then I can sit home, brew beer, smoke dope, read /., watch porn all day. Wait, I'm retired. I do that already. Oh well, forget it...just send me hookers who play blackjack. And brew beer!

I was noodling around on the web and came across a site that was running an really good instruction set emulator for a PDP-11. I was amazed at how they were running the ancient DEC operating system, RSX, and you could open a window with the MCR> prompt in it. It was so fuckin cool to remember how I use to PIP files around and shit like that.

>> Likely all his computer equipment confiscated for evidence

>> Until all the paper work is done, the 'I's dotted and the
>> 'T's crossed, he will be without his computer gear,
>> since it would be evidence in the case still.

His hardware could be in the hands of the local Gestapo for a lot longer time. That is what happened to a brand new high end PC that I let my girlfriend borrowed so she could edit a batch of videos for her website.

She was at home doing exactly that when two uniforms and a probation officer just walked into her living room. Seems her new housemate neglected to tell her he was felon on parole. She tells the officers the parolee is not there., so the cops start looking around to see if he is hiding somewhere.

When they don't find him, they start searching for contraband. They start with the parole's bedroom but they don't stop there. They pull every drawer out and dunp the contents in a big pile on the floor. After they finish trashing my girlfriends entire apt, the cops act pissed off because they didn't find anything. Of course they don't wanna go back to the cop shop empty handed.

Without even warning her, they just unplug the PC, and take it with them. while ignoring my girlfriend who tells them that the computer is not the property of the damn parolee. There were TV's, VCR's and her stereo sitting next to the computer. Why didn't these junior storm troopers show any interest in that hardware.

Did they take it because of the content my girlfriend was editing when they arrived? Their was nothing illeagal on that new computer but they sure wanted to take the PC back to their office. Did they wanna show their fellow officers the video clips of this beautiful naked redhead.

There was no warrant allowing them to seize my property and they ignored the DOJ rules that require computers be treated like a printing press because of the Bill of Rights

And now that beautiful redhead is now really pissed off. She calls me after she spoke with her lawyer. He told her to get the store receipts for the PC and a letter sighed by me. then goes downtown with the paperwork to prove ownership but the cops refuse to release the PC claiming it was evidence needed for the parole hearing.

A couple of weeks go by, at the parole hearing is over her housemate is sent back to prison so there no reason to keep the PC. The police just give her the runaround and won't even tell her why they won't release my damn PC. She tries several more times and finally a detective tells her that the PC is being held pending "forensic examination".

Tired of this bullshit My girlfriend and her lawyer go down to the courthouse, file a motion to fore the county release the fuckin computer. Eventually a judge issues a court order telling the cops they must release my computer. When my girlfriend takes the order signed by the judge to get the computer, the cops claim that they can't find the damn thing.

WTF is going on here? I tell my girlfriend to forget the computer, its not worth spending more money to sue the county for a few thousand bucks. Several months later, a letter from the county comes threatening to sell my god damn computer!! My girlfriend goes to the county auction facility and finally she comes back with that damn computer.

What had once been a new high end computer with only a few hours on it won't even boot now, Those lousy thieves replaced my 10,000 RPM hard drive with the fast and wide SCSI interface with some dinky el cheapo hard drive and then didn't even bother to installing Windows on it. the Matrox video capture card I paid a lot of money for is also gone along with all the extra RAM I had bought.

Those stupid fuckers acted like more like bunch of gangsters wearing badges instead of cops. The police ignored the our rights, violated federal law and the special DOJ rules related to computer seizures. Maybe the mishandling of my computer, refusing to return the machine and then "loosing" the PC, was a deliberate cover up trying to hide their stupidity and mistakes to prevent a civil suit for violating our constitutional rights.

One thing is certain, this bunch of low lifes and thugs would never tolerate civilian oversight that would punish their illegal behavior and cost then their job and pension.

I hope you don't have a nightmare like this happen to you. I used to tell my kids they should "question authority". Instead it should be "fuck authority"