xenomouse

It's usually a very low-degree misdemeanor and charged as theft or criminal trespassing. The penalties can range from $100 or so on up, plus court costs.I've been wanting to learn more about our justice system up close.

CHOIS CHOIS CHOIS

I went to the city dump and I found in the Computer recycling bins, a iMac G3, Lime color w/ keyboard, mouse, power cable, and install CD. I took it home and plugged it in, It Worked! One more retro-Mac to add to the collection. Too bad, it's OS 9 and In Japanese. >_<

Alan

I can usually find a few old computers when they have that spring cleaning trash day. Most are Pentium 3s that I have found and I will mess around with them then donate them to the local pc shop. They usually build budget machines for around $100.

CHOIS CHOIS CHOIS

Yeah, I'm gotta make it a weekly routine to go over there now, I saw a case for a HP rendering mini-server. It was a pretty beefy machine. I thought about grabbing it, but, It looked pretty well used so, I didn't bother. I bet half the computers in there still works. Just to bad I can't take CRTs.

Rochelle

This could be considered dumpster diving. My boyfriend works in apartment maintenance. There are on occasions times where tenants would leave things behind or just get up and leave without a trace.

A few months ago, my boyfriend had to go through an evicted apartment to turn it over. Apparently this tenant pretty much left anything and everything. This person also happened to be a hardcore geek/gamer/anime otaku. Holy shit did this man leave some nice things. Everything had to go into storage and wait for the statute of limitations to expire for the tenant to claim it or it went to the garbage.

When that statute of limitations ran up, my boyfriend and I pillaged that storage garage as if we were pirates.

From PS2 games, manga, anime OSTs, computer hardware, D&D books, to figurines, we took a crap load of stuff. We also took some really nice book cases that are now storing my manga and our DVDs. I still have to sort through a lot of the anime stuff and figure out what I want and don't want, however we did end up selling all the D&D books to my boyfriend's friends for $500. I'm talking about well over 50 books. They were older editions, but still in good condition.

I really wish I took pictures of all the swag. It was pretty damn insane for all the stuff the guy left behind.

Viga

...

You lucky bastards! *jealousy* :P

CHOIS CHOIS CHOIS

When that statute of limitations ran up, my boyfriend and I pillaged that storage garage as if we were pirates.

Wow, wonder what happended to him? Probably got drunk off his ass and fell into a gamestop.....Dead!