I died a little inside today.

[nanofrog]

The thing is.. my company is a "non-profit".

I'm under the impression the tax implications would be even more critical for them then.

[TerraHertz]

No, read the forum title, this is a "A Free & Open Forum" (subject to publishing copyright stuff or abuse for example).
I don't care what you post on here, so by all means set up a forum topic and post the photos.
I don't care if there are repercussions and I lose advertising, or demo gear or whatever. Really, I don't, that's how I roll.

Hmm... I know anyone can start threads, but that really should be a category. Like Buy/Sell/Wanted, General Chat, etc. I can't see any way for users to create categories (and a good thing that is!)

Wanton Destruction Hall of Infamy - seems like a good category title to me. Anyone else agree? Other ideas for the title? Maybe 'Depreciated, my arse!

I definitely can post some photos to kick it off. Dave, I recall you mentioning an example you saw a few months ago, of a large quantity of scopes etc destined for destruction. Any photos?

Oh, and I've read news stories in the US in the last year about people being arrested and charged with theft, for picking up stuff from kerbside council cleanup piles. Even one example in Australia I seem to recall.
The legal argument was that once the resident puts stuff out for a cleanup, it belongs to the council.
Just more insanity, signs of a society spiraling into madness.

Something amusing slightly related: While rummaging (illegally now?) in a council cleanup kerbside pile of junk, I was chatting with someone else going through the same pile. He mentioned one should always check out old couches very carefully. A friend of his had found about $5000 in cash stuffed in one, and he's heard other similar stories. Presumably Granny forgot to tell anyone where she hid her savings. Also often surprising amounts of cash slipped down behind the cushions.

Another story, directly related: Long long ago (of course!) I was working on Garden Island on a ship refurbishment. An adjoining Navy building, some kind of stores warehouse, had a huge dumpster out front. One day a pile of very old ship's radar console gear appeared in the dumpster. All valves and mechanical synchro-servos. Probably from the 40s or 50s, totally obsolete. But I always wanted to have some synchro-servos to play with. I asked in the warehouse if I could salvage them. "Oh no no noooooo! It's all SECRET. Has to be destroyed."  It sat there a few days, infuriatingly taunting and forlorn. The evening before the dumpster was finally carted away, I understand that gear was smuggled out in the back of someone's ute. So glad it was saved by *whoever* it was that would appreciate it.

Coincidentally, I'm looking for a 3-phase 115V AC supply. Anyone have a 3-phase variac or 240V to 115V converter they don't want?

[c4757p]

Oh, and I've read news stories in the US in the last year about people being arrested and charged with theft, for picking up stuff from kerbside council cleanup piles. Even one example in Australia I seem to recall.
The legal argument was that once the resident puts stuff out for a cleanup, it belongs to the council.
Just more insanity, signs of a society spiraling into madness.

It's a bit sad that it's happening in Australia - I hate seeing people get more restrictive with that kind of stuff - but that attitude is common in the US. It's not public property because it wasn't released explicitly to the public. TBH I'm not sure whether or not I agree with that, but it is certainly how I and most people I know were raised.

[smashedProton]

A while back, my school district gave the axe to the industrial tech department.      A friend and I 'stole' a couple hitachi scopes, function generators, and power supplies.  My only regret is that I didn't have the balls to go into the other room and get the plasma cutter.  I found all of the equipment that we didn't save the next day tossed in the dumpster behind the school.  I don't understand how people think that test equipment is useless...   Its almost like they think that anything that isn't made by apple is medieval 

[c4757p]

A while back, my school district gave the axe to the industrial tech department.   

That's sad. The school near me is giving the axe to everything that's relatively important, too. Funny they don't ever cut the funds to the football shit. And the money whore of a superintendent actually took a raise while all this was going on, too. That doesn't anger me nearly as much as the fact that the town did not show up at her door with torches and pitchforks, the fat piece of shit...

I don't understand how people think that test equipment is useless...   Its almost like they think that anything that isn't made by apple is medieval 

To their credit, a lot of older test equipment would look like absolute junk to someone who doesn't know what it is.

[megahz]

Yea, im fine with taking old useless equipment out of people's trash bins, but if its still working expensive stuff I fell likes its even more serious

[TerraHertz]

It's a bit sad that it's happening in Australia - I hate seeing people get more restrictive with that kind of stuff - but that attitude is common in the US. It's not public property because it wasn't released explicitly to the public. TBH I'm not sure whether or not I agree with that, but it is certainly how I and most people I know were raised.

In my childhood times, there were virtually no restrictions on scavenging in council rubbish tips. Many happy childhood hours I spent playing in a couple of local tips. So much interesting stuff! It was actually how I got my start in electronics - by bringing home old radios, TVs, and sometimes more technical stuff, then pulling it apart and making things from the bits. This was age around 8 to 12 or so. (My family was poor btw.)
Then council tips got all lawyerish, and banned scrounging. No trespassing, and also they made sure to bulldoze everything dumped that day before the staff left. It was very sad to see.

One of the most outrageous examples of widespread waste in our society, is supermarket dumping. Most people are not aware just how much perfectly good food supermarkets throw out, because they keep their dumpsters in secure areas that aren't even visible to the public.

But once some friends and I were on a car trip to go rock climbing in Mt Arapiles, western Vic. We happened to stop in a country town called Ararat, Vic, to buy some food for the week's camping. For some reason the supermarket here had their dumpster off to the side, in plain view and unlocked. Out of curiosity we had a look, being all for dumpster diving. Riches! It was a very large dumpster, filled to the brim with food. All kinds - everything from a large supermarket. Everything from sacks of potatoes to gourmet cheeses. Piles of tinned food, rice, vegetables, fruit.... All of it near or just over expiry dates. Potato sacks with a few eye shoots on some, fruit with maybe a tiny bruise, tins with dents or torn labels...
We literally filled up my station sedan so there was barely room to sit. Ate like kings for the next week.

Every supermarket does this, everywhere, every day. While in other places people starve to death (and some here are pretty damned hungry too.) But markets can't give the food away, due to the expiry date and legal liability. And it might cut their profits, through some lost sales.
F*ck the law, I say.

Funniest dumpster diving story: a friend of mine for a while lived near a factory in Marrickville that baked a large fraction of the donuts and cakes for Sth Sydney. He found their dumpster was where they disposed of the 'defective' product from each night's baking. Emptied every day, so it was all freshly baked. For a year we had a limitless supply of fresh donuts and cakes. Who cares if the icing was slightly asymmetrical, or whatever? The only small problem was that bees also discovered this dumpster full of icing and sugary glazed cakes. So getting the boxes of confections out was a bit like robbing honey from a bee hive.
Mmmmm.. I can still smell that dumpster. It was delicious.

[c4757p]

That's just pathetic. I personally wouldn't feel comfortable taking expensive stuff from the trash but the lawyers can go to hell. The food dumping is especially bad.

[c4757p]

Funniest dumpster diving story: a friend of mine for a while lived near a factory in Marrickville that baked a large fraction of the donuts and cakes for Sth Sydney. He found their dumpster was where they disposed of the 'defective' product from each night's baking. Emptied every day, so it was all freshly baked. For a year we had a limitless supply of fresh donuts and cakes. Who cares if the icing was slightly off, or whatever? The only small problem was that bees also discovered this dumpster full of icing and sugary glazed cakes. So getting the boxes of confections out was a bit like robbing honey from a bee hive.

Nicking equipment from the trash is boring enough for me not to really care, but OK, that's a nice little adventure right there. 

[lemmegraphdat]

I'm so lucky. All I got to do is get a slip and two signatures and I can take all kinds of things like input output boards and motor control boards. Got a 90's computer with a bad hard drive. I have a box of stuff sitting at work cause I have more than I can handle at home now.

[megahz]

wana mail some of that to me??

[Randall W. Lott]

I'm so lucky. All I got to do is get a slip and two signatures and I can take all kinds of things like input output boards and motor control boards. Got a 90's computer with a bad hard drive. I have a box of stuff sitting at work cause I have more than I can handle at home now.

Nice score!  Congratulations! 

[lemmegraphdat]

I'm so lucky. All I got to do is get a slip and two signatures and I can take all kinds of things like input output boards and motor control boards. Got a 90's computer with a bad hard drive. I have a box of stuff sitting at work cause I have more than I can handle at home now.

Nice score!  Congratulations! 

I might give some of it to a hackerspace in Springfield Mo. next time I'm in the area.

[peterthenovice]

I am now half dead!

  :phew:

[EEVblog]

Hmm... I know anyone can start threads, but that really should be a category. Like Buy/Sell/Wanted, General Chat, etc. I can't see any way for users to create categories (and a good thing that is!)
Wanton Destruction Hall of Infamy - seems like a good category title to me. Anyone else agree? Other ideas for the title? Maybe 'Depreciated, my arse!

But that's the problem, everyone wants their own Sticky Thread or even category for their pet subject topic, it's just not possible.
This is not suited to a category, as it's really just a single issue thread.

I definitely can post some photos to kick it off. Dave, I recall you mentioning an example you saw a few months ago, of a large quantity of scopes etc destined for destruction. Any photos?

Actually, I have video of it. But the person who let me shoot it on their premises didn't want it released, so I'll honor that.

Oh, and I've read news stories in the US in the last year about people being arrested and charged with theft, for picking up stuff from kerbside council cleanup piles. Even one example in Australia I seem to recall.

Were they actually convicted?
Got any links for that?

[Psi]

A few years back in NZ there was someone who took a Lawn-mower from the curbside during the council inorganic collection days.

It turned out the home owner had been mowing his lawn and gone inside to get something. 

[EEVblog]

Every supermarket does this, everywhere, every day. While in other places people starve to death (and some here are pretty damned hungry too.) But markets can't give the food away, due to the expiry date and legal liability.

Yes, they can give the food away, there is nothing stopping them legally, except the fear of legal liability, which is of course complete BS. If you didn't sell the product, and didn't knowingly give away poison/dangerous food, you won't be liable squat.
http://www.ozharvest.org/donatefood.asp?pageID=618

Thankfully there are companies like OzHarvest that capture that food before it's tossed out.
http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/waste-not-want-not-means-theres-frequently-something-to-chew-on-20120520-1yz18.html

[Harvs]

Oh, and I've read news stories in the US in the last year about people being arrested and charged with theft, for picking up stuff from kerbside council cleanup piles. Even one example in Australia I seem to recall.

I remember this one, but it's a little different from what we're talking about here.  Basically the council and residents got sick and tired of bogans trawling through the curbside rubbish piles and making a shitfull mess.  People would stack a pile of rubbish outside their house then some bogan would rip it apart to get a sheet of rusty iron at the bottom and leave everything strune everywhere.  The council "owning" everything put out was just the legal way they could stop people from doing this.

It never would have been a problem if the bogans had just a bit of curtsy and left the pile of rubbish, as a pile.

[c4757p]

I remember this one, but it's a little different from what we're talking about here.  Basically the council and residents got sick and tired of bogans trawling through the curbside rubbish piles and making a shitfull mess.  People would stack a pile of rubbish outside their house then some bogan would rip it apart to get a sheet of rusty iron at the bottom and leave everything strune everywhere.

That's what we have bears for.

[Psi]

Hehe yeah, we have that problem also. (People making a mess trying to get at stuff.)

The most annoying thing is when people smashing CRT screens to get the copper yoke off and leave glass everywhere.
However its less of problem now that CRTs are disappearing.

[GK]

The council "owning" everything put out was just the legal way they could stop people from doing this.

A bounty would have been a better idea. $50 for each mullet scalp.

[TerraHertz]

Hmm... I know anyone can start threads, but that really should be a category. Like Buy/Sell/Wanted, General Chat, etc. I can't see any way for users to create categories (and a good thing that is!)
Wanton Destruction Hall of Infamy - seems like a good category title to me. Anyone else agree? Other ideas for the title? Maybe 'Depreciated, my arse!

But that's the problem, everyone wants their own Sticky Thread or even category for their pet subject topic, it's just not possible.
This is not suited to a category, as it's really just a single issue thread.

Unlike 'wanted buy/sell' or 'Contests'?
I think you'd find if there was a stable place for people to post such stories, it would be surprising how many would turn up. And keep on turning up, especially if the venue became widely known. Also each example should be discussed in it's own thread, not mixed in with others in one thread. (That regularly vanishes off the front page and is forgotten.)

It's a topic that really is quite political, and emotionally charged. Aspects of our society and business methods are incredibly, immorally wasteful and destructive. That could be fixed, if there was enough public pressure to fix it.

This reminds me of the Roman senator, who when he heard of an idea to make all slaves wear armbands, said "No, for then they would see how many of them there are, and revolt."
This 'bulldoze it' bullshit continues to happen, because few people realize how often it happens. If they hear of one or two instances they think it's no big deal, just some kind of unique aberration. But it's common (in Australia), and I think very harmful to the ability of our society to maintain numbers of the technically literate and capable. [Some, including me, would say that is the deliberate intent behind the accounting and business rules which cause the destruction.]

I definitely can post some photos to kick it off. Dave, I recall you mentioning an example you saw a few months ago, of a large quantity of scopes etc destined for destruction. Any photos?

Actually, I have video of it. But the person who let me shoot it on their premises didn't want it released, so I'll honor that.

Well, that's a moral choice. You've weighed your duty to them against their immorality and the loss to society of that equipment, and decided your duty matters more.
Others might have decided differently.

Oh, and I've read news stories in the US in the last year about people being arrested and charged with theft, for picking up stuff from kerbside council cleanup piles. Even one example in Australia I seem to recall.

Were they actually convicted?
Got any links for that?

Unfortunately I can't recall, didn't save the story or link, and can't think of a search term that works. It wasn't in any of the categories of stories I do archive.
But here's a related story:
http://www.financenews.co.uk/fnews/woman-arrested-after-taking-thrown-out-food/
'Theft by finding'... got to love the Law. That's law in Australia too.

Oh wait, here it is. Thanks google. Via discussion at http://www.weekendnotes.com.au/cleaning-up-at-council-cleanups/

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/man-arrested-for-allegedly-stealing-vaccum-from-mooroolbark-rubbish/story-e6frf7l6-1226025965308

Ha ha ha! It was near where I live, and the man arrested was my age. But it wasn't me.
 [Edit: Oops, no it wasn't. Misread mooroolbark as moorebank.]
Further coincidentally re 'found vacuums', I have an excellent industrial grade backpack vacuum cleaner for my workshop, that I found tossed out in front of a local church. The power cord had shorted out at the point where it flexed most, no doubt giving the user quite a fright. So instead of just fixing the cord, they tossed it. I guess they didn't have enough faith in their healing abilities. 

Edit: Now I think about it, I'm pretty sure that is not the Australian story I saw a while ago. Must be more than one instance then. That's not good.

[EEVblog]

Unfortunately I can't recall, didn't save the story or link, and can't think of a search term that works. It wasn't in any of the categories of stories I do archive.
But here's a related story:
http://www.financenews.co.uk/fnews/woman-arrested-after-taking-thrown-out-food/

Facing trial != convicted

'Theft by finding'... got to love the Law. That's law in Australia too.

Got a link for that one too?
You can be arrested for anything, even looking at a cop the wrong way. Doesn't mean you are going to get found guilty of anything, or convicted.

[TerraHertz]

'Theft by finding'... got to love the Law. That's law in Australia too.

Got a link for that one too?
You can be arrested for anything, even looking at a cop the wrong way. Doesn't mean you are going to get found guilty of anything, or convicted.

Oh for... wait, did I register here under the name 'google' by mistake?

[tom66]

Another sad thing I see is the amount of consumer electronics (LCD/plasma TVs, AV amplifiers, DVRs etc.) that I see thrown out with common, easy-to-fix problems. I tend to buy most faulty stuff cheap from individuals but if I could get it from dumps I would quite happily pay the council/authority for them, but they do not want to know. I fix about 90% of the stuff I get successfully, and they fix about 0%, because it all gets crushed for scrap.