Slashdot Mirror


How Do I Prevent Lan Party Theft?

DragonTHC writes "I'm thinking about hosting a lan party open to the public. I'm aiming for approximately 60 people to attend. I can handle all the logistics of operation. The only thing I can't wrap my head around is: how do I prevent theft at the lan party? Do I hire security guards? Do I need security cameras? I don't know the people who will attend, and I don't know if they're trustworthy enough to not steal other people's equipment. What do I do?"

38 of 758 comments (clear)

  1. Hire a guard, in cosplay by gentimjs · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hire a security guard, but if you want to intimidate lanparty geeks you need to have him dressed up as Arthas or something. Make sure the "steel is real" when selecting a weapon to go with the costume, geeks can tell 440stainless vs polished aluminum a mile away.

    1. Re:Hire a guard, in cosplay by eclectro · · Score: 5, Funny

      geeks can tell 440stainless vs polished aluminum a mile away.

      Or they could use something nerds are really afraid of, girls.

      --
      Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
  2. a huge porn server by thermian · · Score: 5, Funny

    Stick one of those on the network, and people will be too busy downloading that to bother about stealing stuff.

    --
    A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
  3. DRM by CyberVenom · · Score: 5, Funny

    Everyone knows that DRM is really the only answer for preventing theft in today's high-tech society.

  4. Re:Insurance? by hey! · · Score: 4, Funny

    Solution: hold the party in your parent's basement.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  5. Re:Parties in general by eln · · Score: 5, Funny

    You can't expect to prevent theft at all in any kind of party.

    Hell, if it's a really good party you should wake up 2 weeks later naked in an alley in Tijuana.

  6. nooooo! by thermian · · Score: 5, Funny

    But GPL-porn would probably be made by the same people that release software under the GPL......

    Must...burn...imagination....

    --
    A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
    1. Re:nooooo! by spazdor · · Score: 4, Funny

      /34/ Richard Stallman.

      GO GO GO

      --
      DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
    2. Re:nooooo! by TheSpoom · · Score: 4, Funny

      Congratulations, you have irreparably broken the internets.

      --
      It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
      - E. Debs
  7. Re:How many people at the party do you know? by pilgrim23 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Invite Hells Angels they have a long track record of providing security http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont_Free_Concert

    --
    - Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
  8. Re:The question should be. by dvice_null · · Score: 5, Funny

    > How can you steal from them without them finding out?

    1. Make everyone sign "The host can keep any stuff that is left behind" contract before entering.
    2. Yell "oh my god, are those girls naked out there"
    3. When everyone is out, close the door
    4. Profit

    That is actually not stealing, because you made them sign. If you want to steal, skip #1.

  9. Hasn't been a problem for me by mypalmike · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've been to dozens of LAN parties, and I've never lost any equipment. In fact, I usually end up leaving with more equipment than I came with.

    --
    There are 0x40000000 types of people: those who understand 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point, and those who don't.
  10. Re:Handcuff them by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 5, Funny

    Handcuff them to the table, and when they want to leave, you can escort them out.

    I used to work for you, didn't I?

    --
    Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.
  11. Re:Insurance? by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't think you ought to underestimate the dangers of *E*X*T*R*E*M*E* *F*R*A*G*G*I*N*G*!!!!

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  12. Re:kensington cable locks by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 5, Funny

    Make sure the cable is looped around something that is relatively solid and unmovable.

    Such as the gamers themselves. Oh, wait...

    --
    Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.
  13. Re:Easy by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 4, Funny

    What? Use social interaction to simply fix a problem that could equally be solved by the use of needlessly complex technology!? ARE YOU MAD?!?

    --
    Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.
  14. Re:Insurance? by Thelasko · · Score: 5, Funny

    The reality here is this is a LAN party, not a frat-boy keg party. The risks are low.

    LEMME SHOW YA SOMETHIN!!!!
    All of the equipment blows one of the fuses in the OP's antiquated household wiring. Anxious to get back to playing Counter-Strike, one of the guests uses a penny in place of a fuse.

    Do not panic, I am a fire marshal!

    --
    One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
  15. Re:Insurance? by camperslo · · Score: 5, Funny

    Solution: Assuming all guests are adults, consider having a "clothes off at the door" policy.
    That'll really make things difficult for thieves, and will weed out those wearing explosives too!

  16. Re:Insurance? by JustOK · · Score: 5, Funny

    what were the dinosaurs REALLY like?

    --
    rewriting history since 2109
  17. Re:Insurance? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh please. If you're constantly worried about being sued you might as well just never get out of bed in the morning.

    precisely why i don't get out of bed until well into the afternoon.

  18. Re:Insurance? by Atraxen · · Score: 5, Funny

    No, no, no.... He wants LOWER risk...! Have you been to a LAN party lately? Between that many PSU's and the lack of a shirt to hold in the BO, explosives are less of a risk than biowarfare.

    And no one wants a real-world Zerg rush on the nose.

    --
    Be careful of your thoughts; they could become words at any minute...
  19. Re:Insurance? by irishPete · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is slashdot - it IS his parent's basement.

    --
    disk? hmmm... I know I saw it somewhere...
  20. Re:Insurance? by eln · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's not really accurate either. My Slashdot UID has been passed on for generations, and will continue to be passed on. I'm actually only 3 years old. Some families pass on the family name, we pass on the family Slashdot UID.

  21. Re:Insurance? by ferat · · Score: 5, Funny

    what were the dinosaurs REALLY like?

    "Barney" was frighteningly accurate.

  22. Re:Insurance? by lastchance_000 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I am not the Dread Pirate Roberts...

  23. Re:Insurance? by Dmala · · Score: 5, Funny

    How do people even hurt themselves in lan parties?

    Have you *seen* some of the cooling systems on these custom rigs? You could easily get sucked into a CPU fan.

  24. Re:Insurance? by Tetsujin · · Score: 5, Funny

    do you graybeards have a script that scrapes slashdot for the string 'uid' in user comments? i honestly can't think of how else there's such a high correlation for all the 'uid' posts to garner so many old-timers.

    Well, see, most of the younger crowd doesn't know this - but back in 1999, in response to the impending Y2K crisis, most slashdot users got neural jacks wired in to help with patching critical date-field-overflow issues. So most of the old-timers on Slashdot don't actually "read" things here, rather the postings are integrated into our overall consciousness as a background process.

    --
    Bow-ties are cool.
  25. Re:Insurance? by NaDrew · · Score: 4, Funny

    what, they don't have taco bell in Finland?

    In the future, all restaurants are Taco Bell.

    --
    Vista:XPSP2::ME:98SE
  26. Re:The question should be. by babasc · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't think the girls need to be naked

  27. Re:Insurance? by eln · · Score: 4, Funny

    Like all Slashdot readers, I possess preternatural intelligence, and I have been blessed with unlimited knowledge from birth on a wide variety of topics, many of which were unknown to anyone else at the time. I'm also irresistible to women and, although only 3 years old, already possess incredible cynicism and am nostalgic for a time decades before I was born.

    Because of this, like all Slashdot readers, I am able to provide opinions and factual information on virtually any topic posted here. Our information is always more accurate and reliable than the article, and all Slashdot readers are absolutely correct in everything they post, even when they contradict each other.

    If you need any proof of these extraordinary claims, just browse any article here on Slashdot. The politics section is particularly good for this.

  28. Re:Insurance? by Intron · · Score: 4, Funny

    A related exercise is: with over 1.2M slashdot UIDs issued over a period of 11 years, how many of those users are deceased? The worldwide mortality rate of 9.5/100,000/year suggests about 600 UIDs are "pushing up vaxes". Come to think of it, I haven't been attacked by some of my foes in a while.

    --
    Intron: the portion of DNA which expresses nothing useful.
  29. Re:Insurance? by aplusjimages · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dude you should have seen the last Rockband party we had. The guys house burnt down and I ended up with hepatitis c. But we unlocked that Gold Artist achievement.

    --
    Can I bum a sig?
  30. Re:Insurance? by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 4, Funny

    Some families pass on the family name, we pass on the family Slashdot UID.

    Oh please. Until evolution cooks up chicks that are turned on by Starfleet Away-Team gear, we all know there is only going to be one generation of Slashdotters.

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  31. Re:Insurance? by leathered · · Score: 4, Funny

    Good idea until the Goatse man turns up, he's got plenty of space to hide stolen goods.

    --
    For all intensive porpoises your a bunch of rediculous loosers
  32. Re:Insurance? by oatworm · · Score: 4, Funny

    THIS IS SLASHDOT!!!

  33. Re:Insurance? by ferat · · Score: 4, Funny

    No, I mostly just lurk. I feel obligated to post when people make funny comments about low UIDs.

    This is generally followed by the people with two digits mocking me for creating my account after class rather than before.

  34. Re:Insurance? by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 4, Funny

    What's OPP?

  35. Re:Insurance? by Lazyrust · · Score: 5, Funny

    Its all fun and games till someone goes "I put on my robe and wizard's hat...."