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Shift-work: Keyboards heaped in a field push North Yorks council's fly-tipping buttons
A cache of keyboards has been dumped in a field in North Yorkshire, England, leading to speculation that the person responsible for Deleting them from the face of the Earth didn't want to put in another Shift. The local authority with Ctrl over the Space where the plastic word-pianos were fly-tipped, Craven District Council, …
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Thursday 1st November 2018 14:09 GMT Ragarath
Re: Just google a few serial numbers
Or as this is obviously a business due to the amount. Just pay the few quid it costs to have it disposed of properly.
On the other hand all Councils now actively encourage fly tipping IMO because they charge twice. First in your tax and then when you take stuff to the tip. Reap what you sow and all that.
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Friday 2nd November 2018 22:51 GMT YetAnotherLocksmith
Re: Just google a few serial numbers
If only, after 8 years of cuts,the central government idiots could figure out that taking 20% off the top each time means there's f all left in the council's budgets. And no police to catch the fly tippers either.
That you're still blaming a government that left the national debt in far better condition than it is right now, 2 (3?) general elections later, tells us something important about your ability with a budget.
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Wednesday 31st October 2018 15:21 GMT mark 120
Re: Examine them
No use to anyone though. If the keyboards are second hand, it only tells you who used them at some point in the past, not who dumped them. Even then, it only identifies that pool if their DNA is already on file, unless you're going to have a dragnet and sample everybody with at least one arm within 50 miles of Craven
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Wednesday 31st October 2018 14:59 GMT Peter2
Re: Some white ones visible on the pictures
Nobody is going to fly tip IBM model M's. Firstly, the resale value is so high that only an idiot would do it.
Secondly, anybody trying to lift a stack of them would have collapsed with a hernia. The Model M is not exactly what you might call lightweight.
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Wednesday 31st October 2018 18:50 GMT Stoneshop
Re: Some white ones visible on the pictures
The Model M is not the only worthwhile IBM keyboard. They all share the same characteristics though: clicky, heavy and robust. Bash some luser's head in and just run it through the dishwasher before using again robust.
They also had some very average plasticy spongy ones that came with the PS/2s and such.
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Thursday 1st November 2018 15:37 GMT Tom 38
Re: Some white ones visible on the pictures
Nobody is going to fly tip IBM model M's. Firstly, the resale value is so high that only an idiot would do it.
I got my model-m from keyboardco.com ~10 years ago for £24. If you want one now (I spilt sugary milky tea over mine, and it never properly cleaned, even after going through the dishwasher, hard to use it without R,D,F or G), you're looking for easily £100 - more if its a proper one made in the 80s (the late 90s one are _definitely_ not as good).
Bought a daskeyboard 4 to replace it, also cost ~£100, nowhere near as good (keys keep repeating).
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Wednesday 31st October 2018 16:21 GMT }{amis}{
Re: Some white ones visible on the pictures
I'm going to guess this lot came from somewhere that has some form of teaching going on the colorful one in the pic looks like the type they use to teach touch typing in schools like : LessonBoard
My bet would be on a local collage or maby prison had a refit done and somebody skimped on the disposal costs.
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Wednesday 31st October 2018 15:15 GMT Peter2
Re: V.amusing but...
(What, your keyboard doesn’t have an Any key?)
As you should explain to any user having trouble with this, the "any" key is the large unmarked key in the middle of the bottom row, also known as the "space" key.
This has the positive effect of the user ending the call happy with IT, and thinking that they have learned something few other people know. They then spread that around with their friends, which as people tend to hang out with similar people tends to eliminate calls from their social circle too.
It also has a slight chance that it might come out in the pub with their friends that they called the IT department asking which key was the "any key", leading to their friends saying to them what we want to say.
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Wednesday 7th November 2018 14:47 GMT Toni the terrible
Re: V.amusing but...
I can't believe that this joke has continued for so many years; a bit like the idea of typists putting correction fluid on their monitors or like tartan paint and buckets of sparks.
However, there is often a 'reset' on the bottom of laptops - so I looked at the base of my PC's Redragon keyboard, much against my common sense, and of course found nothing. My laptop hoowever has several things to press on its underside, so.....
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Wednesday 31st October 2018 15:20 GMT DavCrav
Re: V.amusing but...
"There's a cost here in removing them for proper disposal, this cost has now passed to me through the taxes I pay."
Sort of. Shoving them in the back of a Council van is quick, and surely WEEE directives still apply, so the manufacturer is responsible. Or does that only apply to consumers?
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Wednesday 31st October 2018 19:28 GMT Kernel
Re: Perhaps
"They were dumped in a field one town over, and the people that found them didn't want to end up paying for disposal in their taxes so they re-dumped them in your town?"
I believe there is precedent for this , dating back to the 11th century.
The Norman invaders of England, in an attempt to reduce the numbers of dead Normans blotting the landscape, apparently passed a law that, in theory at least, would result in a significant fine for the Saxon village nearest to said dead Norman.
I have read that what was actually achieved was a lot of late night re-dumping of dead Normans on some other villages patch in an attempt to mitigate the cost to the local taxpayers.
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Wednesday 31st October 2018 13:41 GMT doublelayer
Why
How difficult is it to recycle keyboards? It would seem that these would be relatively easy to drop off at a recycling center. If you really want to violate the law, they'd also be really easy to drop illegally in a convenient trash bin. These aren't those massive printer/scanner monstrosities that probably require fork lifts just to get to the recycling center; at least that would make sense as a thing left in a field.
I have a lead. Look for the laziest lawbreakers available. It's probably them.
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Wednesday 31st October 2018 13:51 GMT AMBxx
Re: Why
You can't take business waste to your local recycling centre, you have to pay. I work from home, but still remove all company related address labels before anything goes in the bin or for recycling. Otherwise there are some nasty fines.
Sadly, when the government introduces business charges for disposal of waste, they haven't got the sense to realise that it just increases fly tipping.
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Wednesday 31st October 2018 16:53 GMT AndrueC
Re: Why
You can't take business waste to your local recycling centre, you have to pay.
True. I took some rubbish to my local centre last week. They happily accepted the remains of two flat pack wardrobes, and metal frames from deck chairs but wanted to charge me £2 for two broken slats from a garden fence.
So I took the slats back home and put them in my general waste bin. Hey ho.
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Thursday 1st November 2018 08:34 GMT AndrueC
Re: Why
I don't know if they were pressure treated as they were very old (might have been from previous property owner for all I know) but they probably were. I would never put them in the recycling bin but I had no idea they were classed as hazardous material. Turns out they are. Thank you for pointing that out.
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Thursday 1st November 2018 13:53 GMT Prst. V.Jeltz
Re: Why
"but wanted to charge me £2 for two broken slats from a garden fence."
It never ceases to amaze me what will come out of the mouths of the cavemen working there based on there interpretation of the batshit crazy rules the council have written down for them.
wtf is trade waste? if i get a builder in to fit a new sink , and he takes it away - he will have to pay
If i fit my own new sink and take old one to tip - will i have to pay?
What about if the builder fits the sink , but asks me to dispose of my own old sink?
And why are they charging to receive all this valuable hardcore anyway?
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Wednesday 31st October 2018 13:49 GMT BigSLitleP
Smoking jacket and pipe time....
So on closer inspection, most of them are the dell / hp keyboards that tend to come with new PCs. You're looking for a decent sized company that has access to vans in the local area, not too far as they are obviously pretty lazy and know the local area. They will almost certainly have had a rollout of new computers recently.
Quick google maps check: There is a Tarmac site not far south of the drop off area. Anybody want to give them a call and see if they've recently had some new IT kit delivered.....?
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Wednesday 31st October 2018 16:27 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Smoking jacket and pipe time....
"Quick google maps check: There is a Tarmac site not far south of the drop off area. Anybody want to give them a call and see if they've recently had some new IT kit delivered.....?"
If they've been anywhere near a Tarmac site they would be seized solid. I worked with some guys contracted to service some comms kit for Tarmac. Inevitably the kit got located under a conveyor belt carrying the dry cement mix, the fans hoovered up the dust and after a damp spell the fans seized and the kit died of heatstroke. The kit couldn't be repaired, it was now just another piece of reinforced concrete, so it got replaced. The guy who negotiated the contract had got his bonus and was not interested in telling them to be a little more careful with the kit and all that could be done was to bill them full price of the replacement plus the engineer's time at 'dirty rate' plus a hefty 'handling fee' for disposal... until finally someone at Tarmac queried the large bills and terminated the contract (hooray!)
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Thursday 1st November 2018 13:25 GMT WallMeerkat
Re: What sort?
Horrible new keyboards.
The sort that corporate types expect people to try and actually use.
(Usually you can BYOK, but some places are worried about keyloggers and the sorts and insist you use their equipment.)
Where did it all go wrong? Up until about the mid-late 90s keyboards were a joy to use, then they became spongy low keyed horrible to use. My theory is that the old keyboards were designed for typists, with long key travel and feedback, but modern ones are designed for people that have never used a typewriter and think that crappy keyboards are normal.
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Wednesday 31st October 2018 16:16 GMT BinkyTheMagicPaperclip
Not surprising
There was quite a decent programme on Radio 4 last Sunday about waste crime. It's easy to look legit and provide the relevant paperwork, then just dump the waste in the countryside.
Should be able to at least trace the origin of the keyboards as there is the colour coded one there. The disposal company have probably long gone..
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Thursday 1st November 2018 01:29 GMT John Brown (no body)
Re: Craven District Council
From the article, it's in North Yorkshire. That should narrow it down a bit. If not, try this "dumped at the side of the B6479 between Horton In Ribblesdale and Selside.", also from the article. (B6479 is a road number, Google maps should locate it for you, especially given the two village name)
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Wednesday 31st October 2018 16:42 GMT Ken Moorhouse
Scroll-lock Homes
...would he have deduced these are from some ancient installation, and why?
Well, if you're going to replace the keyboard you will probably get a new mouse too. So there is either a similar infestation of mice somewhere, or this is a dump of dumb terminal keyboards or rentokit have disposed of the mice.
If they were from dumb terminals then it is quite appropriate that they should end up filling a field.
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Wednesday 31st October 2018 23:27 GMT The Nazz
Late to the party, as ever ...
but, if i'd been the one having a dump in the field, i'd also have had a Slash at the same time. A forward slash is recommended, unless it's into a headwind.
Anyways, where are the 28 8x10 Glossy colour photographs,with circles and arrows and a paragraph written on the back of each one?
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Thursday 1st November 2018 11:02 GMT Vinyl-Junkie
It might just be...
...extremely poor resolution on the cameraphone that took the picture, but I can't see a single cable coming out the back of any of those keyboards! If that is the case then either it's a very large load of wireless keyboards (unlikely!) or whoever disposed of them carefully cut off all the cables first. In which case: WTF?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
