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?"

Hire a guard, in cosplay

[gentimjs]

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.

a huge porn server

[thermian]

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

Re:FIRST POST!!@1!

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm trying to come up with words to describe how epic this fail is...

DRM

[CyberVenom]

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

Re:Insurance?

[hey!]

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

Re:a huge porn server

[MortenMW]

Downloading music is stealing! I guess that applies to porn as well, unless you license it under the GPL or something. But GPL-porn would probably be made by the same people that release software under the GPL......

Re:Parties in general

[eln]

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.

nooooo!

[thermian]

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

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

Re:Hire a guard, in cosplay

[eclectro]

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

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

Re:How many people at the party do you know?

[pilgrim23]

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

As far as security goes -

[Recovering Hater]

- You should hire the Hells Angels and pay them with beer. Make sure you announce it nationwide and let everyone know that event is free. Then you let someone film a doc about it. Oh, and make sure you have everyone stand out in the hot sun all afternoon before it kicks off. And don't forget to make it easy for everyone to have easy access to drugs an alcohol.

Re:The question should be.

[dvice_null]

> 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.

Re:Nudity solves the problem

[ogrius]

Yeah and then you get someone who "proves" they can hide items... Don't go there. :)

Hasn't been a problem for me

[mypalmike]

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.

Re:Handcuff them

[Farmer Tim]

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?

Re:Insurance?

[Archangel Michael]

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*!!!!

Re:kensington cable locks

[Farmer Tim]

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

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

Re:Easy

[Farmer Tim]

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

Re:Insurance?

[Thelasko]

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!

Re:Insurance?

[ksd1337]

Just don't invite Steve Ballmer, unless you plan on charging him for the chairs he destroys.

Re:Severe Ass Whoopin

[amishjim]

*stealing. . although anyone impersonating Seal should also get an Ass Whoopin. .

Re:nooooo!

[spazdor]

/34/ Richard Stallman.

GO GO GO

Re:Insurance?

[camperslo]

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!

Re:Insurance?

[JustOK]

what were the dinosaurs REALLY like?

Re:Insurance?

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:Insurance?

[Atraxen]

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.

Re:Insurance?

[irishPete]

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

Re:Insurance?

[eln]

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.

Re:Insurance?

[ferat]

what were the dinosaurs REALLY like?

"Barney" was frighteningly accurate.

Re:Insurance?

[lastchance_000]

I am not the Dread Pirate Roberts...

Re:Insurance?

[Domini]

Unless your brother is already hosting his Obama-D&D session there...

Re:Insurance?

[Dmala]

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.

Re:The question should be.

[corbettw]

We're talking about a bunch of geeks at a LAN party. I think your cunning plan would fall apart at step 2 as everyone would be too focused on the game to pay attention to naked women.

Re:Insurance?

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't forget sunglasses to combat the glare from all the pasty white flesh! ...and don't bother bringing a camera.

Do like at chuckee cheese

[nurb432]

Stamp everyones hands, and compare it to what they take out.

Oh, and armed guards for those that try.. A few dead bodies on a stake out front will be a grand deterrent.

Re:Insurance?

[JCSoRocks]

ZOMG funniest thing I've ever read on here. only thing you left out was an awesome video link... Like this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g_arzPICEA [youtube.com]

Or

[dreamchaser]

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

Or soap. Or sunlight.

Re:Insurance?

[Tetsujin]

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.

Re:Insurance?

[NaDrew]

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

In the future, all restaurants are Taco Bell.

Re:The question should be.

[babasc]

I don't think the girls need to be naked

Re:Insurance?

[eln]

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.

Re:Insurance?

[Intron]

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.

Re:Insurance?

[Renderer of Evil]

Forget all that. What the submitter needs is a scientific method to screen the attendees to find out whether they're trustworthy. It can be a brief multiple choice survey.

Question: You down with OPP?
 
A: Yeah you know me.
B: What's OPP?
C: Prefer not to answer.

Re:Insurance?

[aplusjimages]

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.

Re:Insurance?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

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.

Re:nooooo!

[TheSpoom]

Congratulations, you have irreparably broken the internets.

Re:Insurance?

[v1]

I thought we could just easily go by the length of the user name, but what would I know?

Re:Insurance?

[stmfreak]

Of course not, your UID is too damn high.

Cumberbund?

[Tatarize]

Eric?

Re:Insurance?

[leathered]

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

Re:Insurance?

[oatworm]

THIS IS SLASHDOT!!!

Re:Insurance?

[ferat]

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.

Re:Hire a guard, in cosplay

[Rorschach1]

Yes, but there's also an attraction. The end result is that every girl at the event will end up with a halo of geeks around her, separated by a 1-2 meter buffer zone.

Or haven't you ever been to DefCon?

Re:Insurance?

[Oktober Sunset]

Pffft, unless you were crawled out of the sea bashing two vacuum tubes together then you are not a greybeard.

Re:Insurance?

[sphealey]

Tasty.

sPh

Re:Insurance?

[Tubal-Cain]

What's OPP?

Re:Insurance?

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Guess again. [youtube.com]

Re:Insurance?

[Lazyrust]

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

Re:Insurance?

[DamienNightbane]

That's not funny. My brother died that way.

Re:Insurance?

[SoulDrift]

Slashdot discussions/flamewars subconsciously integrated into your brain as a background process?

That is the worst thing I have ever heard.

Re:Insurance?

[Sfing_ter]

dood, you gotta refrigerate that corpse!

Re:Insurance?

[tsa]

Oh come on, everybody knows you become a greybeard when you're forced to use Vista.

Re:Insurance?

[palegray.net]

No shit, reminds me of Bob's apartment in the late 90s. Yes, we had LAN parties. Clothing was optional, and strongly discouraged. Yes, some rather attractive girls were present.

I'm in the Navy now. I've long since become accustomed to the sight of naked men walking around (boot camp kinda fixes any phobias people might have there). It's well worth the occasional glimpse of flabby naked dude to spend the evening with decent looking naked females at a LAN party.

I fully support this "security measure."

JESUS!

[crhylove]

uid 327 ?!?! What, are you like a bacteria from the Archean?!?

Re:Hire a guard, in cosplay

[Anonymous Coward]

Holy Shit

Hire in 4 hot strippers dressed in tight security uniforms and/or cosplay getup. Have them patrol the area, making small talk, keeping things in order. Nothing will be stolen but glances, my friend.

Win.

Re:JESUS!

[kju]

uid 327 ?!?! What, are you like a bacteria from the Archean?!?

Sometimes i feel like, but seriously i'm not that old. I only have a low uid because when they were introduced i was at the right place at the right time. Or to be honest: Slacking instead of working, like the prototypical slashdot user. So i probably deserved it anyway :-)

Re:Insurance?

[BrokenHalo]

Being the only Unix admin helps of course too.

So do you go around offering everybody a nickel to go get a better computer?

Re:Insurance?

[StalinsNotDead]

Maybe it would be fun to have a Slashdot Archive topic, where special news items from ~5 years ago can be discussed again

They do. It's the front page.

Re:Insurance?

[forgotten_my_nick]

LOL.. this story is scary but true (in Ireland).

I used to go a LAN party every month for CS:S. During the summer the scout den we rented out had no air-con so we had to open all the windows and doors. Even with that the sweat was pouring off a lot of people.

Two of the guys for some reason felt the need to strip off down to only underpants. It is was disturbing trying to play with them across the room as it looked like they were totally naked.

So as we all playing CounterStrike Source there screams of "plant the bomb", "Kill the hostage", etc, etc.

Around the evening time a plain clothes cop walks in with a weapon and says "Hows it going?" Looks at the computers, sees we are playing CSS then looks over to the two guys naked. One of them says "It's not what you think!".

Cop took it well, just laughed and said keep the noise down as someone had reported us.