• Rojo27 [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    18 days ago

    Is there any reason anyone would scrape Citibike data other than it possibly being their job… Like wtf? Who needs a surveillance state when you’ve got shitheads like this. Most servile populace in the world and then Amerikkkans will talk about their freedoms and hiveminds and other shit like that.

    • FunkyStuff [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      18 days ago

      I could see it as a project I would try one summer but I’d probably just turn it off after 2 minutes once I think about the ethical implications.

    • 7bicycles [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      18 days ago

      All mentioned information is Open Data, IIRC because NYC has a pretty progressive policy in place that anything that ties into public transport - like citibike - has to publish this type of stuff. As it should be. The “scraping” this guy does is most likely using the provided API, if only because if you pinged everything Citi Bike entity manually every minute the DDoS-Protection would block you out.

      Removed from any specific case, throwing out accusations and tipping off the NYPD is garbage. I’m pretty sure somewhere in the 13 gajillian dollar budget they’ll find someone who can go to the NYC Open Data Website and check this.

      I don’t think the answer to someone doing this bullshit is to walled garden it all. The list of publicized data as shown here is just basically shit you need to track anyways to keep the service operational, this’d exist anyway. The choice then is to either abolish Citi Bike and anything like it (including if it was run by the municipality, they’d need the same data) or alternatively only citi bike has the data, which means the cops still get it, but you don’t.

        • 7bicycles [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          18 days ago

          Even if it wasn’t him scraping the data is not the issue here for the aforementioned reasons. It all exists anyways, neatly organized on centralized server infrastructure. This Data cannot not exist unless you want to turn back the clock to like thousands of dudes on rikshas. Given that, it’s either only the state can see it and use it, or everybody can.

          What this guy did is dumbass witchhunting. Even removed from the idea a guy doing a planned assassination would stoop so low as to fuck with a citibke to disable or futz it’s tracking, the expanded post simply shows this is the only bike taken from a nearby station and going northbound and dropped off there. Guy might’ve gotten it from one like half an hour away.

    • peeonyou [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      17 days ago

      how is citi bike data publicly available anyway? like i get that Citibike wants to be able to tell you if a bike is available at a rack, but other than that why should any shithead be able to map out exactly where any bike is at any time?

    • CommunistBear [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      18 days ago

      Given how meticulously planned the rest of it was, I’m assuming the shooter had some kind of a plan on what to do after going to central park

        • GalaxyBrain [they/them]@hexbear.net
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          17 days ago

          It really gives hope that a high level assassination doesn’t NEED to be a suicide mission. Also I love heist movies and it’s just amazing to see a clean getaway from the middle of NYC, that’s nuts, it’s a surveillance camera with a city built around it. Super impressive. I’d love to know how it was done but considering the shooter would need to get caught for that I’m happy enough not knowing.

  • abc [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    18 days ago

    gonna say that this probably won’t lead to shit, because surely the NYPD pulled the nearest camera footage from the street/nearby stoplights/hotel he got murked in front of and came to the conclusion he was on some citibike. If the dude used a visa debit gift card that he bought with cash and a burner phone to actually rent the bike, good luck tracking him lmao. Dude definitely went through Central Park based on that pick-up/drop-off area. He’s in the wind now godspeed Agent 47

  • FourteenEyes [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    18 days ago

    I read this as fleeing the scene of the crime to then get lost in the crowd at Central Park. Probably had a secondary transportation and change of clothes there.

  • mudpuppy [it/its, she/her]@hexbear.net
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    18 days ago

    i would be really surprised if the cops didn’t immediately grab that data. the fbi is involved in this case, they can outdo a twitter user. i think the point of the citibike was to get away from the initial police response and witnesses, then he would have time to make a slower and more covert escape before they got the gps data. the chances of him being caught go down with each hour that passes. i’m sure they got into the phone by now, and if they got info from it, they would have released it. if one of his friends was gonna rat on him for the $10k, they would have done it by now. the cops can have fun with the water bottle and candy wrapper, they’re kidding themselves. they’re not gonna catch him. he got away with it.

      • mudpuppy [it/its, she/her]@hexbear.net
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        18 days ago

        i feel like it’s past the point where the amount is a deciding factor for someone working class. i think if someone was willing to sell him out, they would have wanted to do it before someone else did. and i think anyone who this guy trusted enough to have enough info would have considered it a heroic act.

          • mudpuppy [it/its, she/her]@hexbear.net
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            18 days ago

            i just can’t think of a situation where i would be okay ruining it all for a life-changing amount of money but not a year-changing amount of money. if i care enough to not do it for $10k, i care enough to not do it for $1m. maybe i’m wrong, it’s pretty subjective. but i just can’t imagine that someone would decide to rat if they raise it.

      • BashfulBob [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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        17 days ago

        I don’t think its about the money nearly so much as it is about too many potential suspects and tons of dip shit sleuths on Twitter blowing up the NYPD with bad tips.

        Even if someone did know something, they’re competing with a tidal wave of Rileys who think they’ve Sherlock Holmes the perpetrator already.

        Edit:

        https://fixupx.com/rtwlz/status/1864473351139557493

        Police now backtracking and saying Citibike was not involved after all

        Quoting Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter)

        A representative for the company that manages Citibike — Lyft — says the NYPD has now informed them that their bike was not used by the homicide suspect:

        Lolz

  • Bidentime [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    18 days ago

    The guy posting this is a complete data weirdo and a vouyer for sure. His got a YouTube channel where you just watch compiled cctv footage and has mapped out other stuff.