
Live Free or Die: The Origins of the Geek License Plate - CrankyBear
https://www.wired.com/2012/10/origins-of-geek-plates/
======
GuiA
_> Connecticut introduced [vanity license plates] in 1937 as a perk for
drivers with five years of accident free driving_

1937 gamification, nice.

I always wondered why more countries didn't offer vanity license plates. It's
a trivial service to offer in the internet age, and has the potential to bring
in a nice additional lump of money every year for the government. Plus, it's
just fun.

~~~
seszett
> _has the potential to bring in a nice additional lump of money every year
> for the government_

If there is a fee for these plates, it makes people more unequal than they
already are in their relation to the state for no other reason than allowing
the rich to show they are rich.

Many places take the approach that the state should never provide different
classes of services depending on who can afford them or not.

~~~
cafard
Well, rich and (perhaps) vain: they are called vanity tags. I don't think that
I could infer the relative wealth of the people I see by the tags on their
cars.

In your view are turnpikes and toll bridges OK?

~~~
seszett
> _In your view are turnpikes and toll bridges OK?_

For private owned roads (or conceded to a private company for maintenance)
they are OK of course, but not for state-maintained roads. Bridges are a bit
different as they usually are much more expensive to build, but once the
initial investment is recovered they should become toll-free IMO (once again,
unless privately maintained).

However, I think your question has little to do with what I was talking about:
a better comparison would be having a second set of publicly-built parallel
roads with higher tolls for those who can afford them, or offering higher toll
fees allowing a higher speed limit. I personally wouldn't be OK with this.

~~~
cafard
The situation exists throughout the US. One can, as far as I know, get
anywhere in Pennsylvania that the turnpike will take you without using the
turnpike. It will just take a fair bit longer to do so.

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libeclipse
Live free or die is also the motto of the U.S. state of New Hampshire, who
ironically mandated that it be placed on all licence plates and attempted to
sue people who refused.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_Free_or_Die](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_Free_or_Die)

~~~
akvadrako
Although it's not clear from the title, the article is about the origins of
fake license plates that were a copy of a NH license plate from the 1980's
with the number "UNIX".

~~~
erbo
Compaq later created similar promotional license plates with the number
"LINUX," and yes, they still said "Live Free or Die" on them. I managed to
wheedle one out of a trade show representative, knowing the history of the
original "UNIX" promotional plates.

Besides the motto and the big number, the plates carry the Compaq logo, "1999"
(the year they were made), and the statement "LINUX is a Registered Trademark
of Linus Torvalds."

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microtherion
One of my favorite geek license plates is '4BSD755' on a California car, which
happens to perfectly match the format for a generic license plate in that
state. It __could __be a coincidence, but I suspect not.

~~~
toast0
California currently prohibits vanity plates which match the sequential plate
patterns, although it's possible that was ordered before it was assigned and
before they prohibited it. If it's a vehicle you see often, you can estimate
the date of the plate based on its style and see if it was made earlier than
it would have been if sequential.

Edit: It looks like if it's sequential, it would be a white plate, with
California in cursive at the current (large) size, where the descender on the
f almost touches the plate number, and it might have no subtitle or the
sesquicentennial subtitle.

~~~
jonah
I assumed that too, but it doesn't appear to be prohibited.[1] Indeed, I tried
8BSD755 and 9BSD755 which were accepted. (The current sequential plates start
with 7.)

[1]
[https://www.dmv.ca.gov/wasapp/ipp2/initPers.do](https://www.dmv.ca.gov/wasapp/ipp2/initPers.do)

~~~
toast0
On the (paper) order form[1] it says:

> DMV has the right to refuse any combination of letters and/or letters and
> numbers for any of the following reason(s): [...] it conficts with any
> regular license plate series issued.

My understanding is that all vanity plates are reviewed by at least one human,
so it's possible they handle denying vanity plates that fit the sequential
series that probably should have been denied in the online form.

[1]
[https://dmv.ca.gov/portal/wcm/connect/6d97bdef-c5b1-46ee-a55...](https://dmv.ca.gov/portal/wcm/connect/6d97bdef-c5b1-46ee-a558-28ab938e4ec3/reg17.pdf?MOD=AJPERES)

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jeffdubin
Outside a Micro Center in central Ohio, on a nice lookin' Tesla, I saw the
plate FSM 1337. I was convinced this was the geekiest geek around these parts,
and when the guy walked up to the car to get in, I said "nice plate!". He had
no idea what I was talking about. Zero. I had to explain the whole thing, and
though I initially thought he was just pulling my leg, I then thought about it
and realized that Ohio plates as given are three letters followed by four
numbers. What are the chances???

~~~
rhapsodic
Uh, to what does "FSM 1337" refer?

~~~
lwhalen
"Flying Spaghetti Monster", and '1337' is leet-speak for, well, 'leet'. Aka
'elite'.

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shaftoe
My favorite vanity licence plate is NULL.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11361757](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11361757)

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jgrahamc
Driving up 280 one day I was overtaken by a hexadecimal-loving Shakespeare
nerd with the license plate:

    
    
        2B OR D4

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madcaptenor
Knuth once wrote an article on mathematical vanity plates:
[http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00283-010-9170-7](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00283-010-9170-7)

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batbkw
A new plate:
[https://twitter.com/barakkassar/status/788434103171284994](https://twitter.com/barakkassar/status/788434103171284994)

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michaelcampbell
I had at various points in my life, "DAEMON" and "DEV NULL" (in FL).

I go with a standard issue plate now on a totally generic car.

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x1798DE
Article is from 2012.

