Post AyeD0uupOV98Fe2Az2 by timmc@better.boston
(DIR) More posts by timmc@better.boston
(DIR) Post #AyaozqxTdoARJYLxwm by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-26T08:49:47Z
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@MarkHoltom I'm glad you got your bike back. But also if it's not a U lock it's not doing anything for a bike. I used two U locks and my bike is old and frankly worth less than the locks.
(DIR) Post #AyarrjLYMC4RFkQuXo by mjr@masto.bike
2025-09-26T09:21:53Z
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@futurebird @MarkHoltom is that victim-blaming?
(DIR) Post #Ayas1GLf1iJoDE1qGO by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-26T09:23:40Z
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@mjr @MarkHoltom Yes.I've thought about doing a youTube channel where I'd walk around and make videos about how badly locked up some bikes are. "Rate My Lock Job"Mark really lucked out to have Mr.Muneeb looking out for him.
(DIR) Post #AyasPZGSLgaXpUBSsK by mjr@masto.bike
2025-09-26T09:27:58Z
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@futurebird @MarkHoltom there's enough such vids and I suspect it inspires more thieves to go look than lockers to upgrade. Most locks are either casual deterrents or the minimum for insurance. On one level, I know what you mean because I don't lock in town with only a cable, but you ought to be and it seems like police are AWOL on this.
(DIR) Post #Ayasf3OSbzPFcJJPdI by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-26T09:30:49Z
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@mjr @MarkHoltom Here is the simple rule of thumb for a lock job:The cost of your bike locks should be at least HALF the value of your bike. If you can't muster that it's not locked up enough. Of course there are various tamper-proof screws and hardware that are mandatory. If something can be removed with a tool it will be. I once had my break (I only had the one) stolen. Both wheels and the frame must be locked. Location is important too.
(DIR) Post #AyaslzPjnzvVInDVK4 by beecycling@romancelandia.club
2025-09-26T09:31:57Z
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@futurebird @mjr @MarkHoltom I saw some footage lately as a warning not to only put the U lock around the top tube. It showed two thieves turn a bike horizontal over the top of the rack and turn it until the lock broke open, because the tube and the rack were stronger than the lock itself, so that gave out first. đŹ
(DIR) Post #AyasoeEmzoD0UcMafI by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-26T09:32:36Z
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@mjr @MarkHoltom NYPD laughs in the face of people who have their bike stolen. I've always said if they wanted to be better liked all they'd need to do is a few stings every year to catch prolific bike thieves but they can't be bothered and so those of us who bike live in the wild wild west.
(DIR) Post #AyatL7Pi3U28FPxEf2 by david_chisnall@infosec.exchange
2025-09-26T09:38:25Z
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@futurebird @MarkHoltom I had a friend lose a key for a lock like that one, and we found that squeezing the barrel with some garden sheers popped it open. My bike came with a lock built into the back that has a slot for a chain (close it and it immobilises the back wheel). I really like that design and still have one, but the model it came with has the worldâs worst lock: you can open it with a key blank.And no lock works against the attack that a gang did here 10-15 years ago: they came with a forklift and a low loader and pulled up the metal hoops that you attach the bike to. In five minutes, they were able to take an entire bike park. They presumably cut off the locks later.This is the main reason I havenât bought an e-bike. My bike looks old and cheap. My main defence against theft is to always park near a more expensive-looking bike.
(DIR) Post #AyateQcAtGEzIhzam8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-26T09:41:57Z
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@david_chisnall @MarkHoltom The whole bike thing kind of radicalized me because, coming from Ohio when I first moved to NYC and had the brand new 300 bike I bought on my very tight budget stolen (I used a lock like the one in the photo) I went to the police expecting they would be helpful and interested in the CRIME. They were so rude and mean about it I became totally self reliant. I do not need bike theft police. I am my own sheriff. *cue western music*
(DIR) Post #AyatjZIi1VDLgiL3Ds by guigsy@mstdn.social
2025-09-26T09:42:51Z
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@futurebird @MarkHoltom Most U locks are a 30 second defense with a battery angle grinder.My tactic is two locks of two different types. Normally a U lock and a cable lock. I know neither provide much defence on their own. Just the thief needs to carry two tools and they're unlikely to have a full tool bag with them.
(DIR) Post #AyatwvrlR9EpRD6jom by david_chisnall@infosec.exchange
2025-09-26T09:45:17Z
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@futurebird @MarkHoltom When my father went to university, he had heard that Cambridge had a big problem with bike theft but that cycling was the easiest way to get around, so he bought an expensive bike lock. He parked his bike using it and came back to find that the bike was still there, but the lock had been stolen.
(DIR) Post #Ayatz1tM0LkmhmqqLQ by hatter@metasocial.com
2025-09-26T09:45:38Z
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@futurebird @MarkHoltom It's not Mark's bike. Story is 5 years old, https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/02/rail-worker-saved-mans-bike-thief-waited-hours-shift-return-12935219/ Not sure why it's had a recent resurgence in popularity
(DIR) Post #Ayau9Eg7JsHbG2Wi5w by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-26T09:47:31Z
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@hatter @MarkHoltom I'm desperate for some good news. Tell me again about that one time someone got their bike back.
(DIR) Post #AyauHuJ0QzSyg9qqlU by hatter@metasocial.com
2025-09-26T09:49:03Z
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@futurebird @MarkHoltom It's a great story. Miracles do happen. Humans can be thoughtful and selfless.
(DIR) Post #AyavmAgADqiM6Og6zo by mjr@masto.bike
2025-09-26T10:05:43Z
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@futurebird @MarkHoltom depends where you are. Village post office and one strong lock is ample. There's not really any lock big enough in parts of London. I reckon they'd find a way to nick a bike buried in concrete in some boroughs!
(DIR) Post #Ayaw1Gd0O0LIteOo1Q by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-26T10:08:29Z
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@mjr @MarkHoltom In NYC Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn are the worst for bike theft. Oddly enough my bike is fine up in the Bronx. But then I lock it up next to the bikes from the delivery guys next to the old people playing cards. These things are more powerful than any lock.
(DIR) Post #Ayb0yavwvx38m7nyuO by Phosphenes@mastodon.social
2025-09-26T11:03:59Z
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@futurebird @mjr @MarkHoltom Yeah and if you catch 1 thief you've probably solved and prevented 100 other thefts. Only a few people steal stuff and we are all creatures of habit.The police in our area showed a similar lack of concern when our car was stolen. Why investigate one car? Because the people who took it probably stole dozens of other cars. Arresting one can end a crime wave.
(DIR) Post #Ayb4DJRQYGEgjKEpdI by Spoofer3@infosec.exchange
2025-09-26T11:40:16Z
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@futurebird maybe you would enjoy https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/153/ on the bike index. https://bikeindex.org/about
(DIR) Post #Ayb4ilOgf8hSPVxB5c by th@social.v.st
2025-09-26T11:45:53Z
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@futurebird sometimes one u lock is enough.
(DIR) Post #Ayb5Ac9qbjyzrbIDE8 by patsplat@open-ground.org
2025-09-26T11:50:57Z
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@futurebird @mjr @MarkHoltom A colleague shared this story a while back. He lost the key to his bike. He got a cordless drill and started drilling out the cylinder of a very solid bike lock. While doing so, the police walked past and said nothing. His thought was - what is the point of this lock, if the police wonât even stop to ask whatâs going on?Iâm glad a fellow New Yorker helped out in the situation up thread.
(DIR) Post #AybEo5krOqtMXQVKHA by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-26T13:38:55Z
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@notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom This might sound absurdly petty, but for a variety of reasons NYPD dislikes people who ride bikes. They constantly have these absurd little traffic stops for bikes near the bridges that come in to Manhattan from the Bronx and Brooklyn and hold up everyone exiting the bridge looking for someone who ran a red light. Or they give everyone tickets even if you didnât run a red light.
(DIR) Post #AybF0jjYaJgk0PvM5g by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-26T13:41:17Z
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@notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom If you simply contest it and show up it will be dropped since the wonât pull the camera footage or (as it was in my case) even if they did it wouldnât show me running the light. But Iâve had two Saturdays wasted over bogus tickets. I think they just assume everyone on a bike is a âterroristâ
(DIR) Post #AybFWqsbYGwXR2TC76 by ottomate@noc.social
2025-09-26T13:47:04Z
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@futurebird @notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom That seems a bass ackwards way to reduce traffic congestion...or what do they think they will buy with the funds gained from congestion pricing?
(DIR) Post #AybFtiDVvScpEE9Ovw by fuzztech@infosec.exchange
2025-09-26T13:51:10Z
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@futurebird @notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom Having worked there I can say that often those stops come after cyclists are killed - letâs be real here: mashed into paste - by buses and trucks and cars. There have been many campaigns to save cyclists that start with enforcement. I can understand as a cyclist myself why we think other priorities (like for example making NYMTA bus drivers actually stop at lights) would seem higher but I never once heard the sentiment that NYPD doesnât like cyclists. Itâs not all a plot.
(DIR) Post #AybHql0vGotQwUyolM by donlamb_1@mastodon.online
2025-09-26T14:13:03Z
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@futurebird @mjr @MarkHoltom as always - fuck the police.
(DIR) Post #AybJxpVj9JrQpBt9wu by bruce@darkmoon.social
2025-09-26T14:36:45Z
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@futurebird @notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom More likely they're mad because bike activist rightly raise a stink when cops park in the bike lanes
(DIR) Post #AybLCD84EWz25HF8am by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-26T14:50:33Z
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@fuzztech @notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom IDK when I was a messenger I saw another delivery rider get hit by a car. It was bad. Two of us chased the car and got their plates. We were both eyewitnesses to this kid getting maimed and we hung around to talk to the police. They didnât even write down the plate number I gave them. I gave the number to the kid as the put him in the ambulance. Tried another cop who said âthis isnât a crimeâ
(DIR) Post #AybNBmYXEPBfZrXwxc by bruce@darkmoon.social
2025-09-26T15:12:54Z
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@futurebird @mjr @MarkHoltom Those cable locks are all but useless. For one thing, the cable is much thinner than it appears. The plastic casing magnifies the appearance of the cable. Secondly, you don't even need bolt cutters. A simple pair of diagonal wire cutters will get through one of those fairly quickly by cutting one or two strands at a time.
(DIR) Post #AybNrl3LD5tN4tyIE4 by fuzztech@infosec.exchange
2025-09-26T15:20:29Z
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@futurebird @notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom Yeah there are assholes in every profession. No accounting for incompetence. But I never heard anything even hinting at what you were fearing was unspoken or spoken policy. I likely wouldâve. And I did hear lots about trying to reduce cyclist and pedestrian deaths. So :flan_shrug:
(DIR) Post #AybNxt2QQywta6SvYW by fuzztech@infosec.exchange
2025-09-26T15:21:36Z
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@futurebird @notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom Btw cool that you chased them down and tried like that. Most people donât and that sucks too.
(DIR) Post #AybOyRj3ZBI17KEjPE by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-26T15:32:56Z
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@fuzztech @notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom I grew up in a suburb and when I first moved to NYC I found the general ire for NYPD perplexing. The most charitable reading is that they still are acting as if the city hasnât changed since the 70s â NYPD act as if they are an underfunded city service tasked with policing an impossibly violent and chaotic city.
(DIR) Post #AybPGbdfRs1p4gNKKm by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-26T15:36:13Z
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@fuzztech @notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom But in reality they are exceptionally well funded and your average New Yorker is rather docile and grew up watching shows that said cops are heroes. And one might stay that way were it not for one bad experience after another. Iâve spoken to police some 15 times over 20 years living here and always gone in trying to be helpful â in half of these cases it was frankly scary.
(DIR) Post #AybPXHFeV9Celd5kSO by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-26T15:39:14Z
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@fuzztech @notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom I would be irrational not to notice a pattern. And this is kind of a huge problem since itâs really typical. In a city like this they should be more popularâ but they arenât. And part of that is they donât really see how the city has changed.
(DIR) Post #AybPwtx9kLZ22Peujg by beandreams@friendhole.social
2025-09-26T15:43:45Z
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@futurebird @mjr @MarkHoltom I would absolutely watch a channel that rated bike lock jobs! I still remember watching this whole (similar) series which was apparently 15 years ago. I learned a lot and it's fun to chat about bikes in public đ˛https://vimeo.com/12061685
(DIR) Post #AybVICIHFcy2lxVoK8 by tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org
2025-09-26T16:43:46Z
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@mjrI have to agree, those cheap cables get cut with a simple hand tool carried on a pocket. For regular long period unattended a serious U lock or a very heavy Kryptonite or Abus chain are kinda minimum now. And even the best are not impossible. But those inexpensive lightweight cables are for kids backyard bikes. @futurebird @MarkHoltom
(DIR) Post #AybVhYNyFdZoWqGYRk by tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org
2025-09-26T16:48:22Z
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@fuzztechYouist not interact with police much. I'm on the opposite US coast, I'm an old white guy, and Eden I find cops utterly untrustworthy and unreliable. They don't *do anything*. They maintain the order part of law and order, not the law part. @futurebird @notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom
(DIR) Post #AybXwTEtrp0yotGQam by fuzztech@infosec.exchange
2025-09-26T17:13:27Z
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@tomjennings @futurebird @notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom Yes Iâm afraid itâs true I donât interact with them much. Or you could read my bio
(DIR) Post #AybY6LiqfabuOzyzEu by fuzztech@infosec.exchange
2025-09-26T17:15:11Z
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@futurebird @notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom Youâre making reasonable points that are best had as part of a non SM conversation I would be delighted to have.
(DIR) Post #AybYBTdAh51GNTlwXY by fuzztech@infosec.exchange
2025-09-26T17:16:07Z
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@futurebird @notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom Iâm not saying there is no pattern. I was saying perhaps there are as yet unseen things that could affect your conclusions. But I take your points of course.
(DIR) Post #AybYHZP492Ky1C5128 by fuzztech@infosec.exchange
2025-09-26T17:17:16Z
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@tomjennings @futurebird @notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom Also, I didnât mean to resort to sarcasm. Given my personal context, I just found it funny but sarcasm is not helpful.
(DIR) Post #AybYlFQQzEjAkGs5ce by fuzztech@infosec.exchange
2025-09-26T17:22:34Z
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@futurebird @notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom I do think and have written that most of what Americans know about policing is actually about policing police television shows. It is actually a huge problem.
(DIR) Post #AybYoU1DBayysFcHiK by fuzztech@infosec.exchange
2025-09-26T17:23:09Z
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@futurebird @notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom And thatâs not in any way to say that, if only you understood you wouldnât think what you think. Iâm not naĂŻve and Iâm not apologizing, nor am I suggesting that problems, real problems, do not exist. Of course they do.
(DIR) Post #AybZbx5VtZmVDkDWj2 by kludgekml@sunbeam.city
2025-09-26T17:32:04Z
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@futurebird @notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom here's how the metropolitan police treated London cyclists in 2012:https://www.counterfire.org/article/london-2012-police-attack-critical-mass-cyclists/(Important to note that critical mass rides are broadly legal, or at least were at the time)
(DIR) Post #Aybi2XTu0WnrFsoUzI by mjr@masto.bike
2025-09-26T18:17:29Z
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@fuzztech @tomjennings @futurebird @notoriousiptg @MarkHoltom it suggests this probably isn't news to you?
(DIR) Post #Aybi2Yn58hjtJenKWO by fuzztech@infosec.exchange
2025-09-26T18:57:41Z
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@mjr @tomjennings @futurebird @notoriousiptg @MarkHoltom Im always up for a respectful and reasonable conversation even if I disagree. My post was in response to someone suggesting I didnât have much contact with law enforcement.
(DIR) Post #Aybi2ZdtyJzRxTVVqq by tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org
2025-09-26T19:06:35Z
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@fuzztech First, I apologize for my needlessly paggro response. I did read your bio, and yes I do see you have or had some working relations with law enforcement.My snide remark is because there's a wall, that probably you can't or don't see, that that is extremely not what or how most people experience law enforcement. It's this wall, quite intentionally built, that is a fundamental part of the divide of politics, and a distinct and discrete construction of the people who are now fascists.There's not really a discussion here.No offense to you, but this is as polite as I'll get about cops in our culture.@mjr @futurebird @notoriousiptg @MarkHoltom
(DIR) Post #Aybi6mlN8G2zoE0fEO by tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org
2025-09-26T19:07:24Z
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@fuzztech First, I apologize for my needlessly paggro response. I did read your bio, and yes I do see you have or had some working relations with law enforcement.My snide remark is because there's a wall, that probably you can't or don't see, that that is extremely not what or how most people experience law enforcement. It's this wall, quite intentionally built, that is a fundamental part of the divide of politics, and a distinct and discrete construction of the people who are now fascists.There's not really a discussion here.No offense to you, but this is as polite as I'll get about cops in our culture.@mjr @futurebird @notoriousiptg @MarkHoltom
(DIR) Post #AybjcbrXIOKzDqdDwO by fuzztech@infosec.exchange
2025-09-26T19:24:19Z
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@tomjennings @mjr @futurebird @notoriousiptg @MarkHoltom Right on.
(DIR) Post #Ayc9gQ4peaAydXKP8S by taursndhaus@stlouist.social
2025-09-27T00:16:17Z
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@futurebird @notoriousiptg @mjr @MarkHoltom NYPD being NYPD, after all they had to find someone to harass when Stop and Frisk was declared illegal
(DIR) Post #AyeD0uupOV98Fe2Az2 by timmc@better.boston
2025-09-28T00:02:59Z
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@futurebird @mjr Just today I saw two bikes U-locked to the wires of chain-link fences.Thinking of carrying around some flyers to put on such bikes to let people know their bikes *will* be stolen by someone who just cuts through the fence.
(DIR) Post #AygtJ9hziY8DjbKYXg by the_cjuty@chaosfurs.social
2025-09-29T07:06:20Z
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@futurebird @MarkHoltom this is just wrong. U locks have their place, but they have huge drawbacks like limiting the things you can lock your bike to (otherwise I can just carry it away). They are also more prone to a batty powered anglegrinder than a thick chain lock because you can hold it safer while cutting (A chain is way more dangerous to cut). Thick chains are heavier though so it is always a compromise. To saiy that only U-locks are safe ist just wrong though.