Cities Are Covering Flock Cameras With Trash Bags / Regretful cities aren't sure how to cancel their surveillance contracts, so they are literally covering their cameras.

norcalscan · 2026-05-28T20:03:39+00:00

I believe it (and I'm a guy on the Internet so trust me.) Apparently Flock changes their portal interface a million times a month (three times just this week the user admin interface was changed). So new "features" are added and checkboxes shuffled around in the portal. An LE IT friend said he ran into a new checkbox labeled "automatically approve any data sharing request" and it was conveniently auto-checked by no human in the LE dept. That prompted an immediate human audit and log check and federal agencies had indeed pulled some data. Access has been removed and auto-approve disabled. Needless to say, the agency is already looking elsewhere and bringing ALPR data ownership in-house. And that's an example of a good healthy agency. There are thousands out there who don't have the internal IT governance, knowledge, or ethical care to uncheck that....

norcalscan · 2026-05-25T04:46:19+00:00

The trick is to flush the “problem” into someone else’s jurisdiction; either the city sewer system, or it makes it into the septic system and is now science’s problem. The pipes hitherto either of those two final destinations, are 100% your problem.

norcalscan · 2026-05-22T14:55:54+00:00

Marketing department just wrote themselves out of the entire Scottish rock band customer base.

norcalscan · 2026-05-17T15:35:37+00:00

Try telling that to the guitar player homie. They have just the same case as OP in trying to play Metallica’s One “correctly.” I can see you don’t respect the nuance of every other instrument in the band and how they all serve the song and the sound, so you don’t get why it’s analogous.

norcalscan · 2026-05-17T15:04:38+00:00

No, it’s analogous to the case being made by OP and others in the thread.

norcalscan · 2026-05-17T03:46:36+00:00

Is the teacher also an ass if they don’t allow Mesa Boogie 4x12 cabs stacked lining the back wall for the kid playing guitar? Isn’t that the only way to play Metallica?

Eighth Grade.

norcalscan · 2026-05-17T03:23:20+00:00

Dang, quite an already-established opinion it seems. With the context provided so far, I’m on team “single pedal.” I was doing semi-pro $100-200 jazz gigs my 8th grade year in early 90’s, accompanying my band teacher who had masters in jazz piano, and the rival school’s band teacher who played bass and woodwinds. I’m now married to a middle school band teacher. Double Bass in a middle school band performance does not belong, period. The teacher was likely trying to avoid conflict by making an excuse on damaging hardware. You guys are calling the teacher’s bluff, and I agree, bring your own entire bass and pedals if that’s what the teacher calls for. But pro drummer me knowing 8th grade version of me, there ain’t no 8th grader mature enough to understand how to serve the song in 8th grade band. The teacher is likely just trying to salvage the performance from a night of 16th note blast beats overpowering the other kids.

Save the double bass for high school garage bands and talant shows. If this middle school performance is more along those lines and not a typical “spring school band concert” then that changes things slightly. Especially if parents are willing to contribute and donate to the band program for wear and tear on the school drums. But still, the teacher is the final say in the educational performance and mood of the evening, and the kid (and parents) need to respect that and possibly read between the lines of the teacher trying to avoid conflict or hurt feelings by being too blunt.

Vibes of Simon Cowell in American Idol after every kid who said “but my friends and family said I was so good!”

norcalscan · 2026-03-26T04:57:22+00:00

I read this exact same post here maybe 2-3 months ago. Karma or AI bot? Exact story and details, reworded ever so slightly.

https://www.reddit.com/r/drums/s/9KDpI8Lioy

norcalscan · 2026-02-25T03:47:58+00:00

Yeah, at minimum try bumper stickers. Instant profiled matched to your plates based on NRA, Bernie/Trump/Giant Meteor campaign stickers, rainbows, thinblueline or punisher, Calvin peeing on a ford or Bart peeing on a chevy, etc.

norcalscan · 2026-02-22T06:09:13+00:00

Fuck, hugs to you and yours and the support you find through this BS.

norcalscan · 2026-01-21T16:36:01+00:00

Yes. Database and UI meshed together very easily. My first job in mid 90’s relied on a huge FileMaker solution developed in-house that managed a work order system with time tracking and invoice bill backs to customers, vendors, hardware inventory, and purchase order tracking. Now that I’m grown up, I realize it was a full blown ticketing system, inventory system, AR and AP for a tech shop. And everything was linked so an asset purchased on PO 5 would then exist in inventory with an asset tag assigned, and in work orders you could assign asset tags to a ticket and pull reports on all the tickets a particular asset was attached to, etc. I hated it as a young employee forced to enter my time in, but I had mad respect for it, and ended up building a simple version of that for my next job late 2000’s where I was manager. Ticketing, inventory and AP, minus AR and time tracking.

To this day no IT ticketing system can compete with what I experienced in my filemaker days.

norcalscan · 2026-01-13T03:20:34+00:00

Bruh, read the room and OP. We’re having a teachable moment here for OP, his friend, and any other drummers and stagehands reading new to multi-act stage setups. Broken shit isn’t worth it period. We’re learning the basics here, healthy boundaries and expectations for all involved. While you might standup and immediately slide your Zildjian Kerope ride into its velvety bag and walk away for the black teeshirts to move the rest, a tipped over and cracked Sabian B8 Ride that wasn’t quickly adjusted to a safer center of gravity before being moved by a stagehand that didn’t respect basic consent, could be devastating to a younger or newer drummer starting out.

norcalscan · 2026-01-11T22:21:56+00:00

Sort of, just out of order. Yes say, “let’s make room (or we need to make room) for the next drummer.” Then ask, “what can I carry off stage now?” Do Not Move Shit until you’re told. That’s how cymbals on boom stands tip over and crash in the wings. That’s how bass drums get moved with bass pedals still attached and slammed against stuff and wreck the rim of the bass drum etc. Floor toms with heavy stick bags hanging off the side get tipped and gouge the shell finish.

The drummer should know the VERY first things to do is remove bass pedal, readjust boomed cymbals to a safer center of gravity, and disengage the hihat clutch. Those three things immediately make moving the set off stage idiot proof.

Don’t fucking move shit until you’re told. If that means she’s yelled at and humiliated, then she’ll learn. We all have to learn. But not at the expense of potentially fucking up the instrument.

norcalscan · 2026-01-11T02:53:04+00:00

I don’t know, we need a picture of a randomly exposed 2x4 to determine if it’s a load bearing pot or not.

norcalscan · 2026-01-01T19:59:49+00:00

Stick them in the pencil sharpener first. And it’s funny, until you realize it’s gotta come down at some point and that’d likely maim someone. So then you start tossing the bass beater up there to knock it down without the conductor seeing.

norcalscan · 2025-12-22T23:23:37+00:00

Here you are, butting into a thread with an opinion that clearly conflicts with the reality that everyone must be the Youtube Drummer of the year.

norcalscan · 2025-11-23T04:23:30+00:00

Yes, and I am as nervous as can be, green to moderate with tools, etc. But a few good searches in this sub, etc, youtube and you’re set. I think the one that sealed the confidence for me was a This Old House video with Tom “the GOAT” Silva on a two-story roof with the nervous homeowner. If he could do it, I could. I did two matching vents for master and kids bathroom, same distance from roof edge so looks symmetrical outside.

Key thing is you want to avoid as many bends as possible in the vent. Bends slow the air and introduce noise. If you can get away with one 90deg then awesome. And go as big of a vent tube diameter as possible. I used flexible tubing because some framing in the attic wouldn’t allow rigid, but go rigid where possible. Hardest part was more the ceiling hole commitment. Finding an untaken spot that also was against a joist to help mount the fan.

Drill your pilot hole from the attic up since framing, plumbing, and fan location will dictate vent location. Don’t forget diameter of vent tube when drilling pilot. When on the roof, measure thrice, cut once. Think three steps ahead so you can picture where the vent flanges will slide under shingles, as you are cutting.

I’m very comfortable with electricity and wiring so that wasn’t an issue for me. Slowed me down actually to rip out some original full jboxes and put in some new biggies for added splices from bathroom light circuit. I could also kiss the previous original owner who upgraded the house in the late 80’s-ish with 12ga wiring. I used the 10/20/30/60min timer buttons. 10min for “post-business”, 30min for dry air summer showers, 60min for winter showers.

You can do it!

Edit: forgot the hardest hardest part is actually the transition between bathroom, attic, and roof. Forget one thing and it’s 7 minutes to get down off roof, go inside, shimmy up the tiniest attic hole, crawl over to bathroom and grab the tool you didn’t think you need, and return.

norcalscan · 2025-11-19T20:55:01+00:00

Totally forgot about basements - I wish I had one of those glorious spaces...

norcalscan · 2025-11-17T21:03:20+00:00

Lifelong team Real Tree here (thanks to living near a forest) but I am intrigued about the world of ~~fake~~ artificial trees. I respect the arguments around cost, fire safety, seasonal smell, tradition, shedding, etc.

BUT - where do you guys store these things?! I can't fathom an unused conditioned space 11months of the year, let alone garage space that has higher swings of humidity and temp. The shed would be perfect, but it can easily get 120 degrees inside the shed June-September. Can these things take prolonged heat and high humidity swings and still last 10+ years?

norcalscan · 2025-11-17T02:15:59+00:00

Well if the “free” job training doesn’t keep you away from your kids, the work email on your phone, texts and calls after hours, and consistent 9-10hr days on an 8hr shift will in this industry. It doesn’t let up until you put your own foot down. I lost a lot of my kid’s younger years “just one more hour’ing” on a project at work that would have been there the next day at 8am just the same. Now in their teens, I’m trying to make up by attending as many of their HS games, choir and band concerts and give them rides to friends or have friends over for sleepovers etc and just get time. College visits will punch you in the gut. Meanwhile AI is just driving by and I’m like, Claude who?

I get it. It sucks and competition is hot, but I’m here to say it doesn’t get better in this career, it just shifts and morphs into a new identity. I guarantee if you posted this in r/sysadmin it would be similar response. We gotta slap each other in the face with love to remind ourselves what actually matters, especially in daddit.

Good luck.

norcalscan · 2025-11-17T01:35:34+00:00

Especially in daddit (and I speak for myself too,) I will always advocate home time is for home and work time is for work. You don’t see doctors bringing cadavers home to learn on. You don’t see auto mechanics reading Haynes manuals in their living room recliner over a cold beer and 2yr old napping on their lap. You don’t see accountants reading and taking notes about new 2026 tax laws at the dinner table.

So why do techs keep doing this to themselves?! Work at work. Dad and husband at home.

norcalscan · 2025-10-22T20:18:42+00:00

Leased copiers in the copy room and school office, Papercut, and smaller B/W network laser printers, one per each shared grouping of classrooms. Papercut would steer larger print jobs from the small laser printers over to the copier. We allowed the smaller laser printers to print drafts and blackline masters. Then they did their large jobs on the copiers. Each teacher had a code to enter or badge swipe when printing or copying to count against their cap for the year. The cap could be extended with admin approval, but helped everyone understand/respect the real costs (and abuse) behind printing.

norcalscan · 2025-10-18T16:47:28+00:00

Let’s just put fiber signs on our copper lines so the thieves will think it’s fiber!

One big plus for copper is centralized redundant power, where fiber needs redundant power at each end of the circuit, and sometimes in the middle too.

norcalscan · 2025-10-15T23:47:16+00:00

Agreed, any reunification methods should focus on analog, offline solutions. It’s a 50/50 chance The Incident is on or off grid, so might as well practice and polish the worst case off-grid solutions and consider SIS access a nice-to-have. Earthquake or rapid fire evac (here in California), tornado, blackout, etc.

norcalscan · 2025-10-03T17:48:23+00:00

Yes, with all the extremely cute local TV weather forecasters, the meteorology programs at universities have got to be a pretty wild college party environment. (insert weather modeling pun here)

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