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Aluminum Foil Hats Will Not Stop "Them"

Otter writes "A study at MIT has found that aluminum foil headwear ("Among a fringe community of paranoids..the protective measure of choice against invasive radio signals") actually amplifies certain frequency bands allocated to the US government, as well as a mobile phone range, and is largely ineffective through the rest of the radio spectrum. But we can we trust the study, or are They controlling the researchers?"

60 of 433 comments (clear)

  1. Now I'm scared by Psionicist · · Score: 4, Funny

    Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

    That was highly appropriate.

    1. Re:Now I'm scared by c_fel · · Score: 2, Funny

      But they said nothing about my aluminium foil condoms. I knew I'm safe !

      --
      I hate all sigs, mine included.
    2. Re:Now I'm scared by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      All you have to do is put $sys$ on the tin foil hat and you become invisible!

    3. Re:Now I'm scared by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      what ever do u keep in there?

    4. Re:Now I'm scared by StalinsNotDead · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's really admirable of the Uncoverer--advising the borderline retarded to take apart their TVs. It's easy enough to fry yourself messing with a TV if you *do* know what you're doing.

      Giving advice likely to kill the stupid is called passive eugenics.

      --
      Thanks to the internet, we can now all die alone together! -SomeWoman
    5. Re:Now I'm scared by Khaed · · Score: 2, Funny

      That's because you're posting on slashdot -- the condom could be made of fishnet, and you're still just as safe.

    6. Re:Now I'm scared by Ced_Ex · · Score: 5, Funny

      Tin foil hats work. Aluminum foil hats do not.

      I'm not even going to get into this debate. I've just upgraded to a lead helmet!

      It is rather cumbersome, but as a bonus to blocking everything, I've got a strong neck now.

      --
      Live forever, or die trying.
    7. Re:Now I'm scared by ozmanjusri · · Score: 2, Funny

      I've just upgraded to a lead helmet!

      Lead lead helmets are for wimps. I'm wearing a uranium foil ski mask.

      I don't feel so good.

      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
    8. Re:Now I'm scared by NTmatter · · Score: 2, Funny

      For the United States residents among us, 6 million British pounds = 10.4712 million U.S. dollars. When you look at it that way, privacy does seem within the realms of affordability.

  2. amplified? by way2trivial · · Score: 4, Funny

    out of focus can be just the same as blocked for purposes of radio wave transmission.

    two much gain means a lot of signal noise.

    besides, I wear a lead skull cap myself, keep my hair shaved so that I can be in constant contact with the metal of the cap..

    --
    every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
    1. Re:amplified? by AKAImBatman · · Score: 5, Funny

      besides, I wear a lead skull cap myself, keep my hair shaved so that I can be in constant contact with the metal of the cap.. ...and my cell phone reception has never been so good!

    2. Re:amplified? by Frumious+Wombat · · Score: 5, Funny

      You know, a lead cap doesn't really get good enough contact with your skin unless you smear some mercury around underneath it first....

      --
      the more accurate the calculations became, the more the concepts tended to vanish into thin air. R. S. Mulliken
  3. They are behind this by Jupix · · Score: 5, Funny

    I knew it all along. They WANTED us to wear foil hats to amplify their spy rays.

    1. Re:They are behind this by MarkGriz · · Score: 5, Funny

      "This dilemma is going to give me an aneurysm!"

      Maybe that's what THEY really want after all.

      --
      Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
    2. Re:They are behind this by MarkGriz · · Score: 3, Funny

      "No no no... aluminium is NOT the right material, just ask this guy : click. The right material is clearly 3M's "Velostat"."

      Odd... couldn't find a "BUY ONE NOW" button, and didn't see any Google Ads.

      Damn, that guy *really is* crazy.

      --
      Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
    3. Re:They are behind this by Ubergrendle · · Score: 4, Funny

      Maybe that's what THEY really want after all.

      No, that's what they WANT to you think that they're thinking about your attempts to outthink their doublethink.

      I think...

      --
      John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
  4. Duh... by ferrellcat · · Score: 5, Funny

    It has to be TIN foil.

    1. Re:Duh... by B3ryllium · · Score: 3, Funny

      See, *that's* the conspiracy. THEY have phased out Tin Foil and replaced it with Aluminum Foil for its amplification properties. It's the foodwrapping/military complex, headed up by GLAD.

      Geriatric Leotard-wearing Alien Drones.

  5. It's a trick! by TheRon6 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Lies! All lies! THEY are trying to trick you into taking it off! And it's not paranoia if everyone really is out to get you!

    --
    Does this rag smell like chloroform to you?
  6. Yes! by robpoe · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yesss!!! But .. uuh .. did they paint their hats an off shade of GREEN??!?!

    Then the signals think that I'm a tree .. and.. and .. bounce off of me..

    Kinda like my WiFi connection..

    --
    = Grow a brain...
  7. We already knew that Al foil was insufficient by ENOENT · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's why we need to protect our precious bodily fluids.

    --
    That's "Mr. Soulless Automaton" to you, Bub.
  8. I'm not sure what disappoints me more by indros13 · · Score: 4, Funny
    ...that MIT spent time and money actually researching this or that my tinfoil hat collection is now verifiably useless.


    -John

    --
    Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
  9. Shiny side! by FortKnox · · Score: 4, Funny

    Everyone knows that you need to put the shiny side on the outside to reflect the signals. Obviously, this guy put the dull side out and it absorbed the signal...

    --
    Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
    1. Re:Shiny side! by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 2, Funny
      > shiny side on the outside

      That's right, it says so clearly in the instructions.

      --
      No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  10. Possible Applications by Octopus · · Score: 1, Funny

    [AOL VOICE]

    You've got a tumor!

    [/AOL VOICE]

  11. Tin vs. Aluminum by jtwronski · · Score: 5, Funny

    Great, vi vs. emaacs wasn't enough. Bring on the *foil-hat zealotry!

  12. That wasn't the point? by NitsujTPU · · Score: 3, Funny

    I thought that the whole point of the exercise was to submit to control.

    You really should try it. It's quite liberating to submit to anothers control.

    Don't you feel better whenever you hit the 'Submit' button on Slashdot?

    SUBMIT DAMN YOU! I TOLD YOU TO SUBMIT!!

  13. No Duh by Wireless+Joe · · Score: 4, Funny

    I posted this the last time aluminum foil hats was brought up.

    Everyone knows that aluminum did not exist before 1992. It was at that time that the Reynolds corporation made a bid to take over the US Government. Reynolds, an alliance between the city of Marina Del Rey and Tom Arnold (look it up, I don't use Google because they track my searches) began producing "anti Illuminati medium" or a-lumin-um by extracting the "conductivity" from steel, a naturally occuring mineral.

    Reynolds knew that the CIA and FBI were using mind control through the "cable networks" to persuade the population to upgrade to HBO, the mouthpiece for the Masonic Order of the Illuminati.

    You all just think you remember aluminum existing before 1992 because you do not wear your beanies, and have been influenced by HBO. Still need proof? Consider these facts:

    1. If you travel outside the US, you will find that no other countries use or have heard of aluminum. (England has something similar called aluminium, which was developed in tandem by Margaret Thatcher's shadow government.)

    2. If you travel to another country and they say that they have aluminum, you have not actually travelled to another country, but are on a HBO-enduced mind control trip.

    3. Aluminum does not get hot in the oven. I've made thousands of fish sticks in the years after 1992, and no matter how badly I burn them, I can always lift them by the corners of the aluminum foil I placed them on.

    1. Re:No Duh by stienman · · Score: 3, Funny

      the Masonic Order of the Illuminati.

      Ah-HAH! That explains all the medications that say, "Do not take if you use any MAOI inhibitors." Obviously there's drugs involved with the radio waves and subliminal messages.

      -Adam

    2. Re:No Duh by gardyloo · · Score: 2, Funny

      3. Aluminum does not get hot in the oven. I've made thousands of fish sticks in the years after 1992, and no matter how badly I burn them, I can always lift them by the corners of the aluminum foil I placed them on.

          How about this, smarty pants: fish don't have sticks!

  14. Re:Oh no all these years by RandoX · · Score: 3, Funny

    You're doing it wrong. You have to use thickfoil.

  15. I guess we need stories like these...... by 8127972 · · Score: 2, Funny

    .... to pass the time between Google posts.

    --
    This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
  16. Re:This is the kind of info I come to Slashdot for by rovingeyes · · Score: 4, Funny

    What did you expect? A dating site?

  17. Of course not. by pavon · · Score: 2, Funny

    Only a total newbie would trust aluminum foil. Which is why us true paranoids always wear full copper-mesh body-suits. Faraday-cage appearal - the chain-mail for a new generation.

  18. Tin Foil Hats by lawpoop · · Score: 2, Funny

    Any self-respecting paranoid knows you don't use aluminum precisely *because* it amplifies certain frequencies. That's why you use tin foil for your hats.

    --
    Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
    -- Pablo Picasso
  19. Q: So, then, tinfoil hats help you channel Bush? by Zhe+Mappel · · Score: 5, Funny

    A: Yes. Especially if you shape them like a dunce's cap.

  20. Ground your foil hats, you fools! by SysKoll · · Score: 5, Funny
    Ungrounded conductive layers do not properly shield you from radio waves. However, if you ground your aluminium foil hat, the electric field associated with a radio signal is attenuated dramatically.

    Which is why the real paranoid can easily be identified from the chain or copper wire attached to his foil hat that trails behind him.

    Synthetic fabric carpets prevent the grounding effect of the wire, and you'll notice these carpets are standard issue in government building. Coincidence? I think not.

    --

    --
    Mad science! Robots! Underwear! Cute girls! Full comic online! http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/

  21. The correct foil to use is by bxbaser · · Score: 2, Funny

    In my extensive history of attempted blocking of radio waves i have found the best foil is
    U.S. Foil Co pre 1924 manufactured foil.
    This is a foil of a tin lead mixture.
    It is very hard to get as I have scoured the united states for almost my whole life in search of this foil.
    I only release this information now as I have stockpiles of foil to last me 6 lifetimes.

    The following code is to disrupt the HBDFH scanners that the goverment implimented in 1988. Use this code in all your online messages
    UYG8756obP(867rvI&O*&Z(*%*INLI&%%%%%%%%%888*888*88 8*

  22. Re:An interesting thing by Hinhule · · Score: 5, Funny

    Obviously most real cases are mixes of these

    So, most real cases are governments controlled by demonic aliens? Now I'm scared!

  23. The real conspiracy... by mabu · · Score: 3, Funny

    ..is who's behind motivating some of America's so-called "greatest minds" to waste their time investigating such pointless pursuits, when there are soft drink machines in dorm buildings, whose current inventory of Mountain Dew is not known.

  24. Re:This is the kind of info I come to Slashdot for by GungaDan · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe. What are you wearing? ;-)

    --
    Eloi are stupid, throw morlocks at them!
  25. NOOO! Dual shiny sides!! by MacDork · · Score: 4, Funny

    NOOOO! Don't listen to him. He's trying to get you to put the dull side inside the cap so that your brain waves are amplified and easier to detect by the government mind reading machines! You need a two layer TFH with shiny on the inside AND out!!! It keeps the brain waves in and the mind control waves out! Everyone KNOWS that! Everyone knows...

  26. Re:Alcoa can't wait! by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 2, Funny

    I don't care what you say, I'm not coming out of my Faraday cage.

    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  27. Re:This is the kind of info I come to Slashdot for by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    A tinfoil hat and a smile, baby ;-)

  28. Audiophiles use Gold Foil Hats by George+Tirebuyer · · Score: 5, Funny

    From Monster of course!

  29. Liars! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    They are liars! They are just saying that so you'll take the tin foil hats off and they can mess with the inside of your heads!!! *duct tapes tin foil hat on*

  30. Tinfoil hats won't protect you against GWEN towers by Chemkook · · Score: 4, Funny
  31. New heavier headgear by SteWhite · · Score: 3, Funny

    Damn, tinfoil is no good? Guess I need to switch to my lead lined hat now. And a neck brace.

  32. Killing off the Paranoid by XeroRIAA · · Score: 2, Funny

    This was an attempt by the government to kill off those of us aware of the true nature of things! Think about it!

    Tinfoil - Free, cheap, non-toxic (Unless you eat it to absorb its properties.. but those people are just crazy).

    What's the alternative? Why LEAD of course! It blocks everything! But simply wearing it on our heads..That can be lethal! The lead will permeate the skin on our skulls and give us lead poisoning directly in our brains! And it ain't cheap either! How can I continue to afford to stock up on freeze-dried astronaut food??! And don't even get me going about how heavy it is.. My head could snap clear off my spine because of the weight!

    Damn you, government sponsored scientists! You've FOILED our plans again!

  33. Use MindGaurd by csplinter · · Score: 2, Funny

    Not only is MindGaurd a FOSS compatible with GNU/Linux but its technologically light years ahead of your quaint little tinfoil hats.

  34. Re:An interesting thing by Liam+Slider · · Score: 2, Funny
    For those who were brought up in rural areas, the "aliens" conspiracy is most widespread.
    I live in a rural area...and everyone around here knows the government cannot be trusted (duh). And there are very few "alien conspiracy" theories. So I'm kinda wondering about this data of yours. if anything, most of the UFO crazies, especially the nuttiest of the bunch, that I have heard about...have come from cities.
  35. Forget the hats, whadda bout my teeth!? by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hats shmats, this does NOTHING about the microphones the aliens hide in your fillings and the wires up the back of your nose.

    --
    It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
  36. Re:An interesting thing by Arandir · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's a common theme in jokes. It is a gag. It is not universal. It's extremely rare among paranoid psychotics.

    Just because people on Slashdot joke about it does not make it true. There are lots of jokes about Scotsman and sheep, but that does not mean sheep buggery is common and universal in Scotland. Duh.

    --
    A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
  37. Only on /. are jokes modded informative (no text) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    there is no text here

  38. Re:Alcoa can't wait! by HAMgeek · · Score: 4, Funny

    all your branewave are belong to us...

    --
    "Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you." --Pericles
  39. New hat by paranode · · Score: 2, Funny
    I've recently replaced my hat with lead instead of aluminum.

    I've been throwing up a lot lately though, I think They're getting in.

  40. Re:An interesting thing by HAMgeek · · Score: 2, Funny

    For people who grew up in cities, the "government conspiracy" paranoia is most common.

    This is because there are more people in the cities for the gov't to mess with.

    For those who were brought up in rural areas, the "aliens" conspiracy is most widespread.

    This is because the aliens want to avoid attracting the attention of the government.

    --
    "Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you." --Pericles
  41. Anonymous Cowards by lilmouse · · Score: 4, Funny

    We really should be reading all the Anonymous Coward posts in this thread - I mean, really, how much can you trust the tin-hat knowledge of someone who posts using an actual name?

    We should also expect that anything true will get modded down to -1. Change your filters, guys, change your filters!!

    --LWM

  42. Pringles by Crispix · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wearning a tin foil hat increases my WiFi performance.

  43. Re:An interesting thing by ozmanjusri · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now I'm scared!

    Why? Demonic aliens would have to be better than the scary clowns running the show now.

    --
    "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."