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[VulpesRex]

Late 70's? Wow, you're definitely a veteran in the Fur fandom then, I imagine?

   Well, I will be 58 years old by the time EF20 is held; and looking back at it all, I discover that I am a veteran of a lot of things, many of them quirky and even anachronistic.

   I became intensely interested in Animation, Anthropomorphics, and Foxes back in December of 1972.

   But I didn't become involved in - wasn't even aware of - Furry Fandom as such, until 1997.  I knew of Organised Science Fiction/Fantasy Fandom before then, but didn't participate in it until 1997.  An American Fan named Fred Patten - who has been at the nexus of ComicBook, Science Fiction, Animation (a co-founder of the Cartoon/Fantasy Organisation, or C/FO) , Anime and Manga, and Furry Fandoms - sponsored me for membership in the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (LASFS) shortly after that.

   Fred (who is signed up on this forum, and has posted a couple times) has made a reasonable argument for an origin of Organised Furry Fandom as somewhere around 1984 or thereabouts - possibly even earlier; so I don't think that I can really be regarded as a veteran of Furry Fandom.

[Venture]

Late 70's? Wow, you're definitely a veteran in the Fur fandom then, I imagine?

   Well, I will be 58 years old by the time EF20 is held; and looking back at it all, I discover that I am a veteran of a lot of things, many of them quirky and even anachronistic.

   I became intensely interested in Animation, Anthropomorphics, and Foxes back in December of 1972.

   But I didn't become involved in - wasn't even aware of - Furry Fandom as such, until 1997.  I knew of Organised Science Fiction/Fantasy Fandom before then, but didn't participate in it until 1997.  An American Fan named Fred Patten - who has been at the nexus of ComicBook, Science Fiction, Animation (a co-founder of the Cartoon/Fantasy Organisation, or C/FO) , Anime and Manga, and Furry Fandoms - sponsored me for membership in the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (LASFS) shortly after that.

   Fred (who is signed up on this forum, and has posted a couple times) has made a reasonable argument for an origin of Organised Furry Fandom as somewhere around 1984 or thereabouts - possibly even earlier; so I don't think that I can really be regarded as a veteran of Furry Fandom.

But you'll be attending from the USA? That'll be cool to look u up! I'm a dispatcher too (parttime though, my regular duties have me on patrol)

[VulpesRex]

But you'll be attending from the USA? That'll be cool to look u up! I'm a dispatcher too (parttime though, my regular duties have me on patrol)

   I would like to do that!  Indeed, if we could find a convenient time - and a convenient place to gather, which would function like the foward lobby of the Maritim did, with comfy chairs and a table or two to set drinks - it would be interesting to gather all of the Minions of the Law together and compare notes and swap stories.

   ...But so as to not mislead, I should state that I was a Police Dispatcher back in the late 1970's; I no longer serve in that particular profession, although I continue to monitor the radio channels for old times' sake, and to keep some skills from getting rusty.  I currently earn my living as a Communications Electronics Technician in the Telecommunications Department of the Union Pacific Railroad, and in 5 more years may retire with a US Government Railroad Pension.

   This raises a point of curiosity for me:  Is it allowed in Europe for the general public to monitor police or public safety radio communications, or possess equipment capable of doing so?  Or is this regarded as illegal activity?

[Venture]

This raises a point of curiosity for me:  Is it allowed in Europe for the general public to monitor police or public safety radio communications, or possess equipment capable of doing so?  Or is this regarded as illegal activity?

I used to be a 'radio scanner listener' myself but we (NL) and other countries have switched to Tetra radio communication that is encrypted and thus far has not been 'cracked' so it's no longer possible to listen in to the emergency services' radio traffic. The only thing we can monitor is the dispatchers' pager messages to the fire department and the ambulance services, but that's only the first general call of an incident, the rest of the communication is as said voice, and thus encrypted. Cracking that code is a federal crime

The pager messages can be monitored live here, though in Dutch:

http://monitor.p2000alarm.nl

Where P2000 is our pager network and C2000 the (voice)communication network.

[silverfoxwolf]

Indeed in the UK we use the Airwaves network and again it's fully encrypted. Misuse of the system and trying to hack the system are both criminal offences.

[Kinase]

I see if I can get to fit into my labcoat :O

[VulpesRex]

   I've had an idea for a panel/demonstration - inspired by the few who have posted here about being involved in (or studying to for) Forensics or Evidence Collection.  But before I suggest it to the nice programming folks, I want to sound out and see if anyone here feels they would like to host or sit on such a panel.

   Fingerprints:  One of the oldest and most commonly-known clues used in identifying criminals and connecting them to a crime scene.  And while not every police cadet goes on to become a detective or crime-scene specialist, almost every one is introduced to taking fingerprints when booking in an arrestee, and detecting and collecting "latent" prints from the crime scene, for later analysis and match-ups.

   We could have a panelist actually fingerprint audience members using a legitimate fingerprint card (actually, this may be done with bio-scanners nowadays), and then have someone demonstrate how to "dust" for prints on objects previously printed, and then the challenge of "lifting" those prints and storing them.

   Regarding the print cards, these would be presented to the people who volunteered, or shredded on-site; I realise there are serious privacy concerns held by most europeans - particularly germans - and would understand if the actual fingerprinting was considered too sensitive to attempt (not to mention the fact that fingerprint ink does not clean up as easily as it should!), but a demonstration of the detecting, collecting, and preserving part should be fun!  (there is a delicate touch required, and in some cases a judgement made on an appropriate powder for s specific surface or condition).

   We could have the Police Furry with the best technique guide interested audience members  dusting and lifting a print!  Not that many "civilians" can truthfully claim that they have actually done such a thing, and it may be worth bragging points someday.

   SO - is this a good or bad idea?

[Zefiro]

I'm one of those "very privacy sensitive Germans" ;) and given that I keep control of my fingerprints, I'd be quite fascinated by such a hands-on workshop. I don't know how those "legitimate fingerprint cards" look like, though if they are more than a boring white paper they may be a nice memory to keep, too. Possibly also try to 'fingerprint' other stuff, if there would be a color which is easily cleaned off?

Don't count on me having time to attend, though :(

*purrrr*

[Venture]

Darn I got so overwhelmed at my first con that I totally forgot to look anyone up from this topic xD

Did find one or two fellow law enforcement furry though xD Did u guys have a good time?