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Cake day: June 24th, 2024

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  • You’re so right. I mean…I used to work with people who were K9 handlers and anyone who even brought his dog in a situation that would allow direct contact would be scrutinised. Repeatly? You are no longer a K9 handler and probably no longer a officer.K9 training is expensive and a handler who let’s that happen would not be in control obviously. But training here is done on a state level (we have no local law enforcement in my neck of the woods), regulated on a national/federal level and passive signaling is preferred these days anyway.

    So… As you said… Even a dog getting an OD would be so crazy here it would probably make national news if the media got wind of it.

    Crazy.


  • Have a look at Agent DVR. Works locally and the “pro” features that one would need to pay for are basically just Plugins. Everything else works nice without it. Additionally it accepts basically everything you throw at it camera wise and is far easier to configure than frigate, also has a (good) HA integration and is extremly mighty if your system grows over the years.

    The mobile app is nice, but it also works fairly well in a browser on mobile.


  • Did you just seriously recommend port forwarding to a NVR login? Even worse with a consumer grade router? With HTTPS,non Standard Port and a strong password as the only security tips?

    Please,people,for the love of god: Don’t do that. Really. Don’t. This is really bad advice,sorry.

    Unless you are very very sure that your NVR solution is impecable in terms of security (none are), you are 100% sure you stay up-to-date all the time (including reviewing updates for issues) and have additional measures like fail2ban, IDM/IDS,etc. in place this is a very bad idea. HTTPS is only helping in terms of password transmission/spoofing,which is an unlikely vector here, a non standard port doesn’t help one bit here(have a bit of fun with shodan and see yourself) and while a strong password helps it only helps if the auth of the system and the OS below itself is watertight - a hard task.

    It is always a bad idea to port forward unless you really really cannot avoid it.

    Use a VPN - as you said, wireguard.




  • Each patient had either a double (2 patients per room) or single (one patient per room). Each room is a regular psych ward room if you do not account the doors and windows. (We still had iron bars but these are phased out in favour of high security glas). The doors are similar to prison doors, the windows are shatter proves high security glas.

    This is a good representation: https://www.wz.de/imgs/scaled/39/3/3/1/7/7/8/3/9/w709_h483_x354_y241_bed737e9084c58b2.jpg

    Additionally there are multiple “special isolation rooms” per ward. These contain nothing but a ground integrated toilet (which can only be flushed from the outside) and a matress - and a lot of cameras. Patient who are in crisis can be seperated in there as an alternative to bed bound fixation.

    In terms of activities: Patients have some form of therapy almost every day - either group, individual, work, ergo, etc. - as the main goal is healing/making people so healthy again that they are either no longer a danger and can step by step be released or can be transfered back into the prison system. (Tbh, both goals do not happen that often) Besides that: They can go into the yard, we also had a little veggie garden (which technically was illegal as the veggie were not allowed to be used for human consumption), meet with other patients in communal spaces, we had a open kitchen so they could cook. (Similar to prison they could order things every other week from a store) and well, if they have a TV (must be rented by the patient) can watch TV or borrow a book from a library(more on that below). The lower security wards also had a small gym and “communal activities” room with a billiard and so on, we didn’t.

    Sounds nice? It isn’t. It js far worse than prison for most people and besides a few long termers who simply did not want anything to change after so many years absolutely every patient I have seen would have preferred prison

    Why? While superficially the regime in forensic psychiatry sounds much more relaxed it isn’t under the surface. Almost half of all patients face measures under direct force (e.g. isolation, forced medication, fixation) within the first 4 months upon being admitted. That is MUCH more than regular prison (afaik their percentage in max sec is 5%).

    Unlike prison it’s it’s much harder to get drugs in, as patients and visitors are screened much more and, even if you do, you get drug tested regularily (daily on drug rehab wards, weekly as a new entry on others) and due to staff being medical professionals (and there is much more staff per patient) the chance of getting high without anyone noticing is slim. And if you get caught ones liberties are gone, therapy will change,etc.

    For medication it’s the other way around: We would monitor very very closely if patient take their medication (up to checking patients mouth with a dental mirror, regular blood tests,etc.) or switch to i.v./i.m. medication. A small percentage (afaik around 2-5%) are also medicated against their will.

    The lack of activities is also an issue: Unlike prison where most people will try to get a job this is not an option in forensic psych. So if you don’t have therapy, you don’t have much to do and that is something that bothers a lot of people. This is especially valid as the access to media is also much more restricted compared to prison and that is much more individually regulated. In prison everything that is not seen as security risk must be allowed by law in terms of books. That is not the case here - it’s the opposite. Everything is forbidden unless it’s deemed that it is not impending the therapy goal - makes a big difference and is also a common source of trouble because some people are allowed things others aren’t. Another issue is the lack of education options. While I hear that has improved recently back in my day there was not much to do in that regard - while in prison you can regularily get apprenticeship, GED or even distant education uni degree. Overall basically everyone described the boredom as much worse than prison (but to a certain degree this is required for therapy to work). Adding to this is the lack of perspective - in prison you know how long you will be there. Life sentence here is 15 years and then they decide how dangerous you are. Only very few people get preventive custody or “special gravity” which means they get indefinite sentences/prolonged sentences. This is different in forensic psych. You will only get out once you are considered “healed”/sane. That can be in 15 months. Or 15 years. I had an arsonist on my ward who in prison would have had a max sentence of 5 years. He was there for 15 years and I am not sure he will be out by now.

    Last but not least therapy itself is something on its own. People there first and foremost are patients. Any chance of liberties are directly connected to that (unlike prison where “behaving” is enough). So if you don’t play along you won’t get that TV. Less physical contact upon visitation (e.g. no hug allowed), you won’t get in a lower sec. ward or even have supervised trips to the outside. There are ocassional patients who try to trick the staff and manage to play along even though they really are still as sick as ever - but that has become incredibly rare. Generally speaking,though, the average patient will have less liberties than a average prison inmate. And of course therapy itself, even if you play along, is taxing. Very much so for these cases. I had a grown man cry in the fetal position on the floor for hours, another shift had a man trying to cut of his genitals with kids paper scissors (afaik he had a realisation what he has done and why and his sexual desire was a big part of it) or a man who plainly told me “my dad beat and raped me daily. They say the brain damage brought me here. I hate him for not doing it properly so I would be dead”.

    So overall: It’s not a happy place and it is surely not a easy way out, not “easier” than prison.

    (And as people always think they are clever and claim “yeah I will do this and that and play like I am insane and then get out after 15 months.” It doesn’t work like that - People working in forensic psych. are highly trained to find these cases and each possible inmate is screened while still in the entry ward or prison. I have yet to see someone who has sucess with that. Additionally: If you do this and get caught your sentence starts back on day 0 under some circumstances)






  • Yeah. Worms are what I wanted to write as well…the Guinea worm (Dracunculus medinensis),sometimes also called medina worm, is one of these and was once really common. The Asclepius rod is possibly coming from it.

    If your character has a backstory that brings him to southern Europe, Asia or Africa in these times it’s basically perfect.

    Another disease to look up: Larva migrans cutanea




  • Pihole has a few drawbacks when your systen grows - a lot of things then need to be done by hand that others do either automated or at least easier.

    Personally I have become very fond of technitium - it does everything you will ever need and the main drawback is that it seems so fucking overwhelming initially. But: Once you figured out that you basically only need 10% of the fields it becomes easier. And it’s fucking solid and just works and works and works.



  • Never. Not what you want to hear,but hear me out. Because if it safes your sanity it is worth it.

    • I got my apprenticeship as a paramedic first and then went back to school to get my full A-Levels. Specialized school we have here,thankfully for these cases. The oldest one of my classmates was 52.

    • I studied economics with someone who was 55 and basically had already done the job we all wanted when we graduate for 25 years. He did so so he finally would get a more comprehensive background and maybe get up the ladder once more. (Which according to linked in he did)

    • I currently do another master (in a distant education setting,though) simply out of interest in the field and to broaden my CV. And you know what? I am 25 years in my field and still learned a fuckton of things, got a better network, love the research field AND got so much better at my job AND found a lot of opportunities.

    • An former paramedic trainee of mine was almost 50 when he started paramedic training. He was a C level executive before and at one point had enough - he changed careers so he would not get even more depressed and is now very happy with it. And I had multiple people do that in my bubble.

    Now,from my current perspective: Was it stressful? Fuck yeah. I literally cried sometimes. Was it a tough time financially? Fuck yeah. I am self employed/have a small company and I had month were making ends meet was really though due to the added expenses and the lost revenue. But it still was worth it. Because: For what it’s worth we all gonna need to work till 70+x anyway to afford retirement. And that’s a long time.



  • Heaps. I part timed as a bouncer/medic at a club when I was 21 and there were heaps of girls below 16/18 trying to get in. Actually one of the reasons I was hired was because I normally used to be fairly good at recognising these and their fake IDs and as the youngest member of the team at least some of them as younger sisters of my friends.

    And nevertheless I had two occasions were it was a “close call”. Once I chatted with a girl who stayed till the end and she,well, was, pushing to go to my place - until she made a mistake (can’t remember what she said) and I asked her about her age again(I had before and of course she claimed to be 19). She was indeed 14. SHIT. That was literally one day after we had the cops raid the place for minors and if they would have found her inside it would have cost us 10k at least - or our licence. (In theory in my country age of consent would have allowed “it” between us. But no. Never ever ever.YUK) That was a close. (Imagine me always shitting a brick back then and still feeling nauseated today) But would have never ever suspected her to be younger than me actually.

    Other case was a girl very agressively pushing her number onto me, I was busy, so I didn’t care, but tbh, she was pretty and looked definitly 18+x. Responded for a call for medical backup, we need an ambulance to respond. Nothing drastic,just someone overly intoxicated. …next thing I can here my colleague from the ambulance screaming at someone in front of the toilets. …It was the girls mother -she worked nights and her 15 year old daughter thought it was a good idea to go out with a friend-. Funny enough my shiftleader was mortified as they had texted pretty flirty before - she had definitly made it inside a few times. (I think she claimed to be a uni freshman,which are all above 18 in my country)

    (And fuck,our national IDs were so easy fake back then. Luckily that’s 20 years ago)

    I am fairly sure that I never had anything going with someone younger than 16 after I turned 17, but fuck… The first one was a really close call,the second one coud have been. I would have never ever suspected their age. I am so happy that the universe did not let that happen.

    Anyway: Even if someone gets tricked: Why on earth would they go for another round.

    PS: Funny enough it goes the otherway around as well: A female friend of mine looks,well, like she is barely 14. She once was my trainee paramedic and I got regularly stopped by cops for letting an alleged minor drive the ambulance. (She was 20 at that time). Nowadys she is over 40, has two kids, is a chief physician and tbh, still looks bloody young and it’s often a nightmare for her with some patients.



  • Just a theory: There is a good chance that your provider does CG-NAT and that was the issue with OpenVPN. These would persist with wireguard,sadly, unless you solve them properly. (Which can be tricky). But just for the book: Running an Wireguard Container behind your router and have a port forwarded to it is an option. (But still needs CG NAT adressed)

    Thaft leaves you with a few options:

    • Cloudflare: Imho a bad idea - it’s evil, it’s monopolistic and while it’s “an easy way” it has its technical downsides. As you said a domain is still required.

    • Use a small VPS and run a wireguard tunnel and maybe pangolin as a reverse proxy on it.It has the benefit of being very flexible and once configured is fairly stable and it puts the security part outside your network. But it costs money unless you maybe make it work on oracle’s free tier. I would still recommend using a cheap domain,though)

    • As others have mentioned: Tailscale/Zerotier/Netbird absolutely are an option if it’s just for you. But they get nasty if it’s for more people or larger deployments with tailscale and while netbird is far better it’s less common and does require a domain as well. (Which,again,is not a bad idea to have)