Do you hide your expensive stuff away when dating/etc ?

[Smokey]

I setup a hidden webcam and recorded video/sound in my lab when we had an open home. 
It was funny seeing and hearing peoples reactions to coming across an electronics lab.
I highly recommend it if you have an open home, not just in case someone steals something but just for entertainment. 

I just have a maze of boxes and projects all over the floor so you have to do some minor parkour to get from the doorway to the lab bench.  It's like one of those laser fences but it's cardboard.  I'll know if anyone was on there because the towers of stuff would have gotten knocked over :⁠-⁠)

[Psi]

I setup a hidden webcam and recorded video/sound in my lab when we had an open home. 
It was funny seeing and hearing peoples reactions to coming across an electronics lab.
I highly recommend it if you have an open home, not just in case someone steals something but just for entertainment. 

I just have a maze of boxes and projects all over the floor so you have to do some minor parkour to get from the doorway to the lab bench.  It's like one of those laser fences but it's cardboard.  I'll know if anyone was on there because the towers of stuff would have gotten knocked over :⁠-⁠)

I did a tidy up first, it was clean and everything.

[Simon]

For example, the lady that lives down the street looks nice enough to date, but I worry about her background and peer-group, they are much closer to the criminal side of life around this small city, than I want to be.

So I'm being hesitant to talk to her, because if she came to my house, she'd see all my nice electronics gear, and then probably tell her friends. Now anyone can have shady connections, but I just assume avoid the 'scarier' folks when possible.

So how do you people deal with such matters ??

This reminds me of something:
-"Our babies will be smart and beautiful."
-"Not to mention imaginary."

what if they have "my" looks and "your" brains?

I know how you feel but if she is involved with these people do you really want to be involved with her? I know how tempting it can be.

[hwasti]

So how do you people deal with such matters ??

That is easy. I am surprised no one has suggested it already and we are already 3 pages in.

At the risk of turning this into a porn site, you ought to post revealing photos so people can judge if the risk is worth it.

Of course, I am talking about revealing photos of the gear. If you are desperate enough to consider dating someone with shady companions, I suspect you are past the point where her looks matter.

But seriously, and this one has been said plenty of times, if having someone in your life makes you scared for your safety or the safety of your possessions, don't bring that person in your life.

I do not know how old you are. If you are on the younger side, you most probably need to be burned personally for that lesson to take; BTDT, old enough to no longer be young but not so old that I have forgotten what it was like being young. If you are older, you have most probably already realized that it is less painful to learn from others' mistakes.

Good luck.

[NiHaoMike]

While only applicable for some devices, maybe a good defense is to "rootkit" items that are commonly seen as valuable? For example, lock down a laptop so that it would be difficult to wipe the OS and engrave it to make it harder to resell, but have it boot right to the desktop with no password so it would be usable. Then if it gets stolen, it secretly turns itself into a Tor exit node in the background and the thief would have no idea until the cops show up for questionable online activity. And also have it download and seed some popular movie and music torrents, to get the RIAA and MPAA against them.

Another fun one is to embed smoke bombs that go off a few minutes after being stolen.

[Simon]

That's a lot of effort to go to given the actual risk.

[MathWizard]

I think this lady is interested, but the place where she lives, has had people overdose and die there, and she goes for walks in the middle of the night, to the 'shadier area's ' because she's probably friends with a whole cast of characters, that I rather avoid.

Like I said I'll just be friendly, but I don't want to lead her on, or be the guy that doesn't ever want to meet her friends, or have her meet mine. She's probably a nice enough person though.

[Xena E]

I think this lady is interested, but the place where she lives, has had people overdose and die there, and she goes for walks in the middle of the night, to the 'shadier area's [...]

FFS! People have kaked it on drugs at her crib and there are worse places she visits!!!

Steer clear, the only thing you'll get from a relationship with this skank will be a new habit, and Hep C.

[Smokey]

...the lady that lives down the street ...

I may not be the best at geography, but if she lives down the street and walks to the "shadier areas" you also likely live down the street from those walking distance "shadier areas". 

[pcprogrammer]

and she goes for walks in the middle of the night, to the 'shadier area's'

Makes one wonder what she does for a living 

 

[Gyro]

I think this lady is interested, but the place where she lives, has had people overdose and die there, and she goes for walks in the middle of the night, to the 'shadier area's ' because she's probably friends with a whole cast of characters, that I rather avoid.

Like I said I'll just be friendly, but I don't want to lead her on, or be the guy that doesn't ever want to meet her friends, or have her meet mine. She's probably a nice enough person though.

Your post reads as delus as though you are deluding yourself. Your equipment is the least of your worries. If the 'lady' is living in a drugs den then she is quite likely a user and if it goes further, and especially if you meet her friends, you could end up that way too. That you know where she goes on her night time walks reads as 'creepy'. Your money and health/life are far more at risk than your test equipment. You are far more likely to be "lead on' in several ways than the other way round.

Forget about your infatuation and join clubs (tennis, badminton, social or whatever) in a better part of town. Even internet dating (on one of the more 'respectable' sites) is safer than your current 'ambitions'. If you can't shake them, you should seek help from your doctor.

[Psi]

Personally I think it's more important to hide expensive stuff like cut SMT tapes, and keep your lab tidy when you have a GF in the house.
You could have $50-$100 worth of parts in a short piece of SMT tape that fell on the floor and your GF might throw it in the rubbish thinking it's trash because it looks like it.

The value of things a few mm in size is not something other people even remotely understand.

"What do you mean that small piece of black tape costs more than my new handbag"

[Xena E]

Personally I think it's more important to hide expensive stuff like cut SMT tapes, and keep your lab tidy when you have a GF in the house.
You could have $50-$100 worth of parts in a short piece of SMT tape that fell on the floor and your GF might throw it in the rubbish thinking it's trash because it looks like it.

The value of things a few mm in size is not something other people even remotely understand.

"What do you mean that small piece of black tape costs more than my new handbag"

Anecdote on the value of trash, (and stressing that not all females are clueless about the cost of piss-ant size components).

I wanted a small box to post some personal stuff and found one suitable in the recycling bin at work.

When I got home, looking in the box there was an antistatic packaging box ratling about inside ... 20 Qorvo GaN fets still in residence.

On the way back into work the next day my £20 bag was temporarily worth £13k.

Junior who received the delivery and had signed in the contents to the production stores was bollocked so severely the next day I think it made his momma cry.

[temperance]

and she goes for walks in the middle of the night, to the 'shadier area's'

And how exactly do you know when and where she's going to in the middle of the night? Are you spying on her during the night from behind the curtain? Most people don't know what's happening outside unless some unusual disturbance might require your attention.

[exe]

(subscribing)

[u666sa]

For example, the lady that lives down the street looks nice enough to date, but I worry about her background and peer-group, they are much closer to the criminal side of life around this small city, than I want to be.

So I'm being hesitant to talk to her, because if she came to my house, she'd see all my nice electronics gear, and then probably tell her friends. Now anyone can have shady connections, but I just assume avoid the 'scarier' folks when possible.

So how do you people deal with such matters ??

Down the street, next door neighbor dating usually don't happen, unless you really have high SMV (sexual market place value), i.e. you're handsome, have lots of girlfriends, girls are naturally attracted to you, you're famous, you're very rich -- but latter usually attracts gold diggers. But anyway, if lady did not send any AI's towards you (approach invitations) you're probably low SMV. This means in your case next door neighbor dating won't be happening. Here is why:

All women are promiscuous, but they won't tell you that. Two types of women in fact exist, those that are known to be promiscuous and those that are known to be reputable nice girls. Both types are promiscuous have crazy body counts, trust me. The only difference is the type of men each one sleeps with. Girls that are known to be promiscuous basically manage to sleep with a beta guy. Beta guy has no sex or very infrequent sex, once a month, once a year type of deal, once a decade. What beta does when he finally scores? 
He goes tells about it everyone! That's how women become promiscuous and loose their reputations.

In fact, most women sleep with alpha males. Alpha male gets lots of women, top 20% of men are alpha are dating 100% of women. Betas, the lower 80% are pretty much not getting any, sometimes though, they do get lucky. This is where infrequent sex comes from. Once a month, once every couple of weeks, once a year, whatever. Alpha has many women, sex is frequent. Women trust an alpha male with their desires and wants. Alpha understands women. Betas have no clue what is women, how to talk to a woman, what to do with a woman, etc.

Women rarely date their neighbors, unless SMV is high, because reputation is easily ruined. They are hesitant with alphas that live next door. What chances are for a beta guy? None. Will she talk to you? Sure. Just to be nice. Will it escalate to something sexual? Probably not. So you don't need to worry about bringing her home.

Get that fear off your chest.

Now as far as hesitating talking to women, you should approach all women. The more you approach the better you become with women. The better you become with women, the more women you date, and that results in higher SMV. Guy who is seen with lots of different women has much higher SMV than the other guy.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite AMS videos, I hope this video will inspire you to man up. 

MOD: Video removed[/url]

[u666sa]

Another thing. Women talk to each other. When you approach girl next door and fail, and by fail I mean you fail to deliver a bed squeaking night of fun -- she friend zones you, or otherwise it's an instant rejection, bad things happen to your reputation. Women living near you begin to you view as that weird guy. So if you don't know what you doing, it's best to avoid approaching girls next door and your neighbors.

You should instead bring women home, be seen with different hot women. New woman every week. Maybe even new women every day. Then that girl next door will naturally find you interesting and open you, instead of you opening her. That naturally leads to fun sex buddies situation.

 

[David Aurora]

For example, the lady that lives down the street looks nice enough to date, but I worry about her background and peer-group, they are much closer to the criminal side of life around this small city, than I want to be.

So I'm being hesitant to talk to her, because if she came to my house, she'd see all my nice electronics gear, and then probably tell her friends. Now anyone can have shady connections, but I just assume avoid the 'scarier' folks when possible.

So how do you people deal with such matters ??

Down the street, next door neighbor dating usually don't happen, unless you really have high SMV (sexual market place value), i.e. you're handsome, have lots of girlfriends, girls are naturally attracted to you, you're famous, you're very rich -- but latter usually attracts gold diggers. But anyway, if lady did not send any AI's towards you (approach invitations) you're probably low SMV. This means in your case next door neighbor dating won't be happening. Here is why:

All women are promiscuous, but they won't tell you that. Two types of women in fact exist, those that are known to be promiscuous and those that are known to be reputable nice girls. Both types are promiscuous have crazy body counts, trust me. The only difference is the type of men each one sleeps with. Girls that are known to be promiscuous basically manage to sleep with a beta guy. Beta guy has no sex or very infrequent sex, once a month, once a year type of deal, once a decade. What beta does when he finally scores? 
He goes tells about it everyone! That's how women become promiscuous and loose their reputations.

In fact, most women sleep with alpha males. Alpha male gets lots of women, top 20% of men are alpha are dating 100% of women. Betas, the lower 80% are pretty much not getting any, sometimes though, they do get lucky. This is where infrequent sex comes from. Once a month, once every couple of weeks, once a year, whatever. Alpha has many women, sex is frequent. Women trust an alpha male with their desires and wants. Alpha understands women. Betas have no clue what is women, how to talk to a woman, what to do with a woman, etc.

Women rarely date their neighbors, unless SMV is high, because reputation is easily ruined. They are hesitant with alphas that live next door. What chances are for a beta guy? None. Will she talk to you? Sure. Just to be nice. Will it escalate to something sexual? Probably not. So you don't need to worry about bringing her home.

Get that fear off your chest.

Now as far as hesitating talking to women, you should approach all women. The more you approach the better you become with women. The better you become with women, the more women you date, and that results in higher SMV. Guy who is seen with lots of different women has much higher SMV than the other guy.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite AMS videos, I hope this video will inspire you to man up. 

MOD: Video removed

Tell me you've never even spoken to a girl in real life without telling me you've never actually spoken to a girl in real life 

Anyone who follows "alpha male" YouTube channels and says shit like "all women are promiscuous" is a guaranteed little bitch.

[EEVblog]

Can we not post alpha male videos please.
This thread was already going to go enough off the rails as it was.

[Xena E]

Anyone who follows "alpha male" YouTube channels and says shit like "all women are promiscuous" is a guaranteed little bitch.

I think you mean guaranteed wanker. 

Strong specific opinions are one thing, generalised insults are unacceptable. 

[temperance]

(unsubscribing)

[Haenk]

Makes one wonder what she does for a living 

Social worker employed by the administration?
We have those too, taking care about drug addicts, night "workers" and homeless.
We even had a "Night Mayor" for a year, to take care of party locations, night bars and restaurants in general.

[Zero999]

People have always made tasteless comments about the opposites sex. Women do it just as much as men. The difference is nowadays men are treated more harshly thank women, when they do it.

Everyone should be able to make such tacky comments about the opposite sex, without fear of repercussions, so long as they keep it to the men's/women's show/locker room. Obviously this forum being a, public, education, mixed sex space, is not the appropriate time and place for this kind of behaviour.

Perhaps this thread should be closed.

[SiliconWizard]

Yup.
Just ask her out, get rejected, then get on with your life.

That sounds reasonable and will save him time moving his "expensive stuff" just to potentially date her.

[David Aurora]

People have always made tasteless comments about the opposites sex. Women do it just as much as men. The difference is nowadays men are treated more harshly thank women, when they do it.

Everyone should be able to make such tacky comments about the opposite sex, without fear of repercussions, so long as they keep it to the men's/women's show/locker room. Obviously this forum being a, public, education, mixed sex space, is not the appropriate time and place for this kind of behaviour.

Perhaps this thread should be closed.

Nope, that's not how life works. Just because I'm a man doesn't mean I'm automatically gonna be onboard with another man making tasteless comments about women. That Trumpian locker room talk nonsense is just a poor excuse for acting like a fuckwit. If it's so important to you to be free to make tacky/tasteless comments you should be taking a good hard look at yourself, not whining about being oppressed.