You know what woke me up this morning?

For the second time one of the Maxi-Heat convection heaters I have caught on fire while I was sleeping……so I was lucky that the fire alarm went off, otherwise I might be a barbecued ‘critter’ right at this moment.

When you think of “hacking,” you probably imagine a dark underground of technical criminals abusing computer skills to break into, steal or deface company data and web sites. When “hacking” is done with telephones, it’s called “phreaking,” and it’s always just as illegal… Or is it? I’m going to tell you about an ethical form of phone phreaking that’s legal, easy, free and — best of all — helps you escape from that prison of automated responses you get when you call many large companies.

http://gethuman.com/us/

I encourage my readers here on LJ to obey the law at all times. Don’t engage in music, movie or software piracy, I say……..(-*_*-) Never remove those annoying fire-hazard warning tag things on your mattresses. Close cover before striking, etc.

However, it is also my duty to spot trends before the mass media grab hold of them, and give you an early warning.

One story that is breaking very slowly, and will come out in the mainstream press any day now is the problematic nature of speed cameras — those boxes mounted on light poles that “bust” you for speeding, photograph your crime and send you a ticket in the mail.

Speed camera errors are far more common than most realize and it’s likely that most of those errors go unchallenged.

After all, how do you challenge it, especially considering that most of these cameras are operated by a private business? You get a ticket in the mail for exceeding the speed limit a month ago. Did you really speed? No human — including you — has any recollection of the event. Still, you pay the fine…..note, I said |YOU|!

Sometimes, however, speed camera errors *can* be challenged.

Engineer Bryn Carlyon was issued a ticket by a traffic speed camera in Cardiff, UK, even though he wasn’t speeding. He used multiple timed snaps by the camera, plus a little basic math, to prove in court that he could not have been traveling at the speed on his citation. The case was dropped “due to insufficient evidence” and he received an apology from the Mid and South Wales Safety Camera Partnership, but Carlyon won’t drop it himself. He’s working to overturn the decision for the benefit of mankind: “I need the verdict to say that this was not dropped through lack of evidence — it was dropped because it was a false prosecution,” he told a local reporter.

Welsh farmer Steve Crossman received a ticket recently for doing 85 MPH in a tractor that happened to have a top speed of 26 MPH. The camera probably detected a speeding car accurately, but ticketed the wrong vehicle. If he had been in a car, he would have had no case and probably would have been forced to pay the fine.

In addition to being prone to error, speed cameras are biased. That’s right — biased.

Approximately 10 percent of all cars on the roads can’t be detected by fixed speed cameras because of bad shocks or unbalanced wheels, according to camera user manuals. If a car is moving up-and-down as it speeds through an intersection, a speed camera can’t issue it a ticket. “Lowrider” cars with illegal hydraulics that can make a car bounce can also invalidate speed camera readings.

Conscientious drivers who keep their automobiles legal, safe and in good repair will be given speeding tickets by speed cameras, but those who let their cars fall to pieces or who add illegal hydraulics will not.

Eventually, the mainstream media will put all this together and cover the story: Speed cameras are prone to error and bias and should not be used to fine drivers.

In the meantime, if YOU get a speed camera ticket and believe you were not at fault, please let me know the details in the comments section!