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Spelunking in Las Vegas
LowellPorter writes "There's an article here about some reporters who check out the sewers in Vegas after a known criminal escapes a police dragnet through them. They expect to find lots of people living in there, but only end up interviewing a couple of bums."
Must be some kind of annual conference, surely?
...or does this article stink!?
If I don't get a job soon that might not sound like such a bad idea!
No todo lo que es oro brilla
They expect to find some people living in there, but only end up interviewing a couple of bums who live there.
So what are you trying to say, bums aren't real people?
People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
I guess bums don't qualify as people.
There is nothing so silly as other peoples traditions, and nothing so sacred as our own.
They expect to find some people living in there, but only end up interviewing a couple of bums who live there.
Bums are not people?
Why are you calling them bums, the politically correct term is "trailer impaired".
Maybe they'd find some Missing phone lines?
Make even shorter URLs - 8LN.org
...not terribly compelling read for me. Then again, maybe if I put on some John Williams music from Raiders of the Lost Ark, it set the mood better. ;-)
They expect to find some people living in there, but only end up interviewing a couple of bums who live there.
So they expected to find people, but only found bums? Aren't bums people too?
Tibbon
tibbon.com
I can't see how this article has anything to do with technology, and the writeup on the mainpage is pretty lame.
I'm a writer, a poet, a genius, I know it. I don't buy software, I grow it.
I thought I was reading some sort of geeks weblog, I must have typed the wrong URL.
spellunking... well its more caveclan style.. damn i miss the caveclan outings from australia.. london lacks an organised caveclan... (caveclan info here
no sig for you
"Josh, slow down," I said. "I can't see shit."
Weren't they looking hard enough?
...giving detailed information on how to access one of the US's biggest cities' underground sewer network is a bit of a security risk in the current climate?
Ah, haven't there been so many SciFi movies with weird stuff happening in the Sewer...
And alot of X-files episodes.
Tibbon
tibbon.com
Hmmm. These so-called "Bums" must be pretty freaky...
They're out there in the sewers...
They're definitely not human...
But they're ALIVE.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!!!!!!!
---
So I guess the Al Quaeda network must be involved too.
Objects in the blog are closer then they ap
They expect to find some people living in there, but only end up interviewing a couple of bums who live there.
Gee, they didn't find any people that lived there, only some bums who lived there.
What exact species classiciation are bums, if not Homo Sapiens (people)?
Just wondering...
SlashSigTheorem: Humorous, Political, Critical, Constructive- If you have a
It's published in Las Vegas' News and Culture Weekly. So which is it... news or culture? Normally I wouldn't have to ask, but, y'know, Las Vegas...
Oh, and is it just me, or is the author the most condescending fucker on the face of the planet?
So, were the bums running Linux or something?
I can't entirely figure out what this has to do with nerd/geek/tech stuff...
Next week: They're going to explore the woods on the side of the highway with nothing more than a flashlight and a scimitar. Nobody knows whats there....
"There was a brief flash of light as another truck went by. While it passed, the world seemed to stand still as my companion and I forgot to breathe in our quiet terror. The smell of exaust was almost overpowering, and I longed to be free of this hell. Suddenly, we heard a soft crunch from right at our feet! Jimmy fumbled for his scimitar while I readied the flashlight. It was what appeared to be a dixie cup. From how long ago, we couldn't say... There appeared to be a drying brown substance in the bottom of it, which we suspect is human blood. We had no time to ponder that however; we had a long journey ahead."
The reporters were looking for a troll in the sewers, but couldn't find him.
I guess they had their threshold too high.
The should have looked at -1.
DNA is the ultimate spaghetti code.
I read the whole thing when I woke up, thinking there might be some reason to why you decide to post it.
Are the reporter guys your friends ? Or is the guy who originally posted the story your friend ?
I mean, the whole thing is a little interesting, told in the perspective of two reporters, alternately, but when you half expect them to find an ogre or a troll, finding bums just isnt enough.
Thats just my opinion.
Rapid Nirvana
They were inspired by watching CHUD
SCO to Hell
They could have found C.H.U.D. down there.... no wait that was NYC.
Devon
Matt: And then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a troll like silhouette, clasping what appeared to be a gold ring, proclaiming "my precious" over and over to himself! It was at that moment Josh and I knew we were fucked and the Earth stood not a chance for survival.
They expect to find some people living in there, but only end up interviewing a couple of bums who live there.
And the news is where? I expected it to take 15 minutes to drive to work today. I was wrong, it took 25, there was construction. I should write an article about my trip and post to slashdot.
Mod me down if you want, but this story isn't worthy of a real comment.
-Pete
Soccer Goal Plans
...So there's gotta be some one-armed bandits down there.
Were the bums playing craps?
Man, I can't believe I said that...
They found large concrete pipes with 5-6 people living inside them. These stories are far more interesting!
Here in Luxembourg, we have kilometers of casemates [pdf]. Only two sites are open to the public, but I've had the chance to explore a couple. Two years ago I saw some graffiti by people who fled underground during air strikes in WWII. I've never met any bums though.
Trollem mirabilem hanc subnotationis exigiutas non caperet
While not exactly a tech story, the artice is an interesting reminder (imho) about what can happen in our society. Remember the dot-com boom? Remeber the crash? Know anyone who lost their job and *still* hasn't found another? Just because we work in a (usually) highly-paid industry, doesn't mean we're any more immune from total poverty then John Q. Citizen labourer.
Living in the tunnels is what some people are reduced to, when they suddenly find they've got no more money left to pay the rent or the electricity or the gas bills. Perhaps those of you making jokes about the differences between bums and people may not be so high and haughty if you lose your job and you're down there yourself in six months time.
Janie took my gun...
I think they were expecting a bunch of dog-boy Recombinants, on the run from the sinister government agency which was breeding them to be super-soldiers. But all they found was a hot brunette chick with puffy lips and a barcode on her neck. She told them to pull their heads out of their asses, and do something useful, like write a halfways decent piece about the homeless.
Freedom: "I won't!"
There goes next month's TV special!
Upon first sight, I was sure it said 'the servers in Vegas' - but when I got to the 'lots of people living in there' part, I knew something was wrong :-)
Why, Mutant Ninja Turtles, of course!!!
"I'm just here to regulate funkiness."
Is any /.'er really surprised?
:)
I'm sure we could have told them that. We know these people quite well.
Time to find some sturdy cover, probably.
Blearf. Blearf, I say.
Yup, this is just another cover up... The real reason they were there was to install new stealth phone tapping equipment to track those no-good-do'ers that go to Vegas every year for DefCon... but then they found they had been bested and the 2600 crew had already been there when they found that grafitti picture of Kevin Mitnick (you know, the one they showed in the article)... So then they needed a cover up reason for why they were there, so the interviewed a few bums (being that they aren't real people and all) and wrote about the "underground" culture in LV.
Your mammas flamebait.
...did they find the Amulet of Yendor?
the only reason why this would ever be posted is because we have users living in las vegas who are escaped convicts and this is the only way we can warn them.
Efren Belizario
headspeak.com
For more than 18 hours, I'd been unable to shake the image of the troll: stringy dark hair, cascading beard, hairy chest, bent back, small dick, paper-white skin.
Being stuck in sewage tunnels was clearly screwing with the reporters' minds BIG TIME.
---- scrm
How's that not "news for nerds, stuff that matters?"
Programming can be fun again. Film at 11.
It just seems a bit too dangerous to me, even if the weather isn't calling for rain. Last time I was in Vegas (last October) a freak storm blew through and killed some kid playing in a wash somewhere in town...
I use to live in suburb of Houston and I remember driving along creeks and rivers to find such storm drains. I loved exploring them or hanging out in them. The only downside is that the gulf coast gets heavy downpours quite often on any such given day especially during the spring or summer. So be aware if any of you want to do this. You can easily drown in some of these smaller drains. Me and an old buddy of mine did this once and within only 3 minutes of the heavy rain the small trickling stream only a few inches wide turned into a white water river. It roared and had a current to it and it was hard to stand up. I was afriad of being sucked down and having my head slamed into the concreate as I fell down or having my lamp get washed away. Pretty scary. Luckly we were only 700 or 800 feet in and close to a larger pipe that wouldn't filled over our heads with water. We quickly headed for the bigger pipe and barely made it out. I always watched the weather channel before I entered another drain pipe after that. I am moving to Las Vegas this July so I will check these tunnels out. I sure miss my drain pipe spelunking pals from High School.
http://saveie6.com/
MAG-lites are wonderfully durable, but their bulbs and batteries are still prone to damage in an abusive environment like a cave. I know: on my one caving trip in college, my primary mag-lite gave out halfway through. Fortunately I had a AA backup. Better yet would be an LED flashlight: they're incredibly tough.
Secondly, a kukri? Please. I own one, and it's mostly useless except as a heavy-duty machete. And it might get you arrested. And was he carrying it stuck through his belt without a sheath?
Important stuff for caving:
Jon Acheson
All opinions expressed herein are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled.
That Dmitri Skyvalrov (sp?) didnt use the sewers....
Great Linux Site
there are a few books written on the "mole people" of the NYC abandoned subway shafts.
I think someone needs to write a book about the random homeless encounters in the Vegas sewer system.
There are some odd things afoot now, in the Villa Straylight.
Have you ever been to Circus Circus. Just as filthy but more accessable ;)
-- Probability does not dismiss possibility --
Hell, in Las Vegas I'm sure they've got DSL or cable even in the sewers!
*Meanwhile, I sit next to my 56k that connects at no better than 26.4kbps.*
retard moderators galore
Be wary of any facts that confirm your opinion.
It's a documentary about people living in the Amtrak subways in New York, and is both fascinating and moving.
No. Mutant ninja turtles? Perhaps.
Hang on, that was NY. Disregard.
- SMJ - (It's not just a name: it's a bad aftertaste.)
...or they might have been eaten by a Grue.
-Ed
docbrown.net
Graphic Design, Web Design, Role-Playing Games...all the good stuff
Ed Wedig
Graphic design services
docbrown.net
The MMC was changed to Denver, Colorado in fact the caves of Colorado are better suited for big crowds.
Please redirect all your reervation to our new site.
Thank you!!
------I can please only one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either.------
Or is this a hint of further slumps in the IT industry headed our way? "This just in: Slashdot posts stories about housing opportunities for sacked IT folks..."
Don't park drunk, accidents cause people.
For more on underground/abnormal exploration (especially the german bunker and catacombs): www.infiltration.org it's more on the adventurous/curiosity side than the "wow! people live here!" side, but an interesting read if you find this sort of thing interesting
In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
It does make you wonder at how our sewers and cities are affecting how animals evolve. crayfish and regular fish adapting to those tunnels, living with the chemicals and shit we put down there, all has to affect their 'natural selection' to an extent. i wouldn't be surprised if some animal, raccoon perhaps, would evolve to only live on those kinds of animals, and we'd have an entire ecosystem. perhaps with bums at the top, eating the 'coons? who knows!
...it's done here in Minneapolis.
This article is from the local "alternative" paper (the CityPages), and includes some good photography.
Also, one of the individuals mentioned in the article has a fascinating website that details their quest for the big cave under the middle of the city. It's the Minneapolis Drain Archive.
blog |
I remember how I always wanted to go adventuring in the sewers as a kid. But I think we only got the small kinds here... it definently look crammed down there. I want big sewers too!
I was spelunking storm drains with friends from school, and we popped up in the middle of a tiny ornamental lake in a park (Swan Lake in Tulsa, for the few who will know.)
The drain is in the middle of the lake and about eight feet across, so we were all able to sit on the edge at once & look around. Kids on BMX bikes pointed at us & yelled. We snarled & hollered things like "Haven't you ever seen sewer people before!"
More recently I suggested exploring some disused missile silos I'd heard about, but a good friend pointed out that if we got caught, we'd go to jail. I forget that I'm an adult less often now.
Assembly is the reverse of disassembly.
I asked a member of the National Cave Rescue Team recently at the premiere of an IMAX movie on caving if it was an official term and she stated it was not, just a hobbyist term that someone had come up with in the 50's to make it sound more important than "caving."
- Up to 12 levels of tunnels
- Nuclear bunkers
- Lots of human skulls
- Whole tribes of people living there
- Mass burial sites
- A hastily abandoned chemical laboratory
- A 3000-seat bunker under a cathedral
- Strange religious rites
- All kinds of other weird stuff
It would be scary if it wasn't so fascinating. The article linked to above is quite old; have any Russian slashdotters seen the TV programme mentioned?'nuff said...
> SlashSigTheorem: Humorous, Political, Critical, Constructive- If you have a .sig, someone WILL complain.
A wise guy once said "you can't please everybody, so you might as well please yourself."
My kukri was bought from Himalayan Imports, and was made in Nepal. It's their 15" Ang Khola. It's pretty solid, and looks nice, but it arrived dull, and sharpening it properly took HOURS. For $150, a knife should come sharp.
The edge on these is supposed to be indestructible, onine reviews talked about chopping off car doors without harming the edge. Well, they're all full of shit. After an hour clearing light brush with mine, the edge was noticeably messed up. I would have expected better from a $15 machete.
I probably should have gotten the Cold Steel one, quality control would have been better. As it is, I pretty much feel I got a Shemp.
Lastly, the main reason I think a Kukri is a bad choice for a stroll through the Mines of Moria or some such nonsense is that it's a chopping weapon, and in a tunnel you want a thrusting point. The bend in the Kukri that makes it a good chopper tends to make it a poor thrusting weapon.
Jon Acheson
All opinions expressed herein are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled.
Unfortunately, the site seems to be having problems, but infiltration.org is a 'zine that covers these kinds of urban expeditions. Some great stuff there, when it's working (and google seems to have spidered it yesterday).
Maybe Hobo Sapiens? (ducks and runs for cover)
I like how they use swear words in the story. Makes it a little more realistic anyway!
-- Damien Boersma
Have you ever met the engineer who designed the red bridge? He lives near the train station, as a bum. I can't remember his name, but I think he was featured in Ons Staad. He reportedly helps the kids on the block do their maths homework and such. There's also the redhead junkie who used to have a dog. The last time I saw her, she was juggling.
I think we have nice bums, overall.
Trollem mirabilem hanc subnotationis exigiutas non caperet
Also, the URL you gave failed, though there was a Google cache.
A nasty little dwarf throws a stone knife at you and misses...
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
So is anybody organizing tunnel hacking at DefCon ?
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
It was really weird and I was sorry I didn't have my camera.
Rarely I see a story knabbed from k5 and brought here, but hey...ya know...you got the post, right?
It's always funny to see what people will write about others when they think nobody's looking. I expect most Slashdot reader think all alt.weekly writers are clueless Luddites. Apparently nobody considered that one of the writers of this piece might also be the paper's technology columnist and a former Mondo 2000 writer...which means, of course, that he's got Slashdot permanently on screen all day.
That, of course, would be me.
Thanks for the comments, both good and bad. This is a weird piece for me--usually I'm writing about shit like Open Source and web art and quantum computing. But it was fun to write. I've gotten almost two hundred e-mails since the Drudge Report picked it up last night...weird for a guy who's stuck in a Hee-Haw shithole like Vegas. Do you know how bad it sucks to only see other nerds three times a year (Comdex, CES, DefCon)?
This piece has gotten picked up by everyone. For those of you who thought it was boring...yeah, I know. But listen: the sitch is this. In Vegas, the homeless are pushed aside and hidden by the city, because we wouldn't want to offend the fucking tourists. It's repugnant. The fact is that this piece has done more to highlight the situation than anything else in local media--most of which is completely beholden to the gambling industry.
We went on one of the most popular drive-time radio shows this morning (KOMP 92.3) and I called the city's attitude towards the homeless contemptible. I also mentioned that our mayor, Oscar Goodman, recently claimed in a speech that there "are no homeless in Las Vegas". I suggested that, based upon this remark, Mayor Goodman might in fact be a crackhead.
He is very angry. Which means I did the right thing.
Anyway, just wanted to weigh in with my two hundred cents. But it's nice to be noticed, you know? And seriously, thanks for all the comments, positive and negative. I'm surprised Slashdot ran this at all, but it's sort of cool from my geek perspective.
Cheers,
Dr. Joshua Ellis
The 'tunnels' they were in were big enough to drive a car through. Plenty of room for choppin'.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Just responses to comments, here.
;-)
1) We didn't refer to it as spelunking. We were not in caves. We were, in fact, aware of this.
2) I carried a kukri 'cause it's what I had to carry. And it looked cool.
3) I don't know why it ended up on here. But it's funny that it did.
4) I know how Jon Katz feels now. Boy, oh boy.
5) I refuse to take stylistic criticisms from people who learned to write prose from reading manpages.
6) Having slashdot and the Drudge Report link to you means never having to worry about excess Yahoo! Mail server space again.
They're great. While they make for a pretty crappy flashlight, it's still light, but more importantly it lets you set fire to other things that make light. And heat.
Butane lighters are great.