Berkeley professor's camera caught student allegedly sabotaging another student

Posted by justin66 18 hours ago

Counter29Comment17OpenOriginal

Comments

Comment by OkayPhysicist 18 hours ago

What a stupid way to piss away all the time spent on a PhD.

Comment by mingus88 16 hours ago

Sounds like a USB kill style device. Something you can easily plug in and blow the circuit

https://hackerwarehouse.com/product/usb-kill-v4/

> When plugged in power is taken from the USB power lines, multiplied, and discharged into the data lines, typically disabling an unprotected device.

Comment by charcircuit 18 hours ago

This strategy doesn't make sense. What was the end goal? To have the other person keep buying new computers.

Comment by OkayPhysicist 16 hours ago

The goal was definitely to impede the other researcher's work, and I can imagine a few possible reasons for that. In descending order of probability, interpersonal conflict (in my experience, graduate students in the same lab tend to either become best friends or hate each other, with little in-between), trying to beat the other student to the punch w.r.t publication, or good ol' schizophrenic delusions that the person's work needs to be stopped (mid 20's is a pretty standard age for onset in men).

Comment by amypetrik8 5 hours ago

> interpersonal conflict low probability in this case because this guy seems a repeat offender but absolutely things can get that toxic and ugly

> trying to beat the other student to the punch w.r.t publication, this is my highest suspicion. Why is anxiety. Deep anxiety. Anxiety about failing. Anxiety about the other guy beating you. Sabotaging other guys's computer alleviates the anxiety so thusly becomes a repeat pattern. Anxiety can be quite insidious and nasty and is more pervasive in more ways than many are aware.

> good ol' schizophrenic delusions that the person's work needs to be stopped possible but more rare

Comment by readthenotes1 17 hours ago

You can't logic your way out of a crazy box.

Trying to understand the root cause motivation of people with mental illness is usually futile and almost always fruitless

Comment by progbits 18 hours ago

https://archive.is/09tyU

Without the email-wall

Comment by kitsune1 18 hours ago

[dead]

Comment by ge96 18 hours ago

[flagged]

Comment by thih9 18 hours ago

What is this referencing?

I found a song called “Bernie smells a rat”[1], is that it or is it something different?

Edit: apparently there was a line in The Incredibles, a character Bernie Kropp shouts: “Don’t ‘Bernie’ me! This little rat is guilty!”.

[1]: https://genius.com/Sarah-lynch-bernie-smells-a-rat-lyrics

Comment by ge96 17 hours ago

Yeah from Incredibles

Comment by OutOfHere 18 hours ago

Overall I think we need a lot more cameras in a lot more places. Their presence should be the default, but their feeds should not be monitored if there isn't a reported crime or a suspicion of one. I am not saying that the government should have default access to these feeds either.

A camera also helps exonerate someone who is not guilty, which is not an unimportant benefit.

Comment by mingus88 16 hours ago

It’s 2025. You can deploy a camera anywhere you want. This article is a perfect example.

I’m instantly suspicious when I see a random phone charger plugged in a common area.

AR glasses are perpetually just around the corner. Everyone will be streaming video all the time.

Comment by ale42 18 hours ago

It sounds great until someone starts abusing. And the room for abuse seem very ample in such a case.

Comment by IAmBroom 14 hours ago

Counterpoint: cops.

A society that abides by its own laws should require police to keep their bodycams operative, under severe penalty.

We aren't that good, but being videotaped by civilians is moving the needle slightly, making them more accountable. It's the reason George Floyd's murders were (surprisingly) convicted.

Comment by OutOfHere 8 hours ago

Law enforcement can abuse more if a camera is not present. Often a camera is what exonerates a person, setting them free.

Comment by thih9 18 hours ago

While I like the positives of that (easier to catch some criminals), I fear the abuse potential and the negatives overall way more.

Comment by OutOfHere 15 hours ago

It's not just to catch criminals. It's also to free those who get unfairly witch-hunted and accused of a crime when the evidence (camera) shows otherwise.

Comment by koeng 18 hours ago

“The Panopticon is good”

Comment by 18 hours ago