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Cell-Phone Wars
Makarand writes "According to this article in the Houston Chronicle people
fed up with cell phone chatter have declared
war against cell phones.
They are arming themselves with detectors, jammers and other gizmos to defend privacy,
security, sanity and blissful silence. Although jamming cell phones is not
legal in the US, pocket-sized jammers are available online and even on
eBay. Cell-phone jammers typically work by disrupting
the communication between handsets and cellular towers
by flooding an area with interference
or selectively blocking signals by broadcasting on frequencies
used by these phones. The FCC
has received very few complaints about jammed cell phones
and has never taken action against anyone for that violation."
They tried to call and complain, but ...
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
Electronic Warfare for the common masses. Just another example of civilian uses of orginially military technologies.
more about me
I'd like to jam your cell-phone in your butt...
It's the only language they'll understand
...just wait until someone blocks a 911 call.
Cellular Telephones aren't just used for idle chatter. Remember, a lot (not most, but not insignificant) of cellular traffic comes from telemetry systems. So, the next call you might jam could be some heart paitent's ECG telling his cardiologist that he's having a heart attack, or somebody's Saab saying that it's airbag has gone off in an accident, or perhaps it is just a cell call, and it's just the hospital trying to get their neurosurgeon in.
-twb
Cell phone chatter is a fact of life. Get over it.
My gripe is that I wish people would realize how big of a rip off it is that phones are locked in to a single service provider. I use the free introductory phones only just because of that. They expect ME to pay for a phone that I REALLY have no choice with? heheh Thats funny. If I pay for a phone, its gonna be MY phone and I'm gonna have REAL choices.
Digital is, by definition, imperfect. Analog is the way to go.
"I can't hear you now"
It is apparent that many people do use cell phones a lot. I mean, its convient then going to a payphone. Anyone can contact you anywhere in the world (if you have a good signal), but people use them too much. They should do more of a push to use SMS and it would solve the problem with people talking too much.
The FCC has received very few complaints about jammed cell phones and has never taken action against anyone for that violation.
How could they take action? The people with the jammers keep them in their pockets. And the only reason they're doing it is for the entertainment/proving a point aspect. It's not as if Wal*Mart is mass-installing jammers to stop shoppers talking while shopping, so how would the FCC catch anyone?
Besides, with the way people move around, service would only appear to be patchy, dropping out as you walk past someone with a jammer, then coming back again. Cellphones do this anyway , so how you would you know what to complain about?
This is pretty much a non story because it's hard to tell if you're being jammed or if you're just getting a crappy signal. Sure, you shouldn't be blocking cellphone signals, but I can't see how the FCC is going to catch you doing it.
Wow, they sell jammers? That is terrible, so disruptive and bad, it's just wrong. Where do you buy those by the way?
sig:
See the "..for smart people" banners Wired runs here? Look elsewhere guys.
> As a top IT executive for a fortune 50, I spend a lot of time on global conference calls. I would be extremely annoyed, and would consider it an attack on both me personally, and me professionally (and, by extension, my company) if someone were to jam my cellular during an important conference call.
As a normal person, I consider it an attack on me both personally and professionally, when someone use a cell phone in an inappropriate context.
I recommend you not do this.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
What happens when one of these frequency jammers is in effect in an area where there has been an accident (or robbery, or some other emergency), and the only way of getting help is a cell phone?
I'm tired as fuck of all the self-righteous pricks running around who think their one-on-one conversations are more important than my conversation over the phone. If I'm at a restraunt dining alone (traveling for business or just a loser....) unless everyone can't talk then I'll talk on my phone till the cows come home. Ms. Manners can shove it... Never is it acceptable where no one should be talking, movies, churches, etc....but unless it's unacceptable for everyone to talk, then find something else to bitch about.
With a swift kick to the nuts!
While 'warfare' may not be the right answer, Its about time people are fighing back.
.. and thats why god made paint balls :)
About the only thing i can think of that is more rude, is a SUV driver
---- Booth was a patriot ----
One of the great advantages of Cell Phones is the ability to call for help in the case of an emergency. I can't really understand the justification for interfereing with this function because you want to have your coffee in silence. It seems a little reactionary, libraries are meant to be quiet, not cafes and restaurants.
Somehow I doubt this is happening in office buildings. Probably more like public places and such, where you shouldn't be having such vital conversations anyway.
http://wsulug.org
I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
...is just to learn some proper manners.
Don't shout loudly if it bothers people and don't jam other people's cell phones.
Real life is overrated.
I never knew I was in such esteemed company! Here I always thought Slashdot was only frequented by lowly underpaid geeks. Why did you post as AC? didn't want anyone to know you were slumming it?
From excellent karma to terible karma with a single +5 funny post...
In situations like this I try to catch the offending person's eye and with a sad expression shake my head no. It very often works.
Jamming sounds like a great solution at first. but wouldn't Faraday cages be simpler? I drive past a theater that overpowers my FM radio along a few hundred ft stretch of roadway. If they lined the theater with copper foil, it would stop the cell phones and the interference the theater itself is producing.
Tin foil may be an answer after all...
...is a bullet to the brain.
Ah, first the war on drugs, the war on poverty then the war on terror.
I see we've solved those issues to now have the time to wage war on those annoying annoying people on cellphones.
I think those people who are complaining must be the people who don't get enough cell calls and feel left out. Amusing as it would be I'll break the fingers of the first person cellphone jamming I see.
Why is it socially acceptable to talk to people but as soon as the person is separated by a bit of technology is it considered obnoxious and socially unacceptable?
I haven't posted in so long, my sig is out of date.
I've often wondered if this kind of technology might be employed in a legal manner by businesses and other establishments. If enough people take to using these devices the FCC may well bow to public pressure.
It won't be much later that we'll see restaurants offering "cellular or non-cellular" seating and theaters (both cinematic and live) physically preventing the use of phones in their establishments.
I welcome it. Cell phones have their uses but are frankly some of the most intrusive devices to penetrate the market as of late. There are barriers of common courtesy that need to remain in place. The person you're standing in front of simply needs to take precedence over the person calling you to let you know orange juice is on sale. The cashier has the right to expect you to pay attention to your purchase. And damnit, I have the right to a dinner in peace.
Killfile(TGK)
No trees were killed in the creation of this post. However, many electrons were inconvenienced.
What we really need is a jammer that will only effect 13 to 17 year old girls.
There are tons of people in college that just yap away in the middle of class and everywhere you go their cell phone is their best buddy. As a student paying for my education I get tired of dealing with the constant interruption to MY EDUCATION. If people are going to be dumb about using their cell phones then others can go right ahead and jam calls. They should do the same thing in movie theatres and other "quiet" areas to keep the peace.
The 'Safe Haven' system by Iceberg is not a camera phone jammer.
It's basically a feature that needs to be built into the phone. When it receives a certain signal it disables the camera. Iceberg claim it could be used for laptops and PDA's but neglect to mention that disabling the technology would be trivial for any determined pervert.
The complaints over camera phones are pretty idiotic anyway. The determined pervert could just use a tiny camera if they really wanted to take photo's anywhere.
I'm not paying Nokia et al to integrate technology that selectively disables my phone. It reminds me the recent debacle about printers with built in mechanisms to defeat currency copying. I'd rather Nokia and HP spent their time working on useful new features than trying to nursemaid me.
If you are worried about someone taking your photo in the locker room, that is your problem.
who cares if it's vital or not. If you're sitting there conversing with your mates, then I have every right to talk to my friend/associate/whatever virtually... again, if it's a library, chrurch, theatre, where NO ONE should talk to anyone, fine....but to have a conversation with a person on the phone in a normal tone is no more distracting than listening to your annoying drivel to your table mates.... the logic is total BS: the first paragraph alone where some asshole is jamming conversation at a coffee house????? come the F*&^% on....tell the prick to go to a library...IF I caught someone doing this I wouldn't hesitate to take a swing at him... And you know the only people running around with these devices would be greasy little geeks without friends to bring in person or to call on the phone that you could wipe the floor with one hand..
I don't see a huge problem with cell phones. As long as you can control how loud you are and respect other people (ie. not in theatres or other quiet places). Illegally jamming signals all the time is a wee bit too harsh.
People can make 911 calls from a land line
Conduct your business at your office or at home.
Don't do it in my library, movie theatre, bookstore, coffee shop.
I will block these inconsiderate loudmouths.
Noise pollution should be outlawed.
I've been upgraded to "bad"!
I'm tired as fuck of all the self-righteous pricks running around who think their one-on-one conversations are more important than my conversation over the phone.
Those are my feelings EXACTLY. The only difference that I've thought of is the tendency for some morons to talk a lot more loudly on a cell call than during a one-on-one conversation. I've found that imitating them puts a stop to that, usually.
To ensure perfect aim, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target
Congrats on the troll. Really, it was very good. You don't see many good trolls nowadays.
--
RumorsDaily
...if I "jam" you while you're talking to the person next to you? It's so annoying and it ruins my peace and quiet!
Honestly, unless you're in a place where you're not SUPPOSED to make noise, like perhaps a library or a movie theater, there is NO reason to be disturbed by a cel phone conversation, other than the fact that you're a nosy asshole and can't stand hearing one side of a conversation.
I have a cel phone, and I use it. If anyone tries to stop me, I'll send them to the hospital. I'm sick of this nonsense.
CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
As a top IT executive for a fortune 50...
The courts would see it my way, as well.
C'mon, you will always win in the courts, you have an army of lawyers and money to crush anyone, even if you are not right.
Now I will buy one of those things for my own protection. Don't worry, I'm not in the US. In my country there are places where cell phone use should be banned because people have used the phones for malicious purposes (I mean inside banks).
when you have AT&T's GSM: its like having a legal cell phone jammer at all times!
My cell phone is on vibrate 24/7. Why should I get jammed? The only good solution is a bluetooth type technology that silences any phone in the area without disabling them.
Sure some people are inconsiderate jerks. People talk to people sitting next to them in movies all the time. We don't duct tape everyone's mouthes shut on the way in.
Actually they should have screened the line for Return of the King. If you didn't see the first two movies, you should not have been allowed in. There were people all around me having the first 6 hours of film described to them on the fly.
-B
As a top executive for a fortune 50 company, you would be unlikely to know what slashdot is, let alone post here. Regardless; nobody is talking about jamming you in your office.
... well, you deserve to lose.
If you are the sort of moron who wants to take a vital international conference call in a theatre/gallery/whatever
While cell phone jamming in public spaces is illegal, my research suggests that jamming on private property is not illegal. It appears this has never been challenged in court. The big question though is, whether or not it's a good practice.
I finally relented and got a cell phone vary recently. I (like almsot every other slashdot reader) work in the tech sector 8 hours a day 5 days a week and have revused until recently to bring some of this technology into my home. I don't have cable TV, I don't have an answering machine and until a few weeks ago I didn't have a cell phone.
I for one, would be in favor of movie theaters jamming cell phones inside the theaters themselves, and any other private institution (museums perhaps) who wish to, being able to legally jam cell frequencies at their discression, within their own premisis. It should be considered no different than banning smoking in facilities on private property. The owners should have discression here, And if cell phone users don't like it they can take their business elsewhere. This will cause the business owners to carefully consider the practice before enguaging in it.
I do believe that signage should be requires when such jamming is in effect, so patrons would be aware they will be incomunicado while they are within the given facility, such that they can make an informed choice.
--CTh
--Got Lists? | Top 95 Star Wars Line
Blah, blah, blah. Cockmouth, cockmouth, cockmouth. I'm more important than shit on a stick.
Why you posting AC? Don't you want people to know who this very important person is dishing out his or her valuable advice? Or are you just modest?
I'm posting AC in case you're telling the truth and I might want to work for you some day.
Fucker!
Oh, all the lawyers just got a woody. Another lawsuit in the making.
Poor people whine. Rich people call their lawyers.
bun-fhuinneog agam!
Jamming cellphones in an area greater than your personal space is incredibly fucking selfish. When you go out in public, you are subject to the social norms of the area you live in. If other people in your city think it is cool to be obnoxious on the cell phone, deal with it, try and change it through non passive-aggressive means or move.
When I lived in San Francisco I would be amazed when people would get pissed at others for talking in normal tones on cellphones while on the bus. As I told this one old guy who was yelling, "Why don't you yell at the couple in front of her who are talking even louder?!". Personally I don't use my cellphone in crowded places and always keep my ringer off. I don't see why so many people who have vitriol for those who conduct themselves with decent manners.
--- I do not moderate.
Where it impedes on others rights and freedoms.
Talking on a cell phone during a movie, or while driving down the road ( not being attentive, and illegal in many areas ) crosses that line..
Nice try though...
---- Booth was a patriot ----
The first day I there with them, one of the hardware engineers pulled this thing that looks like a cell phone out of his pocket. He looked at me at said, "Watch this," and pointed toward a guy crossing the street, talking on a cell phone.
My coworker then pressed a button on his "cell phone" and a second or two later, the man on the street took the phone away from his ear and looked at the display as if to see if the call had been dropped. He put it back to his ear, appeared to say something, and then repeated this sequence a couple of times before giving up.
The device was a jammer that my coworker had built into a cell phone case to make it inconspicuous.
It was pretty funny to see hordes of people rushing around, all looking at their phones trying to figure out what's going on.
I could only imagine what they were saying: "Hello? Can you hear me now?"
Dr Superlove 300ml. I use my powers for awesome
"As a top IT executive for a fortune 50, I spend a lot of time on global conference calls. I would be extremely annoyed, and would consider it an attack on both me personally, and me professionally (and, by extension, my company) if someone were to jam my cellular during an important conference call. ... I recommend you not do this."
I think proves the link between cell phones and brain damage.
when did coffee shops become "quiet places".... what if i bring in my "smelly cat" song and my acoustic guitar... smokey, people filled gathering places...a site of connection, not a site of meditation... go to a library, a church, a yoga class, or your own kitchen antisocial prick
A Luddite isn't just somebody who refuses to adopt a technology, but somebody who goes out of their way to try to destroy the new technology because they are against its existance.
That's exactly what the people who want these jammers are doing, trying to get in the way of cell phones because they just don't like them.
With revealing or embarrassing photos of people appearing on the Internet without their knowledge, locations around the nation have banned camera phones, including many health clubs and schools. Sensitive government and corporate buildings also are trying keep the phones out, and a handful of states are considering new laws to limit their use.
How are they going to enforce this? By frisking everyone that comes into an area that doesn't allow phone?
I'd rather have jammers in place then have to put up with being patted down - whic I won't. I don't go to ball games anymore because of their insistance of searching amyone who comes into the stadium.
There is no spoon or sig.
In the theatre industry we have to think of other creative ways of stopping cellphones even from being switched on (even on silent - as most tech people know, digital cellphones can badly interfere with electronic equipment). Thus, a company does produce a "cellphone detector", picking up cellphone radiation. An automated message can inform people to turn their phones off - failing that, in cases where phones MUST be turned off (live recordings etc) you can refuse to start until all phones are off.
For most people on mobile phones (cell phones) they're used properly, no shouting and no louder than if you're talking with someone who's next to you. I use my mobile regularly and always try to make sure I'm not being disruptive, not in the wrong places (eg libraries) and no shouting. Just because a few people abuse them, does not mean most people do.
Someone carrying a jammer is being deliberately and obnoxiously selfish. They're worse than the ignorant fools who talk to loudly.
I recommend you grow the fuck up and realise that world does not revolve around you.
'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
Then I suggest that you refrain from using it when driving in front of me, or in the supermarket when in line, or sitting next to me when eating lunch. Consider yourself under attack. Just remember - catch me if you can!
then this would not be a problem. Society has functioned for many years without cellular technology. If you have an area such as a movie theatre or a classy restaraunt you should be expected to use some judgement and turn it to vibrate or off to go to VM. This is the ideal, but people have shown time and again that this is not in line with reality. I am all for business owners jamming these devices. I think that there ought to be a large sign stating that the devices will not work and to use a land line if you need to make emergency calls. I have seen so many times that people will take calls anywhere and talk completely disregarding your feelings to have a peaceful dinner or watch a movie without hearing about somebodys personal crap. This could be a great niche market for people that want have a peaceful shopping or viewing experience that is uninterupted. I pay money to get away from pagers, cellphones and others screaming kids and I expect that this will not be a problem. If I want the noise of everyday life I will go home or to work. There ought to be a place to get away from this stuff.
Got hosting
um, correct me if i'm wrong (i don't own one) but can't the cell phones (with digital cameras built in) still take snapshots regardless of their cellular signal?
Toss it thru your sunroof at a idiot behind you, after it splatters over their winshield they will no longer be behind you.
Besides, it was just a joke.. geeze, get a grip.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Gotta love those payphones on the side of the freeway during interstate journeys.
If YOU had a cell phone and YOU had something that you deemed important enough to talk to someone about wherever you were, who do you care about most? Your job, your success in business, or some nearby person who you'll never see again, and who has some kind of insane twisted fixation on someone else talking on a cell phone? Seriously...I don't mind when other people are talking on their cell phones. You guys are acting like nut cases here. Why don't you pick something else to notice about other people and hassle them about, like loud footsteps, breathing, blinking too much, not laughing the same way you do, or anything else that will send you into a blind rage? Psychos.
...
The most insightful comment on /. in a while gets modded as a troll. Brilliant.
'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
I'd die of bordom. The ability to tead the news on the internet is the only thing that makes sitting through the sermons tolerable.
I'll stop using phones in public places when you stop talking in public places. What the fuck does it matter if I'm talking to someone next to me or someone in another state?
'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
In the West we have now taken the concept of individual freedom to the level of infringing on other people's individual freedoms. It boils down to "My rights are more important than your rights. What I want is more important than what you want."
Thus we have people jamming cell phones because they think their hate of people talking on cell phones is more important than the need of other people to talk on cell phones.
However, this hate is created by people who think their right to talk on their cell phones in an inappropriate manner (ie bellowing at a restaurant or talking during a movie) is more important than other people's rights to an enjoyable experience.
bun-fhuinneog agam!
Whereas a Coffee shop ain't designed to be a Church, neither is it designed to be Grand Central Fucking Station. I think what pisses most folks off is the brazen "me first" attitude when it comes to these things. I won't jam/block your cell call if you would only be a little more respectful and mindful of the people around you, who ma be trying to study, work, etc. And don't EVER think using your phone during live theater, an orchestral performance, or an opera.
It's not legal to activly jam Cell phones because your not supposed to be broadcasting on that piece of spectrum. Now anybody that has ever had eletronics 101 should remember a faraday cage and how easy they are to build but let me elaborate:
Your a Movie Theater and you dont want cell phones or other wireless devices to work so as to not have people gabbing on them during the movie.
When you build or do any extensive renovation your prbably going to use a lot of drywall if you install a few layers of chicken fence or other suitable fine grid or wire. Make sure the doors are metal (fire code I would think) and that they maintain a good contact to the grid etc etc etc. When the doors are closed yours not going to see an increadable ammount of attenuation to any RF signals with a wavelength longer than the mesh pitch and a good attenuation to most everything else.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage Gives and overview and a link to tempest the DOD's solution to RF leakeage.
Now you have a movie theater that cell phones dont work in. It would be nice if we could clasify transmision types say via bluetooth since thats a hot new thing on cell phones and have the possibility to ask the phone to switch to silent mode while not affecting paging functions for doctors and other on call critical people that can be assumed to be more responcible than a 15 year old with and "emergency" call.
No sir I dont like it.
Perhaps, you should make your global conference calls on a land line maybe even in your office to help preserve security, NOT while you are trying to run ME off the road, while I am trying to eat dinner, or watch a movie that I paid to see!
Troll?
- - Sha la la la . . .
Back when the first Lord of the Rings movie was released. I decided to wait for a couple of months before I went to see it. When I finally did go to see it, it was on a Tuesday afternoon in March. While watching, some moron got 6 phone calls during the movie and spent several minutes announcing to everyone in ear shot what part of the movie we were seeing and what was going to happen next. Ok, fine! I've read the books but why it is necessary for some peope to spoil my afternoon's entertainment.
I had no idea that cell phone jammers were available to the general public, and you can be sure I'm going to get one and dishout some payback.
As for the going to theaters to see movies now, I don't go... I'll wait for the DVD and watch it in the peace and quiet of my own home.
s/tead/read/
Jerks like this should go live in Colonial Williamsburg. Let the rest of us get on with the 21st Century, where we can talk to our friends and business associates anytime with just the push of a button. Not that it's a Utopia or anything, but...well, yeah, in at least this one aspect it kind of is.
You can be the first!
> I recommend you grow the fuck up and realise that world does not revolve around you.
That's just about the ultimate in irony, in the context of a discussion of the annoying habits of cell phone users.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
If it's illegal, there seems to be an exception when government institutions are doing it.
Though jamming a cell phone is illegal, it is legal to dampen the signal with certain materials. Strategies like this are already employed in some buildings such as theaters, and if this backlash continues we can expect to see damping in many more public places.
Having to VPN lately in the afternoons due to a class... I've had to relocate to places like chain book stores and *%'s due to the deal on wireless service i get with my provider. Over the past month I've noticed a really concentrated culture of people who operate cellphones in public places. And yes, they are annoying at times. But in more than one particular instance, I've overheard the opposite side of the spectrum... The guy behind the counter of one chain was complaining about how the cafe where he goes has a bright red sign that prohibits the use of cellphones... and how if he had it his way... he'd make sure that this place was the same. This was in a particularly busy *$'s with wi-fi and at around a particularly busy time time of day... that acts as a hub for alot of suit and tie types... some of which keep to themselves and some of which are annoying beyond belief. The point the general populace has to realize is that anywhere you have wi-fi... you are bound to have virtual commuters... I don't go to the local whole earthy, mom and pop place to do work... I go there to relax and trust me I leave the phone off. I go to chains because I get a good deal per month and I have the opportunity to change surroundings and do my work away from home... and honestly sometimes I feel more motivated as well. But its amazing how many people for whatever psychological reasons will project this 'hate your kind' aura... even if you are just checking your voicemail. Its not like I'm whipping out my cellphone in the middle of a library or upscale dining establishment and yelling "BOB get me those TPS reports, STAT." There are plenty of places where cell phone usage is not courteous... and believe me I try to be as mindful as the next person... but employees and visitors of chains like the aforementioned need to realize there are places where it is a fact of life. You don't like those places... support a place like the mom and pop's that encourage cafe usage for relaxation. Don't go all neo-luddite and get yourself an EMP. The kind that do that are just as worse... and probably the exact same psychological profile as the people they hate... abrasive, intrustrive, and ego driven... full of opinions on how the world ought to be. When I moved to this city I learned really quick how much easier and less expensive it was to have a cell... Ameritech when I first moved here took 3 months to install a phone in my apartment... I've moved three times since then and never installed a phone line since.
It seems to me that these jammers require the same amount of electricity as a regular mobile phone. Probably a lot more; as your mobile actively tries to conserve it; and a jammer has to be active all the time to generate loud noice over the communications all around it; on multiple wavebands.
That means you will be carrying around a gadget with a pretty huge battery pack.
This needs to be recharged religiously, daily.
For no other purpose than to ensure other people can't talk on the phone.
Oh boy and you though the people blabbing loudly on cell phones were obnoxious freaks.
My 2 cents? This isn't going to work.
I agree...anyone caught jamming cell phones should be beaten and rapidity sodomized...
What bothers me is when people proceed to have conversations in inappropriate places. In the middle of a college lecture, it's not unheard of for students to answer and begin chatting on their phone. I haven't had that happen to me in the classes I teach, but I did have a student try to do this in the middle of an exam. He quickly said goodbye and shut off the phone as I reached to confiscate it. For all I know the person on the other end was giving him answers. My rule of thumb is: if I'm somewhere where having a conversation with the person next to me is inappropriate, I shouldn't have a cell phone conversation there either.
What exactly is an inappropriate context? One would think that any place that is it appropriate to have a conversation with a person, it would be appropriate to have a conversation via cell phone.
If it's that important, find a land line.
...but at least I'm not bitter.
It's people like you that cause huge traffic jams because you're talking on your cell phone and not paying attention to the road, then you cut off a tractor trailer who then in turn jacknifes, and runs over a bus full of nuns which catches fire, burning alive all those inside.
You're lucky that people only jam your cell phone calls, if it was up to me, I'd stab you in the face with a soldering iron.
I must agree that my natural instinct is to applaud these people for taking the situation into their own hands since no one else will.
Cellphones are a great thing because they allow communication to be easier. But the evil side of Cellphone is overtaking the practical. Besides the triangulation, 911, and other emergency calls being a necessity; we have people in a movie theater, restaurant, or other normally quit place invading the silence by utter (moo) rudeness. No law can compensate for the inconsiderate or the out rite obnoxious cellphone user.
I do support, however, businesses that use a cell blocker and make it completely aware to all who enter that a "blocking system is in use."
"Enjoy the silence"
This SIG pulled due to lack of funding. (This damn war is costing too much!)
It's about respect for your fellow person...starting with the one in front of you!!! I can understand the shopkeeper who deals with this 50 times a day. people come to your shop and you can't give good service because they interrupt your transaction with them for the phone....and OFTEN have the nerve to get mad at YOU "because you're taking too long!" Not to mention disrupting other customers patiently standing in line with loud disagreements, or lack of attention to what's going on around them. It's a menace!!!
That said, jamming or blocking phones isn't the answer, it just makes people ruder! Cell phones have spread the general problem of computers to the masses...computers have allowed businesses to micromanage and interrupt business plans on moment's notice...cell phones allow thoses same types of people to deal with everything NOW...instead of budgeting their time and attention to allow their responsibilites to be properly performed...And THAT is the bigger problem with "instant everything"!!
The main tool to fight this would be better voicemail/sms messages...allowing people to be notified of messages, but keep the phone off until they can give proper attention, those tools are available, but still don't work that well for every minute use. Businesses with "quiet, private places" for phone conversations would help too...they wiped out most phone booths about 10 years ago and didn't replace the "space" to make communications in.
I was under the impression that most communication technologies (like cellphones) used frequency hopping over a spread spectrum for more security and also to avoid jamming.
Am I missing something here?
tahts the call,
when do i get my device to jam teenage girls
giggly inaprotate moments of laughter..
I wonder how many of these ppl who
have jamers have SUVs?
how would they feal if i jamed a potato up
there pipe, or let the air out of there
tyres becasue i feal its inaproprate to be
driving them aroudn the city takeing up
extra space and addign extra fumes into
the air when they could be in a normal car.
You have 5 Moderator Points!
Which Helpless Linux zealot/MS basher do you want to mod down today?
"One hundred and fifty million Americans rely on wireless phones. If those phones are jammed, doctors might miss calls from hospitals or parents could miss emergency calls from baby sitters,"
I hate promoting that idea that we *need* cell phones to live out our daily lives. I think we must not forget that just a few short years ago when cell phones were big and clunky with really sort battery life, it wasn't feasible to carry a phone everywhere. Bottom line is, people got along just fine and didn't have to worry about having movies interrupted by lousy ringtones, or have to hear every detail of the personal life of the person you choose to sit next to in a restraunt.
--
Adobe's anti-counterfeiting softw
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns999 92461
Magnetic wood blocks mobile phone signals
11:00 27 June 02
Magnetic wood could be a major plank in the battle against noisy cellphone users. The high-tech material absorbs microwave radio signals, making it impossible to use a mobile phone in any room lined with it. Or a radio for that matter. So theatres and restaurants, for example, can stop people using cellphones on their premises without resorting to signal jammers.
The anti-cellphone sandwich
These are illegal in some countries, including the US, Britain and Australia. Jammers also cause wider problems because their signals can spill out of the building they are covering, interfering with other people's calls.
The magnetic wood - so called because it is packed with minute magnetic particles - is the brainchild of Hideo Oka and a team of electronics engineers at Iwate University in Morioka, northern Japan. They chose wood as their preferred blocking material because it offers more natural, aesthetic options for interior design. Oka hopes that it will soon be possible to buy the novel wood panelling by the metre at your local hardware store.
While normal wood is transparent to radio waves, Oka's blocks them because it contains fine particles of a magnetic material called nickel-zinc ferrite. When an electromagnetic wave hits the ferrite particles, the magnetic part of the wave is absorbed.
Bluetooth frequencies
The team looked at four different ways of making wood absorb radio waves before hitting on the best one. The first was simply wood coated with a ferrite powder. The others were made by mixing ferrite powder with cider wood powder and pressing it into boards, or impregnating the wood with particles, or sandwiching wood pulp containing ferrite powder between two thin wooden panels.
Oka tested each wood in turn by putting collars of each material over a short antenna that broadcasts radio waves at the typical GSM mobile phone frequencies of 900 megahertz and 1.8 gigahertz.
The antenna can also broadcast at frequencies up to 2.5 gigahertz, which covers the range commonly used for wireless networks like Bluetooth and the emerging IEEE 802.11 standard, better known as Wi-Fi. A receiver measured the strength of the radio waves transmitted through the material.
Ferrite sandwich
In the end, Oka found that ferrite sandwiched between thin sheets of wood performed best. Further tests showed that a 4-millimetre-thick sandwich absorbed the most microwave radiation, cutting the wave's power by 97 per cent. Increasing the thickness of the outer wooden sheets of the sandwich increased the frequency of radio waves that the shield would absorb.
The wood-based shields could be used to make doors and walls for rooms or even entire buildings where mobile phones simply won't work. While the prospect of being forcefully cut off might horrify some cellphone addicts, Oka says theatre-goers and restaurant customers might appreciate the silence.
Panels that absorb radio waves could also help with a problem emerging in Japanese cities, where many homes are being fitted with wireless computing networks. If several networks are set up close together, they can interfere with each other. The new panels could divide up the house into different areas, allowing several networks can operate close by.
Oka believes he can make the wood cheap enough for it to be viable. And he now hopes to cut the cost still further by making the panels from recycled magnetic materials and waste wood.
Yeah. I also think that silent movies were much better. And all those preachers talk only bullshit anyway.
Hell is not other people; it is yourself. - Ludwig Wittgenstein
you suck. learn to spell, dickhead. or is "teh" now an official tech-word?
suck my phone blocker.
I suggest you put big signs up at "your" library, movie theatre, bookstore, and coffee shop saying "No admittance!". Then you'll be free to enjoy the silence inside of your places of business.
No, the ultimate in irony would be me telling you to grow the fuck up and realise the world doesn't revolve around you, then running off to play with my GI Joes while complaining about people on cell phones.
'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
Everyone i screaming. Tink if the children with Heart disease. Think of the children in case of emergency.
All these arguments are good, but can;t the cell phone jammer ber used intermittenly. Lets see:
Cell Talker: yada yada yada
*AC turns on cell phone jammer*
Cell Talker: Can you hear me now?
*AC turns off cell phone jammer"
A few time like that and someone might get the idea to move somewhere else for a better signnal. Anything farther then a earshot away from me will certainly get a better signal. Once I get a jammer of course.
it's not about talking or ot talking, it's about the way you talk.
people on mobiles tend to talk louder, and that's why they're annoying. anyone having a regular conversation at the same volume would be equally annoying.
yes, this means you! record yourself and see, dickhead.
About half-an-hour later, the same phone (or a similar ringtone) goes off as well. This time, one of the leading actors - who is in the middle of a scene where he's supposed to be angry at his dad - shouts at his dad, "we must do ..., but first, " and turning to the audience, "somebody has to turn their goddamn phone off!". Then, after a minute or two of shouting at us, he continued on with the play.
My point is, phones can be extremely irritating to people, and I think they have a right to treat people like little children if that's how the people insist on behaving. My 0.02 Rs worth.
I want to get one of those devices and just run after the Verizon guy all the time.
"There is no teacher but the enemy."-Mazer Rackham
IMHO it is the NOISE of phones and phone users that gives rise to the "red mist" we tend to experience when we want some peace. Additionally, how many times have you been wound up by LOUD people just having a conversation WITHOUT a phone?
In such cases jamming is not going to help, (unless its the jamming of an inanimate object somewhere it doesn't belong..)
Surely, the solution we are looking for with the greatest benefit to personal privacy in most situations involves noise cancelling.
As for photographs, how did secret photo's get taken before CCD's were commonplace? There are so many CCTV camera's and compact camera's around that blocking mobiles is only going to have so much effect on your privacy, surely?
My hyperlinks aren't worth the paper they're printed on.
Hmmm... I actually like having the ability to phone anywhere.
1) Grocery store (I do the groceries) since I often phone up the wife and say, "Hey they are having a special on XYZ, lets say we cook this"
2) Libraries, if the person whispers why do you care? What is the difference between whispering on a phone or to a person beside you?
3) Bookstore, why not? What is the difference between two people talking and one person talking?
4) Coffee shop, ditto again, what is the big deal here?
There was a time here in Europe where people hated people talking on phones. But now that a cell phone is ubiqitous and even kids have them people have grown up and decided it is better to have a cell phone than not. Of course many people now use vibrate mode and talk less loud since the connections are better.
>> Noise pollution should be outlawed
Ok, then lets stop driving cars, using planes, etc. There is noise everywhere and cell phones are a reality of the times.
"You can't make a race horse of a pig"
"No," said Samuel, "but you can make very fast pig"
Anyway, it's the covert camera phones that will usher in a whole new form of rudeness. :-( The tech industry seems singularly devoted these days to giving armaments to the assholes of the world.
invading the silence by utter (moo) rudeness.
*blink* I'm sorry, do you have mad cow disease? :-) What that a strange "udder" reference?
--- Ban humanity.
I know how important you feel it is to call your employees in India at the start of their work day. Could you at least have the decency to wait until after you've finished your dinner and left the restaurant?
It's possible, but not very likely to be a real problem. If you are in a real emergency, it will be apparent to everyone around you. And if your phone is being jammed, you more than likely have more than one person nearby. That means you are probably in an urban setting and local residents or shopkeepers are going to take notice and make that call themselves.
Free the West Memphis Three!
They didn't get away with it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/2991 451.stm
If movie-goers can't text-message their freinds how much the movie they're watching sucks, films like Gigli might at least have one night of good ticket sales.
BTW: Would somebody go see the Triplets of Belleville. I'm still not sure if I liked it and could use some advice.
If a cell phone rings in a theater (or classroom or meeting or wherever..) for a moment you think what is that, who is being so rude. for even the three seconds before a semi polite owner can find the off switch part of your attention has been shifted, a carefully crafted moment in a movie has been shattered. A point made by a speaker has been lost
I used to have a cool sig, back when I cared
They're in a public place, if they want to talk on a cell phone, it's their right. Hell, if they want to sit there whistling "It's a small world, after all" while banging on pans, they can do that too.
What makes people think that one person's silence is worth trampling on everyone else's rights to do the things they want to do? If they don't want to hear people talking, they can get earplugs.
I said "up".
Please, pick up some of these!
http://www.globalgadgetuk.com/
"The inventor of the cell phone never thought about the fact that people would be using them constantly and impeding on other people's privacy," he said. "The inventor of the camera phone never thought about the fact that they would be used in locker rooms and other inappropriate places."
I'm sure it crossed the minds of the inventors, but in some cases the benefits outweigh the cons, well at least for the cell phone anyway. The camera phone is worthless.
If inventors didn't think of the consequences, then RFID would already be all over the place and then people would stop laughing at me for wearing a tin foil hat in public.
Now, from my biased point of view, I strongly agree with this initiative. I just browsed through the nice thread initiated by the "fortune 50" troll (kudos to you, guy, you know how to turn on geeks) : rest assured, there is no more risk that someone will come and jam your very important call than having a huge crowd coming to interrupt your meeting. Furthermore, if you freak out already, it surely is because you do something *not* that ethical (MS/SCO drone, someone ?)...
Anyway.
Those people are jamming phones in places where phones should not be. I'm sure almost everyone experienced a fucking moron answering his phone in a theater... I've been personnaly working in a public library for a year, and guess what ? they just set up a place exclusively dedicated for cellphones. I say : fuck all that.
What you need to understand is that those people are not against the very use of cellphones, but against the overuse that's been commonly done with it.
Ho, did I receive a call ?
No, I didn't receive a call...
Maybe I should call him to know whether or not he tried to call me...
and so on...
In Italy, people are sending text messages just to tell other peoples they're thinking about them. In Vietnam, friends are droning during entire evenings on their brand-new phones. In every fucking country in the world, people are speaking OUT LOUD (the auditive disturbance is far higher THAN SEEING ENTIRE WORDS PRINTED IN CAPS, FOR INSTANCE).
What really bothers those people I fully support because I used to have a cellphone jammer in France is that cellphones are used far beyond their primitive goal, ie the ability of being contacted or to contact people when this is important (I forgot to call you for your birthday, here is an opportunity ; car crash in the street, another opportunity). I don't use a cellphone, and you know what ? i feel *free*. I just make appointments, and I am always on time (people having cellphones feel well reassured because they can call 5 minutes before saying they will be late, which gives me the hardly resistible desire to put their fucking phones in their throats). I join people when I am at home, and I exactly determine when I want to be joined. And my life is exactly the same as what people having cellphones get (except maybe that I don't throw rabbits at my appointments).
Don't get me wrong : I'm not an anti-cellphone activist. I know people that cut off their phones when it is supposed to, ie not letting the phone on when you are drinking a coffee with a friend, being called, and spend 30 minutes on the phone -. But what needs to be aknowledged is that most of the time, cellphones are used in an evil way.
And this is why they encounter resistance. :)
Well done guys, keep going !
Regards,
jdif
Let's overcome our weakness.
"As a top IT executive for a fortune 50, I spend a lot of time on global conference calls. I would be extremely annoyed, and would consider it an attack on both me personally, and me professionally (and, by extension, my company) if someone were to jam my cellular during an important conference call."
How often do you make "global conference calls" from a movie theater or a public restaurant?
Nobody is going to try to jam your cell phone while you are on your business property or the property of a client.
Owners of public establishments put up signs all the time that say "No Firearms Allowed" in states that allow concealed carry of handguns by private citizens. They could probably even put up metal detectors if they wanted too.
What gives you the right to disregard their wishes if they don't want you disrupting the other customers on their property with your "global conference calls?"
There is a time and place for "global conference calls," and it is NOT at public events in public places.
We must be alert to the danger that public policy could become captive to a scientific-technological elite. - Eisenhower
and they should stay out of places not meant for business. like parks. That's one issue. Volume of rings and conversation is, i think, the main problem... I live in san francisco, and if I'm in the park, reading a book, and someone has some long business conversation on their cell at anything over a whisper, i'd zap him. period. Why? because s/he doesnt need to talk above a whisper on his cell phone. because it's a park and if he needs to do business he can go back to his office. Corporations don't own our parks, they can't advertise in them and they shouldnt be doing business in them. I'm sorry if you dont have the strength of character to ask for time off or choose an occupation that doesnt require constant servitude to $$ calls.
All your preview button are belong to Hello Kitty.
I fucking hate hearing people type on keyboards in public. I propose wi-fi jamming in public places, too. You with me?
They could be talking about sex... or trading pictures of Janet Jackson's breasts!
OMG! They are all going to become crack addicts and pimps!!
So how, as the article mentions, do you jam a cell's pitcture taking ability?
Arcane orb of shadow?
You're lucky that people only jam your cell phone calls, if it was up to me, I'd stab you in the face with a soldering iron.
A red hot ill tempered soldering iron?
P.S. If a soldering iron was not available, would a firm fleshed fish --such as a sea bass-- do in a pinch?
--
> They're in a public place, if they want to talk on a cell phone, it's their right. Hell, if they want to sit there whistling "It's a small world, after all" while banging on pans, they can do that too.
Yeah, try that next time you're in a restaurant, theatre, or museum, and see what happens.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Well, now at least we have a good lead on who this "Anonymous Coward" guy is.
Dude. You're a top IT exec for a Fortune 50 company. You have to have something better to do with your time. And I thought I posted too much.
You want the truthiness? You can't handle the truthiness!
scenerio #1 w/o jammer:
(in a small quiet cafe)
guy on phone: i'll meet you at the movie theater around 6pm. ok. bye.
(hangs up)
scenerio #2 w jammer:
(in a small quiet cafe)
guy on phone: i'll meet... WHAT!?! I can't HEAR YOU! BAD CONNECTION! AT THE THEATER! THEATER!! T H E A T E R!!!!! YES!! YES!!! NO!! THEATER!!!
6PM! PM!!! PM!!! AM? WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET AM!!! PM!! YES!!! I CAN'T HEAR YOU, SAY THAT AGAIN!!! BAD CONNECTION!!! CAN'T HEAR YOU, SOME GUY IS HITTING HIS TV REMOTE ON THE TABLE!!! TABLE!!!
(20 minutes later, pieces of tv remote on the floor)
yeah, movie theater, 6pm. k, bye.
(hangs up)
An interesting point is that mobile phone usage whilst driving in the UK has recently been banned. Story.
Theoretically, the situation you describe above can now never happen in the UK.
I recommend "I've got a little list" from the Mikado...
It beautifully expresses the sentiments of us misanthropists, but the ironic intention is that you're right, and that this is a totally unreasonable way to be.
In looking at honestly looking at your flaws, when everyone around you is so terrible, you have a glass half-full/empty question... Is everyone else as good as you, or are you as bad as everyone else?
although could be a generalisation.
Why not shield newer buildings like theaters and restaurants against this but leave the shielding open for emergency freqs like fire and ambulance?
If this sounds stupid it may be because I don't know that much about it but I have wondered how you can block cells and keep it nice and legal.
I once went to a movie where a person recieved a cell call about every 3 to 5 minutes, even after being asked he refused to turn it off, I complained and what I got was my money back, no movie and the guy got to stay in and watch the movie (and bother those that didn't leave)
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Instead of sending out signals that distrupt cell phones, you should be able to buy a device that sends out a message that says "block incoming calls", "block outgoing calls", or "both". The cell phones should be able to override this information, but by default it should be respected. The message should include a GPS location signal, a serial/registration number of the device, and a text description of the location of the device. Local laws should dictate when and were it would be legal to use these devices. (I suspect it would be "private property only", with a few exceptions.)
Face it, most people really want to respect the no-cell phone requests for places that it isn't appropriate, but when you have a hundred people in a room, someone is sure to forget to turn off their phone. They are also going to forget to turn it back on after they leave.
A legalized "no cell phone zone" device would not stop assholes from overriding the request, but it would make life much easier for everyone else.
SPF support for most open source mail servers can be found at libspf2.
> What exactly is an inappropriate context? One would think that any place that is it appropriate to have a conversation with a person, it would be appropriate to have a conversation via cell phone.
Actually, I don't object when cell talkers observe the norms for volume levels. (I think they're losers, but I don't object.)
But it's a different matter when you're sitting in a restaurant and can't hear your own conversation because some loser halfway across the room is talking into a cell phone like he thinks it's a megaphone.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Yeah & when I grab your cellphone from you, stomp on it, & then bitchslap you, what are you going to do, call 911?
Jaysyn
There is a war going on for your mind.
First of all, I should say that I don't actually use my cell phone in restaurants or close to other people just because it is so disapproved of.
But, frankly, I think this dislike of cell phones is irrational and itself annoying. People talk to other people everywhere, often in loud or annoying voices. It makes no difference to me whether someone talks into a cell phone or to someone across from them; at least, when they talk into a cell phone, I don't need to hear the responses.
I'm beginning to suspect that what really annoys people about public cell phone usage is that they are missing out on half of conversation that they would really like to listen in on in its entirety.
Consider it an attack against yourself if you like. No one else cares.
I sometimes amuse myself watching courting rituals at a local bar/dance club. It's amazing what people will do to look cool and fail miserably. I've seen the 'my friend is a filmmaker act', the strobe light with the cell phone flashlight, and the camera phone act where drunk frat boy tries to make friends with girls by posing/taking pictures/or offering to send them pictures he takes. bleh. i feel unclean.
All your preview button are belong to Hello Kitty.
Welcome to my foes list, asswipe.
...going on ebay right now to look at prices for one of these? I am!
Jonathanjk.com
Well sparky, the difference is you aren't causing physical damage to the cell phone by jamming it. Let's not be too silly, ok?
Jaysyn
There is a war going on for your mind.
Yeah, but a cafe and a lower end restaraunt are not inappropriate places. Shopping is not inappropriate. Of course speaking loudly on it is inappropriate, but take away the cell phone and add another person in the cell phone's place, and speaking loudly is still inappropriate.
8 2/ qid=1076867504/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_2/103-2978875-47094 21
On the street is not inappropriate. People in movie theaters, churches, and nicer restaraunts, then it is very inapproriate.
But remember, you definition of a 'nice' restaraunt and a 'lower end' restaraunt may be different than someone who goes somewhere each day.
And yes, there is a book on this.
Emily's Post Book of Etiquette, available from Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/00627007
Every tech guy should have this SHOVED down their throat before they can complain about anything.
Remember, the guy on the cell phone may be being rude, but chances are you are too one way or another, and just don't know it.
The problem is not talking on the phone. It's that most people talk WAY TOO LOUD on a cellphone, way above the appropriate level. Personally, I keep my voice down, but most people don't.
So, yes you have a right to talk where talking is appropriate. No, you don't have a right to SHOUT FOR AN HOUR because you're too stupid to realize that people naturally talk louder on the phone.
Exactly.
'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
I'm considering a new phone (er, well, I was until I found out that WNP doesn't come to my area until may...but anyhow...), and the "no-camera-zone" issue has crossed my mind a few times. I want to be able to take my phone into the gym, put it in my locker, and leave it there with my street clothes...or bring it with me if I'm concerned about the likelihood of an important call. I'd be willing to go for a camera phone that disabled itself on entering such zones if that was supported by the places banning camera-phones (i.e. if they trusted the "camera-off" functionality and let me carry the phone) as opposed to needing to find a place to ditch the phone. I think it's perfectly reasonable to ask people not to take pictures in a gym, and the ease with which one can take clandestine pics with cellcams does make it different than picking up a small camera from RadioShack or some security place and building a hiding spot for it in your weight belt or your shoe or whatever.
Whenever I go to work I see a lot of people talk on the phones, I never care and neither does anyone else.
As I see it, this is a problem of either
Yeah, but if you are talking so loudly that I can't hear my one-on-one conversation, then we're going to have a problem.
Jaysyn
There is a war going on for your mind.
First of all I never said shoot .. 2nd, it was a joke, I'm not going to run around causing accidents...
However that being said, around these parts, SUV drivers are totally rude and inconsiderate people. They feel they own the road and run others off the road with their piss poor driving...
Damned AC posters.. How much effort does it take to create a anonymous ID... sheesh
And yes i know this is OT, for you moderators out there....
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Even the 911 caller would likely not distinguish a blocked/jammed call from a normal "no service" area.
This would be in America, right? In much of the rest of the world there is no concept of "a normal no-service area". Somewhere you can't get service is abnormal.
If the person is in a private place, and the people who run the place have objections to it, then they and ONLY they have the right to do something about it.
If the person is in a public place, then NOBODY has a right to do anything.
"As a top IT executive for a fortune 50, I spend a lot of time on global conference calls"
Then make them from your office.
"and me professionally (and, by extension, my company) if someone were to jam my cellular during an important conference call."
Would you rather they eavesdrop? Ever heard of corporate espionage?
Can you hear me now? .... ...
hello?
OH MY GOD! WHAT HAVE I DONE WITH MY LIFE?! *shoots self*
Verizon: dont use cell phone jammers!
I think that commercial would encourage cell phone jammers..
If you want to have dinner in peace, I recomend you eat at home.
Restaurants are noisy places by nature anyway, with the restaurant's music system playing, couples chatting with eachother, co-workers laughing and joking, single guys hitting on the waitresses, people at the bar cheering or booing at whatever sports thing is on the TV sets, etc.
Where does this notion that restaurants are innapropriate places for cell-phones come from?
My license plate expired at the end of the year, so late December I went to the County Clerk's office to renew my tags. You can do it by mail but it costs more because they charge a mail handling fee, so I always do it in person at the County Clerk's office.
In order to get inside the waiting room, you have to open a door with a sign on it which says, in large block letters "NO FOOD, NO DRINKS, TURN OFF CELL PHONES OR PAGERS." Once you get inside, there are several 8.5 x 11 signs posted on the front of the service counter which show a cell phone surrounded by the universal "banned" insignia (think "no smoking" signs, the circle with a slash). Seems pretty straightforward to me.
I was in the waiting room for about half an hour before my number was called. In those 30 minutes, 4 or 5 peoples' cell phones went off. Each time, one of the attendants would say (rather loudly) "please turn your phones and pagers off" as if to remind everyone of the sign on the door. It was obvious who they were meaning to speak to, but they did it politely and in a general manner so as not to embarass anyone in particular.
One guy's phone rang, the warning was given, and he proceeded to hang up and call the other person back! As if it somehow mattered who initiated the call. Hello, the sign said TURN THE FUCKING THING OFF!
A woman sitting a few seats down got 3 calls (the "general reminder" was announced after her "Hey Ya" ringtone blared out the first time). She was asked to leave the 2nd time her phone rang and she assured the attendant she'd turned it off. The 3rd time we all had to listen to 20 bars of "Hey Ya" in MIDI form, she was not asked but told to leave. To her credit, she did so.
Cell phones aren't bad technology. Unfortunately, far too many of their owners have bad manners, can't control themselves, can't imagine the thought of turning the damn things off for a few minutes, and have no clue how to exist in a waking state without talking to someone about something or other that could wait until the next face-to-face meeting. That's the problem. Note, I'm not saying this applies to everyone with a cell phone, but the stereotype exists for a reason.
I'm all for portable jammers. You want to blabber while I'm trying to watch a movie, or researching something in the library, or waiting quietly for my number to be called to renew my car tags, or trying to read a book before jury duty starts, fine. I want to fuck up your conversation in return, and you deserve it.
"BSD: Free as in speech. Linux: Free as in beer. Windows 10: Free as in herpes." --Man On Pink Corner in #52607549.
Museums, theatres, et al... are pretty much common sense at this point, heeded by the fact that most plays and movies you will attend have the host or a 2 minute segment explaining cell phone usage, being, NOT to use them. Everything is just a boil over to my first point. Social Etiquette.
Let's keep in mind that patents are in place to keep lawyers employed and keep them litigating. -CatGrep
I'm tired as fuck of all the self-righteous pricks running around who think their one-on-one conversations are more important than my conversation over the phone.
It's not the conversations themselves that are the problem. It's the fact that people on cell phones usually talk unreasonably loudly that makes them a problem. Not to mention their stupid polyphonic ringers blasting out at 60 decibels every 10 minutes.
Who the hell decided talking to someone on a cellphone while in a restaurant is any different than talking to a person physically there?
That's my own criteria for using a cell phone. That is, if I'm in a situation where I feel it's appropriate to talk to a "real" person, it's fine to talk on a cellphone, as long as it can be done at a "normal" volume level (normal for the context.)
So, movie theaters are definitely out. Museums? Why not, as long as you're not disturbing a tour, and other people are talking freely to companions.
Yes, there are inappropriate situations in which to use a cell phone, but what makes me mad is all the self-righteous people who glare at you if they see you with a cellphone to your ear ANYWHERE, even in totally "appropriate" situations. (Yes, there are quite a few such people.)
assert(birth_date<time-86400)
# fuser -v
#
Offtopic rant here: I love how business owners will post a no firearms sign, as if that's going to stop the next person who thinks about holding them up. Somehow I think they'll ignore the sign. Who it will stop from bringing in a gun is the only person who would be able to defend the store in a robbery. But then again, stores don't really care if they get robbed because insurance covers the losses and they could care less about the life of the employee on duty. Once again, insurance would cover it if they lost their life.
Remember Mr. Microphone? Your voice and horrible singing over the radio? Legal becuase of the low power and short range, like 25 feet I think.
25 feet of cell phone jamming is fine with me.
It's do what you want nation, but no loud talking.
In the rest of the world, where cell phones adoption is way higher, this issue is so 1995. Cope and move on, it's progress sucker.
You just described the perfect situation to have a cell phone: 20 minute wait (I've renewed my license in person, 20 minutes is reasonable) with nothing to do. Perfect time to chat on the cell phone.
Mind you need to pay attention so you know when your turn is up, but that is a different problem. (and if you lose your turn you go back to the end, it will teach people)
There is something wrong with anyone who thinks they need to control people in that situation. Its not a library, nor a movie theater, it is a waiting room where there is nothing to do except read the latest issue of Look[1] or something. '
[1] IIRC Look stopped publishing in the 1960s.
It's not the every day chatter that annoys people. A large majority of the people with cell phones know how to use them respectfully. But some people don't. Don't answer your phone in a movie, and if you really need to at least step outside or towards the back. Don't think that when the pickup is less then an inch from your mouth you have to project your voice 50 feet away in a quiet room. Don't think you can hold up lines, lanes of traffic, or elevators just because your not through with your conversation when your time has come. Cell phones aren't inherently rude, but the way some people choose to use them certainly is.
The darkness... controls the music. The music... controls the soul.
To me it's typically fine if someone is talking on their cell phone in a public place at a reasonable volume level. What gets annoying is when people don't turn off their annoying ring tones when they are in public places. Or when they talk on the phone in a normal or louder volume in certain public places where people talk in much quieter voices like libraries, quiet trains or planes, and many other places. Another thing that gets very irritating is people that try to do multiple things at once, when one of the things includes talking on their cell phone in a public place. This includes talking on the phone while in store checkouts, or any other places where they are holding up a bunch of people because they can't get off their damn phone for 5 minutes to get done with what they are in line to do.
DR. EVIL: Right.
FRAU FARBISSINA: They're mutated sea bass.
DR. EVIL: Really? Are they ill-tempered?
However much I may be annoyed by cell phones going off at inappropriate moments, this looks to me like yet another case of trying to apply a technical solution to a problem that has more to do, and is better solved through, plain and simple education.
Do we want to live in a place where everyone is expected to be connected remotely all the time? Where remote connection is way more important than face-to-face? Move into The Matrix then!
"There is no teacher but the enemy."-Mazer Rackham
Ugh! How does it feel when some nuts keep chatting in the Cinema theater when the movie is running and u cant hear the dialogues.... atleast to keep such nuts OFF , jammers are needed.
Why does yahoo do this
> Noise pollution should be outlawed.
But I see you don't have a problem with EM pollution.
Honestly, I don't think escalation is the answer.
If it is appropriate for me to talk to the person sitting next to me, I fail to see why you shuld be offended that I use a cell phone to talk to someone who isn't sitting right next to me.
find a stranger to help, find a payphone, run and get help. it's that simple.
Relying on payphones for assistance is folly! The only way to keep in contact with emergency services should be by horseback. The odd palantir could be used too, but ONLY FOR BACKUP.
On the serious side, regular radio networks are absolutely essential for the emergency services to operate. Cell phones are good for citizen contact during regular accidents and day-to-day contact between officers, but may break down during disasters like 9/11.
Irene KHAAAAAAN!
It's about the funniest reply i've seen on slashdot (and very true), dammit.
And sometimes a group of people sitting together talk at the exact same volume. The problem is not the cell-phone. The problem is the volume. If you're going to bitch, at least recognize where the problem lies.
It's well known that half a conversation is much harder to ignore, than a normal situation where you can (if you want) hear both sides. It's a bizarre, slightly counter-intuitive, but very true part of human psychology.
Driving I can understand (and its illegal in my state anyway), though it is a bit silly to limit it to cell-phones and not all the other distracting things people do while driving. (Where's that damn CD?)
I know how important it is to you to have a friendly conversation with your family and friends. Could you at least have the decency to wait until after you've finished your dinner and left the restaurant?
Most people I know do pull over to use the cell phone when driving. But, there are those idiots out there who think that multi-tasking while driving is a good thing. They should have to commute through the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky bridges on a daily basis, see all the accidents that happen. Maybe witnessing a few deaths will help instill the true meaning of distracted driver.
Beyond the drivers who use them at the wrong time, the rest are just irritating jerks. I always take my conversation away from those who might be interrupted by it. That is outside, down the hall, private room. It is called being polite. That aside though, I would be pissed if someone were jamming my cell phone. I think the appropriate action is to ask politely (first time) for a rude cell phone owner to take it elsewhere. If that does not work, we have done everything from turning our own volume up to the point where said arse had to leave to hear to pointedly telling the individual we were not going to put up with their rude interruptions anymore (to which we have actually received applause from those around us). Honestly, such drastic measures are rarely needed, as almost everyone once asked has been polite.
InnerWeb
Freud might say that Intelligent Design is religion's ID.
Sure. But why should any random Joe Blow get to decide what constitutes an inappropriate context?
"If it's that important, find a land line."
the whole point of my cell phone is so i can contact certain people in case of emergencies, and more so to be contacted in case of emergencies. so hey, if your silence is so important to you, stay home; theres noise outside, its a fact, get used to it or dont go out.
yeah we all get your point about how some people are annoying with their cellphones, but idiots ae going ot be idiots whether you jam their cells or not. they'll still talk in theaters and annoy you, they'll just have someone to talk to beside them. they'll still engage in distractions while driving, whether its looking under the seat for their cd to play, or checking their makeup, or a million other things. These people are idiots and you dont fight fire with fire with idots, cause guess what you become?
"It's people like you that cause huge traffic jams because you're talking on your cell phone and not paying attention to the road, then you cut off a tractor trailer who then in turn jacknifes, and runs over a bus full of nuns which catches fire, burning alive all those inside." hehe thats funny, and what about the guy who could have saved those nuns by calling 911, but some idiot with a jammer decided to walk by?
in the end, jamming cells like that is immature adolecent vandelism (like "hax0ring websitez" and "DOSing lam3rz"); it puts people at risk (jammed 911 calls, doctors missing calls to show up for life saving surgery) and it disrupts people's lives more than some background noise would. If you have even one iota of humanity (which is in question by the looks of some posts i've seen here) imagine for one second that someone died in an accident because you were jamming a 911 call, or someone ended up on welfare cause that job interview call never got through, or some guy missed the birth of his first child cause his wife's call neve got through to show up at the hospital (the list could go on and on)
all in all, it comes down to this: outside has noises, if you want to go out and not be bothered by the noises of technology, go become amish.
Just like Kazaa, it's not the technology it's the people doing the bad things.
Everyone seems to think that the world is there for them and that is it. So what if they are at a theater blabbing on the phone, or if it's 2am and they decide they must drive through neighboorhoods with enough bass to break up a kidney stone.
There are simple solutions - get management that has balls. Don't want people blabbing in your resturaunt, eject them. Have ushers in the theaters eject people who are being obnoxious. When I say a broadway play, that happened...someone brought a baby who was crying and they were told they would have to go out to the lobby until the baby quieted down.
Of course then they'll be tons of lawsuits over how they were discriminated against, etc...
Sigh...sometimes I wish I lived for a shorter time before electronics. mmmm...that's good gruel!
Looks like the USA has finally reached the 'I'm on the bus'
stage in cell phone use. The irony is that in a country that
is so hot on 'freedom of speech' that this kind of censorship
is taking place. Here in the UK where pretty much *everybody*
owns a cell phone and has done for years these issues are
pretty much old hat. The cell phone has just been assimilated
into the culture, nobody even notices them any more.
siggy played guitar
Prove it yourself, dickhead. Oh, wait, you can't, can you. In reality you're just a friendless loser who gets upset whenever anyone else shows any evidence of having a social life.
Eh...maybe I should post this AC...but we have active cell phone jamming at my workplace. Now granted...It's a "secure" DoD facility. They got tired of asking people to leave their phones with the guards at the front gate, I guess.
It's no secret ALL wireless comms are blocked there. Does the gub'mint have special exemption from the FCC rules?
I have yet to be in a movie theater or restaurant where someone is using a cell phone. (That I have noticed that is.) But get this, who cares if someone is on the phone in a restaurant? If they weren't talking on the phone they would be talking to someone else at the table. Conversations are going on all around you and the only one that annoys people is when someone is talking on a phone? If two people are talking during a movie do you throw them out, or politely ask them to be quiet? If you ever encounter someone using a cell phone during a movie, ask them nicely to take it somewhere else.
But in my opinion cell phones w/ cameras can actually enforce good manners. I heard a commentary on NPR the other day, the guy complaining about how he couldn't walk around naked in the locker room because of fear of camera phones. GOOD! Now I hope everyone does the same thing. He ended with "For now on I have to use a towel." The only thing more inconsiderate than talking during a movie is walking around naked in the locker room at the gym.
Before you call cell phone users inconsiderate, why don't you look at your own manners first. I guarantee you that you have habits that annoy the general public. Smoking anyone?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Lois, this isn't my Batman glass. - Peter
Uh, the whole point of the article is that with these jamming devices being sold to private, unlicensed individuals, he can't be sure of that.
I agree with you in theory. The problem is that for some reason, when most (some?) people put a cell phone to their ear, their volume increases by an order of magnitude. Thus, the couple talking at the table next to me does not bother me, but the idiot on the phone four tables over is annoying everyone in the whole restaurant. Not everyone does this, but enough people do have this annoying habit to the point where people now associate cell phones with obnoxious a-holes. Thus, the backlash we are now observing.
Oooh, look everybody! An internet tough guy! Better shape up and fly right, 'cause Jaysyn's layin' down the law!
How about you grow a pair and NOT GO?
People like you who don't have the concept of common sense are the reason we have to have laws. No smoking in public places. No screaming fire in a theater. No driving while talking on a cell phone.
How about a jammer for wreckless drivers or loud bassers?
Inappropriate cell phone use is just another example of people not giving a damn about those around them.
I say screw-em. If they won't care about me, I don't care about them.
It's really too bad. It should be obvious to everyone that the logical conclusion of all this will be social friction making people's lives more miserable in the end.
Oddly enough, most of the businesses that posted those signs ended up taking them down because they experienced a higher robbery/assault rate than businesses that didn't. Oddly enough, the criminals ignored the signs. Not to mention the loss of business.
If businesses get bad enough about banning/jamming/blocking cellphones, then people who want to use phones in those areas will have to choose whether to accept the blocking, or take their business elsewhere.
I don't read AC A human right
Every time I leave my house, I have to listen to: *BLEEEP* HEY! WHAT ARE YOU UP TO? *BLEEEP* SHIT. YOU? *BLEEEP* COOL. YOU HEAR ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT AT SO-AND-SO'S? *BLEEEP* NAW. WHAT HAPPENED? ON and on it goes. Now jamming is not the answer, but being forced to be a part of every self-important assh*le's personal life it NOT something I have to tolerate. A regular cell conversation at a normal tone is fine. NEXTEL megaphone conversations are NOT. If I must listen to you banter endlessly over that loud-ass walkie-talkie, then you must listen to me shout the Star Wars theme. It's only fair.
itadakimasu
If your call is that important, you should be taking it from a landline or at least a secure office where you aren't subjected to corporate spies.
Oh Jeez. Give me a break.
I'd rather be in a room full of people talking on cell phones than a room full of people smoking, and you don't bear people bitching about smokers. Hell the smoking "lobby" has people convinced that somehow smokers have a "right" to pollute a room with their garbage.
-- I am. Therefore, I think!
To the contrary, I have the right to call the police. They won't do anything to someone talking on a cell phone, but they just might cite your pot-banging, yelling guy as a public nuisance. Then a court will decide the issue, if it's taken that far.
I'm not sure which is more annoying, the rude way you use your phone in public or the way you imply that being a "top IT executive blah blah blah" makes you more important than anyone else.
I hope someone keys your "beamer".
Not only that, but so many people take their sweet time answering the phone to make sure everybody got their special ringtone. Or just sit there and let it ring because they don't want to answer, but don't know that they can push END to make it stop ringing.
How many people can tell they are being jammed? I'm betting it just looks like a bad connection...
They can't stop cell phones, especially in areas like where I live, the cell phone is significantly cheaper than a landline.
They are here, and more are coming, anticommunication luddites are just tilting windmills, and annoying people in the process.
That's very reasonable. But, is it really possible to hold a phone conversation using the same subdued voice you would use in a museum? With my cell phone, at least, I find that people have a hard time hearing me.
Once upon a time, there were no cell phones. I know, its hard to imagine, but it's true. When people had a heart attack, someone used the phone by the restrooms to call an ambulance. That system worked just fine.
Heart attack on a bus? Run to the nearest pay phone. Or into the nearest building. All buildings have phones nowadays, and businesses are quite willing to let non-customers use the phone in case of heart attack (just imagine the negative publicity otherwise).
Heart attack out in the middle of the mountains? Thats where people won't bother to have their jammers on anyway. People are fed up with the constant chatter in theaters, on busses, in grocery stores, etc. THATS where the jammers will be kept active.
But what do I know?
Funny, but your absolutely valid rant applies equally well to the people who insist on using their cell phones anywhere and at any time it pleases them. I suppose that's why the battle rages and will continue to do so.
The best diplomat I know is a fully activated phaser bank.
-- Scotty.
Apparently you spend a lot of time on Slashdot as well... Shouldn't you be out in your LearJet plotting capitalist oppression of the masses rather than slumming it with us prole geeks?
Seriously though, I think this is an issue where people need to calm the fsck down, on both sides. I've had concerts ruined by insensitive jerks that though that they could use their phones right in the middle of a performance. People paid money for that performance, so they should be entitled to a silent audience. On the other hand, I have a friend who - as a doctor - is frequently on call. It would be bad if his beeper or cell phone was jammed at a critical moment.
Perhaps this would be the time for a technical solution; have cell-phones automatically be set to "vibrate" mode by a signal emitted in movie theaters and concert halls. Or have a signal that causes every cell phone to ring and set it off before the performance, reminding people to turn the damned things off.
Combine that with legalized lynching of people who carry on conversations as a opposed to just leaving the room when they are called, and we might solve this.
Human genome = 3 billion base pairs = 6 GBit. Windows + Office = 20 Gbit. Which is more impressive?
Yes, and I'm SURE you'd catch them too.. uh-huh. buh-bye now.
Radar Operator: Sir. The radar, sir. It appears to be ... Jammed!
Dark Helmet: Jammed. ... Raspberry.
Dark Helmet: There's only one man who would dare give me the raspberry.
Dark Helmet: LONE STAR!
I can't say that I can recall ever hearing an annoying cell phone ring while watching a movie. Or, any cell phone ring for that matter.
I do however think someone needs to invent a loudly talking group of obnoxious black people jammer. Or, maybe just a "Please make sure that your black people are switched to silent or turned off" courtesy message at the beginning. Seems to work for the cell phones.
Add "No jamming radio frequencies" to that list, will you?
Cellphone users become inert dummies impervious to their surroundings. Many a time have I bumped into idiots who suddenly stop or walk erratically while talking on the cell. It becomes worse when they are driving.
Or, everybody has the right to do everything!
When you have a normal conversation you unconsciously adjust the level of your own voice relative to other people talking and the general background noise level. Phone designers can use this fact to provide some control over the volume at which people talk when using the phone.
The amount of feedback has to be carefully judged otherwise you will talk to quietly and the user at the other end won't hear you properly. I suspect that this feature is left off of mobile phones because if people speak louder then the speach quality will be better at the other end.
That's very perceptive of you Mr Stapleton and rather unexpected in a G Major
That's a really bad argument. Just because YOU would decide to trump everybody else for your own good doesn't make it right or even acceptable.
I feel like driving 100mph on the highway because I just want to get somewhere faster or I'm just enjoying the hell out of it, does that mean everyone else should mind their fucking business and let me do it ?
Do you also sue the cellphone company when you lose signal because of their coverage ?
It is. Stop.
I don't normally flame people.... But this AC is begging for it.
Why don't you try having a conference call in a conference room? Why are you in a meeting while shopping at the mall? I mean, I can understand you being upset if someone jams your office. However, I don't give a damn if you need to have a conference call while at the movies. I don't normally flame, but what a pain you must be to work for.
Frankly, you're not a brain surgeon. Your valuable expertise can be spared. Plus, no one can understand you on the speaker phone anyway.
Incidentally, I'm in a bookstore yesterday. I'm heading into the restroom and I can hear someone having a cell phone conversation while using the bathroom. People don't know when to stop. I mean at some point, you need to hang up. You aren't that important. This man has a 10-minute conversation on the toilet. He's so loud that you couldn't not hear him. Now if you don't mind your conversation being drowned out by the noise of flushing toilets and other activities.... Are you really guaranteed the right to use your cell phone everywhere?
This reminds me of a Steve Martin bit. "Do you mind if I smoke? WELL, DO YOU MIND IF I FART! I'M JUST GOING TO LIGHT ONE UP!" He's a wild and crazy guy you know.
I guess it all comes down to simple etiquette. If you're in a place where it's okay to talk, then take the call and keep your voice at a moderate level. If you're at a funeral turn off the phone.
What do you mean my sig is repetitive? What do you mean my sig is repetitive? What do you mean....
Man, doesnt anyone reconize a joke when they see one?
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Here's a few solutions I thought of (I'll use a church in the examples):
1) When you enter the church, a person takes your cell phone and gives you a piece of paper with a number on it. If someone calls during the service, the person who took your phone answers it. If it's an emergancy, the number on the piece of paper is displayed somewhere where you can see it. When service is over, you present the slip to get your phone back. (This one's allot like the childcare systems I've seen at churches.
2) The church could have a phone number reserved specifically for people to transfer their calls to. When an importnat call is recieved a number si displayed for all to see.
I know each of these is a little impratical, but I think it's a good comprimise between those who want their privacy and the needs of others.
-bmpwe
I think i agree with some of what I'm hearing from both sides. I think in public places where conversation is encouraged that people should be able to use their cell phones, and it is a good point that people manage to be plenty annoying without them as well. There definetly are places and situations where phones are not appropriate, like the movie theater, but there are other means of dealing with it. When i went to see ROTK in the theater they stood up front and informed us anyone who pulls out a phone risks getting it confiscated (due to the possibility of a camera). Of course the problem then is enforcing it because i think some asshat still let his phone ring during the movie. In those cases though the people surrounding them need to complain not just sit there and be pissed. For example, if someone sitting near you gets a phone call tell them to shut it up or get out. Just don't make so much noise you piss people off too. Most people wont care if they hear you say shut up to a loud person on a phone though
A couple of years ago I was visiting the North rim of the Grand Canyon, when I encountered some prick sitting on a bench in one of the little tourist areas. He was telling some poor gullible woman on the other end of the conversation that he was sitting alone on top of one of those spires in the canyon which he had just finished climbing (not remotely true.)
He proceeded to tell the woman (I assume it was a woman from his lothario manner, tone, etc,) that the view of the canyon was so beautiful from where he had climbed, that he just had to call and share the experience with her.
Myself , and others around me heard this bald-faced lie, and we all looked at him and then each other - keep in mind that none of us there knew each other, then we all spontaniously started making background sounds to illustrate to the woman on the other end that this loser was not where he claimed he was. I said something like: "Sir, you're gonna haveta move your car!" Others made similar noise.
The look he gave us was wonderful. Then he started to explain to the woman that there must be cellphone interference happening.
The difference is that speeding 100mph is not you being annoying, it's you breaking a law. As for cell phones in inappropriate places, some states already have laws prohibiting use in vehicles without a hands-free option. Cell phones and other transmitters are also illegal in sensitive areas such as hospitals, demolition areas, and airplanes.
I'm not going to glare at you as if you just clubbed a baby seal if you're talking on your cell phone; why should you annoy me by acting obnoxious when I'm trying to have a conversation that is identical to any other conversation except the other person is not physically present?
...
I'll probably get Modded as flamebait for this, but...
When it comes to the discussion of cell phones and jamming here on slashdot, it seems like the same tired old arguments are being used.
I, for one, have grown tired of seeing the same lame situation where supposed "Law" and "Rights" are touted as absolutes to give anyone entitlement to, in virtually any situation and for any reason, the justification to make or receive a cel-phone call.
Before I put in my two cents worth here is a brief recap of this asinine argument, since it now has many levels to follow:
DrEldarion said:
"They're in a public place, if they want to talk on a cell phone, it's their right. Hell, if they want to sit there whistling 'It's a small world, after all' while banging on pans, they can do that too."
Blackparrot responded:
"Yeah, try that next time you're in a restaurant, theatre, or museum, and see what happens."
Then DrEldarion retorted:
"If the person is in a private place, and the people who run the place have objections to it, then they and ONLY they have the right to do something about it. If the person is in a public place, then NOBODY has a right to do anything."
My two cents:
Really? "NOBODY has the right to do anything" ? Have you ever heard of Laws with regard to "Disturbing the peace"? I hear people actually get arrested for such eggregious behavior every once in a while.
These "Laws" and "Rights" that you make referenece to were created by people to govern and manage behavior. They are, like many situations in life, best understood in the context of their creation and application. This is illustrated by Carl Sagan's quote, "What Rights does a Drowning Man in the middle of an Ocean have"?
When people do things that are bad and/or against social/cultural norms, as they do from time to time, certain laws get enforced or enacted to correct them. You may have noticed that when behavior gets out of hand (e.g. profanity in church, holding up the line at a ATM machine, harassing a woman at a bar, or whistling "It's a small world after all" and baging on pans virtually ANYWHERE), people won't always wait for the Law, whether it gives/denies explicit permission, to respond appropriately.
Wonder why the FCC has, to date, never enforced this law? Perhaps it is because they have never found reason enough to take a stand and make an example of someone who clearly abused their "Right" to enfore the social and cultural expectations for peace and quiet in the given situation.
Please don't assume think we all, like you, believe that the "Law" and "Rights" are absolute in any virtually any situation and for (virtually) any reason. If you do, you may find yourself in front of a judge/jury/policeman/bouncer/angry citizen(s) that think otherwise....
There's only so much rudeness and nonsense people will put up with, whether you agree with them or not.
end of rant.
.
uR iGn0ranc3, Their Power
"The inventor of the cell phone never thought about the fact that people would be using them constantly and impeding on other people's privacy," he said. "The inventor of the camera phone never thought about the fact that they would be used in locker rooms and other inappropriate places."
Riiiiiiiiight. No one would ever think of using the camera to take secret pictures. I'm sure that is a major selling point.
Maybe we DID take the blue pill. You wouldn't remember anyway.
Personally, I don't have much of a problem with people talking on cell-phones in environments where others keep conversations going, provided they're not one of these types who thinks that the further away they are from the person they're talking to, the louder they have to screem at the phone.
What really buggs me are all those ring signals. Those are very abnormal sounds which are hard for the brain to filter out. If there was some kind of spec. which stated that each phone should broadcast a kind of "IsItOkToTriggerARIIIIIING()" query and wait half a second or so for a veto response before sounding off that annoying sound from the device, it'd go a long way at mitigating what I believe bug most people.
Having worked in so called "Open Landscape" offices for about 5 years now, I've pretty much learned to "tune out" all conversation noise when I need to think. However, artificial noise such as the classic RIIIING or all the personalized ring tunes are still piercing my conciousness and that's really what's bugging me.
If I could just veto those sounds, which might get the cellphone to use vibrate or similar, I'd pretty much be statisfied.
However, just "randomly" jamming anyones call is just rude imo. I like the freedom cellphones provide me, allowing me for example to pick up the kids on time while still being able to attend that "important" conference call the boss has been nagging about all week. (and is always scheduled to impossible hours, due to the timezone difference of our american colleagues, who pretty much arriving to their offices when we are about to leave ours').
In a society that believes in nothing, fear becomes the only agenda ~ Bill Durodié
As a top IT executive for a fortune 50, I spend a lot of time on global conference calls.
I don't care if you're the fucking POTUS. If you start bellowing into a cell phone one table over in a restaurant, I'll turn on my jammer. Guess what--you will then stand up, walk to the lobby out of range of my jammer, and take your call THE WAY YOU SHOULD HAVE IN THE FIRST PLACE. Using the jammer just means you didn't have to be ejected via unpleasant face-to-face confontation.
Who the hell decided talking to someone on a cellphone while in a restaurant is any different than talking to a person physically there?
That's my own criteria for using a cell phone. That is, if I'm in a situation where I feel it's appropriate to talk to a "real" person, it's fine to talk on a cellphone, as long as it can be done at a "normal" volume level (normal for the context.)
See, that is just the thing, most people talk much louder on a cell phone than if they were actually sitting next to someone. The worst is if they talk about their anal warts, how they hate men/women, white/black people, etc. I have to commute into NYC everyday on the trains and people are always on those fucking things having the most pointless conversations and practically yelling to get over the train noise. I personally jack my game boy volume all the way up if i'm sitting next to one of them. I hope one of them says something to me one day so I can shove the cell phone up their ass and they can fart polymorpihic ass tones.
Never, ever fuck with a game boy advance player.
The contest for ages has been to rescue liberty from the grasp of executive power. -- Daniel Webster
...especially when noone is hurt. And believe me, the dangers of jamming cell phones are miniscule, don't try to sell me the stories of blocked 911 calls. I see nothing but good coming out of this. Either we will have low-power cellular communications, a better communications mode, less noisy phones or may be more polite people. It's always exciting to watch the struggle of guns vs. armour. More power to the jammers!
Future Wiki -- If you don't think about the future, you cannot have one.
There's a reason cell phones have vibrate mode and voice mail...I put mine on vibrate when I'm in a restuarant, check it if it rings, and excuse myself and step outside to return the call, if it is urgent. Otherwise, call back later. In movie theatres, museums, etc I just turn it off..
A better solution than jammers would be to develop a system which puts cell phones into vibrate-only mode. Transmitters could be placed in areas where quiet is generally enforced, like church, school, library, etc.
You could make a few tweaks on such a system; perhaps the phone could display "Quiet Area", it could limit calls in such a quiet zone to a certain time period to allow for emergency use but not conversations.
Of course this would be an evolutionary change; it would require some infrastructure but mostly the cell-phone manufacturers would have to buy in. Such a monumental change would really have to be legislated, unfortunately.
Personally, I think the main reason people don't like cell phones is due to an innate interest in what other people are doing. It's human nature to be curious and when you can only hear half a conversation, well, it sure bothers MY brain. I also wish I had a way to just zap those Nextels... I had to listen to both sides of a loud, obnoxious five minute conversation about toilet paper.
Just my $0.55 (US inflation, 1774-2008, for $0.02)
The FCC has received very few complaints about jammed cell phones and has never taken action against anyone for that violation."
And they won't, until someone misses an emergency call, like a doctor, and somebody dies as a result.
I have no problem with cell phones, and I prefer them to land-lines. But I do see that there may be situations where a person or a business may wish to disable cell phones in their vicinity, and I have no problem with that.
As for outlawing shit, I'm, in general, rather of the opinion that too much is outlawed for individuals (such as smoking pot, stupid law), and I'm also of the opinion that the laws we do have are either applied unfairly. Police officers are often exempted from manslaughter laws when they kill a person in an accident or through negligence. African Americans are disproportionately charged with petty crimes (such as jay walking) that White men often are given only a warning for.
I'm all for the advancement of communications technology, but I'm against any law that prevents me from applying technology against attempts to intrude upon my rights or invade my privacy (such as regulating the use of encryption, or blocking the use of a cell phone in my immediate vicinity, when I choose to do so).
Why do you assume that someone who merely points out the risks of adopting a new technology is a luddite?
Rather I would opine that your inability to see the ramifications of a new technology to indicate that you are either unimaginative or a fool.
Read, L
Bystander: Help! Your son has been in a car accident! We can't get him out of the car!
Mommy: Well call 911 you dumb fuck!
So I stopped trying, and bought a jammer. Voila! I don't have to waste my time trying to correct your parents' oversights. I win, and you don't even know that we've fought. You just keep shifting your chair, trying to get your signal back. Ha! Better try holding it up high, moron!
Been doing it for several months now. Nice jammer, hits all the bands that we in the USA use. Max range 30-35 meters.
I use it sparingly, and mainly in traffic. Especially rush hour. I finally made the purchase to get one when this jackass in front of me was driving 20 miles under the speed limit during rush hour in the fast lane, forcing traffic to slam on their brakes behind him and swerve around him.
I bought one on ebay when I came home.
I've run into several similar situations since then - turn the jammer on, they can't call Kmart to see if that Velvet Elvis sitting with the dogs playing poker at the Last Supper is in and SPEED UP and drive like they are supposed to.
I also use it on the train when I go to work - I have almost a 2 hour train ride, and want a couple hours of sleep on the way in. I'm in the quiet car, which specifically forbids these devices, but people still use em - not anymore.
Of course, I don't own a cell phone that's not given to me by my employment, and hate them. So I am biased - but I'm sleeping soundly going to work!
The USA seems to be about 15-20 years behind the rest of the world
:)
in the assimilation of cell phone technology into their culture.
Ironic really when you consider the first cell phone networks in
the world were set up in America (Chicago I think).
All of the issues you've mentioned have long been laid to rest in
cultures where cell phones are more widely in use.
In a few years time you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.
siggy played guitar
A tree in my yard means leaves in your yard. People's activities ALWAYS infringe upon those of their near-neighbors. There is NO absolute guide as to who's rights are more important, in any given case. It is something that must be considered on a case-by-case basis.
In most cities, it is illegal for someone to walk down the sidewalk playing a trumpet. That person is not just being rude, he is infringing upon his neighbors. The world does not revolve around him!
When people talk on a cell phone, they usually don't use their "inside voices." They project their voice, to make sure the phone can hear it. This projection is MUCH more difficult to tune out than the normal tones of indoor conversation. Therefore, people talking on cell phones in inclosed public places are being, indeed, VERY distracting and VERY rude to all those around them. So, mr, cell-phone chatter, the world may not revolve around me, but neither does it revolve around you!
If the person is in a public place, then NOBODY has a right to do anything [to stop you "whistling 'It's a small world, after all' while banging on pans"]
Bullshit. Police can ticket you for noise violations, creating a public nusience, public drunkeness (prove you were sober!), and a bunch of other things.
You don't HAVE to use your cell phone as your kids emergency number.
Ever bother to consider how your convienance might inconvienance others? No? Then I can see why this response would be so frustrating to you.
That's probably because the things are just getting to be too god damn small! Phones are supposed to reach both your ear and your mouth, and if they don't, you're going to talk louder to make up for it.
You are attacking a claim that I have not made, as was the other AC replying to my post.
I am merely pointing out that at times it may be in one's best interest to be able to block cell phone use in their immediate vicinity, just asa at times it may be of one's interest to use an anonymous proxy to access the internet, or at times it may serve your interest to encrypt you email. None of those solutions are complete, as your internet access may be monitored from inside your home or on your own computer, or you may unknowingly have a keylogger installed on your machine, or, as in your example, the person who wishes to record your conversation may have a tape recorder or other recording/listening device. But the fact that there may be situations that you are unprepared for does not mean that you should not take reasonable precautions when approriate and if you can.
Read, L
So I know which jerk to stike with my useless cell phone!!
Si vis pacem, para bellum! For evil to succeed good men need only do nothing!
If it's that important, find a land line.
The last time I tried to find a payphone to call my wife for directions somewhere, it took me roughly a half an hour (not counting the first one, which didn't work). With the popularity of cell phones these days, there aren't many payphones left.
I don't think it would make a difference if it would be used in certain situations.
For eg. The other day i was watching a movie with a frd in the theatre.This guy behind me was talking so loud on his cellphone that i could barely hear the movie.After repeated attempts of telling him to shut up by everyone around he finally quit talking after 45 minutes.The only thing i wanted to do at that time was take his fone and shove it up his a$$!! Wouldnt a jammer do good to the general public in an instance like that?
Lord of the Binges.
Who the hell decided talking to someone on a cellphone while in a restaurant is any different than talking to a person physically there?
BECAUSE CELL PHONE USERS TEND TO YELL INTO THEIR PHONES.
If they spoke normally (or whispered), there would be no problem.
Now, take this little quiz: What is the difference between;
1) One person leans over to their companion and whispers 'Cool movie, huh? I like the feet on the Hobbits."
and
2) RING. (or worse, some stupid electronic 'tune')
RING.
RING.
YEAH, HEY........AT LORD OF THE RINGS.........YEAH, IT'S COOL..........LEGOLAS IS ABOUT TO SHOOT SOMEONE............NO, WITH AN ARROW..........DID YOU?..................REALLY?..............etc, etc, etc.
I've noticed the difference. When they're talking to a person physically present, they tend to follow standard etiquette (not howling, soft, decent tone). OTOH, the moment it's a phone call, it has to be loud, disturbing to everyone else--perhaps because the line's not clear, or perhaps because (when cellphones were a luxury thing) they want to make sure everyone knows they have a cellphone. There's hardly any cellphone etiquette.
Not quite. It's now illegal to hold or touch a mobile phone whilst driving. If you have some sort of hands-free kit, then you can take calls (and make them, I assume, if your phone has a compatible voice-recognition system for speed-dialling numbers). Anything that causes you to touch the phone itself is illegal.
People are still recommended to not use the phone while driving, just as you're recommended not to do anything while driving that might distract you (which includes changing the radio/tape/CD, etc).
It's official. Most of you are morons.
Secondly, and more to the point: You won't "see" anyone. The whole point of a jammer is to avoid a conflict. If I wanted, sure, I could forcibly grab the phones away from rude people in libraries. But unlike you, I don't have some insecurity complex that leads me to believe indiscretion and subtlety equate to cowardice.
I carry my jammer in my pocket, switched off. If I'm in a movie theater and someone starts talking on a cell, I use my jammer. If I'm in the Quiet Car on Amtrak and someone starts talking on a cell, I use my jammer. If I'm ANYWHERE and some idiot starts using his "share-the-conversation-with-everyone" DirectConnect nonsense, I use my jammer.
The point is, you fools who scream that jammers are inherently bad are no less ignorant and misguided than people who say that cell phones are inherently bad. Both are tools which are perfectly appropriate to certain situations. The behavior and use of those tools is the responsibility of the user, dumbass. (You'd think I wouldn't have to explain that on Slashdot, of all places.)
OOooh, oooh, I know!
Neither is appropriate?
The sort of person who'd yell into a phone during a movie is not the sort who'd whisper quietly to the person next to them - they'd be just as noisy talking to them, too.
It's official. Most of you are morons.
If all (or even most) people were reponsible enough to only talk on cell phones when either
a) they didn't bother anyone
or
b) they had something terribly important to tell/hear
noone would be waging the war on cell phones.
As it is, though, there are many cases when pointless idle chatter disturbs many people without a benefit even to the person talking on the phone. Consider a common example of a stupid bimbo receiving a phone call in the middle of a movie and spending at least a minute to tell her equally stupid friend that she is in fact in the movie theatre, she is watching such and such film and then proceeding to discussing plans for the evening.
If it would be possible to block only the phones of the idiots, or better deprive these idiots of all and any civil rights, I would be all for it. As it is, unfortunately, our only solution are the jammers.
BTW, I neither advocate, nor oppose the use of jammers.
Future Wiki -- If you don't think about the future, you cannot have one.
Why do you leave the restaurant? If you keep your voice to a normal conversational level, what's wrong with taking the call where you are? (Depending on the exact nature of the situation, eg just the two of you, group of people, etc)
Sure, if you have to yell for some reason, take it outside - but I've never had a phone that was that bad that I had to shout.
It's official. Most of you are morons.
Uh huh, that's what I thought...
The anonymous "MOD UP" came from the parent's poster. Mod down, down, down, for being an immature little whore.
I suggest you keep your mouth shut at the supermarket or restaurant as well. I don't want to have to listen to your conversation with your wife or children or whoever.
Well, since I don't SHOUT TO THEM, like cell phone users do into their cell phones, you won't have theat problem.
[I]That's my own criteria for using a cell phone. That is, if I'm in a situation where I feel it's appropriate to talk to a "real" person, it's fine to talk on a cellphone, as long as it can be done at a "normal" volume level (normal for the context.)[/I]
Not good enough. People on cell phones that are at a "normal" volume level rarely annoy others. Fact is that people on cell phones rarely talk at a "normal" volume level. They raise their voices so their fingernail-sized flip-phone can actually pick them up, and secondly because it's a natural human reaction when you yourself can't hear well. Reception and phone quality being what it is, people generally broadcast very prominently when on their cell phones. Watch for it and see if I'm wrong.
By definition, if people around you are being annoyed by you, you're being annoying. If you were truly carrying on a conversation as though a person was with you, almost nobody would notice you.
"Oh no... he found the
t's people like you that cause huge traffic jams because you're talking on your cell phone and not paying attention to the road, then you cut off a tractor trailer who then in turn jacknifes, and runs over a bus full of nuns which catches fire, burning alive all those inside." hehe thats funny, and what about the guy who could have saved those nuns by calling 911, but some idiot with a jammer decided to walk by?
Firstly, I'm glad you find death funny. That makes it easier to hate you.
2) If "some [one] with a jammer decided to walk by", the driver would have to be paying attention to the road instead of the cell phone, and the accident wouldn't have happened at all!!!
That was a sad day for Kew Gardens.
I actually grew up near there, though I was born well after the murder. I like to think the place has gotten better over the years.
I also think that with the prevalence of cell phones, more people would be likely to use them to help.
If anything, just having more people with phones raises the percentage of people who can use them to aid others.
Having never gotten into wireless yet (Yeah, I've had a cell phone, but never read up on how it works)...how easy is it to build a jammer? They sell for about 220 dollars, it seems like they should be a lot cheaper.
Another thought, could you do this to wireless routers? If you can, then if you have a large enough signal/range, could you go DoS-Driving?
I'm sorry but I've had a dozen or so encounters with cell phone users and, other impolite people, who have crossed the lines of decorum in public places. I consider myself a polite person that won't allow myself to be bullied so these conflicts are sure to continue. This led me to my conclusion to build my own ECM.
As of yet, I have not used ECM but will not hesitate to defend myself after fair, polite, warning has been given and ignored and the authorities have refused to help. Physical encounters are too risky and I'd rather not go to prison over some stupid selfish idiot rather simply and covertly end their conversation using nonviolent means.
It still galls me that this doesn't address the real problem of correcting the person's rudeness and instilling some measure of civility.
I'm beginning to understand Dr. Lector's reasoning. Eat rude person "yes" "no".
27b-6
you read slashdot and have an account here, it makes me assume you are the exact same thing and thus only could mabey wipe the floor with the geekiest geeks that couldn't lift my sisters 2# wieghts
Its soo funny seing ll these comments of how they would beat the crap out of anyone with one of these devices where i doubt 2% of the slashdot population could say that and have a reasonable chance against a non technophile
Phones should have a Bluetooth interface that receives a silence signal that forces ringers off, to vibrate if possible, which is enabled by default, has a 1-button interface to turn the "silence comply" setting off for the next call only. The room's silence signaller would also have a logger which detects the to/from callerID data and correlates any audible rings with the callerID, and sends the "ringing anyway" phone a voicemail with a message relevant to the infraction, like "don't come back to our theater with your phone, jerk".
A few nights ago off Times Square, during a screening of the terrific Brazillian gangster epic _City of God_, I almost literally threw some retard out of the theater after their second call rang out through the cavernous theater. A Bluetooth silence warning accompanying the funny "turn off your cellphones" trailers would go a long way towards public safety.
--
make install -not war
Turn the jammer just when you need it. When you hear someone on the theater talking on the phone turn the jammer on, that will end the conversation and the person go away from where you are to get a better signal.
I don't know what some of you are complaining about. With the inane conversations that I'm forced to listen to on the bus every day --- not medical emergencies, I promise you --- at at three or four times the volumes they should, I would gladly buy a jammer. And I'm frankly annoyed that they're illegal in the U.S. Why is it only cell phone users who get to impose on the rest of us, and not the other way around??
I don't know if everyone has just decided they are more important than everyone else or if they just don't care, but it seems to get a little worse every year. From people talking on a cell phone in a theather to road rage.
I'm not drunk, I just have a speech impediment. And a stomach virus. And an inner ear infection.
Just because somebody dines alone doesn't mean they're a loser. Except in your case - you're a loser in any situation.
Yeah, try that next time you're in a restaurant, theatre, or museum, and see what happens.
Given the fact that people are more afraid of each other than ever before, I doubt much of anything would happen.
It goes from God, to Jerry, to me.
of the jammers listed (One I designed and built myself, for all cell frequencies)..
I find it immensly usefull in the theatre. I dont turn it on all the time..I wait and listen for the type of call. And the type of person talking. Sometimes they are nice and leave right away.
But there are those on a non-emergency call, talking business or family or whatever other bullshit, and NOT leaving the theatre to do it. One button press and "No service". Farady cages in theaters would be okay, but it WOULD stop emergency calls.
Maybe they should hire someone to listen with a jammer handy.
Button 1 lights up a red light informing the offending speaker they will be disconnected.
Button 2 engages the transmitter.
Seems to be a good solution.
Actually, women who wear REALLY LOUD shoes who stomp on hard floors like they're stomping on mens' balls annoy the fuck out of me. I slap them on sight.
Actually, in Japan, some of the subway cars have Faraday cages in/around them, specifically because people were getting upset about cell phone usage. ...If only my bus company would do the same!
Most kids learned it early. Inside voice. Try using it.
I'm not drunk, I just have a speech impediment. And a stomach virus. And an inner ear infection.
Really? I like to slap the shit out of people in public places. Who are you to try to infringe on my right to do that?
Phone Bashing
Can I talk on my cell phone if I maintain a conversational volume level?
If there's no contact with mommy (or daddy) then unless the kid is dying the medical staff will leave the kid in the waiting room until someone with authority gives the go ahead. Sitting for hours with a broken arm sucks but I guess your uniterruppted coffee and cake experiance at the local cafe is more important then that.
Hollow words will burn and hollow men will burn.
... Yes, there are annoying people who speak very loudly on their cell-phones in restaurants and the like. There are people who answer them in theaters, classes and other "non-talking" environments. There are people who talk on the phone (or to passengers) while driving, and give their talking process a higher attention priority than the driving process.
However, these are the ones that get noticed. The ones who speak quietly while dining alone in a restaurant or on the subway; the ones who speak on a phone or to other passengers safely while driving; the ones who set the phone to vibe and then surreptitiosly look at the caller ID during a film, class, meeting, etc... these people are not noticed and probably outnumber the annoying ones by far.
If you jam cellular frequencies, not only are you screwing with all the safety devices already mentioned, but you're screwing with people who are behaving politely and reasonably.
Would you start spraying febreeze at everyone entering a store because occaisonal patrons come in without having bathed recently? It might help with them, while pissing off people who do behave properly. Jamming makes You the nuisance who should be removed.
Incidentally, just went to the movies yesterday, saw an amusing ad, promising cell-phone-user ejection seats in the theater soon. . .
A nurse walking by looked at him and said something like "You look like you're having a heart attack- I'm calling a doctor over..." She did and he was. He had no idea anything was wrong until then, but his body was obviously giving off enough signals that an experienced nurse or good equipment could tell.
600+ comments on this story and not a single one mentioning that you can't jam CDMA, which is what SprintPCS and Verizon are. TDMA systems like GSM and AT&T and Cingular? Sure they can be jammed, but not CDMA, and not any of the 3G systems, which are ALL CDMA based.
CDMA was originally researched and refined by the military for precisely this reason. Because it uses a spread spectrum, a single carrier (or several) can't jam it. You'd need to jam the entire BAND, at a high enough power level, and that is physically impossible. Well, it might be possible with military grade gear, but we're talking huge amounts of power here. You'd need an entire destroyer to carry and power it.
One simple rule for its versus it's
I though that by now there would be at least some mention of LOUD HOWARD?
We're not all sheep.
Talking to someone on a cell phone is not exactly like talking to someone in person.
For example, I work in retail. This happens very frequently: somebody comes in and asks for assistance. While you are helping them, their cell phone rings. They answer it, and talk, sometimes for 10 minutes or more. As a salesperson, I am expected to just hang on waiting for them to finish, which I do. Although I would not express this (as I am trying to make a sale), it is very irritating to waste somebody's valuable time like this.
It's a phenomenon not unique to cell phones. Phone calls always seem to be much more important than the person you're talking to right now face to face. Yeah, I've come to your store so you can ignore me to answer a call.
"Hot lesbian witches! It's fucking genius!"
1)spot your victim & activate cellphone jammer.
2)??
3)Profit.
The problem is inconsiderate people making too much noise. So if anything, why not take action against that?
If someone's disturbing you at the cinema by speaking too loudly, does it matter whether they're speaking into a mobile phone, or to the person next to them, or to the rest of the cinema, or to themselves? No -- noise is noise, and that's the problem, not the excuse for it.
And just as it's perfectly possible to be inconsiderate without a phone, it's possible to be considerate with one. I try to be so, for example. I try to speak quietly into the phone, resisting the urge to shout. My phone's ringtone is the plainest possible, starting almost silently, and vibrating so that I've usually felt the ring and stopped it before anyone else has heard it. I turn the phone off in public places like cinemas and theatres; and if I forget, then I'll cancel the call without answering. End result: usually, no-one else in the cinema is aware. (And if it's a vital call, I can tell from the caller display, leave, and call back where it doesn't disturb anyone.)
Why should I suffer because some people are inconsiderate?
But as I said, this isn't a phone issue. I don't recall digital watches being banned, for example, because a few people left those annoying beeps on the hour. And should we ban popcorn because some people spend the whole film rustling with it?
No, of course not. Neither should we think about banning, jamming, or otherwise restraining mobile phones. If people are behaving inconsiderately, then ask them to leave for that, whatever excuse they may or may not have. Don't chicken out and blame it on something irrelevant.
Ceterum censeo subscriptionem esse delendam.
Who the hell decided talking to someone on a cellphone while in a restaurant is any different than talking to a person physically there?
Well, I'm not sure who came up with it, but they sorta have a point. The thing is that very often people who are talking on a mobile phone talk a lot louder than if they are talking to someone across the table from them. Sure, not everyone does, but a lot of people do. That's what gets annoying - people talking like they're trying to project their voice round the whole restaurant or whatever. I was walking round town yesterday and heard a guy talking very loudly. I looked round to see who it was, and managed to pinpoint the voice to some guy about 50 metres away who was talking on a mobile phone. I could hardly hear anything that anyone who was actually close to me was saying, but I could hear him clear as day. So it does happen.
I could make a few guesses why people do this. Maybe poor signal means they have to talk louder to be heard. Maybe they or the other person have their phone volume down too low. Maybe because you can't see someone's lips moving it's harder to make out what they're saying on the phone than if they were sat opposite you or whatever. I mean, my fiancee can lip read (she's deaf in one ear) which means she can understand people talking in the noisiest places - stands to reason that all of us lip read to some extent so talking on the phone will make it harder to be hear and understand.
Now, I don't have a problem with people talking at a regular volume on their phones, because as you say it is no different to people in person. It's that set of people who shout into their phones that disturbs me and winds me up.
I call bullshit on Mr *top* IT executive.
/. knows the IT department in any
:)
Since everybody on
major corporation is ranked somewhere below the
janitorial staff and the guy who puts fresh bottles in
the water dispensers.
It may say top and executive on your buisiness card bub,
but face it you're well down the pecking order and you
know it.
Top executives spend their days playing golf not running
round takin phone calls like a lame gofer.
Take a reality tablet sherlock.
siggy played guitar
Yes, but only if the phone can communicate with that type of signal.
How could an analog phone get through to a GSM network?
And we have CDMA, TDMA, GSM, PCS, Analog, and probably 3 or 4 that I can't think of right now.
So please. Don't be stupid. At least not about why 911 calls won't get through on a rival network.
cell phone conversations are obnoxious because there is no flow; its merely someone randomly blurting out, there's no context, no flow. the human ear has no idea what to expect next nor when to expect it, half the conversation is unhearable and thus half the conversation becomes impossible to block out. you cannot block out what you cannot expect.
if telephone didnt sound like ass, i'd rather you all talk on speakerphone, that was i could ignore you like i can ignore every other conversation in the world.
i'm tired as fuck of all the self righetous pricks running around thinking their cell phone conversations are as harmless as two people chatting merrily.
" The biggest factor in determining whether someone will survive a major heart attack" ...
Is whether they have a gentic disposition to heart attacks. 2nd most is diet, 3rd is exercise.
So when fat joey who never exercises and his dad died at 44 from a heart attack keels over at age 42 from a coronary, the 2 minutes longer the cell phone didn't get through is not the most important aspect of that particular problem.
Seriously.
His point was that a pay phone (as they exist everywhere) is just as convenient as a cell phone, but here's the part you missed:
THEY'RE A LOT MORE RELIABLE.
Thank heavens you've got me around to point out the obvious stuff in life.
ps
;)
BTW. Nice troll
siggy played guitar
If you talk on your phone for long enough in a public place then eventually you are going to get hassled by somebody who doesn't like you doing that.
:)
Simple answer is to buy the smallest and most unobtrusive bluetooth headset - voila! now you're just another nut talking to himself and nobody will bother you
"Don't belong. Never join. Think for yourself. Peace." V.Stone, Microsoft Corporation
"I can't believe someone would say that no one has ever regained a pulse after CPR"
He did not say that. He said that he had never seen anyone regain a pulse SOLELY as a result of CPR. CPR just keeps the body viable to be revived when someone with a defib unit comes by.
Please read again instead of jerking your knee. You'll tear a ligament that way, and probably sue slashdot.
"I would say that I *do* have the right to not having my signal blocked. "
Not in my house. I can block any got-damn signal that I want.
And in my business.
And in my theater.
No, you are not entitled to communicate. Sorry. Get over the cell phone. You're pissing away money, and look stupid. You don't accomplish anything with it.
...jam your cell phone up your self-important ass?
If you're so scary important to the company, then go into work. Don't subject us to your stupidity and noise because you need to prattle on and on in a restaurant or a theater.
And I don't fucking care if you work for a fortune 50, a fortune 5 or the goddamned pope. You have no constitional grounds for ensuring the use of your phone in a private theater or restaruant than I have a constititional right to fart.
Honestly, I'm praying to jesus that you die. Idiot.
Oh, and you're not that scary important. You're a kid 2 years out of college and your 2nd line support. Stop trying to impress like you're somebody.
Oops, my mistake. You're the biggest asshole on slashdot. That's quite an accomplishment. Asshole.
"what do you consider inappropriate context?"
Life.
Cell phone are the mark of the terminally soft-headed.
I'll bet your phone calls are scary important.
You strike me as a guy who never understood that solitary reflection is life treasures.
Diarrea of the mouth is never considered a good thing. Put the phone down. You're not that interesting to talk to, so stop forcing people to chatter with you.
In fact, sell that phone. Save your money. All you're doing is idle prattle.
"IF I caught someone doing this I wouldn't hesitate to take a swing at him..."
I hope its me you take that swing at.
I'll have that goddamned arm ripped off and stuffed down that big mouth of yours, and I'm betting that people around us will be applauding and saying "I wondered when that idiot windbag would get off the phone."
Stop talking so much. You're not that interesting.
Nobody would design a life-saving device to use a cell-phone, because they're so unreliable, you might as well use smoke signals.
Cell phones are routinely disrupted during rush hour, and during an emergency, they're unusable.
During 9/11 in Washington DC, it took 3 hours to get a cell. And that's with what amounted to a minor emergency.
So save us the sob stories, They're just made up nonsense.
"You're a selfish bastard"
Allow me to translate:
"I don't have a good comeback, and [whaaaa!] I love my cell phone. I hate you!"
while it's wonderful that all /.ers seem to be courteous with their cell phones, I have to think that maybe all those jerks out there think they're being courteous too . . .
For a pussy who talks on the phone all the time.
You act like a girl, and then claim you'll beat people up?
Stop it. You're like a 6 year old saying "I'm king of the world".
Or don't stop... you're funny enough to watch... and life could use more entertainment at other people's expense.
I don't SHOUT into my cell phone either. Why don't you just address the problem (people shouting into their cell phones) rather than blaming it on the phone.
Probably not really his daughter; I suspect someone so angry is pissed off because he can't get an erection; my guess is the child is either not his, or was adopted.
Possibly he's sterile from so much steroid use?
" Cut to the next scene:"
Then cut to the final scene, where you wake up from your dream and it turns out that you're a pasty geek who likes to make anonymous threats hiding behind a pseudonum of "NineNine".
Movie ends when your mom tells you its time to take the bus to your 11th grade classes.
Yes, there are inappropriate situations in which to use a cell phone, but what makes me mad is all the self-righteous people who glare at you if they see you with a cellphone to your ear ANYWHERE, even in totally "appropriate" situations. (Yes, there are quite a few such people.)By yakking on your cellphone in a place like a museum you are giving the inadvertant signal that you don't want to be part of the group on tour. This is a small slight to the others, intentional or not.
The other thing "cellies" seem to forget is that it disrupts other tasks. I can't count the number of times somebody has nearly knocked me over because they couldn't handle walking and talking at the same time. And even in your so called acceptable places there are problems that arise. Suppose I'm on a bench reading and somebody sits next to me talking on a cell. It disrupts my reading but my reading does not disrupt their conversation. Don't automatically assume the call is more important than my reading.
Everytime you look at porn a devil gets their horns.
" Where does this notion that restaurants are innapropriate places for cell-phones come from?"
From common sense and decency.
Apparently, you'll have to look those two concepts up in the ole' funk-and-wagnel's.
When you have electronically-triggered blasting devices in an area, you want to remove as many possible EMI sources as possible.
...
How could an analog phone get through to a GSM network?
We are not talking about cross-system compatability here. An old analog mobile phone or a CB radio can't get an emergency call through on the GSM network, of course.
What we are discussiong here is the ability to place an emergency call wtih a GSM phone, on the GSM network of a different phone company and without having paid your subscription. Before you place your foot in your mouth again, this is different from roaming too.
Irene KHAAAAAAN!
Can someone edumacate me about what Cell Phone Chatter is? And why these anti-cell phone lunatics are anti-cell phone?
There is an important difference - people generally talk louder on a cell phone than in real life, especially if they are using one of those hands-free jobs.
I don't think he was trying to pass himself off as an all-important executive. When you play HYPOTHETICAL games, you must break some rules of logic.
Calling atheism and agnosticism a religion is like calling bald a hair color.
Imagine having a jammer to block all those nasty callers, then having an accident and nobody able to call for help...
Repeat after me: We are all individuals
We also survived before medicine. Ban the medicine! It's of the devil!
Simple solution to the annoying cell phone user, one that I'm quite fond of and have employed myself.
Tell them they are being rude, when they ignore you...
Go up to them, grab the phone out of their hands
Throw the phone as far as possible
Punch the caller in the stomach
Tell them to remember and learn from this incident.
It works great! For an added bonus, make sure they have a girlfriend present so they can be humilated in front of a loved one.
Three users on a bus have an impact upon up everybody.
The jammer is a cool idea, but unfortunately, it is no safer.
If jammers were only a couple of bucks, I'd turn them on and hide them in Starbucks and under bus seats and such. Under desks in busy work places. --Not that it does much for public health, I just think it is appropriate to raise the stress level of the ignorant. Ignorance isn't always passive in how it endangers you; there are guys like me out there who are annoyed with you for messing up the world and think you should pay in high stress.
A good friend of mine was hit by a car being driven by an idiot on a cell phone. Brain damage, indeed.
-FL
This is actually quite funny. I am one of those folks who purchased a 'cell jammer' off the net a year or so ago. It is relatively small and worked off of 4 'aaa' batteries. It had a momentary switch or a slide switch for continuous use. To be honest, I was quite impressed it made it through US Customs since it had the phrase " CELLULAR JAMMER " emblazoned across the Customs Tag. ( It was ordered from Hong Kong btw ) It was sufficient to kill an entire movie theatre full of cell phones ( For those types who just HAVE to have their damn phones on during a movie ) or a resturant. However, phones have advanced a bit since then and it is no longer functional vs the new generation of phones. I am on the lookout for the newer generation of jammers and plan to buy one as soon as I can find them. It's sad that measures like this are necessary to keep the inconsiderate a$$holes of the world off their damn phones. Since they don't realize that movie theatres, hospitals, driving down the damn freeway, resturaunts, etc. are not their personal telephone booths, I turn to technology to take them off the air. If only for a little while. FYI- Doing this to the a$$hole going 20mph in front of you is not recommended. Aforementioned a$$hole will stare harder at the phone when it hangs up on him and he will swerve across half the damn freeway before he realizes he can't make a call. :)
and understood.
Hope I didn't flame too much...
.
uR iGn0ranc3, Their Power
No, his context was wrong because it appears that he doesn't realize that if you are a Sprint subscriber, you can't through on the AT&T network no matter how hard you try.
In europe everything is GSM, so the impediment is not technical, its administrative.
Re-read. His question was dumb.
Interesting how the opinion is splitted into two halfs "cell phone yes/no". And slashdot seems to be the place in the with the highest share of libertarians...
So, what is freedom? Speaking? Silence?
That which >>I say is FR&A, of course! And I am certian most people - toh perhaps not all...
will say the same!
You can jam almost anything with a white noise generator and sufficient power. Spread spectrum is jam resistant, it can still be jammed, it just takes more power than is needed to jam older modes of communication.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
The /. community full of nerds who talk on end about hauling around PDA's, laptops, anything they can cram in their pockets with a processor or a keypad and they want to argue that we survived w/o cellphones for thousands of years we can do it now when people in public annoy you by talking on their phone.
... and yes, we lived w/o /. and the Internet.
Look what your technology is being used for? Mass marketing, fraud, ID theft, and a litany of other crimes. And somehow we have yet to ban computers to avoid those unpleasantries in life.
The US is a country where we have yet to place a ban on all guns b/c some ppl use them properly and others don't, but we don't punish those that do w/ an outright ban.
And yet I should be crucified for using a cellphone in a public place (barring movies, plays, operas, performance venues in general) b/c people want uniterrupted peace and quiet when they're out in public?
We survived w/o movies and fine dining, cars, modern medicine... nearly anything and everything we take for granted, junk food, fast food, Target, Wal*Mart, satellite TV, cable
For some reason I've let faceless hipocrits make me numb w/ disbelief.
Your rights end where my rights start, but I've never been told we have a right not to be bothered by other people while out in public.
No sig for you!!
I'll bet a fair amount of people here have studied some sort of martial arts, and while everybody isn't chuck norris, I could hold my own against everybody but a really good martial artist.
Getting pummeled doesn't scare me as that seems to happen about 4 times a week.
And the rest of us just go out and buy jammers >:) Could give a shit less about your business, your meetings, or anything associated with you if you are interrupting a service that I am paying for ( Read that: Movie ) or causing a hazard on the freeway because you can't drive, think, and talk at the same damn time.
I think all the posters who are so annoyed by cell phone usage are suffering from the same condition as people who get rageful when someone is having a conversation in a language they don't understand. They feel left out of the club - notice no one (at least at the level I browse at) is complaining because their conversations are being interrupted, its always someone trying to have some alone time on the subway. They get paranoid, thinking that the club is against them, too. Any laughter - whether in the middle of a one-sided cell phone conversation or interrupting Chinese - is thought to be laughter at their expense. The cell phones aren't the issue, its the people that react to them.
He assumed you weren't a half-wit. He needs to adjust his target model somewhat.
after all the if the radaition of the deliberate signal is questionable for health risks.
the jammer in pants pockets is bound to cause sterility.
the reinforcement in floor and roof slabs, and in the walls can be tied together to make a very nice faradays cage, even better if you use copper.
Sorry if I'm coming a bit late on this... prolly not many people will take the time to read this.
I've read through all the discussions and seen the same recurring arguments.
Is there a possibility for "selective jamming?"
For example, your "jammer" is on default in the off mode. When someone's cell phone rings in the movie/restaurant/etc. and it's not urgent (which is determined by one's subjective genius), flip on the jammer and let them leave your area.
Otherwise, turn it off.
Just a thought.
S
bah.
I dont mind people holding normal voice conversations on their phone. I do however mind people who have those walkie talkie phones with the volume turned wide open carrying on conversations in a public place. To me, that is extremely rude.
Tis better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt --Abraham Lincoln
which only makes the mobile and the base station turn up the power level, increasing the health hazard......
Slightly off topic, but...
Actually, studies are showing cell phones are not dangerous.
I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed...
I wonder how people survived before cell phones.
Well before cell phones life just sucked a lot in situations that don't suck anymore. People in emergency situations just died tragically, busness poeple lost deals because their customers were frustrated that they couldn't reach them when they were needed, my girlfried couldn't contact my unless I was at home (which is practically never now).
Yeah poeple survived (for the most part) without cell phones, it just sucked a lot. Why would you want to go back to that?
Anyway, if any of you are fixin' to buy one, I've collected some links:
eBay cell jammer search, 20mw /15m range, 170GBP, schematics for you k-rad solder-iron-packin' phreakers, high-powered models50ft radius models, units effective up to 3Km!
That took a good 15 minutes... kindly hook me up with some karma, si vous plait. I've never had a +5
Cell phones are a fact of life.
Smoking in the workplace used to be a "fact of life". Many things which used to be "facts of life" have been scrutinized, modified, restricted, eliminated, etc. That's life in a democracy. Nothing is a "fact of life" if it becomes wildly unpopular.
If I ever caught such a jammer, I would become the jammer, because I'd jam the device up his ass!
...they invariably believe that they must talk on a order of magnitude louder than the hubbub around them in order for them to be clearly heard.
While restaurant background noise is fine, it's really jarring to then hear some lady scream shrilly, "Jimmy got whaaat? A tattoo?! No way!"
Light a fire for a man and he'll be warm for a day. Light a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
While you're jamming it up my ass, would you be so kind as to lick my balls from behind so your nose tickles my anus?
If my phone was in poket, for
say 3 hours and was being jammed,
that woudl flaten the battery..
Mine(and mos tppls) phone uses the most
power when cycleing trying to reconect
to any avible base station in range.
You have 5 Moderator Points!
Which Helpless Linux zealot/MS basher do you want to mod down today?
Any business blocking cell phones and then having an employee or customer killed can expect a lawsuit . If a business is considering blocking they should be aware of this.
I'd go on a Vegan diet but the delivery time from Vega is too long. --brownkitty
Well, I consider myself to have good manners, and any public conversation that all parties aren't privy to should be kept quiet enough to ignore. I feel embarrassed when I get a call and someone else can hear me, that's how it's supposed to work.
If your phone rings, you're supposed to scurry off to somewhere more private and/or speak quietly.
Phones should be off at or in any dining situation or meeting. If you're chatting with someone and your phone rings, hit 'cancel' and send them to voicemail, finish your conversation, and call the person back.
I think talking while driving is OK, but only when travelling at reasonable speeds, on the highway, and not 'maneuvering' excessively. All 'in transit' conversations should be kept to a minimum, it's not time to engage in idle chatter.
When I'm driving I answer "This is Marc, I'm driving, what's the problem?" Most of the time people excuse themselves and say the conversation can be handled later
"Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
Basically the cheepest most effective way is with chicken wire of simular where the holes in it are smaller then the wavelength you wish to block that is grounded. Its what microwaves use, but you could get away with bigger holes then the ones on microwaves.
You could drain the retards batterys nice 'n fast by makeing the ground connection switch on and off makeing their phone lose the connection before it has a chance to get online.
I remember a time when someone in a restaurant was told he had a call, he went out of the common area and took the call.
I've seen movies where a phone was brought to a table; never seen it in real life.
When you wanted to make a call--same deal--you went off to a secluded area where there was (you hoped) a phone booth WITH A DOOR YOU COULD CLOSE. You didn't want ambient noise interfering and you didn't feel that everybody needed to know your business.
Now the world's turned upside down and the 60,000 or so folks who feel they're so important that they can't miss a call also have to impress everyone with that elevated status.
To call attention to themselves and drive home that they possess this uber-cool device which grants them uber-cool status, they talk LOUDER than they normally would.
I, too, have never seen an actual life-saving call made on a cell phone.
>said pla (#8288909)
>Phones have an "off" switch for a reason.
>If you don't consider that its default state, I guarantee that you annoy those around you.
I really like the way that guy thinks.
>said jobugeek (#8288680)
>Unfortunately, in the US people regard freedom as complete and that includes being rude and inconsiderate.
>...everyone has just decided they are more important than everyone else or...they just don't care
Summarizes it nicely.
gewg_
Render the blood-brain barrier permeable? Where'd you get that one? I've heard mutterings about the radio waves resonating with your brain tissue in some as-yet-undetermined way, but I've never seen that specific claim before.
--
Do I look like I speak for my employer?
>If you are worried about someone taking your photo in the locker room, that is your problem.
No. That would be a legitimate concern for a breakdown of the fundamental social contract.
To wit: Don't act like a jerk. If you can't behave yourself, stay home.
gewg_
Do YOU have a *right* to use YOUR licence on MY private property without MY permission?
Without your unauthorized signal to jam, the jammer would be unnoticed.
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
gewg_
I haven't had the opportunity since I thought up the idea (where I have been lately, everyone's been behaving), but the next time some oaf is shouting into his cell phone I'm thinking about holding my closed hand up to my cheek and saying just as loudly, "YEAH, THERES SOME MORON HERE WHO THINKS THAT THE WHOLE WORLD NEEDS TO KNOW HIS BUSINESS. RIGHT, HE'S REALLY OBNOXIOUX. EVERYBODY HERE THINKS HE'S A COMPLETE IDIOT..."
I don't know if it will do any good. I fear irony is dead. Sigh.
gewg_
at the city limit?
Same deal.
Cell-phone jammers are illegal in the UK - end of story. Quote :
In the last two years the Radiocommunications Agency has become aware of devices, being marketed around the world, that can block mobile phone calls. These devices transmit radio signals that prevent communications between cellular handsets and cellular base stations. It is illegal to install or use these devices in the UK. Use of these devices constitutes an offence contrary to sections 1 (unlicensed use) and 13 (deliberate interference) of the Wireless Telegraphy 1949 Act. Any outlets marketing such devices in the UK may be prosecuted for inciting the public to commit offences. The cellular operators are licensed to provide a mobile telephone service throughout the UK. Cellular phones are used for a variety of business and public applications, and cellular customers expect to be able to make and receive telephone calls within the coverage areas provided by the operators. The Agency will take all necessary steps to ensure that cellphone jammers are not used in the UK.
Key quote here is : Any outlets marketing such devices in the UK may be prosecuted for inciting the public to commit offences..
Anyone trying to sell these in the UK would be due a visit from the OFCOM Storm Troopers.
That's surprising. It's one of the older and better documented observations, though I do admit that much of what I have learned regarding this subject is paper-based rather than web-based. I did a cursory search though, and found the following. .
There is also actually a mechanism through which it has been demonstrated that low level EM radiation can indeed increase the number of particles passing through a cell membrane. --I've transcribed it and posted it here. While the transcribed article is looking at 60 Htz and the Lithium ion, it may be that the cellphone phenomenon may perhaps work in a similar way. Maybe not. --But the fact of the matter is that in the half dozen experiments I've read up on in detail all demonstrate marker dyes passing through the barrier under cell phone EM exposure.
In any case, I find with this sort of thing that people won't see anything without investing some time and energy, since inconvenient truths never get a lot of air-time. Air-time is expensive and it's usually the guilty parties who have all the money and influence. The information is all available if one digs, though.
-FL
The issue is not really whether it's polite to talk on a mobile phone, when it is or isn't, and whether or not it's polite to jam calls (and when it is or isn't). The fact is, technology like this exists because, no matter what the Right Thing to do is, some people (ok, a LOT of people) are not going to do it!
What I'm more interested in is that jamming technology doesn't really change things, as it's easily possible to be impolite with your jammer. In a cinema, it's decent to turn your mobile phone off, and reasonable to turn your jammer on. In short, it's reasonable to have your jammer on whenever it's unreasonable to have your mobile phone on. It just means that you'll be pissing people off under different circumstances!
So, in the end, this technology probably won't change the net annoyance (well, if it's legallised and made widespread in this form), but it would be very useful if installed in places like cinemas. Furthermore, if the technology is made legal only for installation (rather than personal use), you can put up signs telling people that it's a jamming zone, you can provide emergency land-line phones, etc.
...for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. -- Jesus (Luke 18:14)
... but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. -- Jesus (Luke 10:18)
The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. -- Psalms 24:1
The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. -- Haggai 2:8
No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. -- Jesus (Luke 16:13)
Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. -- Jesus (Mark 10:15)
And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. -- Luke 23:42-43
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. -- Acts 16:30-31
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. -- Jesus (Matthew 25:34,41,46)
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. -- Revelation 20:10,15
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve;
And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; -- Joshua 24:15-16
If the jammer is manufactured to respect the bands reserved for public safety personnel, then what's the problem?
These bands are not within or close to those used for private, civilian purposes, and have been designated in order that police, fire, medical, and road crews can receive their communications when other infrastructures are down. There's a (rather incomplete) FCC site dedicated to explaining how this system works.
Bringing up the doctor scenario seems quite popular in this discussion, but a jammer that is blocking your cell phone is not going to be blocking a doctor's pager (or police radio, towtruck cb, fireman's pager, etc).
You'll just have to get used to the idea that sometimes Johnny might just have to go without his crack until you leave the theatre.
Read, L
They're in a public place, if they want to talk on a cell phone, it's their right. Hell, if they want to sit there whistling "It's a small world, after all" while banging on pans, they can do that too.
Ah, you discovered my cell-phone ring type!
Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
This was what I was thinking, a real solution.I know if they didn't have the stupid turn off your cell phone message before a movie I would forget to turn mine silent. I have had my phone ring in a theater before but I turned if off after the first ring, and felt like a dick for having it on.
A Blue tooth standard quite zone spec would be great for cell phones. With options on the phone to set the quiet zone settings to either vibrate or silent. Maybe even an indicator for quite zone on the phone itself.
That would surely help the forgetful people like me. My cell phone has become like a wallet or watch, I don't think about them until I need them.
Currently I leave my cell phone on almost constantly. Usually because I get SMS messages for sports scores and (more importantly) notifications that I have new email.
I also like to go to movies and theater productions. Some older theaters (where I see live productions) produce a bit of a faraday cage but most I can get signal from.
Every single one of those production gives me a polite reminder to turn off my cell phone before the production, which I immediately heed.
Some places all you have to do is ask someone to turn off their phone. I can't understand why someone would not turn off their phone after being asked to do so. As a matter of fact, I never see people on the phone during movies or theater shows any more. Maybe people should just be asked more often rather than trying to change the construction of the building or setting up illegal jammers?
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
I know a guy that talks *really* loud on his mobile... he does so while walking around my office, so he does not disturb people in his office.
Countermeasure: all of us pick our phones, fixed or mobile, and start yelling at each other (why bother dialling first?). After a while (10 seconds or less) the loud idiot flies away.
We love this kind of jamming...
"The graveyards are full of indispensable men."