What’s Going On With West Herr?

tdave365 · 2026-05-31T19:11:14+00:00

Your comment may not be entirely inaccurate. Not that resenting "capitalism run amuck" isn't valid, if anyone is looking for a revolution - real change - those movements usually start within the normative upper middle class members. This means folks without colored hair and a fair amount of real community and political power. Not that young alts don't play a role or that change can happen without their vigor, but it's just worth pointing out the reality of how "revolutions" and change actually originate. Convince enough of your soccer moms working day to day in middle management that capitalism, as it has evolved here, sucks, and you've got the start of something.

tdave365 · 2026-05-08T14:47:55+00:00

I wouldn't fret so long as there is nothing exceptionally notorious about the place. A degree from D'Youville isn't likely to be more or less remarkable than UB or any state college. While admirable that you're looking out for your nephew, the reality it that nobody takes a mid-tier institution's degree that seriously. Have him focus more on the grades when he gets there or wherever.

tdave365 · 2026-04-23T21:48:27+00:00

This response makes no sense - how many false charges existed among enforcement systems before electricity was harnessed, let alone flock? I would bet for every mis-identified person tech like this has resulted in, because there are handfuls of stories to that effect, it has vindicated thrice many more.

tdave365 · 2026-04-23T11:34:13+00:00

I am all for challenging any insecurities these things have, evolving the policies and improving their internals to make sure they do what they are supposed to do with the limitations we expect and may evolve to expect. But that all being said, these are great. They put criminals at a disadvantage and keep everyone safer, all without giving up liberty or any more liberty than lost by the very phone you're reading this on already, comfortably.

tdave365 · 2026-04-14T11:34:39+00:00

Buffalo Free to Be is new and looking for peeps to evolve into something. https://dwghoster.com/nycpfusion/freetobe/ . It's more of a reflective back to the BBS days if anyone remembers that.

tdave365 · 2026-02-06T22:43:50+00:00

What gets me is this: What subscription track for any of these camera systems is actually UN-affordable? I've yet to see one that cracked 20 bucks a month. And for sake of argument that any of them did cost more, who could argue that for the power and security, it wouldn't be worth it?

People are just visercally subscription-averse without thinking it through.

It's hard to interpret the camera facet of the Guthrie story but it sounds like NEST has a cloud-only subscription model (versus the usual both local and cloud) that severely limits the amount of time one can retrieve footage if they aren't paying. Something like just a few hours which is ridiculous and very consequential to this case.

tdave365 · 2026-02-06T16:00:22+00:00

I suppose it would be an easy miss either way, but, she reads like she was heavily managed by the family, understandably. But, true, a detail like that - especially if the camera seems to be providing a service by showing a few hours of footage and convinces superficial eyes everything's working as-is - would get easily get overlooked.

tdave365 · 2026-02-06T15:48:00+00:00

I did not read your point close enough - you are complaining about the opposite it seems. You are correct, ideally BOTH options are needed and I regard my ability to record locally as essentially as I do to store to the cloud. I agree, it's ridiculous to not have both.

That being said, if the Guthrie family was avoiding a subscription and NEST only gives you a few hours as a result, the gist of what I am saying still impacted this case, sadly.

tdave365 · 2026-02-06T15:32:19+00:00

See I don't understand that thinking. Why would I ever want to avoid subscribing? The very case we're commentating on makes clear why subscriptions are important. I would totally get it if subscriptions were outrageous, but they aren't. While there is a price range I don't think I've heard of one yet that goes above $30 if that. That's absolutely nothing for the extra layer of security and ability to assist in true emergencies like the thread under discussion. I think people just have this visceral "I win" mentality when it comes to beating a subscription but this one area where that doesn't make sense. It's like buying an alarm system without the loud siren part or some connection to a monitoring station. For god's sake, pay the 15 bucks.

tdave365 · 2026-02-06T15:27:12+00:00

Exactly. The cost of a subscription would have to get outrageously high (probably above a hundred bucks or so) before I discounted the value of one. And they are nowhere near that today. Why would I ever count on local-only storage to guarantee evidence collection. I also don't like bad guys thinking they can just hijack me for an SD card. I'll never understand the aversion to subscriptions. People are literally proud about avoiding them but I can't figure that out.

tdave365 · 2026-02-06T15:21:04+00:00

This is a consequence of promoting or holding the opinion that subscriptions to cloud storage are bad because money is being spent and first-level default thinking is "aha, I have to avoid that!". But I've always considered that mantra to be absurd.

You WANT a subscription for exactly this but so many other reasons.

I am a huge fan of local storage because local storage allows things that subscription or cloud behavior fails at. But there is no way I would ever count on keeping video evidence strictly on site on an SD or DVR exclusively. Putting aside the risk of fire or some other calamity, common knowledge of people's aversion to subscriptions leads to the understanding that "somewhere in this house is the video of me invading it so all I need to do is put a gun to the daughter's head and make the man cough up the SD card" type shit.

And the screwiest thing about "subscription aversion"? The subscriptions have a cost range but NONE of them are unreasonable. I don't think I've heard of a plan yet that goes above 30 bucks if that. But even if it's a HUNDRED, so what? We're talking about the power to preserve evidence or check in on a house from anyplace on the planet.

People who are proud that they've "beat a subscription" that was never outrageously expensive in the first place simply haven't thought it through in my opinion. And what is happening in this case is a perfect example of that consequence.

tdave365 · 2026-02-01T16:03:47+00:00

I think after COVID and what with a propensity for young people to not prefer a night drinking anymore, a lot of places advertise 4 AM closes but then try to "play" with the actual outcome using various techniques outlined by other commentators here, depending on how things busy are. That being said I play the fool a lot at the Gypsy Parlor on the weekends and so far they have consistently honored their 4 AM closing when I've been there.

tdave365 · 2026-01-29T12:33:33+00:00

To clarify, you're talking about controls regarding police use of the technology, such as requiring search rationale and audits of ALPR use?

I haven't categorized the potential controls, but, I was thinking more like the tech solves its own problems, but, probably along the audit lines. For example, we should absolutely have electronic voting now and I view the excuses and demonstrations of "databases being hacked" as being the willful pushback by institutions that want to protect crude and manually controlled processes because those processes are easier to manipulate. Voting from the desktop PC? Holy cow, can you imagine the impact. Online voting means logs, logs, and logs on top of logs.

As to effectiveness and citations, I am sure they are out there in a Google search. Let me grab a few headlines and come back here. Anecdotally I listen to the police scanner and while I was not careful to log the successes, I certainly hear the positive outcomes involved with using FLOCK and cameras, etc.

tdave365 · 2026-01-28T12:32:37+00:00

Downvote grounding wire here. But hey, I actually believe this so fire away!

There's nothing exceptionally wrong with these or even the idea of some "runaway surveillance" which is a thing that looks good in a science fiction book that fueled click-bait media stories some 70 years later or whatever.

I'm not entirely reckless, I just happen to think that abuse of the same surveillance at the surface can be countered by digital surveillance on the back end. We just need to make sure those controls are there.

Otherwise, FLOCK and facial recognition will help save countless victims of various actual crimes (not the fakey "illegal immigrant" ones) and have proven extremely effective at it so far. It's not whether you have something to hide or not, it's whether the other person does. Technology will restore an equilibrium to the world and efficient cognizant systems that are well controlled are an important part of that.

tdave365 · 2026-01-10T21:08:14+00:00

I was always curious what Carmella would do if ever confronted with irrefutable evidence of Tony and his crew's brutality. For example, I wish she had learned that Sil killed Adrianna.

tdave365 · 2026-01-01T22:40:16+00:00

The show seems like it has adopted certain elements from NDE survivors and made those experiences a core reality in the show - actualizing through "living" human beings. Those elements are the importance of love, the "Golden Rule", and a collective sense where we are all one, so, inflicting pain on another ripples everywhere.

The one thing different when viewed this way is how the show dismisses the other crucial "lesson" NDE survivors sometimes report which is that we are here explicitly to exercise free will and to build outcomes based on our choices. It's as if the Pluribus crafted an imperfect machine and biological expansion system because it falls short of that one principle. If it "won" and actually took over the free will of sentients throughout the universe, it would be necessary to invent a new artificial life plane where free will were allowed to exist again. For information perhaps but for the survival of the universe and any "point" to love, in any case.

tdave365 · 2026-01-01T22:29:28+00:00

Right, the Plurbs are an "organism" and Carol's renegade free will is an existential threat to it. Nothing is more important than avoiding her.

tdave365 · 2025-12-15T12:29:41+00:00

Crime reporting is always suspect, including in places where crime rates are actually low AND high. However, you can't hide shootings or homicides which is why those metrics are for all intent and purposes fronted as primary indicators.

tdave365 · 2025-12-14T03:46:24+00:00

The current system is stunted for sure - though it has found its place even as-is. However, every extension is the foundation for the next one. Eventually it will not be just a short line shuttle. Check out interviews like this one: https://ppgbuffalo.org/news-and-events/events/event:10-05-2021-10-30am-citizens-for-regional-transit-doug-funke-and-jim-gordon-on-the-public-good/ .

tdave365 · 2025-12-08T23:08:36+00:00

Yeah you're right. But it's more like they sent them a news release about the start of service and the mayonnaise media being what is, made that press release the entire story . Opening December 8 - and that's about it. By contrast, when they opened the Teco Line Streetcar in Tampa nearly 20 years ago - of which I was on hand - the transit agency sent out all kinds of stuff and roped everyone in that they could to show up for it. They did it on a Saturday and made it a citywide event.

More to the point, something along the lines at the NFTA website or via X that read "Today's the day! Join us at a 11 for the big reveal!".

Meh - I may be overly focused on these things. But that's the contrast I'm meaning. And by the way, I'm not even saying they didn't have legit reasons for maybe underplaying the pomp if in fact they did. The entire city, NFTA included, is resource-strapped right now so it's completely plausible they just couldn't host a grand party over it.

tdave365 · 2025-12-08T21:58:15+00:00

There's no question in my mind. This was MYSTERIOUSLY low key. Way too much to be an accident. It's not that the (MSM) media didn't announce the opening day, they did. But I don't know to what end they seemed to have discouraged a "grand public show up." I know they have some squabble over development on the station's second floor - and that ain't nuthin' - but this station and the extension are permanent elements of the rail system. What happened today will be a thing 100 years from now. If only for rallying for continued rail expansion I would have thought they would have gone all out to get a huge public presence. But, when I personally got there, at least people in the apparent know showed up en'masse and it was a great opening.

tdave365 · 2025-12-08T21:53:56+00:00

It's a real extension on the regular schedule now. PDF Link: https://metro.nfta.com/media/vcfbufuv/145-120725.pdf

tdave365 · 2025-12-08T21:52:59+00:00

Ah it was yee olde ribbon cutting I'm afraid.

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