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Amusement Park Bans PDAs and Smartphones
Ant writes in with news that an amusement park in the UK is trying out a ban on smartphones and PDAs, with the intent to enable families actually to have fun together. The press release says that from May 25 to June 1, adults found using a PDA will be asked to drop it off at a "PDA Drop Off Zone" — no word on what happens if they refuse. But both the Sun and BoingBoing, which picked up their brief story, strike a more ominous note with the claim that "special wardens" will confiscate the devices. If the experiment is deemed a success the park may make the ban permanent.
...but stepping up and taking away someone's personal property is nothing but thuggery.
http://www.rootstrikers.org/
I require my phone, not just to stay in touch with my friends and loved ones, but also to keep in touch with my business. It's fine if I'm in a theatre for a few hours (I usually put it on vibrate), but if I have to be without it for a day... screw that, I'm not going to your place.
The parent with the PDA/Smartphone just won't go at all.
This is a triumph. I'm making a note here... HUGE SUCCESS.
My compact camera is my smart phone.
Wow, I should not post when knackered.
This reminds me of a restaurant in Colorado Springs that prided itself on cutting your tie in half if you stupidly showed up with one on. Casual diners only!
steampunk web design
Why yes...I'm talking to my kid who is waiting in line at another ride. You have a problem with that?
Kiss my ass.
Who are they going to call? The parents without the cell phones?
Physics is nothing like religion. If it was, we'd have an easier time trying to raise money!
I would hate to see attendance figures as they plummet - how many teenagers would want to go to a place where they have to give up the cell phone?
Instead they should be going the other way, and see how they can integrate mobile devices into the "fun" they are offering. Disney does this today in a limited way in an attraction at the Magic Kingdom in Disney World, called the "Laugh Factry" or something like that. It's an animated live stand-up comic show, where while you are waiting to get in you can text jokes you like to them and they use some of them in the routine.
That's pretty limited, but you could imagine parks texting you when a show or parade you signed up for was about to start, or having some mobile app that could somehow integrate into a ride or receive SMS messages with pictures of you on a ride.
Anyway, there are lots of better things they could be doing that trying to strip away technology from people who will be very reluctant to do so.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I'm not sure forced fun is going to work. It's a worthy cause, but I don't think this is the way to do it...
I cannot wait to laugh when a smart-minded individual steals the box which the lazy minimum-wage employees drops the PDAs in.
I'm not a libertarian, but my ability to punch with my money at your entertainment center stops at the point of your fascist face, if you know what I mean.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
I don't get it
..
âoeItâ(TM)s important for parents and kids to focus on nothing more than having the best possible time.â
What? Seriously, am I paranoid or does this sound so outrageously stupid that it's concealing a darker purpose?
I can't figure out -- even in this insane world -- what that purpose might be, but
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
Isn't it usually more the problem with having kinds leave their gameboys and nintendo ds's in the cars, rather than adults spending time on their smartphones?
It's all fun & games until someone loses the game.
While I can understand where they're coming from (using a Blackberry when you're out with your family on holiday is plain bloody sad as well as rude - let's just face it), but I'd love to know how they propose to 'enforce' this. A phone or a PDA is someone's personal property, just about everyone has a mobile phone, and some people sadly do need to remain contactable just in case.
Unfortunately, some people need to be available for business emergencies. The only way they can spend time with their families is to have their smartphone/pda with them. So now, you just ruined the entire family's fun at your park. Will be interesting to see the drop in ticket sales.
I understand the sentiment, but if a parent is such a jackass to not be able to ignore their phone for a single day to go have fun with their kid, there is no way the park is going to be able to "force" them to b a good parent by stealing their phone.
I've tried telling the office to only call me for emergencies when I'm on vacation. That didn't work. Now they know that I'll check my messages at night, and if they haven't fixed the problem, I'll remote in and fix it when I get a minute.
Vacation means vacation. The fact that they're not willing to hire someone else who can take some of the load off of me, doesn't mean that I'm going to give up my vacation time (says the puppy, posting from work on Sunday on a holiday weekend).
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
omg a palm Vx lol
Remember - to be affected by this policy, you'd a) have to be in a relationship; and b) have to venture outside. So breathe easy!
#DeleteChrome
So, by encouraging people who are wealthy enough that they have smartphones to either a) not have them on their persons in case of an emergency or b) leave them in the trust of a total stranger who could just hock their iPhones without a second thought...
this is a good business decision?
Just imagine all the fun! You can't take any pictures or videos, you can't text or ring when you lose sight of each other, therefore you'll have to stick with the group even when your auntie visits the loo for the tenth time before lunch.. but the highlight must be when your best mate dies of an overdose because you have no way of reaching 999 (the UK equivalent of 911/112).
Fun fun fun!
Alton Towers gets free publicity in the papers, a debate ensues, no-one actually gets their PDAs removed. Nothing to see here, move along please.
I think this is a great idea!
A corresponding story:
I think I am the only one in my family who actually hates sitting down for dinner because either 1. no one ever sits down for dinner at the same time, or more importantly and more relevant 2. everyone turns to watch whatever is on the TV at the moment, even if their back is to the TV they'll take a bite and turn around to watch while continuing to chew their food. (And before anyone tries to cry foul and point out the obvious, yes, I have mentioned my extreme distaste for their actions more than once, but they don't listen)
I am usually the aloof and solitude type, but I would love to sit down to dinner and have a full conversation with my whole family and be interested in what is happening with everyone else's lives and have others be even slightly interested in what I'm doing (since I'm off at college except for about three or four weeks out of the year). That never happens though. They'd all rather be watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire or Dancing With The Stars or Desperate Housewives (yes I'm a guy living in a house with too many women).
You wonder why families seem to be so much more dysfunctional and broken nowadays? Well it's no illusion. Families are more discontent and broken nowadays because society is falling to the pits and worrying more about possessions, money, and kissing their bosses' ass than worrying about their families, loved ones, and the things that truly matter the most in life.
This also goes along with those people who take "vacations" yet take their smartphones with them and never really disconnect from the office and their work while they're supposed to be relaxing and enjoying time off from work. I never want my cell phone to do anything other than make phone calls. Like this phone: http://dvice.com/archives/2008/04/claritylife_pho.php Hell, I'd be happier without a cell phone.
I am disgusted with society today, but major props to these people for trying to do something right by the world and society.
The word "ban" isn't really what they're doing.
"Amusement Park Provides Secure Drop-Off Point for PDAs and Smartphones" would be more like it. To advertise this service they have a kid dressed as a policeman "banning" people from using PDAs and pointing them towards the drop-off point.
My friends and I go to Alton Towers all the time (We have season tickets), the staff there are generally very helpful and friendly, so I doubt they're going to change that policy just to make families feel a bit better, there's a good chance it's more of a tongue-in-cheek sort of thing to help Dad relax on his day off rather than to cause real distress.
I highly doubt they're going to kick up a fuss or cause an argument for the sake of it, they'll more than likely go to the kids and be all "hey kids, tell daddy to put the phone away! I'll even take it off his hands and put it in a safe place, how about that?!". As cheesy as it sounds, it might ACTUALLY work.
+1 IDisagreeSoHeMustBeATrollOrAnAstroturferOrAShill
If assuming like me your PDA is provided by your firm, if you gave to one of these drop off points and it got nicked, you would probably be in a heap of trouble at work and their insurance wouldn't pay out. Even if it didn't get nicked, you can have confidentional emails and documents available for any bored security guard to read. Which could backfire if you work for MI5 and the security guard has a mate who is a journalist.
Jonathan
I wouldn't make it mandatory. It is enough to simply introduce the concept to a lot of people that it is actually possible to not ignore your family all the time with your f*cking face stuffed in your f*cking phone.
expandfairuse.org
Heh... I still remember first weekend in the previous town I've lived in. So it was a beautiful day of may, with sunshine, flowers and all. And I had to go through a park. Well, maybe not "have", but it was a bit of a detour to go via the other side. Anyway, so the birds were chirping, the sun was high, the breeze was warm, and you could see couples of teenagers everywhere.
;)
But the couple that stuck to my mind were a boy and a girl having a picnic on a blanket on the grass. Well, when I say 'picnic', it was more like the girl was sitting there idle watching other couples go by, while the boy was typing furiously on his laptop.
Not sure if it would have been better with a policy to take his laptop, though. I had a feeling it would have been akin to taking the oxygen tank away from a scuba diver
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Ban everything everywhere. Ban it. You WILL have fun goddamnit.
They look like phones (well, my Pearl certainly does) and it handles "Smartphone" or "PDA" functions, but its primarily my phone. They can bugger off.
1. It's not your park. It's owned and run by them. If you don't like it, don't go there. 2. The device is indeed your property just as your automobile is, but driving it is a priviledge, not a right. Too often people lose sight of that simple fact. Cellular users should be banned from using their devices while driving, in restaurants, theaters, EMR-sensitive zones within hospitals, etc. You're banned by law from driving within amusement parks, through hay fields, across airport runways, etc. Do you hear people complain about that? No. Why? Because it's common sense and shouldn't need debating.
I think that it is actually a good idea. most people will probably fight it at first partly because of keeping in touch with the outside world but then if you think about it they are only banning smartphones and PDAs so you can still have some types of cell phones to make sure no one gets lost or keep in contact with the outside world.
I saw 1 person at Legoland using his crackberry. Did think he was a bit sad for it, but didn't bother me.
People who bring a PDA/Smartphone and wip it out all of the time at an amusement park are likely missing the whole point of the amusement park. No loss if they don't go anyway.
I think the ban is just as much for the kids as the grown ups. You are missing half of the amusement park experience if you don't pull your eyes away from the PDA every once in a while. You stop noticing things like the smells of the food etc.
Talking on a cell phone can be obnoxious, making other paying customers enjoy their experience less. It's a bit like using a cell phone in a movie theatre, though less dramatic.
If nothing else, the fireworks from this should be interesting because people love to get all pissed off over nothing. I wish them the best of luck anyway. ;-)
Once you start despising the jerks, you become one.
Increased sales!!!
Patriotic Women
This isn't an attempt to force people to have fun...
It isn't them trying to control your activities in the park...
It isn't a commentary on whether or not PDAs are bad...
So ergo, it isn't about the poor kids waiting in line while moronic dads have their noses in a PDA...
It is a publicity stunt, and apparently it's working very well.
Walked straight to them, and with authority, proclaimed yourself as Park Police. Whatever that means. Then, after explaining the Park policy of not allowing work with a laptop in its premises, explain ed the penalty: - I am sorry, sir, but I will be forced to confiscate. - No way, this is my private property and I am doing important work here. - I mean the girl.
Where is that guy who'd die defending what I had to say when I need him?
obviously upset a few nerds at home spanking the monkey
I think they will allow phone calls, just not the tapping away that you see when people are checking up on their emails from the office. And on another note, this preview feature takes a long time.
to enhance the fun-having experience, waiters and waitresses at park restaurants will point loaded guns at patrons when they demand 'ENJOY YOUR MEAL!'
Interesting, but I suspect that they've done this as a way to get plenty of press attention and free advertising for the May half-term holiday. And its worked!
Good Daycycle, Citizen, and welcome to Alton Towers, where fun is mandatory! Please bear in mind that failure to have fun is considered Treason, and is punishable by painful death reserved for Commie Mutant Traitors and those Citizens who failed to have fun.
Thank you for your cooperation, Citizen, and remember to have fun!
Your Friend,
The Computer
[End Of Line]
I guess my girlfriend and I will have to resign ourselves to making passersby uncomfortable in the mall.
The UK is already becoming known as a nation of sheep that allows the government and private corporations to do whatever they want to their citizens - but the US is quickly catching up! If drastic action is not taken, the US may actually take the title of super-nanny-police-state-that-only-speaks-in-doublespeak.
Actions like this, where large multi-million euro corporations arbitrarily impose their will without regard go a long way towards reinforcing the attitude of British Subjects that they are merely units that exist for the benefit of the state tax coffers and corporate revenues and should be seen and not heard. Perhaps the lessons learning in once-proud England will go towards properly conditioning those backwards colonials in America, who still have to be lied to by their government before they will accept being treated like cattle.
What about those using their phones/PDAs as cameras? Seems like a flawed strategy if you ask me.
-- Lattyware (www.lattyware.co.uk)
Why not partner with a mobile company and offer a special service (for non pdas ;) ) and offer a "text to book your place" type thing. Could make the whole park thing a lot more pleasurable AND generate advertising for mobile company. Then it could text you 10 minutes before your ride is ready.
http://www.writeitfor.us - Writing IT for the IT generation.
This actually makes perfect sense - if implemented properly, that is. And by implementing properly I mean that people are provided secure boxes to store their stuff in. It would also make perfect sense if they would give out portable radio sets for free in exchange of the phones for the duration of the stay, so that family members still can communicate while inside the park even if they split.
:) and if *that* requires a little push, what the heck.
Otherwise, this is good. The age of information really calls for some changes to the unwritten laws of common courtesy and tact. Flame me all you want, but it is just not 'nice' to visit an entertainment site and not actually talk to your family members. Especially kids, who really need attention from their parents. It is not much of a secret that social skills are not the strongest traits among many computer-guy types, so this measure would help both the kids - providing them something they need - and their fathers - gently pushing them to learn to work on themselves. Not to mention that being close to one's family makes one more happy, like it or not
And no, this is not a privacy violation, not any more than other common courtesy restrictions are. We (well, most of us) are grown up knowing it is not polite to not visibly pay attention when you're being talked to, and this is not regarded as a breach of privacy. Not paying attention to one's spouse and kids at an entertainment site is being 'not comme-il-faut' about as much, and giving people a clue about it is not a bad idea at all. After all, you're always free to stay home anyway.
All in all, I really hope Alton Towers' experiment will not result in diminished incomes.. assuming they do it the right way, of course.
Only Adults? That makes me wonder, because usually, the people most annoying the others with their cruel ringtones or music they listen to via the phone speaker are children, and not adults. But oh, they are not even banning phones, but only smartphones and PDAs which are usually in the hands of people who have a better use for them than to annoy people with it.
A good education is a bit like a STD - it makes you unsuitable for a lot of jobs and gives you a desire to spread it.
Instead of taking the cell phones away, they should just install those cell signal blockers throuhout the park. that way the person can keep hold of their personal property and don't have to worry about losing them or having them stolen. In fact, those cell blockers are illegal in the states and i think they'd have to be ordered from the UK.
I've started collecting links about how the Internet is changing everything, and I have to say that there are a lot of people here who seem to miss a value add point to PDAs/cell phones etc.
This is one way for families to stay connected while still enjoying different parts of the park at the same time. These are COMMUNICATIONS devices. Whether the park administration has the right to ban them or not is not of any concern. I'm welcome to, and will spend my money elsewhere. I have no problem with that.
My WTF moment here is that the park simply does not get it, at all. period. Perhaps they find that their business model is failing if families are not joined at the hip so that mom and dad have to pander to every whimsical wish of their child? Perhaps individuals decide to spend less if they are not shackled to others of their kith and kin?
What reasoning would there be, other than money, for doing something that potentially has the ability to harm their business?
The parental-like 'we know better than you' attitude will fail quite miserably IMHO. (whispering under my breath: fucking idiots)
meh!
Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
Assuming they are even doing this for the reason they claim, I understand what they're doing, but I think it's completely retarded and will probably backfire - and here's why:
The type of person who is going to be using their smartphone/PDA at an amusement park generally isn't going to be doing so because they think it's more fun than hanging out with their family or going on rides, they're going to be doing it in most cases because they have to be able to have those communication options to even be able to get away. If the person's family doesn't have a problem with it, then why should the park?
What about people who want to have their smartphone AS A PHONE?
This is just so stupid and I think that it will cost them business. For any person who would find this appealing, there are going to more than twice as many who will hate it.
We're all gonna have so much f*cking fun we'll need plastic surgery to remove our Goddamn smiles!
I read about 100 comments in this post and I have to admit most were about "I wouldn't go there then" or "They are taking away our rights".
Correct me if I'm wrong since I'm in the US... but where in the UK law does it say "Right to bear cell phone"... it doesn't you twits.
This is a terrific idea made by a PRIVATE entity on THEIR property. I cannot tell you how often I hear loud obnoxious people on cell phones distracting from MY fun. How the families they are with are like "Come on dad" or "Honey can't you do that later" and they reply "Just one sec" while being blissfully ignorant of the line behind them.
I WOULD go to this theme park simply because it removes the ADD enhancing objects in our lives and lets us focus on conversation with each other and paying attention to ones surroundings.
Uh, so they'd take away a pda someone uses to monitor glucose levels, blood pressure, or other vitals important to someone who suffers from a medical issue?
Sounds like a really amusing amusement park.
I like to carry a laptop or subnotebook in my hands while I walk and work with it, and that's what I did last time I went to a zoo park: Writing code while lemurs and rabbits were jumping all around me (but you have to take care as lemurs sometimes have the tendency to jump on your head!). I had fun playing with the lemurs AND more fun writing code. The last thing I want is a PDA police telling me how to have fun, and if they came to me I'd tell them it's not a PDA :)
My experience with PDAs at amusement parks is that they make the amusement park more fun.
Waiting in line for rides/attractions is a pain in the ass. Yes, I suppose you get to chat with whomever you're with, but geez...It's nice to pull out a PDA with SlingPlayer on it and watch some TV, or surf the web, or whatever.
Perhaps they should allow PDAs when in line, but not on benches...But that seems too arbitrary. I really just think that there are enough legitimate uses for PDAs to enhance the experience at an amusement park (which is meant for amusement, right? not boredom, standing in line?) to warrant a ban on such devices.
Please deposit your device with access to information requiring the highest clearance, in this unmonitored bucket.
Right.
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Neither is this about your "rights." Look at it from the perspective of a kid -- Mommy and Daddy are at work all the time, while you're at school. They're busy when you come back from school. One of the few times a year that you get to go do something as a family, one of both of your parents are on the phone with work -- trading stocks, SSHing into a server on their stupid blackberry, etc.
So, there you are at the park, and they;re not paying attention to you. May as well have just gone their by yourself, eh?
Frankly, if you can't take the time on a Saturday to NOT ignore your kid, then you have bigger problems than someone taking away your PDA and I sincerely feel sorry for you and your family because that's just sad.
to those of you who aren't going to show up: no one's going to miss you and your incessant checking of your email. In fact, we'll all have a better time without you around, so go ahead, stay away. Please.
they are trying to "encourage" parents to leave behind their PDAs
I want to see entire cities, counties, states, and countries pass such laws instead. And really, why stop at just PDAs and Smartphones? Why not mobile telephones in general? How about digital music players too? These things only tend to make an already annoying populace that much more annoying while at in public because they become absolutely oblivious to their surroundings.
"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
For those outside the UK, it's probably worth pointing out that The Sun is a fanatically right-wing paper written for a reading age of approximately 9 years. Most prominent in The Sun are the "Page Three Stunna" (a different picture of a topless woman every day), a large sports section, and a large comics section. Fairly typical Sun headlines are "Do Fellas Prefer Flirtier Females?", "Driven to suicide by websites", and "Immigrant got me pregnant at 14". These are *real* headlines from The Sun, I'm not making this up. Ok, they're not quite at the level of batshit crazyness of some USian tabloids (National Enquirer, I'm looking at you here), but they have printed their fair share of "I got pregnant by a space mushroom"-type stuff.
I can't believe how naive some of these comments are. My first thought: How are they trying to make money off of this ridiculous policy?
Geeks like to think that they can ignore politics, you can leave politics alone, but politics won't leave you alone.-rms
"Special wardens will confiscate such devices" as a possible outcome.
How will those who are doctors, law enforcement officials and such who are on call or other emergency personnel be able to remain in touch with their call-in stations then and who are required to carry such devices (and may even be issued them as part of their standard equipment)?
And isn't that called "theft?" Or, at least violation of personal property under UK law?
While I appreciate the idea of not having to be interrupted at every turn by some idiot either playing a video game or answering a mindless "WHASSUP?!" call in the middle of a show, there should be some better way to do this.
And what happens when someone loses their claim ticket or, worse, the park loses their smart device? The cost to the park will be far in excess of the "social savings" this ban might give them.
From this side of the pond, it's just another sign that every petty administrator, everywhere, wants to control a little slice of the lives that come into their sphere of influence.
They are going to have a LOT of very angry people to contend with when they try this because, more and more, smart devices are becoming the norm, rather than the exception. What a wonderful way to turn the happiest place on earth into a focus for seething animosity!
Well done, park officious officials!
It doesn't matter if they think that you are stupid or not, cutting your tie in half is criminal damage ... I am surprised that someone has not called the cops out on them.
seriously -- none of us go to amusement parks to wait in line. txt'ing and im'ing (and beer!) help pass the time.
and of course you realise that the castle doctrine comes from the phrase "an Englishman's home is his castle" and the law was derived from English Common Law. Not that we are allowed to shoot people in England, it is considered bad form, even if it is in your own house.
"-1 Troll"!? Come on, mods, I can't possibly be the only one here who's able to perceive irony.
DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
Lets hope more places start doing this.
People are so rude with their damned phones these days they really need to learn some self-control
---- Booth was a patriot ----
The only people who would be seething are the losers who don't have the self-control to leave their cell phones at home. It's assholes like these that arn't needed at funparks, cinemas, restaurants, etc.
The doctors I know choose to keep some semblance of a private life. They are professionals who make arrangements with other professionals to cover for them when necessary.
James Patterson - who made the cash register the iconic image of american business - had one one unbreakable rule: When an employee began to look indispensable he was as good as dead.
They paid their entrance fee so they can do whatever they want as long as it does not disrupt the experience for other parties (or break the law of course) and I don't see how using a PDA would disrupt others. It may create a less engaged experience for one's own family but that's a private matter.
If the PDA addict's wife says to put it away that's another story.
You want fun, go home and buy a monkey!
PDA drop-off zone eh? more like the PDA search zone. They plan on searching through all the devices for incriminating evidence obtained illegally.
I think the Brits should fight back and take back their country from big brother.
They're using their grammar skills there.
They can not take mine from me as I use it with the one module as a blood meter - i.e. a medical device. And once you make an exception for one item...
Also, is a Blackberry a "Smartphone"? Cause my Employer requires me to carry that, so again, I call bullshit on these people.
My PDA isn't wireless-equipped. At an amusement park it would be no more "work" than a paperback or gameboy. Do they ban them too?
I don't have any kids, you insensitive clod!
...oh wait, it's the UK: only criminals have guns.
I go with my kids and Six Flags several times a month (via season pass) and we have a great time; even with my smartphone in hard. We use our phones to stay in touch with each other in case someone wants to ride different rides so that we can find each other again. What I don't need is some amusement park telling me how to enjoy my "family time"!!!
Wife and I love movies, we stopped almost a year ago now going to the theater for the cell phone issue. They are the ones that need to search and not allow cell/pda/pagers etc in. Talk about turning around a declining industry in a heartbeat.
It's not uncommon for a boss to be unable to grant a request for time off if the employee will be unreachable. It's also not uncommon for the EMPLOYEE to be unwilling to take time off if they will be unreachable.
Given such a situation, this attempt to encourage family togetherness could just result in LESS family togetherness.
... to score a pile of smartphones/PDA's that people leave in their cars.
So what if you aren't actually doing work with phone, and have it in case your other kid that isn't old enough, say like a baby you have in the care of someone else needs to get a hold of you? Would the park take liability if the care giver can't get a hold of you in an emergency?
Don't Vote for Norm Dicks! http://www.nodicks2008.com Another nutless dirtbag that voted for the FISA bill!
Everyone! Get over yourselves! 10 years ago nobody had phones and smartphones and PDAs like we do now! So how the bloody hell do you think they managed then?
Give em ya stuff n stop complaining like techno addicted babies! The office will manage without you for a day! And if it cant then you hired incompetent staff! So its ur faulty!
So, if I can't use my smart phone to check movie times, or book other recreational services while my kids are spinning around on a ride, my kids miss out.
So how is this a good thing?
P.S. As what I'd like to call an active parent that puts his kids first, what I've learned by watching other parents is, if a parent is ignoring their kid with their phone in their hand, they'll ignore the kid without it.
This is an utterly OTT approach to the problem. A campaign/advertisements around the park would have been great (though no /. coverage I guess), reminding parents that their supposed to be having family time, and when you leave work your supposed to stop working too.
Having said that, the UK populous is pretty damn stupid when it comes to the employee-employer relationship, so anything to help switch the balance back to the employee's is good.
----- I refuse to have an argument with an unarmed person
*walk up to pattron using pda/smartphone*
"hi this is the park police, yea i need to confiscate that its against park policy, and yes sir im a plain clothes dressed official to catch people breaking rules, if they could spot me then they wouldnt be doing that around me"
*hands me the phone, give them fake claim ticket*
"haha 25 phones so far today!!"
and its that quick to get exploited, and thats not counting all the personal info some people have on phones today, so it goes alot deeper then just it getting stolen and sold.
J
A business that is unprepared to be without one employee for one day is not a resilient business. Not all absences from the office are "intended" or provide any warning at all. Bosses who are uncomfortable with an employee being unreachable for one day should be encouraged to think "disaster preparedness" and consider it a dry run in a controlled situation.
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
If this was going to happen anywhere, it'd be the ultra-mommy, "we know what's better for you" UK...
In another news, smartphone/PDA companies to offer free amusement tickets for whole family if you buy smartphone/PDA
And isn't that called "theft?
God I wish people would actually look up the definition of theft so that I didn't constantly see misunderstandings like this.
"with intent to permanently deprive the owner of possession"
No intent to permanently deprive = not theft
Maybe criminal in other ways of course.
Oh I say, Paranoia anyone? "Happiness is mandatory...are you happy, citizen?" If they assign you a medical officer to ensure everyone in the group takes the required daily dosage of happy-happy pills, I'm in!
Having been to the park before (It's fantastic), I can see why this is at least being trialled.
You do see people walking around and ignoring their family/friends, instead of enjoying the rides or gardens. Seeing people in that state makes me enjoy my day out less.
Whether it is enforcable is going to be interesting to observe. It's only being tested for a week, anyway.
It's not that dissimilar from restaurants banning mobiles or jeans, as they can disrupt the experience of other patrons.
If you [I]need[/I] to use your smartphone, then choose another establishment.
Put the Crackberry down and hands behind the head!
please...can someone call 911, ....anyone...doesn't anybody have a phone
PLEASE, all they need is one case to set the precedent and make this idea go nowhere.
1 case where they couldn't get help in time because of this stupid law, and 1 death
because it took too long to respond.
"...And isn't that called "theft?" Or, at least violation of personal property under UK law?..."
Not if you're self-selecting.
Look, many of the comments above talk about how unreasonable this is, forgetting apparently that this is not the street, this is not a grocery store, this is not a school - this is a place that you PAY to ENTER, cognizant of all the rules and restrictions for being there. If you don't like the policy, DON'T GO. For that sense, if I were them, I'd just install frequency-specific jammers and drop the stupid check-in policy and wardens.
Personally, I think the policy is faintly stupid. Well-meaning, sure, but I guess it would be nice if people could just exercise a little self-control instead.
-Styopa
Given the 2 hour queues for some of the rides, having a PDA to pass the time is kind of a mint idea !
Thats my term for going to some public space like a coffee house or park and seeing all these people plugged into machines instead of interacting with each other. There reading laptops, chatting on cells, zoned out with ear-buds, etc. Its just like a scene out Invasion of the Body Snatchers(*), except real life.
(*) The Snatchers have sustituted human beings with emotionless aliens who walk glassy-eyed down the street.
Very true. In my private home and private life, I'm permitted to be as offensive, discriminatory and unreasonable as I choose. I can choose not to associate with this ethnicity or that orientation. I can refuse to patronize a business simply because I don't like the owner's politics, or even the owner's haircut.
I can be as arbitrary and ridiculous as I please, right up to the point that I apply for a business license or incorporate. At that point, I make a bargain that explicitly spells out that I am trading my private space for the right to operate as a business that is granted certain privileges.
As a business, I get tax relief. I get shielded from liability for my actions. City resources -- parking, roads, law enforcement, fire -- will be expended to help ensure my business is a success. I am given "shopkeeper's priviliges" to help ensure people do not steal from me. Very often, the city will apply zoning powers to shield me from competition. All manner of consideration is offered to me, including the use of public tax dollars, in some cases.
In return, I give up my rights as a private citizen and agree to follow the rules of a "public space." I can't bar someone from service based on their race. I can't toss someone out the door because they admit they're gay. I can't post a sign saying "Libertarians Only."
Lately, businesses have been wanting to play it both ways, like a feminist who still wants the guy to open the door, pick up the check and fight off the mugger. When it comes time to pay taxes, they are all about "providing jobs" and "caring for the community." When it comes time to actually do that and meet their responsibilities as a public entity, suddenly they're a "private concern and establishment."
It reminds me of the Texas oilmen who turned communist in the late 80s as oil prices plummeted to less than a tenth of what they are now. Suddenly all the free-market lassiez faire disciples came running to Washington looking for protection. Several were even quoted as saying, "Washington's gonna free market us to death."
So which is it, are you a public entity with limited rights and powers, or a private citizen with no tax breaks and sweetheart deals?
He put his boots up on the table and made a face. "The sig," he smirked. "You can waste your life in search of the sig."
In other words, if you return home and find your possessions gone, first you must look for a piece of paper that the thi^Wvisitor may have left. If the paper says "I promise, with all my honor, to return all the objects taken from here not later than on last day of year 3008" then don't report this as a theft, because it isn't: the loss of use of your stuff is not permanent.
If I was caught removing your property from your house and could convince a jury (or magistrate, etc) that I was intending to return it then I couldn't be convicted for theft. Whether that defence is plausible enough to stand any reasonable chance of success I very much doubt.
On the other hand, a large corporation with a well publicised policy of taking property into temporary storage and an established history of returning said property afterwards is another matter.
As you can see, their definition does not mention permanent vs. temporary taking of my stuff away. Instead it focuses on taking property without consent, such as without any right of the thief to do so. That's the problem with proposing legal definitions ad lib :-) they are at best funny.
"Thank god we reached you Jim, you've got to get over here, this guy's bleeding out!"
"No problem, let me just round up the wife and kids and I'll see you a week from thursday."
Shift happens. Fire it up.
I hate to stick up for the Enquirer, but somebody needs to.
During the OJ Simpson mess, a number of odd factors came together. First, the "legitimate" press was perfectly willing to dive into the voyeurism of the time but didn't really have all the show-business contacts they needed to get in deep to the story. Second and not surprisingly, the Enquirer had dealt with many of the principles and their friends for years. The relationship between the Enquirer and that community wasn't always civil, but it was a known quantity. Finally, the Enquirer had become a little embarrassed by their excesses over the years and saw the whole OJ affair as an opportunity to do some more serious work.
So what happened? The Enquirer restrained their "batshit crazy" tendencies while lots of folks close to the case fed them information. The Enquirer broke a bunch of news and became a good, reliable source of news on the investigation and trial. The paper showed it was capable of real journalism. Yeah, they spiced it up where they could but, by and large, their efforts were reasonably good and they scooped the rest of the press regularly.
Since then, things have moderated. The Enquirer is a tabloid, sure, but it's probably the best of them. Half of it is crap, of course, but it's actually a decent quality news source on the entertainment industry. They've left their stupid days behind them.
If you want to read the life story of the bat-boy or about how you can use an ancient Indian talisman to ward off the coming Great Depression II, IOW if you want *real* "batshit crazy," we still have the Weekly World News and the Sun
...forcibly taking away personal property. Yee ha! Let's go to the log flue ride and get rid of those long faces!
Again, a PHYSICIAN or other EMERGENCY SERVICE STAFFER who is ON CALL should be not only able to keep their system, but should be able to USE it if NECESSARY!
What part of 'emergency response requirement' are you having trouble with?
Also, what part of "personal property" are you having trouble with?
What next - strip searches? because that's where this is headed.
Orwell was wrong - Big Brother isn't coming, but a bunch of corporations and petty tyrants running facilities ARE!