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Mobile Phone Abuse and AbUsers
Doctor Hu writes "The Economist has a story ("Think Before You Talk") describing a new range of mobile phone prototypes designed by Ideo to discourage antisocial usage - devices ringing in concert halls, loud proclamations that the caller is on his way home, etc. The first of the series uses electric shocks to condition the user to talk at a non-intrusive level; the others are similarly ingenious. Not intended to be commercially produced, just to provoke discussion (and provide publicity for Ideo, presumably). Nice comment at the end from one of the designers that for devices like mobile phones, "user-centric" design needs to take the needs of people nearby the user into account as well."
I already have the patent on the escalation of that tactic.
"A Process or System For Carbonated Consumable Saturation of Personal Telecommunications System Abusers In Public Venues"
Patent # 3426634523
Or not.
My own pointless vanity vintage computing page
There's also another reason why I dislike Dollo's law. As anyone who understands biology knows: biology isn't really like physics, say, and there really aren't fixed laws. Unfortunately the general public don't know this. So when a 'law' like Dollo's is found to be broken it's fodder for Creationists who can use it as 'proof' of the inconsistency of evolution science. Biologists really need to be very careful when they declare something to be a law.
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable. It may soon be, however.
"Uncopyrightable". That word has no meaning. Just as Lexmark or the garage door opener guys.
Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.