Submitted by t3_zrq4y3 in baltimore

The Wi-Fi available in the Baltimore City circuit court (and I believe other courts in the city as well as the ISP is reported as: Maryland Administrative Office of the Courts) is complete garbage. First, it seems the speed is restricted to about 1Mbps Down/1Mbps Up. How is this even possible in a municipal building that is most likely connected via fiber?

Second, it’s almost as if the IT intern literally clicked every single web filter available. This isn’t 1999 anymore or my High School computer lab where I’m trying to access ebaumsworld or newgrounds.

Websites that are blocked:

· https://www.heritagevwbaltimore.com/ Category: motor-vehicles

· https://www.marriott.com/ Category: travel

· https://www.amazon.com/ Category: shopping

Websites that are not blocked:

· https://www.backbox.org/ (Pentesting Linux distro)

· https://www.ettercap-project.org/ (Ettercap is a comprehensive suite for man in the middle attacks.)

· Literally every single hacking tool website ever

I guess the web filters aren’t that big of a deal. But they should at least try to let us be productive while waiting. I’d be more concerned if I was a lawyer or party to a case – the Internet speed is almost unusable. Hopping onto various VPNs double the latency and cuts the speed in half to about 500-700Kbps.

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t1_j14gqf7 wrote

Have you tried any of the strip clubs on the block?

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OP t1_j14gvpd wrote

Well yea but we only get a 10 min break. Still was able to finish though.

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t1_j14yyy0 wrote

Jesus why does jury duty have to be so miserable.

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t1_j1533gw wrote

Wait till you find out about juror nullification, that’ll show ‘em.

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t1_j15t84a wrote

I have jury duty tomorrow and was wondering if knowing what that is disqualifies me from being a juror.

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t1_j15txbt wrote

do not under any circumstances tell anyone you know what it is, otherwise you'll be immediately disqualified. that's the kind of info you keep zipped until it's time to actually use it

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t1_j154lnf wrote

> Well yea but we only get a 10 min break. Still was able to finish though.

Finished in 10 minutes? Well done.

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OP t1_j159hyz wrote

So, I was called for jury duty today, and let me tell you, I was not excited about it. Spending all day in a stuffy courtroom listening to boring testimony? No thanks.

But I had a plan. I heard there was this strip club not too far from the courthouse, and I figured I could sneak out during lunch breaks and catch a quick show. And that's exactly what I did.

Each day, as the rest of the jurors headed to the cafeteria for lunch, I snuck out the back door and headed to the strip club. I loved the cool air conditioning and the dancers. And today, I splurged and paid for a private dance in the VIP room. It was amazing. The dancer was gorgeous and put on a really seductive show for me.

But my luck eventually ran out. During today's trial, the judge called me up to the stand as a witness. I was a mess. I could barely focus, thanks to the heat in the courtroom and the previous night's activities in the VIP room.

The defense lawyer saw that something was off and grilled me. Eventually, the truth came out. I was found in contempt of court and sentenced to a week in jail. All because I wanted to have a good time at the strip club instead of fulfilling my duties as a juror.

And as I sit in my cell, regretting my poor judgment and the fun I had at the strip club, I swear I will never let my desires get in the way of my responsibilities again.

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t1_j16qi4v wrote

I’m glad wifi in jail seems to be better at least. Sounds like a win to me…

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t1_j159cjz wrote

Lol. I missed a week of working at Hustler for jury duty once a few years ago. I was sad. I have jury duty after the new year. This is a side question but did they raise the pay? It was $11 a day when I was on jury.

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t1_j15cpqb wrote

I really hope this comment is in reference that that man on this sub who was asking about best Thursday lunch specials at strip clubs 😂😂

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t1_j14ruio wrote

I went in for jury duty this summer and ended up getting dismissed. Still spent like 5 hours waiting around. The free wifi was mediocre but I didn't have any issues with blocked websites. Maybe they changed it?

The real pro strat is... bring a book.

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t1_j14xmb8 wrote

The book you should bring if you wanna get dismissed is either We Own This City or I Got a Monster. Of course this is Baltimore so they often just take warm bodies.

Hilariously, I didn't get dismissed even though my employer was a civil justice org that, among other things, has a huge criminal defense and civil rights component.

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t1_j14ktxc wrote

I remember when the city published the salary of the CISO, there was outrage that he was making too much. Well let me say that whatever number they announced (I think it was around 200k) was absolute garbage for a comparable position as an executive in the cybersecurity space. Everyone flipped out, cause he was making more than the mayor, but this is what it looks like when you underfund an IT/Cybersecurity team. You get unskilled administrators who use shit tools and make shit decisions. They're probably using some basic filtering. You can probably bypass it by installing a VPN on your computer, like NordVPN, Private Internet Access, etc. And you should be using one anyway if you're on their wifi, and in general.

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t1_j149hv3 wrote

Baltimore keeps electing dumbass clerks of court when it shouldn't even be an elected position and here we are.

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t1_j149b9a wrote

[deleted]

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t1_j14agov wrote

Tethering. It's what I do when called for jury duty.

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t1_j14bia3 wrote

[deleted]

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t1_j14hhco wrote

Finally I get to lord tmobile supremacy over you verizoners.

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t1_j14t7cc wrote

I think that's like the one place Verizon doesn't have the best signal out of all the carriers.

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t1_j14u4af wrote

Allegedly T mobile is actually the best in populated areas. But god help me if I step outside the metro.

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t1_j14x1ty wrote

Everywhere I go I go get better reception than my coworkers with TMobile or other carriers. So idk

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OP t1_j14al3q wrote

Yes there does seem to be a Judiciary - Private network. Everyone here is on Judiciary - Public.

But it's still embarrassing. The website specifically celebrates that WiFi is now available! But it's complete garbage. It doesn't have to be this way - the city IT folk could fix this in a day.

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t1_j15sk3w wrote

I also find it quite amusing that you need to create an account to use the WiFi and they send your password to your email address.

You need to check your email. Before you can get internet access.

I mean, I get that most people can get their email on their phones, but still, give me a friggin break.

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t1_j14mgbt wrote

Free wifi is the least of my concerns in a situation where I am legally forced to skip a day of work while getting compensated 8 dollars by the government.

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OP t1_j14mird wrote

Interestingly enough - this morning they gave me 30 bucks.

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t1_j147946 wrote

How good is the cell signal in there?

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t1_j153eqn wrote

Highly depends on location/room. Some rooms it's terrible. Some rooms it's okay, especially in certain corners and near windows.

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t1_j15vcfe wrote

so true. they want you to watch those '90's dvd's they keep playing...is it the techie-kids school movie with George Lopez "Spare Parts" for the 80th time? ...Fighting Lions...? I could go on...

Be safe as well. I went this whole time Covid-free. went to jury duty in September this year, got Covid. I had a mask/shots and all... smh.

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t1_j14zotp wrote

Free WiFi is useless nowadays with high speed 5G being a thing, lol. Was nice while it lasted

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t1_j15io6s wrote

Upgrading to a 5G phone, feels like the same or slower than LTE in most places I am at.

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t1_j16qxhg wrote

Yeah one problem with 5G is that the signal has lower radius compared to LTE. So unless you’re really close to a tower, you’ll often see slower speeds.

When you’re close though, 🔥

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t1_j15u71u wrote

dunno what 5G you're getting, because mine has been just as slow as regular cell service!

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t1_j16t5ro wrote

I just bring a book to read. Hard copy or ebook. Recently went to duty and brought my Kindle.

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t1_j18mpuh wrote

Okay, so when I get called, borrow the office mifi. Lovely.

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